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

A/N: Hey y'all! Still so amazed by all of your feedback. You're lovely.

I got a review and really wanted to respond, but I thought everyone else would also benefit from my thoughts on the review, so I'm adding it into the author's note. ButtercupluvsJACE mentioned that, "Its wrong I know, but I really hate Paige right now. Just sayin." And honestly, I love the fact that you hate her right now. If a reader loves a character absolutely throughout the entire story, I feel like the author is doing something wrong – especially if their main objective is to create a realistic individual. I spent my entire summer reading the Song of Ice and Fire books and if George R.R. Martin taught me anything, it was that a character that is multidimensional will always have things you love and things you hate. That man has not created a single character that I sometimes want to smack. Actually, I usually always want to smack his characters – and I love them for it. And so, I love you, Miss ButtercupluvsJACE because you hate Paige right now. It is absolutely not wrong to hate her, not one bit. Thank you.

Anyways, enjoy!

Big Empty Houses

By: Ginny

I was born in a big grey cloud

Screaming out a love song

All the broken chords and unnamed cries

What a place to come from

Previously:

It wasn't angry and it wasn't frustrated and it wasn't anything she would have expected and that hurt Paige the most. Anger she could handle. But at that moment, he just looked damaged. He looked injured and confused and his eyes were asking her what he had done wrong.

And then just like that, he shut down. Everything about him closed up and he simply said, "It did mean nothing. And it won't happen again. Now, let's get back to business."

Paige couldn't concentrate as she drove home.

The rest of the meeting had gone by in a blur and she hadn't even let Isaac talk to her afterward. She assumed he had realized the consequences of blabbing something like that and was going to apologize. She had already forgiven him though, knowing that she only had herself to blame. Oh, and Erica. Erica was also capable of taking some blame. That bitch. It was difficult to smell Derek in the hideout, difficult to smell their actions from the night before. It was impossible to look at him and she had just wanted out.

She had wanted to do it again. So badly. And it hadn't meant nothing. She hadn't known how Derek had felt about it until now. And now that she knew… It wasn't just a fling, was it? Or maybe it had just been labeled a fling because of her big annoying mouth.

There were tears falling from her face by the time she pulled into her driveway. Wyatt noticed them immediately.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing," she replied. With the back of her hand she wiped them away and continued into the kitchen. The last thing she wanted right now was prying questions – even if they were coming from her beloved brother. So, she changed the subject. "You ready to go? I just want to grab a quick snack…"

Her brother kept his mouth shut until they were in the car. "Is it Isaac?"

"No."

"I could kick his ass," he suggested. She could have kissed him right there. "Well, give me a few months to heal but I'll kick his ass."

"It wasn't Isaac," she repeated a bit forcefully. "It was nothing. I'm just hormonal. Leave it alone."

"You can blame PMS all you want, I know something's wrong."

"Whatever," Paige scoffed a bit and turned into the parking lot. It was crowded with all the observers, but she found a spot. After helping her brother out of the car and into his wheelchair, she took a huge whiff of the night air, embracing her inner wolf. In the air she could smell Stiles, Scott, Erica, Boyd, Isaac, and… Derek. Her heart clenched and she tried to ignore it.

They'd talk later, she vowed. They would surely talk later and she would clear everything up and then they'd go back to the train car and she would kiss him and she would throw her head back as they made love again and again.

"I'll need to sit closer to the ground," Wyatt explained, rolling towards the bleachers. "Hope you don't mind."

Glancing up, Paige noticed that Erica and Boyd were situated in the middle of one crowd. "I do not mind that at all," Paige told her brother. The last thing she wanted was to sit next to that bitch.

Of course, part of her realized she was not being totally fair – Erica may have taken her hasty words and used them against her, but Paige had been the one to speak the words first. The blame could be shared. And then she just decided she was too angry to care. Erica was a bitch. Paige had been nothing but nice to that girl and she had betrayed her.

Halfway through the game, Paige had had enough of listening to Wyatt complain about the kid on the other team who was literally demolishing the crowd. Yeah, the kid was big – but he was no wolf. If Scott would play to his true potential, he could cream the kid in a heartbeat. She sighed, and looked around… to find Isaac sitting on the bench, watching her. He waved and she waved back. That was right, he had been benched on probation because he missed all those practices when he was a fugitive.

She wondered if she should go say "hi".

And then the lacrosse coach started calling for Stiles. When he didn't immediately appear, Paige realized he was probably being interrogated by Derek already. But she hadn't gotten a text… She pretended not to be offended.

When the coach couldn't find Stiles, he turned to the crowd and apparently found someone willing to be a stand-in player. "Nu-uh, Derek won't like this," Paige heard. Her body tightened and she turned around to find Boyd descending the bleachers anyway. She caught his eye and frowned, but the boy didn't take the warning.

This would not be good.

Slowly, she watched the situation go from bad to worse. Boyd jumped right into the game and damn near went crazy. The entire time, Paige was on the edge of her seat – prepared to jump up and tackle the kid if necessary. He knocked the opposing team's star player on his ass and even from this distance, Paige could see his eyes glowing. Scott approached the other wolf and Paige heard him warn the bigger kid that he was losing control and then – thank god, Scott provided the distraction she needed. From the bleachers, she heard the crack of bone, but as people rushed the field, she was more focused on finding Boyd.

She ignored Wyatt's call of, "Where are you going?"

Coming up behind Boyd, she dug her claws into his back and heard the slick of nails breaking skin. He groaned and stretched to avoid the sharp nails an inch deep in his skin.

"What do you think you are doing?" she hissed in his ear.

"I just wanted to play," he yelped.

Her claws retracted and she frowned. "I know you want to play – try out for the team next year. Right now, you nearly put us all at risk. Gerard is in the audience – did you not see that?"

The crowd broke up as everyone realized that Scott was all right. Paige gave the boy one last frown and jogged back to her brother, who was pouting a bit. Boyd pulled himself out of the game. Erica was nowhere to be seen.

There were eyes on her. It was like a shiver snaking down her spine. Briefly, Paige glanced over to find Gerard staring down at her from his perch a few steps up. His face was neutral but Paige was still frightened. She tried to not let it show on her face and instead summoned the courage of her she-wolf. Slowly, she let her fangs grow and then she grinned at the man to show that she wasn't afraid. All he did was smile right back. Gerard broke eye contact first, choosing to say something to his granddaughter in favor of playing this silly game with a silly little girl.

"They didn't know about you before this!" Derek had said once. Well, that had only lasted for a while.

Sometimes Paige dreamed she and the pack could just relocate. Derek would just swoop down and carry them off to New York and they could live in peace without hunters and other terrifying creatures. But right now, that seemed even less like a reality. Mostly because Paige was certain she had officially fucked things up with Derek.

Shit.

Paige barely watched the remainder of the game and when it was all over, she was glad to be returning home. All she wanted to do was take a shower and go to bed. They hadn't texted, so she figured her presence wasn't currently welcomed. Fine. So be it. Today had been stressful and terrible and she was exhausted. And worried. She knew she needed to talk to Derek but she didn't know if he would listen.

Frowning, she grabbed her phone and called her alpha. When it went straight to voicemail, she nearly growled and then stalked to the shower.

A cry-session would do her wonders, she decided.

But when she got out of the shower and wiped her eyes and toweled off and called his cell again and it went straight to voicemail again, she wasn't angry. She was nervous. Throwing her hair into a ponytail and haphazardly putting clothes on her body, she wondered what was wrong. Then, she locked her door and went out the window. On foot was much faster than her car, but there was no one at the hideout when she arrived.

Something was wrong.

Sprinting back to the school so that she could pick up his trail, she tried his phone one last time and still – nothing.

His scent was definitely at the field… but it wasn't very strong… in fact, it seemed a few hours old. But, she followed it anyways – up the hill, into the school and down into the pool. She had barely opened the door when two things became very obvious. One, Stiles was in the middle of pool, treading water and holding a phone to his ear. Then he frown at his phone and threw it away. Two, Erica was lying on the ground apparently very unconscious.

Despite her earlier anger, Paige was instantly worried for the girl.

"Paige!" Stiles noticed her. "Get in the pool!"

That… made no sense.

It started making sense when she heard a roar from across the pool. There was a creature, lizard-like and creepy and it just… smelled wrong. When it caught sight of her, it began to stalk around the pool. Get in the pool, Stiles had said. What the heck would the water do to prevent this lizard thing from coming near her? Nothing – that was what. Couldn't lizards swim? Lizards just seemed like they would do well in water, didn't they? But, Stiles hadn't been eaten yet – so that was something.

Paige backed up, trying to keep the creature on the direct other side of the pool. But, it was gaining speed.

"Jesus, Paige! Just get in the pool!" came Stiles' shout.

But she just kept moving, wanting to escape this monster. Where was Derek? His scent was here, in the air – he had been here. She needed him to be here.

"Get in the pool! Now!" was Stiles' next shout.

And then the creature was nearly on her.

Without much consideration, she dove straight in. Bracing herself, she waited for the creature to come splashing in after her – but it didn't.

When she resurfaced, she asked, "Where's Derek?"

Stiles' eyes went wide. Instantly, he dove back under the water and resurfaced with Derek, but… the alpha wasn't moving. How long had he been under there? "What had he been doing under there?" was the better question.

Swimming like it was a matter of life and death – which it kind of was – she reached the boys. The creature wasn't even present in her mind as she cupped Derek's face with her hands. "Derek?" she asked. "Derek, wake up. You have to wake up now – please wake up now."

Oh God, could a werewolf drown? Should they do CPR? Glancing around, Paige noticed that the creature was avoiding the water… so, they were safe now but if they tried to get Derek onto solid ground and give him CPR that monster would get them all. But maybe… if she fought the creature, Stiles could give him CPR and then Paige would be dead, but it was worth it if Derek lived.

Her grip on his face tightened and she felt tears mingling with the chlorine water on her face. What the fuck? What was she supposed to do? She was utterly lost without her alpha… without her Derek. This wasn't how it was supposed to end. It was supposed to be in a flurry of bullets, fighting that asshole Gerard Argent. This was just… He didn't deserve to die just because Stiles had forgotten him. Fucking Stilinski.

And then suddenly, his body convulsed and he coughed up some water – right onto her face. But she didn't care. It was the best sound in the world. His breath was labored but Paige still allowed a smile to grace her lips. He was back. Of course, a little bit of water couldn't kill him.

When Derek finally opened his eyes, she knew it was going to be all right.

"Paige?" he asked, his voice more than hoarse.

"Hey," she smiled. "You weren't answering my calls. I'm afraid I momentarily turned into some kind of stalker chick and decided to go track you down," she teased. "What's going on?"

"Well, first things first," Stiles spoke up. "You take him. You're a lot stronger than me and I've been holding us up for two hours." And just like that, Stiles transferred Derek into her arms. She barely noticed the added weight. All that mattered was that she could feel him, there, alive.

"Tell me you got Scott," Derek finally said.

Stiles winced a bit. "No… he answered but immediately told me he couldn't talk."

Derek cursed, but Paige was more focused on asking, "Why can't you move?"

"Whatever that thing is, it has some kind of toxin in its claws," Stiles said. "It paralyzes. Scott's boss explained it – the thing scratches it's victim on the neck and paralyzes them first and then kills them. See the things you miss when you don't sit with us at lunch?"

"I'd rather sit with the pack," she muttered angrily. She shifted a bit and took a look at the back of Derek's neck. A jagged little cut was only half-healed. Suddenly, she exploded with anger. "He's paralyzed!" she shouted. "He's paralyzed and you thought it was a good idea to let go of him in a pool! Do you enjoy being on my shit list? Is that it? And not just let him go – you sat there gaping like an idiot while I was running around the fucking pool!"

"You weren't getting in the water!" Stiles argued.

"Would the two of you stop?" Derek snarled.

Paige tightened her grip on the man, enjoying the feel of him under her fingertips and mumbled, "Sorry." Then she got back to business. "So, Scott's not coming?" Stiles shook his head. "Okay… Isaac and Boyd are already home. I could call them but… my phone was in my pocket when I jumped in. Okay, so they're therefore unreachable. Erica is knocked out. Why hasn't he gone for her yet?"

"No clue," Stiles shrugged.

"Then let's assume she's safe for now – but maybe not when she wakes up…" Paige thought long and hard and finally decided, "I can lead it away."

"No," Derek snapped.

"I know I can't fight it – that would be stupid," she argued. "But if I can get it away from here, you guys will be safe."

"And you'll be dead," he shot back.

"You don't know that – I said I can't fight it, but I bet I could out-run it," she said. "And if I could get to Scott, or Isaac, or Boyd before it got me –"

"Do you hear how you're talking?" Derek asked. ""Before it got me"? It's a suicide mission and I'm not letting you do it."

"How long do you intend to stay here?" she shook him a bit, even though she knew he couldn't feel it. But his head still jiggled left and right as she moved his body. "Until your paralysis wears off? How long will that be? Until some poor sap stumbles in and gets eaten by that thing? Until Erica wakes up – totally unprepared for that creature - and gets eaten? I can get to Isaac's house from here. I can divert it and buy you guys some time."

"The only person who can reasonably fight that thing is me!"

"And you can't do that right now! Besides – you're the alpha. They need you. They don't need me. I'm expendable! Let me do this!"

"You are not expendable!" he shouted. "And they do need you!" Panting, he looked her right in the eye. In a quiet voice he added, "I need you."

Oh God. That… that broke her heart. That just absolutely broke her heart. Especially considering that it did nothing except cement her desire to drive that creature away so that they could get to safety. Vaguely, she recalled a memory. It was during her first full moon and she had asked if she would grow a tail. Derek had laughed his ass off. That was the image she held in her head – his head thrown back, all his straight white teeth showing, as his eyes crinkled and his body shook. That was the face she wanted to see before she got out of this pool – not the one that looked so desperate for her to stay – eyes desperately begging for her not to go.

"I…" she couldn't get the words out. She had so much to say – but she was always the type of person who lost her nerve and began sobbing midsentence and she couldn't let herself do that right now. She wanted to tell him it didn't mean nothing and maybe she liked him a lot and maybe it was actually love and she just hadn't figured it out yet. But her breath caught in her lungs and she choked on everything bottled up inside herself. Taking a deep breath, she turned and searched for the monster. It was on the left side of the pool. She kept her gaze on it because she knew if she looked at Derek's face, she'd lose her nerve. "I'm sorry," she simply said.

She handed him over to Stiles, who accepted him without a word.

"Paige! No!" Derek called after her as swam for the right side of the pool. "Paige! Come back here! Don't do this! Do not do this!"

But she had already pushed herself out of the water and stood up. The creature noticed her and let out another roar. Bracing herself, she took off towards the back door. Her ears picked up the thing's movements but she realized it was already too late – she was too slow. How could she be too slow? She was a fucking werewolf – she was fast as all hell, typically. But this thing was apparently faster. It jumped clear over the pool and came skidding to a stop right in front of her.

Backing away slowly, she brought out her claws. If it wanted a fight, it would get a fight and this girl would go down swinging. She had people to protect.

A roar ripped from her throat.

It threw itself at her, claws out and ready to go. But Paige had seen the movement of his arms. After hours of watching and participating in hand-to-hand matches with Derek and the pack, she was quicker and sharper than she had ever been before. And she saw what was coming. Ducking, she avoided the creature and it tumbled right over her.

Whipping around, she was taken by surprise as his claws caught her in the flank and slashed from her right side to her left side. She cried out on instinct but also managed to step back before the talons had done the kind of damage that would have left her intestines spilling out.

Pain she didn't know existed flashed in her eyes. But slowly, it was replaced by something else… the toxin, she realized. It had infected her with its toxin and she was becoming as helpless as Derek. Sliding to the floor, she saw the shadow of the monster come to stand over her.

This was the end.

She wanted to say something. Her last words should be meaningful. They should be more meaningful than anything else she had said in her life, prior to this moment. But all she could think to say was, "I'm so sorry."

It seemed she would never be able to explain to Derek that last night had meant more to her than anything had ever meant to her. And she would never be able to tell Wyatt that, no, she was not dating Isaac Lahey. And she'd never be able to tell Erica that she was sorry they hadn't talked about the new development between her and the alpha. But they would understand, surely. They knew her better than anyone else and they would know everything she had meant to say. They would move on without her and Isaac would probably take her place as Derek's second-in-command and Derek… Well, the alpha would be sad. Probably. Most likely. Enough people had left him before – Paige wouldn't be the first and probably not the last. He'd mourn in his own way and get over it.

A growl from behind the monster echoed around the pool. She knew that voice. Scott had come through, oh my God; Scott had come to save them.

Another roar from the creature and suddenly it was no longer hovering above her. There was a series of sounds – as though the two were communicating. And then there was the sound of broken glass. But Paige couldn't tell who had been tossed. It hurt to breathe and while she couldn't move, the pain in her abdomen was still very much present.

The next thing she knew, glass was breaking above her and she just knew the monster was gone.

"Paige!" Scott came running over to her and slid her on her back. Ah, the monster had left through the ceiling. How… weird. "Are you okay?" he asked her.

Taking a gulp of air, Paige said, "I'm fine. It got me, but I'll live." Then she tried to look out of the corner of her eye. "Where is Derek? And Stiles?"

"Right here!" Stiles' voice reached her. "Scott, could you help – I can't lift him."

Ten minutes later, Derek was able to walk again and Erica was awake. Paige was almost glad she couldn't move – it gave her an excuse for not looking the alpha in the eye when he came to stand next to her. After a moment of observing her broken body, he knelt down and lifted her up.

"Is she going to be okay?" Erica asked, coming to stand next to the two.

"I'm fine," Paige assured her when Derek didn't speak. "I'm just paralyzed."

"And that thing took a chunk out of your stomach," the other beta commented.

"Yeah, that too," Paige muttered.

And suddenly, Paige didn't even give a damn about her grudge. That was what life or death situations did to people – they put things into a better perspective and allowed them to move on. Paige was just glad everyone was alive.

Derek still didn't speak. He carried her straight out to his car and left her in the back seat. She didn't try to speak to him, either. He and Erica both disappeared for a bit and even though Paige could have heard what they were doing if she wanted to, she tuned it out. Just the fact that Derek wasn't talking to her – not to scold her, not to yell at her… it scared her. Anger was something she could handle – it was damn near a permanent part of Derek. This silence was deafening in comparison.

Erica was driven home because it wasn't safe enough for her to be alone.

And when they arrived at the hideout, Derek picked her back up and carried her right down the stairs and into his train car. He placed her gently on the mattress and pulled her shirt up a bit to expose the scratch. The mattress still smelled like sex. Had that only happened yesterday?

He left.

Even after the toxin wore off and Paige was able to sit up and check her wound on her own, he was still gone. Satisfied that the injury would be mostly healed when she woke back up, she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep. Part of her wanted Derek to come back and join her. Another part didn't – not if he brought his silence with him.

When she woke up again, she felt at home. This was only the second morning in a row she had woken up in this place but it was more like home than her big empty house.

He was back.

She could feel him just outside the train car.

But when she came stumbling out, he didn't look at her. His gaze was on the opposite wall and he was tense all over. Finally, Paige opened her mouth to probably apologize again. But he spoke first.

"Don't come back," he said simply.

"What?"

Oh, god. Anything but this. Yell at me. Scream at me. Throw me into a wall, cut open my belly. But not this.

"The other betas have been instructed not to communicate with you," he continued, his voice cold. "If the hunters come after you, I'm certain Scott will help you."

And then he crossed his arms, his body still so tense.

"You're throwing me out of the pack?" Her voice sounded distant in her ears and her belly hurt, and not just because of her wound. "What…? Why?"

But he didn't say anything. He just… kept looking at that wall.

Paige shut her eyes tightly to prevent tears from falling. And then, she straightened her spine and strutted right past Derek. Fine. Kick her out. She could survive just fine on her own. Besides, she had always known she was going to go back to Chicago. It was better this way – no need to say any goodbyes when she left.

Seven more months.

Preview:

"Is it them?" she heard someone ask.

And then Stiles' face appeared in the window and he nearly dissolved with relief. "It's our back up," he explained. After a series of rattles, and whatnot, the door was opened. "I love that you're here."

I know everybody lets you down

And I'll do the same

But know I'll always be around

This can remain the same