Ok, guys, I know I've been gone for a long time, and I left you guys a terrible cliffhanger.. ._. For that I am sooo sorry! My laptop is down, but I found a keyboard I can pair with my phone so computers will never be a problem! Heheheh I love tecchnology ^_^ But yeah if the paragraph formatting looks weird, it's because I'm on a really small screen. Anyways, have some Florence.

Florence always loved the rain. The cold, the fresh air, the scent, it all melted down to one perfect thing: life. When she stepped outside in the morning before walking to school (when she was still in high school, that is), she'd inhale deeply and fill her lungs with the chilled air. The cold bit at her skin, but she loved it. It made her feel alive, and nothing made her happier... Because what could possibly be better than life itself?

Her trip home from school was always the best. Water droplets that splattered her skin chilled her, soaked her hair, forcing her to pay attention to her body's condition. It just felt so good... Even if her friends called her crazy for it. But in all honesty, she didn't care.

They never saw the beauty in nature when it rained like she did. Yeah, some people would agree the sound of rain was soothing, but they never noticed how the dark contrast of the heavy clouds brought the color of the world to life. Every tree, flower, grass and bush sprung to life, vivid in color.

The world was brightest when the sun was hidden...

Stripping her cold, wet clothes and slipping into fresh pajamas never felt better. Settling on the couch with a cup of mocha coffee and a blanket, she'd spend the rest of the day reading or completing school assignments. Life then was just so simple... Come home, do homework, eat dinner, look for a job online and maybe, if she had time to, catch up on Supernatural or whatever. Rainy days just made it all blissful.

Now, this is Southern California she was living in, so of course most days of the year were sunny and warm. She never minded it, really, but she did wish the skies would break more often. On the days they didn't, however, she had to get as close to the cold as possible. Her mother scolded her for it countless times, but she always found herself lowering the air conditioner of the house.

"What the hell are you doing?" Derek asked as he watched his girlfriend do just that, only in his loft. "Trying to send my electric bill through the roof?"

"Maybe," she said with a cute giggle. "But to be honest I didn't think you paid anything to live here.

The wolf raised an eyebrow, his arms crossed. "What makes you believe that?"

He really didn't pay much of anything. He owned the building, and he set up hundreds of feet of wires throughout it to an electricity generator in the back, so his living expenses were relatively nothing. All he had to pay for was his food and clothes.

"Well..." Damn... Just questioning him made her uneasy. She learned months prior not to question men... "Nevermind." She attempted to pass it off with a smile, moving past him to go into the living room, that is till Derek grabbed her arm and pulled her back. With a hint of fear in her eyes, she stared into his.

"Florence," he sighed, loosening his grip on her arm to a friendlier one, "I'm not going to hurt you..."

"I know," she whispered, pulling her arm away. "I just... It's like-"

"An instinct to be afraid. I understand. But, Rabbit, I promise.." he leaned down and kissed her forehead, "I will never hurt you."

Jesus christ, Derek, could you get any cuter? The brunette laughed at herself internally. Even after scaring her, he managed to make her smile.

"I know. But that doesn't mean you don't scare me," she left a teasing kiss on his lips, to which he wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her body flush against his.

She blushed. He grinned.

"Oh really? How on earth could I, 6'1, dark, mysterious, muscular, sexy Derek Hale," his left hand snaked down to her ass and gently gripped it, giving the soft tissue a light squeeze, "possibly scare you?" When she didn't answer and he saw her cheeks were bright red, he tilted his head slightly. "Why are you blushing so much?"

A pause, till she smacked his chest, quickly turning her head away, blushing even more as she exclaimed, "You know why, you jerk!"

Derek laughed and gave her lips a soft, quick kiss. "Love you," he said as he let go of her and walked into the living room, leaving a giggling Florence.

He said it first...

The twenty-year-old followed after her boyfriend and found him falling backward onto the couch. Of course, she sat next to him on his left, already scanning the area for the remote to the television.

"Looking for this?" Derek asked, holding the remote up with his right hand.

She knew this game. He always did this, always made her work for things. One time when she wanted Ritz crackers, so he, being as gentleman-ey as ever, offered to let her have the entire box from his pantry. She only had to climb up the cabinets and across a support beam to get to them.

"Yes, actually." Florence decided she would just try to play this one cool and act normal, so she just reached over him and attempted to grab it.

Of course. Of course he pulled it further away from her. "Come on, babe, you know it's not that easy."

"Why do you always have to make me work?" She whined.

He matched her tone, mocking her with a grin, "Because you're so lazy."

"Exactly! So don't do this to me, it's torture!" Once again, she reached for the remote, failing.

He only laughed at her. "Maybe I'm a sadist. Now if you want it, take it."

With a huff, Florence sat on her knees and faced him. Her plan was to basically climb over him and wrestle it out of his hand, but he again pulled the remote away right as she went to swipe at it. She caught herself with her hand, grounding it on his thigh... At least that's what she planned on landing on.

Derek let out a yelp of pain and his shoulders hunched over while his knees pulled up, making her dip down. She didn't even need to look down to realize where her hand planted; she could tell by his reaction. Frozen in shock and embarrassment, she couldn't even speak. After what seemed like an eternity, she managed to pull her body up just a centimeter or two, lifting the weight off of him. Still, she couldn't move her god damned hand. Still, they were both silent for the longest time, just staring at each other.

"D- Der... I-"

He shook his head, looking up at her, less pain than she assumed would be in his voice, "Don't worry about it... Just... Move your hand.." He gently grasped her wrist, making her snap out of her frozen state of shock and try to pull her hand away. Derek, however, kept it in place.

"Wh- you s-said-" She stammered, her brain on overdrive.

His voice was low, his sharp green eyes piercing hers. "Not like that." His movements were slow, but he grabbed her hips, making her sit on his knees, her hand still on his groin.

"Derek, I- I ca-"

"You can, Florence," he lightly stroked her arm, his fingers on his other hand gently tracing her skin. "You're just afraid, that's ok. But just try, alright?"

Is that lust in his eyes...?

With a small nod, she looked down at her hand, at him, and tried to swallow her nervousness.

"I don't know what to do..." she whispered, trying to hide the shame in her voice.

He couldn't help but smile at her innocence. "Just feel me. Do whatever you want."

Again, another nod. She gave a light squeeze, earning a soft moan from him. God, her heart was pounding... But he looked so hot with his head tilted back and his throat exposed... Florence gripped him from over the fabric of his gym shorts then slowly, carefully pulled her hand down then up, making him moan again. Derek bit his bottom lip softly, enjoying every single movement she gave him.

It had been so long, too long, since anyone touched him, since he allowed anyone to. Months without sex for him- sometimes he felt like he was going to go crazy.

Derek gripped the sides of his shorts- leaving his boxers alone- and pushed them down.

"Derek, wait..." She began lifting her hand, only to have it brought down on him again, this time the only thing keeping his skin hidden his boxers. Even so, the fabric had no effect on what she could feel... "Is... are supposed to be...?"

"Hard?" Derek laughed lightly, looking up at her.

"I'm sorry..." she whispered, looking down to hide her embarrassment. "You know I don't have experience.."

Again, he laughed. "It's so amazing how innocent you are."

Florence wasn't even given any time to respond. He grabbed her face and pulled her down, kissing her deeply. His hands gripped her ass and he pulled her close, so close she was on his erection. She could feel it... When he rolled his hips, his dick pressed further against her, hitting her core. It was then that he almost lost it, but he wrestled his wolf down and kept himself in control.

The brunette let out a soft moan, nervous and unsure, but definitely pleasured by the feeling of him so close to her. "Derek," she whispered when he broke the kiss, only to kiss down her jaw to her throat. He clamped his mouth down on her neck and sucked, gently biting her skin, then tugged lightly. She let out soft sounds of pleasure, tilting her head to the side to give him more space.

Derek's hands ran up her back and under her shirt, feeling her skin and dragging his fingertips, while he pushed his groin up into hers, earning a soft moan from her. Every time she felt pressure, every time her arousal- which she was not familiar with- spiked, she pushed herself down on him and ground her core on his erection. His breath caught in his throat the first time she did. May it have been out of surprise or arousal, he didn't know. The second time, he felt a low growl from deep within himself, one he managed to third time, he couldn't stop it. The wolf growled as it smelled her neck, taking in her sweet coconut scent.

"What was that?" Florence asked, pulling away a bit. At least, she tried to. Derek held her in place, not even bothering to respond to her words. All he could think of was her skin, her body, her warmth, how tight she would be, her wetness- he wanted all of it, and it showed through his rather aggressive movements.

"Der, slow d- Ah!" She exclaimed in pain, throwing her head back. He had gripped her breast and gave it a tight squeeze.

Her reaction only made him all the more needy. He licked her, bit her neck, pushing his hips up against hers and quickly groped her ass and her back. His hands went up to her bra and unclasped it, then started to feel around for the shoulder straps, but stopped when he realized it was strapless. With a slight smirk, he pulled the garment from her body and tossed it aside.

Florence never did like showing her bra straps. Not since Kyle. If she wore tank tops, such as now, she would take the straps off of her bra.

"Derek, I- I need you to slow down.." she whimpered, hoping he'd listen.

"I'm sorry, baby. I can't slow down." His voice was so low... Just milliseconds after he told her that, he wrapped his arms around her torso and jumped forward, off of the couch, and onto the floor where he put his left knee between her legs and planted his hands on either sides of her head. He dominated her completely with a kiss, shoving his tongue into her mouth.

Florence felt his hand on her throat. His fingers traced her skin, caressing and feeling. A shiver ran up her spine when she felt his fingertips ghost down to her chest and into her shirt. He cupped her breast and squeezed, kneaded her flesh as he broke the kiss and moved down her neck to her chest, where he planted another kiss.

"What are you doing?" She whispered. Her hands lay next to her head as she wasn't sure what to do with them. She wanted to push him off, to be honest, but she also wanted to give him what he wanted... It was just so hard to do when all she could think of were bad memories, when images of another man on top of her- the same way Derek was now- were surrounding her. Her arousal was quickly diminishing, leaving only fear.

He didn't answer, only pulled her shirt down, exposing her right breast. He quickly brought her nipple between his lips and sucked, gripping and massaging her breast with his hand. His free hand snaked down her abdomen, taking his time, feeling the curves of her belly. Her stomach was one of the parts of her body he loved most. Florence was not fat, of course, but she wasn't exactly skinny either. Her stomach came out just a little, a "Layer of fat because I love my six pack so much I want to keep them warm," as she said it. She didn't even have a thigh gap, which seemed to be a huge thing for other women. This girl was not ashamed of her body, and she never would be. She knew she was beautiful how she was, and that was something he would never grow tired of.

She was already shy enough, she needed some form of confidence.

It was also cute as fuck.

Florence felt Derek's fingers push lower and lower, down to her pants. He slipped his fingers under the denim and rubbed her over her underwear, smearing her wetness on his fingertips. "You're wet," he whispered, looking down at his hand, watching it move under her pants.

"Please, stop..." she whispered back, tears accumulating in her eyes.

"What?" Derek's eyes met hers. There was no way she wanted him to stop, not now.

"I need you to stop," her voice broke at her last words, the tears rolling down her cheeks. "I can't. I keep- keep remembering..."

It was then that it hit him.

This is what he did... He remembered when she told him about how Kyle shoved his disgusting hand down her pants; he had to stop a growl from escaping him.

"I'm sorry..." she whimpered, knowing he wanted her. "I know you want.. i know you have needs- I can't take care-"

He shut her up by stroking her cheek and saying to her, "Shh, baby, it's ok."

"No, it isn't." More tears poured down her cheeks. "You need more time to heal, it's alright. I understand." With that, Derek kissed her lightly and sweetly as he pulled her shirt up, covering her breast.

Her hands had come up, her fingertips gently holding his throat, his adam's apple. It was a faint touch, one she didn't even know she was making.

"I'm sorry," she repeated after he pulled his lips away.

"Don't be. You didn't do anything wrong."

It wasn't easy, but she managed to smile up at him. "I love you..."

"I love you too, sweetheart," he told her right before he picked her up and carried her to his bed, put her down and layed down next to her, wrapping his arm around her. Her back was facing him, so he tucked his knees up behind hers and nuzzled her neck.

"Hey, Der...?"

"Hm?"

"Does.. That... Go away on its own, or...?"

"What?" He looked down, realizing she meant his erection. She could feel it pressing into her ass, making her blush. "Oh... Uh, after a while.."

"Alright..." she snuggled into his back, blushing even more when she felt herself backing into her hard-on. This isn't fair to him... I should be doing this for him. The loft was silent; no words were spoken between them. The only thing she could hear was the sound of his breathing, getting lighter and lighter. I should turn around... give him what he wants... She really did try to, tried to bring herself to face him, to expose herself completely for the first time, to do something when she knew it would painful for her the whole time. She wanted to, for him, but for herself... She couldn't bring herself to.

A few hours, maybe three or four, passed without any form of conversation between them. Derek had fallen asleep within twenty minutes, her after thirty.

Florence seldom ever dreamed. At least, ever remembered her dreams. The last time she did was months before that, when she had nightmares after her encounter with Kyle. Derek managed to get into her mind, somehow stop her from having those nightmares. He mainly did it just by staying in her room at night, showing her that he was there when she fell asleep and when she woke up. Some days he heard Linda up early, so he had to jump out her window early. But he never left without kissing her goodbye and leaving a note for her on her nightstand.

On this day, she dreamed again, not of Kyle or good things, but of bad omens. Nothing was clear, all she could really see was a few black figures.. And she could hear Derek yelling something, but she just couldn't make out the words. Then she heard a gunshot, and her dream just... Ended. She didn't know how much longer she had slept.

When she woke, the cold air bit at her arms, hands and feet, making her cuddle in closer to him, bringing her hands close to her chest for warmth.

Her heart rate accelerated when she heard his low, raspy I-just-woke-up-voice, "You awake?"

"Mhm..."

Derek pressed his face into the back of her neck, taking in her scent and warmth. Another moment passed between them before any words were spoken.

"Der? Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

Her voice light, she stared ahead at the window. Judging by the point of the sun, she assumed it was 5 p.m. "How do you feel about death?"

He frowned slightly, picking his head up. "What made you ask me this?"

"I was curious..."

"Well... I'm not afraid of it."

"I am," she admitted. "I'm so afraid..." Florence blinked slowly, tiredly, and brought her hands even closer to her chest.

"What.. What made you think of this?" This wasn't her. Florence wasn't one to dwell over the dark part of life... Not anymore.

"I had this dream... This weird dream. It wasn't scary, it's just giving me a really bad feeling in my gut and chest.."

Derek lightly caressed her abdomen, trying to show her some form of comfort. "Tell me about it."

She swallowed and stared at the window for a brief moment before rolling, facing him. With a light sigh, she began, "I.. I couldn't see clearly at all. But it was dark, and there were black figures in front of me... I heard you yelling something but I couldn't figure out what it was. Then I heard a gunshot.."

"And?"

"That's it.. It just ended."

He sighed lightly while stroking her cheek with the backs of his fingers. "It's really bothering you this much?"

She simply nodded, her eyelids lowering as she looked down at his chest, placing her hand on it.

"Don't worry about it, Rabbit. I'm sure it was just a bad dream. You'll forget about it within a few days, maybe a few weeks. Alright?"

"Alright..."

He placed his hand over hers and kissed her forehead. "Come on. I need to get you home before your mother freaks out on me. Why does she want you home earlier anyway?"

She was silent, not looking at him.

"Florence?"

"She found out about Kyle."

"Wh- what? How?"

"I.. I told her... I had to. I felt so guilty for keeping something like that away from her. I mean, she is my mom..."

He sighed, his hand resting on her hip. "So she didn't file a police report?"

"She was going to, but I kept telling her not to and she eventually agreed. I just told her I want to bury that memory and just try to pretend it never happened..."

"It doesn't work like that, baby. You need to accept what happened and learn to move on."

"I am moving on." Her gaze shifted up, making eye contact with him. "My way. I need some form of control. I know you understand that."

"I do... But this isn't exactly something you can just control. You're hurt, Florence... Running from your past won't heal your wounds."

She sat up, looking down at him. "Who said I'm running? Besides it's not like you ever talk about your past."

Derek sat up also, a frown on his face. "That's different. I don't need it. I have a life here, I don't need to dwell over or explain anything about my life."

"Then I don't either! God you're such a hypocrite sometimes!"

What the fuck was this? Since when did Florence ever yell or argue with anyone, especially him? When did she just randomly explode? He was concerned, in all honesty.

"Are you ok?"

"What do you mean am I ok?! I'm fine!"

"No, Florence, you're not. You're angry."

"Yeah, so?! People get angry, Derek!"

He stared into her eyes, trying to figure out where this was coming from. "You don't."

A long silence passed between them, never breaking eye contact. That is, till her eyes watered and she looked down at her hands.

"I'm sorry, Derek, I didn't mean to yell at you..."

"It's fine, I understand. I just need to know why you're even angry. It's not like you."

"It doesn't matter... I just want to forget about it."

"That's not how anger works. If you don't tell me, I won't be able to help you and your anger will only grow. Trust me."

"How could I trust you?" She whispered, looking up at him. "I know next to nothing about you."

Derek stared into her eyes, his mind tearing itself apart by trying to figure out what to even say to her.

"You never tell me anything about yourself. You won't even tell me your mother's name."

"It was Talia."

"'Was'...?"

He stopped. Fuck.

"I.. don't speak with her anymore."

"I get that, but you won't even tell me why!"

"Alright, listen, reason why is because I was a complete asshole. I didn't-"

"Didn't what, Derek?! No mother would kick her son out just for him being an a-"

"I got into drugs."

Her heart dropped to her stomach. "Wh- what...?"

"I drank, I smoked, I took pills, I slept around and my parents got tired of it. They told me if I didn't stop they'd kick me out, and they did."

In all truth, he really did smoke a form of wolfsbane that was most common. He seemed to be the only one who knew it could be used as a drug, but he assumed it was simply because no other wolf was brave- rather, stupid enough- to try it. When he realized it was easy to become addicted to it, he quit. It wasn't till he began to feel cravings that he did.

"I was a douche, Florence. I didn't listen and they couldn't handle me. They fucking hate me for it, alright? Now tell me what's bothering you."

"Wait, you stopped, right...? I mean, you're not a-

"Drug addict? No. I stopped. Now tell me," he said with a frown.

She sighed heavily, slowly, looking down at her hands. Her voice was quiet as she said, "I... I hate how he just got to walk away... I'm left with all of these bad feelings; I'm disgusted, I feel dirty, violated." Her voice cracked, and fresh tears leaked from her hazel eyes. "But he probably doesn't even care."

Derek tried to extinguish that ache he felt in his chest. No, not the ache one feels when depressed. This is the one he knew all too well, that burning depression that felt like was pushing into his epigastric region, the one that could only be caused by anger.

"Why do you think I beat the fuck out of him?"

"That's the worst part," she whispered. "I want to cause him pain... I want to hurt him." That last part seemed to pain her to say. "I hate it so much, Derek," she broke and sobbed out her words, crumbling. When Derek got closer and wrapped his arms around her, she leaned into him. "I don't want to be a monster. I don't want to become him... But deep down, I am."

"You're not," his voice was low and soothing as he looked down at her. "You're not a monster, Florence."

"How am I not? I- I want to literally hurt him like he hurt me. I want him to feel my pain. How is that not a monstrous thing?"

"It's called anger, sweetheart... Anger is human. You're proving your humanity just by feeling this way."

She contemplated his words for what seemed like forever. He was going to speak up again, until she finally spoke, "How do you know this...?"

He sighed lightly through his nose and lowered his eyes. "Because it's what I am. You're a nice person. You care about people. You're sympathetic, beautiful, benevolent. I'm... Not. I don't understand how a person like you could even exist. Before I met you, I would have denied your type of person is real," he laughed lightly, kissing her head. "But you've proven to me that you are."

"You are beautiful, Derek," she said, looking up at him with a small smile." You are the most beautiful person I've ever met."

He frowned slightly, "Then you must have seen some ugly son of a bitches out there."

"No... You're beautiful. Only you can make me smile when I feel this way... Only you can make me realize the truth."

He smiled lightly and rested his forehead on hers, stealing a small, affectionate kiss. "Only three things cannot remain hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth."

Too bad that was much too true.