Okay, so I was going to have the third chapter be in Chloe's POV, but I've been persuaded to make it in Derek's.

Disclaimer: I do not own The Darkest Powers

This takes place towards the end of the second chapter.

Overheating, I tried to throw my blanket off in hopes of cooling down, but they wouldn't budge. I tried again and finally realized there was extra weight on my legs.

"Noah, off," I commanded.

I nudged him with my knee, which he was laying on, but my large golden retriever wouldn't budge. I tried again, but he merely stood up and laid down again on more of my legs. I sighed and looked over at my clock. Just after midnight. Sucking it up, I laid my head back down and closed my eyes.

I was almost asleep when a knock on my door roused me. It woke up Noah, too. Scrambling off my bed, he ran to the bedroom door and waited for me to open it. I grabbed a pair of sweats and pulled them on. Making sure to keep Noah in the bedroom, I shut the door behind me and headed for the front door. I looked though the peephole and sighed. Her again. Unlocking the door, I opened it and said, "Huh?"

She was staring at my chest for a second before she answered. "I-I uh." She cleared her throat and finally looked me in the eye. "My name is Chloe Saunders. I live across the hall."

No duh. "I know," I said. I rubbed my eyes, trying to wake up a little and said, "Can I help you?"

"I'd like to offer you a proposition," she said. She straightened her back, but I could still see she was nervous.

And this can't wait until morning because? "What kind of proposition?"

"I want…I want a baby," she said.

Huh? Confused, I said, "Okay?"

"What I mean is that I want a baby, but I need…I need sperm," she said. What, is she looking for an address to a sperm bank or something?

"What does this have to do with me?" I asked.

"I want your sperm," she blurted.

Her answer was completely unexpected and I was momentarily dumbfounded. I thought she was weird before, but this takes the cake. Stepping back, I started to close my door when she jumped at me and yelled, "No!"

I flinched in response and shoved the door harder. She stopped it though and I asked, "Is this some kind of joke?"

"No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said anything," she said. She dropped her head in her hands and muttered to herself, "What is wrong with me?"

I know I should have closed the door right there and headed to bed, but my curiosity got the better of me. Hesitantly, I asked, "Why do you want my sperm?"

She took and deep breath and, without looking at me, said, "I want a baby. I can't afford adoption and I can't afford a sperm bank."

Okay? "And how do you plan on getting my sperm in you?"

Her face turned bright red and she said, "Well...I…you know."

Uh… I leaned against the door frame to seem more composed and said, "Let me get this straight. You want me to sleep with you so that you can get pregnant?"

She seemed almost desperate when she said, "I know it sounds crazy, but after I get pregnant, I will leave you alone. You won't be responsible for anything. I won't ask for money or anything, I promise. I just can't afford anything else and I don't want to go down to the bar and pick up some random guy and you seem like a stable, nice guy."

I didn't know what to say to that. I mean, here I was, getting asked to basically sleep with somebody I barely knew and I was expected to get her pregnant. And then after, I was allowed to just go on with my life as if it never happened.

"I'll even pay you," she said.

Surprised, I said, "You willing to pay me to get you pregnant?"

"Way not to sound like a whore," she mumbled to herself before answering me, "I don't have much, but I can."

I heard my phone going off and I looked towards it before looking back at Chloe. Knowing it was probably an important phone, I needed to end this conversation fast without seeming like an ass. I sighed and awkwardly rubbed the back of my neck. "Look, let me think about it."

"Okay," she said, looking down at her hands, which I could see were trembling.

I nodded and shut the door. I rushed to the phone, which was on my nightstand, and answered, "Hello?"

"Hey, bro," Simon said.

"Is everything okay?" I asked. "Is Megan okay?"

Megan is my six year old niece and Simon's daughter. She has had some health problems recently and we were all worried. The doctor said she was going to be okay, but we weren't going to listen to him until she showed signs of recovery.

"She's just fine," Simon said. "She's getting some color back and today she even ate an entire bowl of ravioli."

"Thank God," I said, sitting down on my bed. Noah took the opportunity to shove his nose into the phone and sneeze. I jumped back and hit the headboard.

"Noah!" I said. I grabbed a tissue and wiped at the dog snot that was now on my phone.

"Geez, dude," Simon said. "Are you coming down with something?"

"That wasn't me," I said, half-glaring over at Noah, who was watching me with his tongue hanging out. "Noah was saying hi."

Simon laughed. "Did I ever tell you I like your dog?"

"Many times," I said.

"What took you so long to answer the phone?" he asked.

"I was talking to someone at my door," I answered.

"Who knocked at your door at this time of night?" Simon asked.

"My neighbor," I said. "She…she offered me a deal."

"What kind of deal?" Simon asked. "Must have been important if she was asking you now."

"I think she was only asking now so that she wouldn't lose her nerve," I said.

"That sounds like an embarrassing deal," Simon said.

I sighed and said, "Kinda. You doing anything tomorrow?"

"Nope," he said.

"Why don't you come over and I'll tell you then," I suggested.

"That's like an hour and a half drive," Simon said.

"I'll reimburse you for the gas. And I know that Noah's been dying to see Megan," I said.

"Same on this end," he said. "Alright, I'll be there around eleven, okay?"

"That works," I said. "See you then."

"Bye," he said and hung up.

I set the phone down and looked over at Noah. "Don't think I forgot about you're little addition to the conversation."

He answered by launching himself at me and licking me right across the face.

"Ugh," I said and pushed him back. "How is over-salivating evolutionary beneficial?"

I wiped the drool off with my arm and remembered my neck. I walked into the bathroom and flipped the light on. I could see where he sneezed on me. Like my phone, there were spots of his snot. I grabbed a washcloth, wet it, and rubbed at my skin. When I was satisfied that it was gone, I turned off the light and headed back to bed. Noah was waiting more me in my spot, but he leapt out of the way so that I could lie down. Once I was comfortable, I thought about Chloe's proposition. I'm sure that if it was Simon, he would have said yes instantly. Me on the other hand, I wasn't so sure.

…,,,…

"Wait here and no barking," I said to Noah as I grabbed my keys and opened the door. He didn't usually bark uncontrollably, but there was always the chance. I already had to pay a boatload extra money to keep him in the apartment. I didn't need to pay more because he disturbed the other residences.

I stepped out and locked the door behind me. Before walking to the stairs, I glanced at Chloe's door and shook my head. Later. Continuing on my way, I walked down to the lobby and out into the street. I didn't usually go out for a morning coffee, but after my night, I was going to indulge myself.

Once I had a large, black coffee firmly in my hand, I checked my cell phone to see if I had any messages from Simon. None from Simon, but one from Tori. It was a voice mail. Entering my password, I held it up to my ear and listened. After five minutes of hearing her complain about some bitch at work, I deleted the message and shoved my phone back in my pocket. Just as I walking back into the apartment building, I heard my name being called and I looked over. Simon waved through a crowd of people, Megan held against him with one hand. She saw me and started bouncing and squirming.

"Hey, bro," Simon said.

"Hey," I said. "Hi Megan."

"Hi," she said, smiling. There was a gap where her front tooth should be.

"Looks like someone started losing her baby teeth," I said.

"The tooth fairy gave me five whole dollars," she said. She was now grinning from ear to ear.

"Five dollars?" I said, looking at Simon. He shrugged and I shook my head. He spoils her rotten, but in all honesty, we all do. "Come on up."

"Will do," Simon said.

I held the door open for him and followed after him. I led the way up the stairs and to my door. I couldn't hear him, but I knew Noah was sitting on the other side of the door waiting for me. I was proven correct when a black, wet nose pressed through the crack.

"Noah!" Megan said, increasing her bouncing.

He sneezed and she started giggling. I carefully opened the door and held Noah back when Simon followed after me. He set Megan down on the couch and Noah jumped up after her. He laid his head on her lap and stared adoringly up at her.

I headed into the kitchen and pulled out a chair. "She looks better."

"She's doing a lot better," Simon said, smiling at his daughter. "She still gets tired easily, but she's running around more and she's getting her appetite back."

"You mentioned that last night," I said. "I'm glad she's okay."

"So you said something about an embarrassing deal with your neighbor," Simon said, leaning back in his chair.

I groaned. "Yeah. She, uh, she wants a baby."

"A lot of women do," Simon said.

"Yeah, but she kinda needs the other half of the equation," I said.

"I'm not following," Simon said, looking confused.

"You know, she has the eggs," I said, hoping I didn't have to say it.

"Yeah. And?" he asked.

Sighing, I said, "She wants a baby. But she needs a guy to help make it."

"Why doesn't she just adopt?" Simon asked.

"She can't afford it," I said. "And she can't afford a sperm bank, either."

"So, what does this have to do with you?" he asked.

"She wants me to be that guy," I said.

"Hold on," Simon said. "She wants you to be the father?"

"In a technical sense, yeah," I said.

"How the hell is she going to get your stuff?" he asked.

I raised my eyebrows and his eyes went wide. He sputtered out a laugh and said, "She wants you to get her pregnant? The old fashion way?"

"Yup," I said, sipping my hot coffee.

"Oh my god," he said, catching his breath. "I am so glad I came here. Are you gonna do it?"

"I don't know," I said. "I'm not sure it's a good idea."

"Not a good idea? Dude, she's asking you to have sex with her. Why the hell would you turn that down?"

"She seems a little weird," I said.

"A little weird?" Simon said. "You should see the women I've dated."

"I'm just not sure. She said that all I had to do was to get her pregnant. After that, I didn't have to be involved in any way. Basically, I could pretend it never happened."

"And you're going to turn this down? Are you crazy? A chance like this comes once in a lifetime, if ever."

"It just doesn't seem like a good idea," I said. "I don't think I'm going to do it."

"Suit yourself, but you're turning down the best offer of anything you're ever going to get," he said.

"I'll regret it later, I know I will," I said sarcastically.

"So, did you get a message from Tori, too?" Simon asked.

"Yeah. I only listened to part of it though," I said.

"Lucky you. My phone wouldn't let me delete it unless I listened to the whole thing," he said. "How she can rant about one person for like ten minutes straight is beyond me. I don't even know what was so bad about the 'bitch' from work."

"From what I gathered, Tori's after some promotion, but the boss favors someone else," I said.

"Isn't she sleeping with her boss?"

"Which explains why she's so pissed off," I said. "But I'm sure the other woman deserves it more than Tori does."

"She probably has more experience," Simon said.

"Which Tori doesn't even care about," I said.

"I don't even know how you can live in the same city as her."

"I never see her, so it doesn't even seem like I am," I said.

"At least Hannah cancelled her wedding," Simon said. "She's my favorite cousin, sure, but I didn't exactly want to see Tori."

"I know exactly what you mean," I said.

"Derek," Megan said, coming up to me to and tugging on my pant leg.

I scooped her up and set her down on my lap. "What can I do for you?"

"Can I watch TV?" she asked.

"Of course you can," I said, "Just let me find the remote."

Once that was accomplished, I sat back down at the table and continued my conversation with Simon. We talked for a few hours about what was happening in our lives and then he left around five in the evening. I was alone again and I looked over at Noah.

"What do you think? Chinese?" I said. His smiled his own version of a smile and I nodded. I picked up the phone and placed my usual order, with an extra order of Mu Shu Pork for Noah. He behaved well today and he deserved a reward.

While I was waiting, I occurred to me that I hadn't gotten my mail. Stepping out of my apartment, I saw Chloe opening her door. Bad timing. She stopped and froze when she saw me. Her face went red again and she looked down.

"Hi, Derek," she said.

"Hi," I said. She started going in, but I gently touched her elbow. She stopped and turned around. Exhaling heavily, I rubbed the back of my neck and said, "Look, Chloe. I don't think I'm going to be able to…you know. I know you want a baby, but I don't think I'm the guy to give it to you. Please don't it offensively, but it would just be, well, awkward."

She bit her lip and nodded. "That's alright. I understand. Thanks for considering it."

She looked a little defeated and I felt guilty. I watched her walk into her apartment and then I heard the lock click. Shit. I sighed and left to get my mail. And I thought sleeping with her would be awkward.

And chapter three is done. I actually thought this would be shorter than my other chapters, but guess not. The next chapter is going to be in Chloe's again. There will be more of Derek's later on, I promise.