After they had driven Scott home, Derek and Lydia rode in silence. It was 10:02 at night when Derek finally turned down her street. Moments later they were in front of her house, an empty driveway welcoming her home. Lydia opened the passenger door and ducked out, standing up and smoothing out her skirt. She glanced back at Derek, who was already looking at her.
"Do you.." She stopped, feeling silly.
"Do I?" Derek asked, taking note of the blush spreading across her face.
"My parent's are never home." She tried again, laughing to herself.
"Get to the point, Lydia." He said, although he already knew where she was going with this. He couldn't control the weakness in his knees.
"Why don't you come inside?" She asked finally, her smile filled with hope. A long pause followed her question. She watched him for what seemed like hours until he finally gave her a small nod and put the car in park. He followed her up the long, empty driveway into her house (even more empty). He followed her up the stairs, followed her past the rows of closed doors until she finally stopped in front of one. He didn't realize what she was doing until the door was open and the lights were on and the piles of mud caked into the bathroom floor were visible. He looked at Lydia, stunned, as she grinned. "You do owe me an explanation, yaknow?"
x
He told her almost everything he knew. He told her how he and Scott had found her in the remains of his old house, miles deep in the woods. How he had taken her home, bathed her and gotten her into bed, how he watched her as she slept and fell asleep by mistake. What he didn't tell her were the dreams he had of her saying his name over and over again until he finally woke up and left.
She seemed to accept the answers, but still didn't seem content. She stood up and held her hand out to him. He looked at her questionably.
"I'm tired" she yawned. "And you certainly didn't have a problem sleeping here last time. Besides, you kept the nightmares away." He felt a smile forming on his lips, but coughed it away, mumbling a "maybe just for an hour or two."
She had grabbed him a pair of baggy sweatpants on the way to her bedroom - "an old pair of my fathers, relax" she explained - before she got changed herself. When he re-entered her room, she was already under the covers.
"C'mon Derek. Don't be such a sour wolf." She giggled. "Plenty of room for the both of us."
He couldn't help the nerves that shot up and down his spine. He crawled into her bed as she turned the lights off. They both laid there, silent.
"Well.. goodnight" Lydia finally said, turning over.
"Goodnight." Derek replied, turning on his side as well. The only physical contact they had were their backs touching, but he could feel her everywhere. Her left foot barely grazing his calf, her hair against his neck, her heartbeat steady against the mattress. He fell asleep to it like a lullaby.
Lydia tossed and turned in her sleep until she finally woke with a jolt. She glanced at the alarm clock on her bedside table that read 2:02 AM. She groaned as she got out of bed, feeling more awake than she has in the past couple of weeks. She made her way towards the guest bathroom, not wanting to clean hers just yet. Too much dirt, too much dirt, she thought to herself. She was in the middle of conditioning her hair when she heard a loud crash. She turned the shower handle off and waited for another sound, but heard nothing.
"Derek?" She called, a little louder than a whisper. She reached out to the shower curtain, hesitating before opening it. She looked out to a crowd of people, cheering. The lights surrounding her were blinding. The boys of the Lacrosse team were all sitting on the bench, watching her. She could see signs reading of affection towards her, could hear the crowd chanting that they loved her, but her eyes fell on one girl, who was crying. Everything was silent as she watched the girl struggling to catch her breath. Her eyes locked on something behind Lydia. The noise returned, almost deafening. Lydia turned around as her eyes fell on a man approaching her. She tried to run, but she could never run fast enough. He was over her now, cold hands against her waist, claws into her skin, teeth against her neck. Her breaths were shallow, one more breath and she was dead-
She jumped, her eyes adjusting to a dark room, her room. She felt a hand against the small of her back.
"Derek, thank God" she sighed. Her relief was short lived as a deep chuckle followed.
"He can't keep you safe, darling. And he can't keep me away."
She recognized the voice, could see the face that haunted her. Peter.
"Leave me alone" she whispered, her heart beating rapidly with fear.
"Unfortunately, I can't. At least, not yet." Peter sighed, sliding closer to her. She could barely catch her breath.
"Are you real?" She asked. He could barely contain his smile.
"Interestingly, that question can also be answered with 'not yet'. I promise everything will go back to normal soon," He promised, as he wiped the tear falling down her cheek. "All you have to do is every single thing that I ask."
He had grabbed her hand, pulled her out of bed and down the stairs. He was talking so fast, she could barely keep up.
"Timing is key, love. Everything needs to happen in the next full moon. The last full moon of winter. Almost like a rebirth." He smiled at her, his face distorted and burned. Lydia held in a scream, closing her eyes and waiting for him to pull her down the rest of the stairs.
The words he was saying finally clicked. "The next full moon is on Wednesday.. my birthday."
"Exactly." He said, as he looked towards the door of the patio. She could see crowds of people around her pool, smiling and laughing. She saw herself with a tray of punch in hand, hosting. A sense of pride filled Lydia's stomach.
"Lydia's birthday is always the part of the year, isn't it?" Peter narrated. "Everyone wants to go to Lydia's party. So we're going to make it a very special one."
"And what if I don't?" She shot back, feeling brave. She saw him smile wickedly. Her eyes glanced back to the patio doors where she saw bodies piled on the ground, blood already staining the windows. She cried out, shielding her eyes.
"I think it's best to make a plan and stick to it, that way no one gets hurt." Peter continued.
"Why me?"
He got closer to her, tilting her chin up to meet his gaze. "Because not only is Lydia Martin extremely beautiful and intelligent. Lydia Martin is immune."
Darkness closed in around her. As she watched his eyes turn from a piercing blue to a crimson red, she finally screamed. But it was too late. Too late.
Her eyes opened to green eyes. Derek. His hands held her face, he looked so concerned. She could feel his heartbeat surrounding her, beating too hard, too quick.
"Where am I?" She asked, not bothering to look.
"You're in your living room. I don't know how you ended up down here. I shouldn't have fallen asleep, I should have watched over you. I'm so sorry." He looked physically pained as his words tumbled out of his mouth. She gave him a small smile, trying to quiet him down.
"I'm fine." She lied. "I must have been sleepwalking." She lied again.
He seemed to buy it, as he helped her to her feet. He brought her to her couch, laid her down and covered her with the throw blanket.
"What time is it?"
"Almost five. The sun should be coming up in about an hour. I'll stay until you fall asleep again, but then I have to go. I wish I could watch over you, I just-"
"Derek, shut up" Lydia sighed. "I'm a big girl. I'm fine. I didn't mean to worry you."
He sat down at the end of the couch by her feet. She wanted to be closer to him but couldn't fight the sleep that was spreading through her body. She fell asleep before she could speak a word.
xx
Derek was half way done with locking Erica, Isaac, and Boyd up when Scott showed up.
"If we're supposed to save Jackson, why are you locking half the pack away?" He asked sarcastically.
"Because we need a new plan, the next time we come in contact with him, one of us is going to be too hurt to heal."
"I get it" he sighed, looking down. "We can't save him."
"I can't seem to stop him, either" Derek remarked. "This is all my fault."
"You didn't turn him into this" Scott protested, trying to reassure him. "This happened because of something in his past. Right?"
"It's a legend in a book, it's not that simple."
"What are you not telling me, then?" Scott said. "I thought being a part of your pack meant no secrets. Derek could read the double meaning of his words.
"Go home, Scott. Sleep. Heal. Make sure your friends are safe. The full moon is coming and by the way things are going? It's going to be a rough one." Scott hadn't bothered hearing the rest of his sentence, he simply stormed off to who knows where. Derek had turned back to his pack, seeing them struggle under the chains and locks they were entangled in. Three safe, one to go: Lydia.