Sorry this update was later than the usual, because I had to plan all week for a farewell dance.

Anyhow,

Chapter 15.

Disclaimer: I own plot and nothing else.

At first when I woke, I thought I was back at Mr. Bae's house.

Then, after a moment of confusion, I remembered everything that went down the night before.

So many questions swam in my head. The top one was one we hadn't talked about- The Edison group. What were we going to do? We couldn't move again. Not with Tori pregnant.

I sighed and pushed those thoughts away, happy to be in a warm bed. I felt something tight and strong around my waist. I furrowed my brows in confusion, then relaxed again when I realized it was Derek's arm.

Derek… I thought.

I turned roughly in the bed so I was faced him, and then softly buried my head into his chest.

Derek was just as stressed out as I was. It had only been a couple of days of this insane drama, but it had felt to me like weeks. I felt as if we'd been on the streets again, like we would never go back home.

I closed my eyes and curled up against him. I didn't noticed he was awake until he kissed the top of my head, giving me a mini heart attack.

"Hey." He whispered. There was an edge to his voice I didn't understand.

"Hi." I murmured into his shirt. He shifted his arm so it cradled me against him.

"How are you?" He asked, his voice low. I let out a slow, shuddering breath. "I should be asking you that." I said softly. I could feel the bandage on his arm that Aunt Lauren had put on him after she disinfected it.

"I'm fine. Surprised he knocked out that easy…" He said the last part worriedly.

I looked up to his face. He was looking down to me,. His green eyes seemed to swim in possibilities.

I scooted yet closer to him, eliminating the small space between us. He absentmindedly rubbed his hand against my back, a comforting motion.

And we let that hang in the air, neither one of us wanting to think about it for that sweet moment.

When Derek heard my stomach start to growl, we decided it was time for breakfast.

A weird feeling hung in the air. We knew we needed to discuss things…to figure them out. because at the moment, they were tangled in with each other, and we didn't know which connected to which.

But on the other hand, we both wanted to be normal for just a little bit longer. I should've known better than get used to it.

I scooted into the loveseat in the living room, a cold bowl of Cheerios in my hands.

As I stirred my spoon in the cereal, I eyed Derek. He was pouring himself a glass of orange juice, his face seemed distant, as if he was in a totally different place in his mind. I knew that face well. he was calculating something.

He looked up to me. Our eyes met. I bit my lip and looked away. I heard Derek mutter something I couldn't understand under his breath.

As much as I didn't want to talk about, as much as I wanted to ignore it, I also wanted to get it straightened out. Figured out. I wanted to feel better about it.

"Forty percent…" I finally said. I looked down at my cereal. I cleared my throat. "Aunt Lauren said she only had a forty percent chance of…surviving."

"I know." He said gruffly. He turned away to the refrigerator.

I gulped. "What can we do?' I asked.

He turned back to me, his eyes soft. He thought for a second, his eyes seemed to lighten, like an idea popped into his head. I waited silently, praying he knew what to do.

He looked back up to me. "We can't do much." His eyes were sad. My hopes dissolved.

"And what about The Edison Group? What are you going to do about that?" My tone was a little anxious, almost rude. But Derek didn't seem to care.

Derek carried a blueberry muffin and his glass of orange juice over to the seat next to me. He sat the glass down, then grunted as he sat on the chair. His face twisted in pain for a moment, then relaxed.

I must've looked worried, because he muttered "I'm fine."

He studied my eyes for a second. "We can't move." He said.

"But we can't stay…I mean, they know where we are." I objected. He sadly shook his head, and I, uncomfortable, shifted in my seat.

"It doesn't matter. Tori's pregnant. They've gotten their first mission accomplished." He said with a twinge or regret.

"But isn't that what they want? Don't they want to anchor us down by Tori's…condition?" I asked, now shaking my head.

Derek bit his lip. "Yeah. But if we leave, they'll hunt us down. And then Tori…the percentage would be even less." He reasoned.

I weighed the two options. He was right about Tori. But if we stayed….

There was a little question hanging in the back of my mind.

"Derek?" I asked, looking back down to my breakfast. "Did you notice Rae didn't come back last night?" I asked.

I looked up. He had stiffened, a grim look on his face. "Yes." He said.

I sighed heavily. "Do you think…?" I scrunched up my face, worried and scared.

"I don't think she's working for them, no. But…she was acting weird…" He mumbled.

She was acting weird. And I had a bad feeling, a nagging message, unclear, trying to find its way to my mind.

"But right now we need to focus on staying safe." He decided, his voice sure.

I nodded. One task at a time, I thought. As long as I stuck to that plan, I'd be fine.

About an hour later, my phone buzzed.

I flipped it open, and realized it was Simon calling. I clicked the green button, and held my cell to my ear.

"Hello?" I asked. Derek rose an eyebrow. I mouthed "Simon." and he nodded.

"Hey Chloe." I heard Simon say on the other line.

"Hey. What's up?" I asked. I knew Simon heard the edge in my voice. Please don't be bad news, I prayed.

"Uh, I wanted to talk to you. It has to do with Ryan." He said quietly on the other line. Derek furrowed his brows.

I thought for a moment. Ryan? Why would Simon call me to talk about…Ryan?

I stood from my seat next to Derek and slowly moved into the bedroom, leaving Derek behind watching ESPN on the small T.V.

"Yeah. Shoot." I said urgently.

"I feel bad. About Tori." He said.

Silence between us.

"She's pregnant with three kids, werewolves , and we killed the father who tried to kill us. It's pretty messed up. I feel bad 'cause she's going to have to raise these kids alone. She's going to have to go through this alone. Even if she's been a bitch in the past…" He trailed off.

Simon's tone broke my heart.

"That's not true, Simon. We'll go through it with her. We'll be there." I promised him.

"But still, she's going to be a single mom. If-" He stopped short. I knew what he was going to say.

If she survives.

"She'll…she will be okay, Simon." I whispered. I thought I heard Derek approaching, but when I turned to look out the door, there was no one.

"She'll be okay." Simon repeated, more to himself then me. "Yeah." he sighed.

"How is she now?" I asked.

He snickered. "Same old moody Tori." He said, almost relived. "And she sleeps. A lot." He added.

I smiled.

"How are you, Chloe?" he asked, his voice transforming back to the happy Simon tone I'd grown used to.

"I'm okay. Hey how is that comic coming along?' I asked, changing the subject.

"Oh, I totally forgot! I've just got to shade in some things, you know, give them dimension. That's about it. What should we name it, though?" He asked, referring to the first comic of our adventures at Lyle house.

Simon had to restart the comic a while back, considering all of the events that had happened since then. I had helped Simon with the plot, and I had helped him plan out what should be grouped into one book. So far, we figured there would be at least three.

I thought about a title.

"How about… 'The Summoning?'" I suggested. It seemed fit, considering our main plot consisted of a lot of ghosts.

"Summoning….I like it. Yeah, I like it a lot. Crap. Hey Chloe I got to go. Apparently we're going to McDonalds." I heard him yell something about Tori, but it was a muffled sound.

"Is it okay for Tori to eat fast-food?" I wondered.

I started to walk back out of the bedroom, back to where Derek was.

"I don't know, but if she doesn't get some now we're all in trouble." He muttered. I laughed. "Bye Simon." I said.

"Bye Chloe." and the line went dead. I snapped the phone and set it down on the table.

Derek grunted. I looked at him, and saw his face uneasy. I opened my mouth to ask him if he was okay, but he interrupted with "It's just an ache." As if that would make me feel better. I perched on the arm of his chair, and held his hand.

"I love you." He murmured.

"I love you too." I replied involuntarily.

Thirty minutes later, Derek said "Chloe? Could you go to the store for me?"

I gave him a weird look. "For what?" I asked, confused.

"We ran out of Doritos."

I gave him an even weirder look. "Doritos?" I asked.

"Please, Chloe? I can't move without pain shooting through my back." He pleaded. My face softened.

"Now?" I asked, a little confused. It didn't make sense.

"Yes, please. I love you." He tacked on the last part like it would change my mind.

It didn't completely, but it helped.

"Doritos? Anything else?" I sighed as I got up from the arm chair, and slipped on my shoes.

"No. But thanks." He said, his voice was edgy.

After I combed through my hair twice, and pulled on a jacket, I headed for the front door.

"Chloe?" Derek asked. I turned from the door to him.

"I love you." He said again. But this time it was different.

I froze. I couldn't respond. So I nodded, and left.

On the drive back to the apartment, something inside me turned sour. I couldn't place it, so I tried desperately to push it away. I was just being paranoid, I convinced myself.

But I sped up anyway.

Grocery bag on my wrist, I unlocked the apartment door and stepped inside. I closed the door behind me, and turned.

It was quiet in the apartment, except for the T.V. advertisement for acne cream.

"Derek," I called. He wasn't sitting in the living room. "I've got you're chips." I set them on the counter, then went to look in the bedroom. I peeked in.

He wasn't there.

Worried, I knocked on the bathroom door. "Derek?" I called out. But there was no reply. I quickly opened the door. He wasn't there.

I ran back out to the living room. I studied the chair, and then rushed over to it.

On it lay Derek's cell phone. I tried to turn it on, but it was dead.

Dead or alive, Derek would take his phone with him if he were going somewhere. I realized.

Shock, fear, and surprise filled me.

Derek was gone.

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