I looked at Edgar and he was finishing off Jeremy's plate. I sat down and finished off mine before loading them into the dishwasher.

"Alright," I knelt down in front of Edgar and raised both of my hands. "Left we go explore the town. Right we call Matt and see if we can visit Tess."

Edgar of course didn't understand what I was saying but he knew we were going to be doing something when I did this with my hands. He nudged my right hand and I patted him on the head. I took out my phone and dialed Matt.

"Hey kid," he answered after a few rings. He sounded tired. "What's up? Are you okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine. Just bored and looking for something to do. Can I see Tess?"

"Let me talk to her," he said. The phone went quiet for a minute before he came back and said, "I'll be there in a second."

We hung up and my heart raced excitedly. I couldn't wait to see her. There was a knock at the door and Matt let himself in. The smile on his face instantly disappeared as he saw Edgar sitting at my feet.

"Chloe…" he said not moving from the doorway.

"Oh this is Edgar, he snuck back in my backpack."

"He's a demon Chloe. Not a friend."

I frowned. It hadn't occurred to me that Mat might disapprove of Edgar.

"We've been friends a while he's alright."

"He was friendly because you had food and shelter. He's a demon Chloe."

"So are you," I countered.

He glared at me for that comment. "I'm the exception among demons. That thing will hurt someone as soon as it gets a chance."

"No he won't."

"Chloe you have to believe me. That thing has got to go back. Demons don't belong here."

Edgar climbed up onto my shoulder making Matt very tense.

"If he goes, I go." I crossed my arms.

"Don't play that card," Matt rolled his eyes.

"Try me, see if I'm bluffing. I'll go back."

Matt groaned. "You're at least leaving him here for now. I'm not letting a demon around Oliver."

I opened my mouth to point out he was one again but his glare shut me up. I scratched Edgar's chin and set him on the ground.

"This discussion isn't over," he glared at Edgar.

"I'll never forgive you if we get back and he's gone," I said as I followed him through his portal to Tess's. I don't know if I really meant what I said but I think I did.

I stepped into the living room and was hit by all the familiar scents. Before I could say anything, I was scooped up by Tess in a hug. She squeezed me as hard as she could.

"I've missed you so much," she said when she finally let me go.

"I missed you too," I smiled. "How are you?"

She looked the same, just much thinner. She must've been under a lot of stress while I was gone and not eaten much.

"I wish Elijah would come home already. He would love to see you again," she said as she looked me over. "Oliver's been quite a handful being sick. Oh sweetie you look awful. I'm so sorry you went through all that."

"I made it out alive," I said trying to shrug it off.

She squeezed me in another hug. Oliver started to cry from his spot on the couch. He'd grown up so much since the last time I'd seen him. He was much bigger now.

"May I?" I asked. Tess nodded. She seemed a bit frazzled and sleep deprived still so I couldn't imagine how wore out she'd been before Matt got here to help.

I came up to him and picked him up off the couch, holding him on my hip so his head was against my shoulder. He fussed for a second before he stopped crying and instead watched me.

"He must recognize Jeremy's scent," Matt said. "Oliver always behaved for Jeremy."

I bounced him softly. His face was covered in snot. The poor kid had probably barely slept in days from the look of the redness around his eyes.

"All your stuff is still upstairs," Tess said. "You should take some clothes back with you so you don't have to borrow theirs."

I nodded, "I will."

Oliver's head leaned against my shoulder.

"Oh you're a natural," Tess smiled. "He might actually fall asleep."

"It's really good to see you Tess," I said. I know it wasn't really a response to what she said but I had to say it. She gave me a kiss on the forehead, trying to distract herself from the tears in her eyes.

"Why has Elijah been away with his pack when Oliver's sick?" I asked.

Tess shrugged, "We thought he just had some sniffles when he left so it wasn't going to be a big deal. I'm not entirely sure what's going on there. Ashe made it sound urgent, she said something about pack conflict. I assume she means with Emma's pack. All I know is she couldn't handle the situation on her own, she needed his help."

"And he won't return any calls?"

Tess shook her head. I glanced at Matt then back at her. "I could check on him for you?"

"No," Matt said immediately.

"Actually that's not a bad idea," Tess said.

"Tess are you crazy? That place is dangerous right now. Ashe told you and Oliver to stay put for a reason. You can't send Chloe into that."

Oliver's hand slid off my arm, making me look down. He was drifting off like Tess predicted. I wondered why Oliver felt so comfortable with Jeremy. Or Jeremy's scent I should say.

"I don't think you get to tell her what to do," Tess defended me. "She's an adult she can make her own decisions."

"She's not thinking straight Tess. She threatened to go back to the demon world not ten minutes ago because I don't want her insane pet demon running around."

"So what? Who would be thinking straight after all she's been through over in that world," Tess didn't like the way Matt was talking about me at all. "Let her make her own decisions Matt. If she wants to go check on Elijah then you let her."

I worried their arguing would wake Oliver so I left the living room and headed upstairs. I walked to the doorway of my room and felt a sad heavy feeling in my chest as I looked in at the room. The last time I was here I was a head ghost watching over Derek. His sweatshirt still laid folded at the foot of my bed. I longed to step in there and grab it but I couldn't step through the doorway. The heaviness in my chest held me in place.

I could still hear their arguing downstairs as I stood there thinking of all the memories of this room. All those nights spent tossing and turning, worrying about whatever was going on. The day we locked Derek in here to tell him about Nate. The day Derek told me to leave and go find my body. The night Elijah brought me back and I woke Derek up because I was scared and didn't know what was happening. All the times Derek and I stood in here arguing with each other over nonsense.

I turned away and took a deep breath. I promised Jeremy I would try to keep him off my mind today. Oliver stirred for a second before falling back asleep. I wandered between rooms before I found his and set him down in his crib. I waited a few minutes to make sure he was staying asleep before I exited. I couldn't hear arguing any more so I went back downstairs.

Tess was making sandwiches in the kitchen and Matt was waiting for me at the bottom of the stairs.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I'm just worried about something happening to you again."

"It's alright."

"You look a little shook up," he said. "Is everything okay?"

I nodded, "I just miss Derek."

"I'm sorry," he walked to the kitchen with me. "We'll get ahold of him I promise."

"Just so you're aware Chloe," Tess said as she pushed plates across the counter to us. "I'm smacking the bejesus out of him the next time I see him. I think he's behaving ridiculously by running off and hiding."

Her comment made me think of Jeremy running off too.

"Tess is it weird for a new werewolf to suddenly stop changing?" I asked.

She frowned at the question. "I'd say yeah. Why?"

"That happened to someone," I said.

Tess frowned, "You're not going to say who it is are you?"

I shook my head. I assumed Jeremy didn't want me exposing his business so I didn't want to say his name.

She looked over at Matt while thinking out loud. "I don't know if I've heard of that happening before. But I didn't grow up around werewolves. We'll have to ask Elijah about it."

Matt nodded, "Yeah I can't think of a good reason for that. Maybe they're sick?"

She shook her head, "Sickness wouldn't cause that."

We discussed it while we ate but no realistic reasons were coming to mind.

Derek's POV

I could hear my phone buzzing in the desk drawer. I'd promised Simon when I left that I wouldn't get rid of it in case of an emergency with him or Kit but I left it in that drawer all the time. I didn't want to hear from him even though I missed him. I wanted to leave that part of my life behind me, there was too much heart break and pain in it to associate with it anymore. I was trying to move forward like Chloe would've wanted me to.

"You're not going to get that?" Avril asked me. Her French accent was heavy even when she was speaking English.

I shook my head and put my shoes on. "I'm leaving for work I don't have the time to talk to him."

She shook her head, "You always have some excuse not to answer. Some day will you tell me why you don't speak with your family?"

"Someday," I nodded and grabbed my keys.

Avril smiled and grabbed my arm so she could give me a kiss on the cheek before I stepped out the door. Her smile always took my breath away, it was the first thing I noticed about her when we met. She was waitress at one of my favorite cafes and caught me staring at her. Lucky for me she was flattered by my staring instead of creeped out and started chatting with me.

We said our goodbyes and I left for work. I had a job helping in the fields at a winery, but when we first started hanging out I lied to her about leaving for work. Avril knew nothing about the supernatural world or what I was and I wanted to keep it that way. So if I felt like a change was coming on, I would rush "off to work" which was usually the nearest hotel room I could find in the city. I never went through a change though. With Chloe gone I just didn't have it in me anymore.

Today we picked some of the grapes from their vines in the field. It was cooler out but I found myself sweating. Maybe I was coming down with something.

I worked a long shift and by the end of it I was feeling sick to my stomach. Whatever I was coming down with, it was coming on fast. My only stop on my way home was for some Tylenol. I took it as soon as I stepped in the door and then fell asleep on the living room couch. Avril wasn't home yet because she was working the dinner shift.

When I woke the room was pitch black except for some light coming from under the closed bedroom door. I groaned and coughed as I sat up, my head pounding. The bedroom door opened and Avril peeked out.

"Désolé mon cher," she said. "Did I wake you?"

"What're you doing up?" I asked.

She waved off my question, "Come to bed. You look awful."

I nodded and followed her to the room. She got back into bed as I changed out of my sweaty t-shirt and into a new one. I turned the bedroom light off and noticed something glowing on the desk. My phone was sitting out on the desk…?

"Did you grab my phone out?" I asked. I didn't remember grabbing it out myself.

Avril nodded, "Oui. I'm sorry he wouldn't stop calling all day and he started up again. I couldn't sleep with all the buzzing. I just asked him to stop and then hung up that's all."

Normally I would've gotten angry about her touching my stuff, especially my phone, but being this sick I just shrugged it off. "It's alright."

I climbed into bed, whatever Simon needed could wait. It was probably something stupid like I'd missed Kit's birthday. I closed my eyes and fell back asleep.

Days passed and I still felt like crap. I'd called off work every day and spent it laying on the couch instead.

"You should see a doctor," Avril complained.

"I'm fine," I shook my head.

I had become convinced this was werewolf related because the last time I could remember I was this sick was the Lyle House; so no doctor was going to be able to do anything for me.

"S'il vous plait," she begged.

I realized after saying no that if this were a werewolf thing, then I would need to find somewhere to go far away from Avril because I didn't want her to find out about this side of me. So going to a doctor would be the perfect excuse for me to get out of the house.

"Alright fine," I nodded and got up. She reached for her purse and I shook my head. "I can go by myself."

Avril rolled her eyes and said something under her breath I didn't catch but I assume it was a comment on my stubbornness. I grabbed my keys and left.

Thinking straight right now wasn't my strong suit so I had no clue where I should go. I hadn't planned for this to happen to me again. I thought I was done with changing. The fields of the winery would have good cover but I called in sick so I shouldn't show up there. I wandered to the train station platform instead, figuring that I would just get off at a stop that had good cover.