I hope you guys enjoy this. Sorry for any mistakes I am terrible at proofreading.
I'm falling, my arms flailing trying to catch myself until strong arms wrap around me and suddenly, I'm upright held tight against a hard body. I look up and met green eyes watching me.
"Sorry," I say quickly and due to the surprised look on his face I quickly add, "I was returning your jacket"
"Thanks," he says before falling silent. He is still holding on to me and I know that I should step back but I feel comfortable and safe and find myself fighting the urge to snuggle closer to his body. I blush and step away, but it takes a second for Derek's arms to release me and I feel weirdly cold even though it was a warm day.
The silence stretches and I struggle to hide the blush that I know is forming on my face. The silence gets too much, and I rack my brain for something to say,
"Thanks for catching me," I ask
"No problem" he replies and as the silence returns, I remember what I wanted to ask and before I can back down, I blurt out
"What happened yesterday? Why were you threatening my brother? Who are the hunters? Why are they after my brother? Why are they after you?" I stop to catch a breath and my anxious brain kicks in and I panic about what he might think about my questions.
"Sorry" I backtrack quickly "Its probably not any of my business"
"But it is my brother so I have a right to now" the different parts of my brain felt like they were at war with each other as I flipped between anxious and not wanting for him to think negatively or the strong side of me that refused to back down. While this flip-flopping is annoying the fact that my confident side was raising its head gave me hope. Eventually, my anxiety won, and I found myself apologising again.
"Sorry, I don't mean to ramble"
I glance up and am relieved to find Derek smiling down at me looking amused.
"Don't worry" he says, chuckling however his face falls suddenly and I say "you remind me of my older sister" he's speaking so quietly that it hard to hear and I lean forward as he continues "she rambles" he paused "she used ramble all the time. I used to find it really annoying but" he trails off.
I want to reach out and comfort him, but I don't know if he will appreciate it however the terrible silence is returning and I stupid blurt out
"Your sister died in the fire" I physically clamp my hand to my mouth horrified with myself and quickly apologize "I'm so sorry, I should not have said that here's your jacket let me go and stop bothering you"
I turn around and move to leave when he grabs my arm forcing me to spin around. This time he quickly let's go
"It's okay," he says and sits down on the set of steps that lead up to the old house. I debate whether this is an invitation to sit with him until he sifts to give me more space to sit. It crosses my mind that he probably thinks that I don't want to sit near him and that why he moves, and I kick myself for giving him that assumption. When I sit down I don't want to reinforce that belief but I also don't want him to know I like him so I try and judge a distance that doesn't seem like I think he smells or that seems I want to cuddle as appealing as that sounds.
My mind is pulled from its calculations when Derks says "No, Laura and I survived the fire because we were at school. We were living in New York together for the last six years, but she came back here about a month ago"
Derek's takes a long breath and he looks incredibly vulnerable, so I quickly say "you don't have to tell me"
"No its okay, it's nice to talk to someone" I'm glad he's not watching me when he says that because I can't help but blush. A feeling of comfort washed over me as he acknowledges that he wants to talk to me. My anxiety settles and the urge to flee the situation dissipates.
"I followed her here when she stopped phoning me and I haven't been able to find her" his voice drops back down to a whisper, "I think that it's her body they found in woods"
"I'm so sorry," I say and can't help myself but wrap an arm around him and pull him into a side hug.
We sit in silence after this revelation but surprisingly my anxiety doesn't spring into action and I feel strangely comfortable sitting in the woods letting Derek grieve. I don't know what you say to someone when they just admit to you that they think that the last of their family has died.
"I have to find out what happened to her," he says and suddenly stands up pacing angrily in front of me. I get the feeling that he just needs someone to talk to however despite the nature of the conversation I feel glad that he feels that he can open up to be. Though I remind myself I was probably the only person he has talked to if he's new to town. This, however, reminds me of my brother, and I ask
"Does this have anything to do with the hunters that you were telling my brother about"
Derek's look like he is going to answer me but then seems to change his mind and he says
"I don't know but you should probably get going it getting late"
I don't know what he was going to say but it's obvious that he won't answer me know so I gather up my bad and start to head off with a small wave as I follow the path back to my house.
"Wait" he calls after me and I pause "Are you walking"
I nod
"I can give you a lift, it's not safe out there," he says and starts to walk towards his car
"Thanks," I say relieved as I can't say that I was looking forward to the walk back home as my school bag seems to have gotten heavier throughout the day and I was sacked. However, as I get into the car the silence seems to have gone back to awkward however I don't need to fill it as Derek ask
"What do you do in your spare time"
I'm surprised by such a normal question form Derek and I wonder if he also hates silence, but I answer relieved that there is something to do
"I a lot of fanfic," I say and then regret my admission as most people automatically presume that all fanfiction id Fifty Shades of Gray, however, Derek's looks confused
"What's fanfic," he asks
"Oh" I respond "Fanfictions are stories that people write that takes the story or characters of a certain piece of work, like a novel, tv show or movie and create their own story based on it. Sometimes people will also take characters from one movie and put them in another."
I feel nervous about his response but gives a rare smile and says "That sounds cool have you ever written any"
"No" I admit "I can't write anything to save my life. English is one of my worst subjects at school. I just enjoy getting lost in the world people create"
He nods slightly and the smile stays on his face. I can't help but feel that his smile makes him look even more handsome which I didn't believe was possible. As I'm pondering this thought the car stops and I realise that we arrived home.
"Thanks," I say as I get out of the car
"No problem," he says, and I give him a small wave as he drives away
I unlock the front door as I realise that I am the only open home and I walk up to my room with a smile on my face as I remember my afternoon.