I lean my head against his bony shoulder, the cold mist from the ocean water spraying us both. I draw my sweater tighter around my body as we watch the waves crash against the sand. Isaac loops his arm over my shoulder protectively, eyeing a college guy watching me. He shut off his phone the second we left Beacon Hills, and has only turned it on long enough to talk to Scott or Stiles every week, to keep us in the loop. I haven't contacted anyone in the pack. If I text Cora, then he'll track it and come get me.

"He called again this morning. Seventeen times."

"You didn't answer it," I reply, quietly.

"No. But, Em…Scott says he isn't looking too good without you. He said Derek hasn't slept in three weeks, and now he won't eat anything. He sent me a picture. It's—It's awful."

"Let me see it. I want to know what he's done to himself." I hold out my hand for his cell phone and pull up the picture. My stomach rolls with nausea. Oh fuck. His skin looks more pallid and translucent, hunched over with his head in his hands, too thin. He can't. Not with the Alphas coming after him.

"We're driving into Portland to get a disposable. I have to talk to him. Get him to eat something."

"Why don't we just go home? I-I miss Cora."

"I told you I'd take you home if you wanted to go. If you want me to drive you back, I'll do it." I murmur, helping him to his feet and leading him to the car. The one Chris sent to me when we talked a week ago. A 2013 Lotus. A hella nice car. He slides into the seat beside me.

"I'm not leaving you. You're my Alpha, Emily. You need someone that's going to be able to help you when you have an episode." He replies, setting his hand over mine next to the stick shift.

"Thank you," I smile over at him, ruffling his soft brown curls and kissing the top of his head. When I take one of the disposable phones and pay for it, I pull over to the shoulder of the road. It's around 3:15 in the morning, so no-one will drive by us. Isaac clambers into the backseat, curls up, and falls asleep quickly. We spent the morning learning how to surf.

I suck in a deep breath before I dial.

DPOV
The damn phone wakes me up, and I make it across the Loft in two strides.

"Hello?" I breathe. I sound like a pussy.

"Derek," Her voice sends a shockwave through me and I exit to sit on my fire escape before I say a word.

"Emily?"

"Yeah, baby, it's me." I hear her sniffle and a pain shoots through my chest.

"No. Don't cry. I hate it when you cry, and I can't hold you right now."

"Scott sent Isaac a picture of you. You look like shit."

"I can't breathe without you." I admit, "I don't give a fuck about how I look. All I want is you. Where the hell are you?"

"I can't come home. Not yet." My chest squeezes unpleasantly. It hurts. She ran off with Isaac.

"Why?"

"It's not safe for you. When I come back, I want to be strong enough to fight alongside you. Right now, they have this power over me and I can't endanger you."

"But you can endanger Isaac?" The jealousy that leaks into my voice can't be helped.

"I don't want to fight. Baby, I need you to eat something. Please, do it for me." Her voice turns soft, pleading. I can't say no to her. I've never been strong when she begs me.

"I don't want to."

"Derek, please. I'm fighting. I'm fighting to get strong enough to come back to you. Don't let yourself die or be weak before I can get to you. I love you." My breath catches against my will.

"You love me?"

"Of course I love you! That's why I left!"

"Why did you leave me that cryptic message shit?"

"It's something River Tam said on Firefly. It just fit how I was feeling when I left. Now, go get something from the fridge and eat. I want to hear you chewing whatever the fuck you eat."

"Okay." I dance around the teenagers sleeping all over my apartment until I can open up the refrigerator, take out an apple, spin it around in my hand, before I wash it and then take a loud bite.

"There you go. Good. That makes me so happy."

"I love you." I stop to say, "I love you, and I miss you."

She's the only person that could make me act like a total pussy and for it not to appear lame.

"I know. I miss you too. Don't call me back, okay? When I'm ready, I'll call again. Please don't give up on me."

"Night, Emily."

"Night, Derek. I love you."

The line goes dead and my mind drifts to the first time I saw her at school after that night in the woods. She was a cheerleader still back then, before she quit to spend more time with me.

The first thing I noticed about her when I walked into the gym with the rest of the team was her hair. That caramel hair that drove me up the wall. She'd pulled up away from her neck, curls dangling down to between her shoulder-blades. Her back was to me, her hands on her hips.
"Come on, we have to get this!" She shouted, shaking her head. The only guy on her team came up behind her her while another girl turned on the music. The guy reached forward to set his hands on those wide hips as he tossed her straight up in the air. She landed gracefully perched on his hand as he hauled her up with a trembling arm to toss her again. His hand slipped back just enough he'd miss her and she'd get hurt. Without thinking, I sprinted forward and caught her. Her Achilles cracked from where it'd clipped her spotter's palm. The breath came out of her body in a whoosh as I caught her under her knees. Her gray eyes were wide when she turned her head to look at me.
"Whoa," Emily breathed as her arms circled my shoulders.
"Em! Are you okay?" The brunette called Caroline I'd met before said as she headed over to us. I tightened my arms around her, keeping her pressed against my chest. I didn't want to put her down. Not with the sound her foot made.
"I'm going to go get her checked out by sports med. I think she broke her Achilles." I mumbled, turning around without even shifting my weight. She was so lightweight.
"Thanks, Derek." Lily, a thin blonde purred. I nodded tightly as I made my way into the training room and sat her on a table with her knees dangling down. Kneeling down, I slipped her sneaker and sock off and dropping them to the ground. Her breath caught when I skimmed my fingertips over the area I'd heard shatter. She winced.
"It's broken." I told her carefully, "I have to bandage it. Take three Tylenol four times a day."
"Since when are you an expert on pain meds, Mr. I'll-Heal-In-A-Few-Minutes?" Emily's sarcastic voice said as she looked at me through her lashes.
"Since I took sports med last year, smartass."
"So, you're the infamous Derek Hale I've been hearing about." She said, setting her fingers under my chin and lifting it up to meet my eyes full on, "Hmm."
"Infamous, huh? And with who would I be infamous?"
"Every girl in that gym worships the ground you walk on. As if you didn't know that," I stepped closer to her at her words, leaning over until my nose brushed against hers.
"The only girl's opinion I care about right now is sitting right in front of me." I tucked her hair behind her ear, "What do you think of me, Emily? Do I measure up to all of your friends' talk?"
"I might need some more time talking to you to decide that." She grinned at me.
"Meet me at midnight, the place you ran in to me yesterday."
"It's a date."

I quickly dig through my closet until I find the three pictures I have of Emily before the Bite; one of her stretching ballet-style, one that Laura took that Emily still doesn't know about; us laying in the clearing near my house just before sunset, and one of her on the beach.

Cora resurfaces from the bathroom wiping her mouth with the back of her hand.

"What's wrong?"

"Morning sickness. I'm pregnant, Derek,"