Sorry about the slow updates!

A lot of inspiration from this next plot in this fanfiction was from Season 3 of TVD when Stefan becomes Rippah!Stefan. A lot of the struggles and personality characteristics were modelled from that.

Another Alexia-centric chapter! I do love writing about her. She has become a little warrior and humanity lover, hasn't she?

Enjoy

Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Wolf, but if I did then there would definitely be more Shirtless Derek scenes. And maybe a Shirtless Stiles scene ;)

PS - I have a short Sterek fic(let) in progress and I'm not sure if I want to upload it. If any of you would like to read it or think I should upload it then tell me! It would be totally unrelated from this story and Alexia would NOT be appearing!

When you fall asleep,
with your head,
upon my shoulder.
When you're in my arms,
but you've gone somewhere deeper.

Are you going to age with grace?
Are you going to age without mistakes?
Are you going to age with grace?
Or only to wake and hide your face.
Well... oh, oblivion.
Is calling out your name.
You always take it further,
than I ever can.

When you play it hard,
and I try to follow you there,
It's not about control,
But I turn back when I see where you go

Oblivion - Bastille

Bastille is my favourite band at the moment. I really love them, they are incredible! And yes, Oblivion was used in 4x09 of TVD! Loved every second of it. This song really inspired this chapter - from the amount of people falling asleep haha! And also the chorus really made me think about Alexia's constant effort to keep their humanity part of them. And it's just an incredibly beautiful song with amazing vocals.

"Mum? Are you home?" Alexia called out as she walked into her house. She couldn't sense anyone there, but she wasn't sure.

There was no reply so she assumed her mum was out. She dropped her bag on the table and headed into the kitchen to get something to eat. Scanning the fridge, she pulled out some bacon and closed the fridge door. She turned around to put it in the cooker, when she came face-to-face with Stiles. Alexia screamed loudly.

"Shush! It's just me!" he said.

"What are you doing sneaking up on me? You scared the crap out of me." She protested, heart hammering loudly in her chest.

Stiles shook his head and placed an unfamiliar satchel on her kitchen table. She gave it a questioning glance, but didn't say anything as she opened a cupboard and took out some plates. She turned around again and Stiles was inches from her.

"You do not care what is inside the bag. Ignore the bag." He said to her, his voice commanding and his pupils dilating while he spoke.

Alexia remembered suddenly what he was trying to do to her – compulsion. Vampires could control the minds of humans, and make them forget certain things. Stiles seemed to have forgotten that Alexia was a witch and therefore couldn't be compelled. She decided that it was better to go along with his idea of her being under compulsion, though.

"I understand," she squeaked out, trying to keep both her voice and heart rate even.

Stiles seemed satisfied with her answer, and went back to normal. "So how about that sandwich?" he asked her.

She laughed uneasily, "Seriously? Is that all you want me for, my incredible sandwich making skills?"

Stiles smirked and nodded, but didn't say anything else. Alexia gave in and made him a sandwich, too. They both sat at the kitchen table, eating in silence for the next ten minutes. Alexia was trying her hardest to ignore the bag on the table, but it was becoming impossible. She was also determined to find out what was going on with him; he couldn't just disappear and reappear when he wanted. It wasn't fair on her, or any of their friends. She'd stuck her neck out for him and he obviously hadn't realised.

"I get that you're a bit different now. I get that you need time to adjust. I even get the fact that you're a vampire. But I need answers, Stiles. You can't just evaporate on me; you can't just do whatever you want. You've got this incredible gift now, you're virtually immortal. With that power comes responsibility... you need to realise that." She said, her voice trailing off that the end.

Stiles looked shocked. "Lex, I can explain-"

"I know you can, but let me say one more thing. I'm tired, Stiles. I'm sick and I'm tired of all these secrets and lies. Everything is building up on my side and I can't deal with it. You promised me that you could handle it and that you wouldn't become what you are now. I'm just fed up of being constantly worried, constantly on-edge."

"I'm sorry. I know what you mean," Stiles said, "I just needed some time away from everything to sort myself out. It's hard for me to be around humans, okay. Harder than I expected and I'm trying my best here. It's not like I dragged you into this, either. You're in this because of what you can do, not because what I've done."

Stiles did have a fair point, but he hadn't exactly been a model person. She just let it go; she didn't want to fight with him and lose him again, just when she'd got him back. She sighed and stood up.

"I know, I do get it... well some of it. I just worry - a lot. Do you want to help me with my homework?" she asked.

"I thought you'd never ask!" Stiles said enthusiastically.

...

A few hours had passed and Alexia's mum was still out. She'd finished all her homework - with the help of Stiles, obviously. They were watching a movie when Stiles fell asleep. Alexia thought about waking him up, but once she saw how peaceful he looked, she let him be. She realised it would be a perfect opportunity to look inside the bag downstairs and maybe find out what was going on.

She knew she had maybe five minutes before Stiles woke up. She didn't even know if he could hear her moving when he was asleep; she really needed to find out the extent of his capabilities. Nevertheless, she crept down the stairs as slowly as possible and made her way into the kitchen. It would take Stiles less than one second to come down the stairs, so she had to remain vigilant and careful. Her hands were shaking and it took a few minutes to open the bag. She pulled the top back and an overpowering smell of rust and salt hit her. It was blood.

Stiles had put over thirty full blood bags inside the satchel. Alexia couldn't touch them, anytime she put her hand near them it would end up burnt. It was strange, but she thought it was probably a whole witch thing. They didn't like vampires much, it seemed, and they didn't react well to blood. This was obviously Stiles' problem – he had succumbed to the thirst.

Alexia had hoped that maybe Stiles would adopt the vegetarian vampire diet that she'd heard about - feeding on animals, not humans. This was obviously not the case. Alexia had heard stories from Ruby about what happens to vampires after they first turn. Their life is ruled by the blood: the thirst, the hunger and the hunt. They become almost crazy, and they lose themselves. It takes a long time to return to normal, if that is even possible. Most of them end up staked by vampire hunters or other vampires who have learnt to control their urges. She certainly didn't want Stiles to end up staked, but she didn't want him to know that she knew his secret.

Alexia turned the water on from the tap to block out any of her own noise and walked outside. She took out her phone and dialled a number, waiting on the person to answer.

"Hey, Derek?" she said into the phone.

"Alexia? Is everything okay?" Derek's reply was slightly groggy. She wondered if he'd been asleep, too.

"I'm at my house and Stiles is here..."

"Stiles?" Derek asked.

"Yes. Anyway, he brought a suspicious-looking bag with him and he tried to compel me to forget about it. He fell asleep there now so I went downstairs to investigate and, Derek, I don't know what to do."

"It's okay, Alexia. What was inside the bag?"

"Over thirty blood bags with fresh blood inside them. They burnt my hands when I picked them up."

Derek's voice was pretty calm, "Right, well. I want you to put them back as you found them, okay. Leave everything as normal and pretend like you never touched them. Do not confront him about it, do you hear me?"

"All right, I will. I have to go, just incase he wakes up. I'll, uh, see you later, Derek."

She hit the end call button and walked back into the house. She cleaned up the table, putting the top over the satchel and making everything like it was before. Stiles was still upstairs, it seemed, so she decided to get a glass of water before going upstairs and waking him up. It turned out that she didn't have to wait long. She was mid-gulp when Stiles appeared in front of her.

"Don't scream!" he called out jokingly.

She pouted at him, "You're hilarious."

Stiles poured himself a drink too and sat down. "Have you been down here long?" he asked her.

"Nope, just walked down a couple of minutes ago..." Alexia took another deep breath, struggling to keep her voice even.

Stiles could sense the blip in her heartbeat and he leaned forward. "How long have you been down here?" He repeated, but this time he looked directly into her eyes, his tone commanding.

He obviously didn't trust her now, and was using his new abilities to sniff out any lies. She found it amusing how he completely forgot that she was a witch – or that she couldn't be compelled.

She replied as calmly as she could, keeping her voice void of emotion, "A few minutes, just."

Stiles nodded, satisfied once again. He took a small sip of his drink and looked at Alexia with a huge smile on his face. Then, suddenly without any warning, his head cocked up as if he'd heard something.

"I, uh, better go," he said quickly. "I'll see you later, yeah?"

Alexia nodded slowly, "Okay sure..."

"I promise!" He shouted, before disappearing right before Alexia's eyes.

"Don't make promises you can't keep..." Alexia muttered.

She then took both glasses and put them into the dishwasher and turned the lights off in the kitchen. She grabbed her keys and made her way out of the house and to Derek's.

...

"And you're positive that it wasn't just a stash of blood he's keeping with him, just incase?"

Derek was oddly calm about the whole situation, which made Alexia even more confused. How could he be so understanding? Stiles had gone crazy – literally.

"The blood was just fresh, like just out of the vein. He must have got it from the hospital a few hours ago... not even." Alexia said.

"I don't know why you're all so surprised, really." Erica said while she waltzed into the room. "Stiles has gone off the deep end and we all know it. He's become a vampire, Alexia, not a puppy. What did you expect, really?"

Alexia shot her a dark look, "I wasn't expecting this. You guys go through a sort of bloodlust, don't you? Is it really that different from what Stiles is going through?"

"Werewolves do not need to feed on humans to survive; we only feel the urge to hurt during our shifts. Vampires have to consume blood – human or animal – to survive. Imagine both of those traits amplified. Stiles is going through a definite identity crisis at the moment." Derek said.

"Personally, I think that we should let him deal with it himself, you know? Not really my problem any-" Erica said shortly.

"Anymore? Really, Erica? Stiles has saved your life before, don't you remember that?" Alexia said sharply.

"Don't you remember the time that he got you kidnapped and used your blood so he could become this freak that he is now? I don't know why you're so willing to pretend that any of us are normal people – we aren't! And Stiles sure as hell isn't!"

Erica stormed out, leaving Alexia to stand in the Hale living room with Derek. She avoided his gaze for a moment and sat down on the sofa. Derek immediately sat beside her, stretching out and putting his hand on her knee.

"Don't worry about Erica; she's just slightly sensitive about things like this. She gets annoyed and it's very hard to change her mind, especially when someone's betrayed her trust. She'll come round... eventually." He laughed at the end at Erica's stubbornness.

Alexia raised her eyebrows at him, "What if she's right? I mean none of us are normal – are we? Maybe I should stop thinking that hybrids and werewolves and vampires have human feelings. I should stop pretending like this is some normal situation about feelings because it isn't, is it?"

Derek frowned at her, but didn't say anything. Silence filled the room and Alexia welcomed it. It had been a stressful day, week, month and year. Everything was building up with her and she needed to relax. She closed her eyes and drifted into a deep sleep within minutes. Derek watched her intently, taking in every detail about her.

She was breathtakingly beautiful to him – and also very dangerous. She wanted to know his feelings and take care of people that way. She wasn't much help physically, but emotionally she was just as good as any counsellor he'd ever heard of. She had this way about her, making him feel at ease, something no one else had been able to since his parents died.

Being with Alexia recently brought up a lot of memories from his past, memories that he'd tried so hard to keep buried. She was similar to Laura; they both had the same personality, the same demeanour. Thinking about Laura reminded him of things he'd rather not remember, like the fact that she was dead, the fact that his older sister wouldn't be around again. She would've known what to do about Stiles, like she knew what to do about everything else. His thoughts turned back to Alexia, it was too painful to think about Laura. Alexia was safe and reminded him of family. She even smelt like family – warm and comforting and content. Derek was in too deep with her and he knew it. Everyone Derek had ever loved had left him and Alexia was halfway there.

Derek leaned over and stroked her cheek softly. He then stood up and walked out of the room, leaving her to rest for a couple of hours if possible. Her heartbeat evened out and her breathing became shallow and Derek knew that he had to do something about Stiles. Not for Stiles, but for Alexia.

:-)