Ella raced down the stairs as soon as the doorbell rang. "Hey Scott, come inn", I could hear her say as she opened the door wider.
"Scott, Stiles, how are you doing?" I asked as I walked towards the boys to give them a hug.
"Evy, there's someone you have to meet" Scott said accepting my hug. "This is Allison" he said pointing at the tall, dark haired girl holding his hand.
"Hi, Allison Argent" she said offering her hand. Argent, I thought. There weren't too many people in this little town that shared that name. I wondered if Scott knew anything about this girl's family as I took her hand. "Allison, nice to meet you" I managed to smile. I could feel my whole body tense up. Scott shot me an 'I'll-explain later'-look as Ella escorted them up the stairs.
"Scott, do you know much about Allison? About her family? Have you met them?" I asked with a concerned look upon my face.
"I know.. I know who they are, what they do.." he said looking away. "But we're not too public about our relationship. I mean her father has made it clear where he stands on this subject" he said bitterly.
"Kate Argent. Do you know her?" I asked raising my voice. I had grabbed the opportunity to confront Scott about his friend as soon as she'd left the house.
"Evy, just hear him out" Ella said. "Things have changed" she looked at Scott for a more thorough explanation.
"Kate Argent is dead" he said. "Peter Hale killed her not too long before you came back" explained.
"I can't say she didn't deserve what came her way" I said trying to get my head around this situation. "So Allison, she knows?" I asked still confused about her role in Scotts life.
"She knows everything. And she's not like her family" he promised, though I had my rightful doubts.
"Well, I can't tell you what to do. But she is not to know about me, or this family. You cannot tell her who Charlie's parents are, is that clear?" I warned.
"Yeah, chill, I haven't said anything" he assured, "And I won't, I swear" he continued.
"You ready for school, Ella?" I called up the stairs. It was her first day at Beacon Hills High School, but I was the one who was frantically nervous. I don't know why I was nervous, but from what I remembered of high school it wasn't the best institution to be in.
"We gotta go, we'll be late if we don't leave now" she stressed as she ran down the stairs with her book bag hanging off her shoulder.
"Have a nice first day!" I called after Ella as she stepped out of the car.
"Oh, look Uncle Creepy is here" she said as she pointed in the direction of a black sports car. I could see the recollection of werewolf hearing ability strike across her face as Derek looked up at her giving her a rather harsh look.
"Woops, I forgot your kind has surveillance superpowers" she laughed as she ran to join Stiles at the entrance of Beacon Hills High. I looked back into the rearview mirror seeing the blonde girl and the boy I'd met a couple days before. I couldn't help but feel a little annoyed by the girl who looked as if she'd been constructed to make every girl in the world at that high school jealous of her.
I heard footsteps stomp up the stairs, and before I could get a look at her face Ella had slammed the door shut. Oh boy.. That couldn't be good. I hadn't seen Ella really upset since our brother died, and even then it wasn't anger – it was just pain. Now however, now she was angry. "Ella" I called through her bedroom door hoping for a response. "Ella, sweetie, what's the matter?" I asked.
"Nothing. Go away" she replied with muffled speech. OK, so that didn't work. What now? I opened the door slowly to find her head buried in a pile of pillows.
"First day didn't go to well I take it.." I said offering a gentle voice.
"It went fine. It was all fine. I even made friends with Lydia Martin" she answered.
"Lydia Martin? That girl who ignored the world outside of her appearances?" I asked feeling a bit guilty for judging the clearly self-centered young girl I recollected. "Well, I thought you wanted to be friends with her. Isn't she like in the clique?" I asked.
"Don't.." Ella sat up and collected herself. "Don't ever say 'clique' again. No one says clique anymore. God how old are you?" she retorted as a small laugh escaped her lips.
"OK, I promise I won't say outdated stuff anymore, IF you tell me why you're crying" I said as I wiped tears off her pink cheeks.
"I'm not crying, I'm just letting off some steam" she said. "Everything was fine, Lydia kept asking where I bought all my clothes, and the boys couldn't stop staring and it was great" she continued.
"So what's the problem" I asked. Her phone buzzed and the Stiles' face popped up on her scratched screen.
"He is" she pointed and buried her head back in the pile. "I'm not follow…" I tried to tell her before she cut me off.
"He still doesn't get it. Can you believe it? All these years and he's still as ignorant as ever" she said pointing at the cellphone. Oh. I felt kind of stupid. I'd always known she'd had a childish crush on him, but I thought that was a thing – you know the 'I-think-I-like-my-friend' stage. According to most Hollywood movies it's just a thing. Though most of the time the thing became a relationship as mutual feelings developed while some tacky song played in the background.
"So.. You still, you know? The couple years of absence didn't do the trick?" I asked trying to seem understanding. No matter how many parenting books you read nothing really prepares you for talking to your sister about crushes while having to act like a parent. If I'd just played the sister role I'd tell to go for it – go out with these boys who obviously caught her fancy and make him jealous. I would do that. But now, do I really want horny little teens running after my baby sister? I'm not ready for the safe-sex talk.
"Maybe I should catch his attention somehow? Maybe I should show him just how many guys would kill to be with me?" she said trying to seem self-confident though I saw the insecurity in her eyes. Shit, what do I do now?
"I don't think that's the best way to go" I tried to help.
"No it is" she assured. "It is… I mean maybe he'd feel something than.. And I'd finally know what's up between us" she continued.
Oh shit, I knew exactly what was going to be up for Stiles if she went through with this plan – Ella might have been insecure, but she'd sure as hell become a determined person over the last few years. Yup, Stiles was going to want my little sister.
I was getting ready for Charlie to go to bed when I heard a knock on the door. I could feel who it was. It was strange – I knew he'd be on the other side of that door. "Hey Derek" I said as I opened the door. He didn't seem even a tad surprised by my newly discovered psychic skills.
"I was just checking up on Charlie" he gave a perfectly appropriate explanation. "You don't mind do you?" he smiled giving me a perfect view of his perfectly lined teeth. Why was I looking at his teeth?
"No of course not" I snapped out of my bliss. "I was just going to put him to bed… You could help" I offered.
I took baby Charlie out of his seat and continued up the stairs. "So this is his room" I sounded like some auction host. Idiot I kicked myself in my head. "I usually just sing him a lullaby or tell him a story and he falls asleep. You want to try?" I asked.
"Uhm, I don't really.." he looked at me, "eh, yeah sure, why not?" he said. One half of my brain was telling me to take the baby and run, what was I thinking letting this creepy stranger drop in and out of our lives switching roles from big bad alpha-wolf to sweet- sexy-god, I want you so much- sensitive guy? Sorry, other half interrupted for a second. "Want to hold him for a sec?" screw the first half of my brain, besides Derek would have no trouble finding me if I ran.
Derek slowly reached out for the little baby boy in my arms. Oh my. Charlie seemed to fit perfectly into the arms of this man. WHY? Why was I doing this to myself? I could feel my heart trying to pump its way out of my body. But at the same time I could feel the immense fear of knowing that Derek would never be that guy. He would never be anything but Derek Hale, the alpha werewolf. Currently, the alpha werewolf cradling the most precious part of my life. Christ.
"You're scared" he pulled me back to the surface. Shit! I'm scared. He KNOWS. Holy… "I guess any parent would be freaked out about sharing their child with a stranger" he continued. Oh. Yeah. That's what I was scared about. That's all. Totally explainable.
"Yeah. No. It's just all new to me" I tried to sound mentally stable. "I'm OK. Being a mom at this junction of my life wasn't really planned" I confessed.
"Well, being a werewolf probably wasn't planned either" he pointed out. God. I sounded like an idiot next to him.
"C'est la vie right?" I nervously laughed.
"So I was thinking we could get to know each other better" he said as we walked towards the door. I would like that.. "You know, since Charlie's in my life. I would like to know more about your brother and you know; family stuff" he clarified.
"How about dinner?" I'm an idiot. "So you could talk to Ella too" I saved myself from some of the embarrassment.
"Gotta go, won't be late, hi uncle creepy" Ella interrupted us. Wait what? WhaT?
"What's that?" I asked pointing at her too-tight tank top. Was this what she meant by "getting his attention? Hell no.
"It's called cleavage, sis. Maybe they didn't have it when you were my age" she answered sarcastically before disappearing into her car.
"I'm glad Charlie's a boy. Raising him is going to be so much easier for us when puberty hits" Derek half laughed as he got into his car.
"Tell me about it" I complained as he started the engine. I froze as he drove off. What did he say? "So much easier for us?" I repeated in my head.
Authors note: So I know I'm not the best writer, but this is my first story, so bear with me please. I would love any feedback, constructive critique, suggestions etc. Chapters are posted with various spaces between them; I will try to keep them coming steadily.