First, I'd like to say THANK YOU for all the comments :) I feel so spoiled. I hope this isn't too much like the first one. I have a couple more in Derek's POV and then I might switch it around... we'll see. If you have any suggestions, comment or PM me :)

Disclaimer: Last time I looked in the mirror, I didn't look like Kelley Armstrong… damn, I guess I still don't own anything :'(

This is set during the Awakening, on the bus, after the fight with the werewolves.

On the bus part 2

DPOV

After Chloe fell asleep on my shoulder, I finally started to process what had just happened. I was so focused first on getting Chloe safe and then cleaning her up and then making sure we were safely hidden until the bus came that what had just happened was put on the back burner, there, but not consciously acknowledged. Now, it was looping through my brain like one of Chloe's ghostly replays. Albeit being scared and feeling fiercely protective, anger was the emotion that dominated at the moment-big surprise there. I admit, though rather painfully, that the fact that Chloe had even been present for this situation was my fault. I shouldn't have woken her up to tell her where I was going and what was happening in the first place. And the only reason that I did was because I knew she'd insist on coming and I liked having her there.

I needed her there.

I wanted her there.

She made me feel calmer, comforted and her presence alone, even without the noncommittal, though still comforting, murmurs of reassurance, was more than I could ever ask for. I felt like if she were there that I would be okay, that I had to be okay because she was there and she needed me, and those thoughts made the pain almost bearable. Chloe and I seemed to almost be tied together by our shit circumstances. We were there for each other when no one else was and we seemed to know exactly what the other needed to hear. I provided protection and in her own way, Chloe provided protection too because all things aside, when I was changing, Chloe made me feel safe, like I was safe and not a danger. And I admired that. I knew that what she saw wasn't pretty and her refusing to look away-too stubborn for her own good that one-made me feel human. She even had a way of letting me know that she felt bad for me without making me feel pitied, which I don't even know how she did. Chloe was there for me, and tonight, I had failed her miserably all because I was too scared to deal with the Change by myself. I was mad at myself for exposing her to that danger and to those monsters, which frankly, wasn't a strong enough word. If I hadn't been outmatched and outnumbered, I probably wouldn't have had any reservations about finishing one of them off-preferably Liam-and that kind of scared me. But really, they-mostly Liam though, deserved it for intending to do what they wanted to.

The whole time, I was admittedly terrified and inexpressibly panicked. Not for me though, for Chloe. All I could think about was getting her safe, no matter what is cost me. And every time Liam leered at her or addressed her, I wanted to snap his neck in two.

I can feel myself getting worked up just thinking about it and the only thing that calms me down is the sight of her sleeping safely and soundly on my shoulder. After taking a few precautionary deep breaths, I'm clear-headed enough to remember something that Chloe said in the bathroom when I was cleaning her up. Her words came back to me, the memory still fresh in my mind:

"But you considered entrusting you life to people who would? Werewolves who play judge and jury for their own kind? Torture and kill other werewolves? Knowing that, you'd go to them, pretend you killed humans, and hope they'd go easy on you because you're a kid? Or were those odds okay with you? If they decided you didn't deserve to live, maybe they'd be right?" Her tone was thick with sarcasm, but when I was too slow to answer, she started to panic. She thought I had a death wish, which I don't. I do not. I'm not one of those teenagers who walk around wallowing in self-pity and saying my life is terrible and that there's no point to it. The way I see it, things could always be worse, even if they seem pretty terrible some times. Like I could be dead, or locked up, alone, never having known Simon or Dad or Chloe… The reason I took my time to answer was because I was trying to figure out how to explain it to Chloe. Basically, the safety of those I care about comes before my own because I wouldn't be able to live with myself if something happened to one of them and I came out all right. It went against all my instincts as pack "Alpha". It's hard to explain why you are the way you are and I've always been that way. Better me than one of them. But what really struck me in Chloe's little speech was the underlying understanding. She managed to create the proverbial crack in the wall, a hole in my defenses because, with a start, I realized that Chloe seemed to have me figured out. Unlike most people, she hadn't shied away from the exterior and that caught me off guard. Instead, she had tried to infiltrate the interior and I realized that I let her. I wanted to know her and I wanted her to know me. Those thoughts surprised me too because I used to think that I could figure anyone out. There are basic, almost standard flaws in human nature. Conceit, arrogance, selfishness… and if you pay enough attention, at some point, you start recognizing patterns and people become easy to read.

Well, not including Chloe. The girl was always surprising me and for once, I didn't know what to expect from a person. That realization was slightly daunting because if I didn't know what to expect, I couldn't plan and that was, well that was new to me. Gulping nervously, I looked down again at Chloe, now nestled into my side, and slowly came to the conclusion that, somehow, the deceptively sweet and naïve sleeping girl was not as harmless as I first thought she was because she seems to have pegged me before I could even begin to figure her out.

That could prove to be problematic…

Again, reviews and critiques are much appreciated. Tell me if it's too similar to the first one. Thank you :)