Chapter 29: Pity Party
"Stiles, since when could your sister do that?" she could hear her dad ask from inside the house. She was doing a rather insane number of pull-ups, her hands gripped tightly to an old, slightly rusting rod from hers and Stiles's old swing set from when they were kids. It was in the backyard still, and it was growing old with time, but it still stood strong, and she figured if Derek wasn't gonna teach her how to fight yet, she'd at least see how different her strength levels were in the first place. Thus far, it was kinda nuts. She was already in pretty good shape before the bite, being able to maybe do 20 pull-ups before bitching out. But now? She was pushing 70 and a stop wasn't in sight yet.
"Well, I have this theory she's been moonlighting as a ninja," Stiles lied for her, earning a laugh from their dad. Apparently the two were watching her through the kitchen window. Sammy stopped her current set and curled her body up, soon hanging upside down by her knees. As she did an endless set of hanging sit-ups, she contemplated her most recent meeting with Aiden. Thinking about him stopping by the diner that night had her losing track of how many she was doing, but that wasn't the problem. It didn't matter how many she did, she was just going to do sit-ups until she couldn't anymore, just to see if there was, in fact, a cap. The real problem was the fact that ever since Aiden showed up, and opened that door of revenge, she would catch herself thinking about him.
Her existence was turning into day-dreaming about assault and battery, along with murder, and dreaming at night of Aiden. She was realizing that even though she had feelings for Derek, Aiden was still in the back of her mind. Being a teenager was complicated enough, now that she was in a quite random love triangle with two very unlikely suitors, she'd reached a whole new level of drama. Derek made her feel calm, safe, warm. Everything about him was easy because he knew her and understood her trauma. But Aiden? He set her soul on fire in a way she hadn't expected after their short time together. He'd been her gateway back into normalcy, and now that she was a werewolf, every single want, need, and desire had been brought to an extreme. She couldn't ignore feelings anymore, and they were damn near impossible to decipher. She thought she'd made her choice, but Sammy was learning now that her trouble between men was only just beginning. She was truly stuck between a rock and a hard place.
"Should we tell her that Derek is on the front porch?" she heard them say but that only made her sigh and drop off the swing set.
"No, I'm sure she'll figure it out," Stiles answered, "plus, it's fun watching Derek get uncomfortable." Now that got her to have a small smile, but she hid it, ensuring that it didn't actually look like she could hear them talking.
Sam grabbed her water bottle and made her way back in the house. As soon as the back door closed behind her, she heard a knock at the front door. Her head turned, making eye contact with her father and brother. Neither of them moved, so naturally, she went over to the front door. Instead of inviting Derek inside, she opened the door and stepped out to him.
He looked so normal. The same black boots as usual, jeans, a tight green t-shirt, and his leather jacket. The main issue of the situation was the fact that his face looked bothered. She could feel he was dreading something. Maybe he was dreading her and her irritation and anger that stemmed from his choices as her alpha and his choices in their relationship. Either way, the man didn't look happy, his green eyes unsettled.
"Hey, Sammy," he greeted her. She crossed her arms over her chest and leaned to the side, resting her weight onto her right leg.
"Hi, Derek," she responded back, calmly.
"So I wanted to talk about our fight-"
"Why? Because if you lose another beta you'll lose more power?"
"No, that's not...It's not about you being my beta." His words cut like glass. She was beginning to feel where this was going.
"Then what is it about? You gonna change your mind on teaching me how to fight?" She asked, though deep down she knew his answer. It wasn't about teaching her at all. It was about his guilt. It was about the part he played in her becoming something she never asked for.
"That's part of it. All the time I've known you, I've been protecting you. First from Peter, then Matt, but then Gerard came around and I couldn't save you. My role in your life? It's my fault you were in danger in the first place. It's my fault any of them went after you like this."
Her heart stopped in her chest, filling like lead. "Really? Most of this had nothing to do with you! I was just an easy target. Close enough to each of the people they wanted to hurt, but far enough that it was easy to catch me."
"No, it's not that simple-"
"Derek...It is that simple." Her words were cool and collected. "I would've been brought into this life one way or another. Peter bit Scott, and my older brother is his best friend and partner in crime that can't stay out of trouble or out of werewolf business. Matt still had an obsession with what happened to me, regardless of your status in the situation. I probably would still have become a werewolf, or maybe I'd still be a human, but if everything went the way it did, even without us dating, I would either still be a werewolf or I'd be dead. That's all it is, and if you can't accept that my life would be like this regardless, then you're in denial over your own feelings and in denial of the choices that led me to this point," she explained to him. Derek was still. He was just perfectly still as her words swirled about behind his eyes, processing and leading him to his next move. But whatever that move was, he gave no indication or hint at what it might be.
"You're right, most of the bad things still likely would've happened. But us? What we've been doing? It's…" There it was. Now she knew what he was doing, how he felt, and what she was about to say next.
"It's a mistake to you. I'm a mistake to you," she simplified.
"You're in my pack, and that's no mistake, but being romantic with you...being selfish with you…"
"You regret your feelings for me, and this is you ending things, isn't it?"
"Sammy…"
"Don't lie to me. Don't try to spare my feelings. If you want me, you have me. If you don't want me, you don't," she pressed, her ocean blue eyes bearing into his green ones.
"It was irresponsible of me to get involved with you in that way," he finally said. All that build-up of him seeming confused or pained only for his words to come out so smoothly. They were confident, they were sure, and she was hurt.
"'Irresponsible,' my ass," she said softly, reaching for the door.
"Sammy-" He grabbed her arm to stop her, but she yanked it out of his grasp.
"Leave me the hell alone, Derek!" She yelled at him. She yanked the door open and stepped inside, facing him from the comfort of her own home. "Go home and pretend like I was the mistake, and I was incapable of making any of my own choices to lead myself to this point! Screw you and your stupid understanding of what responsibility is and what you think I deserve!"
With that, she slammed the door in his face. She could hear him still, his heartbeat slow and steady, remaining in the same spot on her front porch. She was silent, unmoving, watching the door intently until he finally brought himself to walk away. Once she heard his car drive away, the sound of his engine and quiet radio fading into the distance, her hand drifted to her chest, pressing into the skin as her own heartbreak caught her off-guard. Tears filled her eyes as her heightened emotions took hold.
Since becoming a werewolf, having everything heightened had been difficult, except this time was different. She hadn't experienced heartbreak like this before. She hadn't felt what it was like to have someone she loved make her feel like she didn't matter to them anymore. It was so new and consumed her. Her breath hitched in her throat as her heart fell to her stomach.
"Stupid guy making me feel like a stupid, stupid little girl," she muttered to herself as she tried to focus. The goal was to calm down, but it wasn't working. Her breathing quickened into a stressed string of gasping and light whimpering.
"Hey, hey, no, it's okay," her dad said behind her. He rushed over and pulled her into his arms, holding his daughter in a reassuring manner. Where she was feeling alone and in pain, her father encircled her in his embrace with warmth and all the love a father could give in the wake of his daughter's first real breakup. He knew that after everything she'd been through, this was the one kind of pain that she hadn't expected or prepared for.
"Dad, he didn't want me," she cried into his chest. He held her a bit tighter and began stroking her hair that was still slightly sweaty from her morning spent working out.
"Sammy, you are so beautiful, special, and any guy would be lucky to have you. Derek was just not the one," he consoled her. "It's okay to be heartbroken, and I promise it won't last forever, okay?"
"Okay," she said quietly as she sobbed into his chest.
"You're gonna be okay, Sammy. Just let it out, I'm here. I'm right here," her dad promised, holding her close and trying to make her feel better without even a thought to the fact that her sweat was getting on his clothes, and he was probably gonna have to change clothes later. As much as she wanted her mom, be like other girls after a breakup where their mom handles everything and helps you through it, Sammy didn't have that option. Lucky for her, her dad was a fantastic fill in.
"You're gonna take the day, we're gonna do things you want, okay?" He told her. "If you wanna stay here and cry, I'll be right here. If you wanna watch sad movies and eat ice cream, I'm your guy. You want someone to go with you shopping, I'll take you. Whatever you need, I'm there."
Long story short, they were on the couch watching the most recent season of The Bachelor and pounding cookie dough ice cream. All three Stilinskis were sandwiched on the couch, under the same fuzzy blue blanket, yelling at the TV because two of the women were being sneaky little bitches and causing drama among the girls.
By that point, Sammy had showered, gotten changed, and her hair had dried in the open air. Though, she definitely sat in the bottom of the shower and cried for an hour, and barely managed to get out and throw on an oversized band shirt and athletic shorts. But her father and brother posted up with her, and the three of them were ignoring the fact that Derek had been there by watching bad TV drama and women competing for a man's heart and for an engagement ring from him at the end of the show. It was surprisingly cathartic to be doing that with her family. Even if her mom was alive, this was exactly what the four of them would be doing together. The only difference would be that her mom's favorite ice cream was strawberry cheesecake flavored, and that would be present as well.
The three of them continued on, bonding over ridiculous girl drama and a man making stupid decisions. She was still wracked with guilt over how she'd been treating Derek until he'd ultimately broke up with her and pained with the way his words felt in her chest. Sammy wasn't sure how to deal with herself. Her existence in that living room, the tangible feelings of the couch and blanket along with her sitting between her only family members, the intangible feeling of not being sure what was going to happen next in relation to the fact that her Alpha just dumped her as his girlfriend but didn't clarify if she was gonna be okay as his beta, it all was weighing on her in a way that she couldn't shake. But it was the tangible things, the things she could truly feel in this moment, were what was keeping her grounded to her sanity in that room. What she could hear, touch, small, see were all she focused on. Or at least, she did her best to keep it that way.
It wasn't until her phone buzzed that she disconnected from the world of her living room to the rest of her life. It was Aiden. It'd been a few days since she'd encountered him behind the diner. Seeing his name on her phone, tied to a text message, brought her consciousness back to standing opposite in the dark of night behind her place of employment.
"Not might. It means I will. They deserve to know what they did to me. To feel what I felt," she declared, no longer yelling or flailing at a dumpster. She stood tall, firm in her resolve.
"They should."
The air began to smell of rain as the temperature slowly dropped a few degrees. The sound of his gentle breath rang in her ears, his scent permeating her nose as he closed the space between them. He soon stood just inches from her, remaining just within reach of her. Her heart began to beat just a hair faster, but enough for him to notice. The corner of his mouth subtly curled into the faintest of smirks. He was trying not to look smug at her biological reaction to his presence. His dark, chocolate brown eyes were soft, taking in the sight of her cold exterior.
"You shouldn't be encouraging me to hurt people," Sammy said in a small voice. Quiet thunder rolled off into the distance as what remained of the stars in the clouded sky vanished from view. The moon no longer illuminated them, just the flood light mounted over the service entrance of the diner.
"Why? Because it's bad?" Aiden mused. Thunder rolled again, a mile or two closer this time. Her heart quickened once more, becoming easily noticeable to him.
"Because I'll do it. I want to do it so bad," she said, her voice still small. She was fighting her urges to go back into the diner and attack Thomas.
"There's nothing stopping you from getting revenge."
"Why would you, of all people, want me to get revenge?"
"Because my brother and I used to be omegas. Not alone, but we were the lowest of the low, the bitches of the pack. They made us do all the grunt work, all the cleaning, all of the schlepping, and we took all of the abuse. One day, we had enough, and gained enough confidence to do what was necessary."
"You stood up to your pack?"
"No, it wasn't that simple. We killed our pack, and it made us stronger."
"You killed them?" Sammy was realizing that Aiden was even closer to her now as she was forced to tilt her head up to maintain eye contact with him.
"They deserved it. They deserved to feel the pain we felt being pushed around by them every day," Aiden explained. She could feel the warmth of his breath on her face now, all while his heart began to match hers, the beating quickening in the same manner. His smell was intoxicating now, and she could feel his subtle feelings towards her at that moment.
"I used to be afraid of them, and afraid of myself to let it happen again. But now I just carry around this white-hot rage that will only go away if I give in to the violence and show them how they made me feel," Sammy explained. Now Aiden was truly smiling.
"That's how my brother and I became alphas. We learned we were stronger together. We worked our way from the bottom of our pack, killing everyone one by one, taking their power and weakening the Alpha. When it was finally his turn, he begged for his life, just as we had on multiple occasions when he was hurting us."
"Except you didn't spare him like he clearly spared the two of you."
"He deserved to die, and the power we'd already gained from the others made it easy. When the light went out from his eyes, we finally knew what it felt like to have the power to protect ourselves," he told her. But then the look in his eyes changed. "We no longer lived in fear," he said slowly before drifting closer to her face. His lips loomed over hers before gently pressing. Her hands had a mind of their own, reaching up and feeling his shoulders and the hair on the back of his head as he kissed her. It was slow, steady, until they each had become fervent. It felt like she needed his touch more than anything else she'd ever known. They soon pulled each other close and the kiss progressed into more aggressive, needy territory. But she pulled herself away from him, thinking of Derek and what she was doing.
Sammy got up from her spot between her brother and father on the couch and wandered into the kitchen with her empty glass, getting more water. As the glass filled in the sink, Sammy opened the text message he'd sent her.
[Aiden] I want to pick you up soon
She froze, looking over at her family before looking back down at her phone. As great of a time she was having, Aiden wanting to pick her up from her house was so tempting. She began to type back.
[Sammy] Give me like 20 minutes
"Hey, dad, Lydia wants to do girl time. She said she's gonna pick me up in about 20 minutes. Is that okay?" Sammy asked, blatantly lying to him. It'd gotten easier to do that since she became a werewolf. Even though she had gotten away with it before, there was something different about lying now. She was intune with her own demeanor and the sound of her voice in addition to the way the person receiving the lie would react.
"Anything you need, sweetheart. Besides, Stiles and I need some time to feel like men after the amount of reality TV we just watched," her dad laughed, earning an amused snort from Stiles.
"You got that right, but I promise we were happy to do it," Stiles added.
"You guys are amazing. Thanks for sitting with me today," she told them with a smile before heading up to her room. Sammy was fast. She didn't take too much time picking out clothes, throwing on a tight, black cropped t-shirt and a pair of ripped, black jeans. They were pretty short, but she was able to get away with it. She straightened the way her mother's necklace sat around her neck and got to work on her makeup. She didn't need a whole lot, but she did want to make herself feel pretty before facing the world.
With speed and accuracy, she used some concealer to cover up the redness around her eyes from crying and make a base for her eyeshadow. Her eyes were soon shaded with a nude-pink smokey eye along with her usual thick, cat eyeliner, winged to perfection. She graced her lips with some basic chapstick and tousled her own hair with her fingers to add some volume to her natural dark curls. At the end of the street, she could hear a motorcycle stopping at the stop sign. Aiden was almost here, so she tucked her phone into her short's back pocket and ran to her closet. She yanked on a pair of socks and stumbled into her leather black ankle boots, hopping towards the door as she pulled up the zipper on her left one as it got stuck.
Sammy grabbed her purse, securing the cross body strap and zipping her phone inside. As she walked through the foyer and approached the front door, she pulled out her black ray-bans and slipped them on. "I'll see you guys later," she called to her family after having already passed the living room so they wouldn't see her, and so she wouldn't draw attention to the motorcycle that was pulling up outside.
"Bye Sammy! Have fun!" her dad called back just before the door shut behind her.
As she strutted out of her house, pretending she wasn't having the kind of day that she got, Aiden turned to her, removing his helmet and smiling at her. She sped up her walk into a quick jog, her heels clicking on the walkway from her house and her curls bouncing with every step. He handed her the extra helmet without saying a word, just maintaining his smile. She took the black helmet in her hands and finally smiled back.
"That's what I was waiting for, now get that on. We have somewhere to be," Aiden informed her. She nodded and removed her sunglasses, tucking them away into her purse. She pulled the helmet down onto her head and closed the visor. Once it was all good to go, she climbed onto the back of the motorcycle and wrapped her arms around his waist, holding on tight as they sat pressed together. He shifted the bike into gear and got moving. They zoomed away from her home and started off towards the interstate.
The right was peaceful. The sealed helmet kept the wind off her face, but the sound of the wind still rushed by her. The landscape rolled by, and she had a perfect 360 degree view as she turned her head about. They passed a few exits until they made it to the next town over from Beacon Hills. Aiden pulled off the interstate and began driving through a town she'd seen more than once from away games for soccer. Soon, they pulled off at a Family Fun Zone. There was a warehouse filled with a trampoline park, an arcade, go karting, and a mini golf course. She popped off her helmet and grabbed her sunglasses back out of her purse.
"What are we doing here?" she asked as she put her ray-bans back on over her eyes.
"Meeting my brother. He asked this guy out on a date and I didn't want to third wheel, so I brought you," he answered.
"Aiden…" she said, looking around. This was not the day for him to be bringing her on a date.
"Look, I know you're Derek's, but having some fun after seeing that Thomas kid at the diner seemed like a good idea, so I figured you wouldn't mind," he told her. Sammy froze for a moment before pulling her shit together.
"Actually, Derek dumped me. Today, and I'm not really in the mood for date stuff," she clarified.
"Then why did you come with me? Not that I have a problem, just curious what you were looking for when I said I wanted to pick you up."
"I don't know, I guess I wanted a distraction? You and I have always had a nice time, so I figured…"
"I get it. Breakups are tough. Ethan's actually really great with that kind of stuff, so I'm sure tonight's activities will be just what you need. Plus, playing arcade games after you turn into a werewolf brings a whole new level of fun, soooo…" Aiden smiled, trying to get her to smile. He nudged her gently with his elbow. "Eh? Huh?"
Sammy laughed and finally broke into a smile. "So this isn't a date?"
"Nope."
"Promise?"
"Nope," he laughed. She elbowed him in the ribs as she laughed.
"You're ridiculous," she teased him as they began to walk to the entrance where you pay for gaming wristbands.
"Oh, I know," Aiden responded happily. He was quick to cut in front of her when purchasing their wristbands. She was pulling out her wallet in advance, and he didn't even let her get the chance to pay for her own. He selected the unlimited gaming wristbands, which were far more expensive than the others, and went ahead and paid for both of them.
"You know I can pay for my own stuff, right?" she questioned, raising an eyebrow as he helped her put the wristband on.
"I know, but when a pretty girl gets dumped by her rather annoying boyfriend, you do your best to make it up to her on his behalf," Aiden grinned. She began helping him put his band on.
"Fine, but again, this isn't a date."
"Fine, it's not a date," Aiden mused as she finished sticking the wristband on him. "Come on, my brother is just over there."
She knew exactly which one was his brother. When Aiden said they were identical twins, he meant it. They were almost perfect mirrors of each other, but Ethan was slightly leaner and just a hair shorter. He was standing there with some blonde guy, smiling and laughing at something his date had said. The twin and his date turned and saw Aiden and Sammy approaching. She was worried he might be awkward with her, being the stranger, a newly minted werewolf belonging to a different pack.
"Yo! Aiden, this is Mark," Ethan introduced.
"Aye, nice to meet you, Mark," Aiden greeted.
"Likewise," Mark smiled. "And who is this?" he asked, referring to her.
"Guys, this is Sammy," Aiden introduced. Ethan looked her over and then smiled at his brother.
"You really know how to pick them," Ethan commented in an approving manner.
"Yes, I do," Aiden replied, "except in this case, her boyfriend broke up with her this morning."
Ethan and Mark's faces changed sympathetically. "I'm so sorry, Sammy. Break ups suck," Ethan told her. She nodded along.
"It's okay, he was too old for me anyway," she fronted, pushing a smile.
"Well then," Mark started, "what do we wanna do first? Games? Mini golf? Trampolines?"
"I'm feeling crushing you guys in go karting," Aiden smiled.
"Are you challenging me? Do you remember what happened last time?" Ethan raised his eyebrows in surprise at his brother.
"What happened last time?" Sammy asked, Mark looking at the twins intently as well. Both were curious.
"Last time Aiden and I raced, he tried to ram me, so I braked and let him hit the wall so I could keep going and win," Ethan explained with a smug look on his face. It was the same one that his brother had.
"Hey, that's precisely why we need a rematch," Aiden challenged.
Mark leaned over to Sammy and quietly said, "I can already tell this is gonna be hilarious."
