We got ourselves a little fluffy chapter before the real drama starts in the next season! Derek may seem a little OOC, but I'm okay with that! I have so many ideas for this pair and I hope you guys are enjoying this story just as much as I enjoy writing it along with my other two stories in the saga.

A month had come and gone before summer finally hit. Everyone was out of school and ready for vacation. Unfortunately, it wasn't all fun and games for Derek and Anabelle.

Erica and Boyd were missing. Again. They had been since the night they saved Jackson. No one was certain where they were. But if Derek had to guess, the alpha pack that had left their symbol on the door of the old Hale and Fierro house probably had something to do with it. Neither he and Anabelle said anything to Scott about it though. The three of them made a deal to give the teenagers the summer off from any supernatural ordeals. Or at least Scott and his friends. Isaac and Delilah were still helping them look for any clues on this new pack and where their missing members could be.

That wasn't all they were up to during this time. Anabelle had joined the alpha in house-hunting in the town. They didn't exactly find a house, but a loft. It was pretty damn impressive still. There was so much space and it was located in a more private part of town. Plus it was perfect for Anabelle to look after Isaac in. And if Delilah wanted to come over, they could go to the other side of the loft where they could have alone time and Derek wouldn't hear it. That part made Anabelle roll her eyes.

It was definitely an interesting living situation for the older werewolves as well. You would think it would feel natural for them to be living together again like they did for most of their lives. But obviously things were very different now. Now that Anabelle was in even closer proximity to Derek, it just made it harder for him to keep this secret to himself. Especially whenever he was in bed and should have been sleeping. He would hear her singing softly to herself in her own room most nights, quickly learning that this was a habit of hers. He didn't mind though. Any chance he could get to hear Anabelle sing he would take. Also every once in a while Derek would listen in on her phone calls to her brothers in San Diego. From their tones of voice whenever his name was brought up, he knew that they knew about the bond too. But like everyone else, they never spilled. Derek did enjoy listening to Anabelle talk to her niece though. He could practically hear the she-wolf's smile and her softness that made him pine for what they were destined for even more.

Sometimes he would even listen to Anabelle shower too and get the urge to jump in with her. A part of Derek always ached to see her naked underneath the running water, maybe even pressed up against him as he-

Nope. Already getting off topic. There was no way he could have any of those thoughts when she was in the other room. Derek didn't need her smelling his pheromones, even though she was already fast asleep.

Not all of Derek's temptations were so promiscuous though. Like right now. While he did want to crawl into bed with Anabelle, it was to hold her while she slept. To bury his nose into the base of her neck so he could breathe in her sweet vanilla scent. To whisper into her ear as they both dozed off. Almost like that one night when Anabelle was paralyzed by the kanima. Derek had woken up and left before she could even notice so she probably didn't remember being curled up next to her on her old couch. But he thought about it still. A lot.

There had to be a way to speed up this process. The longer he went without claiming her, the more antsy he started to become. It was still sometimes hard to see where her own head was at. Anabelle was definitely becoming more comfortable with him. She was smiling at him more, laughing even. They even teased each other here and there like they used to. Once in a while she would call him an idiot, but it was always playfully. Derek was confident enough to say that he had his best friend back.

But that still wasn't enough for him.

Derek still couldn't tell if she felt anything for him. Whenever he would glance over at her, sometimes Anabelle would turn her head away as if he was the one catching her staring. There would be moments he would accidentally brush up against her or touch her hand. She didn't pull away anymore. In fact, Derek would even hear her heart beat just a second faster. The bond was starting to become more present to Anabelle too, he could tell. Even though he knew that she literally knew nothing about mates in general.

He may not be able to tell her directly, but there had to be some way to court her. If that was still even a thing. But he had to try.

Deciding that just thinking about it would get him nowhere, Derek got up from his bed and walked over to the large window to look at the crescent moon shining through. He dialed a number on his phone and held it up so he could see the person on FaceTime. It dialed a few times too long and Derek was about to give up on the subject until the teenager finally answered.

"Ahh, Derek Hale," Natalie said as soon as she came into view, stroking her chin like an Italian mobster. Yeah, Derek was regretting this already. "To what do I owe you at… three in the morning? Why are you calling me so late? Didn't Scott tell you I was in Arizona for the summer?"

"I know but I figured you would be up still," Derek answered. He furrowed his eyebrows as he took in the gown she was wearing. "Are you in the hospital?"

"No," Natalie said quickly, adjusting her phone so she was only seen from the neck up, "I know you didn't call to ask about me. In fact, I thought you weren't supposed to bug us about your wolfy business."

"That's not why I'm calling. You're a girl."

The redhead looked down at herself. "The last time I checked."

"So you know what girls want in a relationship," Derek said.

"I mean, I can't speak for all girls-"

"What about how to court one?"

"Courting?!" Natalie let out a laugh. "This isn't the Middle Ages, dude. Courting isn't a thing anymore. Get with the modern times."

Well there goes that idea.

"Alright, I'm hanging up now," Derek said, starting to lose his patience.

"Wait, wait!" Natalie stopped the alpha before he could leave, "I'm sorry. This is actually exciting though. The big bad wolf wants to woo his lady friend."

"Don't say 'woo'," Derek growled.

"Oh, I'm gonna say 'woo'. But I never thought you would need help in that department. You're a hot guy. Surely you've gone on dates before."

"This is different," Derek told her, "I'm not just trying to ask Anabelle out on a date."

"I know." Natalie grinned and started wiggling her head like a worm. "You wanna loooove her, you wanna kiiiis her, you wanna have her baaaabies-"

"You are so lucky you are in another state," Derek threatened.

Scoffing, Natalie said, "Dude, you don't scare me anymore. But I will help you. For starters, tone down your bad boy attitude. Most girls might find it attractive, but as cliche as it sounds, Anabelle's not like most girls."

"Yeah, I'm very aware of that. What else?"

"I mean, maybe take an interest into what she likes. What does she like?"

Derek shrugged his shoulders. "Music. Theatre. She's very into the arts."

"Take her to go see a play then."

It took everything in the alpha to not let out a snort. He may have been desperate, but he wasn't stupid. Anabelle would drag him to school plays all the time when they were teenagers, even to some local theaters. Torturous would have been an understatement to describe how he felt as he sat through some Shakespearean crap or obnoxious musicals. It was boring and lame. Derek never understood why his mate liked that sort of thing, but he never minded watching her sing, dance, and act. She was always a star when she performed. He was never able to take his eyes off of her. Only if he got to watch Anabelle perform would be the reason why he would ever voluntarily sit through a two hour long play.

As much as he wanted to be with her, Derek was not about to put himself through that agony.

"I'm not taking her to see a play," Derek firmly said.

"Okay…" Natalie clicked her tongue, "What about a concert? That's gotta sound a bit more tolerable."

"Too many people," Derek grumbled, "Being bumped into by sweaty people isn't exactly my idea of a fun night. Plus she only listens to either show music or gothic rock."

The redhead furrowed her eyebrows. "Anabelle's gotta be the most mysterious person I've ever met. Even more than you."

"You're telling me."

"Well, how about the movies? Bowling? Fancy restaurant? Hunting deer?" Derek deadpanned at each of Natalie's suggestions. "Dude, I'm literally spitballing here! You can't be so picky."

"I can be when it comes to this," Derek said, "This isn't like some high school crush that I'm trying impress. This is… it's about solidifying a bond for life. And Anabelle deserves more than a cheesy date."

Natalie sighed sympathetically. "I get that you like her a lot. Really, I do. But that means you gotta be a little more flexible. There's gotta be something that she likes that doesn't completely annoy you."

"Only when she sings and plays the piano…" Derek's voice trailed off when an idea slowly came to him. "I gotta go."

"Fine, but you better let me give a speech at your wedding-"

Derek hung up before she could jabber on even further. But holy shit, this could actually work. How did he not think of this earlier? It was brilliant.

Even though it was super late and the next person he dialed was most likely asleep, the alpha couldn't wait until morning. It was like he suddenly had this huge shot of energy running through his body. He tried not to get too caught up in his head but he needed this to work out. It had to work out. So Derek pressed the call button and held the phone to his ear.

The phone rang four times until someone finally picked up. "Derek? It's almost four AM. What are you doing?"

"Harvey… I need you to do me a favor."

As amazing as the loft was, the walk up the stairs was absolutely killer. Especially when you're trying to juggle three large bags of groceries. Good thing that Anabelle had werewolf strength because a normal human would have dropped everything by the third flight of stairs. This is what happens when you live with two male werewolves that sucked up food like a vacuum. And doing this in boots was a pain in the ass as well.

Once Anabelle finally got to their floor (saying that was never not going to be weird for her), she then started contemplating how she was going to open the door. It was a sliding one, so it should be easy enough to just nudge it over. So Anabelle lifted her foot to push the door to the side. But before she could even touch it, it opened for her, revealing Harvey on the other side. He flashed her an odd and big grin.

"What are you doing here?" Anabelle questioned her friend.

Harvey laughed. "Oh, you're gonna enjoy this." And then he just walked away.

"Wha-"

But the musician was already descending down the stairs. Anabelle really needed to start hanging out with his wife Braeden more so she had a female her age around. All of these men were just so damn weird. Deciding to just shrug it off, Anabelle turned to walk inside the loft. She collided with a hard surface and dropped one of her paper bags. Luckily the hard surface caught it before all of the groceries spilled out.

"Need a hand?" Derek asked, raising an eyebrow.

Rolling her eyes at the way he teased her, Anabelle simply said, "Thanks." Derek ended up grabbing all three of the bags for her, much to her protest. At least now she could point at the stairs. "Why was Harvey here?"

"I asked him to drop something off here for me," Derek answered, "I also needed his help setting it up."

"Oh, god, what did you buy?" Anabelle asked in suspicion.

"Relax, I bought a piece of furniture for the place," Derek told her, "Don't act like I bought a yacht."

"Derek, I thought we agreed to discuss these things before we-"

As soon as she stepped into the loft, the she-wolf stopped in tracks as she spotted something large, black, and shiny in the corner of the living room. Her light brown eyes grew large at the sight of the grand piano staring back at her. The exact same one she remembered from Harvey's store.

"What is that?" she asked in almost a whisper.

Derek leaned in closer to her, his breathe tickling her ear as he too whispered, "I believe it's a piano."

"I know it's a piano, smart ass," Anabelle quipped, playfully smirking, "but why is it here?"

"It's yours."

Anabelle's soft lips slightly parted as she looked at Derek. Actually, all of her facial features had softened at this surprise. "Mine? Did- did you… you bought this for me."

She said that last part more in realization than in question. Bringing her attention back to the instrument, Anabelle walked over to it and lightly brushed her fingers over the smooth mahogany lid.

"Wow…"

"Now I know it's not a yacht," Derek jokingly said, "and Harvey did give me a discount. But I know how much you like to play whenever you are at the store. Now you can play at home too."

"Wow…" Anabelle breathed out again. She chuckled. "I don't think I can stop saying that." He actually made her tongue-tied. Score one for Derek. "What did you do that you're sweetening me up with this?"

Rolling his eyes at the fact that after these past few months she still questioned everything he said or did, Derek said, "I didn't do anything, Anabelle. This is just my way of thanking you for sticking around and helping me with all of this. That's all."

That might not have actually been all, but his mate didn't need to know the whole truth.

But it looked like his plan was starting to take affect. The awestruck expression Anabelle was sporting only deepened when she sat on the bench placed in front of the piano. Watching her play a couple of chords and smiling to herself after finishing each one did something to Derek that made him miss when they were younger, before the fire and before Kate and Paige. When it was just the two of them and everything was actually good. Just maybe… they can actually be that way again. Even happier and more beautiful.

He sat down next to her, not too close so she wouldn't freak out, and continued to watch her 'tickle the ivory', whatever that saying was.

"Was it hard to learn how to play growing up?" Derek asked, genuinely curious.

"Not really," Anabelle answered, "It just requires a little patience and focus. Something you seem to lack sometimes."

A lighthearted scoff came from Derek. "Well that's a little harsh considering I got you a gift. It's nice to know all I get in return is insults."

"I only said 'sometimes'," Anabelle teased with a smirk, "But if you want to learn, I'd be glad to teach you how to play."

"No, thanks. I'll leave playing instruments to you. I'm not really the musician type."

"Oh, trust me, you've proven that when you tried to impress Paige in high school." Anabelle laughed as she recalled when she saw Derek with his first crush in the band room and he played the triangle just so he could learn her name. "You certainly had a way with the ladies, didn't you?"

"Eh, I'm trying," Derek wanted to think but then he remembered she could read his mind now.

Anabelle stroke another key. "Is it… do you mind if I play something?"

"That's what I bought it for."

Permission granted, the she-wolf sighed before going into a song. Derek kept his eyes on her strong but also delicate fingers as they plucked each note of whatever came into Anabelle's head. He thought all he would get was the piano's sound but was proven wrong when he heard that hypnotizing voice.

Playground school bell rings again

Rain clouds come to play again

Has no one told you she's not breathing?

Hello I'm your mind giving you someone to talk to

Hello

Neither of them realized that Derek had actually scooted closer to Anabelle until she brushed his arm as she reached over to his side of the piano. His arm underneath his shirt was hard. But warm. How was that even possible? But it was also Derek. It shouldn't surprise the she-wolf that he had a hard exterior but was actually warm to the touch. Almost comforting. Trying not to get thrown off by the contact, Anabelle just continued to focus on her song.

If I smile and don't believe

Soon I know I'll wake from this dream

Don't try to fix me I'm not broken

Hello I'm the lie living for you so you can hide

Don't cry

By now, his eyes went up from her hands to her face. She was staring down at her hands still though. So she didn't notice the way he gazed upon the way her light brown eyes that usually came off as ice cold seemed to sparkle as she perfected her craft. The way he noticed her more tamed and now darker brown curly hair swayed along with her body. And also the way paid attention to her lips as each word was being sung like he was trying to learn a new language. He was definitely under a spell.

Even she was having a hard time concentrating when his chest pressed against her arm. She could feel his breath on the side of her neck and it almost made her want to shiver. While she was still looking down at her hands to make sure she was playing the right notes, she felt his striking green eyes piercing through her. The beating against her chest was getting faster and faster so she had to remind herself to take deep breaths in between the lyrics she was singing. Mostly so he wouldn't notice the increasing heartbeat.

He did notice.

Suddenly I know I'm not sleeping

Hello I'm still here

All that's left of yesterday

Annabelle completed the last few bars of the song. When she turned towards Derek, she almost jumped back at the fact that his face was just centimeters from hers. It appeared to take him aback as well, like he was just coming out of a trance. Neither of them made any moves away from each other however. Even though their lips could have easily touched if they moved their heads just a smidge.

"How, um… how did it sound?" Anabelle asked, breath warm against Derek's lips.

"The song?" he asked.

The she-wolf nodded and swallowed down the nerves. "Yeah."

"Haunting," Derek answered, "But still beautiful."

"Good."

Derek glanced down at those plump lips, not wanting to miss out on just how close they were to his. It was now or never. So he closed his eyes… almost there…

"Ahem."

Both of the wolves jolted away from each other at the sound of a man clearing his throat. Derek couldn't help the growl emitting from the back of his own throat as Peter stood at the door with his eyebrows arched.

"Were you two in the middle of something?" the man asked.

"Yes," Derek snapped at the same time Anabelle said, "No."

She stood up. "I was just testing out the piano Derek got for me." She looked at the time on her watch. "I should actually get going or else I'm gonna be late for work." She grabbed her keys from the table. Right as she was about to walk out the door, she turned back to Derek and smiled. "Thank you. It's… it's very thoughtful of you to do this for me."

The men watched as Anabelle left. Peter turned to his nephew. "So, how's the mating thing coming along?"

That's how he found himself being thrown into the table, breaking it into two.

What. The fuck. Was that?!

Did… did Derek Hale just try to kiss her? The Derek Hale? The one that Anabelle had grown up with? The one she had resented for the past six years for that god awful fire? That Derek Hale? No way! He couldn't have… it was just not possible. Unless they were in some alternate universe where they were attracted to one another.

But… he did. Derek actually did try to kiss her.

You know what the craziest part about that was? Anabelle would have actually let him.

She had no idea what the hell was wrong with her. With either of them. Maybe it was from Anabelle singing that drew Derek in like some siren. But, he had heard her sing plenty of times throughout their friendship. It didn't make sense on why he would try to make any moves like that on her. There were so many questions reeling in Anabelle's head that she kept messing up at work. She kept putting records in the wrong spot, she forgot to give multiple people their change, and she even almost dropped a guitar from the wall. Whatever was going on with her, it was bad.

Not once did Anabelle ever think that her childhood best friend would ever try to do something like that. Or even give any sort of hints that he actually… liked her. Did Derek like her? Or was he just so caught up in the intimate moment they had as he watched her play that he had no idea what he was doing? Anabelle never saw any previous signs from him that he did feel anything for her. They probably shouldn't even cross that line between friendship and anything more than that. It may have worked for Stiles and Natalie, but that was a whole different story.

Anabelle was probably thinking way too much into this. But then she started wondering to herself if she liked Derek like that. You know, in a more than friends type of way. Yeah, sometimes her eyes might have lingered on him for a little too long when he wasn't looking. Usually when he was working out. Shirtless. Anabelle wasn't a liar, she could admit there was an physical attraction towards him. And the fact that she hadn't had sex in so long wasn't helping her hormones that were going crazy.

It wasn't just about sexual attraction though. That was the thing that confused Anabelle though. Ever since that day Derek discovered her in the woods, that pull had only intensified. Slowly but surely. Because of Italy, Anabelle had grown cold and distant with everyone around her. And she knew Derek had been going through the same thing. But everything started changing. As much as she tried to push him away, he kept pulling back in, trying to prove to her that he was still the same guy she was inseparable from when they were kids. Derek made mistakes, but he never stopped caring about her like he used to. That was the one thing that always remained the same.

He had been so generous towards her too. Anabelle never expected him to let her stay with him, let alone be a huge part of buying the loft with him. They both even put their names down on the lease. The landlady thought they were together but Anabelle was quick to correct her. She should have lied because the lady then tried to flirt with Derek afterwards which had Anabelle's wolf snarling in a way she didn't quite understand. Derek did turn her down though, saying that he was unavailable. Whatever that meant.

Hell, Derek even bought her a piano. A gesture like that was one that most women dreamed of receiving from a man. While Anabelle was still gobsmacked by it, she couldn't help but wonder what the real meaning behind it was. Regardless, it was very kind. Sweet even. Enough to bring a smile to Anabelle's face when she thought about it.

The she-wolf didn't know what to think of the whole thing. Nothing made sense anymore and it was coming to a point where it was hard to ignore. But Anabelle had no time for anything like that. Two of Derek's betas were missing and an alpha pack had made their presence known in Beacon Hills. Those were the real priorities so both of the adults needed to buckle down and focus.

When she got home from work later on, Derek didn't bring up their almost kiss. So Anabelle decided not to ask about it either. He also never tried to kiss her again after that. She tried to not let that bother her. That was easier said than done.

Ohhh they're both starting to feel things! You guys, I'm so excited for the next season to start in the next chapter and I hope you are too!

PLEASE leave me a review and let me know what you think! I don't get many reviews on this story and while I'm still going to continue this no matter what, it's nice to know you guys are liking it! Also go show some love to Awake and Alive and Scars as well! I'll be sure to update soon! Xoxo, Maddie