Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Wolf.

Chapter 4: The Beach House

Parrish slowly drove down the street not wanting to miss the house.

"It's coming up on the right," Rose said, keeping her eyes on her phone at the map.

Parrish spotted Stiles's iconic Jeep in front of one of the houses. "There's Stiles's car. This must be the place."

They parked behind the jeep and retrieved their bags from the trunk along with a few bags of groceries they had picked up from town when they had reached Mendocino.

Rose looked up at the two-story house. It was getting dark outside but she could make out large windows, illuminated by lights. "This looks nice. Thanks again for driving."

"No problem," Parrish replied as they walked up the driveway together.

The door was unlocked for them. Rose pushed the oak door open and stepped inside with Parrish at her heels. A staircase led up to the second floor. The living room had a large L-shaped gray couch with two end tables where teal lamps stood. A circular glass coffee table filled the space in front of the couch. In the middle of the table was a coral adornment. The house was inviting and had nice beach vibes.

Stiles was in the kitchen refilling an ice bucket. He looked up at the sound of the door opening.

"You guys made it," he called out to the newcomers. "Just in time for dinner. Everyone's in the back patio."

Rose and Parrish dropped their luggage on the couch and placed the grocery bags on top of the kitchen counter.

"We picked up some stuff for burgers and chips on the way here," Parrish said.

"Nice! We were starting to run out of food."

The three of them unpacked burger patties, buns, lettuce, cheese, and bags of chips. Stiles noticed the box of beer bottles with the groceries. "That's for us so don't even think about it," Rose said, noticing him eyeing the alcohol.

Scott walked in and gave Rose a hug. "Glad to see you guys."

"Good to be here," Rose said. It was the first time seeing him since the dinner at his house. She was looking forward to having a relaxing weekend with Scott and the others and doing something normal for a change. It had been a while since she had gone to the beach and couldn't wait to lay on the sand with an ice-cold beer and a good book.

They stepped out into the backyard as sunset approached. After everyone exchanged greetings and got settled with dinner, Rose took a proper look around. The backyard was neatly groomed and had a large patio with a bench table that sat eight. Someone had pulled up two chairs at both ends of the table to accommodate the large group. There was an area for a bonfire towards the middle of the backyard. The best feature of the beach house, in Roses's opinion, was the unobstructed view of the California coast, due to the house being built on a hill. They were close enough that she could hear the sounds of the waves crashing onto the shore in the distance.

"Oh look, the sun is setting," Kira said and everyone stopped to look at the large yellow orb sinking behind the ocean, snapping pictures with their phones to capture the moment. The sky was streaked with shades of blue, pink, purple and yellow.

"Did you guys go to the beach?" Parrish asked, helping himself to some potato chips and onion dip.

"We took a walk earlier," Mason replied. "Should be warmer tomorrow for some actual swimming."

"Hey Rose, maybe you'll turn into a siren when you go in the ocean," Stiles joked. "Then we can confirm why you were on the list."

Rose stopped herself from rolling her eyes. "Haha, Stiles, very funny," she said, pouring herself another cup of orange soda. "Need I remind you that Derek made me take the mountain ash test? And why would Peter want to keep a mermaid around? To sing him lullabies?"

"I don't know," Stiles said. "Maybe you can lay golden eggs or something."

"What?" Kira and Lydia balked.

"Stiles, you're so weird," Scott said, shaking his head and snickering.

Liam started to laugh hysterically, holding his side with one hand, and his second burger in the other. Mason chuckled along with him but Rose thought that the exaggerated reaction to Stiles's joke was funnier than the actual joke.

"Oh no, please tell me this child isn't drunk," Rose said with a sigh. "Did you guys spike the drinks?"

Everyone at the table avoided each other's glances with sly smiles as Liam's laughter subsided.

"I'm not drunk," Liam said with a goofy smile. "I'm just happy to be young, wild, and alive!" He raised his cup and knocked it against Mason's.

"Atta boy, Liam," Scott said. "And don't worry, Rose. We're all responsible people here."

"Yeah," Stiles chimed in. "Liam is just drunk off happiness, not alcohol. I mean I would be too if I survived a bunch of people trying to kill me for some cash."

"Mmm hmmm," Rose said. "Just remember that we have an off-duty cop here." She gestured towards Parrish sitting a few seats away from her. "If anything bad happens and there's some drunken foolishness, his head is on the chopping block."

"Oh come on, Rose," Derek challenged. "If they wanna have a few drinks, let them have a few drinks. After everything that's happened, they can at least have that."

Rose knew she was being a party pooper but the thought of facing her aunt and the rest of the parents didn't appeal to her. "I'm just saying - "

"And besides," Derek interrupted. "We both know you weren't exactly an angel back in high school either."

Stiles and Scott exchanged smiles from across the table.

A thought occurred to Rose. "Did you buy them the drinks?"

"I bought myself drinks," Derek answered simply. "If they happened to take a few while I wasn't looking, then that's on them."

"Which we didn't," Stiles said defensively.

She decided to let it go. "Fine, whatever," she said, getting up from her seat between Scott and Lydia. "I'm getting dessert. I saw a batch of brownies on my way in."

An hour later after the food was gone and their stomachs full, Derek, Rose, and Parrish sat around the bonfire with a few beers while everyone else was hanging out on the patio or shooting pool at the billiards table inside. Derek was tending to the flames, poking at the burning wood. He looked up at the sky and saw the moon behind a few clouds. Luckily the full moon wasn't until a few weeks away.

Rose noticed Parrish looking intently at the fire. "Think you can control it?"

"What?" Parrish asked.

"You know, your supernatural ability. Maybe you can control fire."

Parrish looked from Rose to Derek. "The thought may have crossed my mind."

"So try it," Rose encouraged. She knew it must've been difficult for Parrish to discover this secret about himself and not know the whole story.

Parrish looked down at his hands. "But how? I don't even know what to do."

Rose looked at Derek for an answer. "Any ideas?"

Derek shrugged.

"Here," Rose suggested, picking up a few leaves around her chair and arranging them in a neat pile in front of Parrish. "Let's start small and see if you can light these up. Maybe imagine them catching fire?"

"That's your idea? Imagining?" Derek teased.

"Well I don't know," Rose said. "It's worth a shot."

They both turned their focus on Parrish who looked blankly at the leaves.

"Okay, I guess I could try."

He concentrated on the leaves and they sat in silence waiting for something to happen.

After a moment, Derek sat back in his chair. "Guess you can't do it."

"I don't even know what I'm supposed to be doing exactly," Parrish admitted sheepishly.

"Don't worry," Rose said, putting a comforting hand on Parrish's knee briefly. The gesture caught Derek's attention. "I'm sure you'll figure it out soon."

She looked back at the bonfire, its flames casting warmth on her bare arms against the cold night.

"You know what keeps bugging me? Where did Kate go?" It was a question that kept plaguing Rose. She knew Kate would stop at nothing to get what she wanted. She was relentless. As long as Kate's whereabouts were unknown, Scott and the rest were still in danger. For all they knew, she was hiding in the bushes about to attack.

"Argent is still looking for her," Parrish answered. "He said he would alert the sheriff and Scott once he had anything solid."

"And you really trust Argent?" Rose asked, more to Derek than Parrish. "After everything he's done? We never really got a chance to talk about this."

"Argent isn't a threat anymore," Derek reassured her. "I know it may be hard for you to believe, but a lot has happened while you were away. He hasn't done anything to make me believe he's gonna turn against us. And he's helped Scott out of some pretty tight situations."

Rose mulled this over. She had learned in her youth that the Argents were dangerous and were only out to protect their own. She wouldn't be surprised if Argent wasn't secretly helping Kate avoid detection from everyone else. "I still have my doubts. Remember what happened with Kate?"

"What happened with Kate?" Parrish asked.

"I knew there was something off about her when she and Derek started 'dating' back then," she suppressed a shudder as she air quoted "dating." She had known all about Derek's secret romantic encounters with Kate. It had been the subject of several arguments between the two.

"How'd you know?" Parrish questioned.

"Because - " Derek started.

"Because she was a college aged woman going after a high school boy," Rose cut in. "It was weird and inappropriate. I mean who does that? That's like me going after Stiles." This time she couldn't help but cringe.

"Well, you might be a succulent or whatever Stiles had said before," Derek said, taking a drink of his beer. "Sounded like a man-eater to me."

"Derek, a succulent is a plant," Rose chuckled, Parrish joining her. "He said it was a succubus or whatever. Someone who feeds off men's energy or something like that."

"You do tend to have an active dating life if I recall correctly," Derek pointed out.

"Oh I'm sure that has nothing to do with my daddy issues," Rose said. "It's pure psychology. I learned all about it in college. Women who tend to go from one relationship to another are searching for male attention that their fathers never gave."

"Speaking of fathers," Derek said in a more serious tone. "How's that going? I mean you and Scott seem to be fine, but what about your father?"

"I actually had dinner with him and Scott," Rose said. "It was uncomfortable and awkward but we survived. He said he wants to be part of my life. I don't know how I feel about that. I've gone fatherless until a few years ago when my mother got married. He's a really nice man who treats my mother the way she always deserved to be treated by a man. And now I have this other father and I'm not sure what to do. He wasn't exactly Dad of the Year to Scott growing up either.

But then I think about his line of work and how dangerous it is. What if one day he won't be around and then I lose my chance of ever getting to know him?"

"That's always a risk," Parrish agreed.

Derek decided this was the time to try again. "Rose, I know you said before that you don't want to have anything more to do with the you-know-what."

"You mean the..." Parrish said, motioning his hand like he was injecting a shot in his arm.

Derek looked at Rose in annoyance. "You told him everything and you weren't even going to tell me anything?"

Rose sighed and took a drink of her beer. She thought it was too good to be true that Derek wasn't going to bring this up at some point of the trip. "He was the one who gave me the files of people who had been poisoned by the you-know-what, but I had to tell him the truth before he would give them to me. Plus, he was the one who drove your lifeless body from Mexico to the Nemeton. Mind you, we had to start the you-know-what right away when we met in the middle."

"Okay, fine whatever," Derek said dismissively. "Look, I've been thinking about it and Laura took our memories away right? It had something to do with the you-know-what, prom night, why you shot me with an arrow. Thinking about it, she took away a lot of memories."

"Who's Laura again?" Parrish asked. Derek briefly explained how he and Laura had stuck together with Rose after the fire that destroyed their family.

"Is that a normal werewolf ability?" Rose asked. She hadn't thought about it that way before.

"No, I don't think so," Derek said. "One or two memories, yeah, but we're talking about a lot. I knew she was gifted, but not like this. I know you wanna stop Kate and keep Scott safe. What if you can do that with the you-know-what?"

"And what if it makes everything worse?" Rose countered. "Deaton and Marin both said it was a bad idea. And Laura made us forget about all this for a reason. It had to be for our protection."

"Probably, but what if there was another reason?" Derek asked.

Rose and Parrish exchanged glances, wondering what Derek would say next.

"When we were planning our exit, Laura knew you would've wanted us to stay and that I didn't want to leave you," Derek explained. "I had asked her repeatedly if we could stay in town until after our graduation. Then you could come with us without it looking suspicious. She let us remember that you shot me with an arrow but we don't know what lead to that. What if she wanted to create distance between us so it would be easier for her and me to walk away?"

"She told you that?" Parrish asked. "Or is this your best guess?"

"No, she didn't say it in those words," Derek admitted. "But it makes sense, right? The last time we saw each other back then, we got in a huge fight about the arrow and I cut you out of my life. Laura and I left Beacon Hills two days later."

"Okay, so what does this all mean? Laura hated me? She didn't want me to hang around you guys anymore?"

"Of course she didn't hate you," Derek said. "I think she was scared of you. Scared of the you-know-what. Don't you wanna know why? We could find out. Scott doesn't have to know if you don't want him to."

"What do you think?" Rose asked Parrish.

Derek held his breath. He realized that the key to getting Rose to agree was Parrish. She needed someone else to tell her it was okay to go against Deaton and Morrell's recommendation. If Parrish was in on this, Rose would be more willing.

"It sounds plausible," Parrish said. "But whether or not Laura was scared of you, only you can decide if digging into this is what's best for you."

They drank their beers in silence for a moment before three dark figures approached them with a bag.

"What are you guys doing?" Stiles asked as he, Lydia, and Malia joined them. "We're making s'mores if you want some."

"Here," Rose said, standing up from her chair. "You can take my seat. It's getting cold anyway and I'm too stuffed to eat anymore."

"Yeah, I'm heading in too," Derek said, letting Malia have his chair.

Lydia sat in the empty chair between Malia and Parrish. "You want s'mores?"

"Yeah, I could go for some s'mores," Parrish said. "Haven't had them in forever."

"By the way," Stiles called out to Rose and Derek as they walked towards the house. "We put the oldies in the bunk bed room with Scott."

"The hell did you call me," Rose shot back, amused.

"Nothing," Stiles said, spearing a marshmallow at the end of a wooden skewer. "Oh wait, Kira is gonna sleep in the bunk bed room and you can sleep in the master room."

"It's fine," Rose said to him, walking backwards. "I don't mind being in the bunk bed room. Let Kira sleep in the master."

As Rose and Derek made their way back to the house, Derek said under his breath, "You got a thing for fire boy."

He said it as a statement rather than a question and this annoyed Rose.

"No I don't," she said defensively.

"You do."

"I barely know anything about him," Rose said. She did find Parrish rather attractive and kind, but she wasn't going to admit this to Derek.

"The next victim has been chosen," Derek said, laughing. He remembered saying something similar a long time ago whenever Rose had been freshly off a breakup and falling for a new guy.

"You're so annoying," Rose said with a smile, not able to help herself.

Scott woke up to the sound of his alarm and quickly shut it off to not wake up the others. He was sleeping in the bottom bunk with Rose in the top bunk. Across from him, Derek slept in the other bottom bunk with Parrish occupying the bed above Derek.

He slowly pulled back his blanket and got to his feet, trying his best not to make much noise. He left the bedroom and walked down the hallway towards the staircase. Kira was heading upstairs and when she reached the top, they kissed.

"Good morning," Scott said softly to her, holding her hand.

"Good morning, sleepyhead," Kira greeted back, as he led her to the second-floor balcony.

They passed by the pool table they all had been gathered around just a few hours earlier. Scott opened the sliding door to the balcony and together they stood against the railing to look out at the ocean. He wrapped his arm around her and she turned her body and put her arms around his waist so that they were holding each other. She looked up at him and he smiled and gave her another soft kiss.

It was right before sunrise and the dark sky slowly changed to yellow, ushering in the new day. They enjoyed the cool dawn air and each other's presence as they stood in the quiet of the early morning. Scott felt so relaxed. Lydia had been right – they all needed this after the dead pool and Derek ordeal. No one had been a victim to the list and he just gained a sister. Things between him and Kira had never been stronger and his grades were actually decent. He felt a sense of balance in his life that he hadn't felt before since the bite. There was no way of knowing how long this would last, so he would enjoy it as much as he could.

"You know the last time we were alone like this, Kate came crashing through the window," Kira said. "Think she's about to ruin this moment in two seconds?"

Scott chuckled. "Better not."

A few hours later, everyone had gotten up and was gathering for breakfast. Kira was toasting bread, Stiles was frying eggs, and Parrish was cooking bacon and potatoes. Derek looked over Stiles's shoulder and kept directing Stiles on the proper way to cook eggs.

"If you're such a master at egg preparation, then you do it!" Stiles exclaimed.

"Fine, move over," Derek said, pushing the teenage boy aside so he could handle the frying pan.

As Derek and Stiles fussed over the eggs, Rose brought a bag of coffee to the coffee maker and started to measure the coffee grinds. "Anyone want coffee?"

The question was met with a resounding round of yeses, so she measured enough for a full pot.

The previous night had been all about video games, s'mores, billiards, and rough housing for the vacationers. They had stayed up past 2am enjoying the little time they had at the beach house. It was no surprise to Rose that they needed a good cup of coffee to shake the fatigue.

Scott was helping set the table on the patio when his phone buzzed, signaling an incoming text message. He pulled his phone out of his pocket. It was a message from Argent letting him know there was no sign of Kate yet.

"It's Argent," Scott announced to his friends. "He's still looking for Kate."

Rose brought out sugar and creamer to the patio table and placed them in the center. "Are you 100% sure he can be trusted? What if he's trying to lull you into a false sense of security?"

"Yes, I'm sure," Scott answered patiently. He knew it would take time for her to accept that Argent and his men were on their side now. There was too much history there. Rose would have to experience for herself that Argent had changed in order to truly believe it.

Lydia sat at the table with her own phone in her hand. "Well, I say we take this opportunity to make the most of this weather and spend the day on the beach. I've checked with the owners and they're fine with us checking out later in the afternoon."

"Sweet," Liam said as he took his seat, carefully setting down a full mug of coffee on the table. Rose gestured to the sugar and creamer she had brought. "How much should I put in?" he asked her.

"Here, I can do it for you," Rose said, taking a teaspoon and dropping sugar into his mug. "You gotta put in just enough sugar and creamer and not overdo it so that it doesn't ruin the taste."

Watching Rose serve Liam reminded Scott of how she would take care of him, making him dinner, helping him with his homework, picking him up from soccer practice. She had always been a good caretaker. It was nice to see that some things still stayed the same during this time when their relationship was changing.

"Hey Derek," Malia greeted as she approached him, holding two bottles of beer. "Want a beer?"

"Sure."

"Just don't tell Miss Beer Monitor over there that I had these." Malia nodded her head towards Rose who was walking in the shallow water with Mason and Kira. Scott, Stiles, and Lydia were deeper in the ocean while Liam and Parrish kicked a soccer ball back and forth on the golden sand.

The group had headed down to the beach to enjoy the sun and surf. Derek had chosen to sit in the sand and watch the waves crash in. He had always found ocean waves soothing.

Malia passed him the second bottle and sat down next to him. She wore her new red bikini with a pair of jean shorts. They sat drinking from their bottles.

"I've been wondering something," Malia said. "About our family."

Derek looked at her with interest. He had never once heard the phrase "our family" come out of her mouth before. He assumed that she was content with her adopted family and wasn't interested in the Hales.

"What about our family?" Derek asked.

"So, Peter and your mother are siblings, and then there was you, Laura, and Cora. Who else was part of the pack? Were they all werewolves?"

"Not all of them. Mom's cousin and his two children also lived with us but the children didn't get the gene. There was also another of her cousins with her family – the husband was human and only one child was a werewolf."

"And do you know anything about my mother?"

"Not really, didn't even know of him being involved with anyone. Doesn't surprise me that my mother made him forget about you. Guess she knew you were better off without him."

Malia nodded in understanding. "She was right. Peter's crazy."

Derek chuckled, drinking his beer. "You don't know the half of it."

"And Rose? Was she part of the pack too? Not like in a werewolf sense, but in the same way Stiles is part of our pack?"

"Yeah, I guess you can say that she's my version of Stiles. She wasn't exactly part of the pack, though. My mother, however, had plans for her. It's weird to say this, but she was in a way grooming Rose to be part of the family."

"Like in an arranged marriage?"

"Not really. She just thought we would end up together on our own I guess. She thought Rose was trustworthy and would be a good fit in the family."

"But you never did."

"My mother was very specific of who could be close to us. Friends weren't allowed to come over usually. She watched Laura like a hawk on who she was hanging out with and any boys she was dating. Except Laura wasn't all that interested in dating. She was just as guarded as my mother."

"I wonder what made Rose an exception – why she thought she was so trustworthy. Either way, guess it was a good thing for you."

"Why do you say that?"

"Well she did help you come back to life. And whatever she is, she was valuable enough to be high on the dead pool."

Derek had been surprised to find Rose's name on the dead pool, replacing his own. He had known her for years and knew she wasn't a werewolf or anything supernatural. Whatever got her on the list had to do something with the wolfsbane blood. It must have happened after he and Laura had left Beacon Hills. He tried to suppress the annoying pang of guilt that crept up whenever the thought of them leaving had left Rose vulnerable.

"What was it like shifting to a full wolf?" Malia asked. "Can you control it? Can you still do a partial shift like before?"

"It's getting easier the more I practice. Whatever Kate had done and Rose had undone must've unlocked the ability to shift fully. It's an amazing feeling, being that powerful."

"That's interesting," Malia said. "So what did she do?"

Derek pulled his gaze from the ocean to his cousin.

"Trying to find out for Stiles?"

"Well, I'm curious too," Malia admitted. "A normal girl like that doesn't just magically bring people back to life."

He looked over at Rose who was lying on her stomach next to Kira, reading a book. "She's definitely not a normal girl."

A/N: Thanks for reading! Reviews are appreciated! :)