"You were worried about me."

An exhale. "Yeah."

She turned. "Because you think I'm worth it?"

He put his fingers under her chin and made her look at him. "I absolutely think you're worth it."

"But you don't think you are."

His mouth opened. Shut.

"That's what this is about, Derek. You won't let us worry about you because you don't think you're worth it. But I do. I absolutely do."

Claire sniffed as Derek laid on his bed, Claire sitting on the other side. Neither of them spoke. Silence seemed to follow them wherever they went.

The worst type of crying wasn't the kind everyone could see-the wailing on street corners, the tearing at clothes. No, the worst kind happened when your soul wept and no matter what you did, there was no way to comfort it. A section withered and became a scar on the part of your soul that survived. For people like her and Derek, their souls contained more scar tissue than life.

Flashback to when she was just about to turn eighteen.

It had been two years since her father had been killed. Mr. Hale didn't talk about it much, but she figured he didn't like what he had to do. Derek was helping her re-paint her room that summer - as a couple. Yeah, they'd been together two years. Their parents saw it coming, just as Derek's siblings did, too. That's why there was no sex talk or anything that normal parents tell their kids. Their mother used to joke that if they didn't get together, it would be more of a surprise than if they did get together.

Derek had brought her up a couple of buckets of paint, setting them in the middle of the room. Everything had been taken out of her room - all the furniture were sitting in the room across the hallway.

"You know," Derek said, standing straight and looking around. "I'm gonna miss this color."

Claire raised an eyebrow at Derek, as if he lost his mind. "Why?"

"Because," Derek's smile was bright as he looked at her. "I realised you owned me one night in this room. You made a little noise in your sleep like you were distressed and I panicked and ran to your side. You grabbed my arm in your sleep and pulled it up against your face and went back to sleep. I didn't want to ever move."

She felt her heart nearly burst. She look at him ready to cry again. Not out of pain. Not out of need. But because his words rub that part of her soul that suffers, that wants to be explored like a virgin land that has remained intact for centuries and craves to be occupied, appreciated and transformed.

"Oh." Claire grinned, teasing. "I guess that explains how I woke up with fur stuck to my cheek."

They had painted the whole room in a day and then Derek and her went out for a walk after dinner. Alone.

There was an open field behind the house and that's where they were headed. There was a full moon in the starless sky. She thought how rarely she had noticed such things. Some deep failure of the soul perhaps. An inherited emptiness. A nothingness passed from generation to generation. A flaw in the psyche, discovered only by those who suffer by it. Finally, when they were far enough from the house, Derek led her into a little patch of woods. He hesitated then, unsure, still just holding her hand. When she stepped in front of him, though, his free hand went around her waist.

"So," She said. "Seems you're going to be stuck with me for a while."

He smiled. A real smile that lit up his whole face.

"Good," he said.

He pulled her against him. Then he bent down, his breath warming her lips. Her pulse was racing so fast she could barely breathe. She was sure he'd stop again and tensed, waiting for that hesitation, stomach twisting. His lips touched her, and still she kept waiting for him to pull back. His lips pressed against hers, then parted. And he kissed her. Really kissed her - arms tightening around her, mouth moving against hers, firm, like he'd made up his mind that this was what he wanted and he wasn't backing down again.

Claire slid her arms around his neck. His tightened around her and he scooped her up, lifting her off her feet, kissing her like he was never going to stop, and she kissed him back the same way, like she didn't want him to ever stop. It was a perfect moment, one where nothing else mattered. All she could feel was him. All she could taste was his kiss. All she could hear was the pounding of his heart. All she could think about was him, and how much she wanted this, and how incredibly lucky she was to get it, and how tight she was going to hold onto it.

This is what she wanted. This guy. This life. She was never getting her old life back and she didn't care. She was happy and safe. She was right where she wanted to be.

When you know love...that's what makes this life worth it. When you live with it everyday. Wake up with it, hold on to it during the thunder and after a nightmare. When love is your refuge from the death that surrounds us all and when it fills you so tight that you can't express it. Life is filled with unanswered questions, but it is the courage to seek those answers that continues to give meaning to life. You can spend your life wallowing in despair, wondering why you were the one who was led towards the road strewn with pain, or you can be grateful that you are strong enough to survive it.

Whoever said that love hurts was wrong. Love is excruciating, especially when you can feel it slipping through your fingers and there is nothing you can do about it. Like someone was playing tug-of-war with my limbs, ripping to shreds whatever was left behind. But sometimes, love was worth it.

In everybody's life there's a point of no return. And in a very few cases, a point where you can't go forward anymore. And when we reach that point, all we can do is quietly accept the fact. That's how we survive. Sometimes the greatest tests of our strength are situations that don't seem so obviously dangerous. Sometimes surviving is the hardest thing of all.

Damaged people are dangerous. They know they can survive.

Claire had scars.

But so did Derek.

And together, they survived.

Author's Note: Sorry for this late update - It's been EXTREMELY hot the past few days and I've been wanting to do nothing but lay underneath a fan. But here you go! :) Reviews are awesome, by the way. :P