Thanks to everyone for reading, following and reviewing. Also go read BroadBeginnings story – incase I haven't told you all to do it yet. It's good, promise. =)

Summary: Veda's parents are hiding something; she is sure of that. After dragging her all over the country, like their on the run, they settle down in Beacon Hills where apparently everyone has a secret. She is tired of the lies and excuses and is determined to find the truth. As always, it is easier said than done. IsaacXOC

Teen Wolf – Reinventing Your Exit
Chapter 8 :: Dreaming A Reality

Veda woke up gasping for breath; her hand flew to her chest as she gripped her shirt over her heart. She noticed that she was covered in sweat; not having a nightmare like that in a long time definitely made her shake. She tried to control her heavy breathing and the tiny tremors in her body. It wasn't exactly a nightmare – more on a horrible memory. She closed her eyes and pressed her forehead to her now bent knees.

The officer at the door had a sad expression on his face. A second officer stood a little behind with a matching expression. Julie let out a loud sob and almost fell to her knees, but Tug grabbed her quickly. Veda stood next to Gabe, in his hand was the 'Missing Persons' flyer for their brother Erik. He crumbled it in his fist and threw it on the ground. His body was shaking and he suddenly ran up the stairs and slammed his bedroom door behind him. Veda turned back to her parents as Julie wrestled her way from Tug's arms, crying out for Gabe.

Veda took in a shaky breath and opened her eyes. That was the day the cops found Erik's body. Of course at the time she had no idea the state her brother's body was. Tug had told her that Erik was no longer with them and that some bad person hurt him. The funeral was a closed casket; many people came to the service. Veda remembered sitting next to Gabe in her little black dress as his kept making fists with his hands.

Two weeks of Gabe not talking suddenly changed one day. He talked to Julie and Tug for hours in the kitchen, there was a lot of crying on Julie's end. Veda wasn't allowed to be there for the talk; Gabe made her promise to stay either to her room or the stairs. She watched the cars drive by her house as she waited and waited to find out what was going on. Two days after that Tug was packing everything up in the house while Julie explained to her that they were moving.

Veda decided to get up and take a shower, it was early and she really didn't feel like going on her run this morning. Not after that nightmare she had; she knew the thoughts would be plaguing her all day now. She stood under the hot water for a long time after washing her hair and body. She closed her eyes and allowed her mind to wander.

"Gabe?" She called out his name as she sat on his bed. He was packing his clothes into a box. "Yeah, Veda?" He asked with a hint of annoyance that he needed to refold his clothes in order to get them to fit nicely. "Does this mean we will never see Erik again?" She pulled on her stuffed dog's ear, sure she was ten but she needed her doggie – he made things better. "I told you that at the funeral." He looked up at her when he heard the first sob. "I don't want to say goodbye." She jumped off the bed and ran for Erik's room, dropping her doggie on the way. She threw her body onto the bed and grabbed the pillow tightly, pulling it to her closely. Gabe followed her and stood in the doorway, upset to see his sister cry. "Come on Veda. I'll take you to where they found Erik, and we can say a proper goodbye. That's where his soul was last – he will be able to hear you better."

Veda's eyes snapped open and she shook the thoughts from her head. Why was she suddenly remembering all of this? Normally she couldn't remember a lot about their days in Pennsylvania but here she was recalling memories like they happened the day before. Frowning she noticed that the hot water was running out – how long had she been standing there? She got ready for the day, deciding to wear a pair of light blue jeans with a white tank top and a forest green knitted, wide shouldered sweater. She sat at the kitchen table with a cup of blueberry tea, her personal favorite.

The large rocks in the shallow water were stained pink – if she knew better she would have known it was her brother's blood. She didn't though and so her shoes got wet as she stood on the pinkest rock she could find in the Swatara Creek and she looked up at the trees. "Erik?" She called out and waited. "You won't be able to hear him." Gabe stated as he stood as far as he could from the water. She frowned at her brother but then looked up again. "Gabe says you can hear me and I hope you really can. I really miss you and I'm sad you're gone. Mama Julie says we are moving. I don't want to leave you behind. Please don't get mad. I'll love you always and talk to you every day 'cause Tug said you'll be watching over me." She stopped for a moment. "Can you watch over Gabe too? He's been so angry that you're gone. Maybe if you watch over him he will be happy again."

Julie was surprised to find her daughter still at home. "No run today?" She asked catching the girl's attention. "Yeah, felt like it was a good day to be lazy."

"Are you sure you're okay?" Julie's blue eyes were sad with concern. Veda smiled at her mother. "I'm fine. Just a lot of things are different here." There was a small smile on Julie's lips and Veda could tell it was forced. "Okay – but you will let me know if something goes wrong, right?" The teenager rolled her eyes and took a sip of her tea. "Yes mom." She looked over at the clock and jumped up. Just how long was she daydreaming again? Ugh what was wrong with her? She wouldn't be late for school – but she still wanted to be there early. "I gotta run. See you tonight for dinner." She put her now empty cup in the sink and pressed a quick kiss to her mom's cheek. Grabbing her things, she ran out the door and jumped into her car.

Veda parked in the lot and stared at the school. It was still early she could go check out the lacrosse fields and see how morning practice was going. She was sure Isaac would brighten her gloomy day. She felt her cheek heat up with the thoughts of the curly haired boy. Sure they kissed, but kisses didn't always mean anything. She frowned and looked at herself in the rear-view mirror. She was being ridiculous! She grabbed her things and headed toward the building – she'd ask Isaac to talk later and figure out what was going on between them.

Allison was waiting by her locker when she turned down the hallway. She greeted the brunette with a smile. "Morning Allison. What bring you to my locker so early?" The girl smiled back. "Nothing really just wanted to keep you in the loop." She dropped her voice to a whisper. "Jackson got a restraining order on Stiles and Scott because of yesterday." Veda rolled her eyes. "Isn't that a little extreme?" She asked. Allison nodded her head in agreement. "Look, Lydia has translated on more information on the Kanima, don't worry she is still very confused. I was wondering if you could join me to the library during lunch so I can give Scott the translations? It will look less suspicious on the camera if you come with me." Veda smiled. "Sure thing."

Allison walked off after seeing Lydia in the hallway and Veda opened her locker to grab her books. She was about to close the door when it slammed shut, a very annoyed Jackson standing there. "Devoto." He practically spat her name. She honestly didn't know why Jackson disliked her so much – it wasn't like she ever did anything to the guy. "Whittemore." She greeted back. "So tell me – were you also in on the merry plan that testicle one and two had planned?" Veda rolled her eyes. "Jackson, I want nothing to do with you. Don't flatter yourself." With that she spun on her heel and walked down the hall. 'The nerve of the guy.'

Isaac caught up with her in the hallway, sensing her annoyance. "Hey you alright?" He asked as he grabbed her arm and turned her toward him. "I'm fine. Just Jackson thinking highly of himself. He thinks I was in on the kidnapping yesterday." She stated and smiled at him. "Don't take this the wrong way Sunshine but you don't look yourself." He brushed a hair behind her ear. "Had a bad night, plagued with nightmares. So I didn't sleep well." He frowned at her and then two of them started to walk down the hallway again. "Want to talk about it?" He asked. "No – not right now. Maybe later." She stated.

Once they reached her first period class she turned to him and gave him a hug. "I was wondering if we could talk later? Maybe after school?" She asked. Isaac got nervous it was never a good thing when someone asked if you could 'talk later'. "Yeah…. That will be fine." He trailed off. He was an idiot he knew he shouldn't have kissed her and now it was going to be awkward between them. A pair of lips on his surprised him and his eyes widened as she pulled back. She forced a smile. "I hope that was okay." She stated, now feeling like an idiot herself. "More than okay." He put a hand behind her neck and pulled her toward his lips again. This he could get used to. This is what he wanted.

The bell rang and she pulled back again to his disappointment. "So, we will talk later." She smiled at him and this time he wasn't nervous. "Alright." She left him and walked into the classroom, her eyes caught Erica's. The blonde haired girl smirked at her until she sat in her seat. "So, Isaac huh?" She laughed at Veda's sudden shyness. "I guess so." Veda couldn't look at Erica. "Derek won't be happy – but at least Isaac will be. Just don't hurt him. He has hurt enough." With that class started.

She was tired of no one telling her the whole truth about her family. She sat at the library computer and scanned through the old newspaper archives. There it was. Lebanon, PA – Boy Found Murdered in Creek. They were so creative with their titles. Veda rolled her eyes and started reading the article, her heartbeat picking up with every line she read. At the end of the article she was surprised to find that her eyes didn't fall out of her head from shock. Erik had been not only murdered, which she knew, but he was in pieces. That was multiple; plural as in more than one. His handsome face flashed in her mind a she stared at the computer screen. There were no pictures of the crime scene that she could find – then again it was probably for the best as the paper was descriptive enough. Arms ripped from his torso, his legs chopped with an axe of some sort, his torso sliced in half and his head sitting on a large rock in the middle of the creek, stained pink with his blood. Apparently the same rock she chose to stand on as a kid when she said her final goodbye.

Erica woke her, shaking her shoulder. "Veda… Veda… wake up. Class is over." Veda's eyes snapped open and she blinked twice, confused as to why Erica was in her room. "You fell asleep in class." Erica stated as if reading her mind. "Hey are you okay? You look upset."

Veda shook her head of those nightmare thoughts and frowned at Erica. "Just didn't sleep well last night; All nightmares." She stated. "Thanks for waking me up though. Did the teacher notice?" Erica shook her head. Of course not, the first period teacher didn't notice anything. You could be on fire and class would still continue.

Just as planned Veda met Allison in the hallway near the library and the two girls entered. Allison looked back to the camera but then continued forward; once she saw Scott and Stiles she went to the next aisle and turned. She pulled a tablet out from her purse and pushed it into the empty slot between the shelves. Veda kept watch when she overheard Stiles admit that he was part of an online gaming community that battles mythical creatures and couldn't help but smile. There was an interesting story about the Kanima and how it was supposed to be a werewolf.

"Well he doesn't have a restraining order against me – so I'll talk to him myself." Allison stated. "What do I do?" Scott asked, and Veda knew he wasn't happy. "You have a makeup exam, remember?" The brunette answered. Scott looked back at Stiles who just nodded his head at his best friend. The couple had a moment of cuteness that Veda smiled at as Stiles practically barfed as he rolled his eyes. "If he does anything…" Scott started

Suddenly Stiles head was on their side of the book shelf. "Anything evil." Allison rolled her eyes this time and shoved Stiles face back and Veda chuckled a laugh. The two girls decided to take their leave from the library first. "Thanks for coming with me." Allison stated. "No problem. Look I'm feeling light headed so I am going to get some fresh air."

"Do you want me to walk you to the nurse instead?" Allison asked. "Nah, I'll be fine just didn't get a good night's sleep last night." Veda waved her hand like it was nothing. "I'll see you later." With that she spun on her heel and headed to the double doors leading outside – there was a tree with a good amount of shade waiting for her to sit under.

How could someone want to kill Erik? He was a nice guy. Always helping the neighbor, protecting Gabe and her all the time – not that they were in danger but at least she was easily scared as a kid. He was handsome, short brunette hair always kept no longer than half an inch long. He had her matching gray eyes which she was happy about. He was smart always helping Gabe with his math and history homework. And for some reason someone decided that they didn't like Erik. They didn't like him so much that they killed him, but not just kill him – no they had to leave him in pieces for his family to find. The person was sick and horrible – how can anyone do that to someone and their family?

"Veda – wake up." A voice called out to her, causing her to visit up quickly. "Next period has started. You might want to either attend class or head to the nurse's office." Veda looked up to see the new kid standing over her. "Thank you for waking me James." He shrugged his shoulders and walked away heading for the building. Veda gathered her things and followed in his footsteps. For the rest of the day she struggled to stay awake in her last class Matt kept complaining that he received detention from Mr. Harris which was going to take away time from him getting some great shots he was hoping to get on his camera.

By the time the final bell rang she was ready to go home and take a hopefully nightmare-less nap. However, that plan was tossed out the window when she saw Isaac at her locker. "Hey Stud." She stated and he smiled. "Hey beautiful." He pulled her into a hug and kissed the top of her head. "So I keep forgetting I'm grounded… so would you like to come over for a 'study group'? Just you and I." The gray eyed girl asked as she opened her locker.

Isaac's smile grew. "That'd be great." He answered and with that the two of them headed to her car. The drive way quiet and Isaac could sense that she was nervous, probably due to the fact that they haven't talked about whatever she wanted to talk about. He was nervous too – he had an important question to ask. He was sure she would say yes… but he could just be too over confident. They pulled into the driveway of her house and his eyes went right to her window. The one he kept sneaking in – the one he wouldn't be using for once to get inside. He took a deep breath and followed her into the house.

Veda called out to her parents but she didn't hear an answer. "That's weird." She stated and kicked her shoes off to the side of the front door next to her parent's shoes. "Just leave your shoes here." She stated to Isaac as she started to the back of her house. "Mom? Dad?" She slipped into the back office where he father usually could be found. That's when she heard the voices out back and she left the door and heading to the back door. "Follow me." She grabbed Isaac's wrist briefly just to pull him in the right direction. "Mom? Dad?" She stepped out onto the back porch and was shocked. "What? How? Why is she…" She trailed off starting at the dog in the backyard, lightly limping behind her father. "Oh hunny, surprise!" He mother stated. "I- I thought Alan said she wasn't ready yet." Veda stated as continued to watch the dog. Her dog. She couldn't stop the happy grin.

"Alan said it was time for her to start moving around a lot more…Oh, who is this?" Her mother's question snapped her back to attention. Veda could have smacked her forehead, how could she forget Isaac was there. "Mom, this is Isaac. Isaac this is my mom, Julie." The two exchanged pleasantries as Veda called out to her father. "Dad, come meet Isaac real quick." She turned back to her mother. "Isaac is in my chemistry class. We were going to study here if that was ok. Everyone else was busy." She stated. "Of course, will you be staying for dinner?" Julie asked the young man. "I don't want to impose…" Isaac started. "Oh nonsense, I'll prepare enough for you to join us too." She smiled at him as Tug walked up the deck steps slowly with Luna.

"Hello there young man; I'm Tug." He held his hand out for Isaac's. "Isaac Lahey." He took the awaiting hand and gave a firm shake. "What bring you here today Isaac?" Tug asked. "Chemistry study." He answered. "Very well." He stated and turned to Julie. "I'll be in my office if you need me darling." He gave the woman a kiss on the cheek and excused himself.

Veda bent down and ran her fingers through the soft coat of her dog. "Isaac – this is my new dog Luna." She cooed at the dog for a moment and scratched behind her ears. "She's cute." He knelt down as well and gave her a rub on the head. "Well, let's hit those books. Mom do you mind if I make popcorn – or will dinner be soon?" Julie waved her hand. "Nah you have time. I'll be helping Luna find her food and water bowl and her bed down in the living room." The two teens went to go inside. "Oh and Veda," Julie smiled at her daughter. "Keep the door unlocked." Veda blushed 100 shades of red. "Mooooom!" She was embarrassed and grabbed Isaac's hand before dragging him into the house.

Isaac sat on Veda's bed as she made popcorn and got drinks for them. He looked around trying to find something to do while he waited. Thank god it didn't take too long for popcorn to cook. He remembered that he had something in his back pack for Veda and that was even if she wanted it. It was after that thought that she entered the room with a bowl of popcorn with paper towel, two cans of coca cola cradled in her arm and a small side dish in her other hand. She closed the door expertly with her foot as Isaac moved to grab something from her to help out. He grabbed the two cans of soda and looked in the small side dish. "What is that?"

Veda frowned, confused. "It's chocolate syrup." She stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Isaac raised a brow and she stared back. "You've never had popcorn with chocolate syrup?" She asked. He shook his head no. "Are you serious? Well that is something we need to fix!" She quickly grabbed a piece of popcorn and dipped it in the syrup before holding it to his lips. "Open up." She stated and he did. It wasn't bad. Not in the least bit. It was the perfect combination of salty and sweet flavor. "Next you'll tell me you never had cinnamon on your popcorn." She laughed but stopped when Isaac shook his head no. "Well damn. I'm gonna have to make t next time.

The two of them sat on the bed in a slightly awkward silence. "Isaac-" She stopped and frowned at the bowl of popcorn. "Sorry, I'm trying to figure things out in my head first. I don't want it to come out wrong." She stated and he frowned, feeling the rejection instantly. "Oh shit, and now you took that wrong too." She ran a hand through her hair. "Isaac… I really like you. I mean like really, really like you. I never had time to…" She paused trying to collect her thoughts. "I never liked anyone in the way I like you before. I never had a boyfriend. Hell I never kissed anyone until last night." Isaac's eyes widened as the words kept racing past her lips, she wasn't looking at him and her heart beat way racing. Her nerves were shooting all over the place. "You make me feel nervous, unsteady and dizzy – surprisingly all in a good way. I can't catch my breath near you… and I-I-I.." She couldn't breathe.

Isaac caught her face in his hands and pulled her gaze to meet his. "Veda, please breathe. Your heart is going to jump out of your chest and run away if you don't calm down." He pressed his forehead to her and she forced a shaky breath into her lungs, holding it for two seconds and letting it out. "I just want to know what is going on between us. I just don't want to be friends with benefits. I don't-" Isaac's lips covered hers gently, causing her to stop talking. She kissed back but her heart was still freaking out. "You need to stop thinking like that." Isaac whispered against her lips as he stared her in the eyes. "It's the same for me. I was so nervous that you'd say last night was a mistake or this morning at the locker. Veda, I can't stop thinking about you – even when I try to. You're always there. Always. It drives me nuts some times because we're friends and I shouldn't be thinking of my friend like that. It causes trouble, but last night I couldn't help it. It was like I needed to kiss you, I need you to know how I felt."

Veda smiled at him and grabbed one of his hands from her face and kissed the palm. He slowly pulled back from her and grabbed his back pack from the floor. "I wanted to ask you a question." He stated as he unzipped the bag, catching her attention and causing her to sit up straight, curious. "I wanted to know if you and I could be an us? If you'll be my girlfriend?" He pulled out one of his practice jerseys from the back pack. He washed it and even put some cologne on it JUST to make sure. "I want to treat you right. I want to know everything there is to know about you. I want to be there for you; for everything." He still held the shirt in his hand as he started feeling like an idiot. He didn't know how to do this.

Veda started at the shirt and then at him. "Isaac, is that one of your lacrosse jerseys?" She asked. He looked up at her and knew it was a mistake; there was a smile on her lips. Laughter was sure to follow. "It's one of my practice ones." He answered. "Is it for me?" She asked. "Yeah… you don't need to take it. In fact this was a dumb idea – I don't know what I was thinking. Why would you want a jersey?" He started mentally beating himself up. The shirt was suddenly out of his hands and in her. Her smile was HUGE. She traced the number 14 with her fingers. "When is the next game?" She asked and he started at her for a moment. Was she serious? "Y-you want it?" She let out a small laugh. "What kind of girlfriend would I be if I didn't support my boyfriend in his sport? Yes I want it."

He leaned forward and kissed her again, his heart was overjoyed. He pulled back slowly and smiled at her and she found his grin extremely contagious. "Thank you." He whispered and kissed her forehead.

A/N: I am SOOOO sorry. I have been super busy with work and wedding stuff. A lot of drama going on and there was a week in which I was upset about a lot of things going on and didn't even want to write. I had half of the chapter written two days after I posted the last and everything happened at once. I am again sorry. Thank you for all readers, reviews and subscribers. I will try to update again faster this time.