Next chapter is here! DarKxKunoichi said that build is kinda slow and I know that. It's just that I don't want their story to be like "BAM!" they see each other and instantly Allison turns goo-goo and so on and forth. I want to give them chances to get to know each a little more, build a tentative friendship while each are dealings with the things happening during the first season etc. I just hope you don't grow bored of it :/ I promise things will get more interesting soon.
And I just want to say that Allison does have feelings for Scott but she's fighting with her attraction towards Derek at the same time and this struggle will become more apparent in a couple of chapters. Also, I have wanted to see what Derek is thinking through this whole thing and Derek is insisting that I write his side of the story so I am going to. Not sure if I am going to add it at the end of this or make it a separate story. What do you guys think?
Chapter Three: Trust Issues
A shrill squeal followed by joyous laughter filled the Argent home. Allison jumped into her aunt's open arms with enthusiasm. Allison hugged Kate tightly, still squealing, and when they pulled apart from the hug, both women jumped in place with glee. It had been so long since they had seen each and they missed one another. Despite the age difference, Allison and Kate were more like sisters than aunt and niece.
"I don't see you for a year and you turn into a freaking runway model?" Kate exclaimed and Allison could only groan in embarrassment. She sat down in her aunt's bed and brought her legs up to her knees.
"I haven't even showered yet," Allison complained, hiding her face in her knees.
Kate shook her head and resumed unpacking. "Sweetie, you're a knock out. In fact, I hope you have the boys knocking each other's teeth out for your affections." She teased her, a smile on her lips.
Allison grinned, "I kinda have one." And instead of thinking of Scott, like she should be, her mind went to Derek. Allison mentally frowned; she really needed to get over this stupid teenage crush. Scott is where her heart should be. It's where it needed to be.
Oblivious to Allison's inner battle, Kate continued, "You kinda have one? Well you should kinda have a million." Kate whispered, leaning forward with a teasing grin on her face.
The smile on Allison's lips never vanished as she giggled. "Do you need some help unpacking?" Allison asked her, reaching to unzip a bag when her aunt's hands wrapped around her wrist in a vice grip. Allison pulled her hand back with lightning speed, rubbing her wrist. Never had her aunt been so rough with her. She looked at Kate, who wore an apologetic look, and bit her lip.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to be so rough. Just don't touch that bag."
"It's alright" Allison mumbled, watching her aunt leave the room and go into the adjoined bathroom. "Is everything alright with your car?"
"Uh y-yeah, I just needed a jumpstart." Aside from the fact that her dad had said that Kate had suffered from a flat tire, the stuttering give away the obvious lie. Kate never lied to her. What was she hiding now? Why the lie?
Confused, Allison got out of the bed and pursed her lips. "I'll see you at breakfast. I have to get ready for school." She didn't wait for Kate's answer and ran over to her room, shutting the door behind her.
Refreshed after her shower and ready to start the day, Allison bounced downstairs to where she could hear her family laughing. "What's so funny?" Allison asked as she sat down at the kitchen table. She gave a nod of thanks when her mother placed her breakfast in front of her.
"Well," Kate started with a sly grin directed at her dad. "I was just sharing some stories with your mother about your charming father." Victoria covered her mouth to stifle her laugh.
Chris rolled his eyes and placed his empty mug in the sink. "Okay. Enough. Allison, finish your breakfast. You have school."
Allison hummed around a forkful of eggs and picked up the abandoned newspaper from the table. She tuned out her family's banter as her eyes scanned the words on the paper.
Jane Doe Identified. A Family under Attack?
The headline of today immediately caught Allison's attention. Her eyes scanned greedily over the words, absorbing them with a sense of shock at what they contained.
The recent murder that occurred in our backyards has taken a toll on the people of this city. Many questions have arisen and very few answers have been received. The answer we have most wanted to find out has been finally unraveled. Sheriff Stilinski has been able to finally ID the young woman after discovering the second half of the body at the local Hale house which was burned down almost ten years ago taking nearly the whole family with it. The girl has been ID as twenty-five year old, Laura Hale, sister to twenty-two year old Derek Hale whom has come back to Beacon Hills. Derek Hale was taken into questioning as a prime suspect to murdering his sister but was released after forensic anaylsis proved the killer of Miss. Hale to be an animal. However, the question remains: Why another Hale? Beacon Hills will always remember the tragic fire that occurred six years ago, wiping out nearly an entire family. The Hale family was left with two surviving members and a comatose uncle named Peter Hale- he resided in the long term car facility. Now, another Hale has been murdered and one cannot help but wonder if someone is trying to eliminate the Hale family from existence.
"Allison!"
Her mother's sharp voice finally reached Allison and she tore her eyes away from the paper. "What?"
Her mother gave her an exasperated look while Kate looked at her with a calculating look. "I said, are you ready?"
A glance at her barely touched food showed that she clearly wasn't ready but Allison nodded anyways and got up. "Yeah." She kissed her aunt and father on the cheek before running behind her mother to the car.
The café was empty as well it should be considering it was nearly nine at night. This was probably the only café Allison could think of that stayed opened so late and she was grateful of it. Today's dinner with Scott had been disastrous and embarrassing. She couldn't believe that her family had behaved that way. Luckily, he had left pretty quickly. But with the high sense of embarrassment, Allison couldn't sleep if she had tried so she had opted to go to the café that she had come to love. The little place had a very calm vibe to it and the coffee was great. The man behind the counter, who had flirted with Allison before, saw her coming and quickly got her usual coffee ready.
Allison had just sat down at her normal table and was rummaging through her purse for her book when the coffee was placed in front of her. Surprised, she held the coffee to the blond boy. "Thanks but I didn't order anything."
"I know, it's your usual and it's on the house." The blonde male smiled at her and pushed the coffee back. "I'm Matt."
Allison took the coffee gratefully and nodded, holding out her hand, "I'm Allison. It's nice to meet you."
Erick shook her hand and grinned at her. He held her hand for a little too long before releasing it. "It's nice to meet you too." He paused and looked back when the door to the establishment was opened. "I have to get back to work"
Allison nodded and when he was back at the register, she brought out her book and started to read while sipping at her coffee.
The ringing of bells a few minutes later made Allison lifted her head and a bright smile crossed her lips when she saw Derek walk through the door. Her back instantly straightened and her book was shoved into her bag. She clutched her coffee in her hands as he ordered. And when Derek turned around and caught her gaze, Allison's heartbeat increased as she waved at him. Derek waved back slightly but quickly turned around to wait for his order. Allison wished she hadn't seen the slight grimace on his face.
Derek grabbed his coffee and the muffin he had ordered and sighed as he walked over to where Allison was seated. He sat down in front of her but didn't say anything.
Allison looked at him and leaned forward in her chair, "You okay?"
Derek glanced up at her and took a sip of his coffee. "I'm fine."
It was always the same answer, Allison noted. I'm fine. I'm fine. He was never okay, great, bad or anything. Just fine. And it was the biggest lie he had ever told her. Allison knew he wasn't "fine". But she didn't push him because suddenly she remembered what she read in the paper earlier that day and she imagined that he must have been in a bad place at the moment. In a bold move, much to Derek's dislike and surprise, she reached over and grabbed his hand. "I read about Laura in the paper." She paused, gnawing at her lip. "I'm sorry about your sister." She whispered.
Derek didn't remove his hand and actually squeezed her hand. Their eyes met and Allison saw the pain her condolence had brought him. It dawned at her that he must not talk to anyone in town besides her, Stiles and Scott. Or well…he said that they were friends but Scott had made it clear that they were not friends at all. The whole situation confused Allison and that was the main reason that she never told Scott that her and Derek talked.
"Thank you." Derek mumbled, his gaze dropping to the baked good he had on the table. He pushed the muffin towards her with a slight curve on his lips. "Pay back for the park?"
Allison giggled and took the muffin, "How about we share it?" Derek nodded and broke off a piece as a comfortable silence fell between them.
Allison picked at the muffin that sat between them in deep thought. It was odd that no matter how bad or good of a day she was having, when she ran into Derek, the day always got better. It wasn't like they saw each other every day, in fact, the times they did meet were few and between. They always found themselves at unexpected place and unexpected times. But…it was nice. Even now as silence encompassed them, it was comfortable. Allison liked it.
"She was always so protective of me…since the fire." Derek's soft voice broke the silence and it took a moment for Allison to realize that he was talking about Laura. Allison stayed quiet, not wanting to do or say anything that might make him stop talking. A sigh left Derek lips and he raised his eyes to Allison. "After the incident, we ran to New York. We had nothing here and our uncle was practically dead." The grip on her hand tightened. Allison ran her thumb over the top of his hand, a sympathetic look in her eyes. "Laura...she was something else." Derek chuckled and shook his head. The noise left Allison a little breathless. It was a sound she didn't think she had ever heard from him but would love to hear over and over again. "She was so….chaotic. She was disorganized, messy. A real harebrained of a person but… after the fire….that ambition and light about her died a little. She wasn't as loud or fun." A look Allison couldn't quite identify crossed his eyes and the grip on her hand tightened even more to the point of nearly being painful. "I knew from that moment that a part of my sister had disappeared….I just never expected her to be fully taken away from me."
Derek voice lowered to a whisper and this time it was Allison who squeezed his hand and she leaned forward. "She might be dead, Derek, but she's still a part of you. She always will be and she wouldn't want you to feel guilty." Derek's head jolted up and he stared at her with shock. Allison let out a humorless chuckle, "I can see the guilt in your eyes and there isn't a reason for it to be there. You didn't kill her."
Derek narrowed his eyes at her,"You trust people too easily. I can see the trust you already have in me. You don't even know me. "
"Are you saying that you can't be trusted?" Allison challenged him, a playful gleam in her eyes.
Derek chuckled and shook his head, "I don't trust anyone. People let you down."
The look Derek gave her told her that there was more to this story that she didn't know and wouldn't find out anytime soon. "Maybe you just have trusted the wrong people. Not everyone is evil or untrustworthy."
Derek stared at her, looking for something but Allison had no idea what he found because eventually he smiled a small smile at her. "Maybe. And as misguided as your words are, I appreciate it Allison. I think Scott was right. You are different."
"Different?"
The smile grew. "Yes, different."
Review! It gives me motivation to continue!
