Chapter Ten

My dreamless sleep that morning was interrupted by someone screaming. I jolted in surprise and sat up to look for any signs of danger, but when I didn't see any I gave my mom a look of irritation where she stood at the foot of my bed.

'What's with the screaming wake up call?' I groaned, bringing my hands to my head to massage my temples.

I swung my legs to the side of the bed and cocked my brow over to my mom when she didn't answer.

'Who is that?' She asked instead of answering me and I followed her pointing finger to the other side of my bed.

Derek was somehow still asleep, or at least he appeared that way but when I focused on his heartbeat I could hear the uptick that meant he was conscious. I couldn't exactly blame him for trying to avoid this situation though.

'Shhh,' I shushed her and stood from the bed, gently leading her to the hallway and closing the door behind me.

'Why are you shushing me? I just walked in on you with a boy—no a man—in your bed and I would like an explanation right now, young lady!' She demanded, her brown eyes were alight with determination and shock.

'Of course you would like an explanation, and you're going to get one,' I said nodding my head and trying to stall for as long as possible.

'Is he your boyfriend?' Mom asked when I was quiet for too long.

'What? No!' I shook my head and I could feel an embarrassed flush rising on my cheeks. Seeing as I could only successfully lie in life or death situations and this didn't really seem to qualify, I decided to tell her the truth and just leave a few things out, 'he's my friend Derek. He came over to binge watch friends with me and we must have fallen asleep.'

'Well that explains why you're still wearing your clothes from yesterday.' She nodded, and I had to hold back a sigh of relief that she seemed to buy my excuse, 'well why aren't you going out with him?'

I blinked at the change in topic and stared at my mom with an expression I had to assume was a mixture of dazed and confused.

'What?' I breathed in surprise.

'He's gorgeous! If I was twenty years younger I would be—,' she stopped talking when I put my hand over her mouth and gave me a questioning look.

'Please stop, he's my friend, okay?' I practically pleaded with her, rolling my eyes when I heard Derek quietly laughing on the other side of the door.

'Okay honey,' she smiled and started to head for Scott's room, but I stopped her in her tracks with a question.

'How was your date?' I asked—I had heard that Scott and Stiles managed to stop Peter, but I hadn't heard mom's version of the story.

'It was going fine until your best friend rammed the car we were driving to the restaurant in!' She muttered, sounding angry, 'after that he ended up taking me straight home.'

'Well that's understandable.' I shrugged, crossing my arms over my chest.

'Yeah,' she let out a little laugh but I could tell she was more upset about this than she was trying to let on.

'If he can't handle a little fender bender then he wasn't for you anyway,' I waved my free hand dismissively, while the other rested on my mom's shoulders, 'you deserve someone whose a little braver, who can handle anything. This Peter guy sounds live a complete wimp and you, Melissa McCall deserve someone who could survive a fender bender and still take you on a romantic dinner date.'

I saw tears in her eyes, but much to my relief they were happy tears. I pulled her into a hug, listening to her heartbeat and I was glad to hear that it was steady—if she had been upset it would have been much faster and irrational.

'I love you hermosa, dulce niña.' She pulled back from the hug and caressed the sides of my face.

'I love you too,' I rolled my eyes and then smiled, 'eres la hermosa, mi querida madre.'

She let out a delighted laugh and tucked my hair behind my ear before placing a kiss on my cheek.

'I'm gonna go and make some breakfast. Do waffles sound good?' Mom asked, offering me a bright smile as she made her way to wake up my brother.

'Sounds great, mom.' I smiled brightly, 'are you off today?'

'No, but I'm not in until one so I have some time to meet this elusive friend of yours,' she grinned at me before stepping into Scott's room and shouting at him to get up.

I felt my eyebrows shoot up in surprise and it took me a moment to recover and turn to open my bedroom door. I stepped inside and slammed it shut, rolling my eyes at the wolf that was still trying to pass as asleep on my bed.

'Derek, you're not fooling anyone.' I rolled my eyes when he still refused to move but I couldn't help the smile that formed on my lips when I saw his own turn up into a smirk.

I walked over to his side of the bed and ripped the covers off him but before I could do anything else I was suddenly underneath him on the bed. I blinked up at him in shock and couldn't help but burst out laughing when I realized what had happened. I was hoping he didn't notice my heartbeat pounding in my chest due to his proximity; maybe he brushed it off because his own heart was beating fast.

'A Friends marathon?' he asked in amusement, his blue eyes were sparkling.

'You have something against one of the best comedy sitcoms in America?' I said sarcastically, bringing my hand to my heart dramatically, silently begging it to slow down, 'I'm sorry Derek, but this friendship cannot continue.'

He laughed a genuine laugh that lit up his entire face with happiness and made his eyes sparkle and I found myself smiling in reaction.

'Maybe you're right. I need friends who have better taste in television.' He smirked, his voice teasing.

'Excuse me, Derek Hale but I'm not the one with questionable taste if you're the one who doesn't like Friends.' I insisted, pursing my lips in thought, 'have you even seen Friends?'

'Well…' he ducked his head and pretty much rested it on my chest while he shook with silent laughter. Okay if my heartbeat hadn't been going crazy before, it definitely was now.

'How can you make a judgment if you haven't even seen it?' I practically shrieked, smacking his shoulder, 'that's it you're watching it right now.'

I tried to roll him off me but because he was holding onto my waist and wasn't expecting me to change our position, I ended up on top of him. Derek blinked and cleared his throat—I heard his pulse pick up a little before it returned to a steady rhythm. I was internally cursing my own heart for not being that calm and collected as I pushed off him as if we hadn't been in a compromising position and headed to the T.V. to put on the very first episode of one of my favorite T.V. shows.

'We're really doing this?' Derek scoffed, sitting up on my bed and putting a pillow between his back and the headboard to make himself more comfortable.

'Yup. We have time for one episode before breakfast is ready, so prepare to be blown away.' I declared.

'What are you doing?' He asked with a confused frown when he saw me ruffling through my drawers.

'I'm gonna put some comfy clothes on, jeans are not fun to sleep in. Thank god I had the common sense to take off my jacket.' I mused, grabbing a one of Stiles' old t-shirts and some sweatpants.

'You're kidding right?' he said, laughter in his tone.

'No, why?' I frowned.

'I told you that you needed to take your jacket off and you made me take it off for you,' he rolled his eyes almost affectionately.

'I did?' I laughed in amusement before wondering, 'how did you end up staying anyway?'

'You wrestled me into the bed and wouldn't let me leave. Every time I tried you'd cry out you were cold and then hold me tighter.' He shook his head in disbelief and I turned towards the bathroom to hide the embarrassed flush on my cheeks.

'Sorry,' I bit my bottom lip and looked at him over my shoulder, 'I didn't mean to force you to stay. Next time get Scotty to help you.'

'I tried that, after he accused me of hurting you and realized you were just tired he patted my shoulder and wished me luck.' He said, deadpan before his eyes softened slightly, 'and I didn't mind.'

I bit my lip to hide my smile as I offered him a nod and a thumbs up that was very Stiles before I dove into the bathroom. I resisted the urge to bang my head against the wall before I changed—trust Stiles' characteristics to rear their head at the most inopportune moments. I threw my dirty clothes into my hamper and brushed my teeth, I was just walking out of the bathroom and tying my hair into a messy ponytail when Scott decided to join us in the room.

'Morning Scotty.' I greeted him brightly, ruffling his already messy hair.

'Morning Stace,' he yawned, scratching his bare chest, his eyes followed me as I joined Derek in the bed. He did a double take when he saw the blue eyed wolf beside me, 'Derek? What are you doing here?'

'Your sister forced me to stay last night.' Derek answered; the calm carefree version of him had disappeared as soon as Scott walked in. He was temporarily back to being the broody, stoic man we had first met in the woods.

I shrugged when Scott looked over to me, not feeling like explaining, 'did you need something? Because I'm trying to educate Derek on good T.V.'

Scott frowned and looked over to what we were watching; his face broke into a grin when he saw what it was, 'you and your Friends obsession.'

'I am not obsessed, thank you very much,' I rolled my eyes and pulled my comforter up over Derek and I, shifting to get comfortable.

'Are we gonna talk about what reason he gave you to trust him enough to let him sleep in your bed?' Scott crossed his arms over his chest and gave Derek and I a pointed look.

I looked over to the blue-eyed wolf, cocking my brow in question, silently telling him that it's his story to tell. Derek rolled his eyes slightly but looked over to Scott with a slight huff to tell him what he told me last night.

'So you're on our side?' Scott clarified.

'Basically, yes.' I nodded in agreement, laying my head on Derek's shoulder.

Scott's eyebrows shot up at how comfortable I was acting around the older male before he nodded in acceptance and looked over to Derek. Scott's expression turned into a frown before he spoke.

'Stiles is coming over after breakfast—he wants help studying for the chemistry final tomorrow.' He said, running his hand through his hair.

'And you're helping him?' I asked in amusement.

'Actually we were hoping that you could give us a hand? I need at least a B in this test so that my grades are good for me to play lacrosse next semester.' Scott said, his eyes pleading with me to help him.

'I'll help you Scotty, but I thought Stiles usually helped you study?' I frowned, knowing our brown-eyed friend was more than capable of getting an A in chemistry.

'He usually does, but with everything that's been happening he hasn't been keeping on top of things and he's a little stuck on a few topics.' Scott scratched his head guiltily and I could relate.

'I got it. I'll help, no problem.' I told him with an earnest smile.

'Thanks, you're the best!' my twin grinned; showing off is dimples before he darted from the room.

'Okay, we should be able to watch this without being interrupted now.' I muttered, my head still resting on Derek's shoulder.

Derek merely offered me a hmm of agreement as I turned the T.V. up and played the episode. Before we were called down for breakfast, I caught Derek suppressing laughter twice. If I hadn't made such a deal out of it I'm pretty sure he would have laughed more.

'Go on then.' I said to him as we entered the hallway to head downstairs.

'Go on what?' he asked with a blank expression that wasn't fooling me.

'I'm ready for your admission.' I told him, sending a quirked brow over my shoulder.

When he remained quiet I shook my head, amused by his stubbornness.

'Fine, don't say it, but we all know you're now a Friends fan,' I said in a singsong voice, laughing when he gave me a dry look.

Derek and I were the first ones to the kitchen; I assumed Scott was just getting out of the shower or something, because usually he couldn't run fast enough to get to Mom's waffles.

'They smell delicious momma.' I commented as I took my seat at the table after grabbing my plate.

'They do, Mrs McCall. I'm Derek by the way, I'm sorry for shocking you when you came in this morning.' Derek said in the politest tone I had ever heard him use. He offered her his hand to shake and she took it without hesitation, offering him a warm smile.

'Please call me Mellissa, and it's fine I don't mind you staying over but it would have been nice to get an introduction first.' She gave me a pointed look that I returned with an innocent smile.

'Won't happen again,' I promised her as she and Derek came to sit at the table.

With introductions out of the way, breakfast passed pretty normally, aside from mom making comments about how nice of a boyfriend Derek would be to "someone" someday. Scott came down five minutes later, but he was gone just as fast as he scoffed his breakfast down, kissed Mom's cheek and ran back upstairs. I assumed he was getting ready for Stiles' visit, or he was uncomfortable with Derek's presence. Which I couldn't really blame him for; Derek's guard was always up around everyone else, he didn't get to see the glimpses of the real Derek like I did. For some reason, I had earned a smidgen of Derek's trust, enough for him to be a little more comfortable around me than he was with anyone else. I'm sure Scott would earn it too, just like I had—though I wasn't one hundred percent clear on how I had but that didn't matter.

'Thank you for breakfast.' Derek said to my mom who offered him a bright smile.

'You're welcome, and you're welcome here anytime Derek.' My mom told him before giving me a pointed look that made me roll my eyes.

'I'll walk you out.' I offered—he had already been upstairs to grab his shoes, jacket and keys so he was ready to leave.

'That was… interesting,' Derek murmured as I opened the front door.

I huffed because I knew he was referring to the not-so-subtle hints my mom had been dropping over breakfast. Why she was so eager for me to have a boyfriend all of a sudden, I didn't know.

'Yeah I don't know what came over her. I think the date Peter took her on last night has stirred some ideas.' I gave him a pointed look that made him roll his eyes.

'I didn't know anything about that. He told me to go to Jackson but wouldn't give a hint over what he was doing.' Derek told me, allowing me to see the sincerity in his eyes.

'It's fine,' I shrugged, smiling in amusement when I remembered what had happened, 'it all worked out.'

'I heard,' he tapped his ear; reminding me he had been listening to our conversation in the hall earlier.

'Mmm hmm,' I hummed, not looking him in the eye because I didn't want to address the other comments my mom had made during that particular interaction.

'Well I should go. Peter's going to want to know what happened with Jackson.' Derek said, his expression suddenly sobered when I looked up to him.

'He won't hurt you will he?' I asked in a small voice, worry for him forming in my gut.

'He should be fine when I tell him it was you who stopped me.' He shrugged, but he didn't seem so sure of that.

'Yeah blame it all on me, that's fine, I can handle Peter,' I waved my hand dismissively as I tried to act confident.

Derek gave me a look that was both doubtful and amused. He was about to leave when I surprised us both and leaped into his arms, hugging him as hard as I could. I was pretty sure I heard a few bones crack, but he didn't complain and instead returned my embrace with equal enthusiasm.

'Be careful,' I mumbled into his neck, fighting back the tears of fear that were attempting to form in my eyes.

'I will,' he assured me, giving me one final squeeze before he turned and left.

After the blue-eyed wolf drove off, I headed to my room to grab the necessary supplies to help both Scott and Stiles study and headed over to my twins room to set up. We had all studied together hundreds of times, though it usually took place in silence with the occasional question to clarify something we weren't sure of. Today though, it seemed all attention was going to be focused on me, and seeing as it would only be Scott and Stiles I was fine with it.

'Are you ready for this?' I asked my twin who was sat on his desk with a concerned expression on his face, 'you look a little worried.'

'No, I'm fine. It's just if I don't get my grades up next semester there's a chance I'll have to repeat sophomore year.' He sighed.

'That won't happen, Scotty. I'll make sure of it, even if I have to physically force you to study every night.' I assured him, getting up from the bed and leaning down to give him a hug.

'Thanks Stace.' He murmured into my hair and I squeezed him a little tighter in response.

I had just pulled away when our overactive friend burst through the door, eyes on his phone but talking a million miles a minute.

'Hey guys, so I was looking at the prices for the tickets for the formal next week and they're actually pretty affordable, I already have my tux rented and once I have the tickets I'll be ready… though I'll need a date seeing as you'll be going with Allison,' Stiles gestured over to Scott without looking at him but then he paused and slowly looked up from his phone and over to me, his eyes pleading, 'Stace will you go to the dance with me? As friends?'

'Sorry Stiles but I'm working and I hate dances.' I told him firmly, not allowing his puppy dog eyes to shift my decision, I held out my hand palm up, 'give me your phone, you'll get it back at the end of class.'

'Fine,' he huffed, handing it over like I had asked him to take off his arm.

I rolled my eyes and pocketed it before turning to my twin and offering him the same treatment. He sent off a text to Allison and then handed it over with a smile.

'So, this is the syllabus containing all the topics we've gone over in chemistry this semester.' I held up two copies that I had printed off, giving one to each of them before holding up two red highlighters, two yellow and two green, 'go through each of them, mark the ones you're confident in with green, ones your not sure of with yellow and ones you need all the help you can get with in red.'

We lapsed into a comfortable silence for five minutes while they followed my instructions and I took the time to scroll thorough my phone and I was about to put it away—the drama of Facebook was starting to irk me—when I got a text.

Derek: I just thought, I still owe you a gallon of milk.

Me: That's right! How did I forget about that? I don't need it this week, but I wouldn't pass up some chocolate if you wanna call it even?

Derek: How about greasy food and a milkshake? Tonight? I'll buy?

Me: You have yourself a deal. Pick me up at 8ish?

Derek: You got it.

I tossed my phone to the side, fighting the happy smile on my face because I knew I would only get questioned about it. I saw Scott and Stiles were almost finished with their task and I bit my lip, anxious to get started and stop myself from counting down the minutes until 8 like a typical teenage girl. He was my friend that was it. Just a friend. Maybe if I thought it enough it would eventually become true. Here's hoping.

'Finished,' Scott and Stiles said at the same time and I would have commented on how twinnish that was if I wasn't determined to teach them everything they needed to know.

I accepted the papers back from them and bit back a groan of irritation—the topics Stiles was confident with were ones Scott needed the most help with. Scott had no topics he was confident with, but the bright side was the ones they were reasonably confident with overlapped a little, and so did some of the red ones.

'Okay, I'm going to start you off with the photoelectric effect,' I decided, seeing as both of them had highlighted it in red. I launched into the explanation at a steady pace so that they both had time to jot down their notes and when Scott was still struggling to understand I offered him my notes on the topic and let him read through them while I quizzed Stiles, making sure he had a sound understanding.

That was how the rest of the day went, I went through every single topic we had learned this semester in eight hours. Mom came up and bought us sandwiches for lunch before she left for work, but other than to use the bathroom we didn't leave the room for the entire day. After Scott and Stiles were confident with everything I had gone over, I used a mock final quiz to quiz them on the topics at random, having them write their answers down on a piece of paper and offering them a cookie if they got it right. We had reached that point where we were hungry for dinner, so the food stimulus was welcome in getting them to focus. Eventually we were closing all of our textbooks and notes with a tired sigh.

'That was intense.' Stiles groaned, rubbing his hand over his face.

'Yeah.' Scott agreed, rubbing his eyes, 'thank you Stace, I actually think I might pass this test tomorrow.'

'Yeah thanks,' Stiles said, offering me a sincere thumbs up.

'You're welcome boys, now I'm gonna go and shower and get dressed.' I said, standing from the bed and making sure I had all of my things with me.

'Why?' they asked at the same time.

'Okay you two are spending way too much time together,' I laughed and paused to answer their question with my hand on the door handle, 'I'm meeting Derek for dinner.'

Before they could say anything I was in the hallway and in my own room in a flash, locking the door behind me. Scott probably wouldn't have been that surprised, but Stiles didn't know about Derek's secret alliance so I decided to leave explaining that to my twin. It was seven, so I didn't have as much time to relax in the shower as I would have liked—usually I took at least thirty minutes but when I had to rush I took half that.

Once I was finished in the shower I dried myself off, put my hair into a bun, tossed my towels in the laundry bin and stood in front of my wardrobe deciding on what to wear. It was just a friend hanging out with a friend so I didn't need to get too dressed up, and with that logic in mind I threw on a black denim mini skirt with a white tank top, my combat boots and my leather jacket. I didn't bother with make up seeing as I'd have to take it off as soon as I got home anyway. It was Sunday so I didn't feel too bad about not putting in much of an effort.

I was just putting some money and my phone into my pocket when I heard a horn beep. I headed downstairs, shouting out a general goodbye to Scott and Stiles. After I grabbed my keys from the side table and locked the front door I was walking towards Derek's car, excited for the prospect of a milkshake and greasy food.

'Hey,' I said brightly as I slid into the car.

'Hey,' Derek returned, seemingly amused by my chipper attitude, 'I thought you'd be worn out after teaching those idiots chemistry all day.'

'First of all they are not idiots, second of all I am but you'd be surprised how much the promise of a milkshake can lift a girls spirits.' I mused, my elbow rested on the side of the door, allowing me to prop my cheek up with my hand.

Derek laughed and shook his head, 'I'll remember that if I ever piss you off.'

'You would do well to.' I told him honestly with a shrug, 'Scott and Stiles have bought my forgiveness with sweets plenty of times.'

'That doesn't surprise me.' He mused, absentmindedly tapping his fingers against the steering wheel to the beat of the song playing.

I recognized the song as soon as I paid attention to it—Shawn Mendez' "Treat you better". Without thinking I reached over and turned the volume up considerably as I sang along with the song at the top of my lungs.

'I know I can treat you better than he can, and any girl like you deserves a gentleman,' I sang, laughing through the words when I noticed the incredulous expression on Derek's face, 'tell me why are we wasting time on all your wasted crying when you could be with me instead, I know I can treat you better, better than he can.'

I broke off, breaking down in laughter that I couldn't hold back anymore. I couldn't remember ever laughing that hard—tears were streaming down my cheeks, my sides were hurting and my cheeks were aching from smiling. I turned the radio back down so he could hear me when I spoke. When I noticed the soft look on his face I cleared my throat so that my voice wouldn't break when I spoke.

'You look like you've never seen someone jamming out in a car before.' My tone was still dripping with laughter.

'Oh I have, but not quite like that.' He returned my amusement and shook his head, his eyes flickering back to the road.

'Well what can I say, I take the love of a song one step further,' I smiled innocently when he gave me a sarcastic look.

The rest of the drive was spent in comfortable silence and me anxiously tapping my thigh, trying not to think about how starving I was. I hadn't eaten since lunch and I was definitely paying the price for it. I spent the last five minutes deciding what I was going to order and climbed out of the car before we had even come to a full stop.

'Stacey!' Derek scolded, climbing out of his Camoro with a frown on his handsome face.

'What?' I asked, coming around the car and grabbing his hand to drag him along when he didn't move.

'You can't just jump out of a moving car.' He told me, entwining his fingers through mine and I tried to ignore the butterflies that grew in my stomach as I answered him.

'I can when I'm hungry.' I mumbled, pushing open the door of the Diner—the same one we had come to yesterday.

Derek rolled his eyes but didn't comment and didn't fight me as I dragged him to our booth and practically threw a menu at him. His lips twitched in amusement but he started to look through it and I offered the new waitress—her tag said Sadie—a warm smile when she came over to us. She was a lot younger than Diana, probably not far off my age actually and she returned my smile before proceeding to ignore me when she noticed Derek. I rolled my eyes and waited to see if she would actually acknowledge me.

'What can I get you?' She said, looking at the blue-eyed wolf across from me.

'Do you wanna order first, Stace? I haven't decided yet.' He didn't even look up from his menu.

I bit my lip to hide a smile as Sadie turned to me, seeming a little disheartened.

'I'll take a southern fried wrap, curly fries and a chocolate milkshake please.' I said brightly, feeling my stomach rumble as if it knew I was ordering.

'And you?' She turned back to Derek so fast I thought she had snapped her neck for a second.

'I'll have the same but a water instead of a milkshake.' Derek said, closing his menu and offering it to her without actually looking at her.

'I'll get that started for you.' She didn't try to hide the disappointment in her voice as she collected my menu as well before scurrying away.

'She was totally into you.' I told him as if he didn't already know, 'I'll bet you ten bucks her number is on the bill.'

'I'll take that deal,' he smirked, shaking my outstretched hand once before letting go, 'I'm pretty sure she flirts with everyone and everyone in the hopes of getting better tips.'

I followed his gaze with a frown and saw Sadie offering the same treatment to a couple of teenagers who had just walked in.

'Nah, I still think she'll give you her number—you're way hotter than them.' I almost slapped my hand over my mouth when I realized what I said, but I found myself praying for the ground to swallow me up instead.

Derek laughed, amused by my embarrassment and thankfully took pity on me and steered the conversation to a different topic.

'So what kind of music are you into?' he asked and I smiled at how normal the question was before answering.

'A little of everything. It drives Scott crazy because Stiles and I have the same music taste, during a car ride the songs can shift through Taylor Swift, Eminem and Shawn Mendez with us singing every song.' I shrugged, moving to shrug off my jacket—it was getting a little warm.

Derek's gaze lingered on the exposed skin on my arms and chest before he met my amused gaze. He cleared his throat and I noticed that the tips of his ears had turned red, and seeing as he'd been nice enough to spare me earlier I decided to offer him the same courtesy.

'What about you?' I elaborated at his confused frown, 'what's your favorite music.'

'Ugh, R and B mostly, with the occasional exception.' He replied easily, shrugging off his own jacket and I tried not to let my gaze linger on the muscles fighting to escape his black t-shirt.

'Who's an exception?' I asked curiously.

'Shawn Mendez,' he shrugged with a slight smile.

'Have you ever seen him in concert?'

'Yeah, a couple of times in New York. He's amazing live.' He told me with a small smile, 'have you ever seen anyone live?'

'No, I never really have the time I guess, in between school, volunteering and working.' I shrugged, pursing my lips to hide my frown of disappointment.

'You can't keep doing that you know.' He gave me a pointed look that I ignored, but apparently he was feeing determined, 'you're only sixteen, Stacey, you should be out at concerts with friends and blowing your money on useless crap. Not saving for collage, paying off bills, grocery shopping and doing most of the cooking and cleaning.'

'Maybe I shouldn't be,' I conceded with a casual shrug, 'but if I didn't help out then I don't even want to think about where we would be. Our electricity, our phones and our utilities would have been shut off in the past three months alone. My mom works back to back shifts at the hospital to provide for us and it's never enough, she needs the help Derek as much as it hurts her that I have to help her financially and physically with the chores, she needs it and I'm not just going to sit back and watch the house fall apart if there's something I can do about it.'

I hadn't realized tears had started falling down my cheeks and when I noticed I bit my lip to stop myself from crying harder. I looked down at the table, avoiding Derek's pitying gaze as I tried to pull myself together. I started when he slid into my side of the booth, gently moving me over so he could fit in. He wound his arm around my shoulders and my head went to the crook of his neck.

'I blame my dad,' I said after a few minutes of silence, 'he just left ten years ago after he had another drunk episode and he and my mom were arguing again. The next morning he was gone and ten years later we haven't heard a peep from him. He hasn't tried to support my mom, he hasn't tried to see us and it's because of him that my mom has had to pick up extra shifts at the hospital, she has to work herself to the bone to keep a roof over our head all because he's a shitty dad. I hate him. I hate him so much.'

'He sounds like a dick.' Derek told me bluntly, startling a breathy laugh out of me.

'He is. I can't remember a time when he was a good dad.' I told him in a small voice—I had only ever talked to Stiles about this. I never told my Mom or Scott because I didn't want to bring up bad memories or make my Mom feel guilty. It wasn't her fault.

Derek didn't say anything else, but he didn't need to. He just continued to hold me and even placed a kiss to my hair at one point that made my heart skip a beat. When I'd finally pulled myself together, I pulled away from his neck and wiped my cheeks.

'Thank you. For listening and not thinking I'm a total psycho.' I offered him a sheepish smile that he returned.

'Being angry with someone doesn't make you a psycho, Stacey.' He assured me, squeezing my shoulders with the arm that still rested there.

I was secretly glad when he kept holding me and he didn't return to his side of the booth. Sadie was not impressed with this development when she bought out our food and drinks but I ignored her envious stare and offered her a smile after she'd set our orders in front of us. We ate our meals in companionable silence and I even offered Derek a sip of my precious milkshake—I noticed him giving me a questioning glance when I'd moaned at how good it tasted and decided he needed to know I wasn't exaggerating. He made the quietest sound of pleasure when he tasted it that I wouldn't have been able to hear without my supernatural senses, but I did hear it and I sent him a smug smile that made him roll his eyes.

Before I knew it, it was past 11pm and I reluctantly told him that I needed to get home for some sleep for school tomorrow. He paid the bill this time, reminding me this was him making up for the gallon of milk he destroyed, he even left Sadie a reasonable tip to make up for not taking the receipt with her phone number on it. I was laughing on the way out of the Diner thanks to that little detail and held my hand out in a gimmie gesture.

'Cough it up Derek Hale, I was right, you're dashingly handsome good looks were too much for her to resist.' I teased, grinning when he passed me the ten bucks.

'You win this time.' He rolled his eyes with a smile.

We climbed into the car and he let me plug my phone into his sound system to give him a taste of the music I listened to. I'm pretty sure he regretted it when I pressed shuffle and the first song to come on was "Right Here, Right Now" from High School Musical 3. I grinned and sang the whole song from start to finish.

'You need to learn the Troy parts so we can sing it together,' I told him seriously as the notes of the songs died out.

'Yeah, that's not happening.' He said, giving me a firm look.

'You doubt my ability to persuade, Derek Hale,' I winked at him, laughing when he gave me a sarcastic look before I started to sing to the next song that came on—Avicii "Addicted to You.' By the time we pulled up in front of my house, I hadn't missed a single song from my playlist and I could tell Derek was mildly impressed.

'You weren't kidding about knowing that playlist through and through.' He mumbled, running his hand through his hair.

'I never kid about knowing music.' I said seriously, reaching over to give him a hug. He hesitated in surprise but hugged me back after a moment, 'see you later.' I smiled when I pulled back before getting out of the car.

I waved one final time, which he returned, before I unlocked the door and walked into the house. I smiled when I heard his car drive away a moment later—he had waited for me to get inside safely before he left. I went to the kitchen and decided to cook mom something for dinner that she could take to work with her tomorrow. I suppressed the pang of guilt when I realized I hadn't made her anything to take today as I shifted through the ingredients in the fridge. I settled on a sausage and cheese pasta bake—it was one of her favourite dishes that I cooked and it could be a little apology for my lack of providing food today. By the time I was finished I was turning the oven off to leave it in there overnight and I caught sight of the clock on the counter. 12:30am. With a yawn I left a note on the fridge telling mom where her dinner was and made my way up stairs.

It was when I was tucked up underneath my blue comforter about to fall asleep that I realized this was the first time in a few days that I wasn't going to sleep with Derek next to me. I ignored the pang of loss in my stomach as I forced myself to stop thinking about it and eventually, I fell asleep.

Wednesday, at school.

'That was easier than I thought it would be,' Lydia breathed in relief as we walked towards the cafeteria—we had just finished a test in history, one of the few classes I didn't share with Scott or Stiles.

'Much easier.' I agreed, smiling when she linked her arm through mine.

The strawberry blonde and I had gotten a lot more comfortable around each other since I had stood by her when Jackson was being an ass. We hadn't gotten to the stage of hanging out outside of school hours, but it wasn't uncommon for us to be seen together before and after the classes we shared, a development that Stiles was more than happy about. Mainly because Lydia actually acknowledged him now, in-between classes and at lunch.

'Have you got your dress for the formal yet?' She wondered, flicking her hair over her shoulder.

'I'm not going to the formal.' I told her, mock shuddering at the thought of it.

She pulled me to a stop in the middle of the corridor and fixed me with a horrified stare. I simply cocked my brow in silent question.

'What do you mean you're not going?' She almost screeched.

'Dances aren't really my thing,' I shrugged and continued before she could start yelling at me, 'plus I'm working at the clinic and I can't really get out of it seeing as Scott's had the night off for the dance.'

Lydia sighed in annoyance and defeat, closing her eyes as if to compose herself before she opened them suddenly and pulled my arm to start walking again. I did with an amused smile; I hadn't had any girl friends since Cora, so I wasn't used to this kind of reaction when I said I didn't want to go to a dance.

After we'd gotten our lunch we went over to sit with Scott, Stiles and Allison. Stiles immediately perked up when he saw the strawberry blonde behind me and I had to suppress an amused eye-roll at the sight.

'How did your history test go?' Scott asked me after swallowing the food he had been chewing.

'Good. You had any tests today?' I wondered as I opened my water to take a drink.

'Just econ later.' He sighed, nervous for that test as well.

'You'll be fine Scotty, you knew everything when we studied last night. Remember how nervous you were for chemistry and you aced it?' I reassured him, trying not to go full-sister-mode; I figured he'd be embarrassed in front of his girl friend.

'You're right,' he nodded, offering me a grateful smile.

Lydia and Allison started talking about dresses pretty soon after that—apparently they were going shopping later that day and they both wanted a solid idea of what they wanted before they went to save time. Lydia was certain, but Allison was a little unsure. They invited me to come along with them but I had to decline because of work; Lydia let out an annoyed huff and Allison offered a sad smile.

Scott and Stiles were going over the topics in the econ test after lunch and I was just about to join in when my phone buzzed on the table. I bit my lip to hide my smile when I saw who it was.

Derek: I am NOT watching High School Musical with you, Stacey.

Me: Why not? It's a masterpiece. You already love the music so you're pretty much gaurenteed to love the films.

Derek: I never said that and there's more than one?!

Me: Three films of absolute perfection.

Derek: No.

Me: I will get my way, it would be easier if you just gave in now.

Derek: Never.

Me: We'll see. How are things going with Peter?

Derek: Fine. He's told me to lay low for now—he's planning on making a move next week on the night of the full moon. He figures the moon will make it easier for him to control you and he might be right.

Me: Might be? He definitely is. What are we going to do?

Derek: I don't know yet, but I'll figure out a plan I promise. I won't let Peter manipulate you.

Me: Thanks Derek. I appreciate you.

Derek: I appreciate you too.

I smiled and slipped my phone back in my pocket before picking up my fork and forking some mash potato. It wasn't until I'd put it in my mouth that I realized everyone at our table was staring at me.

'What?' I asked after I swallowed.

'Who were you texting?' Lydia asked with a knowing smirk.

'My mom,' I shrugged, shoving some more food into my mouth.

'I don't smile at my phone like that when my mother texts.' Allison said in a teasing voice.

I rolled my eyes with a smile, 'she sent me a video of a kitten meowing at it's own reflection. It was cute.'

Allison and Lydia shared a look before letting out a disbelieving 'mmm hmmm.' I shook my head, fighting the blush that wanted to form on my cheeks as I risked a glance at Scott and Stiles. Both were regarding me with suspicious stares but I knew they wouldn't say anything in front of the girls.

The rest of the day flew by and before I knew it I was following Scott and Stiles to lacrosse practice. I didn't pay much attention and used the time to study for the biology final I had the next day. I was pretty confident already, but a little extra studying couldn't hurt. I was so enraptured with what I was doing that when Coach blew his whistle to signal the end of practice I jumped. After laughing at my own paranoia, I packed away my things and headed inside to wait for my brother and best friend in the corridor they would exit out of. Stiles came out first and I frowned in confusion when I didn't see a mop of messy brown hair following after him.

'Where's Scotty?' I asked, resting my head on Stiles' shoulder when he came to lean on the wall next to me.

'Coach wanted to speak to him,' Stiles explained with a sigh.

I tried to listen in with my supernatural hearing, but with multiple guys still in there, the showers running and their heartbeats interfering I didn't catch a word. Thankfully, we weren't kept waiting long and Scott came out of the locker room two minutes later, his shoulders slumped in defeat.

'What's wrong?' I demanded, immediately going to his side and winding my arm around his waist.

'I'm banned from going to the dance.' He murmured softly, his head hung in disappointment.

'What? Why?' Stiles questioned as we started walking towards his Jeep.

'My grades are too low. It was either be benched for the whole of next semester or miss the dance. Coach made the decision for me.' He sighed, running a hand through his hair.

'Scotty, it's fine. We're gonna get you to that dance,' I said, my voice thick with determination.

I knew the main reason he wanted to go to the dance was to protect Allison, but I had also heard the excitement in his voice whenever he mentioned it; he was excited to go to his first dance with a girlfriend. I wasn't going to let that be taken away from him.

'Really?' he asked with a bright smile.

'Absolutely, we're a team dude, we got your back.' Stiles assured him, ruffling his best friend's hair and holding his hands up in surrender when Scott batted him away.

'First things first, you need a tux.' I told him, looking over to Stiles, a silent question on my face.

'I can take you now, you're not working at the clinic tonight are you?' Stiles asked, catching on to what I was getting at.

'I'm supposed to be—,' he started but I cut him off.

'I'll cover for you,' I waved my hand dismissively.

'I don't have any money—,' I interrupted him again.

'I'll lend it to you.' I answered easily, pulling my purse out of my bag and handing him my card, 'you know the pin. Get yourself a tux and get Allison a corsage.'

'Stacey, I can't—,' he cut himself off that time when I leveled him with a glare, 'thank you, I'll pay you back.'

'It's fine.' I kissed his cheek before I clambered into the back of the Jeep.

'Maybe Stiles can actually build up the courage to ask Lydia to the dance if we run into her at the mall,' Scott commented casually, grinning when his best friend glared at him.

'You should go for it. She doesn't have a date yet.' I told him, leaving out Lydia's horror over the fact that no one had asked her. That might have had something to do with me—I had started a rumor that Jackson had told me he would beat the crap out of anyone who asked her and so far it had worked. It perfectly laid the groundwork for Stiles to ask her out, I only hoped he'd do it soon.

'Really?' Stiles sounded shocked and I couldn't blame him—she was one of the most popular girls in school.

'Really,' I confirmed.

The rest of the drive was spent coming up with creative and impossible ways that he could ask her to the dance and actually get her to say yes. I think I had finally managed to convince him to just ask her when he pulled up in front of the clinic.

'You two have fun,' I kissed both of their cheeks and climbed out of the Jeep, 'don't max out my card.' I gave Scott a mock threatening look that made him roll his eyes in amusement.

'I won't. Love you!'

'Love you too!'

I walked into the clinic humming a random tune under my breath. I stashed my bag and jacket behind the reception desk and popped my head into the examination room to greet the veterinarian.

'Hey doc,' I saluted him with a smile.

'Afternoon Stacey,' he returned my smile from where he was sterilizing equipment.

'Scott couldn't make it today, he left buying his tux to a dance to the last minute if you can believe.' I shook my head as if I was shocked and Deaton's smile just grew, 'what do you want me to get started on?'

'Could you feed and water the cats. I already took care of the dogs.' He said, wiping the table down with cloth.

'Sure.' I shrugged and went to complete my task.

After that he asked me to organize the appointment list and ring ahead to confirm people's appointment times. Before I knew it the four hours flew by and Stiles was honking his Jeep outside in greeting.

'I'm gonna take off if that's okay, doc?' I popped my head back into the examination room and he offered me another smile.

'That's fine. See you tomorrow.'

'See you tomorrow!' I waved, grabbing my things and sprinting out to meet my brother and best friend. I noticed two tuxes in the back when I climbed in and I grinned, excited for my brother.

'You're all sorted then?' I smiled and when I noticed Stiles' excitement I grinned, 'do you have a date to the dance by any chance?'

'Yes!' he practically yelled making Scott and I laugh at his enthusiasm.

'I'm happy for you Mechi,' I told him honestly; he shot me a genuine smile as we drove to mine and Scott's house.

Friday Night

I couldn't believe that Deaton had let me leave two hours early—when I had told him that Scott had booked the night off to go to a school dance he was suddenly insisting that I should finish earlier so that I could make it too. I had tried to tell him I hadn't been planning on going, but he wouldn't listen to me and practically ushered me out of the clinic at 6pm. I had walked home, something that I knew would piss off Derek if I told him but I didn't want to bother him, even if there was a rouge alpha who wanted me and my twin to join his psychotic pack. I bit my lip in concern at the reminder that Derek hadn't called me or texted for two days—since we had gotten close we had texted every day at least. I had been trying to brush it off as him not wanting Peter to get suspicious, but what if it was something more than that? What if he was actually in trouble? The concern in my gut was growing by the hour and I decided instead of letting it fester I was going to do something about it. I got home and raced to my room, pausing at my door when I heard Scott and my Mom talking in his room.

'I love her.' Scott admitted softly.

'Have you told her that?' She asked, I could tell she was smiling.

'She knows.' My twin said dismissively and I bit my lip to hold back a laugh when I heard the thwack that indicated he had just been slapped upside the head.

'Come on, she knows? She knows? Listen, dumbass, I'm gonna let you in on a secret that most guys don't even have a clue about you ready?' she asked and continued after pausing for dramatic effect, 'women love words.'

'What?' Scott asked dumbly.

'You need to tell her how you feel,' she said and I smiled as I leaned on my closed bedroom door, 'just say it, say it again, say it differently. Learn how to say it better, learn how to sing it.'

Scott laughed softly as mom continued, 'you know, write it in a poem in a letter attached to flowers. Carve it in a tree, in a sidewalk with cement, tattoo on your arm.'

'Really?' Scott asked eagerly—we had both wanted tattoos for as long as I could remember.

'No. Not really.' I could imagine her shaking her head at that moment, 'just… tell her the truth. Tell her everything and anything you want.'

'Everything?' Scott repeated and I knew he was thinking about him being a werewolf.

'Everything.' She replied easily, I could hear her footsteps making her way out of the room and I quickly slipped into mine before she saw me, 'have a good time, honey.'

'I will and mom? Thank you,' Scott replied.

I made sure that mom was down stairs before I slipped into my twin's room. He was stood in the bathroom, looking at himself in his tux—he had decided on the same one that Stiles had tried on when I went with him, the one that made him look so pale. But with Scott's olive complexion it suited him and the black tie, shirt and blazer made him look handsome.

'You look great, Scotty.' I said honestly, sitting on the end of his bed.

'Thanks Stace.' He smiled, his dimples popping out, 'why aren't you at work?'

'I mentioned you were going to the dance and Deaton practically shoved me out of the door even though I told him I wasn't going.' I rolled my eyes in amusement before my expression turned serious, 'I'm worried about Derek. I think he's been taken.'

'Taken? Why?' Scott asked, sitting beside me and wrapping an arm around my shoulders.

'Because I haven't heard from him since Wednesday and since we've gotten close we've at the very least texted everyday.' I mumbled, my worry for the blue-eyed wolf growing even more as I voiced my fears out loud, 'he hasn't been answering my calls or anything.'

'Maybe Peter was getting suspicious?' he suggested, but I could tell he didn't really believe that either.

'He wouldn't leave me hanging for this long. The Argents are the only ones I can think of being behind this.' I sighed, running a hand through my hair.

'We'll look for him tomorrow, okay?' Scott said, standing after he checked the time on his phone.

'Sure. Have fun tonight,' I kissed his cheek and smiled brightly, 'and mom was right you know? Women love words.'

Scott grinned and gave me a hug before grabbing everything he needed and darting from the house. I went to my bedroom, trying to figure out what to do about Derek. I knew Scott wanted to wait until tomorrow, but I was worried now and worst of all I had nothing to distract me from my concern. If I was careful, I was pretty sure I could save him on my own, I just needed to find out where he was being kept. He wasn't answering his phone, I couldn't track it because I didn't know his username or password… what could I do? That's when it came to me. We were werewolves and how do wolves signal their location to the rest of the pack? They howl.

Determination and hope ran through me, spurring me to get off my bed where I had been lying for god knows how long trying to figure out a strategy. I pulled on my combat boots over my black high-waisted skinny jeans and grabbed my leather jacket to go over my white v neck t-shirt. Once I had my keys and phone I was heading out of the door—I had heard mom leave for work a little while ago so I didn't have to worry about explaining my sudden departure to her. Without a car and not wanting to use Scott's bike, I started running towards the lookout point, figuring that was the best place to get my howl around the town. If he could hear me, he could howl back and I could find him.

It took me about fifteen minutes of continuous running to reach my destination and I was just about to howl when my phone started to vibrate in my pocket. With a roll of my eyes, I pulled it out and frowned when I saw it was my twin calling.

'Scotty? What's wrong?' I asked, sitting down on one of the many rocks around.

'Allison knows I'm a werewolf, her dad cornered me and tried running me over to get me to shift. What am I going to do?' he whispered out, so quietly I had trouble hearing him.

'Calm down, this is something that can be explained and worked out… eventually. What we have to worry about now is them knowing you're one of the betas.' I sighed, running a hand through my hair.

'If they know about me, then chances are they know about you.' Scott said, worry clouding his tone.

'Don't worry about me. We need Derek. If we can defeat Peter then all of this might blow over—the alpha is making werewolves look feral and that's not good for any of us.' I realized, looking over to the twinkling lights in front of me.

'You're right. We need to find him.' My twin was determined and I found myself smiling in response.

'I'm glad you agree, I'm at the lookout point, meet me here will you? I have an idea.' I stood up and prepared myself.

'I'm five minutes away,' he hung up and I pocketed my phone.

I took a deep breath and after I bought my werewolf face forward, I howled. The sound was loud and long and I could have sworn I heard loose pebbles rattling around me. I sat back down and waited anxiously, when my twin joined me a few minutes later I could tell that he was impressed, but he didn't get a chance to express it, because someone howled back. It was Derek, and we were going to find him.

Here's chapter eleven! I rewrote it after I realized how abrupt and all over the place it was—thank you Rbenham2 for your constructive criticism. I hope this chapter flows a bit better—I really enjoyed writing it and adding to it.

PLEASE REVIEW!

Xoxo

-VampireGirl1797

hermosa, dulce niña= beautiful, sweet girl

eres la hermosa, mi querida madre= you are beautiful, my dear mother