Life's Choices
Chapter 25
First Fight
AN: I own nothing thanks for the reviews, hope you enjoy.
Penelope was sitting on her bed, she'd been pacing the room for while until she finally sat down, she was freaking out, and Derek hadn't showed up yet. He was supposed to meet her after practice here; she'd called Ruth and asked her if Derek had showed up there, but nothing.
She got up again grabbing her coat, which was his that she'd borrowed three days earlier when it started raining and she hadn't had coat. She put it on grabbing her bag before going to the door telling Jamie she'd be back later. Not carrying that Derek had told her not to leave less somebody was with her, she was pissed, he'd blown her off, and he'd never done this before. She heard Jamie say something but she slammed the door and took off down the stairs.
Penelope didn't stop walking until she ended up in front of the diner, she knew that Derek was going to be pissed, but she was too, she walked in and over to the counter where Cameron was standing, one the other teenagers that worked there. "Where is Derek at?" she asked.
"What, he didn't show up," Cameron said, "Jeff took off about two hours ago, there was call came over that CB that Jeff keeps here, he took off out the door, told me I was in charge, and he took that gun out the back that he keeps locked up," he said, "He's at the hospital know with one his officers and I think Derek's there too," he said.
"WHAT?" Penelope yelled out panic going through her, "Why is Derek at the hospital, what's wrong with him, why did Jeff take hat gun?" she asked.
"I don't know, somebody came over the Police scanner reporting an officer down, Jeff answered it, I think it was Derek, that's all I know, after that Jeff took off," Cameron said.
Penelope sat down on one the stools on the other side the counter, "Where was he calling from?" She asked.
"Don't know, I had table to wait," Cameron said, "But Jeff called Ruth, they're at the hospital now, the cop is in ICU, that's all I heard, been here since," he replied.
Penelope got up and went back towards the door, she knew that she should just stay here, she didn't know why Derek was at the hospital, she didn't know why he'd reported an officer down, but she couldn't stay, she needed air.
Derek showed up at Jamie's an hour later, his mom had made him stay until he could actually walk without about falling over, but he'd convinced her that Jeff could help him get home, she'd told him to stay there, but he'd come here instead. He had gotten some major bruising to his ribs, and he'd had to have stitches on the cut he'd gotten from something, he didn't know what, didn't even feel it, but he'd gotten it.
"She might be mad at first, but it's only because you could have died," Jeff said, he had refused to leave Derek till he knew that he was in the apartment.
"I know, and she is going to be pissed, I was supposed to be here three hours ago," Derek said before the door opened.
"Penel…" Jamie stopped seeing Derek and Jeff, "Please tell me she's with you?" She asked.
"What?" Derek asked, "Pen's not here?"
"No, she took off hour ago, I yelled out for her to come back, but she was gone, I called Ruth, she said that Cameron saw her at the diner, told her something, and she took off again," Jamie said, "Oh my god," she said actually looking at Derek, "What the hell happened?"
"Rodney and Dan were waiting on me after practice, they thought Penelope was with me, five against one, they beat the shit out me, but cop showed up in the middle of it, trying to break it up, but they went after him," Derek said, "Dan had gun, he went to shot him and, I wasn't going to watch the guy die," he said.
"Come inside," Jamie said, "Why did they beat you up?" She asked.
"They got it out for me, always have had since I beat the shit out Rodney when we were kids, but I can't take five guys on at once, and I thought if they took it out on me they wouldn't touch Pen," he said, "I gotta go find her, they're still out there, I couldn't exactly hold them or anything, and the beat the officer up, this guy showed up helped me out, but it was still two against three, and we could took them on, but, the cop needed help," Derek said.
"You're not going anywhere I'll go," Jeff said, "I'll check the car first," he said, "Make sure he doesn't go anywhere, he's supposed to be in a bed right now, but he's hard headed," Jeff said before going to the door.
"Try the Youth Center, the picnic tables in the back beside the swings," Derek said, "She goes there sometimes," he said.
Jeff nodded before he closed the door going to find Penelope, "He'll find her," Jamie said.
"I am just hoping to god that he finds her first, cause if they find her, I know what they're going to do," Derek said, he wasn't sure if he could live with what happened if they got to her and Jeff didn't.
"Why don't you go lay down in her room, and I'll make you something eat," Jamie said, "No isn't an option either," she said before he could object.
"Thanks," Derek said before he stood up going to the bedroom, he closed the door before going to the bed, he didn't want to, but he couldn't do anything, he couldn't even play football for while, he'd already had bruises that afternoon, but now, his back and sides were almost one huge bruise. It hurt to sit down, lie down or even walk, they'd done a number on him, but all he could think was that if Pen had been there with him. It wasn't safe any more till Rodney and Dan were locked up.
He lay down on his back after he kicked off his boots, pulled his shirt off tossing it on the floor, but he left his jeans on just in case Jamie came in there, he didn't want her seeing anything. That was for his baby girl only.
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Penelope was sitting at the picnic table at the youth center, she had been sitting there since she left the diner, and she couldn't stop crying, she didn't know what was wrong with Derek, and Cameron wasn't any help. She was scared and she knew that Rodney had something to do with it, but she didn't want to leave where she was at, because she didn't know if she could walk back home.
"Hey," Somebody said behind her and she jumped turning around to see the guy that had been at the try-outs that day, the one that had been trying to grope her.
"What do you want?" She asked.
"You're Derek's girlfriend right?" the guy asked, "I've been looking for you," he said.
"Why so you can try and grope my ass again?" Pen asked standing up facing him, she knew it could go badly, but she wasn't going to let him touch her.
"I thought you'd want to know he's okay, I was at the store when Rodney and Dan was there," he said, "Well the aftermath at least," he said.
"Aftermath?" Penelope asked.
"Yeah, they shot the place up, before that Derek took a good beating, they took him and the police officer to the hospital, but Derek was fine from what I could tell, maybe walking bruise for few weeks, but they beat the cop up pretty good," he said, "I just thought since those thugs took off that you might need somebody to protect you for while, since your boyfriend's out commission for while," he said.
"I don't need somebody like you protecting me," Pen said, "All you're going to do is try get laid, and I'm not going to sleep with you," she said.
"Come on, I never said that," he replied, "But, maybe I could touch your boobs this time," he said with smile.
Penelope didn't think twice she took a swing punching him in the face, "YOU PIG," she yelled at him.
"Look I'm sorry okay, that's not why I came here, but you do look good, my mind just went elsewhere," he replied, "I swear I won't touch you, you can kick my ass if I try, because I think you could, but still, you need somebody to watch your back."
"You sure you don't mean grab my ass?" She asked ready to take another swing.
"No, I'm serious, you look smoking hot, and if you weren't Derek's girl, I'd probably want to bend you over that table and take you right here, but, I won't, you're his girl, and I don't won't anything out of it, besides keeping an eye on you till he can protect you again."
"You so much as touch me, and I will kick you in the balls," Penelope said, "But I could use somebody to walk me back to the apartment," she said.
"Come on, oh and by the way, the names Nick," he said.
"Nice to finally have a name for you who gropes me," Pen said, "But make no mistake Nick, Derek is my boyfriend, and you touch me, I don't care what you think, he's going to kick your ass," she said before following Nick.
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Penelope reached the apartment finding Jeff there, "Where have you been, I've been looking for you," he said.
"Sorry, I been walking around, but Nick here found me, he's been with me," Pen said, it wasn't the whole truth, but it wasn't a lie either.
"I don't give a damn, you scared the hell out of, I couldn't find you and I thought they found you," Jeff said, "You scare me like that again," he said before he hugged her, "Just don't ever do that again," he said, Penelope was like a second daughter to him, and when he couldn't find her he thought the worst had happened.
"I'm sorry, when Cameron said Derek was at the hospital I freaked out, started walking like that first night I ran into him, and I didn't stop till I got to the youth center, I been there since, Nick found me, he told me Derek's okay, but I gotta know for myself," Penelope said.
"I'm going to have chat with Nick here, you go upstairs, and if you leave without somebody with you again, I'm going to be personally walking you everywhere for week," Jeff threatened.
"Thanks dad," Pen said with smile before giving him another hug, the man had become like a second father to her, and she knew she'd scared him, "I'm sorry, I scared you," she said before she pulled away going up the stairs.
Penelope got upstairs going to her bedroom ignoring Jamie on the couch who called her name out, she walked to her room and opened the door finding Derek asleep. Nick had told her what Derek had told the first cop that showed up and Jeff, and she was trying to hold back, and knew that she should calm down, but she was pissed. She slammed the door making the picture on the wall rattle, but it didn't fall.
She walked over to the bed standing beside Derek who was waking up, "Baby girl," he said.
"Don't you baby girl me, you jumped in front of a damn bullet," She shouted, "What in the hell were you thinking, what about me, what about our baby, you could have died," she said, she'd been holding it back, but now she was going to yell.
"Pen don't, I know you're mad, but…"
"NO, do you not care what happens to me, and this baby, you die, and I know we got no chance, I can't live without you Derek, and I know you saved that cop, but what about me, don't I matter?" she asked.
"You matter, you know I love you," Derek said sitting up.
"Obviously not, you wouldn't have jumped in front of that gun, you could have done something else, you could have fought Dan and got out there first, you could have done something, but you…" She couldn't control the tears, "If you weren't hurt I'd slap you," she yelled at him.
"Penelope I'm sorry, but I couldn't let him die, I couldn't watch another cop die, I watched my dad die and I couldn't do anything, I could do something this time, and I know how stupid it was to jump in front of the gun, but I couldn't just watch them kill him," Derek said.
"What would happened if you died, Rodney and Dan would come after me and we both know what would happen, I'm not you Derek, I can't fight them," Pen said.
"It was five on one, I couldn't fight them, I tried, I fought to get out his grip, but I knew that it wasn't going to happen, Dan's stronger than Rodney is, I can't take him down that easily," Derek said, "And I thought if they beat me up they wouldn't go after you, and what they said they were going to do to you," he said.
"I DON"T CARE," she shouted, "A bullet Derek, you can't come back from that," she said, "Without you my life isn't worth anything, did you not think about me, did you see the gun and think okay, I can save him and be a hero, but I can die at the same time?" She asked tears rolling down her face.
"No, I was thinking that I had to protect you, I had to get out of there before they could kill me, and that cop walked in, I saw the gun, and I just acted on instincts, I tackled him to the ground and I shielded him while they shot the place up, I thought if I could make it out of there alive, I could get back to you, and even after they beat the hell out of me, you would be here, I had you, and you can make everything okay," Derek said.
"Not this time," Pen said, "Get out my room, you showed that you don't care about me or this baby, other wise you wouldn't have done what you did," she said.
"Don't you do this to me," Derek said, "I didn't know how it was going to go, I didn't know that guy would walk in there, I love you, please," he said trying to pull her into his arms but she slapped him, he stiffened the groan.
"LEAVE,"
"No, I'm not leaving until you stop shouting at me, and know that I didn't do that because I was being selfish, they wanted to rape you, they were going to take turns with you, if you'd been there, they would have, and I would killed them, don't you get it, I love you more than you will ever know, and I wasn't going to die in that store, that cop showed up and he saved my ass, I saved his life for that, and I'd do it again, because if he hadn't showed up I'd be dead, and they'd be coming after you," Derek said he finally was getting through to her, he knew that, he could see it.
"But why did you have to jump in front of the bullet, you could have gotten shot," Penelope said before letting him hug her finally.
"Because I love you, and even though I knew you'd be pissed at me, I couldn't let him die, I know that Gordinski hates me, and would rather have me locked up in a jail cell, but I wasn't going to let him die," Derek said holding her as she cried, "I love you baby girl, and I love this baby, but I couldn't just let him die either, he didn't deserve it no matter if he is an asshole," Derek said.
"Just promise me that you will think before you act, and don't put yourself in danger like that again," Penelope said.
"I can't promise that, you know where we live," Derek said, "But I promise to try and walk away every time I can," he said.
"I can take that," Pen said, "Just remember you have a girlfriend and an unborn baby that needs their boyfriend and dad," she said.
Derek held her knowing she was going to forgive him, but she was still upset with him, "I should be spanking you too, you took off," Derek said.
"I'm sorry, go ahead yell at me," She said.
"Pen, they are out there, I'm not going to yell at you, but so help me, you ever do that again, I will punish you not letting you near that car till you have your license, and I will make the truck a sex free zone for two months," he threatened.
"Like you could go two months," Penelope said with giggle.
"Want bet me, I know I can go longer than you," Derek said.
"You're on, one week," Penelope said, "I bet I can last longer," she said.
"I was thinking more until my ribs heal, should be about three weeks," he said.
"That's cheating," Pen said.
"I know, that's the whole point," Derek said before he kissed her.
TBC
AN: I hope you enjoyed, and I thought since all those stories I gave Nick and Derek past together I could do it in this story and they need a friend.