Author's Note: Hello everyone! So this chapter was meant to be longer but I liked the stopping point and I kind of want to pick your brains and see how all of you feel about there the story is going before I continue! So be sure to let me know how you're feeling by the end of this chapter!

Side note: I got a couple of questions last chapter, so I'll try to answer them now!

-"When will the truth come out about the Jake's involvement with the crash?"

Very soon! We'll start seeing more about this within the next 2-4 chapters and hopefully, if things go as I plan, we'll have the full truth within that time period!

-Are the dreams from the beginning of the stories be explained?

I might work their meanings in with the story, but I might just explain what they mean at the end! Either way, if you have a question by the end of the story I'll be more than happy to explain anything!

Derek

In my experience, there aren't many ways to regain a memory once they're lost. At the moment, I have one realistic option, and not one I'm particularly fond of.

I lean back against my kitchen counter with my arms folded over my chest. I stare down at the new wood floor I'd installed just at the other day and go over other possibilities in my head.

There's a memory restoring potion I know of, but the directions on how to make it are foggy in my head and the potion calls for the heart of a bull, which must be ground up and liquefied into a potion with ten other foul tasting ingredients and I've never heard of the potion ever working effectively. Plus there's no way she'd drink a liquefied bull heart.

I take a deep breath and realize that while my next choice isn't something I'd prefer, it's something that has to be done. I pull out my phone from my back pocket and sift through the contacts list until I find the name I'm looking for.

I hit 'call' and listen to the dial tone, which rings twice before a familiar voice answers, "You must be joking." The woman's voice says on the other end.

"Afraid so, I need a meeting." The woman on the other end scoffs.

"No, love, you really must be joking. You run me out of town and now suddenly you want a meeting to what? Catch up? Or…is this something more…interesting?" her voice turns low and sexual.

"Tomorrow night, you place. Be there or I'll come after you."

"Oh honey, you almost make me wanna run." I roll my eyes at the remark, but stay on the phone for her confirmation, "Fine, I'll be here."

"Good." I say before hitting the 'end' button and slipping the phone back into my pocket and walking to the fridge to get a beer.

Avery

I slide my hand over the jagged pieces of glass, careful not to cut myself. I can hear Stiles whispering something to me from a safe distance away, and I can vaguely hear his heart beat with a cautious nervousness.

My eyes glaze over as I stare into the passenger seat, and everything turns black. I wait and listen as I begin to see street lights passing through the car, illuminating the interior. The window is no longer smashed, and the door is perfectly intact.

I open the door and step inside as I am suddenly being driven down one of Beacon Hills' main streets. Everything slowly turns blurry and hazy and I can feel my body is weaker, so much weaker than they are now.

The street lights still pass by in a hum, and I can hear music in the background. I feel a hand brush over my leg, shifting my pale blue dress out of the way to encompass my knee and brush further towards my thigh.

I force my dizzy head to look over to the driver's side. I catch a blurry look at Jake sitting in the driver's seat with his eyes on the road. I watch him as closely as I can through my blurry and unsteady gaze. Jake turns off the main road onto one of the many backroads and the lull of the street lights is suddenly gone, leaving only an eerie blackness in its wake. "J-Jake?" I hear my voice echo, though my lips have not moved.

Jake's face turns toward me and I can almost see a lazy smile on his face as he looks in my direction. Past him, through the driver's side window, I can see the darkness of the forest and the outlines of the trees alongside the road. But something is moving through the trees, a shape that shouldn't be there.

The shape turns towards the road for a moment, as if looking over at the car. The black shape stares over at us with glowing red eyes.

All of a sudden I'm back outside the car from my spot beside it, staring inside at the interior with my hand on the glass. "No." I whisper, looking down at the car frantically. I bring my other hand up, grip the side of the car and close my eyes, hoping to be transported back into the vision. "No, no, no, no." I say when I realize it's not coming back.

I tear my hands away from the side of the car. I want to rip the car apart and leave it in shambles. I want to turn it into dust and leave it to be carried away by the wind. Mostly, I just want to break something. "Avery?" Stiles whispers from his spot about ten feet away.

I take a deep breath and try to bottle up some of my frustration. And I maybe rehearse Christmas song lyrics in my head. Just a little bit.

I let out a disappointed sigh after a few minutes and turn towards him, "Let's go." I say quietly. He looks at me with a matching disappointment and we both head out towards the gate. He stops outside the gate and begins relocking it up. "I think I'm just gonna head to the car, okay?"

Stiles gives me a quiet nod, his eyes show concern and I appreciate it, but it's just one of those times when I need to be alone. I give him a small smile of thanks because I can't find it in me to speak.

I turn towards the woods and take off at a fast pace, but one slow enough to be considered a 'werewolf jog'. Faster than humans, but much slower than my full speed. I run past Scott, who stays behind with Stiles.

Stiles parked his Jeep on one of the backroads that lead to the station that rarely gets used. That way, no one would spot his car in the police station parking lot and wonder what he's doing here, not that that's a big concern since he spends most of his time here anyway.

I run through the woods, dodging trees and jumping over the massive roots that line the forest ground. I can hear crickets chirping all around me and I hear the babbling of a faraway brook. Running through these woods often yields a strange sensation, one that is difficult to describe.

It's almost as if, no matter how fast you're running, you are still standing still, as if frozen in time. It's both a peaceful and unnerving feeling. For now though, it's mostly just peaceful.

I make it back to the Jeep quickly, and I take a deep breath as I step through the last of the forest's foliage and step towards the Jeep, putting my hand on its cold metallic surface in an attempt to calm myself further.

Once again, I'm left with just a glimpse into that night, and into a part that revealed nothing new. I already knew that I couldn't have been driving and I already saw glimpses of the other alpha being there. This is getting far too repetitive. I'm tired, frustrated, and sick of feeling like something is missing.

I just want to feel whole again.

I listen and hear Stiles and Scott making their way back to the Jeep. I open the door and hop inside as I wait for them to make it back.

"So, nothing?" Stiles asks as we near Scott's street. The entire ride has been quiet, with Stiles and Scott exchanging looks every once in a while as if they can communicate with just facial expressions.

"Nothing I didn't know before." I answer. I feel his dissatisfaction at not being able to help and I try to lighten the mood by brushing it off, "It's fine, I'll just find another way to remember!" I try to sound optimistic, but as I say it, the words just sound forced.

As we pull into Scott's driveway, I jump out. "Thank you both so much for taking me. I really appreciate it." I say, still trying to sound okay with how the night went.

Stiles just nods and Scott speaks as he too exits the Jeep, "I hope you find out what happened." He says simply. I give a small reassuring smile before turning away and heading to my Hummer, which is parked out on the street.

Stiles pulls out of the driveway and heads home, and I soon do the same. On the way home, I check the dashboard clock which reads 10:40.

Derek

I crush some of the wolfsbane flowers until they're little more than crumbs of purple in the bowl. I reach over for the bottle of moon juice and let the pale blue mixture drip into the bowl before I mix it together. I look over to the iron pot dangling above the fire and check to make sure that the mixture in it is not quite boiling yet. Seeing that it hasn't boiled yet, I take a moment to look around the old cellar.

I never liked it down here as a child. The shadows of the place seemed to move and lunge forward back when my family's 'pack witch' did her magic here.

The Hale pack was always one of the strongest packs, and witches knew that when they worked for packs they were far safer than they would be on their own. And working for the Hale pack was considered the position with the most protection. My mother made sure of that.

But now, looking at it, the cellar holds no sense of that darkness it once did. The shadows are still and the air is free of any thick magic. Instead, it just feels…empty.

Ever since the fire, everything has felt empty.

My attention snaps back to the pot as the mixture begins to boil. I walk back to the small workbench, grab the small bowl on the counter as well as the knife I'd sharpened in preparation for this. I walk back to the pot, pour the bowl's contents into it, and set the bowl aside.

Holding the knife steady in my hands, I hold my arm out over the boiling mixture and slowly drag the knife along my flesh, allowing the blood to trickle down into the pot. After a few seconds, the cut heals, and I set the knife aside. I pick up the large wooden spoon and stir the batch together.

After everything is mixed together well enough, I pick up the pot with a nearby cloth and set it down on the workbench to cool. The potion isn't done, but that will be taken care of tomorrow night. I pick up the bucket of water next to the fire and dump it onto the burning wood, extinguishing it for the most part.

A few embers linger, and I've grown paranoid of the possibility of a fire starting, so I take a seat in the single old, rickety chair and watch the embers slowly burn themselves out.

I pull out my cell phone and check the time; 12:45 A.M.

I doubt she's still awake by now. It's a school night after all. I let out a tired breath and slip the phone back into my pocket. She's probably in bed, cozy and asleep after taking a shower and eating whatever microwave dinner she decided on for the night.

I reach back into my pocket, but I once again just release my phone and slip my hand back out. I rub my face with my hands and try to push her out of my mind. Turns out, not thinking about Avery Chastings is not as easy as I'd like it to be.

As the last few embers burn themselves out, I stand up and walk up the stairs and exit the cellar. I turn, lock up the cellar, and then head inside the main house. I walk into the kitchen, grab a beer, and then head into what used to be the library. Reading has always been a good distraction for me and I could sure use a distraction now.

I grab one of the few books that survived the fire and pick it up before heading back to my living room and flipping on the light before sitting down on the couch and kicking my boots up onto the coffee table.

The cover of the book is charred and gives no indication of the story inside, but as I start reading, I recognize the writing as John Steinbeck's East of Eden. I've read it before, but then again, I've probably read every one of those books before.

I lean back against the sofa and take a few sips of my beer before saying, "Fuck it," getting up, grabbing my jacket, and heading out the front door.

Avery

I pick at the microwave dinner with my fork. I've always liked chicken parmesan, and I was starving right up until I got it out of the microwave, but then my appetite just disappeared. I look around the empty dining room table and hold in a sudden urge to cry.

I'm probably just frustrated over the lack of answers, but that's nothing new and I'm tired of crying. I'm tired of being alone, too. I'm tired of not knowing where I stand with Derek, and I'm extremely tired of his hot and cold attitude.

I take a deep breath and force myself to take a bite of my now cold chicken parmesan followed by a long drink of chocolate milk. After I'm done forcing down my food, I put my dishes in the sink for later and head upstairs for a shower. God knows how many ticks or bugs I have stuck in my hair after running around in the woods all night.

After taking off my clothes and stepping into the warm water, I finally relax a little bit, but I'm still stressed. Derek said he could help me remember, then he said he couldn't. Derek seems to like me, Derek suddenly snaps at me. Everything he does seems to confuse me. And now I don't even know where I stand with him.

I quickly shampoo and condition my hair before moving on to shaving my legs. The steam helps to relax me more, but my mind is not helping.

Maybe he really did just want to have sex a few times then call it quits? Or maybe he is just looking for a friends with benefits relationship? Or would it be pack-mate with benefits?

By the time I get out of the shower, get dressed, and am combing my hair, my brain is still going over every single aspect of our 'relationship'.

As I drag the comb through my hair one final time I look at the clock and see that it's midnight. Deciding to call it a night, I turn the lights off and crawl into bed.

My pajamas are little more than underwear and a thin tank top, so without the covers I'm freezing but with them I'm somehow burning up. I wiggle around until I decide to keep one leg out of the covers and one in.

I try to sleep again once the cover dilemma is solved, but then I'm faced with the blatant silence of the house. I stare off at the ceiling for what feels like hours, but when I look at the clock it's just been 20 minutes.

After ten more minutes of not being able to sleep, I grab my phone, walk over to the iHome, and set up Pandora to play ambient radio. A song comes on that sounds like it belongs in one of those amazing Asian spas and I know that this will definitely help me relax.

I jump back in bed and find the perfect spot, arrange my covers, and fluff my pillows. I nestle in and force myself to think of nothing.

Which of course leads me to consciously thinking to think nothing. Which then makes my head hurt.

I grab a pillow and cover my head with it, as if that will somehow magically help me block out everything and every thought and let me sleep. When that doesn't work, I uncover my head and look over at the clock to see that it's just past 1:00 in the morning.

I let out a frustrated groan and just stare up at the skylight above my bed. The stars at least give me something pretty to look at. I even have a good view of the moon, which just reminds me of Derek again.

In the distance, I can hear a loud engine and I immediately recognize the low growl of Derek's Camaro. After a few moments of listening, I hear it grow closer and closer until it pulls into my driveway. The engine shuts off, I hear the door open and close, and for a moment I think I've locked the front door, but then I hear him open it so clearly I forgot again.

"You awake?" he asks at a normal volume.

My stomach feels fluttery and I contemplate whether or not to answer him. In the end, I give in. "Yes." I then hear his boots slowly begin walking towards the stairs and then up them.

"Shouldn't you be asleep?" I hear the tiniest bit of humor in his voice.

I smile to myself, this is the side of Derek I like. "I couldn't sleep, I have too much on my mind."

"Like?" his boots reach the middle of the stairs and I know he'll be in here soon.

I take a moment's pause before answering, "I went to see my car, and I thought it would help. It didn't." I give him a second to take that in before adding, "And then there's you." As soon as I say that I remember that I'm supposed to be mad at him, but the reason isn't quite so clear anymore.

I sit up as I hear him reach the top of the stairs. "I keep you up at night?" he asks with an unfamiliar smug tone in his voice.

He reaches my door and opens it smoothly, stopping in the door briefly. I shrug, "Maybe just this once." He smirks for a second and I smile back, but as I look at him standing there in my doorway, something made the air suddenly heavy. Derek must feel it too because both of our smiles slowly fade.

"You were drunk, you got in the car, you crashed, now you're here. How in fuck's name does it matter how it got to be this way? The police will arrest him and find out whatever to fuck happened so what does it matter?"

"It matters."

Our voices echo in my head and the same thing is probably happening to him because he suddenly looks unusually uncomfortable. A big part of me wants an apology, but the rest of me realizes that Derek's not the kind of person to give out apologies. My mother wasn't, either.

But his being here has to mean something.

He finally takes a few steps into my room. "I have a guy that might be able to help with your memory," he says calmly, "tomorrow night I have a meeting set up."

I just nod in an attempt to keep myself from killing him with questions. "I want to come too."

Derek looks at me for a second, as if weighing the implications of taking me along. "Fine." He says as he walks closer to the stairs leading down to my bed.

Absent mindedly, I push the covers off my legs and, being as nonchalant as I can manage, I scoot down the bed just the slightest bit, hoping he doesn't notice.

With the smirk that crosses his face, he definitely noticed.

He continues to approach the bed and deciding that my grace is all but lost, I sit up on my knees and slowly make my way to the foot of the bed.

We reach the end of the bed at almost the exact same time. He looks down at me and I can barely make out the green of his irises. He leans in and stares into my eyes as his lips come ever closer to mine.

Our lips meet and the kiss that follows is long, slow, and utterly intoxicating. I slowly bring my hands up and run them up over his chest and around his neck. Suddenly, Derek breaks the kiss and looks down at me through dilated eyes, "Goodnight, Avery." He whispers quietly before kissing my forehead and backing out of my embrace.

Author's Note: So this is where I ended! I'll be honest, I ended here so I could gauge all of your reactions towards this scene. A lot of people like the sexy/rough aspect of their relationship, but many also like the cuter/softer side of everything.

Depending on how people feel towards this scene, I may continue it (wink wink) or I may just begin from the next morning.

Next chapter should be very very interesting/hot. We'll finally see the werewolves hit the club like I promised like ten years ago. And we'll see some jealousy from both sides ;) and *gasp* dare I say it?

We may actually see Averek (or Davery, as one person says it!) become an actual item! ;)

Stay tuned!