Hello hello, loyal readers! Welcome back! Ya miss me?

(I'm only saying this now because it doesn't register as an update until you actually post a new chapter, so it's technically been nearly a year since my last activity on this site). Anywhosits, I just started grade eight. Fun, huh? And, it proves that I didn't drop dead and leave y'all hangin'. I've gotten inspiration! That's right, in the world of Pip, such a thing exists! (sorry for the change in name, btw. I'm still ERB, and shovelgirl, this is just a cooler name). Besides, my Darkest Powers obsession is back (buh-bye, Harry Potter!).

The Edits are officially over for this year, although there may be a repeat performance next year.

Disclaimer: I no ownsies, sorry (wow… grade eight does horrible things to my vocabulary…)

You should know the key by now

~CHARLIE POV~

There was a sound of loud footsteps. Seems they finally remembered me. The whole group of them, including Lauren for whatever reason, and two ghosts ran into the living room where I was curled up on the sofa. I shook my head subtly at the ghosts, who got the message and kept quiet. I quickly found myself in a Derek-and-Rickie sandwich. Chloe and Simon, again, looked rather jealous. I rolled my eyes.

"Derek showed you the paper?" I mumbled, annoyed. Everyone glared at Derek.

"We just ran back here for nothing?" demanded Tori.

"Nice to know I'm wanted here," I muttered under my breath. Derek snorted, but Rickie looked enraged. I placed my hand on his arm, giving him a warning look.

Go hunt or something, I told him, work off your anger. He nodded tightly, disappearing in a blur. Everyone looked confused, except Derek. He had probably tuned in through the pack bond, to some extent.

"What's on the sheet of paper?" I asked into the silence.

"List of kids that Edison screwed over," replied the shorter of the ghosts, Asher. I remember him and Chester from back when I was tiny; I stayed with them temporarily before my dad broke me out. Chloe relayed what he said, pale. Everyone stared at it, sitting innocuously in Derek's hand, like it would bite them if they got any closer to it than they were already. Lauren, ever the cocky bitch, sneered at everyone.

"Then let's look at it," she said. The entire room glared at her.

"I think it would be best if you left, Doctor Saunders," said Kit coldly. I silently cheered him on; I'd been waiting for him to stand up to her since I met him.

She looked at him, gaping in an indignant and utterly hilarious manner.

"You're throwing me out?" she demanded, somewhat hysterically, "after everything I've done for you!" Kit looked tired.

"Just get out, Lauren. If I never see you again, it will be too soon." She glared at him harshly, before retreating upstairs to pack her clothes. Only once she stormed down the stairs, bag of belongings in tow, and had slammed the door hard enough to rattle the window panes, did we continue our conversation.

"I think we should look at the paper," I said quietly. Kit came over and delicately plucked it off Derek's large palm.

"This," he said in a stern voice, "can wait until morning. Go to bed; today has been incredibly draining."

Everyone obeyed rather eagerly, although I was somewhat slower than everyone else. What Lauren had said was exactly what my mother – Emma – had said two days before I left. I had forgotten about it in all the action, but tonight had brought it all back.

Derek stayed with me, as I plodded methodically up the staircase and into our room. I slumped onto our mattress on the floor, pulling my legs up and hugging them tightly as I buried my face into my knees.

"Are you ok?" asked Derek, so gently and quietly that I hardly heard him. I started to nod my head, but what Lauren had said repeated in my head and a single, broken sob tore itself from my throat. Almost instantly, Derek moved, and I was encased in a warm cocoon of comfort. He didn't say anything. He didn't need to; just the physical reassurance that he was there was enough for me as I cried for the first time since pop died.

Was murdered, whispered a traitorous voice in my mind, not belonging to any of those who inhabited my mindspace. This voice was poisonous. I cried harder. I really was a freak, just like mum had said.

*FLASHBACK*

"I'm calling the doctor, Charlotte! These seizures could be killing you!" exclaimed my mother, her deep brown hair piled in a high bun, her pale eyes calculating. I could smell the deception coming off her; she just wanted me shipped off to the hospital. I looked around desperately for something, anything, that could perhaps explain away the seizure without giving away mine and dad's secrets. I sighed when I realised that it wasn't possible and that I would have to tell the truth this time.

"The seizures are supposed to happen, mum," I said. She stared at me suspiciously.

"What do you mean by that, Charlotte?" she asked. I sighed.

"I a werewolf, mum," I said. Her eyes widened in fear and disbelief, "so was dad."

She lost it, going into a fit of hysterics.

"You get out, you filthy, freaky beast! I cannot believe that I bore you to term and that such an abomination came out of my body!"

Her words stung me, but I tried just one last time.

"I'm just as human as you are!" I shouted at her. She sneered maliciously.

"Oh, please," she scoffed, "I'm nothing like the filthy mutts that you and your no good, lying father are. You will get out of this house by Friday," she said, eyes narrowing on me dangerously, "or you will not live to see Saturday."

My eyes widened, smelling the cold steel smell of honesty, and I fled to my room to pack my things.

I was gone by Wednesday.

*END FLASHBACK*

I sobbed harder until there was nothing left. My breathing evened out, deepening until, eventually, I drifted off into an exhausted sleep.

~DEREK POV~

When Charlie started to cry, I was so surprised that I did the only thing my instinct would allow me to. Launching myself at her, I wrapped her up tightly in my arms and rocked her gently. Somehow, I knew that she didn't want half-hearted nothings murmured in her ear; she just wanted to be held.

She cried and cried for ages, seeming to be in her own little world, until her breathing evened out and she drifted off to sleep. After a few minutes, so that I didn't accidentally wake her, I carefully lay down, continuing to hug her as I, too, fell into a deep slumber.

*TIME JUMP*

~CHARLIE POV~

I woke up still encased in warmth, although in a different position. My eyes and nose both felt stuffy, and my mouth was dry. I couldn't get up, though, because of the arms that surrounded me. Rather surprisingly, I didn't want to.

Looking around as much as I could, and using my nose, I figured that Rickie was back yet. No one had been on the floor but us since yesterday morning. I could feel Derek stirring behind me, and soon we were both sitting up and just watching each other. Derek looked like he wanted desperately to say something, but he didn't want to make me upset. I sighed.

"Just say it, Derek," I said, my voice croaky from last night, "I've cried myself out." He remained silent for a few moments more,

"Are you ok now?" he asked, just as gently and quietly as he had last night. I nodded, smiling slightly at his concern.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked, still quiet. He was acting as though he was talking to an injured animal. All things considered, I mused, I probably could be classified as such. That thought brought me back to what I was crying over last night.

My features must have shown some form of distress, because Derek immediately pulled me back into his lap.

"You don't have to if you don't want to," he said softly. I shook my head.

"No, you need to know," I said. He opened his mouth to protest that, no, he didn't, when I glared weakly at him.

"You're the only family I have," I told him, "and there are no secrets amongst true pack." He nodded, but didn't say anything. I was glad; I wouldn't be able to do this if he rushed me. After a few minutes of silence interrupted only by Simon and Tori's argument of this morning drifting through the floors, I sighed.

"Before I ran away," I began, and his eyes widened marginally at that confession, "I lived with my mum. My dad had been killed by EG for defiance when I was five and a half years old. I saw that through the cupboard door," here I smiled bitterly, and Derek looked distressed at the thought of what I'd seen. To stop him from interrupting and making me lose my nerve, I pressed on quickly.

"My mum never liked me; I reminded her too much of what she lost. When I started having my pre-changes, she thought they were seizures and tried to call the doctor so she could get me shipped off to the hospital. Hopefully permanently.

"I had to tell her. When I did, her response was that I was a 'filthy, freaky beast' and that she couldn't believe that I was her child. When I tried to tell her that I was just as human as her, she said almost exactly the same thing as Lauren did last night." A dry sob worked its way out of my throat. I swallowed thickly. This was harder than I expected it to be, telling my packmate, but I felt lighter than I had in a while.

"She said that she was nothing like the filthy mutts that my father and I were and that, if I didn't leave by the end of the week, she'd-" unbelievably, I started to cry again. Derek just hugged me closer, showing an unbelievable amount of emotion for someone like him.

"-she said she'd kill me with her own hands." I finished brokenly, sounding so dejected as I cried again.

This bout of tears was shorter than the last, but this time I wasn't alone. Derek shuddered, I could feel it, and a single tear fell with a soft, inaudible thump into my curly, auburn hair.

"Don't you ever," Derek said lowly, growling slightly, "think that low of yourself. Never; you are the only family I have too." He sounded just as broken as I did and, in that moment, we became closer than we ever had been.

We sat like that for what felt like hours, until someone's stomach growled. I laughed weakly, getting out of Derek's lap and holding out my hand to help him up.

"Food?" I asked. He smiled, and we left to raid the kitchens.

So, what do you think? This one's just sort of a fluffy filler. PLEASE NOTE THAT THERE WILL BE NO CHARLIE/DEREK! Charlie and Derek are closer than a set of identical twins, and the type of love they share is platonic. Besides, Charlie's mate is Rickie and Derek's is Chloe, so… yeah. This was just bit of a backstory as to why Charlie ran away, why what Lauren said affected her so badly, and an excuse to make Charlie and Derek closer so that we can get some romantic tension going *evil smirk* I had to restrain myself from making Chloe walk in on them whilst they were have a sharing moment, or in the morning when they woke up curled around each other. Don't worry, though; the next chapter will be far more interesting. And we might finally get the reveal that Charlie is a necromancer! Yay!

Please review for me; I'm tired, this took a while to type, and I've been working all day to make this story enjoyable for you. Thanks to all who take the minute or two to help me make this better :)

~PiptheSnake~