Missing

The rapid knocks at Derek's front door woke him out of his sleep. He propped himself up on his elbows and looked at the clock on the wall. Close to midnight. He had fallen asleep on the couch again, too tired to change out of his clothes. The intense practices and strenuous workouts with Terrance were taking a toll on him.

Derek turned the TV off, contemplating if he wanted to answer the door. The last late night visit came from Lionel, her final desperate attempt to get him to sign the contract. Now that things were squared away and she gave him exactly what he wanted, he knew she wouldn't make anymore surprise visits anytime soon. Derek received plenty of late night pop-up visits in the past. Random women, dealers, players. Some of his parties didn't get started until after midnight. But things were different now that he turned his life around.

Derek tried to lay back down but the pounding continued followed by the doorbell. Whoever came to see him wasn't going away on their own. He walked down the hallway toward the front door.

"Who is it?"

"Derek, it's me," a familiar voice called out. A voice he recognized anywhere.

Derek opened up the door and found Ahsha on his front steps with a puffy face and swollen eyes. His stomach dropped at the sight of her. He eyed her carefully, noticing the mascara and eyeliner smeared across her face. Something had to be seriously wrong for Ahsha to show up on his doorstep at this hour in the condition she was in.

Derek cleared his throat and stepped outside. "Ahsha, what's wrong?"

She looked up at him, tears forming in her eyes. "Derek… I didn't mean to just show up here but it's my mom…" she paused and took a deep breath. "She's been missing. My dad still hasn't heard from her and it's been two days. She hasn't been at work and she won't return our calls. I can't just sit at the house anymore. I can't get in touch with Kyle or Raquel either."

Derek immediately thought about German. Where was her big baller boyfriend?

"German is still out of town. I haven't been able to get a hold of him tonight," she said, reading his mind.

Her voice dropped to a whisper. "I had nowhere else to go. I just… I can't be alone right now."

Derek gazed down at Ahsha tenderly. He wanted to pull her into his arms to calm her down and stop her body from shaking. Instead, Derek nodded his head, motioning for her to follow him inside. He hated being her last resort when he was the first person she turned to at one point. He was determined for them to get back to there. In the meantime, he was glad she reached out to him at all, especially after their last heated conversation.

Ahsha followed his lead and walked inside, pausing when they reached the end of the hall.

She fidgeted with her hands, staring down at the floor. "I'm probably the last person you expected to see. Or even want to see," she mumbled.

She didn't know how wrong she was about that. Her recent accusations and anger toward him for making Lionel rehire her could never change the way he felt about her. Derek always wanted to see her beautiful face. Needed to see her. She was why he signed the contract.

Ahsha's eyes landed on a photograph on the hallway table. A framed picture of Derek and Ahsha. She picked it up and stared at it.

"Our getaway weekend to Miami."

"Dinner at La Mar."

She placed the picture frame back on the table. "You always loved this picture."

"It's still my favorite. Nothing's changed."

Ahsha let out a deep sigh as she walked into the living room. She sat down on the couch and placed her head in her hands. "Everything's changing. What if something horrible has happened to my mom. What if..." Her voice trailed off.

Derek pulled off his hoodie and placed it around her shoulders. He sat down next to her. "Ahsha, take a deep breath. You're shaking. Sloane is going to be okay. Trust me." Without thinking Derek placed his hand on top of hers. She flinched from his touch but she didn't pull away. She looked up at him, her brown eyes full of concern.

"But what if she's in serious trouble. This isn't like my mom Derek. She always returns my call. Always. And you know she wouldn't miss two days of work without letting me or my dad know." She pointed to her phone on the couch. "And now my stupid phone is dead and what if she tries to call me and I can't answer and-"

"Look Ahsha," he said, his thumb gently grazing the top of her hand. "I know you're worried about your mom, but you have to remember who we're talking about here. Sloane is strong. I mean, anyone who can take down Oscar can handle their own. She's going to be fine, okay?"

He gave her hand a gentle squeeze before he let it go. "In the meantime, I'll call Pete and get to the bottom of everything. And I'll make you a cup of tea. I still got your favorite kind here."

Ahsha nodded her head, a stream of tears escaping down her face. She made no attempt to stop them.

Derek bent down in front of her, slowly wiping her tears with his fingertips. He couldn't resist. He hated to see her cry. Derek leaned in closer to her.

"I'm here for you, Ahsha," he whispered in her ear. He felt Ahsha's breath quicken. He pulled back to look at her. She stared down at his hands resting on top of hers. Derek cupped her face in the palm of his hands and lifted her chin up to look directly into her eyes. He needed Ahsha to see that she could come to him for anything. Anytime.

"Anything you need, okay," he told her. "I got you."

Her big brown eyes peered into his, no longer clouded with tears. She nodded her head and bit her bottom lip, a nervous habit of hers that always enticed him. He stared at her mouth for a moment, his thoughts fixated on kissing her. He vividly remembered how she tasted. How soft her skin felt against his own.

Ahsha cleared her throat, bringing him back to reality. Derek let go of her hands and stood up. It took every ounce of strength for him to let her go.

"I should probably…"

She nodded. "Yeah, you should um…"

"I'll give Pete a call."

Derek grabbed his cell phone and walked into the kitchen to call Pete and make Ahsha's cup of tea before he acted on his feelings. Her blank facial expression made it hard for him to read her, but he knew she felt their connection tonight. It was too strong to ignore. He left a message on Pete's cellphone. Pete called him back right away.

"Hey coach."

"Derek? I just got your message. Are you with Ahsha? I've been trying to call her." Pete was talking faster than usual. It made Derek uneasy.

"Yea, she's here." He peeked into the living room and noticed Ahsha pacing the floor.

"What's she doing at your place?"

"She's worried sick about Sloane. She showed up here and said something about her missing. She couldn't reach anyone and she didn't want to stay at the house by herself." Derek lowered his voice. "Look, is everything okay? I told Ahsha she had nothing to worry about."

Pete cursed under his breath and let out a deep sigh. "I didn't want Ahsha to worry. Look, I can't go into details with you right now but tell her Sloane is good. She's right here next to me. It's a long story, but we'll explain it to Ahsha later. Sloane doesn't want to worry her. We're headed back to my place for the night."

Derek breathed a sigh of relief. Pete sounded too emotional to convince Derek that things were 100 percent okay but at least Sloane was good. "I'm happy to tell her, but I think it's better for Ahsha to hear this news from Sloane. I'll put her on the phone."

"Okay, and thanks Derek for looking out for her tonight."

"No prob, Coach."

Derek walked over to Ahsha and handed her the phone.

He winked. "Someone wants to talk to you."

Ahsha's eyes widened as she leaped for the phone. He smiled, watching her face light up as she talked to Sloane.

He waited in the kitchen while Ahsha talked on the phone. She entered a few minutes later with bright eyes and a smile on her face.

Derek smiled at her. "I told you she was okay."

Ahsha nodded. "Yup, she's fine. I mean, I know they're not telling me the whole story. They still treat me like a child sometimes. We don't want you to worry, Ahsha," she said, imitating Sloane's voice. She rolled her eyes. "I can handle it. They just said we would talk more tomorrow."

"Well you know they love you and just want to protect you. I'm sure they'll fill you in."

"I know. I just don't want any secrets between us." Ahsha looked away. "I mean between me and them."

"I know what you mean." He pointed to a cup on the counter. "Your tea is still warm."

She took a seat on the bar stool. "Thanks. And I also want to apologize for some of the things I said the last time I saw you at the arena. I can't remember everything I said to you, but I'm sorry."

A slow smirk spread across Derek's face. "Oh, you mean when you called me conniving, manipulative and selfish for going to Lionel to get you rehired."

"Wow, that's the first time you actually listened to everything I said."

"Yup, loud and clear." He shook his head and laughed. "I thought it was a selfless act. You've always wanted to be a Devil's girl. I knew you didn't want to really give that up if you had the chance to dance again. I knew I could help, so I did. I wasn't trying to upset you."

She raised her eyebrow. "So you had absolutely no ulterior motive?"

Derek threw up his hands. "Okay, so maybe I wasn't cool with the thought of you skipping town and moving 3,000 miles away with German and knowing I wouldn't see you again. But did you really want to leave your dad, mom, the devil girls," he took a breath before he continued, "and me?"

She looked down at her cup. "I-I don't know," she stammered. "But I do see now you were just trying to help. So thank you."

Derek shrugged. "You don't have to thank me. I told you I'd always look after you no matter what."

"Yea I know. Thank you for tonight too. I couldn't think straight so I started driving around and just headed this way. I was going to call you first but my phone went dead. I wasn't sure if," she paused, her eyes darting around the room, "you were here. Alone."

"No one's here. No one's been here," he added.

She stood up and gasped when she saw her reflection in the living room mirror.

"You look beautiful," he told her. "A little psycho, but still gorgeous."

Ahsha laughed. It felt good to see her smile again.

She ran her hands through her disheveled hair and yawned. "Looks like I better get going."

"Look Ahsha it's late. I know you want to head home but I don't want you driving home this late by yourself. Pete doesn't either. I will take you to your house or dad's, wherever you want to go."

"But what about my car?"

"We can figure that out tomorrow."

Ahsha let out another yawn. She was struggling to keep her eyes open. "I still don't want to go back to my mom's if she's not there. I guess I can go to my dad's."

"Or you can just stay here," he blurted out. "You already know I've got plenty of guest rooms. It's already almost two in the morning. You look exhausted."

Ahsha tilted her head to the side. "I guess I can crash on the couch for a few hours."

Derek grabbed her a blanket and pillow. To his surprise and pleasure, she agreed to stay. He wished her goodnight and headed to his room on the other side of the house.

Derek stared at the ceiling. His thoughts were all over the place. He had too much on his mind to go to sleep. The only woman he ever loved and would do anything for had showed up tonight because she needed a shoulder to cry on, and he was there for her. He made it known he didn't want to be her friend, but at least this was a start. Maybe they were headed in the right direction after all. She had to know he really loved her, despite his mistakes in the past.

Suddenly Derek heard footsteps outside of his bedroom door. He turned over and saw Ahsha in the doorway, shuffling her feet back and forth. He stared at her in silence, mesmerized by her beauty.

"Hey," she said.

"Hey. You good?"

She walked into the room. "I can't sleep out there. I had a bad dream as soon as I dozed off. I don't want you to get the wrong idea but-"

Before she could finish Derek got up and peeled back the comforter on his king-sized bed.

"No need to explain." He pointed to the bed. "It's all yours."

Ahsha hesitated before she laid down. "What about you?"

"Don't worry Ahsha. No touchy touchy," he said. " I know you're comfortable in this room. I'll sleep somewhere else tonight."

He grabbed a blanket and headed toward the door.

"Derek wait."

He turned around and looked at her. He already knew what she wanted to ask. That's how it was between the two of them. No words needed to be said. He knew she wanted him to stay because she didn't want to be alone.

He walked over to the recliner chair next to the bed and sat down. As much as he wanted to hold her and touch her tonight, Ahsha needed a friend more than anything. He could be that for her.

Ahsha was knocked out within minutes. Being this close to her again awakened his senses. He didn't know when he would have this moment with her again. He watched her sleep, struggling to keep his own eyes open until he lost his fight to stay awake.

When Derek woke up in the morning, Ahsha was gone. The house felt empty again. And there was only one way to fix it.

He was coming for her.