The Downpour.
The Loft. [Chapter Forty-Three]
Takes place post-Season 2, before the events of Season 3A of MTV's Teen Wolf.
"The loft is inconvenient." Derek sniffed, shaking his head. "It's an apartment building, if I'm going to train Jackson then we'll need somewhere where neighbours won't complain about the level of noise."
"The loft is beautiful! It's big, spacious, three bedrooms so we could have a guest one for whatever reason, the kitchen is so fucking cool –"
"I am not moving into a house because you think the kitchen's 'cool'."
"But Derek, it had an island and a breakfast bar. Both! Both! The fridge had two doors! That place was awesome and you know it. If you don't buy it, I will." Derek snorted, looking at her in disbelief.
"Yeah?" He asked mockingly. Emily nodded firmly. "You and what money?"
"My money was transferred to my account the other day, my dad said it's a graduation present. I have just over half a million dollars." Derek rolled his eyes, stirring his hot chocolate with a cocktail stick (they ran out of those stirring sticks, she had to improvise!).
"Fine. We'll view it. I'm not saying we're definitely buying it, so hurry up and pick a few other places that you like." Emily grabbed her laptop from Derek and began to scroll through some website that sells all kinds of things (from houses to lamp-shades. Derek was rather insistent that they use that website so Emily never got in his way).
"What about the four floored house on the outskirts? Nobody around for miles. Loads of land. If we put our money together and we can get this." Derek cocked an eyebrow at her, leaning forward as if to say 'really?' "It's a nice place lots of room and a basement with a bathroom. Stop looking at me like that."
"You really want to live in a four story house?"
"Yeah, if you piss me off I could have three entire floors separating us." Emily smiled. "I'm leaning towards this house –"
"I'd much rather prefer the loft over this." Derek grumbled, frowning in confusion when Emily grinned widely.
"Perfect. We'll get the loft. I'll call the solicitor later." Emily leaned over the table and kissed Derek's cheek before skipping off to work behind the counter. She watched in amusement as Derek turned the laptop to face him.
"There is no four story house!"
What a way to start the rest of her life.
/ / /
"A loft, huh?" Isaac smirked, slinking past Emily and looking at Derek.
"It was emotion blackmail." Derek muttered.
"Oh, okay, Derek." Emily snorted, nudging her foot with his. "Just sign the papers and get it over with and I'll leave you alone for a while to stare into the depths of nothingness hoping it contains the answers to this word."
"That is also blackmail." Derek noted, scribbling down his signature. "I'm going to be wasting money on a house we're going to get thrown out of…" He mumbled to himself, tossing the papers at Emily. They flew aimlessly, scattering, well, everywhere.
"Derek!" Emily shrieked, jumping off her chair to gather them quickly. "You'll get floor grease on them! It'll ruin them!"
"Maybe that was my plan all along. Smudge the writing. Don't get the loft. Everybody wins – but you."
"Jerk." Emily scoffed, standing up and sorting the papers into order.
/ / /
"See!" Emily cheered, looking at the loft with a grin. "It's wonderful and it's ours."
"Ours for at least a few months before our downstairs neighbours complain about noise and we get thrown out." Emily grinned, curling her arm around Derek's waist.
"What noise?" She purred, reaching up to nip softly at his ear.
"Hah." He muttered, turning his head away from her. "We need furniture." Emily rolled her eyes, digging her fingers lightly into the back of his neck lightly.
"Let's go get furniture then, if you want it so badly." With her other hand, she lightly trailed her fingers own his chest and dangerously low to his crotch. She smirked when Derek screwed his eyes shut and breathed deeply. "Come on then." She said brightly, taking her hands away from Derek and walking away
"You can't just do that." Derek muttered, following after Emily like a lost puppy. "S'not fair."
"Well, life isn't fair." Emily turned around, grinning wickedly. "What's your opinion on leather?"
"Whoa, what?" Derek asked, sending her a shocked look. Emily cackled, winding her arm around his waist.
"Mind out the gutter, Hale, I was talking about sofa material. I was thinking leather bit I don't like the way it sticks to skin. Maybe something soft?"
"Oh, I, uh, yeah. Something soft. Leather is – leather is terrible."
"More of a latex guy then?" Derek felt like crying.
/ / /
"You look like a man who gets turned on by household items." Emily whispered into Derek's ear when they entered the local furniture store.
"I hate you, so much." Derek growled, taking Emily by the hips and lacing her in front of him, waddling behind her.
"I am the best thing that ever happened to you, shut your mouth." She dismissed, eying the crazy looking furniture in the far corner. "Let's avoid everything over there." Derek nodded silently behind her, he had a plan, he was going to agree with everything (at this point, he really didn't care that his house could look potentially terrible, he wanted out of the public eye) and hope for the best. He also wouldn't allow Emily to move from in front of him. Nope, his little problem was her fault. "I never get these things." Emily muttered, nudging her head towards the recliner. "Too… complex."
"Complex? Emily, it's literally poles and springs on the inside of an armchair. There's nothing complex about it."
"Hello, you're talking to the girl who was alive when Queen Victoria was still reigning. I grew up on sofas that felt like bricks shoved into a pillow case with a thin lining of foam. Derek that has poles and springs on the inside, as you said, but how are they still really comfortable to sit on?" Derek blinked, it was the first time he had ever heard Emily complain about something modern, she seemed so technologically advanced, even more so than himself, and he was the age he claimed to be.
"I – I don't know." He said after a few seconds. "I don't make these things."
"Worthless, completely worthless." She muttered to herself. "What about this one?" Derek looked at the sofa, it looked comfy, he guessed, and it looked all right. It was dark colours – something you can never go wrong with.
"Uh, sure, it looks all right." Emily tilted her head back to look at him oddly.
"You don't like it, do you?" She frowned.
"No." Derek stressed, just really wanting out of that damn shop that smelled of leather and – for God's sake, he was rather embarrassed. "I'm trusting you on the décor. In case you haven't noticed from my past two living situations, when it comes to styling a place, it always goes wrong." That answer seemed to please Emily and she let out a sound of approval.
"The beds you made were pretty impressive, weren't the most comfortable in all honesty, but they were inventive. The dresser you made for me was incredibly impressive. Maybe you should stick to building things." Emily said thoughtfully.
"I'll keep that in mind."
"Sit on it."
"Sit on what?"
"The sofa, dumbass." Emily said, grinning manically. "Go on, Derek, sit on it. See if it meets your stand –"
"No." He said sharply, glaring at the top of her head. "I – standing behind you in this… situation makes me want to throw myself into a swimming pool of boiling oil."
"Fine." Emily sighed. "Then I'll sit on it."
"No." Derek growled, but it was too late, Emily had already laughed herself onto the sofa, smirking coyly. Derek huffed, looking around nervously and casually puts his hands in front of his problem (but not before an elderly women waddles past and crows into her hand about how awful and perverted today's youth is).
"Okay." Emily said happily, standing up and standing in front of Derek. "That's enough embarrassment for one day, let's order our stuff and get out, yeah?" Derek had never heard of a better plan in his life. He nodded quickly, scowling when Emily purposely stopped abruptly brushing her fingers over his problem (that was dying down) and it turned into a bigger problem. "Couldn't let you off the hook that easily, sorry."
Derek spent the entire time in the store nodding and agreeing as politely as he could with the clerks, pretending that his girlfriend wasn't Satan's heir. They ordered all their furniture and were informed that it would be delivered within the next two to eight days. That irked Derek, couldn't they be more consistent? He could spend two more nights on the floor (Isaac had said that he was going to give Derek and Emily two weeks to 'christen' the house, but it better not reek of all things to do with sex by the time he moved it, Derek just rolled his eyes, he didn't agree, there was no way he could guarantee that it wouldn't reek when Isaac came back, where was the fun in that?) but eight? No, no way.
Derek heaved the loft door shut with a loud crash. Emily winced, and glared at him. "I know it's not ideal, but –" Derek smothered Emily's lips with his own and she almost melted into his touch. "God." She muttered, tangling her fingers in his hair tightly and giving it a sharp tug. "Still hate me?" Emily breathed when Derek trailed sloppy kissed from her mouth to her jawline.
"With a passion." Derek murmured, nipping at her skin. He loved the way her body reacted, the way she jolted closer and hissed out a breath, he was definitely going to do that more often.
"Want you." Emily murmured, ducking her head down and kissing him fiercely. Her fingers fiddled delicately with his belt and Derek smirked.
"I know. But I don't want you. Not just now." Emily's mouth dropped open when Derek's lips left hers and he walked into the kitchen. Emily stood there for a moment, mouth opening and closing in shock. Derek poked his head around the corner with a smirk. "You didn't think I was going to let you off, did you?"
"I don't know what to think anymore." Emily sniffed, straightening up and walked swiftly past Derek into the kitchen. "I should be ridiculously done with you, but I'm not and I don't know why."
"It's because I'm a ridiculously wonderful person and you're with me in hopes that my wonderfulness with rub off on you – it hasn't by the way, never will either."
"Well, I'm definitely not with you for your modesty, that's for sure."
/ / /
Their furniture arrived three days later, which wasn't as bad as Derek originally thought. Emily insisted on their first morning waking up in their new home that they just had to buy dozens of pillows. The floor was, if possible, more uncomfortable that the beds Derek made himself. It was a truly maddening experience, shopping for pillows with Emily. She was very picky and since Derek had no problems on that shopping trip, he didn't mind sticking in his opinion. Emily didn't like that. The constant chirping in her ear from her (supposedly) beloved boyfriend was not how she wanted to spend the morning of her day off.
Derek had to wait impatiently as the delivery men slowly moved everything into the loft (they took the elevator, of course it was going to take forever, what else did they expect?). At around two (they had been taking stuff up since ten) all the furniture was where it needed to be and the three delivery men stood, lingering around the door waiting for a tip. "A tip?" Derek asked lowly, raising his eye brows at them.
"Yeah, a tip. We just lugged all your furniture up four flights of stairs!" One exclaimed, motioning wildly.
"Does it really count if you used the elevator? Isn't that slacking a little?" The men spluttered and automatically got defensive, moaning out their protests. Emily slid up beside Derek, propping her hands on her hips.
"Quit bashing their job." Emily scolded Derek in a tone that meant she didn't mean it at all. "What's all this about?"
"He's refusing to give us a tip." The shortest man declared, glaring Derek a storm. "You'll give us a tip, right?"
"Why?" Emily asked sharply. "For the past four hours I listened to you three complain loudly and I didn't go out of my way to yell at you guys to shut the fuck up, isn't that a good enough tip?"
"Never trust the pretty gals," The short one muttered "always cold."
"Well, the pretty gal who is always 'cold' happens to be my girlfriend and if you don't get the fuck off my property I'll show you just how cold her other half is." Derek cracked his knuckles for extra effect and the delivery men ran for the elevator.
"That was one way to save money, we should order stuff more often from people who complain." Derek rolled his eyes, looking down at his furnished house. "Looks good, huh?" Emily asked, positively gleaming head to toe.
"S'alright, I guess." Derek muttered teasingly. "Next time, we should probably have a proper decorator." Emily thumped Derek's arm, frowning.
"Shut the fuck up, I am a brilliant decorator. And, I come for free."
"I don't think you do, you're very demanding."
"Pay me in orgasms then, Hale." That, Derek could do.
/ / /
Isaac walked into the loft with a small smile, nodding his head. "Looks good, well done Emz." Isaac praised.
"At least someone appreciates it." Emily muttered, wrapping both of her arms loosely around Isaac's neck. "Derek keeps mocking it, but I think I did a good job."
"You did." Isaac reassured. "I'd like to see Derek do better." Emily snorted, nuzzling her face at the back of Isaac's neck.
"You smell of other people."
"And you smell of sex. It's repulsive and goes against my one simple request."
"Just jealous that you never smell of sex."
"Jealous that I never smell of sex with my Alpha? Hit the nail on the head with that one, Emz." Isaac muttered sarcastically, pulling her round to the front of him.
"I don't like you smelling of other people. You don't smell like your pack and I." Isaac frowned against the crook of her neck.
"You are pack. There is no 'pack and Emily' it's just pack."
"You're buttering me up, what did you do?" Emily accused, pulling back and looking at Isaac with a frown.
"I may have told Peter that you live here?" Emily rolled her eyes and smiled curtly.
"So that was you." She sighed. "Consider yourself lucky that I've already made up your bed and bought you one."
"I have my own room? I thought I'd be sleeping on the floor or something." Isaac muttered, fingering the strap on his bag nervously.
"Don't be stupid, of course you were getting your own room. The floor isn't all that comfortable. C'mon, I'll show you to your room." Isaac followed Emily through a large hole in the wall (he didn't question it, rather scared to hear the story behind it) and the further through the loft they got, the more it smelt of sweat and sex. "Sorry about the smell." Emily smirked, not sounding even the slightest bit apologetic.
"Oh, I'm sure you are." Isaac muttered bitterly. Emily ignored that and put her hand over Isaac's eyes, and kicked open the door to his room.
"Surprise!" Emily cheered, taking her hand away from Isaac's eyes. Isaac immediately grinned, feeling a little overwhelmed. The room was painted a chalk blue, two large, oak bookshelves were on either side of the bed, stacked with books of all genre's and that was it. It was enough, all that Isaac would really need, he owned his own laptop and (funnily enough) had his own clothes.
"Is this the part when all my friends jump out from hiding places and it's a surprise party?" Isaac asked, trying to cloud over his excitement. Emily rolled her eyes and slapped him over the back of the head.
"Be grateful!" Emily scolded playfully. "Do me a favour and lie about in here for a few hours, make the room smell more you. I don't like walking past it and smelling strangers." Isaac nodded and mock saluted.
"Of course, I just want to sleep anyway. Stiles and Scott wouldn't stop talking about Allison and Lydia all night it was exhausting and gave me a headache." Isaac placed his bag gingery by the door. "Can we resume the grand tour later on?" Emily nodded, pulling Isaac into a tight hug and inhaling deeply.
"I missed you bugging the shit out of me." Emily muttered.
"I missed bugging the shit out of you."
"Scram and get some sleep before Derek gets back." Emily laughed, shoving him gently towards his bed.
"Emz? Thanks, for this."
"Hey, no problem. Just get some rest, okay?" Isaac nodded and fell onto his bed, scrunching up his nose at the smell of strangers.
Really short, I know, but I just couldn't get the hang of it? Usually I'm all for writing my own little bit without script but this one just felt wrong and awkward. I tried to make it longer, I swear I did, but everyone just seemed so out of place and urgh, it was horrific. Anyway, how would you guys feel if I wrote a Sterek story? Not like a multi-chapter, just a one-shot? I have half of one sitting in my documents so if you guys want that, I'll write it and shit.
TotalGeek17 asks: Are you gonna keep Cora in 3B and 4?
A: I haven't thought about it. Originally I was just going to bring her up far more, y'know, like Skype chats, phone calls, visits, but still have her leave, but when I read your review (thank you for that, by the way, greatly appreciated) I haven't managed to stop thinking about Cora in 3B and beyond. Both possibilities I will have to think over (especially as season 4 goes on), so luckily I get to stew the decisions over for a while before making my mind up. Thank you, again!
Also, I'd like to give a special thanks to megarafan2 for making me blush! Seriously, I was almost crying happy tears at your review and right after I read it I had this massive urge to write (which is definitely not a bad thing). And I completely agree with you about the updates from some fanfic writers, it irks me to no end (but I completely understand and sympathise with them, fanfic is really hard work to write, as is any other type of writing) which is why I try to write and update as quickly as possible. Oh, and who said Derek and Emily won't be hooking up while he and Jennifer are canoodling? ;)
Oh, and I can't forget a massive MWAH! To PsychoticSmartypants. I will buy you tissues if you ever feel the need to cry again, okay?
