I slipped on a pair of faded
bootcut jeans, my dark blue Nike hightops, and black Philly Flyers hoodie. It was my first day of school and I figured I could look nice for once.
Rachel was waiting down in the sitting room, dressed in scrubs with her bag in hand. It was also her first day of working at the Beacon Hills hospital.
When I came down the stairs, she said "Finally! I was about to leave without you."
"Yeah, but you wouldn't leave me to walk the 2 miles to school, now would you?" She laughed and we headed out the door. "Hey, do you mind if I drive? It'd be awesome if I could roll up to school in an Audi on the first day."
"You know how to drive?" I glared and Rachel laughed, throwing me the keys.
"I'm not an idiot, you know."
"I know, I was just making a joke. Seriously though, who taught you to drive?"
"Kay."
"She didn't tell me that."
"I didn't want her to. I know you would've freaked if you found out." Rachel shrugged as we got in and I started the car. I turned the car around and headed down the driveway, looking both ways before pulling out. It was a relatively empty road, but I liked to be sure. Plus, I wanted to see if Derek would be watching like he did last night, when Scott and Stiles gave me a ride.
I hurried into town and dropped Rachel off at the hospital, and she gave me a warning before getting out of the car.
"If you crash my car, you're gonna pay for it."
"Relax, I know what i'm doing." She nodded unsurely and got out, heading into the hospital. I turned the car around and headed back out of town, towards the direction of the school.
I arrived several minutes later, and after scanning the parking lot, pulled in next to Stiles' familiar blue jeep. He and Scott were just getting out. Stiles waved before heading inside, and Scott waited for me to get out of the car.
"Nice car. Yours?"
"Rachel's. Hear from Derek since last night?" He shook his head. "I need to talk with him..." We started to the school as the warning bell rang.
"Have you thought about things?"
"I spent the entire night up...I feel horrible right now. I thought back and I think you and Derek might be right about me...I feel stupid now that I never knew."
"It's not your fault, Ian...You were just lucky to avoid it until now...It's not entirely something you're gonna want either..." I looked up at Scott.
"Was it bad for you, when you first turned?" He nodded.
"It's still tough sometimes...But I have people to help me deal with it now."
"Allison?" He chuckled.
"I didn't think you'd remembered. She and her family might be hunters, but after the whole alpha thing, they don't mind what I am so much. I'd protect Allison with my life again if I had to." I smiled, but not a happy smile.
"I wish I had someone willing to say that about me...You're lucky to have Allison, Scott."
"I'm sure you'll find someone...With the way you look, everyone will be wanting to know you. See? Everyone's looking already." As we entered the school, everyone's eyes were indeed on me. I could hear them whispering about my hair already.
"I'm heading to the office...See you later." Scott waved as I headed over to the main office to sign in.
I gave the secretary my name and she pulled up my schedule and printed it, along with a list of all the school slubs and associations.
"We encourage participation in extra-curricular activities here. I hope there are some clubs that will interest you."
"So do I." As soon as I left the office, I crumpled the activities list and looked at my schedule. I had Chemistry first.
It took me several minutes to find to right room, and I was 5 minutes late getting there. The teacher, a thin man with glasses, didn't mind, since it was my first day.
I chose the empty seat behind Scott and Stiles, next to a blonde kid. Scott nodded as I passed. I sat and directed my attention towards the front of the room, trying to ignore everyone else. I could hear all their little conversations though, most geared toward me and my hair. It was annoying. I don't know how Scott did it every day.
"Hey." I turned to the kid beside me, who seemed to be the one who'd spoken. "I'm Jackson." He held out a hand, but I didn't take it.
"Hey Jackson." I turned back towards the front.
"Come on, you can't have a conversation with me? I'm sure with you being new and all, you haven't met many people."
"I've met plenty, and I don't need one more." I heard Scott laugh from the table in front of us, and I smirked.
"Don't tell me it was them?" He jerked his thumb toward Scott and Stiles, and I nodded. "You'll be soon disappointed. They're deficient."
"In what, exactly? Raging hormones?" This time, both Scott and Stiles broke out in laughter, and the teacher looked over. Jackson scowled and I felt satisfied. I didn't really want to get to know him. I could tell already that he was a jerk.
The class was pretty boring, just review, and it was stuff I already knew. Payoff from being in AP classes, I suppose. I followed Scott to his next class, since we had almost all of them together.
He sat beside a pretty brunette girl that I immediately took to be Allison. Scott introduced her.
"Ian, this is Allison. Allison, this is Ian, the new girl."
"Hey." We waved to eachother.
The rest of the day was spent mostly by me trying not to rip my ears off, because of the constant noise. I could hear everything. Around the end of last period, Scott really noticed, and pulled me aside.
"You okay Ian?" I shook my head.
"Noise is giving me a migraine...How do you handle it?"
"You eventually learn to tune it out. It helps if you focus in on just one thing, that way it's easier to ignore the rest."
"You seem so...Like you know what you're doing." He shrugged.
"Derek helped me to control it. He was always there for me, even when I didn't want him to be. I guess...I sorta respect him for it."
"Lucky...He must've been a great teacher. I hope he can help me like he did you." Scott bit his lip.
"Ian...Do you want me to take you to him? I can probably help you, but I have my mom and Allison, and I can't be there all the time..." I nodded. I understood completely. I had to take care of Rachel and Kay now.
"You can just give me directions, and i'll walk there afterschool." He looked hesitant. "Don't worry, i'll be fine. I may not know how to control my wolf side, but I still know how to defend myself."
Scott wrote down the directions on a peice of paper and I stuck it in my pocket.
After school was over, I drove to the hospital and dropped the keys off with Rachel. She asked why, and I said i'd rather walk, plus she needed a way home.
The directions Scott gave me led me way out of town, to a small road that led through the woods.
There were fallen leaves everywhere, and nobody around for miles, I guessed. I couldn't hear anyone for a while, and felt just a little lonely. I'd been able to hear everyone doing everything all day, but now it was just silence.
After a while, after the sky had darkened a bit, I came upon what Scott described as Derek's house. It hardly looked habitable.
It was dark and grey, and half of the roof was missing from what looked like fire. I could see the scorch marks from an old fire on the outer walls, and the windows were dark. It looked like nobody lived there, except for the Black Camaro peeking out from beside the house gave it up. Somebody had to be here for that thing.
As I approached the house, I could hear faint noises, as If someone were moving around inside. I stepped up onto the porch, the floorboards creaking beneath my feet, and looked inside. Nobody appeared to be there, but I could still hear something.
Without knocking, I opened the door and stepped inside. As I closed the door, I turned and gasped.
Derek was hanging from a doorway, shirtless and sweaty, doing pull-ups. I stood and watched him for a moment, silent. I'd never tell him, but daaang I wished I could touch that body. I smiled, giggling internally.
He dropped onto his feet and turned to me, droplets of sweat running down his sculpted chest. I resisted the urge to reach out and grab him, and looked down.
"Didn't think you were coming." I bit my lip.
"Did Scott tell you I was coming?" I looked up just long enough to see him nod. "Had to come sooner or later...I figured it might as well be sooner."
He went and grabbed a towl that was hanging on the couch and sat, and I sat on the opposite end. As he wiped the sweat from his face, I finally looked him in the eyes. Those bright green eyes...I practically wanted to cry.
"Scott...He told me that you were the one who taught him how to control his instincts and...urges, to keep from going berserk everytime his heart rate got up. I saw how well off he is..."
"And you want to be like that too." I nodded. "Like I said before, I don't want anyone in this town to get hurt again, so i'll help you. I can't promise it'll be easy for you..." I smirked, and blushed slightly.
"Just because i'm...a woman, doesn't mean you have to go easy on me." He nodded, and I didn't miss the way his eyes raked up and down my body.
My ears begun to fill with the sound of my own heartbeat, fast and strong. Being around Derek, especially how he was now, it made my heart beat double-time. Head feeling woozy, I gripped the couch with both hands to keep from falling over.
"Well, woman...You should prepare yourself. It might take a while for you to get a handle on yourself. You'll have increased strength and stamina, but less control on things like emotions and inhibitions..." He eyed me again as he said this, and I knew he could hear my heart racing. "Are you okay..?"
I shook my head, just as I slumped against the couch. My muscles began to tense up, and I felt the urge to let myself change, and my eyes filmed over red.
Derek rushed to me and put his hands on my shoulders, looking into my face.
"Ian! Come on, you can't change now...Calm yourself down, you can control this..!" He leaned over me, and put a hand to my face, and turned me to face him. "Come on deep breaths, you can do it..."
Against my urges, I took several deep breaths, and tried to relax myself.
After several tense minutes of deep breathing and tightly shutting my eyes, I felt my muscles loosen and my heart begin to slow. Once it seemed to be back to normal, I took one last breath before opening my eyes.
Derek was still leaned over me, hands on either shoulder, looking worriedly into my face.
"Are you fine?" I nodded slowly. He sat beside me, sliding his hands down my arms, locking them around my wrists. He lifted one of my hands up to his level, and put an ear to my wrist. I looked at him oddly, then realized he was listening to my pulse.
After several minutes of this, he seemed content, and released my wrist. But instead of withdrawing right away, I put my hand to his cheek, and we looked into eachother's eyes. I could see my blue eyes reflected in his green ones, which were filled with worry, and just a hint of desire.
Then I said something I hadn't meant to.
"You coop yourself up in this house all alone, and don't let anyone in to what you're really thinking and feeling...Why?" He looked down momentarily, staring at my left hand, which he'd begun playing with absentmindedly.
"So much has happened, it's just the way i'm used to living...And nobody needs to worry about the things that've happened to me, I can handle it..."
"But not forever...Soon, everything might just be too much for you to bear, and it'll crush you. And...I don't want that to happen." I hadn't intended to say that aloud either, but it was something I meant. I didn't want to see Derek crushed under the weight of his own misfortunes. I don't think I could live with myself if I let that happen.
Derek inched closer to me and put his hands on either side of my face, and looked over me before leaning his face in to kiss me.
He was delicate at first, and a little awkward. Out of practice for awhile, I suppose. Once I put my hands around the back of his neck and curled closer, he got back in the groove of things, and wrapped his arms around my back, pulling me tighter to him.
I felt both mine and his heart rates creeping back up, and as Derek's lips trailed down my jaw, I felt that urge to change again. I pushed him back but kept a tight hold on his arm as I tried to calm down again. He waited silently as I focused on slowing my breathing, and he moved his hand to cover mine.
As I calmed down, our fingers intertwined and Derek pulled me to him again. He wrapped his arms around my waist and I leaned into his chest, not minding that he was still sweaty and shirtless.
"I'm sorry...I should've known that you weren't ready..."
"It's ok...Like you said, I can't expect to have control of myself right away...But if I did, I don't think I would've hesitated anyway..." He chuckled.
"Neither would I..." I placed my hands over Derek's, and he linked our fingers again.
We stayed like that for some time, well into the night. We'd eventually laid on the couch together, still hugging eachother close, hands still locked together. I didn't mind that we weren't doing anything, or that we were silent, for the most part. Nothing needed to be done or said. The moment was perfect without it.
After it'd been dark for a while, Derek fell slowly to sleep, snoring softly into my hair. I got up slowly, unlatching his arms from my waist, and stood. He looked so peaceful while he slept. Much less angry or frustrated.
I looked around and saw a blanket folded on the end of the couch, and shook it out and covered Derek with it. I kissed his forehead before slowly backing out of the room.
As I left the house, I looked up at the sky, admiring all the twinkling stars. I could never see the stars back home, there was always too much artificial light.
By the time i'd gotten home, Rachel and Kay were already asleep in bed, so I headed silently up to my bedroom and shut the door. I kicked my shoes off and climbed into bed, too tired to undress. Then, without the aide of anything, I drifted slowly to sleep.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Ian, get up!" I opened my eyes slowly, blinking several times before sitting up. "Where the hell were you last night? Rachel and I stayed up until 10 at night waiting for you!" I looked at Kay, slowly processing what she was talking about.
"When I got home...you two were asleep."
"Yeah, but where were you?"
"I was...at a friend's house. They were helping me study. You know, catch up on everything i've missed so far." Kay's eyes narrowed. "Honest, I was at a friend's house."
"Okay...Just tell us when you're gonna disappear for 6 and a half hours, alright? Rachel was ready to call the cops. Now get up, you're gonna be late for school."
"But it's Friday..." Kay gave me the get-up-or-i'm-gonna-beat-you look, and I giggled. "Okay, i'm getting up."
She left the room and I yawned, stretching. I stripped and decided to skip a shower, because that'd probably make me late for sure. I put on a pair of stretchy black skinny jeans, my Nikes, and a dark blue V-neck long-sleeve shirt.
As I grabbed my bookbag and turned to leave the room, I heard a faint tapping on my window. I turned and saw nothing at first, then my eyes zeroed in on something hanging from the window lock.
I went over to the window and removed the thing. It was a necklace. On the end of a leather cord was a silver wolf, engraved with black tribal designs. I smiled, knowing immediately Derek had put it there. There were no clues or marks saying he'd left it, but I just knew.
I placed it around my neck, the wolf dangling just below the neckline of my shirt.
When I got outside, Rachel was already in the driver's seat of the car, scowling at me. As I got in, I said "I know, I know, you hate me for being out late."
"You're dang right. Where'd the necklace come from?" She was looking at the silver wolf pendant.
"I've...always had it. I just never wore it." She shrugged and pulled away from the house.
5 minutes later, she dropped me off in front of the school, just as the warning bell was ringing. I waved goodbye and hurried inside, nearly running to my first period. I got in just as the final bell rang.
I looked around and didn't see Scott, and went to sit beside Stiles.
I dropped my bag and sat down, and asked "Where's Scott today?" He shrugged.
"Probably out doing wolf stuff...Where were you yesterday? Scott tried to call you and you didn't answer. Then I tried to call you and you still didn't answer."
"I was...out. Sometimes I go for long walks, if i'm in the mood for it. I could never enjoy nature back home like the way I can here." He chuckled.
"Sometimes I think it'd be nice to get a break from all the nature stuff."
"Well, if I ever go back home to visit, i'll take you with me. Promise." I held out my hand and we shook on it.
"I'll keep you to that. Hey...Where'd that come from?" He was looking down at the necklace, and I laughed internally. Everyone was probably gonna be commenting on it.
"From a friend. As a present for coming to Beacon Hills." The smile on my face grew. "Can I ask you something Stiles?"
"Sure."
"Do you think i'm...good-looking?" He coughed loudly and several people looked over. I resisted the urge to laugh. "You okay?" He nodded, out of breath.
"A little surprised, is all! Why'd you ask me that?" I shrugged. and he grinned. "Thinking about putting yourself out there as single?" I bit my lip. The way he spoke...I could tell he was interested. But he wasn't the one I wanted.
"Yes, but...If you're thinking about us together, i'm sorry..." He looked a little downtrodden. "I'm sorry! It's just...you're already my friend, and I wouldn't want to make things weird."
"It's cool, I get it...Is there someone you're thinking about?" I shrugged again, blushing this time.
"I just want your opinion. Rachel and Kay love the way I look, but I can never get a guy's opinion...They're too afraid to talk to me."
"Why?" I pointed to my hair. "Oh."
"Plus, when I was a freshman back home, some guy tried to grab my butt and I broke his nose." Stiles looked worried. "Don't worry, I won't do that to you. You're too cool." He smiled, looking satisfied. I looked up at the clock and realized we'd wasted half the class talking.
My phone buzzed in my pocket, and I pulled it out and saw that it was Scott. I showed Stiles and he motioned for me to answer.
I raised my hand and the teacher looked at me.
"Can I go out in the hall? It's my mother..." He waved his hand and I sped out into the hall, nearly shouting into my phone. "Scott! Where are you?"
"Outside Derek's house...Since I couldn't find you yesterday, I figured he might've known...Anyway, are you okay?"
"Of course...I'm here in school. Just ran out into the hall to catch this call."
"Where were you yesterday?"
"Like I told Stiles, I was out walking. You tend to do that when it's nice out and you've been living in a city all your life." Scott sighed.
"I thought something happened...Do you think you can meet me at my house? My mom's not home, and it's closer than going all the way to Derek's house."
"Sure, i'll just say my mom went to the hospital or something." I hung up and peeked through the classroom door at Stiles, motioning him to get my bag. He explained something to the teacher and brought it out to me. "Scott says I need to meet him at his house...Think you can tell the teacher something?"
"No problem, just get goin'."
"Thanks!" I reached up and kissed him on the cheek before running out.
My phone buzzed with a text from Scott, giving me his house address. I turned in the direction of town and gripped my bag tightly, and ran as fast as I could down the road. I was in town in to time, and came upon Scott's house within minutes.
I took a few deep breaths and tried to compose myself before going up to the door and knocking. I knocked several times and after a moment or two, Scott opened the door.
"Hey, that was quick. Did you get a ride?" I shook my head. "You ran all the way here?" I nodded.
He turned and led me up the stairs to his bedroom, and I plopped down on the bed, not seeing Derek sitting in the corner right away. I glanced in his direction and my heart skipped a beat. The corners of his mouth twitched at this, and I knew he was resisting the urge to smile.
Scott sat on his computer chair and turned to face us, and Derek straightened up as he spoke.
"We figure it's time you know about everything. A lot has happened up to this point, and most of it not so good. We've made some friends and probably more enemies, and we think you need to know about it..." The way Scott was talking, it was like he wanted me to know these things. As if he'd just called Derek here so it would seem like it was an order or something.
I left that alone, and instead listened to what Scott said.
He told me about how Kate Argent, Allison's aunt, murders Derek's family, and how He, his sister, and their uncle were the only survivors, but then his uncle became Alpha and killed her. Then he went through the stuff I knew about, like him turning and Derek helping him, and Derek killing his uncle. He said some things I didn't know, like how that kid Jackson knew about him and Derek, and how Allison's dad had tried to kill him, and how Allison's aunt tried to kill Derek multiple times.
I was biting my nails for those parts, envisioning Derek strapped to a rack, being tortured by that...demon.
By the time Scott was done, it was an hour later and my nails were nubs.
"...And we need to keep contact daily, just in case. Got it Ian?" I shook my head, glancing Derek's way. He looked indifferent the entire time Scott spoke, even when he described the torture and being shot.
"All this...I had no idea you two went through so much...I wish I would've been here to help you..." I stood and turned, wiping tears from my eyes before facing them again. "I promise I will do anything I can to help you in the future, even if it means getting hurt, or worse..." Derek perked up at this.
"Don't worry, I don't think it'll come to that..."
"Can one of you give me a ride home?" I eyed Derek, knowing he was the only one with a car.
"Derek?" He nodded to Scott and stood. "You'll be okay?"
"Sure." I hugged him briefly and said my goodbyes, and followed Derek outside.
Once we were safely in his car with the doors shut, I smacked me head against the glovebox, cursing to myself. I blinked my eyes, trying to prevent the budding tears from spilling over.
"Ian..." I didn't look at Derek right away. "Ian, please..."
"How could you go through that...You were in a fire, your whole family died, you almost died, and then you had to kill your uncle! That's...It's not right, what you had to go through...And even Scott! He's just a kid!" Derek put a hand to my shoulder and I sat up, the tears flowing silently now. His green eyes filled with sadness as he wiped the salty tears from my cheeks.
"It comes with being one of us...Despite what we may want, we can't have a normal life like everyone else. I'm sorry you had to be introduced into all of this right now..." I shook my head.
"No. Please don't be sorry, you don't have anything to apologize for...It's just...hearing Scott describe those things and how that horrible woman tortured you, it's unbearable..." Derek put an arm around my shoulders and pulled me to him, kissing the top of my head softly.
"It's only 9:30...I guess your friend Kay would still be home?" I nodded, wiping my eyes. "Then i'll take you to my house. You can stay there for a few hours if you want." I nodded and Derek released me, starting up the car and peeling away from Scott's house.