I'm back! (: I know you all hate me for taking over a month off. IM SORRYYY! I started school last month, and since it's my senior year, I've just got so much going on! I've got so many college applications, scholarship essays, homework, and extracurricular stuff to take care of like DECA and work ): But I finally got a weekend off and got caught up on everything. I can't promise that updates will be as quick as they were over the summer, but I will try my best to put them up faster!
Alsoooo, check out my other Teen Wolf / Derek Fanfic called REVELATION! Its about how Kate disappears for several years, and Derek somehow finds himself with a little girl familiar blond curly hair and similar green eyes… ;) Read it!
Sorry if this chapter isn't as great as the others… I'm a little rusty since I haven't written in such a long time :O!
Okay thanks loves. Read, review, and enjoy (:
The trip to Sacramento was quiet. Too quiet.
Karaline had been sitting so still with her body turned towards the window so that I couldn't see her face – but I could feel the tension in her. It got me worried. Was she upset with me? Was I too straight forward when I introduced myself as her boyfriend? Or was she upset about that blond guy?
Automatically my grip on the steering wheel tightened as I thought about him and the red head. It was obvious that it was hard for Karaline to see him – and for me to see that glimmer of pain in her eyes killed me. I had no idea who the guy was, what he did, or what he meant to Karaline – but I wanted to rip his throat out.
The silence was torture.
"Karaline," I finally spoke up. I waited, but she didn't move. Her stillness frightened me. "Karaline please," I said in a softer tone. "Talk to me," I pleaded.
She turned towards me slowly and my heart stopped as she stared at me with an expression that I had never seen on any person before. I couldn't tell if it was sadness, anger, confusion, or all three, but the lightness in her eyes that never failed to leave was completely gone. She was unreadable.
"Yes?" she asked trying to keep control of the shakiness in her voice.
I hesitated for moment regretting not planning out what to say before I spoke up. I chose to get right to the point. "Who is he?" I asked with no anger, no hostility. By now my concentration directed more at her rather than the road as her blue eyes failed to look back at me. She was quiet for a long time, but I stayed patient. I could see her mind racing a mile a minute trying to draw the courage to speak up. Her body was limp as she slouched slightly – her beautiful confidence completely erased.
Finally, she spoke. "He was my boyfriend," she said. "We started dating in high school and were together for several years." Karaline tried to keep her voice as normal as possible, trying to hide the sadness, but it was hard to miss that softness in her tone. "Then he met Gracie."
And with that, I knew the rest of the story – Karaline didn't need to go on. I looked at her from the corner of my eye, watching her strength unfold before me as she covered up any sense of pain that glimmered in her eyes not too long ago.
I hesitated with my next question, staying quiet for a couple minutes – I was frightened to ask, but I knew that it was necessary to know. "Do you still love him?"
Suddenly, her body tensed. "No," I glanced at her for a moment, taken aback by her sudden change of tone – her blue eyes flickered with fire. "No, Derek," she repeated with a slight sense of hysteria in her voice. She turned back towards the window, shaking her head. "No," she said once again. Her unexpected anger was actually scary.
"After all he did, how could I love him?" she whispered, still looking out the window. At this point I wasn't sure who she was talking to. "We had our whole lives planned out together. He was so good to me and I trusted Ryan. Our families were close and all of my friends envied me for having what seemed like a 'perfect' high school romance. He loved me and I loved him very much, or at least I thought so. And when you're that young, you believe everything. Then one day Ryan just got up and left me like it was nothing." She paused for a moment, regaining control of her emotions as her voice started to shake.
"He told me Gracie was the one for him." She chuckled humorlessly. Karaline turned away from the window, but looked straight ahead towards the road, avoiding my gaze.
"He took everything from me." Her voice was lifeless. My heart clenched – I had no words for her.
"But I don't hate him," she stated. I turned towards her in surprise at what she had just said.
"Why?" I asked trying to the hide the shock inside of me. She may not hate him, but I couldn't say the same for myself.
She shook her head. "I'm mad at myself," she said in disappointment. "I was so naïve and fell into his trap for so long. Such a large part of my life was just wasted because of him and in the end I had nothing left in me. I blame myself for ending up in that horrible state that I was left in." She scowled at the dashboard for a long time as I waited for her to continue.
"When I saw them today, it didn't hurt to see her. When I saw Gracie, I really had no emotion towards her, but it was him that killed me. It was like all that pain flooded back inside of me and I felt so embarrassed." Her blue eyes were still.
I was quiet for a moment as I process everything that she had just said while my emotions boiled inside of me. On one hand, my body almost began to shake with anger as I thought about Ryan. I wanted to rip him to pieces – though I know Karaline would never approve, but Ryan wouldn't go unpunished for what he did to her, I'll make sure of it. And on the other side, my heart bled. If anyone knew what it was like to lose everything – whether it was your one love, or your entire family – it was me. I took all of my strength to not reach out and pull her into my arms, for I still had one more lingering question to ask.
As soon as I pulled up to her apartment and turned off the car, I took in a deep breath. "Are you upset with me?" I asked, completely redirecting the subject – I couldn't stand to see her in pain anymore. She blinked at me in pulled her eyebrows together. Her face twisted quizzically.
"For what?" she replied. I scowled down at the steering wheel, unable to look at her.
"You know what I'm talking about," I said, trying to make my voice sound as unharsh as I could. At this point, I was starting to feel embarrassed asking such a question. It took a moment before Karaline caught on to what I was asking about – and to my surprise, she took my hand and chuckled.
"Why would I be upset at becoming your girlfriend?" she asked smiling, the light glimmer back in her beautiful blue eyes. She cupped my check and pulled me down to her awaiting lips. All of my anger, pain, confusion or whatever else escaped my mind as her sweet scent engulfed me. She pulled away after a moment and knelt her forehead to mind, closing her eyes. My body un-tensed as I held her close. "Thank you for everything," she whispered. "I miss you already," Karaline laughed quietly. I closed the distance between our lips to give her one last kiss before she left.
"Karaline," I called out to her right before she closed the passenger door. She bent down and looked at me curiously with her angelic blue eyes. "I have a surprise for you when you get back to Beacon Hills this weekend."
Her head turned to the side as she squinted at me, teasingly. "I don't like surprises, Derek."
"Too bad," I smirked before pulling the car out and heading back to town.
