Hello, everyone! I don't have much to say right now but make sure to stay tuned at the end for a Q and A session and some announcements! I hope you enjoy this chapter!
Scott and Stiles's history teacher was now passing back their tests they took last week. History was the one class they didn't have with Natalie. Usually Stiles hated it since the redhead always made his classes more entertaining. But today he wasn't really sure how to act around her. He still had normal conversations with her throughout the day that involved the usual joking around and sarcastic comments.
The only thing that was different about today was the humongous urge to hold Natalie's hand and kiss her in front of everyone. Especially after their make-out session a couple of nights ago.
Stiles tried his best to shove that memory to the back of his head (only to prevent the embarrassing event of receiving a hard-on in the middle of class… again) and leaned in towards Scott, who was fidgeting in the seat in front of him.
"If Derek's not the alpha…" he started, "if he's not the one who bit you, then who did?"
Scott shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know."
"Did the alpha kill the bus driver?"
"I don't know."
With a sigh, Stiles leaned in a little closer. "Does Allison's dad know about-"
"I don't know!" Scott exclaimed.
That caused pretty much the entire class to turn their heads and look at Scott for a bit before going back to what they were doing. Feeling slightly embarrassed and very frustrated, Scott slumped in his seat. Their teacher came over to their desks to hand back their test results. While Stiles pumped his fist in celebration of his A+, the werewolf frowned and sulked over his D-.
His best friend looked over his shoulder and winced when he saw his grade. "Dude, you need to study more." Scott just set his paper down on his desk without saying a word. "That was a joke. Scott, it's one test. You're gonna make it up. Do you want help studying?"
"No, I'm studying with Allison after school today."
Stiles chuckled in approval. "That's my boy!"
"We're just studying," Scott said.
"Uh, no you're not."
One of Scott's eyebrows rose. "I'm not?"
"Not if I'm forced to live vicariously through you," Stiles told him, "If you go to her house today and squander that colossal opportunity, I swear to god I will have you de-balled!"
"Okay!" Scott cut Stiles off before he could continue, "Just stop with the questions, man…"
"Done." Stiles raised his hands in surrender and leaned back in his seat. "No more questions. No more talk about the alpha and Derek. Especially Derek… who still scares me…"
Scott turned around so he was fully facing Stiles. "And I don't think you should be harassing me about my lack of sexual activity when you have your own girl to worry about. You never did tell me how your date with Natalie went."
A happy sigh left Stiles's mouth and a dreamy expression was smacked on his face. Scott smirked at his reaction.
"I'm guessing it went well then?"
Stiles locked his fingers behind his head. "It was amazing! Even though my body's still sore and I'm pretty sure I won't be able to taste anything for the next few days…"
"Uh…" Scott was at a loss for words, "Do I want to know?"
"I just got pelted with baseballs and ate the hottest chicken wings. You know, the usual," Stiles explained, "But when I dropped her off at home, she kissed me!"
Scott's eyes widened. "Wait, she kissed you?!"
The twitchy boy nodded his head in pride. "Yep! And it was beyond hot! Best make-out session of my life!"
"That was the only make-out session you've ever had," Scott chuckled.
"That's beside the point, Scott," Stiles said, waving his hand in dismissal, "I swear, that girl is such a great kisser."
"Well, good for you, dude. So does this mean you're finally boyfriend and girlfriend?"
Realization dawned on Stiles. He never did ask Natalie to be his girlfriend that night. The boy couldn't even get one word out after their kiss. He had wasted the perfect opportunity!
"Oh, fuck."
Laughter erupted from Scott when he saw the horrified look on Stiles's face. He was clutching onto his stomach and he had to keep himself from falling out of his chair. Tears peeked out of the corners of his eyes and he wiped them away.
"And you say I'm bad with girls?"
Stiles shot his best friend the most threatening glare he could muster, which wasn't very effective. "Shut up, Wolf Boy."
A few minutes before the final bell, Natalie walked out of the girl's locker room with her baseball bag slung over her shoulder. Since she had a free period, she figured that she might as well change into her clothes for baseball practice after school. She was now wearing a grey tank top, black sports bra, black capri leggings, and her baseball cleats. Of course, she still had her black bandana on her head.
She headed over to her locker to grab her jacket since it was going to be a little chilly during practice. Once she opened her locker, she pulled out a black track jacket. As Natalie shrugged it on then zipped it up, her ears perked up at the sound of two familiar males just around the corner.
"Where's Scott McCall?"
"Why should I tell you?"
"Because I asked you politely. And I only do that once."
A groan left Natalie's mouth. Derek would show up to the school unannounced and uninvited. It's like he could give two shits about sticking out like a sore thumb and causing a scene. And of course he had to approach Jackson, who from what Scott had told Natalie was already suspicious about the wolf's sudden change in behavior and lacrosse skills. This would probably make Jackson even more curious and possibly confirm his suspicions.
Stupid werewolf.
But Natalie couldn't help but press her back against the wall and poke her head out of the corner. Hey, she was just as curious about what Derek was looking for Scott for. Don't judge her.
"Hmm," Jackson hummed, "Okay, tough guy. You know, how about I help you find him if you tell me what you're selling him? What is it? Is it, uh, Dianbol? Hmm? HGH?"
"Steroids," Derek deadpanned.
Jackson scoffed. "No, Girl Scout cookies. What the hell do you think I'm taking about? Oh, and, uh, by the way, whatever it is you're out selling, I'd probably stop sampling the merchandise. You look wrecked."
Natalie snorted in amusement. "Oh, Jackson. You clueless little shit." It was a good thing that she was far from the two so they wouldn't hear her. Well, Jackson couldn't, but Derek probably could with his excessive wolf hearing.
But when the redhead narrowed her eyes, she now saw why Jackson thought Derek was hopped up on medication. The wolf was paler than usual and he had broken out in a cold sweat. He looked very weak, which was such a huge contrast compared to the dangerous and broody man she was used to seeing. Even if he did creep her out on occasion.
Either way, Derek was looking horrible. Natalie had to find Scott and find him fast.
The werewolf glared at Jackson then shook his head. "I'll find him myself." He started to walk away.
"No, we're not done!"
Jackson grabbed his shoulder but Derek was quick to react. He grabbed the jock by the neck and slammed him into the lockers. Fear was in Jackson's eyes and Natalie could see that Derek's claws had sunk into his neck.
"Alright, time to break this up," she said to himself. She walked over to Derek and Jackson casually. "Hey, Derek. What are you doing here? Didn't Scott tell you that he didn't need your help with his homework today?"
Derek's eyebrows rose. "What?"
"Yeah," Natalie continued, "Allison offered to study with Scott after school today. He said that he was going to let you know earlier but I guess he forgot."
Jackson looked over at Natalie with his eyebrows scrunched in confusion. "You know him?"
Natalie nodded her head a little too quickly. "Yeah. He's Scott's… uh, tutor. Finstock said that if he wants to stay on the team, he's gotta get his grades up. So our old friend here offered to help him out."
The look on Derek's face was almost laughable. It was the sassiest expression that Natalie had ever seen, the one where it looked like he wanted to say, "You've gotta be kidding me." but Natalie shot him a glare that told him to just play along.
"And speaking of Scott," she said, pulling Derek away from Jackson, "I should just take you to him so you can plan for a different day to study. Peace out, Jackass!"
She didn't bother to wait for Jackson to respond to that last comment as she grabbed onto Derek's leather jacket and dragged him away.
"Phew!" she chuckled, "Good thing we got outta that one, huh?"
"His tutor?" Derek growled, "That was the best thing you could've come up with?"
"Hey, I suck at making shit up on the spot!" Natalie said, flailing the arm that wasn't grabbing onto Derek's jacket, "I'm actually surprised I was able to come up with that as quickly as I did. And what did you expect? Would you have rather had me tell him the truth?"
"I rather you come up with a more believable lie than that," Derek snapped, "Do I look like someone who would tutor a high school kid?" He winced when pain shot up his arm and he clutched onto it.
"Well, it got us away from Jackson, didn't it? So instead of questioning my lies, you should be thanking me. Now, can you tell me what you're doing here and why you look like you should be on 'The Walking Dead'?"
Derek began to pant heavily as the pain grew worse. "I need to… find Scott… now."
Natalie noticed Derek holding onto his arm and she looked over at it. Her eyes widened when she saw a hole in his sleeve with blood seeping out of it. "Holy shit, dude! What happened to you?"
"Someone… shot me."
"With a silver bullet?"
The wolf glared at Natalie. "No!" he barked.
"Okay, okay!" Natalie held her hands up in defense, "It was just a question! No need to bite my head off."
Derek leaned against the wall for support. Right then, the bell rang. The sound made Derek squeeze his eyes shut and cover his ears with his hands.
"Take me to Scott right now!" he seethed.
"Okay! Uh…" Natalie wrapped his good arm around her shoulders and she wrapped her arm around his waist. As soon as she started to walk, she grunted. "Oh my god, you're freakin' heavy! What do you eat?"
"Just shut up and walk."
"Gladly."
The redhead pulled Derek along as she walked through the hallway. People stared at her when they saw her with someone who looked like he was about to pass out. But she paid it no attention. Natalie dragged him out of the school where people were heading home. She looked around for Scott but she couldn't find him anywhere. Then to her relief, she spotted Stiles in his jeep in the parking lot and decided to go to him instead.
When Stiles saw Natalie stop in front of his car while holding onto Derek, Stiles skidded to a halt. Natalie waved to her best friend and accidentally dropped Derek.
"Whoops."
Natalie bent down to pull Derek up off the pavement. When he wouldn't budge, Natalie looked at Stiles and motioned him to come help her. He got out of his car and rushed over to them. Then Scott was suddenly hovering over them.
"What are you doing here?" Scott asked Derek.
"I was shot," he groaned.
Stiles grimaced. "He's not looking so good, dude."
"More like terrible," Natalie added, "He looks like he came back from the dead."
"Why aren't you healing?" Scott asked.
"I can't," Derek wheezed, "It was… it was a different kind of bullet."
"A silver bullet?" Stiles asked curiously.
"No, you idiot!"
"It's a legitimate question, you ass!" Natalie defended both Stiles and herself. Stiles looked at her with appreciation. "I got you, dude."
"Wait, wait," Scott said, "That's what she meant when she said you had forty-eight hours…"
Derek's eyes snapped up at Scott. "What? Who… who said forty-eight hours?"
"The one who shot you."
At this point, the people who were behind Stiles's jeep kept looking over at the four and honking their horns. All of a sudden, Derek's eyes kept flashing from his normal green eyes to his wolf's electric blue eyes. The trio began to freak out.
"What are you doing?" Scott exclaimed, "Stop that!"
"That's what I'm trying to tell you!" Derek groaned, "I can't!"
Natalie rolled her eyes before grabbing his good arm to pull him up. "Alright, up and at 'em, big guy. Scotty, a little assistance here?"
Scott looked around before helping Natalie get Derek up. "Let's put him in Stiles's jeep."
She opened the passenger door of the car and threw her baseball bag and backpack in the back before climbing over the seats. Scott and Stiles helped Derek get in. After he shut the door, Stiles ran over to the driver's side and hopped in himself.
"I need you to find out what kind of bullet they used," Derek told Scott.
"How the hell am I supposed to do that?" Scott asked.
"'Cause she's an Argent. She's with them."
"Why should I help you?"
Derek stared at the younger wolf coldly. "Because you need me."
Scott looked torn, but he knew Derek was right. As much as he didn't want to admit it, Scott needed his help with learning how to control his shift if he wanted to play lacrosse and be with Allison. He let out a sigh.
"Fine," he said, "I'll try." He turned to Stiles. "Get him out of here."
Stiles rolled his eyes as he put his car into gear. "I hate you for this so much." Then he drove out of the parking lot.
They were on the road for a whole. As Stiles kept his eyes on the road and Derek was shifting uncomfortably in his seat, Natalie was looking down at her twiddling thumbs. She was looking a little distracted and Stiles picked up on it right away.
"You alright back there, Nat?" he asked her.
"Yeah," she said, "I'm fine. It's just that I probably should've told my coach that I wasn't going to be at practice today."
"Oh, crap." Stiles's eyes widened. "I forgot you had baseball practice. Do you need me to take you back to the school?"
"No, no, it's alright," Natalie assured him, "Missing one practice isn't gonna kill me."
"Are you sure? Shouldn't the co-captain be there?"
"Yeah, but I think that this is a bit more important right now. Also, Coach Samson loves me. She'll let it slide. The only thing I have to worry about it the 'wrath' of Megan."
As soon as she said that, the theme song from 'Jaws' started playing. Derek was looking around him in confusion and Stiles raised an eyebrow.
"Speaking of the devil…" Natalie pulled her phone out of her bag and answered the call. "Hey, Megan…"
"Natalie, where the hell are you?!" Megan yelled, making Natalie pull her phone away from her ear, "Practice started a half hour ago! Everyone is here except for the CO-CAPTAIN!"
"I know, I know," Natalie groaned, rubbing her forehead, "but something really important came up and I have to go take care of it."
"What could be more important than practice right now?" the co-captain asked, "We have a game this weekend! Someone better be dying!"
"Oh believe me, you have no idea," the redhead mumbled, "Look, I gotta go. I'll be at practice tomorrow, okay?"
"Natalie, don't you dare hang up on me-"
She ended the call and tossed her phone on her bag. Stiles saw her annoyed face through his rearview mirror and chuckled.
"I'm guessing that went well," he laughed.
"Shut up." Natalie looked over at Derek, who was looking worse by the second. She pulled out her water bottle and held it out to him. "Here, drink this. You look like you need it."
Derek looked at it suspiciously. "What is it?"
"Gasoline," Natalie deadpanned, "It's water, dumbass. What else would it be? Just drink it."
Rolling his eyes, Derek took the bottle. He set it between his thighs as he slowly and carefully pulled off his leather jacket. Once he finally got it off, he threw it to the backseat, hitting Natalie in the face in the process.
With a glare, Natalie tossed the jacket away from her. The picture of Derek's long lost friend fell out of the pocket. It was now folded and slightly wrinkled, but still in somewhat good condition. Derek was too focused on his arm to pay attention to what Natalie was doing so she tucked the photo in her pocket.
"Hey, Nat," Stiles said, "Can you check my phone and see if Scott texted me back?"
The redhead reached in between Stiles and Derek's seat and grabbed the phone in the cup holder. Scott had sent a message and Natalie opened it up to read it. She let out a sigh when she was finished.
"He said that he needs more time," she said as she handed the phone back to Stiles.
"Of course," he grumbled. He looked over at Derek, who had his eyes closed and head lolled back. "Hey, try not to bleed out on my seats, okay? We're almost there."
"Almost where?" Derek asked.
"Your house."
Derek's eyes widened. "What?" He shook his head. "No, you can't take me there."
Stiles raised an eyebrow. "I can't take you to your own house?"
"Not when I can't protect myself."
Then all of a sudden, Stiles slammed down on his brakes. The movement made Natalie jolt forward and hit her forehead on the back of Derek's seat.
"Ow!" she cried out as she rubbed her forehead, "Are you fucking kidding me, Stiles? Son of a bitch…"
"Alright, what happens if Scott doesn't find your little magic bullet?" Stiles asked Derek, completely ignoring Natalie, "Hmm? Are you dying?"
"Not yet," Derek said, "I have a last resort."
"What the hell does that mean?" Natalie asked, poking her head in between the two males' seats.
"What last resort?" Stiles also asked.
Derek didn't answer. Instead, he rolled up his sleeve to reveal an ugly sight. The bullet hold in his arm had very dark red- close to black- blood oozing out of it. Black veins were creeping around the wound. It was sickening.
"Oh my god, what is that?" Stiles exclaimed, looking away, "Oh, is that contagious?"
"Ugh, it's pulsing!" Natalie gagged, "Oh, that's so gross!"
"You know what," Stiles said, "you should probably just get out."
"Start the car," Derek demanded, "Now."
Stiles turned to Derek, obviously fed up with his snarky and bossy attitude. "I don't think you should be barking orders with the way you look, okay? In fact, I think if I wanted to, I could probably drag your little werewolf ass into the middle of the road and leave you for dead."
The wolf gave Stiles a deadly glare. Even while on the brink of dying, Derek can be very intimidating. Looks like Stiles isn't the only one who is extremely agitated.
"Start the car, or I'm gonna rip your throat out… with my teeth."
Staring Derek down, Stiles detected his face to see if he was bluffing. But he just kept glaring. Stiles looked back at Natalie and she raised her hands up in defense.
"I don't know about you, but I would like to keep my throat."
Her best friend shifted his whiskey colored eyes from Natalie to Derek. With a roll of his eyes, he started his car again and drove off.
About an hour later, Stiles had pulled up to the side of the road again to call Scott. Derek was getting paler and his breath was coming out in short pants. He wound looked the same, but it was slowly killing him. Meanwhile, Natalie was texting her mom to tell her that she was going home with Stiles and not to worry about picking her up at the school.
"What are we supposed to do with him?" Stiles asked Scott over the phone.
"Take him somewhere," Scott told him, "Anywhere!"
"And by the way, he's starting to smell." For what seemed to be the hundredth time that day, Derek shot Stiles another glare.
"Like what?" Scott asked.
"Like death," Stiles emphasized.
Natalie chuckled and Derek turned to scowl at her. "Don't give me that look," she sassed, "I've been in this car with you for about two hours now. It's safe to say that you freakin' reek, dude. You should've figured that one out on your own."
"Okay," Scott said to Stiles, "Take him to the animal clinic."
"What about your boss?" Stiles asked.
"He's gone by now. There's a spare key in a box behind the dumpster."
Stiles let out a sigh, shook his head, and held his phone out to Derek. "You're not gonna believe where he's telling me to take you."
"Where did he say to go?" Natalie asked.
"You'll find out," Stiles sighed.
Derek grabbed Stiles's phone and held it up to his ear. "Did you find it?"
"How am I supposed to find it?" Scott exclaimed, "They have a million! This house is like the freakin' Walmart of guns!"
"If you don't find it, then I'm dead, alright?"
"I'm starting to think that wouldn't be such a bad thing."
"Then think about this-" Derek was now gripping onto the phone tightly and Stiles was a bit worried that he was going to break it. "The alpha called you out against your will. Next time, you either kill with him or be killed. So if you wanna stay alive, you need me. Find the bullet."
He then hung up the phone and threw it back at Stiles, who caught it clumsily. Natalie crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow.
"The least you could do is be a little nicer," she said to Derek, "You know, we don't have to be helping you. Would it kill you if you actually said 'please' and 'thank you'?"
"Well considering that I'm dying already," Derek said sarcastically, "I'd rather not take my chances."
Natalie was so tempted to slap him but decided against it the more she thought about it. Derek may be injured but he was still a werewolf. He could easily tear the redhead apart if he wanted to. And she wasn't stupid enough to even bother to aggravate him more. So she just leaned back in her seat and looked outside the window.
Not long after that did Stiles pull up behind the animal clinic that Scott worked at. When Natalie saw where they were, she couldn't help but let out a chuckle.
"Oh, this couldn't be any more perfect."
The best friends got out of the car and helped Derek out. They wrapped his arms around their shoulders and walked to the back door of the clinic. Stiles let go of Derek to look for the box Scott told him about. He grabbed the key and unlocked the door.
When they walked in, Natalie accidentally dropped Derek for the second time that day on bags of dog food. He landed on his injured arm, causing him to cry out in pain.
"Would you stop dropping me!" he snapped at Natalie.
"It's not like I'm doing it on purpose!" she defended herself, "I didn't expect you to feel like dead weight!"
As Natalie helped Derek stand back up, Stiles's phone beeped. He pulled it out of his pocket and read the text Scott had sent him.
"Does Nordic Blue Monkshood mean anything to you?" Stiles asked Derek.
"It's a rare form of wolfsbane," he explained, "He has to bring me the bullet."
"Why?"
Derek looked up at both Stiles and Natalie. "Because I'm gonna die without it."
"Well, shit," Natalie said as she rubbed the back of her neck with the hand that wasn't holding Derek, "Uh, let's take him to one of the operating tables."
The three of them entered another room. Stiles turned on the light as Natalie had Derek lean against the table. He peeled off his shirt, revealing the black veins spreading on his arm. Then he placed his arm on top of the table.
"You know, that really doesn't look like anything Echinacea and a good night's sleep couldn't take care of," Stiles said as he looked at Derek's arm.
"When the infection reaches my heart," Derek panted as he searched through different cabinets and drawers, "it'll kill me."
"Positivity just isn't in your vocabulary, isn't it?"
Natalie snorted, making Derek stop what he was doing to glare at her before resuming his search.
"If he doesn't get here with the bullet in time, last resort…"
"Which would be…" Natalie trailed off.
Derek finally found what he was looking for in one of the drawers- a hand saw. "You're gonna cut off my arm." He set it down on the table and pushed it over to Stiles and Natalie.
The redhead was the first to react. She stepped away from the table and threw her hands up. "Uh uh. No. No, no, no, no, no. There is absolutely no way in hell I am amputating someone!" She pointed to Stiles. "You're on your own, dude!"
Stiles's mouth gaped open when Natalie walked to the other side of the room. When he realized that she wasn't kidding around, Stiles picked up the saw and turned it on. He freaked out when it started buzzing and immediately switched it off.
"Oh my god!" He placed the saw back on the table. "What if you bleed to death?"
Derek was now tying a blue rubber band around his arm as a tourniquet with his teeth. "It'll heal if it works."
"Ugh… look, I don't know if I can do this."
The wolf looked up at Stiles. "Why not?"
"Well, because of the cutting through the flesh, the sawing of the bone, and especially the blood!"
"You faint at the sight of blood?"
"No, but I might at the sight of a chopped off arm!"
Natalie raised her hand. "I second that!"
"Alright, fine," Derek sighed, "How about this? Either you cut off my arm, or I cut off your head."
"Okay, you know, I'm so not buying your threats anymore-" All of a sudden, Derek grabbed the collar of Stiles's shirt and pulled his upper body over the table. "Oh my god! Okay. Alright, bought, sold, totally. I'll do it. I'll do it."
Then Derek began to heave heavily. He turned his body and threw up what looked like black ooze. Just the sight made Natalie want to throw up herself.
"Holy shit, what is that?!" she exclaimed, pointing to the black mess on the floor.
"It's my body…" Derek answered, "trying to heal itself."
"Well, it's not doing a very good job of it," Stiles said.
Derek looked up at Stiles. "Now. You gotta do it now!"
"Look, honestly, I don't think I can-"
"Just do it!"
"Oh my god. Okay." Stiles picked up the saw again. Derek looked like he was struggling to keep still, which was very odd. Stiles looked up at his best friend. "Nat, I may need your help."
"With what?" she asked.
"Hold him down or something," Stiles told her, "Keep him grounded. Make him think happy thoughts."
Natalie flailed her arms. "Do I look like fucking Peter Pan? How am I supposed to make Mr. Grumpy Gills out of all people think about something happy?"
"There's gotta be at least one thing about his life that doesn't suck!"
That's when Natalie remembered the picture in her pocket. She immediately pulled it out and unfolded it. Standing next to Derek and placing a hand on his shoulder, she held out the picture in front of his face.
"Derek, listen to me," Natalie said as comforting as possible, "Just think about Anabelle. Think of your favorite memories with her."
Just hearing Anabelle's name was enough to get Derek to snap his head up. With sorrowful eyes, Derek gazed at the picture of the girl he used to call his best friend. The more he thought about her when they were younger, the less he fought against Natalie.
"Derek!" a teenage girl with long curly dark brown hair and light brown eyes giggled, "Can you please just tell me where we're going?"
"Nope," Derek smirked as he pulled Anabelle behind him, "I told you, it's a surprise."
"You know I hate surprises."
"Trust me, you're gonna love this one."
Even though Anabelle was rolling her eyes, she couldn't stop the smile from forming on her face. Derek had been dragging her along the woods for about a half hour because he claimed that he had something to show her. It was her fifteenth birthday and Derek wanted to spend some alone time with his best friend. They spent most of the day celebrating with their families and Anabelle's boyfriend took her out for the evening so Derek didn't get a lot of one on one time with her.
So he waited until everybody in their house was asleep to sneak in her room and tell her to come with him. Anabelle protested, saying that it was late and that he could just show her the next day. But Derek told her that it absolutely couldn't wait. Finally, Anabelle allowed Derek to take her out in the woods after putting on her shoes and one of his hoodies. Derek held onto her hand as they walked in the woods. It was very late and dark outside so he made sure their fingers were intertwined tightly so they wouldn't separate.
After a while, they came across the pond they always used to play at when they were kids. But when they grew up, they became too busy with school, extracurricular activities, and learning to control their shifts to come by here. Derek one day decided to take her there when the light of the moon reflected off the water beautifully. Beside the pond was a blanket with a Tupperware filled with a dozen cupcakes on top of it.
Anabelle's eyes lit up at the sight. "Oh my gosh. You did this for me?"
"Yeah," Derek said, "Do you like it? I know it's not as extravagant as the dinner Chase did for you, but I really wanted to bring you here so it would be just the two of us."
"Are you kidding me? Derek, I love this. But aren't we going to get in trouble for being out here so late?"
Derek shook his head. "We'll be fine. Actually, my mom helped me set this up. Now sit down so we can have some cupcakes."
With an eyebrow raised, Anabelle asked, "Let me guess- your mom made them?"
"No…" Anabelle gave him a knowing look. "Okay, she may have taken over when the batter started flying out of the bowl while I was mixing it."
The brunette shook her head as she laughed. Then they sat down on the blanket and dug into the cupcakes. At one point, Derek stuck his finger in the frosting and swiped it on Anabelle's nose. She gasped and smeared frosting on his cheek. Their war went for about a few minutes until they had to stop when their stomachs started to hurt from laughing so much. Derek pulled out some napkins that were underneath the container and they helped each other clean the frosting off their faces.
"I have one more thing for you," Derek told Anabelle.
"Oh my god," she sighed, "Derek, no more. What else could there be?"
"I haven't given you your present yet," he told her, "Close your eyes and lift up your hair."
Anabelle rolled her eyes but did as she was told. Derek reached in his pocket and pulled out a necklace. He walked behind her and clasped the chain around her neck. Then he instructed Anabelle to open her eyes. When she did, she looked down on the charm against her chest. It was the outline of a wolf that looked like it was howling at the moon. The outline was bedazzled with black and white jewels.
"Derek…"
"I saw this when Laura dragged me into that antique shop and the first thing I thought about was you."
She looked up at Derek, who was now kneeling in front of her. Anabelle fingered the pendent and smiled.
"This is so beautiful," Anabelle gushed, "I think this is my favorite present that I've gotten today. Because it's from my favorite person in the world- my best friend." She placed a kiss on his cheek and hugged him. "Thank you, Derek."
Said boy's cheek rested on the top of her head as he wrapped his arms around her. "Anything for you, Anabelle. Happy birthday."
"Stiles? Natalie?"
The two of them including Derek- breaking him out of his memory- looked up and saw Scott standing in the doorway. Both Stiles and Natalie sighed in relief.
"Oh, thank god you're here!" Natalie said.
Scott noticed Stiles holding the saw against Derek's arm. "What the hell are you doing?"
Stiles put the saw down and laughed breathlessly. "Oh, you just prevented a lifetime of nightmares."
"Did you get it?" Derek asked Scott.
The younger wolf reached into his pocket and pulled out the bullet. He then placed it in Derek's hand.
"What are you gonna do with it?" Scott asked.
"I'm gonna…" Derek panted, "I'm gonna…" Then he suddenly collapsed onto the floor, dropping the bullet.
"No, don't! No, no, no!" Scott exclaimed, but the bullet had already rolled into a vent in the floor.
Natalie crouched down next to Derek. "Come on, dude." She smacked his cheek a couple of times to wake him up. But nothing was working. "Shit! Scott, what do I do?"
"I don't know!" Scott said as he tried to grab the bullet out of the vent, "I can't reach it!"
"I think he's dying, Scott! He won't wake up!"
"Just hold on!" Scott let his claws out and finally got a hold of the bullet. "I got it! I got it!"
Stiles placed a hand on Natalie's. "Here, let me try something, Nat." She nodded her head and moved over so Stiles was kneeling next to her. "Please don't kill me for this." He drew his arm back and punched Derek in the face as hard as he could. He cried out in pain and cradled his now throbbing hand.
But it seemed to have done the trick because Derek's eyes opened up right away. Natalie helped Derek up and he asked Scott for the bullet. Once he had it, he bit the cap off and dumped out of its contents on the table. He pulled a lighter out of his pocket and lit the powder on fire.
When the fire had died down and there was smoke rising from the gunpowder, Derek scooped it up and pressed it into his wound. He screamed out at the intense pain and landed on the floor. As he writhed around, Stiles pulled Natalie back and wrapped his arms around her. She gripped onto his biceps as she looked down at Derek.
Finally, Derek stopped screaming and was now trying to catch his breath.
"That. Was. Awesome!" Stiles exclaimed as he pumped his fist in the air, "Yes!"
Natalie laughed along with him. "That was so much better than any action movie I've seen this year!" She continued to laugh until she saw Derek glaring up at her. She cleared her throat and rubbed the back of her neck. "Sorry."
"Are you okay?" Scott asked as Derek stood up.
"Except for the agonizing pain," Derek seethed.
"I'm guessing the ability to use sarcasm is a sign of health," Stiles said. Natalie held out her fist and he bumped it with his.
"Okay, we saved your life," Scott told Derek, "which means you're gonna leave us alone. You got that? And if you don't, I'm gonna go back to Allison's dad and I'm gonna tell him everything."
"You're gonna trust them?" Derek asked, "You think they can help you?"
"Why not? They're a lot freakin' nicer than you are!"
"Yeah, I can show you exactly how nice they are."
"… What do you mean?"
Derek sighed as he picked up his shirt. "There's something I think you need to see. Maybe that'll show you the kind of people the Argents really are. Come with me." Then he turned to Stiles and Natalie. "You two. Go home."
Stiles grabbed Natalie's hand and they were about to walk out the door until Derek cleared his throat. They turned around to see the man with his palm out. Natalie rolled her eyes and placed the photo of Anabelle in his hand before Stiles pulled her out of the clinic.
"Well, that was eventful," Natalie said as they walked out to Stiles's jeep.
"Yeah, you're telling me," Stiles agreed. He walked over to the passenger side and opened the door for Natalie. As she got in, Stiles went over to his side and climbed in. Once they were buckled in, they sat in silence for a few minutes. "I'm hungry. You?"
"Starving," Natalie said, "I could go for a burger right now."
"Burgers it is then."
Ten minutes later, the pair ended up at the local diner, Jane's Spot. When they found a booth inside, Stiles was the first to sit down. Natalie was about to sit across from him, but Stiles grabbed her hand before she could. She looked at him and he nodded his head to the empty spot next to him. With a smile, Natalie sat down next to him and he wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
A while after they ordered their food, the waitress brought out their burgers, onion rings, and soda. As they ate, they talked about the whole situation with Derek at the animal clinic.
"You impressed me in there," Stiles told Natalie, "With the photo and everything… How'd you know that would work?"
Natalie shrugged her shoulders. "To be honest, I didn't. I just thought about how Derek is extremely protective about the photo. And I remember him telling me that they were so close before the fire. I figured that the thought of her would help calm him down."
"And it did."
"Yeah… yeah, it did. I've never seen him look as vulnerable as he did before. It kinda makes me think that she wasn't just his friend."
"I think I know what you mean," Stiles agreed, "There's definitely more about that girl than we know. I wonder if she is still alive."
"Derek said that he's been looking for her for years but he hasn't found anything," Natalie told him, "I kinda wanna find out more about her, but I don't think Derek will tell me any more than he already has."
Stiles nodded and ate an onion ring. "I definitely think we should look more into it."
As they ate their food, Natalie nestled closer to Stiles's side and rested her head on his shoulder. He smiled down at her as he rubbed her arm. Then he rested his chin on the top of her red hair.
"Nat?" She hummed in response. "You know there's something we should talk about."
With scrunched eyebrows, she looked up at Stiles. "What?"
"Well, the other night, I never got the chance to ask you about…" he gestured to her then himself, "us."
"What about us?"
Stiles struggled to find his words. "Like… are we just friends, casually dating, or… I don't know…"
The redhead couldn't hide the smirk on her face. She couldn't help it- Stiles was absolutely adorable when he was flustered. Especially when he started blushing. He would probably kill her if she ever told him that though. It would take away his 'masculinity'.
"What do you want us to be, Stiles?" she asked him.
"Uh…" Stiles scratched his neck, "Well, I would like to be… I mean, I was hoping I could be your… boyfriend?"
Natalie's doe brown eyes widened at his response. "Really?"
"Yeah," he said, "I've actually had the biggest crush on you ever since we were kids. I understand if you don't feel the same way about me since you're extremely hot and awesome but I hope that we would still be-"
He was cut off when Natalie grabbed the collar of his shirt and tilted her head up to kiss him. This time he didn't even hesitate to kiss her back. It wasn't as hot and heavy as when they first kissed after their date, but they enjoyed it just the same.
When Natalie pulled away from Stiles, she bit down on her bottom lip. "Okay."
He looked down at the redhead in bewilderment. "Okay?"
"You can be my boyfriend," she said as she wrapped her arms around his waist, "Mostly because I really wanna be your girlfriend."
Stiles smirked and caressed Natalie's cheek. "I think we can find a way to make that work."
Their lips connected again and Natalie began laughing. "Why do I have a feeling that we're gonna be that couple?"
"What couple?"
"The dorky couple that bickers all the time and tease each other. We're already weird together as it is. Add affection into the equation and it's most likely gonna double up."
This made Stiles laugh because it was most likely true. But thinking about it made him very excited about the future. Now Stiles was allowed to hold Natalie's hand in the hallways and kiss her in public. They can do all of the lovey dovey crap that they always made fun of couples for. It was going to be awesome.
"Natalie, we're gonna be the best couple ever."
Q and A Session
Are Stiles and Natalie going to admit how they feel about each other any time soon? In this chapter, they finally do! This was actually a lot earlier than I was planning to have them get together. I was going to originally do it during "Night School", but I didn't really know how to have them react in the chapters before that. But I hope you like this just fine!
This has to do with the future DerekxOC story- Will there be any chapter(s) with the OC before the actual plot line or will she not appear until everything starts to go crazy? For the most part, she will be featured right before season 2 starts. There will be a couple of brief appearances, but no one will really know it's her with how she presents herself. You'll understand why in future chapters of "Awake and Alive".
Also has to do with the future DerekxOC story- Will we see any of their past relationship moments in flashbacks or just the present time? Yes, I've added a flashback in this chapter to help keep Derek grounded because, well, getting your arm chopped off isn't an easy thing to go through- werewolf or not. I will add another one when Derek gets captured by Kate.
I really hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! It was really fun for me to write. Probably one of my favorites so far. PLEASE review, let me know what you think, and send me questions about my Teen Wolf stories or even about the show in general! Also if you haven't, PLEASE read my IsaacxOC story "Scars". I just updated it last week and I think it needs more love so go check it out! Also, I updated my profile and I changed the face claims for Anabelle and Harvey Wells. I think this person fits Anabelle much more perfectly and I think this change for Harvey is appropriate since he will become important in "No One Else". I've also added more images for the stories including posters, tattoos, and other important images. There will be more to come. Ahh, it makes me so excited!
I hope to update soon! xoxo, Maddie :)