Author note: Part twenty three time! Wow! I can't believe how far this story has come already! I am currently writing the final two parts of this story! This story will have a total of 30 parts so we're getting towards the end now!

I apologise now for the late update, I went back to college on monday so updates will be limited back to once a week (thursday/friday) because of that!

I really hope you guys like this part, I am not quite sure if I like how this part turned out as I rewrote it a few times! I've been working extra hard on these next few parts so I would really appreciate if you would read and review, favourite or follow my story!

Thanks to everyone who has given me feedback before it is really appreciated!

Special thanks to RHatch89, Xhenx1 and the guest reviewer for reviewing the last part!

Hope you all enjoy!

Don't forget to review xx

Part 23:

Emily, Gabriella and Kelsey all stared at Sophia awkwardly knowing that she was probably frustrated that her ex-boyfriend had turned up out of the blue once again. It was becoming a daily occurrence, one that she didn't happen to like very much at all. Whilst Josh pulled his friend into a man hug and began to get into conversation with him unaware of how Sophia and the girls were feeling.

The tension was thick as the players on the lacrosse field began to get into their starting positions, the crowd now taking to their seats. Emily, Gabriella, Kelsey and Josh quickly went back to their original spaces, excited to watch the game ahead and see their school hopefully win.

Jake glanced down at Sophia who was still stood on the grass and nowhere near the rest of the group on the bleachers. He raised his eyebrows up at her with a cheeky grin and motioned with his hand for her to take the seat beside Josh and then he could sit down on the end beside her. However, Sophia wasn't that stupid. She knew what his plan was and she wasn't letting him get what he wanted.

"I'll pass" Sophia told him his face dropping instantly at her refusal "I'd rather stand thank you"

She flashed him the fakest sweetest smile she could before turning on her heel and strutting off over to stand beside the girls on the other side of the stands next to the railing. Jake grunted under his breath as he took a seat down beside Josh, his eyes going back over to Sophia and he glared at her annoyed at how stubborn she was being.

Sophia crossed her arms over her chest already feeling way too annoyed by Jake's presence but she wasn't going to let it get to her. She just wanted to have fun tonight with her friends so she was choosing to ignore him from now on and focus her attention on the game. Especially since this was a rematch from the last game after it ended badly and Sophia had left the game before it was even over.

Half way through the game the home side were struggling badly. Since one of their star players who happened to be Scott hadn't showed up yet and Sophia probably assumed it was because he couldn't pull himself away from his little date. Also something was definitely going on with the supernatural creatures who had attended the game especially Liam who was looking terrified and lacking motivation.

"What the hell is your man doing, Gabby?" Emily joked causing Kelsey and her to laugh out loud as Liam let the other team charge past him.

"Shut up" Gabriella held back the laughter as she nudged Emily teasingly. She was getting use to the fact that her friends still thought she had a crush on him when she didn't. He was too young and cute to her in a really weird way.

"You can't deny that his skills tonight are slightly off" Emily replied back with a hint of sass in her voice as Gabriella frowned at her.

"He's just going through a rough patch, he'll be fine soon" Gabriella found herself defending him and turned her head back to the game.

Sophia rolled her eyes playfully at her friend's conversation and a smile formed on her face thankful that she still had her best friends in her life. They were probably the only normal thing in her life at the moment and she was glad they were unaware of what was really going on because they were kind of like her escape.

The referee blew his whistle a couple of times signalling it was half time causing the lacrosse players from either teams to jog over to their sides of the pitch to have a team talk and get some refreshments. The group of friends got up from their seats and climbed down the stands to go stand with Sophia beside the seats. She smiled as her friends approached her but it sunk when she noticed Jake was still there lingering around with them.

Emily turned her attention over to the lacrosse players huddled together where her boyfriend Zack was beckoning her over. She grinned back at him and turned round to the others "I'm going to pop over to see Zack"

"I'll come with you" Josh suggested looking at Jake and then over to the lacrosse players "You coming man?"

"Nah I'll stay with the ladies. Keep them company" Jake told him causing the wave of anger to wash over Sophia again at his slyness as Jake stared smugly at the girl.

"Fair enough" Josh said nodding at him coolly before strolling off with Emily leaving the three other girls and Jake alone.

"God! I really fancy a drink after watching that game" Gabriella sighed looking between Jake and Sophia. She happened to be the only one out of the girls who didn't know that Sophia hated having Jake back. She thought they were still trying to get them back together even if it was just for the week. "Come get me a drink with me Kels"

Gabriella linked her arm through Kelsey's and began to tug her away "Can't you go alone?" Kelsey frowned at her friend already knowing she couldn't leave Sophia and Jake alone after what happened at the bonfire.

"No Kel's please"

Kelsey ignored Gabriella's whines and eyed Sophia hopelessly hoping she would offer to go instead. Sophia knew how hard Kelsey was trying for her benefit but she couldn't let her friends walk around egg shells just for her. She didn't want to make Jake seem a big deal when he really wasn't. "Go on Kel's go with Gabriella"

"But…" Kelsey frowned at Sophia who shook her head quickly.

"It's fine seriously. Just go"

Kelsey bit down on her bottom lip and nodded at the girl before Gabriella smiled triumphantly and wondered off to get some refreshments from one of the vending machines outside the school campus. This left Sophia and Jake alone making Jake more than pleased to be left alone with his ex-girlfriend again who he was still completely obsessed with.

Sophia sighed loudly, crossing her arms over her chest again in annoyance and trailing her eyes around her surroundings rather than acknowledging Jake. On the other hand, Jake was doing his best to grab Sophia's attention by glancing at her and then quickly looking away again sometimes even smirking at her. He probably would do anything to get her attention.

"So looks like we're alone again, huh?" Jake said breaking the silence between them, his hands were in his jeans pocket and he nudged his arm towards her.

"Unfortunately" Sophia mumbled not bothering to look at him.

"Why are you so moody with me?" He paused spinning his body round to face her completely rather than standing beside her "You were in love with me not so long ago"

"Oh get over yourself, Jake" she replied back her voice thick with anger as she tried to look past him rather than at his 'annoying' face.

"You think you can pretend like we weren't together and that what we had is just gone"

"No" Sophia shouted at him finally snapping and she looked at him angrily "You pretend like we're still together, like I'm still yours and that I'm your prize possession that you can just use whenever you want to. But I'm not! I'm far from it"

Jake began chuckling shaking his head amused "Sophia you know that's not true"

She rolled her eyes in disbelief, this guy was crazy, he made her so angry and she couldn't stand to be around him or listen to his lies for any longer. Sophia twisted around on her feet and began to walk off away from him, heading away from the bleachers and away to the parking lot to get out of there. That was until Jake rushed forward; he grabbed her hands harshly and smashed the front of her body up against the side of the bleachers, her back now against the front of his.

"Don't run away from me, Sophia. I haven't finished talking to you" Jake said harshly into her ear not letting go of her.

"Yeah well I have" she yelled the back her face squished up against the metal as she struggled to get out of his grasp, fear running through her veins at the situation she was stuck in.

"You want to stop talking, huh? You want to relive some of the more erotic moments of our relationship?" he whispered into her ear creepily making Sophia wiggle more praying that one of her friends would turn up and get Jake the hell away from her and out of the entire state.

"I'd never want to go back to that" Sophia spat back at him and before Jake even had the chance to reply back or do anything worse to her. Jake's body was thrown off her own, the sound of something being slammed into the side of the stands beside her caused her to pull her head back off the wall and turn round on her feet just in time to witness what was going on.

"Get your hands off her" Derek growled into Jake's face, his hands were tightly wrapped around her ex-boyfriend's collar and the proximity between the pair was noticeable.

Since when did Derek get here and how did he know she was in danger?

Sophia's eyes widened when she saw Derek threaten Jake and could tell by the way his fists were clenched tightly and his jaw was tight that Derek was frustrated. However much she detested Jake, she couldn't risk having Derek thrown into jail for assaulting a minor just because of her. And to be honest, Jake wasn't worth the fuss over.

"Derek stop!" Sophia called jogging over to them and laying her hand down on his shoulder trying to tug him away.

Derek glanced down at Sophia who was looking at him desperately to let go of Jake. Not wanting to cause her anymore upset, he shoved Jake away and took his hands off him the anger still radiating off him. Jake suspiciously looked between the two of them, his eyebrows raised and a smirk present on his lips as he adjusted his jacket.

The pair ignored Jake's watchful eyes on them; Derek laid his hand on Sophia's lower back as they glanced at each other "Are you ok?" Derek asked her softly and she nodded giving him a small smile.

"Yeah I'm fine" she answered her smile fading when she looked back at Jake, the usual smug look still on his face.

"I see what's going on here" Jake chuckled a little too loudly causing Sophia to swallow harshly knowing Jake knew about her relationship with Derek now. Why else would Derek threaten him to protect Sophia? Her little secret 'relationship', if you could even call it that was probably no longer going to be a secret to those who didn't know.

"Sophia" someone called from behind her causing the three of them to turn their attention to the girl who was now jogging towards them a worried expression on her face as she realised what was going on here.

Kelsey flung her arms around her best friend as Sophia copied her actions holding her friend close. The two broke apart after a few seconds and Kelsey sent a glare in Jake's direction causing him to scoff amused.

"So you were in on this too, huh?" Jake paused nodding his head at Kelsey as she nervously kept quiet before he looked between Sophia and Derek "I get why you were refusing me every time Sophia, because you were shacking up with Derek Hale, you really are so classy"

"Don't talk to her like that" Derek shouted at Jake taking a step forward his fists still clenched like he was ready to throw a punch any second, his anger getting the better of him. He knew himself if he still had his powers within him he would have probably wolfed out by now.

Sophia grabbed hold of Derek's arm trying to calm him down so he wouldn't do something stupid. She knew how Jake worked. He would get under your skin until you blew up and raged out at him. He loved the attention and he loved every moment seeing Sophia crumble.

"I just want to know what everyone would think when they find out about the two of you, think how your parents, your sister, your friends, the other students of the school, the sheriff's department, think how they would all feel when they find out that a grown man is sleeping with a minor" Jake told them bitterly looking intently at Derek.

"I reckon they would throw you back in jail, Derek" he added pulling out his phone causing Derek to lurch forward "Just like the last time I was here"

"Stop!" Sophia screamed tears pricking her eyes not wanting this to happen. She wanted this to just end. She hated how hopeless and stupid she sounded. "Don't do this Jake; if you ever loved me you wouldn't do this"

"No the only person he's ever loved is himself" Kelsey stated wondering closer to the boy. "If you want your parents to not find out about the little situation you found yourself in last time you were here, I suggest you shut up and forget this ever happened"

Jake stared at Kelsey for a moment trying to work out if she was serious but when she sent death glares his way he knew she wasn't buffing. Sophia frowned at the two of them not knowing what they were referring to but when Jake began to back away from them all, he held his fingers up to his lips and traced them along them suggesting he was going to keep his mouth shut.

Kelsey sarcastically smiled at him before spinning around on her feet and giving Sophia and Derek a genuine smile in which Sophia returned mouthing a 'thank you' back to her best friend. Sophia sighed in relief when Jake was out of sight, her heart beat now steadying down to his normal rate and she closed her eyes for a moment trying to get her breathe back.

Once she reopened her eyes, she noticed Derek was gone and was marching quickly away from her. Frowning, she raced up to him trying to get him to stop "Derek! Wait, where are you going?" she asked him confused as she finally reached him.

However hard it was for him, he ignored the girl and continued his walk back to his car keeping his eyes ahead because he knew if he looked at Sophia he wouldn't be able to stay mad. Once he reached his car, he was moments away from bringing out his keys and unlocking it ready to jump inside when Sophia flung out in front of him and pushed her body up against the driver's door so he couldn't enter.

"Get out of the way, Sophia" Derek grumbled at her staring off into the distance.

"No, you won't even look at me. Why are you so angry? I haven't done anything wrong"

"You're doing something wrong now by not moving out of the way" Derek told her causing her to huff and move to the side.

She watched him hopelessly as he opened the car door and climbed inside, his gaze falling onto hers through the window and he felt himself sigh in defeat. Carefully he leant over in the car and opened up the passenger side for her to get into, a small smile forming on her lips when she noticed he was allowing her to come inside.

Quickly she jogged round to the other side and got into the vehicle, throwing on her seat belt and closing the door as he started up the engine and reversed out of the school. She turned her head round to look at him noticing the way he wasn't looking back at her at all and was staring at the road. "Derek, I don't understand why you're so angry with me, Jake was all over me, not the other way around"

"That's not the point" Derek murmured roughly gripping the stirring wheel tightly.

"Then what is it?"

"Jake said that you kept refusing him, meaning that whatever happened back there has happened more than once" he told breaking slowly as they came up to a red light and he finally looked at her as a guilty look washed over her face.

"I've been dealing with it just fine" Sophia sighed turning away from him. She couldn't bring herself to look at the disappointment Derek would look knowing she had kept something big from him.

"You call that dealing with it?" Derek's voice rose with anger "Because from where I was standing he was all over you and it looked like he was harassing you"

Sophia remained silent at his words, not knowing what to say or how to respond since she had never been in this situation before. Her ex-boyfriend had been trying it on with her, he had failed the first time and second but she was so close to getting into a situation where she wouldn't have any control in until Derek Hale came to her rescue. She had her reasons for keeping this from him since he was going through a lot with the dead pool, his powers, Kate and helping her find her sister, she didn't want to have to make him worry more than he already was. Plus she thought she was handling it till then when things got out of hand.

Derek put his foot down on the accelerator when the lights changed colour, his eyes drifting from the road and back to Sophia every so often. He felt bad for taking his anger out on Sophia when Jake had been the problem. He just wished she would have told him sooner so he could have protected her and made sure it wouldn't happen again after the first time. Instead of finding Jake with his hands around her pressuring Sophia into god knows what.

"I'm just glad you're ok and safe" Derek said softly causing Sophia to turn her attention back to him where he flashed her a warm smile in which she found herself returning thankful Derek wasn't so moody anymore.

"What were you doing at the school anyway?" Sophia questioned him after a few seconds of silence between them.

"I was actually going to turn up and surprise you, maybe watch the game with you if it was possible since we haven't actually had a normal evening together in a while…" he stopped lowering his head slightly and Sophia knew what was coming next.

"Derek don't" she sighed biting down on her bottom lip trying to hold it together "Just don't say it"

Sophia knew he was referring to him potentially dying and not knowing what was going to happen to him. They had vowed to each other that they would try to keep things as normal as possible and not dwell on what could happen. She couldn't face the idea of losing him just yet when she had gotten so close to him in such a short amount of time.

He swallowed harshly keeping his eyes on the road and trying his best to come off the topic of conversation wanting to keep his promises to Sophia. Carefully he turned left down the road which lead to his apartment and Sophia flung forward in her seat confusion filled in her voice "Wait, why are we heading to yours?"

"We can't exactly go back to yours with your sister hanging around" Derek responded like he was stating the obvious.

"But what about Scott and Kira?"

"What about Scott and Kira?"

"We can't just turn up and ruin their little date, can we?"

"What are you on about, Sophia? Scott and Kira left my loft nearly an hour ago"

"They couldn't have, they were never at the game, Derek" Sophia told him as they pulled up outside the loft and Derek turned off the engine.

He pulled the keys out of the ignition and turned to look at her in his seat puzzled "I text Scott telling him his time was up and he replied back instantly saying he was already making his way to the game"

Sophia frowned and rubbed her lips nervously already guessing that something wasn't right here. Panic began to run through her veins something she had been feeling a lot recently due to her recent stresses. Something must have happened to them. "Derek" she gulped as his heart rate quickened working out that things weren't adding up. "Scott and Kira never turned up tonight"

Within a flash, Derek was racing out of the car, the driver door still wide opened and he began sprinting up the steps to his loft. Sophia quickly flung herself out of the car as well and followed him up the steps trying to catch him up. Both of them worried about what the hell had happened to the two teenagers in such a short space of time. Everything from the dead pool was supposed to be over and they weren't in danger anymore. Yet this was Beacon Hills and anything was possible.

As Sophia reached the top of the stairs, Derek was waiting for her in front of the already opened loft door signalling that someone had broken in; if Scott and Kira were the last ones here they would have surely closed the door behind themselves.

Slowly Sophia came round to stand beside him getting more of a view of the inside of the loft from the dark light outside. Lightly she grabbed Derek hand, entwining their fingers together and she glanced up at him. The distress was evident on his face as him and Sophia began to make their way inside his home.

Light bulbs from Scott and Kira's date were scattered around the ceiling, some were brightly lit where as others had been smashed and the remains of the glass were across the ground. The stools what had once sat behind the table were now lying on the floor, one of them was even broken in places, and bits of wood joined the glass pieces. The table was over turned and from behind it the large glass window had been shattered badly and a large hole was now in its place where the light breeze flowed through filling the apartment.

Derek let go of Sophia's hand as he wondered more into the room, his face was cold and motionless like he was deep in thought. Sophia brought her hands up to her mouth where she covered it, her body shaking slightly with shock and fear of what could have gone on here tonight.

It was clear that what had happened here had ended badly and that Scott and Kira had been taken for some unknown reason that was concerning Derek. Neither of them had turned up at the lacrosse game and if they were actually ok they would have turned up or let one of others know that they were safe. But for the loft to be left in the state it was something bad was going on.

Derek turned round on his feet to face Sophia with a hopeless expression and she slowly made her way over to him engulfing him into an embrace. He rested his chin upon her head and closed his eyes as she began to run her fingers along his lower back soothingly laying the side of her head upon his chest. Neither of them knew what to do about the situation they were faced with. But every moment they wasted standing around doing nothing was minutes wasted trying to save Scott and Kira.

Suddenly the sound of footsteps broke the two apart although Derek kept a protective arm around Sophia's shoulder and she let her hand linger on his back as they spun round to face their visitors. Stiles and his dad, Sheriff Stilinski appeared at the entrance sharing the same expressions just like Derek and Sophia had when they saw the appearance of the loft.

Stiles and his farther skipped down the steps coming into the loft "What the hell happened?" Stiles asked now dressed in a checked shirt rather than his lacrosse uniform.

"It was supposed to be a date" Derek answered simply.

"They were both here?" The sheriff questioned wanting to get to the bottom of this.

"And now they're both gone" Derek confirmed as Stiles phone began to vibrate in his pocket in which he brought out and placed up to his ear.

"Hey" he answered the phone to Lydia who was on the other end as the three of them looked at him frantically. "Scott and Kira we just don't know where"

The sheriff glanced over at Sophia his eyes focusing on the closeness between Derek and Sophia. Once the pair realised this they broke apart from each other awkwardly knowing the Sheriff must have been putting two together but due to the circumstances, questing the relationship between a young girl and Derek Hale was not so important right now.

Stiles ended the call quickly and shoved the phone back into his pocket, the three waiting eagerly for any information "That was Lydia. Her and Deaton know where Scott and Kira have been took"

"That's great! It means we can find them right?" Sophia spoke up with a hint of hope in her voice as she looked up at Derek.

"Where did they say they've been taken?" Derek asked Stiles.

Stiles took a deep breath before answering looking between them all worriedly "Mexico"