Chapter twelve—Christmas is in the Air.

I pulled into the parking space and breathed out a sigh of relief when I saw that I wasn't late for my shift. Mom had gotten a ride in with her friend at seven this morning so that I could take the car for my volunteer shift that started at ten—we were both finishing at seven so she could get a ride home with me. I hastily climbed out of the car bringing my two servings of meatloaf I had bought for my mom and I—she had forgotten hers earlier. I slung the bag over my shoulder, locked the car and pulled my hair up into a ponytail as I walked through the entrance. I had time to stash my stuff behind the desk before relieving the current receptionist—she had been on for twelve hours and was more than ready to get home.

'Thanks, Stacey,' Janice said, looking visibly exhausted, 'I'm gonna go home, shove a sandwich down my throat and sleep.'

'I don't blame you, has it been busy?' I asked knowingly.

'When isn't it?' she let out a little laugh as she gathered her things, 'see you tomorrow?'

'No, it'll be next week now. I'm off this weekend.' I smiled, offering her a little wave and ignoring her surprised look before turning to the desk and answering the phone when it started to ring.

'Hello Beacon Hills Memorial, how can I help?'

The day soon flew by with answering phones, calming patients, overseeing operations and organising appointments. Before I knew it my mom and I were making our way out of the door after saying goodbye to the nurses and doctors still on shift.

'That was a long one,' mom sighed, climbing into the passenger seat with a sigh.

'It sure was. It went fast though.' I smiled, pulling my hair free from the hair tie and stashing it around my wrist.

'Are you hungry?' she asked absentmindedly—we had the meatloaf around two so it was a late lunch, really.

'Not really,' I lied, starting the ignition and starting the drive home. I was hungry but if I stopped for dinner I would be late for my shift at the clinic.

'Liar.' I could see her shaking her head from the corner of my eye.

'I'll grab something at the clinic,' I promised, indicating to turn down our street.

'Make sure you do. You can't keep doing this, Stacey.' She lightly scolded me and I just made a sound of acknowledgement in response.

'You go and get some sleep, I'll be home around eleven.' I said, leaning forward and kissing her cheek.

'Love you.' She said before climbing from the car. I returned the sentiment and waited until she was inside the house safely before I drove away.

I hummed absentmindedly while I drove—the radio was broken so I was used to supplying my own tunes when I drove my mom's car. It was a week after everything that went down with Peter and life was running as usual. I was putting in extra hours at the hospital in the weekdays as well as working at the clinic in the evening. I was mainly doing that that because I had to ask for this weekend off—Saturday was the night of the full moon and to say I was anxious over what was going to happen was an understatement. Stiles had volunteered to help me seeing as Scott was pretty confident he had it under control, but I just had his expression when I had almost attacked him on repeat in my mind. So I'd declined his offer and asked the new alpha if he would give me a hand, thankfully he said he didn't mind helping which made me a little less tense over the whole thing.

To ease my nerves I kept thinking about Christmas—it was next Thursday and I couldn't be more excited. I had three days off from the animal clinic and volunteering—my supervisor had told me he wouldn't have any teenager who wasn't getting paid volunteering over the holidays and I definitely wasn't going to complain about it. Mom also had the same days off—she had worked them for however many years running and Scott and I were excited to actually spend Christmas with her. I had gotten most of my presents I just needed to get a few more things for Scott, Stiles and Derek; I already had an idea of what to get them, the only trouble was finding the time. If I wasn't working I was reading or volunteering. Hopefully I could go on Sunday if I wasn't feeling too worn out after the full moon.

I pulled into a free space at the clinic and went inside, humming Christmas carols under my breath. Deaton was looking pretty flustered behind the desk—Scott finished at six so this last hour Deaton had to run everything on his own.

'Stacey! Thank god, could you please go and get Snowflake from the kennel and prepare the documents? I have a Doberman I need to vaccinate.' Deaton said with a kind smile.

'Sure thing doc.' I said, moving to follow his instructions.

For whatever reason, Christmas was a busy time of year for vaccination boosters. Maybe it was the season to be spent with loved ones that reminded people they needed to get their pets vaccinated. Either way, we were busy right up until closing time and we even had a few people who needed to stay behind because we hadn't had the time to get around to them yet.

'Sorry to keep you waiting,' I said with an apologetic smile to the girl who was sat with a cat carrier. She had her blonde curly hair pulled back from her face and when she looked up I offered her a genuine smile when I recognised her.

'Erica!' I said brightly, leading her back to the examination room, 'I didn't see you there, sorry it's been so busy.'

'I noticed, it's fine don't worry I don't mind the wait.' She smiled warmly.

I had gotten to know Erica from her visits to the hospital because of her epilepsy. Before that I hadn't even known we went to the same school—she liked to be invisible and until I had met her she had done a good job at it. Now I sought her out at school and didn't hesitate to talk to her—she was super shy but also sweet, funny and kind. I just wished she saw that herself.

'Are you excited for Christmas?' I asked her—it was a conversational question that I had asked multiple patients to fill the awkward silence while Deaton and I worked, but this time I actually found myself paying attention to the answer.

'I will be as soon as I have all of my presents.' Erica smiled slightly.

'I hear that. I still have a few things I need to buy too.' I handed Deaton the injection for her cat, Simba and an idea popped into my head, 'are you free Sunday?'

'Ugh… yeah I think so.' She said, her concerned gaze on her cat as she watched Deaton inject the needle. I placed my hand on her arm to bring her gaze back to mine.

'Do you want to go shopping?' I asked, an excited smile playing on my lips—I only ever got excited about shopping at Christmas.

'Sure,' Erica grinned, looking a mixture of surprised and thrilled, 'I can drive if you want?'

'That would be great. Pick me up at one?' I suggested as I gently put Simba back into his carrier and updated his paperwork.

'I'll see you then.' She accepted her cat and turned to leave with a happy smile that I returned—she had already paid before we came in, it saved time in the long run.

'It's nice to see you making plans,' Deaton commented—just like my mom he was always telling me I needed to act more like a teenager.

'Yeah, I'm off Sunday so I figured I may as well make the most of it.' I shrugged, disposing of the needle and sterilising the table ready for our last patient.

'I'm surprised you're not volunteering,' Deaton said and I frowned over to him when his tone indicated he knew something I didn't.

'Gotta get the Christmas shopping done sometime.' I laughed but it was forced and he could tell.

'Are you working Saturday?' he asked in that same knowing tone.

'Nope.' I said lightly, avoiding his gaze, 'I'll go and get the next patient.'

Deaton didn't reply but he didn't need to—he knew. He knew that I was a werewolf, I could feel it, but I didn't think he would out right say it. I wondered if Scott knew anything because the chances were that if he knew about me, he knew about my twin.

'Hi, sorry you've been waiting so long.' I said politely, gesturing for him to follow me through without actually looking at him—my head was swarmed with questions.

How did he know? Was he like the Argents? A hunter? Was he going to try and kill me? What should I do? What if I was wrong and he didn't actually know? I couldn't confront him on the off chance that I was wrong. I would just have to be alert around him and continue as normal. Deaton had never been anything but kind and calm in the past year that I had known him, I had no reason to believe he wanted to hurt me and until I had one I was going to assume he wouldn't.

'That's fine, it didn't seem that long watching Netflix on my phone.' The voice replied and I looked up with a start when I recognised it.

'Boyd! Sorry,' I shook my head, shaking my thoughts away, 'it's been a busy day, my head's all over the place.'

'You do look stressed. You work too much, Stacey. This is supposed to be your winter break,' he reminded me.

'Yeah, I know.' I sighed, not even bothering to argue with him, but not working wasn't an option, 'the things we do for a good college application, huh?'

'You're looking at collages?' his eyes practically bugged out of his head as he placed his Alsatian on the examination table with ease.

'Of course,' I shrugged, pulling on a fresh pair of gloves after washing my hands, 'I need to find one good for nursing that's reasonably close to home. I like to do research before I make a decision.'

'How much research do you need?' he wondered, watching me as I pulled out the needle and released the cap before handing it to Deaton.

'Enough to be sure,' I smiled at his incredulous expression before leading the conversation onto a new topic, 'did you finish the book?'

I saw Boyd at school pretty often too and I even sat with him at lunch when Scott and Stiles decided to practice, or if they had lunch a different hour to me. We often sat in companionable silence and read—eventually we had gotten to the point of asking how the book was and offering to trade when we were finished. Before we broke up for break we had traded—I had given him Wuthering Heights and he had given me Of Mice and Men.

'Almost. I'm really enjoying it so far, plenty of gothic images.' He said with a smile and I could tell he was being honest.

'Yeah it's one of my favourites.' I returned his grin before saying, 'I finished Of Mice and Men and you were right, I really liked it, even if it did make me cry.'

'You cried?' Boyd asked in amusement.

'He shoots his best friend, of course I cried.' I exclaimed, ignoring both Deaton and Boyd's amusement as I threw the needle away into the appropriate bin. I pulled off my gloves and updated Sheba's paperwork, when I turned around Boyd already had Sheba off the table and ready to leave.

'See you at school,' Boyd offered me a little wave.

'Have a good Christmas!' I said brightly, following him to the door.

'You too,' he shook his head at my enthusiasm before he left.

I switched the sign to closed and locked the door before heading into the back to help Deaton clean up. The silence didn't last long as the thoughts I had had before we saw to Boyd entered my mind again.

'We never talked about what happened.' I said after clearing my throat, referring to the incident at the high school.

'No we didn't.' He nodded, crossing his arms over his chest.

'So are we? Going to talk about it?' my voice was small and I found myself holding my breath nervously.

'So what are you thinking? A dollar an hour?' He said and I felt my breath leave me as I frowned in confusion.

'A dollar?' I parroted, not understanding.

'You're right. A dollar fifty extra an hour, for you and Scott.' He smiled, holding out his hand.

I shook it in a muddled daze and headed to the kennels to check on the dogs and then the cats. Either he was playing dumb and didn't want to talk about him being confused for the alpha or he genuinely didn't know what I was talking about. I was pretty sure it was the former, but I agreed with my earlier decision: until he gave me a reason not to, I was going to trust him. I made sure the animals had enough food and water to see them through the night and gave the correct animals the correct medication. By the time I was done, it was 10:30pm and I was grabbing my bag from behind the reception with a yawn.

'See you on Monday doc,' I yelled out.

'See you Stacey!' he replied and I let myself out of the clinic, locking the door behind me.

I was about to start home when I thought I'd check my phone seeing as I hadn't had a chance to look at it all day.

Scott: What have you got mom for Christmas? Do you have any ideas? I have no idea what to buy her.

Me: Talk when I get home.

Stiles: Do you wanna go on a mission with me? If you're not too tired—we're meant to be going on a mission to take down a hydra and I need another level twenty player.

Me: Sure, I'll text you when I get home.

Stiles: Sweet.

Derek: I'll pick you up at 11 tomorrow morning, just encase the moon affects you during the day like it did last time. Where I'm staying is secluded so it should help a little.

Me: Okay, I'll see you then.

I sighed and threw my phone into the cup holder before pulling on my seatbelt. I started the engine, turned on the lights and started to drive, fighting back a yawn. I idly wondered if I would be alert enough to do the mission with Stiles but figured I'd just have a cup of coffee to wake me up. For the past few years Stiles and I had gotten into an online group that battled mythical creatures. It had started as two bored teens needing something to do while Scott was practicing for lacrosse—back then Stiles hadn't really been into the sport—and we had got addicted and stuck to it. We often did missions together and we made a good team. It was our thing seeing as Scott had dismissed it after one game, mainly because he sucked at it and didn't want to put in the effort to get better.

I pulled into the drive, relieved to be home—I could practically hear my bed calling my name but I ignored it and went into the kitchen to make some coffee. While that was brewing I fixed mom a couple of sandwiches and a chicken salad for work tomorrow, putting it in the fridge when I was finished and leaving her a note to tell her where it was. I took a mug out of the cupboard, added the coffee and creamer before shuffling upstairs. When I noticed that my twin's light was still on, I popped into his room.

'Hey Scotty,' I yawned, sitting on the end of his bed to face where he sat at his desk.

'Hey,' he spun around and frowned when he took in my appearance, 'you look exhausted.'

'The words every girl wants to hear,' I muttered sarcastically.

He grimaced apologetically but I just waved him off, knowing he was right.

'Why are you drinking coffee?'

'I'm doing a mission with Stiles in a little bit and I need to be awake or we'll get eaten alive by the hydra,' I explained.

'Right,' Scott said, sounding more confused now that he had gotten an answer. He shook his head as if to clear it before he continued, 'do you have any ideas what I can get mom for Christmas?'

'She needs some new pyjamas—I got her a few pairs but she can never have too many. Some new perfume, she's almost ran out of her favourite. Or some lotion and bath sets, she loves those.' I listed off, having been thinking about it since I saw his text earlier.

'I have like twenty bucks. What can I get with that?' He asked sheepishly.

'A set of pyjamas and a lotion and bath set. I'm going to the mall on Sunday if you want me to pick them up for you?' I offered, running a hand through my hair before taking another gulp of coffee.

'No thanks. I'm going with Stiles tomorrow, there are a few other things I need to pick up.' He said, avoiding my gaze and I knew that meant he wanted to shop for my present.

'Okay,' I shrugged, finishing off my beverage before standing and walking over to Scott to ruffle his hair, 'I'm gonna go, the hydra won't slay itself.'

Scott laughed and I leaned down to give him a hug, he kissed my forehead when I pulled back.

'Night Scotty,' I sighed.

'Night. Oh, wait!' Scott almost yelled after me, I paused at his door with my brow cocked in question, 'are you going to be okay tomorrow?'

'Yeah. Derek's gonna make sure I don't kill anyone.' I said, biting my lip as my anxiety spiked at the reminder of the full moon.

'And you trust him?' Scott asked, withholding judgement from his tone.

'Yes.' I said without hesitation—Derek had done more than enough to earn my trust in the past few weeks alone.

'Okay. Stiles is gonna tie me up to be safe, but I think I'll be fine so call if you need anything.'

'I will,' I smiled softly. I offered him a salute before heading to my room across the hall.

I quickly changed into some shorts and a tank top before sitting down at my desk and loading up my laptop. I pulled out my phone and texted Stiles that I was ready and he shot back an affirmative, adding me to his group. I cracked my knuckles and neck, determined to win this as fast as possible so I could get some sleep.

Something was blaring and preventing me from sleeping. I groaned and blindly hit out, trying to get it to stop but eventually I gave up and opened my eyes to look for the source of the noise. I frowned at the brightness invading the room and brushed my hair out of my face. When I realised I was still at my desk I frowned in confusion—I must have fallen asleep during the mission last night. We had managed to defeat the hydra pretty quickly but Stiles had wanted to go after Medusa afterwards and she was a little trickier to capture. My laptop was still logged into the portal and I saw Stiles was asleep at his own desk through the webcam. I shook my head and closed it. I was about to get into bed when the noise started again, I realised with a start it was my phone ringing. I found it on my bedside table and answered it, idly wondering how much sleep I had actually gotten—I was pretty sure it was 4am the last time I looked but I had no idea what time it was now.

'Hello?' I yawned, stretching out my body.

'Stacey? I've been calling you for half an hour. I'm almost at your house, are you ready to go?' Derek said, sounding mildly irritated.

'I thought you weren't coming until 11?' I mumbled, heading for the bathroom.

'It's ten to.' He replied and I could tell he was rolling his eyes.

'Okay, I'll see you tomorrow.' I said, shifting through my cupboard for my toothbrush after hanging up the phone.

I managed to brush my teeth and apply deodorant before Derek got there, ringing the doorbell. I shoved some sliders onto my feet, grabbed my leather jacket and phone before heading downstairs. I pulled open the door and stepped out locking the door behind me clumsily.

'Have you slept?' Derek asked in concern.

'Yeah… but I don't know how long for.' I yawned, grabbing onto his arm to stop me from falling over, 'it's cool if I nap right?'

'Yes,' he shook his head with a roll of his eyes and led me to his car, opening the door for me and making sure I got in.

'Why thank you kind sir.' I said, moving the chair so it let me lie down, 'you're a true gentlemen.'

'If I didn't know better I'd think you were drunk.' Derek commented dryly.

'A lady never does such a thing,' I gasped in offense, snuggling into the seat of his Camaro.

Derek laughed and I found myself smiling at the sound as I fell asleep. I was dreaming about Santa delivering presents with Scott and Stiles pulling the sleigh when the smell of something delicious woke me up. I opened my eyes, blinking to get used to the light and I felt disorientated for a second when I looked around. I appeared to be in an abandoned train station. The compartment I was in contained furniture and a comfortable mattress that smelled of Derek, so I was easily able to deduce who had bought me here and I realised that this must have been where Derek was staying. But the blue-eyed wolf wasn't in the compartment so I decided to explore and hopefully find him. I noticed that I was still wearing the pyjamas I had pulled on last night. My leather jacket had been placed on a set or drawers in the room and I left it, feeling warm enough without it. I did slide on my black sliders by the door of the compartment, wanting something on my feet.

I noticed Derek walking down some stairs on the wall opposite to the old train and it looked like he was carrying food.

'Well, the lady is awake,' he said dryly, heading over to the sofa and table he had to his left.

I followed him over with a blush spreading over my cheeks, 'can we pretend that didn't happen? I can't be held responsible for the things I say when I'm sleep deprived.'

I sat on the sofa next to him, accepting the container and fork he handed me. When I opened it and saw the same order I had gotten when we were last at the Diner my stomach grumbled gratefully.

'You're the best.' I told him honestly, moaning when I took a sip of the drink—he had even gotten me a chocolate milkshake.

I heard his heart beat pick up and I looked over to him with a confused frown to see him staring at me with an unreadable look on his face. He shook his head and cleared his throat as he got his own food out and started to eat. We ate in companionable silence and I was grateful for it because I felt relaxed enough to not have to fill the quietness with forced conversation. When we were finished Derek took the trash and threw it away, when he came back he fixed me with a concerned expression.

'Are you starting to feel it yet?' he asked gently and I looked up at him with a small frown.

'No, actually I feel pretty normal.' I answered honestly, feeling quite surprised about it.

'That's good, it's getting easier.' Derek nodded as if he had expected that as he took his seat next to me again, letting out a sigh.

'Do you feel different?' I wondered, resting my head on my hands as I turned to face him fully.

He gave me a confused look so I elaborated, 'being an alpha.'

'I feel more powerful.' He admitted softly, his eyes becoming distant as he thought it through, 'and I feel the urge to create a pack.'

'What do you mean?' I mumbled, resting my head on the back of the sofa.

'An alpha needs a pack, someone to lead and look out for, it's a part of the instincts that come with being an alpha.' He explained looking over to me as if he was hoping I'd understand.

'That makes sense,' I nodded, because it did—how could you truly be an alpha without a pack?

'Are you thinking about changing people?' I asked curiously.

'Yeah, but unlike Peter I plan on giving them a choice and warning them about all the dangers that come with the kind of power you get from being a werewolf.' He said, tapping his index finger on his thigh—I'd come to notice it as a nervous tick of his.

'That sounds fair.' I said, because it did.

Derek was going to be giving them a choice and not running around biting random teenagers without permission on the night of a full moon. Derek's gaze snapped to mine so fast I was concerned he'd hurt himself until I saw the surprise in his blue eyes.

'What?' I frowned self-consciously.

'Me changing people doesn't bother you?' he murmured so quietly I almost didn't hear him.

I smiled softly placing a hand on his as I spoke, 'you're giving them a choice, Derek; you're letting it be their decision. Why would I have a problem with that?'

He shrugged, his eyes fixed on my hand on top of his, and before I could move it away he entwined them, squeezing my hand gratefully.

'Why would it matter if I did?' I wondered, my voice soft.

'You're the first person I've trusted for a while.' He admitted, still avoiding my gaze, 'your opinion matters to me.'

'Thank you, and I trust you too,' at that he met my eyes and I continued with a smile, 'I wouldn't be here, trusting you to keep me from going on a murderous rampage if I didn't.'

He smiled and I returned it, finding it impossible not to. I felt my heart beat pick up and I cleared my throat to hide it as I pulled my hand gently out of his.

'What time is it?' I wondered—there weren't any windows around for me to determine the time of day myself.

'I'm not sure. My phone died.' He shrugged, I could tell he was lying but I didn't push him on it even if it was a weird thing to lie about.

'Can we watch a movie?' I asked, grinning when I saw a MacBook Pro resting on the table now all of the trash had been cleared. I reached for it and pulled it onto my lap without waiting for an answer, but when I saw it had a password I almost pouted.

I held it out to him, giving him my best puppy dog eyes—Scott's were better, I was out of practice. Derek shook his head but I could tell he was fighting to hold back a smile and the sight made my stomach flutter. He took the laptop from me and typed in the password. I bit my lip in concentration as I shifted through his Netflix account, which was thankfully not password protected. After trying to decide what to watch I finally settled on Ride Along, because Kevin Hart was a comedy genius and I could use a good laugh. Once it was set up I turned up the volume and placed it on the table so we could both see it. I didn't even think twice about cuddling up to Derek's side, my head resting on his shoulder. Although the blue-eyed wolf seemed to be surprised every time I touched him in a casual way, as if for a split second he couldn't believe I was that comfortable around him, but the hesitation melted away just as fast and he relaxed, moving his arm around my waist and allowing me to lean into him more fully.

We managed to get through the rest of the film before the effects of the full moon started to become unbearable. My claws were growing without my consent, my eyes were flashing and clouding my gaze a bloodthirsty red. But worse than that, my skin felt like it was on fire. I stayed in my position—leaning against Derek—as I desperately tried to fight the panic overtaking my body as I lost control. The panic was raising my pulse even more and making it that much more difficult for me to stop the transformation. The desire to kill was growing stronger and I clenched my eyes shut, Derek's body was still pressed against mine and I was insanely grateful that I couldn't hear his heartbeat over my own otherwise I dread to think what I would have done. The last time I heard a heartbeat in this state, it belonged to my best friend and I had tried to kill him. Despite my efforts a small growl of pain escaped my lips and I flinched, knowing that the blue-eyed wolf had heard it.

'Stacey?' Derek's voice echoed in my mind almost painfully, cutting through the thirst for blood and the pain.

I frowned as my mind… cleared and when I looked over to him I was seeing him with my human eyes but I felt incredibly weak.

'Derek,' I gasped, lifting my head from his shoulder and wiping my forehead with the back of my hand. I sat up and leaned forward, putting my head in my hands.

I felt so hot, weak and drowsy—it reminded me of when I got a bad case of the flu in freshman year. It was awful but in this case the symptoms reminded me that amazingly I was still human, still in control. How was that even possible? I lifted my head from my hands and stared at my fingertips, amazed that my claws had retracted so easily when I'd been trying to get them to go away for at least five minutes without Derek noticing. I jumped a little when Derek was suddenly kneeling down in front of me, taking my hands in his own and lowering them so he could clearly see my expression.

'What just happened? One minute I was sure I was going to shift and now…' I trailed off, still a little dazed and confused from how fast things had changed.

'You pulled it back.' He said softly, pride leaking into his voice.

'How?'

'You must have found an anchor.' Derek explained, sitting back on the sofa and pulling me into his side.

'How did I find my anchor and not know what it is?' I mumbled, feeling tired again, my eye lids were drooping but I fought the urge, desperately wanting an answer.

'It could have been anything. A memory that sprung to your mind, a heartbeat, an emotion, a person…' he looked down to me and his expression softened when he saw my exhaustion, 'go to sleep. We'll figure it out another time, I promise, for now you need to rest.'

'Okay.' I sighed, unashamedly snuggling into his side, 'I need to be home for one tomorrow. I'm going shopping with Erica.'

'I'll make sure you're home.' He sounded amused but I didn't have time to respond because I was fading into unconsciousness quicker than I could predict.

The Next Day

'So what are you doing for Christmas?' I wondered, pulling my knees up to my chest as Derek drove me back to my house.

After I had passed out last night I had one of the best nights sleep I'd had for a while. I slept right through until ten this morning; Derek had already been awake and working over a punching bag so I'd woken up on his mattress alone. He hadn't been gone long though—his scent had been too strong. I'd asked if he would be up for sparring with me for a while seeing as he was already working out. He'd seemed surprised that I'd asked but he agreed. We had sparred on a few other occasions before that, but today was the first time since he had become an alpha. But other than the hits he landed being a lot more powerful, I had held myself rather well and even managed to pin him after twenty minutes of fighting. I had learned to beat Derek you needed to do what he was least expecting. He studied every opponent critically, sizing up their strengths, mentally documenting what moves they went for the most so that he was not only physically prepared, but so he also had a logical advantage. Of course, that only worked if you stuck to the same moves. I hadn't done that since the first time we sparred—being unpredictable in a fight was Derek's weakness, even as an alpha. He had been both impressed and wounded that I had managed to beat him this morning—it didn't help that I planned on never letting him live it down. What were friends for, right?

'Nothing.' Derek gave me a deadpan look.

'You should come to our house!' I said brightly, the idea of him spending Christmas alone squeezed my heart painfully.

'What? No, I couldn't do that.' Derek shook his head, turning the car onto my street.

'And why not? My mom wouldn't mind and Scott isn't as cautious around you after you defeated Peter.'

'I'm pretty sure he's still bitter that I took away his chance of being cured.' Derek gave me an unconvinced look as he stopped in front of my house.

'Nah, he's over that.' I waved my hand dismissively but didn't elaborate, knowing Scott wouldn't appreciate it if I did, 'besides I'm cooking dinner and I'll have Christmas presents to give you so really, it'll be easier and better if you came around.'

He startled, his gaze snapping over to mine as if to determine my sincerity. I tried not to fidget under his attention, because damn when Derek wanted to his stare could be intimidating. Eventually his mask cracked and I could read the surprise, awe and gratitude in his expression, which gave me hope that I could convince him.

'You don't have to come, but I'd like it if you did.' I said, deciding that giving an alpha orders might not be the best idea, 'call me and let me know what you decide, but either way I will be seeing you on Christmas day. Whether it's at my house or me coming over to yours with a Christmas plate and presents, that's up to you.' I shrugged, shooting him an innocent smile when he shook his head in amusement.

I leaned over and gave him a tight hug, 'thank you for helping me yesterday. I appreciate it.'

'No problem.' He cleared his throat when I pulled back, the tips of his ears going red—it amused me until I realised that he was embarrassed because he wasn't used to people's gratitude then I felt a painful pang in my chest that I brushed off.

'See you.' I gave him a little wave before grabbing my things and climbing from the car.

I hadn't taken a change of clothes yesterday—I think the fact I was practically comatose when Derek picked me up was the main reason. So this morning I hadn't had any clothes to change into after I had gotten all hot and sweaty during the sparring and ended up needing a shower—Derek had leant me some clothes. To the neighbours I probably looked like I was returning after spending a night at my boyfriend's house—just the thought of that made me blush as I unlocked the door and stepped inside the house. I was wearing some grey sweats and one of Derek's white tank tops underneath my leather jacket. Needless to say, both were too big for me—the pants kept riding down despite the fact that I had pulled the drawstrings as tight as they would go, and the top was dangerously close to flashing my bra. Regardless, I had been grateful for the clean clothes and I already knew I was going to steal them. They might have been big but they were just too damn comfy.

A few hours later.

'So who else do you need to buy for?' Erica asked, her arm linked through mine.

'After I've picked up the pictures, I'm all done. What about you?' I wondered as we walked towards the food court—we had a thirty-minute wait for the photos so we figured we'd get some food.

'I'm done too, but I do need some new clothes and I'd appreciate your opinion.' Erica hinted, smiling innocently.

Erica and I had never done anything outside of the hospital or school together before, so I had been a little anxious that today would be totally awkward when we were forced together in an interaction that lasted longer than five minutes. But it had been surprisingly nice. I loved Scott and Stiles to death, but it was nice to have a normal teenage girl moment with a girl from school and to talk about things that Scott and Stiles would have been mortified about. We had talked about our favourite chick flicks, crushes and our combined dislike for societal expectations for women. I had figured out she had a crush on Stiles—I had already come up with a ship name, Sterica, and it was now my mission to get them together—she loved the notebook and hated that girls at high school were expected to appear "perfect" and if they weren't, they were invisible. All in all, we had a lot in common—except for the crush on Stiles, the thought of that made me want to gag. I loved him, but not… that way.

'I will endure this torture for you,' I held my hand to my heart dramatically, laughing when Erica dissolved into giggles at my exaggeration.

'You're the best.' She said in a playfully patronising tone.

I snorted but didn't reply as I gave the man at McDonalds my order—Cheeseburger, fries and iced water. Erica had a chicken wrap, fries and a strawberry milkshake.

'I'm glad we did this,' I said as I shoved a few fries into my mouth, 'I needed a fun day to blow off some steam.'

'Me too. Last semester was insane with the animal attacks and everything.'

I almost choked on my water when she said that, but I managed to save it, 'yeah totally. So what kind of clothes were you thinking?'

She answered my question, much to my relief, and spent the next half an hour talking about clothes. It reminded me of Lydia's spiel about dresses for the winter formal and I felt a sad smile form on my lips at the reminder of the strawberry blonde. She was still in the hospital—she had woken up from her coma a few days ago, much to the relief of us all. Allison and I had been visiting her in the hospital every day, but at different times. While the huntress went during the visiting hours, I often popped in at random intervals when I could slip away for my break during my volunteer shifts. I knew Lydia appreciated the visits—her parents had been a bit smothering so having both her friends distract her for an hour a day was welcome.

Erica and I came up with a few shops where we could find clothes to match the style she was going for—elegant but sexy—and when we finished our meal we decided to pick up the pictures before heading over there. The pictures were going to be a part of Derek's present, though I was a little nervous about giving it to him. For this one, I was thinking about giving it to him when we were alone, because it was personal and I knew he wouldn't want to be under the inspection off Scott and my mom if he did decide to come over.

'Are they from when you were a kid?' Erica asked when she caught a glimpse of the picture at the top of the pile when I pulled them out to check they were mine.

'Yeah. I'm making a scrapbook.' I smiled but it was forced as the picture of nine-year old Cora and I refused to fade from my mind even after I put the pictures safely away and allowed Erica to drag me to Macy's.

'That's a cute idea.' Erica said with a soft smile, but she didn't push anymore or demand to see the rest of the pictures and for that I was grateful.

They were pictures of Cora and I, along with other members of Derek's family. I had found an old camera when I was looking for my half of the friendship bracelet I had given Cora for her birthday last week. I ended up finding the box in the back of my closet where I had shoved everything that reminded me of the younger Hale. Needless to say, I hadn't dealt with her death well—I'd put everything in there and proceeded to forget it existed. But I'd had the urge to feel connected to her after we killed Peter, so I went hunting for the bracelet and ended up finding it—it was now securely attached to my wrist—and I also found an old camera. Thanks to my healthy grieving process, I couldn't remember what was on it, but the first picture bought the memories to the surface.

It had been Cora's ninth birthday party and I had bought my mom's camera with me after practically begging her—she had gotten it the Christmas before after her old one had broken and I'd become obsessed with it. During that day, I had forced everyone into pictures. There were ones of Cora and I alone and with everyone else in her family. Derek, Laura, Talia, Dale—her father—Katie and Kirsten—her younger twin sisters, Thomas—her older brother and even Peter. Everyone was smiling and you could make out the grass and woodland in the background of every picture—she had a picnic party on the Hale estate and I'd been the only one outside of the family to be invited. The images bought tears to my eyes as I flipped through them and when I reached the last one I couldn't help but touch the picture lightly as a small smile formed on my lips.

'We have to take a group photo!' I insisted, resisting the urge to stomp my foot. My mom said that was what babies did and I was not a baby.

'Why?' Cora asked, giggling as her older brother, Derek, tickled her from behind before going to their older brother when he called him.

'So we can all remember this day forever and ever, because it's the best day.' I explained, frustrated that she didn't seem to understand.

'Okay, Ace. We can do it.' Cora agreed, winding her arm around my shoulders, silently offering me support. She called me Ace because it was short for Stacey. Only Cora was allowed to call me that because she was my best friend.

'Thanks Cory.' I smiled, sucking my bottom lip into my mouth and enjoying the taste of frosting that lingered there from the cake.

'Derek will help us. And Tommy,' Cora said confidently, pulling me over to where they stood talking with a gentle but firm hold on my hand. I smiled when I saw the friendship bracelet attached to her wrist—it was red leather and had a silver plate woven into it that said "best friends". Hers was red because it was her favourite colour and mine was blue for the same reason.

'Der, Tom!' She shouted, jumping on her heels a little to get their attention.

They looked down to us, both smiling softly at their sister.

'Yes, birthday girl?' Derek asked, dramatically bowing to his sister.

'Ace wants us to take a group picture. Can you make everyone do it, please?' she asked, fluttering her eyelashes and pouting prettily.

I saw that both brothers tried to fight Cora's puppy dog look, but the had it mastered and it was impossible. I wasn't surprised when they agreed. It didn't take them long to round everyone up and I handed my camera to Dale so he could turn on the timer before propping it on the table. Dale and Talia were kneeling at the front and everyone else was standing in a Crescent shape behind them with Cora and I in the middle on the shoulders of her brothers. I was on Derek's shoulders, one hand in his hair for balance, while the other was clasped in Cora's where she sat on Thomas' shoulders.

'You were right, Ace.' Cora said to me.

'I usually am. My mom says it's my most annoying trait,' I told her matter-of-factly tugging at Derek's hair when I heard him chuckle, 'but what am I right about this time?'

'Today is the best day ever.' She answered, we shared a grin.

'Ready everyone? 3,2,1 SMILE!' Dale yelled.

Cora and I turned forward, giving the camera the biggest smiles we could manage.

I carefully put the photos back inside my bag as the memory faded away and managed to wipe away the tears that had fallen moments before Erica came out of the changing room for my opinion on her outfit. I smiled and offered her my honest thoughts on the different things she came out in, but I was fighting off tears the entire time because I felt like my chest had just been ripped open. I missed her so much.

Here's part one of Christmas break! So far I'm planning on their being two parts before I delve into the next season, but you never know! See you next time, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter!