Yay, you guys liked the sibling feels :3
Shout out to:
*Serena Sterling-Your reviews are fine, i'm grateful you take the time out to do them in the first place :) But thank you :)
*Tesla424-It was :)
*bluerose921-You're welcome :)
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The next evening
Derek and Jessie drive in silence. It's not a comfortable silence though and it's making the air thick and hard to breath in. They've been on good terms since the other night, since they finally opened up and let each other in instead of trying to do this strong, silent crap that was slowly killing them both. No, things aren't perfect between them and yes, they're bound to have another fight but right now, they're okay.
"Derek." Jessie says.
"Hmm." Is his response as he keeps his eyes on the road.
"Derek." She says again. He slows to a stop at a red light and turns to her.
"What?" He asks.
"What's going on with you?" She asks. She's noticed since he got back today, he's been acting..off. Unsettled.
"Nothing." He says, turning back to the road and driving. He hates that he's almost always troubling her with his crap, but he couldn't keep her nose out of his business if he tried. And honestly, his business is her's and her's is his. It's the way it's always been since the fire. Being in each other's business lets them know the other's okay and not in any kind of trouble. Sometimes they forget that's why they do it, sometimes anger or frustration gets in the way of that. Sometimes they forget they're the way the are because they've suffered things like this already, at a much worse, much more heart-breaking level.
"Do I really have to repeat myself again?" She asks him. "You been acting weird ever since you came back from the house." She points out. From the moment he walked in the door, she knew something was wrong..again.
"What do you want me to tell you?" He asks her.
"The truth."
"Hmm, alright." He nods. "Scott's not coping all that well. He might have been the one that attacked the bus driver. I'm no closer to finding the alpha. I have no idea who he, or she, is. I can't do anything to help Laura." He says, sounding more and more angry. "Is that what you wanted to hear?" He asks Jessie. She looks into her lap, not wanting to return his snapping and start a fight when they've just pulled themseles out of one. "I didn't think so." They're quiet for awhile. She knows her brother, they've faced hardships before like you wouldn't believe, they've struggled even worse..some bumps in the road like these ones aren't what's got his panties in a bunch.
"What else?" She asks.
"There's nothing else-"
"Don't lie to me." She says, cutting him off boldly. He glances at her, a warning look on his face. "Just stop lying to me. I might not have the super wolf hearing that you have, but I don't need it. I know you, I know when you lie to me. Just..stop lying." She says. She's not normally this lippy with him but Jessie's really not in the mood for his strong, silent crap today. Call it PMS, call it whatever you want, she's just not in the mood for it. Derek glances at her, picking up on her additional..'sass'. He doesn't want to ask, he'd rather stay out of her 'girl crap'. She lets out a breath to calm herself before she can get too worked up and Derek turns into the gas station. He doesn't get out though. "What happened at the house Derek?" She asks him.
"County came by." Derek decides to answer her, keeping his eyes in front of him though. "I think they're taking the house. Planning to do something else with it." He says. Silence falls between them as she realises what that means. It means they want to tear the house down. But it's not just that. It's what it means to Derek that's weighs on her mind the most. That house, what he's hanging onto here, they want that. They want to take that from him but not just take it, they want to finish what the fire didn't..erase any sign of their childhood. They want to take and destroy one of the few things Derek still cares for. They want to take Derek's home. Jessie's been running from it, but what county might be planning to do doesn't sit well with her either.
"Not gonna happen. They're not taking shit from us." She says, getting out. Derek will admit, he's a little surprised at her attitude, but once again, he's not asking. He follows, moving for the pump.
"Jess." He says. She turns around and he tosses her his wallet when hears the familiar sound of custom V6 SUV engines, one's he's heard before. Jessie catches it, looking at it in confusion. "I need you to pay for the gas." Derek says. Two SUVs just as he expected, one black and one maroon, come in, boxing them in. Jessie looks to Derek for a explaination. "Go." Derek says to her.
"No." She shakes her head. She's not leaving him with whoever these goons are.
"Jessie, go inside." Derek snaps in a low voice. She shakes her head again, going over to the boot. Jessie's not an idiot, she knew it wouldn't be long before something like this happened. Before someone confronted them. She's been 'patiently' waiting for it actually.
"Nice ride. Black cars though, very hard to keep clean." A blue-eyed man says, rubbing his thumb on the Camaro. Jessie pops the boot slowly. This man's hetchmen watch her closely, wondering what she's doing. "I would definitely suggest a little more maintenance. If you have something this nice, you want to take care of it, right?" He asks Derek. Jessie watches him and his men surrounding her and her brother with narrowed eyes. "Personally, i'm very protective of the things I love." She slips her uninjuried hand into the boot, wrapping it around what she's looking for.
"That makes two of us." Jessie says, pulling her trusty bat from the boot and slamming it shut. Derek shakes his head at her but she ignores him. Like she said, she's really not in the mood for any crap tonight. Jessie sees one of the men reach for the handle of their knife. Her grip on the bat tightens.
"Hey." Blue Eyes says, holding a hand out to the guy reaching for a weapon. "This is a friendly visit."
"Then why does she have bat-" Weapon Guy starts.
"Hey asshole, you came at us." Jessie cuts him off aggressively. And then here's more of the Jessie Derek knows and grew up with. And more of that attitude.
"Rick, stop." Blue Eyes says. "She doesn't have claws, it's just..back-up, right?" He asks, now looking at Jessie.
"Call it whatever you want." Jessie says.
"Get to the point." Derek says, stepping in front of his sister, not liking the way the men's eyes are raking over her. He doesn't give a shit whether she's 18 or not, that is not going to happen. Blue Eyes huffs out a chuckle.
"Like I was saying. I'm very protective of the things I love. But that's something I learnt from my family. You two don't have much of that these days, do you?" Jessie clenches her teeth, swapping the weight between her feet so she doesn't give in to the need to marry her favourite bat to that dick's face. Then her eyes fall to Derek. He clenches his hand into a fist and in an instant, she's not worried about her need to retaliate for that comment, she's worried about his and his wolf's.
"Der.." She says queitly, knowing he'll hear her. Derek hears her, of course. He lets out a breath and opens his hand again. She sighs in relief, seeing they're claw-free.
"There we go." Blue Eyes smiles, putting the wiper down. "You can actually look through your windshield now. See how that makes everything so much clearer?" He turns to walk away and Jessie leans againist the Camaro. Her relief is cut short when Derek pipes up.
"You forgot the check the oil." She sighs when her brother speaks up. Why Derek, why? Blue Eyes smirks.
"Check the man's oil." He instructs 'Rick'. That anger boils again in Jessie when Rick uses the butt of his gun to smash in the passenger window.
"Looks good to me." Rick smirks.
"Drive safely." Blue Eyes says. The siblings watch them get into their cars. Jessie planned to let it all go, to let them drive away, she really did. Rick, the man that just hurt their sister's car, he blows a kiss in Jessie's direction with a wink. Her bat's smashing his back window in before she can even blink or Derek can try to step in. For the third time, she's not in the mood for any crap.
"Stupid bitch-" Rick says. Derek steps in front of Jessie protectively, growling at the man about to advance on her.
"Rick, enough. Drive away." Blue Eyes says. Rick glares at Jessie before doing as he's told. Blue Eyes slows to a stop beside both Hales. "I suggest you invest in some anger management classes, it could be good for the both of you. A family thing, you know?" He says before driving away. Jessie exhales sharply, leaning againist the Camaro again, waiting for the biblically-scaled scowling she knows she's about to get from Derek for being reckless. And he does think about doing that, he does.
"Derek..i'm sorry." She apologises when he doesn't say anything.
"You good?" He asks, leaning againist the Camaro beside her.
"Y-yeah." She nods, suprised by his course of action. "Are you?"
"Yeah." He nods.
"So.." She says. Derek looks at his sister. "If i'm in trouble, just get it over with." Jessie says, looking down at her feet and scruffing them againist the concrete.
"Why you would you be in trouble?" He asks. She looks up at him, finding he's being serious.
"So all that was a smart move to you?" She asks.
"No, not at all. But they deserved it." Derek says. Like he said, he did think about scowling her recklessness, but it was different this time. She did stop and she did think. She held that bat for a good long time before using it. Not like when she saw Scott and Stiles and just attacked them at the school without a second though, maybe not even a first, maybe she did it off pure anger.
"Are they the ones that did that to Laura?" She asks him. He sighs.
"I don't know." He says. "But i'm proud of you."
"What?" Jessie asks, completely thrown by his attitude towards what just happened. She really thought she'd be in trouble for being sloppy and reckless..again.
"You run your mouth more than you should but you stood up for yourself, and you didn't need me to do it. I'm proud. You actually remind me of Laura when you get like that." He says. Derek remembers how fierce Laura was as their caregiver for all those years, he's seeing that come out in Jessie little by little every day. Jessie smiles a little, taking that as a compliment as Laura was an amazing and very strong woman and Jessie looked up to her alot.
"Get like what? Crazy?" She asks her older brother.
"Exactly." He nods. She scoffs half-heartedly. "Let's just hope every guy that gives you that kind of attention gets the same treatment." He says, a smile threatening to break out. But Derek is being half-serious. He would prefer she smashed in every guy's window that so much as looked in her direction. But he knows that's not how it works. Jessie chuckles, pushing off the car.
"Let's not be naive, dear brother." She grins, knowing even he knows how far-fetched that idea is. She's a woman, sometimes she needs to feel wanted. Not loved, that's for men, woman need to feel wanted. Wise words from a wise woman-Gemma Teller. Laura and Jessie loved that show.
"No, let's be innocent and inexperienced." Derek says, raising an eyebrow, daring his sister to say otherwise. And that backfires because she actually does.
"Well, it's too late for that." She says.
"Jesus, Jessie." Derek scowls, face screwing up as he tries to pretend he didn't just hear that.
"I meant for you, jackass." She defends. "Perfect little angel over here." She says sweetly, trying not to laugh. But that's a lie, one mistake in New York not that long ago, on the night of the 6th anniversary of the fire, led her to not be so 'perfect' or 'angel-like'. It was dumb, it was a mistake and she regrets it. But what's done is done, right?
"Angel." Derek repeats, scoffing. He has no delusions that she's an angel. If she's anything like their older sister, and she is, she's no angel. Jessie nudges him at the comment.
"I'm tired, let's go home." She says. Derek nods, getting in. He brushes the glass off the seat for Jessie so she doesn't cut herself. She gets in, giving him a thankful nod for doing that for her. He opens the glovebox and grabs something out. He holds it out to her.
"Take it." He says.
"What is it?" She asks, taking it from his hand. He pulls the sheath away, revealing what's inside. "What the hell?" She asks, a smile coming to her face.
"Laura wanted you to have it." He says. Jessie nods, with a hint of saddness. Derek feels the same pang of saddness in his chest that she does but hides it alot better than she does. "After all that, I want you to carry it all the time." Derek says. He's looking out for her, like he always tries too, like he's always going too. She nods again, swallowing the lump forming in her throat.
"Hell yeah i'll carry it." She grins, looking at the folding combat knife she holds in her casted hand. Black handle with a matte black blade. It's a wonderous piece of weaponary.
"If i'm not around, don't hestitate to use it if you have too." Derek says firmly. He knows she can protect herself, what just happened- exhibit A, and what happened with Scott and Stiles at school- exhibit B, but he'd rather be the one putting himself in the line of fire or in potential trouble.
"Only if I have too." She repeats.
"Which means, you can't go around slashing at people every time they piss you off." He lectures. That's also an impotant point Derek wants to get across too. You can't beat the crap out of werewolves, or humans, or cut them up when they've pissed you off.
"Use it only if I have too and don't slash at annoying people." She repeats back. "Got it." She says. He nods and she tucks it into the back of her jeans. Derek smirks a little, satisfied with her quick acceptance and answers, and pulls out back onto the road. It's quiet for awhile and there's something Jessie needs to ask him. So she decides not too wait and just asks. "Derek..who was that guy? How did he know you?" She asks him. It's a long time before he answers her. It sort of worries her.
"Chris Argent. Allison's father and..and Kate's brother." He says, not looking at her because even after all these years, he still feels ashamed, he still feels guilty and he still feels used for all the things that happened with him, Kate and their family. Jessie thought the blue-eyed man looked a little familiar.
"That wasn't your fault." She says, not looking at him either. She doesn't need to be a wolf to feel what he feels to know he feels all those things. She knows him, she sees his regret, remorse, his sorrow, grief and hurt in his eyes every day. Derek doesn't say anything, because he doesn't have anything to say because he thinks it's all his fault, and they sit in silence the rest of the drive.
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Again, Jessie is badass! Favourite, follow and review!