Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize. Lyrics belong to Florence and the Machine.

A/N: Oh Lordy, that episode last night! Ah!

Anyways, given that I really don't like when stories have less than 100k words, I've decided to combine season one and two into the same story. Season three, because it will have 24 episodes should be long enough to be it's own story.

I hope y'all enjoy this chapter – Paige and Derek have had their moment of physical connection (albeit briefly, while bullets were flying every which way) and now it's time for a bit of emotional connection. So, yeah. That's in this chapter. Hope you like it. Hope Derek stays in character sufficiently. Next chapter you'll get a little bit of Isaac and shenanigans.

Also, the lyrics used in this chapter are from my absolute favorite song by Florence and the Machine. Just thought I'd let ya know.

Enjoy!

Big Empty Houses

By: Ginny

And it's peaceful in the deep,

Cathedral where you cannot breathe,

No need to pray, no need to speak

Now I am under

Previously:

Paige froze, considering her heart was doing enough movement all on its own. And then, Derek peeled her nightshirt off of her. Instinctively, she lifted her arms to allow him easier access – and then mentally kicked herself for allowing him to strip her so easily, and then helping him to boot. She hadn't asked about the kiss yet. Would this be a good time? The second it was off of her, she smashed her hands over her bare breasts, hiding them from his view.

"There," Derek murmured. "Now go to bed. You need the rest." He threw the nightshirt on the floor next to her bed. "Don't worry, I won't look."

And then without a word, he turned around and removed his own shirt and slid into his pile of blankets.

The house wasn't quite so empty, she realized as she fell into her own bed.

The next morning involved several revelations. One, sometime during the night the claw marks on her back had healed enough that she was able to sleep on her back comfortably. Two, sometime during the night she had kicked her blankets off the bed. Three, sometime during the night Derek had awoken and left.

… She really hoped those events hadn't happened in that order.

With a sigh, she sat up and glanced around. Despite instinctively knowing that Derek was not in the room and wouldn't be in the room any time soon, she wrapped her arms over her chest to shield her naked breasts. It was a Saturday. It was ten o'clock on a Saturday. That meant that her parents were at breakfast with some of her father's colleagues and her brother was still asleep. She replaced her nightshirt back onto her body and wandered downstairs for some breakfast because she was positively ravished.

Paige wondered if Derek was out running errands. She hoped he wouldn't be too long.

He returned by midafternoon just as Paige was finishing the last bit of her homework.

"We have plans tonight," he informed her gruffly as he entered through her window. It seemed one of his errands had involved returning to his car and retrieving a change of clothes… and a shower.

"Good to know," she commented. "Interesting that it seems like I don't have a choice in the matter. What if I had other plans already lined up, hm?"

"You don't," he said simply. And that was the end of that discussion.

When the headline for breaking news spread across the television that she had left on for some comforting background noise, she was quick to turn it off. All day they had been talking about the murder of Kate Argent and her ties to the Hale arson. Paige didn't know how much Derek had seen so far, out on his errands, but she did not intend for him to see anything while she was around to control the censorship. Then, she selected a book from her bookshelf and sat down to read.

"You got new clothes," Derek suddenly observed.

True, Paige was lounging in some sweats at the moment, but he had seen her last night and the new fabric in her closet hadn't taken on her own scent yet. "Yup," she flipped a page. "Peter informed me I was giving werewolves everywhere a bad name. After being a bit insulted, I decided to give it a try. I think it's an improvement."

Derek didn't voice his opinion one way or another, but Paige liked to think that just the fact that he had noticed and had wasted his own breath to comment on the change meant he also thought it was an improvement.

As the hours ticked by and chapter blended into chapter, Paige eventually thought to ask, "What time do we have plans?"

"Nightfall," was his only answer.

So, so, helpful – this new alpha.

Then he added, "Your brother is coming to see you."

And sure enough, a knock sounded on her bedroom door and before she could blink, Derek was out her window and probably on the roof. Paige allowed Wyatt into her room graciously.

"I need to go grocery shopping," he explained.

As members of the Flanagan family, they had certain chores. Paige's consisted of doing the dishes, the laundry, cooking and cleaning the kitchen. Wyatt did the grocery shopping, cleaned the bathrooms and did the yard work. But see, even though getting the groceries was Wyatt's responsibility, Paige often went because he didn't know the proper brands to buy and what Paige would need to make dinner. If she didn't make a detailed list beforehand, she would often need to go with him.

She glanced back at the opened window and knew Derek was listening to the conversation. It was at least two hours before nightfall – she could go to the store and be back before the sun had set.

"Alright," she hopped over to her dresser and grabbed her purse and car keys. "Let's go."

"What's that?" He stopped her, pointing to the pile on the floor.

"What?"

"Why are those blankets on the ground? Did you sleep on the floor last night?" Wyatt walked over to the pile and used the tip of his toe to kick it a bit.

"I…" Paige glanced at her bed. As per always, she had made her bed that morning so there was no way for Wyatt to know that two people had slept in her room last night: one in the pile, one in the bed. "Had a nightmare," she explained. "I got really overheated and it just felt better to be on the ground by the window." Without giving him a chance to respond, she grabbed his arm and pulled him from the room. "C'mon, I have plans tonight."

Together, they left the house and got into her car.

"How was the dance last night?" Paige asked, putting her car in reverse and backing out.

"Eh, pretty horrific, actually," Wyatt twisted the knob of the radio briefly and then leaned back. "My date ditched me about halfway through the night. And then everyone was flipping out about Lydia Martin and… well, I guess after hearing about what happened to her, I don't really have much room to complain, huh?"

"No," Paige muttered. Just what she needed – a reminder of what happened last night. "I guess not."

"So, what plans do you have going on tonight?"

"Plans?" Paige furrowed her brow as she turned down onto a rather busy street. "What plans?"

"You said you had plans," he reminded her.

"Oh – yeah, I'm going somewhere with –"

When she would look back at that moment, she would realize that she honestly had no idea how she was going to finish that sentence. Because, at that moment, it didn't matter how that sentence was finished. All that mattered was that there was a crunch of metal so loud that something in her snapped. All that mattered was that the passenger side door was crushing in on her little brother. All that mattered was that some asshole in another car had smashed into her defenseless little vehicle.

It was all in slow motion.

Her hands were off her steering wheel before she knew it, reaching over her brother and pushing back against the door as it caved in. But despite her super strength, she still failed to completely hold it back. Her muscles groaned and her arms snapped against the weight of the impact.

Brother and sister screamed in unison.

And then the car stopped spinning and everything came to a halt. Wyatt's legs were crushed under the metal – and the scent of his blood was slowly spreading through the car. Paige's seatbelt cut into her neck so hard it chaffed, and her arms sung with pain. She knew both of her arms were broken. But they were already healing… Would Wyatt?

Time sped up.

His heart was beating, his chest was rising and falling, but he wasn't opening his eyes and the scent of his blood was everywhere. Frantic, Paige ripped her seatbelt off with her teeth. Already, her bones had mended back to the point that she was able to open her door and observe the damage first hand. A van had smashed into the right side of the car – had run a red light and hit her fucking car.

With a desperate scream and her brother's blood in her nose, she rounded the car and pushed. She didn't even pause to see who was in the other car. It didn't matter. They had hurt her baby brother. And she needed to get him out of the car.

Flexing her body, she pushed with all her strength and the van skidded back a bit. Paige turned back to her demolished car and gripped the door. Once again, she summoned her inner-wolf and ripped the metal back – and straight off the hinges. Derek had once said that he could rip a roof off a car. Paige had proved him right.

The scent of blood spread into the air as the door was released from the car.

It was only then that Paige noticed it was leaking from his mouth too. A frantic cry burst from her mouth and she reached with shaking hands to grasp her brother and pull him from the wreckage.

Her strong baby brother looked so tiny, looked so fragile, looked so weak.

In the back of her mind, she heard the sirens approach, she heard the EMTs grab her brother from her arms and she heard herself being ushered into an ambulance of her own. But she didn't see anything. She didn't see herself be discharged when they found her uninjured, she didn't see her parents burst into the hospital, she didn't see the doctor explain that they couldn't stabilize Wyatt but that they'd try their best.

All she saw was the blood leaking from his mouth.

Night fell and Paige remembered that she as supposed to go do something with Derek. She had forgotten about Derek. For the past few days, all she had been able to think about was Derek and now he wasn't even in the back of her mind.

Her mother was alternating between sobbing and shaking in the waiting room and her father was sitting there, still as a rock. Paige hadn't been able to take it. So, she found herself on the roof. She figured it was the wolf in her that made her seek the moon. Or maybe it was the human in her, she really couldn't tell. No, she knew – if the human in her had been in any way in control she would be crying right now. But she had yet to shed a tear.

When she heard footfalls behind her, she didn't move.

Derek came to sit next to her.

"Stiles called," he finally said. "He and Scott wanted to come, but they didn't know if you were still mad at Stiles." When she didn't even look at him, he asked, "What happened?"

"I was driving. A van ran a red light. Hit the side of my car. Crushed Wyatt. I pushed the door as hard as I could, but it still wasn't enough. I pushed the van, too. Got out and nearly threw it off my car. Ripped the door off my car. Got him out. Ambulance showed up. I'm here." Paige was numb.

She knew she had to be, because she was sitting cross-legged on the concrete roof, her hands linked together so tightly that occasionally she heard something snap. Distantly, she realized she must have broken some bones in her hand, but she didn't feel anything.

"How is he?"

"Alive. For now. Both his legs were crushed. If he lives, he'll need years of physical therapy. There was internal bleeding. They're trying to stabilize him. He's in surgery."

The alpha didn't say anything, just looked at her with his soulful eyes. She could feel his gaze on her, but she didn't turn to look at him.

"Derek," she finally ventured. It had been an idea floating in her head when her mind visited places she would rather not go. "If… if things go sour… would you… would you be willing to turn him?"

Briefly, he just kind of stared at her as though he'd forgotten he had the power, or hadn't thought she'd ask.

"You'd want me to change him, even if it's not his choice?" he finally asked.

"He can't make anymore choices if he's dead!" she snapped, her voice shattering when she said the last word. For a moment, she crumbled and then forced herself to calm down. Crying now would do nothing. Don't go there, she coached herself. This is all hypothetical.

Finally, Derek nodded. She could see it out of the corner of her eyes. Gingerly, he lifted his arm and then hesitated. Paused somewhere in indecision for only a moment, he made up his mind and wrapped his arm around Paige. He pulled her close and slowly her body relaxed itself. She even stopped periodically breaking bones in her hands – but that might have been because she was scared Derek would let her go if she started self-mutilating in front of him.

Neither of them spoke for a long, long time. Periodically, Paige would shift her focus and check in with the waiting room – listening for any indication that the doctor had updated her parents. Usually, she just listened to Derek's heartbeat, so close at this moment – right under her ear.

An hour passed before she heard the doctor ask if he could talk to her parents. Tensing, Paige turned her face into Derek's chest. He responded by glancing down and tightening his grip on her.

"Mr. and Mrs. Flanagan?" he asked. "I just wanted to let you know the surgery was a success. We've gotten the internal bleeding under control. He's stable – and should be fine. When he wakes up, you can go see him."

Paige sagged against the wolf in relief.

"What did the doctor say?" Derek asked.

"He'll be fine," she mumbled into his shirt. "He's stable and he'll be f-fine."

The tears came slowly. One from her right eye, another from her left and then suddenly she was sobbing. She didn't even realize it until Derek shifted his position and pulled her almost completely into his lap. And he just held her. He was her rock and her friend and most recently her alpha and she trusted him more than anyone else and she had no idea why.

But still, she held on.

She held onto his heartbeat, even after she let go and got up and went to sit with her parents because she knew they'd be looking for her.

She held onto his heartbeat as he left the hospital and returned to his house, where he encountered Jackson and added a new member to the pack.

She held onto his heartbeat when her mother forced her to return home to get some rest and she crawled into bed in a house that was empty, next to a pile that was empty.

But still, she held on.

The next day, she found herself at the hospital with Wyatt. He had woken up that morning but the doctors only allowed her parents in to visit him. By afternoon, she had gotten a chance to see him.

He was ashen and weak but that all paled in comparison to how distraught he was about the fact that he couldn't play lacrosse. Paige sat with him and held his hand and dodged every question he had about how she'd been able to get him out of the car. Her story mainly involved the lie that the other driver had backed up and the door was already falling off the hinges anyways.

Gregory Flanagan already had great plans for suing the driver of the other car.

By evening, his friends were allowed into the room.

"Paige!" Jackson came slinking up to her and for a second she wanted to slink away. But something… smelled different about the boy.

"Jackson," she greeted warily.

When he eyeballed her up and down and commented, "You're back to wearing sweats, I see. Good thing you look good in everything," she realized what was different. The old Jackson would never have taken those kinds of liberties with her after knowing what she was. That meant this Jackson was on the same level as her. Derek had changed him.

Sure, she was back in her sweats, but all the confidence she had gained in her new clothes was internalized. "I assume that you think you can say things like that because we're on a similar level," she began coolly. "You're wrong. I'm a lot better at controlling myself, and I'm pretty sure I'm stronger."

"We'll have to test that some time," Jackson smirked, and then entered her brother's hospital room.

Paige was just making her way to her car, deciding there wasn't much she could do for Wyatt by hanging around and that she had school tomorrow, when Derek came speeding up in his car.

Frowning, she glanced around and approached the vehicle. She stooped down and stuck her head into the window. "Should you be driving this?" she asked.

"I was exonerated," he explained, unlocking the passenger side door. "Just got the news today." She slid into the car and closed the door behind her. "They lacked evidence, so it's still an open case… but I'm free to do whatever I want."

"Like change Jackson?" she pushed.

Derek shrugged but neither confirmed nor denied it.

"I feel like you're going to end up regretting that," she said, glancing out the window. She vaguely wondered where he was taking her, but she decided to leave it a surprise. She had done enough pondering about future events last night.

"Why?" The alpha took a sharp turn.

He was fond of sharp turns. Especially when he was going very quickly. Paige gripped the seat, but gave no other sign that the crash the night before had affected her in any way, shape, or form. Truly, she enjoyed the fact that Derek was always so relaxed when speeding in his car.

"If you think, for one second, that Jackson will join the pack in the way you want him to, you're wrong," she said simply.

"Give Jackson one encounter with hunters and he'll come running back to me," Derek assured her. "He just needs to realize that he needs me – needs us. We're stronger in a pack," he told her, not for the first time.

And then the car jerked to a stop.

Finally, curiosity got the better of her. "So… where are we?"

"You'll see," was all he said as he got out of his car and slammed the door.

It was… the forest preserve. They weren't going back to his home, were they? But that wasn't the direction they headed toward, on foot. Paige easily kept up with him, despite the fact that she had no idea where they were going. Finally, they reached an area where the trees fell away and the grass grew thicker. She was startled to find two large picnic tables and cement grill situated in the center of the clearing. And this clearing lead the way to… a cliff.

Derek stopped in the middle of the clearing, but Paige continued forward until the reached the very edge of the cliff. Below them was Beacon Hills in all its small-town glory. She looked up to find that the stars were out and brighter than she had ever seen them. And the plump moon loomed overhead.

"Where are we?" she asked again.

"Each full moon has a different name depending on the month. January is the Wolf Moon." His voice grew louder as he came to stand beside her. "It's essentially a holiday in werewolf culture. Packs can have extended branches, sometimes – like families do. On the Wolf Moon, though, they come together to celebrate the power of the wolf. Every year our extended family would come together and come here. It would start with a barbeque in the evening and then under the full moon, we would run together and bond as a pack, in our true forms. That was when we would challenge each other for status in the pack hierarchy."

Paige couldn't tell if he was trying to control the emotion in his voice, but it wasn't working. This place had memories for him. Deep, happy memories that had faded to a depressed nightmare.

"Why did you bring me here?" she finally asked. She knew the full moon – the Wolf Moon – would be coming in a week and a half, but she couldn't imagine Derek having a large pack established by then.

"I wanted to show you this place," he shrugged. "One day, the pack will be bigger. Stronger. It won't just be you and me and maybe Jackson and maybe Scott. When that time comes, I want to celebrate the Wolf Moon again."

He was realizing everyone was gone. Everyone in Beacon Hills who would have known what the Wolf Moon was had died. He was the only one left to carry those memories and maybe the burden was crushing him or maybe he just thought it would make her feel more like part of his pack, but he had chosen to share those memories. It made Paige smile. She liked knowing bits about werewolves and werewolf culture and while living with the man had enabled her to ask some questions and get some answers, this little bit of information wasn't something he had ever shared. It made her feel like more of a werewolf and less of a human who was sometimes a wolf.

"I love barbeques," she eventually admitted.

When Derek returned her smile, she knew he was as hopeful for the future as she was.

Preview:

"Chris Argent is in a car outside my house," she explained. Then she pointed a finger at him. "Also, I know you have a cellphone and I demand to know your number so that I don't have to run halfway across town to get you."

And it's breaking over me,

A thousand miles down to the seabed,

Found the place to rest my head.