Hello, my lovelies. I finally finished Chapter 9! I'm sorry for the wait, I was camping all weekend and didn't get much access to a computer. Here it is! Next chapter, we'll finally get some explanations about what is wrong with Derek.
Enjoy, and as always, leave me some reviews. They are incredibly motivating and your critiques are extremely helpful.
XOXO - Ryan
Chapter 9
I woke up slowly, my senses coming online one at a time. At first, all I heard was the sound of five steady heartbeats, all but two of them slowed down to the rhythm of sleep. I could hear the crickets chirping outside and the rustle of the leaves in the trees overhead before I was able to hear the sound that made me open my eyes.
"Derek?" Stiles' voice whispered, so soft it was almost silent. I blinked my eyes open, seeing darkness around me. I could make out the shapes of the top of the tent before I turned my head to meet Stiles' gaze. I could see his outline and a few small details on his face. I blinked a few more times, drawing in a deep breath before stretching my limbs out a little, feeling the stiffness begin to loosen from my joints.
"Oh my god, Derek!" Stiles' hands were around me instantly, his arms squeezing at my neck tightly and his entire body pressed into the side of mine.
I shifted, rolling onto my side, glad that I could do so with ease now, the weakness seemingly gone. I wrapped my arms around Stiles and squeezed his small frame against mine, nuzzling my face into the top of his head. I felt his body trembling, jerking lightly as he cried. I moved my hand to the back of his head and 'shhh'ed him quietly, trying to soothe his worries.
"I'm so glad you're okay. I was so worried." Stiles said, louder this time.
"Hmmm? Derek? Derek!" I saw Lydia roll over and open her eyes, taking in the sight of Stiles and I before she gasped and jerked up, waking Isaac and Scott in her haste.
"Derek's awake?" Isaac asked from the far edge of the tent, peering past Scott and Lydia at Stiles and I. I moved to let Stiles go now that everyone was awake but he clung onto me harder. I sat up carefully, pulling Stiles across my lap so he could keep his arms wrapped around my neck and I laid his legs over mine and held on to him tightly.
"Derek?" Scott asked, sitting up and scooting forward to speak to me.
I looked up at him hesitantly. I wasn't sure what had happened to me earlier in the evening and I had no idea about what had transpired since then. I hated feeling helpless and that is exactly how I felt in this moment.
"Do you have any idea what happened today?" He asked.
I shook my head in response, careful not to jostle Stiles who was no longer crying but still wasn't willing to pull his face from my neck.
"Tell me what happened after I blacked out and I'll see if I can somehow piece it together." I said, keeping my tone flat and even.
"Okay," Scott started, "well, you went really pale and I could hear your heart racing faster than I'd ever heard it before so I knew something was wrong. Then you were so weak you couldn't even push my hand away so I knew I had to get you on the ground. That's when we laid you in the grass. It wasn't long until you passed out and as soon as you were out, your heart went back to normal. We tried to wake you up but you wouldn't wake up. You mumbled a few times like you were just sleeping. By this time, it was dark so we moved you into the tent. I called Deaton to ask if he knew what may have happened. He said he would come up here and check on you. However, he called about an hour after that and said that there was a major accident blocking the entire freeway so he wouldn't be able to get here until morning."
I nodded as Scott spoke, focusing on his words intently. I felt Stiles shift halfway through Scott's speech, moving his head back to look at my face, but I kept my eyes trained on Scott. I did, however, squeeze my arms around Stiles' waist a little bit tighter.
"How long have I been out?" I asked. I saw a light shine at the back of the tent and Isaac's face was suddenly illuminated by his phone screen.
"Well it's 1:16 right now." He said, clicking the screen off, "So about 6 hours or so?"
I was taken aback by this. If this had been something as simple as me fainting, which didn't seem likely anyway, werewolves don't faint, then it wouldn't have lasted 6 hours. It came on so suddenly too, completely out of nowhere. I racked my brain, thinking of every possible scenario that i could imagine but i wasn't able to put together even a halfway reasonable explanation. I had been nowhere near wolfsbane, I would have smelled it. Besides, I wasn't doing anything different before I passed out besides looking at Stiles. Falling in love with Stiles, actually. I wondered if it had something to do with the process of picking a mate. My mother and father had taught me about wolfsbane, about all sorts of supernatural creatures although I'm sure that there are a whole slew of creatures that I didn't know about. They never told me much about what happens when you pick a mate, though. I was too young at the time. All that they had told me was that one day I'd feel the bond and I'd know it the moment it happened and I'd be with that person, well they had said wolfactually, for the rest of my life.
"Any ideas?" Lydia asked as she took in my pensive expression.
"No. I don't know what that was. It couldn't have been wolfsbane, I wasn't anywhere near it. I was fine one minute and out the next." I said.
"Well what was going on when you went into that bizarre trance beforeyou passed out?" Isaac asked, scooting forward from his spot at the far end of the tent to get a better look at me in the dark space.
"Umm," I hesitated, feeling the pink blush creep up my cheeks, "well, I looked over at Stiles and the sun was hitting him in an interesting way and it looked…nice," I gritted my teeth, not liking that I sounded like such a lovestruck fool, "and anyway, he looked over at me and the sun was reflecting off of his eyes really brightly and everything around his eyes just went darker and darker until all I could see were his irises. Then you snapped me out of it, Lydia. Then, I passed out." I explained quickly, working to keep my voice rough to try to salvage the dignity that remained after admitting that I had been staring lovingly off into Stiles' radiant eyes as I got lost in a trance of his beauty.
"Really?" Stiles asked quietly, shock coloring his voice.
I turned to look at him, seeing his expression more easily now that my eyes had adjusted to the darkness. There was a deep pool of unspoken emotions stirring behind his eyes. The expression on his face was somewhere in between worried and awestruck, which made my heart flutter.
"Yeah. That's what happened." I said simply, still trying to regain my tough shell in front of the others after having to admit something that I was so embarrassed of.
It's not that I was embarrassed that I got caught staring at Stiles. I could stare at him all I wanted, he was mine. Plus, I wanted to stare at him all the time regardless of who was watching. I was not ashamed of my feelings for him. However, I've never been good at expressing what I'm feeling and being forced to say what was happening out loud made me feel soft and I didn't like feeling that way.
"Deaton said he'd be here in the morning. We should all go back to sleep." I demanded, lacing authority in my voice so we could put this conversation to rest, at least, until tomorrow when I had to rehash it all to Deaton.
The others made noises of agreement and shuffled back into their places. I watched for a moment, making sure that all of my betas settled in okay before laying Stiles down beside me and placing my head back down on his pillow beside him.
"Get some sleep." I whispered softly as I kissed his nose, hoping none of the others were watching.
"I'm worried about you. I don't know that I'll be able to sleep." He replied, staying just as quiet.
"I'm okay, I promise. I'm not going anywhere. I'll be right here in perfect shape when you wake up." I said soothingly, wrapping my arms around him as I pulled the blanket back up around his shoulders.
He looked at me for a moment, examining my face closely as if he were looking for some indication that I wasn't okay before nodding and resting his temple on my bicep. I slipped one hand down to his lower back and lifted his shirt enough to reach a small portion of skin at his hip. Hidden by the thick blanket, I ran my fingertips back and forth along the skin there as I kissed the top of his head. As soon as he was settled in, I felt the weight of exhaustion over me and I let myself slip into sleep as soon as Stiles' breathing evened out.
I awoke to hand in my hair. I could feel Stiles' fingertips dragging lazily against my scalp and I lifted my head to look down at him blearily.
"Good morning. You survived." Stiles said, smiling brightly at me.
I couldn't help but smile in return as I stretched my limbs straight up and down, feeling energy flowing through my lethargic, sleep-stiffened muscles.
"I did, indeed. Good morning." I said, sitting up and looking around the tent.
Scott, Lydia, and Isaac had already gone outside, leaving Stiles and I alone. realizing this, I decided to take advantage of the small opportunity. It was rare to get time alone with Stiles on this camping trip and I didn't intend to waste any bit that we got. Knowing that the pack was right outside kept my head in a better place so I didn't push too far with Stiles. I figured that this was the perfect time to lean in for a kiss.
I looked down at Stiles where he was still sprawled over both his pillow and mine and smiled again. His answering grin was all the incentive I needed and I placed my hand on the pillow beside his head and leaned down, catching his gaze. I saw a twinkle enter his eye as he realized what I was doing and I closed my eyes, parting my lips just inches before his mouth when the zipper of the tent slid open quickly. I froze, snapping my eyes open and Stiles looked at me with an expression that clearly read, "oops."
"Hey, is Derek up yet? I heard your heart- Oh." Isaac stopped talking as soon as he saw us and I considered what this looked like through his eyes.
Stiles was laying on his back and I was leaned over the top of him, our bodies touching at our knees and hips. I had my mouth hovering just inches above his and I felt Stiles' hand at my waist, feather-light. I snapped my head to the side and slipped Isaac a glare.
"Woops! Sorry to interrupt!" He said in a rush, backing out of the tent quickly, sliding the zipper closed quickly.
I turned back to Stiles and sighed when I realized he was giggling. The moment was over and I sat back up, pushing the blankets off of my legs.
"Is he up?" I heard Scott ask from a distance, probably by the picnic bench at the far end of the campsite.
"Umm yes. Very much awake." Isaac responded awkwardly.
I couldn't decide whether I should snicker or blush at his response, knowing that it wouldn't be too hard to guess what the others assume he saw. I flickered my eyes back down to Stiles to gauge his reaction, knowing that he'd be able to hear Isaac although it'd probably be more muffled through his human ears. He was blushing, obviously a little embarrassed, but he had a smirk on his face. Seeing this, I let a small chuckle escape my lips and I leaned down to kiss his nose.
After a small moment of hesitation, I slid my nose against his, moving my lips down to hover over his before pressing a soft kiss to his lips. I allowed his upper lip to rest in the small valley between my own lips and I felt him follow suit with my bottom lip. I soaked up every detail that I could about this kiss, committing the silky texture of his lips and the gentle pressure of his fingertips at my waist to memory. Stiles' lips parted ever so slightly to press the tip of his tongue gently against my lower lip and I felt a strange sensation in my face. There was a tingly rush, as if all of the blood was being pulled down into my lips. The feeling reminded me of the g-force effect that sometimes happened on rollercoasters or long drops. The strange tingling increased, rushing faster and pulling from my scalp and neck now. I froze, completely motionless, and to be honest, a little scared as the feeling spread into my shoulders, becoming a painful tug at every nerve and blood vessel. I had to use my arms to pull my face back away from Stiles' quickly, yanking my body away from his as I sat back on my heels, gasping to pull air through my now constricted throat.
"What's wro-Oh my god!" Stiles shouted as his eyes focused on me after my rough departure from the kiss.
He jolted up, scrambling forward to me, looking closely at my face at the same moment, I heard Scott and Isaac running to the tent.
"Umm, can we come in? Is everything okay?" They asked, hesitating just outside the door. I heard Lydia's footsteps fast approaching as Stiles hurriedly allowed them entrance to the tent.
"Look! Look at his face!" Stiles exclaimed as soon as he was able to see Scott's face through the gap in the tent where Isaac was already crawling in.
What was wrong with my face? What the hell had just happened to me? Why was it suddenly so hard to breathe? I looked over at Scott, trying to keep my face calm but between the gasping and the unbreakable panic that I knew was present in my eyes, I definitely wasn't convincing.
"Woah," Scott and Isaac both breathed in unison, taking a step back.
"What's-wrong with my-face?" I asked sternly, between my frantic pulls of air through my tight throat.
"Can you breathe?" Stiles asked, placing a hand over my chest and another against the side of my neck.
I nodded in response, adding, "barely-but enough-I'm okay." I reassured, looking back up to Scott, willing him to answer my question with my eyes.
When he simply stared at me in horror, I reminded him of my question, "My face?!"
My tone was angry and that made Scott begin to try to stutter out an explanation.
"Umm it's covering in lines. Like black marks-" He was cut off by a slender, pale hand shoving a mirror past him, holding the small plastic frame out to me. I grabbed it roughly, holding it up to inspect my face.
For a moment, I couldn't even recognize my own face. There were deep purple circles around my eyes and a bruise-like greyness in all of the hollows of my face, my temples, my cheeks, around the edges of my nose and the dip between my lips and chin. The remaining skin was much more pale than I was used to seeing it, having taken over an ashen appearance. The most concerning though, were the dark blurred lines covering my face and neck in a web-like pattern. It looked as if all of the blood in the vessels along my face had been replaced by used motor oil, thick and dark. Even the thin vessels at the edges of my eyes were now black instead of red. I turned my face, to the side, seeing the lines looking even angrier along the skin of my eyelids and ear, where the blood was closer to the surface.
I dropped the mirror and began pulling air in more frantically, feeling a tight pressure around my chest, yanking my lungs shut and I pitched forward, keeping my face from hitting the floor of the tent with one hand while I grabbed at my chest with the other.
"Derek?! Your heartbeat is out of control, what's going on, can you breathe? Can you speak?" Isaac was questing, placing a hand on my back.
This gesture made the heavy pressure tighten and I swatted his arm away roughly, probably leaving a bruise against his forearm.
"Derek?! Derek, what's going on?!" Stiles voice was breaking through the haze and I choked out a response, "P-panic-'tack?" I said, my voice changing the statement into a question.
"Oh. Oh, okay, Derek, look at me." He said, I lifted my head and opened my eyes, the room was spinning, tipping back and forth violently and I felt my stomach tighten up, the nausea gripping at my guts. I willed my eyes to find Stiles and I focused on him. His face became fractionally clearer and I tried to hold on to that.
I felt his hand tear my own away from my chest. He placed my palm against his own chest, forcing a calm expression over his face.
"Focus on my pulse, Derek. Count the beats. Slow your breathing, match mine." He said.
I felt his pulse quick under my palm, but not nearly as fast as mine and I started counting, only about half of the numbers that I tried to say even came out with any noise." I slowed my breathing as best I could, still dragging in deep, desperate breaths but I locked in on him.
"Good, keep counting, don't stop. It'll stop soon, deep breaths, in. out. in. out." Stiles instructed confidently. I kept my eyes locked onto Stiles' and kept slowing my breathing. Slowly, I felt more and more air sink down into my lungs, finally dipping past the tight constriction on my throat. Once my breathing was down to fairly normal pace and I felt like I could breathe on my own, I dropped my hand, collapsing my shoulders down. I let my head fall into my hands and I slipped my toes out from under my feet, letting myself fall into a pose resembling a yogic child's pose.
"Are you okay?" Stiles asked after no one else dared speak or move.
I nodded my head without lifting it from my palms. I could feel a tingling numbness in my fingertips and toes and I knew that my arms were trembling from weakness.
There was a long silence before I lifted my head, sliding my hands palm down along the floor of the tent, straightening them slowly, still trembling. I glanced up at the worried faces of my pack and let out a deep breath before I spoke.
"I need to lay down for awhile. Someone come get me when Deaton gets here." I commanded, trying to sound authoritative but after they witnessed my episode of weakness, I could feel my words taking on a plea rather than a demand.
"Okay. One of us should keep watch over you, though, in case something else happens." Lydia spoke up.
The others nodded in agreement and moved to leave the tent, leaving Stiles behind.
"I'm sorry." I said quietly, my voice barely more than a whisper.
"Sorry? Why would you be sorry?" He asked, shyly sliding his fingertips over mine which were still firmly planted on the rough tarp-bottom of the tent.
"I wish you didn't have to see that." I said, leaning my body to the side, collapsing on top of my sleeping bag, my head landing, thankfully, onto a pillow.
"It's okay. When Deaton gets here, we'll figure out what's happening. For now, sleep." Stiles said gently, a motherly tone in his voice and I smiled slightly at this.
"Okay." I said, wasting no time in letting my eyelids slip closed.
