Darkest Powers fanfiction
EVERYONE'S SECRET
Derek Souza/OC: Mary Ralluber

Author's Note: WOW. It has been a REALLY, REALLY long time since I've written ANYTHING. It's been so long that I only managed to squeeze out a lame chapter. /: I've really got to step up my game. LOL. Well, hopefully the chapter's okay. I've got to start writing again. I have so much stuff planned with both this story and Plastic Promises, and I really want you guys to read what I've got, but I've got to write it out first! Buuuh! Okie dokles, well, enjoy the chapter and review, please. (: Thanks bunchies! :D

Chapter O4.

For the next couple of weeks, Derek and Mary steered clear of each other, still highly embarrassed about what had happened the night Mary suffered through her painful cramping. It really wasn't something to be so incredibly embarrassed about, but considering they didn't exactly know the other sort of made it awkward, and Mary wanted to kick herself for holding Derek's hand.

But after those couple of weeks, they realized they couldn't keep avoiding each other, especially since they lived in the same house. And Mary was growing sick of hanging around Brady for company. She had sort of changed her behavior to try and click with him so that she'd have somebody to hang around, since Derek had Simon, but she realized that Brady was a poor choice, although he didn't seem to think that way and she had been afraid he'd think that she actually liked him.

The painful nights had stopped exactly a week from when they had started and Mary had made it clear that she didn't want Derek to come back and keep her company. She didn't want to feel awkward and embarrassed anymore, and Derek seemingly understood. The look on his face told her he didn't care whether she wanted him there or not, but Mary couldn't help but feel that hurt, unwanted vibe emitting from him. She tried to ignore it. She didn't want another problem added to her excruciating long list of problems stored in her mind.

Mary also realized that Derek's appearance was getting worse and worse. The puberty was eating him alive. The angry red zits had traversed all over his face and even down underneath his chin and on the sides of his neck. And, no matter how often he showered, his hair remained greasy and his body odor didn't seem to falter. She pitied him.

She walked out of her room after doing the homework that was assigned to her from Miss Wang, the children's tutor. She hated homework, but she hated having it stockpile and waiting for her to do it even more. Procrastination didn't work with her.

Mary had smelled Derek coming down the hall, and she was pretty sure she wasn't the only one. His body odor had gotten really bad. He hadn't even gone outside to play basketball with Simon yet and he already smelled like he had just come back from running in a triathlon. Cupped in her hand while walking out of her room was her miracle acne cream, the cream that did her skin wonders. She met him outside the bathroom, him peering down at her strangely.

"What's that?" he asked when she held the cream out for him.

"It's acne cream," she muttered, not meeting his eyes.

"It won't work. I've tried every cream out there. Nothing works." He grasped the doorknob to the bathroom door, ready to walk inside.

"No," she said suddenly, looking up at him finally. "It's … different. I guarantee you haven't used this cream before. My dad got it specifically because of what I am. It's for people like us," she explained.

Derek turned back to her, his eyebrows knitted together and clearly taking interest into the acne cream container. Mary urged him to take it and he did. After that, she quickly left him, leaving that awkward tension between them again.

It was a start to regaining the neutral vibe between them. When Mary came back upstairs, she noticed the bathroom door open and spotted Derek applying the acne cream. Something inside made her stomach flip and she felt an involuntary smile spread across her face.

Derek noticed her in the mirror and immediately looked away, embarrassed. He cleared his throat and stumbled among some words to find an excuse to applying the cream, as if he'd been caught doing something he shouldn't have been.

"Um … I, uh, just thought I'd try this, um, out. See if it actually worked, like you said," he stammered. Mary smirked and folded her arms over her chest.

"Trust me, it does," she assured, and then waved a hand in front of her face for display. "This flawless skin used to be a crater zone. I'd breakout badly, especially during that time of the month. If it worked for me, it'll work for you too."

Derek half-smiled. "Thanks, then. I'll just leave it in your room when I'm done with it," he said. She waved him off.

"Keep it. I've got a couple other containers. Besides, you're going to need it," she said and walked away. She hadn't even walked three steps when Derek had poked his head out of the bathroom and called out to her.

"Mary," he said. "I've, uh, been thinking about this for a while and I actually have something to ask of you." Mary turned around, curious. She cocked her head and knitted her eyebrows.

"'Bout what?"

Derek's voice dropped to a whisper. "About the lycanthropy. I have some, um, questions for you. Just wondering if you could answer them," he admitted, dropping his gaze to her feet. In addition to her torn jeans and loose t-shirt combination, she sported old sneakers, the rubber on the sides peeling off and the fabric long faded. Derek had come to realize that Mary really was a ranch girl.

Mary's arms crossed and she arched an eyebrow. "As I recall a couple of weeks ago, you made it clear to me that you didn't want to talk to me about anything," she said. Derek rolled his eyes.

"Okay, well, I was lying."

"No …" Mary exasperated sarcastically, which made Derek's eyes narrow to a glare.

"Look, I really don't want to be asking these questions. They're embarrassing, but I don't really have a choice. And since you're the only one I can ask them to, I'm really going to need you to be serious and not sarcastic, all right?" he said firmly, almost raising his voice at her. Mary stared up at him, glaring back, but then suddenly smirked.

"All right, but only because I'm just so interested in what these embarrassing questions are. I'm surprised that big, tough Derek Souza can actually be embarrassed. Good to know," she snickered. Derek's glare didn't let up.

"You're one to talk. As I recall, it was I who was sitting with you while you dealt with your woman issues while holding my hand." Mary's snickering came to a halt after hearing this and returned to her glare.

"Keep it up and I won't help you at all with your embarrassing lycanthropy questions," she threatened. Derek scoffed.

"Whatever. Meet me outside by the tool shed after dinner. You should already know the alarm system code, right?"

"Of course. I'm a wolf, not a moron," replied Mary with an eye roll.

"Yeah. Good to know," Derek mumbled sarcastically as Mary turned to walk towards the stairs and he returning to the bathroom sink to finish applying the acne cream.

After their dinner of tuna sandwiches and carrots, Mary went upstairs to dress into her pajamas and wash up. Derek had changed his mind about meeting directly after dinner. Instead, they were rendezvousing after midnight, after Miss Van Dop had made the second round of bed checks.

Mary brushed her teeth and checked her face in the mirror. She could spot a couple of blemishes on her chin that would need some touching up from her miracle acne cream. Remembering that Derek had taken an interest to trying it out made her grin at her reflection. He would soon find that the cream was everything Mary had said it was. She ruffled her straight jet black hair from behind, fixed her white t-shirt and short navy blue sleep shorts, and then walked out of the door.

She hadn't even walked three steps when she sniffed out Brady's scent nearby. He rounded the corner and beamed at her, dressed in his own ensemble of a white wife beater and blue pajama pants.

"Hey, we're twins," he chuckled, pointing at the both of them. Mary strained a smile.

"Cool," she replied through her teeth.

"You wanna go downstairs and watch a movie with me? I'm bored out of my mind and I don't really find Miss Wang's homework that exciting to do at the moment. I'm thinking we could ask Mrs. Talbot about Jurassic Park. I can't believe we have to ask to watch that movie when it's only PG. I used to be able to watch rated R movies when I was nine …" Brady ranted. Mary didn't even make the effort to pretend that she was listening. She stared over his shoulder, where her eyes met with Derek's. His hands were stuffed in the pockets of his usual sweatpants, sporting a sweatshirt to match.

"You know, Brody, that sounds so great, but I've actually got to do something in my room. I'll see you in the morning," Mary interrupted, Brady's mouth still open from talking.

"It's Brady. You've been getting my name wrong a lot lately. You should already know it by now," he mentioned with narrowing eyebrows. Mary did her best not to roll her eyes and turned on her heel towards her bedroom.

"Right. Good night, Brandy," she called with a wave over her shoulder.

"It's Brady, dammit! Brandy's not even a guy's name!"

When Mary returned to her room, she leaned against her door to make sure Brady had either gone back downstairs or to his room. Derek's scent lingered and she figured he was in the bathroom. She walked over to her bed, belly-flopped onto it, and pulled a magazine she had nicked from a grocery store before she'd come to Lyle House to read. She'd just barely opened the magazine when her door burst open, much to Mary's surprise. She jumped and nearly fell off of her bed, grasping the sheets with all of her might, tearing them slightly in the process.

"Jesus. Can't you knock?" she scolded as Derek closed the door behind him. "What if I was naked?"

"I didn't hear any rustling of clothing, just the opening of a magazine." Derek pointed his chin to the fallen magazine on the floor.

"Whatever. What do you want, puppy?" she asked, sitting up straight and letting go of her grasp.

"The talk …"

Mary groaned. "Can you make up your mind about a rendezvous time? Next thing I know, you're going to come back while I'm sleeping to change the date to next week."

"Not if we're going to talk right now," said Derek. "I've mentioned to Mrs. Talbot that you needed help with your math and she agreed to let me help you, but only until nine. She doesn't want me here for too long, for obvious reasons. So that gives us an hour to talk."

"You told her that I needed help in math?"

"I'm taking college-level calculus. I highly doubt a high school pre-calculus student is going to help me with my math," said Derek. Mary arched an eyebrow and crossed her arms.

"Too bad I'm not the one receiving the help. What embarrassing questions have you got, wolf boy? And make them juicy." Mary grinned mischievously. Derek glared, but took a seat on the empty bed.

"Don't call me that," he grumbled. Mary's eyebrow arched again.

"Why? It's what you are. Part wolf, part boy."

"It doesn't sound humane." Mary laughed.

"Um, news flash; you aren't human." Derek's body trembled and he was suddenly hovering over Mary's body, arms on either side of her body, pinning her down and caging her underneath his chest. He was glaring, baring his teeth at her. Mary showed no fear, however, only curiosity.

"Don't ever say that to me … EVER!" he hissed menacingly, breathing heavily. A tiny twinge lifted the edges of Mary's lips, making a smug little grin.

"Sorry, my bad … I meant, you aren't full human. You've got to accept the fact, Derek, or you'll be eaten alive by your denial," she said. Derek looked taken aback for a second, his anger dissolving into puzzlement. "Now can you get off of me before someone walks in on us and gets the wrong idea?"

Derek stood up straight and combed his dark hair out of his eyes, which flopped back into place anyway. He returned to his seat on Mary's spare bed and glued his eyes to the ground.

"Okay. So that we've got some sort of understanding here, I'll remember to not call you wolf boy and you'll try to learn to accept who you are. You are a wolf boy, but I'm not going to call you one, okay?" Mary said. Derek sighed heavily. "I'll take that as a, 'Yes, Mary.' Now, what's on your mind that's eating at your brain, Derek?"

Derek's green eyes left her floor and met with Mary's own green eyes. She could read the stress and worry in them, that glassy look of fear. He finally asked her what had been on his mind ever since she'd arrived.

"Have you gone through the Change?"