I wanted to present you guys with a kickass chapter but I've been so busy lately with my uni work, so I decided to cut the chapter shorter than I would have liked.
"You need to go." Derek said, his voice dangerously threatening.
A snort in response. "Where is there to go? Might as well have fun with your girl over there as long as we're stuck in this town." A pause from the man. "You're a Cain."
Derek tensed. "And who are you?"
"Liam. Liam Malloy. As long as we're doing introductions, why don't you bring your girl out from behind you and let her say hello?"
Bile rose up in my throat at the thought of coming face to face with this man - Liam. I reached out to touch Derek, thinking somehow that physical contact would ground me. It didn't, because my head was still spinning with every word that Liam said. It made me nauseous but I swallowed down that bitter taste that threatened to spill out.
"That won't be happening." Derek retorted. "You need to leave and stay the hell away from this street if you know what's good for you."
Another snort from Liam. "It's a small town, mutt. Your girl and I are bound to bump into each other somewhere."
I balled up my fists into the back of Derek's shirt when I heard feet shuffling towards us. As this happened, Derek backed into me and I stepped back with him. A growl escaped from Derek's lips, more wolf-like than human at this stage.
Another shuffling of feet sounded, except this time they retreated. I heard Liam mutter something under his breath, too low for me to hear, and Derek tensed at what ever it was. As the shuffling faded to silence, Derek's shoulders relaxed and I exhaled a breath that I wasn't even aware that I was holding.
"What just happened?" I asked him.
"Let's just get inside."
Derek ushered me back to his house and bolted the door. Once he had triple checked that all the doors and windows were locked, he began pacing around in the living room and pulling at his hair. I tried talking him down, but he continued pacing and mumbling.
"Derek, stop it!" I demanded, grabbing at his hand that was reaching up to pull at a chunk of his hair. "Hey, it's gonna be ok-"
He spun around to tower over me and grabbed at my wrist. "You don't understand!" He growled at me, his tone reflecting the one he had when he was talking to Liam. "This is not what I signed up for. When they caught me, I was convinced that I could keep my head down and my nose clean until I could figure out a way to get out of here and find my family. I don't need people after me, Chloe.
"But of course, here you are, getting yourself in trouble. God, how does somebody as small as you get into such big amounts of trouble?!" He ranted. "This is not what I need. I didn't expect to be so... involved."
I pulled my arm away from his grasp and cradled it as it throbbed. Anger bubbled up inside me and tears prickled at my eyes, threatening to spill. "Well I'm s-sorry that I dragged you into this mess." I spat at him as I gathered my things, preparing to leave, and headed for the door. For the second time, Derek made a grab for my wrist to keep me where I was.
"You're hurting me!" I hissed through the pain.
His eyes widened and he dropped my arm, his hands moving this time to keep the door closed so I couldn't escape. He took a few deep breaths and swept some hair out of his eyes, his face softening. "I'm not mad at you, Chloe."
"Sure does seem like it." I retorted with traces of venom in my voice. "Let me leave, Derek." I demanded, completely disregarding whatever danger that lay beyond his front door. I wasn't sure what I expected, relying on a complete stranger. They were bound to get sick of me eventually.
"You know that's a stupid idea." He snorted. "You don't know if that guy is waiting for you on the other side of this door."
"Oh as if you care!" I snapped. "You pretty much implied two seconds ago that I was just a huge inconvenience in your life." As my voice grew louder, the tears that prickled finally spilled over and down my heated cheeks. With my small stature and his towering height, I felt like a small child having a tantrum, even though I knew that I was justified.
"I didn't mean it like that." His face fell. "Even if I did, it doesn't mean that I want you to get hurt. Just join me back in the kitchen and I'll make us coffee, yeah? Don't go. Please." His voice grew softer as he spoke and by the time he finished his sentence, it was barely above a whisper. Was this some kind of ploy to keep me in his house, or was he actually sorry? I couldn't tell. As much as I wanted to protest and be mad at him for what he said, I couldn't. So I bit back my words and brushed past him. Instead of meeting him in the kitchen, I ascended straight up the stairs and into the spare bedroom to get myself settled in. I was already enough trouble for him.
He didn't follow.
It took me a few days to build up the courage to go back to my place. In the time I stayed at Derek's we didn't speak much at all. When I'd leave I'd tell him where I was going and what time I'd be back, but other than that I avoided him like the plague. He seemed to feel the same way, so there was no effort to intereact with me on his behalf either. It was kind of tense but neither of us acknowledged it.
So when I sat him down and told him that I was going to go back to my own place, he was surprised to say the least. "Why?!" He asked. "You're safer here than you are two doors down."
"I can't stay here forever, Derek." Deciding against bringing up the tension in the house, I shrugged. "I have to actually live in my own house. When I'm here I'm only getting in your way."
"I'd rather you get in my way here and be safe than be stalked by that creep." He snorted.
After countless back and forward arguments, Derek reluctantly agreed that I should go back to my place on the condition that he scoped out my house before leaving me alone. Oh, and I had to come and get him at any sign of trouble. It was frustrating that he was treating me like a child, but I understood why. There was no way that I could take on a werewolf if it came down to it and we both knew it.
After expressing my appreciation to Derek and making the both of us coffee at my place, I turned to him. "Are we cool?" I asked.
He raised a bushy eyebrow. "Why wouldn't we be?"
"I-it's just that on the night we met L-Liam things got a bit..." I trailed off. "I don't know. Weird I guess."
Derek sighed. "I was a jerk, I know."
I hesitated, looking down at the coffee cup I held in my hands. "A little bit, but that's not where I was going with this. We just kind of ignored each other the whole time. It was weird, so I just wanted to make sure that we're cool." It was Derek's turn to hesitate and I saw his eyes dart from my face down to my wrists where he had grabbed me. There were still purple patches that matched the outline of his fingers, but they were slowly fading into yellow. Suddenly I knew why he didn't talk to me in those four days. "It's okay, Derek." I reassured. "It was an accident."
He clenched his fists so hard that his knuckles turned white. "You don't get it." He started. "When you first found out that I was a werewolf... the look of terror on your face just threw me. It was like being kicked in the stomach and I vowed to myself that I would never do anything to make you look at me that way again." He gently picked up my wrist and wrapped his hand around it, matching his fingers up to the marks. "I'm supposed to be protecting you from this creep and then I go ahead and do this. I... I just couldn't bring myself to act like everything was normal around you knowing what I did. I'm sorry."
I exhaled a shaky breath when I realized exactly how close Derek and I actually were. Not just emotionally, but physically too. His hand was still loosely wrapped around my wrist and I could feel his breath fan over my face as he stared down at me. I held his gaze and felt his thumb brush back and forth along my wrist while I inhaled the smell of him. "You're safe with me, Chloe. I promise."
Was it hot in here, or was I just blushing?
"I know, Derek." I weaved my fingers around his hand that was still at my wrist and gave it a gentle squeeze.
In a blink of an eye, Derek stepped away and broke eye contact. I didn't realise how much heat he radiated until I felt the cold winter air nip at my exposed skin. I rubbed at my arms to warm myself up and he must have picked up on it, because he offered me his sweater.
"Thanks, but I'll just run upstairs and grab my own." I told him as I ascended up the stairs, leaving him in the kitchen. I was thankful for the getaway because if he had gotten any closer then I may have just fainted.
I stared at myself in the mirror of my bedroom. Sure enough, my face was beet red and there was no way that Derek hadn't picked up on it. Rushing into the ensuite, I splashed my face with cold water and fanned myself until I was certain that I didn't resemble a tomato anymore. I ran a brush through my messy hair in an effort to make myself look presentable and pulled my grey, oversized sweater over my head.
As I was about to leave my bedroom, I couldn't help but steal one last glance in the mirror when a gleam of light caught my eye - my ring. It was only two months ago that I was telling Liz in the cafe that I was still in love with Joel, and then the first display of interest from a new guy - Derek - and it was like I forgot about my past. Forgot about Joel.
I picked up the gold ring that sat on my dresser and slipped it onto my finger. It still fit. There was a part of me that was clinging onto that last sliver of hope that I'd see Joel again one day, but he wasn't supernatural. The Edison Group had no reason to bring him to Blackbridge and even if they did, so much had changed that I wasn't sure if I did want him around.
Maybe I was more in love with the idea of missing him than I was in love with him.
I twisted the engagement band around my finger a few more times as I sat on the bed, contemplating my feelings. It had been such a long time since any man had shown interest in me and I was worried that I was jumping at the first opportunity for romance and getting way ahead of myself. I did that a lot - get ahead of myself - and Joel wouldn't ever let me forget it.
I shook my head violently at the thought of him as I twisted the ring one last time before opening a drawer in my dresser and shoving it to the very back. Joel was gone from my life and if I was ever going to move on, I couldn't allow that piece of jewellery to bring me back to that place ever again.
Another violent shake of my head. Who's to say that moment with Derek before even meant anything? Was I just getting ahead of myself, like I always did? Was I looking too far into things?
"Chloe?" Derek's voice interrupted my thoughts. I was thankful and pissed at the same time. Thankful for him breaking me out of my rambling thoughts, and pissed because I hadn't had enough time to sort those thoughts out.
"Jesus C-C-Christ, Derek." I exhaled, placing my hand over my beating heart.
"Skittish as a kitten." He mumbled, his lips twitching upwards as he neared me. "Are you okay?"
"Y-yeah, just give me a minute for my heart to restart."
"Are you sure that you're okay to stay here alone? Because my house is always open."
I nodded. "I'll be fine. You just startled me, that's all."
"Okay, well I guess I should get out of your way. I'll see you around."
It was like my body betrayed me. Instead of asking him if he wanted to stay, I watched him walk out my bedroom door and disappear down the stairs while I just sat there. It was like there was a war going on inside my head, one side battling the feelings and the other side welcoming them in. I wasn't sure what side I wanted to win just yet. I was more concerned with looking like an idiot in front of my neighbour. Guess it didn't matter anyway because my legs seemed to just carry me downstairs where Derek was still collecting his things.
He turned around to face me, his expression neutral, even when I walked closer to him so that we were in the same proximity as we were before. He didn't give me a hint of emotion.
"Do you think maybe you could stay?" I asked.
Derek hesitated. "Is that what you want?"
"I wouldn't have asked if I didn't want it." He thought about it for a second and eventually nodded his head. "Great." I smiled. "Guess I should make us some dinner."
