Monday, Helena didn't show up at all. So I did what any other person would do. I went to her house. I took a deep breath and knocked on the door. A Helena twin opened the door. I could see the bruises and scars on her face. Her make up did a good job hiding it from the human eye but not from me.
"Hello." Mrs. Helena greeted.
"Hi. My name is Derek Hale. I'm looking for your daughter, Helena." I said.
"Uh, I'm sorry. She's not here." Her eyes looked up to a window on the left.
"Oh, ok, thanks. I'll be on my way then."
"I'll let her know you stopped by." She said, shutting the door.
I climbed the nearest tree and began sneaking my way to her room. I peaked through the window and there she was wearing a very old fashioned dress that looked great on her. It was red and had two frilly stripes; one going down on each side of the skirt. In the middle of the two stripes was red lace that made an "x" as it went down. The bodice looked like the bottom of the dress except more frills on the neck area and the sleeves had some frills on the wrist area. It showed me a great view of her shoulders. Around her neck was a necklace with a bunch of rubies. Her hair was loose and wavy.
She sighed looking at her reflection. "Why did you let yourself get attached? I knew I had no chance, but I fell anyway. I just hope before graduation, I get to say 'I love you'. Most likely I won't. Because he probably hates me."
"Who hates you?"
She shrieked, "Derek!" She turned and blushed, "what are you doing here?" I motioned for her to unlock the window. I slid in and asked my question again.
"I thought you might hate me for kissing you. You just got your heart broken to pieces and I forced myself on you."
I touched her gently,"I don't hate you. I don't. You're too…pure for me to hate." I brushed her hair behind her ear. I leaned in to kiss her cheek,"in fact, quite the opposite. I love you."
I watched her gape. "What? No you don't. You just pity me. You don't have to do that. My family has been doing this for four centuries and a decade and a year. I can continue this. You don't have to feel obligated to think you love me just because I love you and-" she slapped a hand over her mouth.
"I don't pity you. If anything, I admire your strength. I admire the way when you're angry you let things slip. Like the fact you love me." A crooked grin just appeared on my face. She blushed harder than ever.
She looked down and away. I brought her face back to mine,"good. I'm happy we feel the same about each other. I was blinded by the want to be cool. And I let myself get lost so deep I believed I loved Kate. My wolf told me that she wasn't the one. He was edging me closer to you, but I fought."
My lips leaned closer to hers,"and I'm glad I tapped out."
"But what about-" My lips slammed onto hers. She kissed back after her shock wore down.
When we pulled away, I looked at her. Her bottom lip was in between her teeth and I took it out. "Don't be embarrassed. I love you too." I watched as the blush form on her cheeks and moved to place a kiss on her cheek.
She placed a hand on my cheek, I leaned closer to her touch. I kissed her gently and placed my face into her neck. A couple of minutes later, a man came crashing through the room,"Helena! Your mother has been calling your name for the last-" He stopped as he took a look around. "Who on God's green earth is this? Have you been whoring around with him? Because I swear on your grandmothers grave I will hurt you worse than you can imagine. I promised Kincaid a virgin, and that will be exactly what he gets. I will not have this family terrorized because you refuse to keep your dress down."
I growled at him for speaking so harshly to her. She placed a hand on my chest. "No, Father. This is Derek. He's my-"
"Boyfriend." I interjected.
"from school." She said, glancing at me in shock.
"Hm. And does he know what he's getting into?"
"I've tried to warn him, Father. But he's as stubborn as his mother." She confirmed.
I didn't know whether to be offended or flattered, so I kept my face emotionless.
"Well, boy, it looks like your with her till her final week before her marriage. You have ten weeks. Make them count." I guess this was his way of giving us his blessing.
"You can start by having dinner with us." He commanded. "Elizabeth! Prepare an extra plate! We have some company!"
"Yes, dear." She answered.
When I say dinner was awkward, I mean it was awkward. For dinner was beef stew and cornbread.
Helena stopped me from grabbing the soup spoon and gave me my teaspoon. "Thanks." I smiled.
From the corner of my eye, I saw her mom smile at us. While she was drinking some of her drink, Mr. Norwood asked me, "so, young man, if you are deeply in love with my daughter, do you plan on fighting Kincaid?"
I heard Helena and Mrs. Norwood choke. Helena wiped her mouth to hide the smile as she recalled our earlier conversation. But it came off as she realized what my answer will be.
"Excuse me, Father. But Derek is running out of tea. And I am too. Can we go make more?"
"Yes, yes. Of course." She back out of the seat and stood up. I took a moment to look at her. She wore a simple yellow dress that showed her shoulders for dinner. Having changed from her wedding dress.
I grabbed our cups and followed her into the kitchen. I watched her fill the kettle with water. She sighed and rubbed her face in her hands.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
She didn't turn around or answer. She simply shook her head and turned off the water.
I watched as she placed the kettle on the stove, "you have to tell me what's wrong."
She sighed again, "I don't want you to get hurt because of me. But I also want you to fight for me. I know it's wrong to hope for something like that, but, I want to know what love looks like."
She continuously avoided my gaze as she took down some stuff for our tea. I wanted so bad to see her crown braid and green eyes, but she won't let me. Finally, my wolf couldn't take it. I grabbed her wrist roughly in my hands and whirled her around to face me. I took in a deep calming breath and whispered,"I want to fight for you. I want to keep you. I want to start a new tradition and generation. I love you and it will kill not only my wolf but me as well to see you get married to another male."
She whispered roughly back at me,"you'll get killed. Kincaid is not some weak wolf. Ok? Kincaid has a history so rough, even my three year old cousin knows it and is so scared, he refuses to come out on a full moon. We use that story to keep him in check. That's how bad he is!"
"I've heard." I whispered back. "That doesn't mean I won't fight for you. I'd rather die trying to get you to stay with me."
"I know. And that's what scares me so bad!" She huffed with annoyance.
"Why are you so stubborn?" I growled quietly.
"I don't know. Why are you so thick-skulled?"
The kettle began to screech.
"Oh!" Helena gasped, turning around to turn off the stove and put some tea leaves into the pot. She hummed a song softly as she waited for the time. When she was satisfied that the time enough time went by, she poured us both a cup.
"Honey or sugar?" She asked.
I shrugged,"I'm no tea expert. You decide for me."
"Wildflower honey it is then." She poured a little bit in both of our cups and stirred the drink up.
I followed her into the dining room again balancing both our cups and she was carrying the teapot.
"Father, Mother, would you like some?" She asked.
"Of course, my child." Mr. Norwood answered.
Her mom didn't say anything, but Helena poured some anyway. At my questioning look, Helena's father looked my way,"the wife wants what the husband wants. That is how we keep the balance."
I watched Helena gracefully sit back down and she began to eat her stew like it was totally normal.
"So, boy, are you going to answer my question?" He prodded.
I glanced at my girlfriend, but all she did was sip her tea. I guess she was letting me decide. I took a deep breath before answering firmly,"yes, sir. I do."
I smelt her happiness and sadness come my way and watched as she hid her smile behind a napkin.
:3:3:3:3
olled my eyes for the probably trillionth time as I denied her again. I was taking her on our cazillionth date, and she refused to let it be a surprise. When we got close, I told her to cover her nose and shut her eyes. I told her to breath using her mouth. The familiar smell of burgers filling my nose. She began to squirm as she didn't like being senseless. I uncovered her ears and took down her hands. She looked up at me questioning me with her eyes.
"Remember when you said you never had a burger?" I chuckled, "I got permission to let you try one."
She squealed and jumped into my arms. Her legs wrapping around my waist as she kissed me. I kissed back and wrapped my arms around her to support her weight. We were kissing in the parking lot of Burger King. (A/N: My friends thought that might be weird and funny. I did too. Sooo...yeah.)
When I managed to pry her off of me, I smiled,"I never seen a girl get so excited about a burger. I think I might deprive you from more fast foods."
"Don't you dare," she glared at me. I laughed and pulled her into the burger place.
"Hi, welcome to Burger King, how may I help you?" An elderly lady asked us.
I kept my arms wrapped around her waist, "I would like to have a triple whopper meal."
Helena's hands wrapped in mine and she swayed us side to side. "Don't know."
I snorted, "that's the first."
She scoffed and lightly stepped on my foot, "jerk. Order for me, please?"
I rolled my eyes,"she'll like a cheeseburger meal."
The lady smiled at us, "of course. You two are so adorable together."
We both blushed and I paid for our meal and we sat in a booth. She snuggled close to me and we both waited for the number to get called. I kissed her forehead gently. Neither one of us wanted to bring up that this was our last day to be together. We just wanted to enjoy the moment.
We held hands as we went to grab our food. She looked at the burger questioningly.
"This doesn't look good for you." She murmured, poking the bun.
I snorted, "if you eat it right, it is. Come on, just try it. Please?"
"How do I eat it?" She questioned.
"It's like teaching a scientist how to tie his shoes," I thought to myself. "It's cute." Oh god, she's changing me.
"Just pick it up on both sides of the bun. The top and bottom, yeah, like that. And take a bite." I demonstrated what I told her to do and watched the magic happen.
She took in a deep breath and hesitantly took a bite.
"How is it?" I asked.
She smiled, "I can't believe I haven't tried one of these."
I laughed, "glad you like it." I leaned down and kissed her quickly. She ate the whole burger and still ate some of her fries.
"I'm impressed. I thought you would stop at half a burger."
"What can I say? You and your family seem determine to get my fat."
"I had no choice in that." I defended. She gave me a look.
"Ok, ok. Maybe I had a little part in that."
"Mmmmhmmm." She hummed. When we both finished up, I cleaned up our trash. We held hands as we walked out the fast food restraunt. I held open the car door for her and shut the door. I walked her to her door and she refused to meet my eyes.
"Helena. Helena look at me, please."
"No." She refused.
"Let me see your beautiful face one more time."
She looked at me with tears in her eyes. I hugged her tightly.
"I don't want this to end. You're so good to me. You're so pure." She sobbed.
"I don't want this to end either. I love you so, so, so much."
"Kiss me," she begged. "Kiss me one last time."
I leaned down and connected our lips in a gentle kiss. The kiss seemed to escalate into one of needing and desperation. I felt her hands entwine in my hair. My hands fisted the back of her dress. I pulled her closer to me. After a while, I gave her space so we could breathe.
"I love you so much."
"I love you most." She whispered back. Fisting my shirt, holding me close so I wouldn't leave yet.
"You've got to let me go," I tried.
She shook her head and held on tighter. After a minute or two of trying, her dad came out and pulled her off of me.
"No!" She cried. Her hands reaching for me. It took everything within me not to reach out and run away with her. I held on tightly to my self-control and watched as her mom gave me a sad smile and shut the door. I ran home that night. When I see the pitying glances from everyone who knows what's happening, I slammed my room door shut. An hour later, a gentle hand on my shoulder and I turned to face the scared face of my little sister.
I pulled Cora close and cried into her neck. "She's leaving me." I sobbed over and over again.
The final thought that flashed in my mind was my promise to fight for Helena, the light of my world, my heart, my soul, my muse, my reason for existing. My mate.
And that's exactly what I'm going to do. Fight for her.
