Beware: Mature content ahead...finally. )
Lydia ran until she entered the dark, empty warehouse and lurched against the entryway, throwing open the doors to reveal the dirty, deserted train depot she'd become so familiar with. On the verge of hyperventilating, she trudged forward, purposefully stomping toward Derek's favorite lounging place. She knew he'd heard every move she'd made from the moment she'd pushed open the doors, and probably before that considering how loudly her heart was beating from running, but he'd refused to greet her as he usually did. He was probably still miffed about what had almost-happened between them the other night, but she didn't care.
Frantic and fuming over Peter's words, she climbed into the abandoned bus but saw him nowhere. Growling in irritation, she jumped down the steps and landed in the dirt, looking around for him somewhere. Perhaps he was gone, and he was safe from her. Maybe she hadn't needed to come here after all. Maybe he didn't feel anything about her, and Peter was wrong. A mild shred of hope that he would stay away from her sprang up, instantly followed by a stronger punch of pain at the thought she may never see him again. But if it meant he survived, wouldn't it be worth it?
Rubbing her hands together nervously, she explored toward the back of the warehouse, into a section she'd never entered. The shadows fell over her, the darkness caressing her and cooling her feverish skin. As she walked, a quiet clinking sound reached her ears, and she strained to find which direction it was coming from. She followed it and the noise grew louder until she recognized it as tools clanking against metal.
Rounding a corner, she saw him, laying on his back beneath a motor, his arm muscles bulging as he loosened a stubborn screw until it finally came free. Letting out a breath in relief, he rolled to his side and stood, noticing her as he did so. Surprise crossed his face for the briefest of moments before his features turned to stone, and he turned away from her to gather his tools.
"What do you want?" he asked, his voice hard and irritated. "I thought we were done here."
He brushed past her, carrying the tools back toward the main part of the depot, and she smelled the mixture of sweat and grease on him that heightened her senses and did funny things to her heart. Aggravated that he was trying to dismiss her, she followed him, grabbing his arm and forcing him to stop. She wasn't as strong as him, but her fingers in his bicep caught his attention, and he dropped the tools to turn and glare angrily down at her through the shadows.
"I came here to tell you to stay away from me," she stated, her jaw setting with determination as she forced herself to stare back into his penetrating gaze.
"It seems we agree on something," he snarked, turning away once more and forgetting the tools as he tried to move away from her again.
Huffing peevishly, she swiftly darted around him, blocking his path toward the bus. "You don't understand. I can't be around you; we can't be around each other. Never again. I mean it."
Scowling down at her, Derek frowned sourly. "And I don't think you understand that I have no problem staying away from you. So, you can go now." Waving her off like a pestering fly, his eyes widened as he looked down at her, his gaze asking why she wasn't already gone.
"You're so... infuriating!" she exclaimed, wanting to hit him but resisting. Her desire to protect him from Peter's plan, from her, was driving up her blood pressure and she was panicked that she wouldn't be able to stop it.
"Why am I the infuriating one?!" he asked, provoked. "You're happy with Jackson and your life is back to its fluffy little teenage dream, but you're the one standing here pissing me off and getting in my way while I'm trying to mind my own business."
She ground her teeth together and pursed her lips, drawing in a measured breath before snapping back at him, "My life is not a teenage dream. I have plenty to worry about!"
"Oh really?!" he asked with feigned incredulousness, "You're the most popular girl in school, you probably won Prom queen despite the fact you were bleeding to death at the time, and you've got your perfect little white picket fence life planned out for you. You'll have two point five kids with Jackson and be a wealthy socialite who dies happy on her silk sheets. Don't tell me you're the one with the problems."
Throwing her hands up in annoyance, she growled angrily. "I forgot: you're Mr. Sour Wolf who spends his days alone fixing things that will never run again and moaning over his dead, black heart!"
His jaw tightened at the words, and she saw his fists clench, but she knew he would never hit her. Instead, they stood glaring at one another for a moment, their chests rising and falling in rapid, angry breaths. A moment of silence hung between them as their anger cooled respectively, and Lydia finally looked away from him, remembering the reason she'd come here.
"I know you hate me, but I need you to listen to me," she said quietly, her eyes growing tired and sad as she looked back up at him. "I need you to stay away from me... for your own good."
He frowned slightly in confusion. "For my good, or yours?" he asked gently, stepping one step closer to her. She backed away from him but backed into a wall of metal piping and could move no further. She was trapped, unable to ignore him as he closed the gap between them.
"For... both of us."
Raising his eyebrows, he nodded and raised his chin, looking at her down the length of his nose. "Why is that? You're with Jackson, you said so yourself. Why should my proximity to you matter?"
He was closer to her now and she felt the heat radiating off of his body, the supernatural body heat of a werewolf. The smell of him, sweat and grease, clouded around her, muddling her thoughts and filling her imagination with what-if situations. Forcing herself to focus, she stared back at him, her glare softening as he came slowly closer but didn't touch her.
"It matters because... because Jackson is my boyfriend, and he's in a very precarious place right now. He needs me." She said the words like rote, reciting them off of her head as if she'd practiced them for weeks.
He felt inches from her now, their shirts touching but he carefully kept his skin from touching hers as he gazed down at her, the desire he still felt for her heating up his gaze and burning into her.
"Do you love him?" he asked quietly, a mixture of fear that she would say yes and excitement that she may say no in his voice.
"Why would you even ask such a thing?" she floundered, laughing off the question and refusing to answer. But Derek wouldn't let her get off so easily.
"Look into my eyes and tell me," he said sharply, his fingers gently grabbing her chin and forcing her to look at him, "Do you love him?"
Her heart raced in her chest, and she forced herself to calm down. She imagined he already knew the answer to the question, but he wanted to hear her say it. Knowing he could hear her heart beat, she mentally chided herself and forced herself to relax. She could do this. This would be her one chance to keep him away from her once and for all. It broke her to imagine never seeing him again, but she must do this. Peter would kill him, would make her kill him, and she couldn't. She just... couldn't.
"I love Jackson," she spoke the words firmly, staring resolutely into his immeasurable blue eyes the entire time.
His face was illegible as his hand dropped from her face and he nodded slightly. She couldn't tell if he was pleased or upset, angry or relieved. Something that had always interested her about Derek was how she couldn't read him, unlike everyone else she knew. His face was so complex, his emotions so well guarded and controlled, and it drove her insane. She remained pinned against the wall as if her shirt was stapled to the pipes, and he didn't move away from her even though his gaze dropped for a moment.
Relief spread over her, mixed with chagrin. She had convinced him she loved Jackson. That was why he was silent, taking it all in. She may not love Jackson anymore, but she could learn to care about him again. She could learn to love him down the road. And Derek would be safe.
Suddenly, his eyes were on her again, boring into her. Her heart jumped, and he was suddenly right in front of her, his hot breath cresting on her face as she stared, enthralled, into his breathtakingly blue eyes.
"You lied."
Two words. The statement was so simple, yet so damaging. He knew.
"I can hear your heart," he continued, his voice growing thick and husky. "You're lying."
His hand slid up her side, cupping her neck as she closed her eyes and tried to fight the burning desire seething through her body. Not wanting to miss a moment of him, her eyes snapped open and she saw him leaning toward her just like the other night. Only this time, he knew she'd been lying. He knew she loved him, and she could no longer deny it.
"Why did you lie to me, Lydia?" he murmured, his nose almost touching hers as he held her in thrall with his hand and those eyes.
"I..." she began, but her throat was too thick to continue. She released her breath almost imperceptibly, knowing it was pointless to try to feed him another lie.
Suddenly, she reached for him, her arms wrapping around his neck and pulling his lips down onto hers. He kissed her back fervently, his arms lacing around her and lifting her from the ground. The desire she felt for him was painful in its intensity, and her mind burned with it. Deep inside, she knew this shouldn't be happening - she shouldn't be feeling this way - that it put him in mortal danger, but she could no longer resist. She had tried lying to him, tried pushing him away, but Peter was right. She was the one who couldn't let go. She couldn't walk away, she had to know what it felt like to be consumed by a passion like what she felt when she looked at Derek.
He fell back into the opposite wall, holding her by her hips and sliding down as they kissed one another hotly. His bottom hit the floor, and her knees bent so she was straddling him, her fingers tearing at his dirty wifebeater and yanking it off over his head. Her breaths were ragged, and her heart palpitated until she was sure it would explode in her chest. Her stomach lurched with excitement, and her thighs quivered with expectation. Despite the fact she was the most popular girl in school, she was surprisingly still a virgin. As she kissed him, her need for him overwhelmed her and she wanted him like she had wanted no man before. Even when she'd loved Jackson, they'd made out many times, but she'd never gotten to the point of going all the way with him. It simply hadn't happened.
Now, she needed it to happen. She wanted Derek to take that one thing from her she could only give to one person.
Lifting her arms, stopping kissing him only long enough for him to pull her shirt off, she dove back into his lips the moment it was gone. Her hands cradled his face and ran down his chest, feeling the rippling hard muscles there. The tickle of desire sparked between her legs, and she moaned quietly when his fingers found the rim of her jeans, easily tearing them when he couldn't undo the button. Scrambling onto her knees, she moved backward as he rose to his knees and pushed her onto her back on the floor. Her jeans were gone in a flash, as were his, and their hot skin stuck together as her legs rose to surround him.
"Are you sure about this?" he whispered huskily into her ear as he kissed her neck and she moaned a bit louder from the pleasure of his stubble tickling the tenderness of her neck.
"I've never wanted anything more," she answered honestly as he stopped kissing her and looked into her eyes. This time, he knew she was telling the truth.
Her chest burned slowly from the passion, and she obeyed as he sat up and removed her underwear. Pushing his own away, he fell over on her, his lips tracing hot marks down her chest and onto her stomach. Her ragged breaths begged him to stop teasing her, and she gripped him desperately as he kissed her mouth again, sliding into her impatiently. She cried out against his mouth from the surprise and pleasure of feeling him where she'd never felt a man before, and her fingers dug into his back as she clung to him in the throes of passion. Her head spun from the wave of ecstasy that barraged her, resonating from her waist out into her extremities in a split second. Derek groaned on top of her, his own release coming simultaneously, and his arms shook with pent up energy as he propped himself up over her, their breathing intermingling in exhausted gasps.
Her green eyes opened and looked adoringly up at him just as he looked down at her, and she craned upward to kiss his lips sweetly. When he moved off of her, it was too soon, and she curled up into him as he lay back on the floor. His arms hugged her to his chest and held her protectively there, his lips kissing the top of her red hair.
"I love you," he whispered, the words feeling strange on his tongue as he had never said them before. Her heart jumped happily in her chest, and she looked up at him with a content smile on her face. "I love you, Derek." She would think about the repercussions of that confession later. For now, she could only think about being with him and feeling his heartbeat against her cheek as she nestled into his side and fell asleep.