My heart finally broke when the car door shut after Allison got in our car. Though I remained silent, not letting a single tear fall, I was dying inside. Justin's words had cut me deeper than I expected.
'She's NOT my girlfriend,' he had said so firmly, as if the idea itself was horrible. I mean, Justin is a werewolf, so I know that I can't have a relationship with him. But I would be lying if I said I hadn't thought about it.
I didn't even have words to describe how I felt. I just wanted to cry. I... I felt alone again. Instead of showing my inner turmoil, I crossed my arms and leaned as far away I could in to car to get away from people. I felt heavy and weighed down as my warm forehead laid on the cool window.. We finally got to the house and I didn't bother with talking to anyone. Even with my bedroom door closed, I could hear how pissed Chris was at Allison.
I went over to the desk in the corner of my room to work on the assignments from today. I didn't want to get behind in in school, though that wasn't my purpose for being here. I just started working on my inequalities in math when I heard a noise. I made no move to prove I had heard anything, but I could tell someone was in the room with me. Someone who didn't knock.
In seconds, I pulled the knife out of my boot and twisted around, pressing the blade to the throat of the intruder. After the shock of not seeing Kate's face, I rolled my eyes and put away my knife.
"What the hell are you doing here, Justin?" I didn't want to act friendly to him, but I also didn't want to hurt him. His eyes held aftershock in them, but he shook it off, green eyes looking at me.
"Is that how you great all your guest?" He was avoiding my question. I got up in his face, puffing myself up in his face to intimidate him.
"You broke in. I don't think that makes you a 'guest'," I growled at him. He could tell I meant business, "Now answer my question. What are you doing here?"
"I just wanted to see you. I know you're mad at me and I don't know why! I just want to make things right with you..." I felt a little bad when I saw his honest emeralds begging for me to forgive him. It was just like a boy to not figure out why I was mad in the first place, and I was being just like a prissy girl for expecting him to read my mind. I pinched the bridge of my nose with my index finger and thumb while sitting down on the bed. I patted the space next to me, telling Justin to sit down.
When he complied, I took in a deep breath to explain my outburst earlier. I looked at him, taking in everything about his face. When did become so pronounced? When had his eyes gotten that mesmerising glint in them that hypnotised me of my will? When did the silly boy become a handsome man?
"Justin, it's not really you that needs to day sorry," I sighed, "It's me. I haven't been completely honest with you. You see, I have found myself... distracted by you."
"Distracted? Am I getting in your way?" He seemed hurt, and I realised I had used the wrong word.
"No, not distracted. Attracted. Justin, I think I like you. You know, not just as a friend. I know you don't need to hear this right now with all you've been through, but it's not fair to keep it from you."
It felt good to get it all out, but my heart still fluttered with anticipation of what he would say next. His eyes had become round with my proclamation. I could't deny that I was surprised too. I wasn't supposed to fall for the werewolf! It's just so cheesy and cliche! I felt like I was in a bad movie for a romantic horror genre that for the sake of all living, hadn't been invented yet.
He knew I wasn't lying. I he could hear my heart and feel my body heat as adrenaline pumped through my veins. It flowed in my blood, giving me that little high to do things I wouldn't even try in my right mind.
"Aideen..." uh oh.
:Justin, the reason I snapped at you was because you seemed so disgusted with the idea of us dating. And I guess I understand with what I am..."
"Aideen, the reason I said that was because I thought the only chance I would have of getting with you was when hell froze over. I had no idea that you actually liked me! I would never try to hurt you! And what do you mean by 'what you are'?"
I was shocked. He liked me back? What did this mean for me? For us? I wasn't alone anymore.
"I mean the fact that I'm a hunter. I know the basics of your past. I know how you have been wronged by people who claim to be hunters. People who claim to protect humanity by killing things for the fun of it. I mean, in my own group is one of those 'hunters'." I growled the last part thinking of what Kate did to Derek today.
"You haven't done anything, though. I trust you." With this, he took my hand in his own. His palms felt warm and nice, like my hand belonged there, fitting perfectly into the shape of his. Guilt of the day still plagued me. I hadn't done anything, but someone else had.
"Justin, I need to tell you why I wasn't at school today. I was on a mission with Kate, Allison's insane aunt. I went to make sure she didn't hurt anyone innocent. She went to speak to Derek today and because you told me he hadn't hurt anyone, I went along to try to keep him safe."
"Go on. What happened?" Justin didn't look mad, so I did ask told.
"We came to his house and Kate started to mentally and physically torture him. She insulted his sister and him while shocking him with a cow prod. I made her stop, but she got him a few times. She told him it was the alpha that killed Laura, and not hunters. She then asked if he knew who the alpha was. When he didn't know, she tried to kill him and he ran away. I felt so horrible about not being able to help him before she did that to him."
"You're not Kate, Aideen. You didn't hurt anyone. And now that I know about this, I need to go check on Derek. He's my friend, after all." Justin got up to go when my hand grabbed his arm. He looked back at me, confusion filling his face.
"I'm not letting you go by yourself. I'm coming with you. Besides, I feel the need to make right with Derek."
"Derek isn't exactly the easiest person to talk to, but you can try. I need to tell him about us anyway."
"Us?" My heart stopped beating.
"Yes, us. You know, if you'll be my girlfriend." He blushed a deep red that almost matched his hair as he said this. My skin flushed to meet the same color as his, and I nodded, confirming our relationship. I stood up and prepared to leave, putting on my knives and guns. I didn't think I needed them, but you never know.
When I was ready to go, I watched Justin, who jumped right out of my open window. I looked down at him, making sure he was ok before jumping down and ending in a body roll to lessen the impact of the two story fall. I used the momentum to stand up. Justin's eyes stared at me.
"What?" What was he staring at? Was my hair messed up? Did I have something on my face? I ran fingers on my head to smooth my frosted strands. He smiled in that cute way that made me go to mush.
"Nothing. You're just a little amazing." Now I did blush. To hide it, I started walking away to Justin's car which I could see was parked down the street. He walked with me and opened my door before I could and I climbed in, offering a grateful smile. He grinned back and I was so happy. He wasn't just Justin anymore. He was my Justin.
He slid in next to me and started the car. I didn't know where we were going, but in that moment, it didn't matter.
"So," he said, trying to make small talk, "how mad is Mr. Argent at Allison?"
"Down right livid," I giggled. I had to say, Allison kinda deserved it. She had run off with her werewolf boyfriend without letting anyone know where she was going. She didn;t even answer her phone! For all we knew, she could have been dead. Now, I was running off into the middle of the night with my werewolf boyfriend to meet another werewolf at a place I didn't know. The only difference is that I had my cell phone and was trained to kill werewolves. I was also armed, unlike Allison had been. She had been soft and vulnerable.
Justin laughed a little. It was light and short as if to get rid of the silence. I offered conversation. "Justin, tell me a little about Derek and where we're going."
"Ok. Derek, as you saw today, is a werewolf who lives in a burned down house that his family was trapped in and killed. He had two relatives left. One was his late sister and the other is his uncle who is in a hospital. He's comatose after the fire burned him so badly. He believes it was a hunter who did it."
"A hunter burned his home with people in it? Werewolves who hadn't committed a crime? Who the hell would be sick enough to do that?" Sadly, one name came to mind. Kate. Kate was sick enough. Or maybe it was just my hatred for her that made me think such a thing. Kate may be loose on the rules, but she wasn't that bad... was she?
"Yeah. There were humans in there too. He was born a wolf, but some of his family wasn't. It really hit him hard, too. I know he won't show it, but after getting so close to his family, he's like a brother. I know when he's hurt. He seems to feel as if it was his fault some how. I just wish I could help him..." Justin trailed off as he thought about his hurt pack mate. For the umpteenth time that day, I felt guilt for what Kate did and I felt sympathy for Derek. We have so much in common.
As we drove the was to Derek's house, I noticed Scott at a parking garage. He seemed to be running away from something. "Justin! Look, it's Scott! Something is chasing him." Justin craned his neck to see and started driving to help our friend.
"What the hell?" mumbled Justin as we got out of the car and ran after the fleeing werewolf. Something big had to be chasing him to get him running that fast. We broke into a dead sprint, Justin being a werewolf was faster. I held my own and stayed hot on his trail.
We rounded a corner and stopped as fast as we could. Derek Hale had his back to us. He was busy talking and scaring the crap out Scott who had calmed down seeing it was his friend.
"So, can you stay away from her? At least until the full moon so I can teach you?" Derek was trying to get Scott to stay away from someone and it sounded like Allison. Ha, good luck with that.
"Yes, I can do that. Oh, hey Justin," Scott said, drawing Derek's attention to us and off of him. Derek whirled around and his stormy eyes fell on me. Justin saw the death-glare he gave me and stepped in front of me. Derek took a defensive position, and I could see his claws coming out. "You!" He growled. I didn't blame him for being pissed.
I didn't know what to say. I had wronged him in a way that I didn't really do, but I still felt bad. Justin spoke for me. "Derek, this is Aideen. She's my girlfriend." Derek let a low ripple of a sound come from his throat.
"She's a werewolf hunter!" Scott's mouth dropped opened and he looked over at me as if asking for confirmation of this.
"I know," Justin continued," but I trust her. She swore to not hurt us and to try to help. She only wants the wolf that killed her sister." When Justin finished the last part, I saw something in his eyes change. His claws retracted and he looked at bit more calm.
"So now I have to worry about Scott and you getting killed? Thanks a lot Justin," Derek said sarcastically. He looked now at me with a hard face. "You. You were the girl who came to my house this morning. You acted... different than the rest. Why?"
"Because I know what's right and wrong and this morning was wrong. You have done nothing to me and so there is no reason for me to attack you. Plus, I know what it's like to have your sister killed. You may not believe me, but it's true." I stepped out from behind Justin as I said this, also tossing my knives a few feet from me to make Derek be more accepting on Justin and I.
he looked at me with confusion before speaking to Justin. "I like her. Brave and honest. Just make sure she doesn't screw you over." With that, Derek walked off to his car and none of us stopped him.
When he was gone, Scott kept looking at us like we were aliens while I replaced my weapons. Justin glared at him.
"So it's ok for you to date a werewolf hunter but it's not ok for me? How does that work out, Scott?"
"Nah, dude, It's cool I guess. What happened this morning with her and Derek? He seemed extra pissy."
"Nothing. Don't worry about it. Hey, We'll see you tomorrow at school. I got to get Aideen home." With that, Justin grabbed my hand and pulled me to the car and put me in. I was in a bit of a daze, an adrenalin rush from the hostile werewolf.
"Justin, are you going to be ok? You can't get in trouble for dating me, can you?"
"In trouble? Nah, the worst he can do is knock my head into a wall, and I doubt he will. He knows I'm not stupid. Besides, you seemed to impress him a bit.
We finally got back to the Argent house where all the lights were off. I climbed the wood paneling of the house to get back to my window. When I swung my body inside, I turned around to see Justin sticking his head through to see me. His eyes seemed to be almost glowing green. I could see he was using his claws to hold onto the side of the house. I smiled and walked over to my boyfriend.
I put my face right by his. I could feel his warm breath that smelt like mint. My nose brushed his and he blushed a deep crimson that made my blood boil with lust. His lips looked so full, so kissable.I brought mine closer to his, and we were only half an inch apart. So I had a better idea. Just before he could close the distance and capture my lips, I shut the window, barley missing his nose. I winked at his surprised face and waved as I mouthed goodnight and closed the blinds to go to bed from a very full day.