{ Let me shelter you }
{ Chapter II }
Just like all the other nights, Isaac's thoughts didn't fail to dwindle into horrendous nightmares in which his father's face haunted him. And just like all the other nights, the rapid beating of Isaac's heart and the silently suppressed whimpers woke Derek in the middle of the night. Sitting up, Derek took a look at the shaking body, completely buried underneath the covers. A sight he'd gotten pretty used to by now.
He sighed.
Normally, Derek would just ignore the muttering and resume with sleeping, but this new over-protectiveness that kicked in earlier this night, made him want to go over there and shake those demons away. After all, he was the one responsible now for the kid's well-being. The problem was that he didn't know if Isaac would even want to talk about his nightmares. Derek had to admit that, while having kept an eye out for Isaac before the bite and actually having seen what Isaac went through every single night, he still didn't know what exactly ran through that little head of his. This made it hard to predict how Isaac would react to Derek waking him up. Afraid to push all the wrong buttons and crushing the progress they've made so far, Derek decided to do what he always did. He tried to ignore the whimpers, which somehow was now harder to do, and resumed with sleeping.
{ -x- }
Isaac turned around in the couch while pushing away the covers, which let in the strong sunlight, waking him up with a groan. He wasn't used to such strong sun rays waking him up, as the warehouse was deprived from any windows. Slightly opening his eyes and adjusting to the light, he tried to think of where he was. In little snippets, the event of yesterday evening filtered through his brain and he remembered he was at Derek's loft. Or rather, their loft.
He completely pushed the covers away, wondering how he'd gotten them in the first place, as he couldn't remember falling asleep under any blankets, and sat up. Looking around, he noticed the double bed was empty and cover-less. He looked at the blankets and could hardly imagine Derek giving him those. It warmed his heart just slightly. Looking at the kitchen, there was no Derek to be found. His heart made a jump.
Told you he'd leave, son!
'No,' Isaac rubbed his temples, still slightly tired of the mostly sleepless night. Standing up, he went to a door behind which he assumed was the bathroom, but he couldn't hear any sound. His heart started accelerating just slightly, a panic rising in his chest. He went to the window, but in the process of doing so, he noticed the papers of the custody arrangement still lying on the desk.
'And I'll get our stuff from the warehouse first thing in the morning, okay?'
'Yeah, sure thing.'
And with that little memory of last night, Isaac's speeding heart diminished to a normal rate again. The realization hit Isaac that he'd probably just left to get their stuff. He let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding. Tracing his fingers through his hair and ruffling it, he laughed at himself for even having let the thought that Derek might've left, in. Ridiculous! And with that, he opened the door to the bathroom and took a look. It was small, but clean. Opening a few shelves, everything seemed empty. Not having any shampoo, he decided to quickly jump under the shower, just to freshen up a little.
After having taken a look around in the small kitchen, he concluded that Derek has done zero shopping before moving in here. Maybe he just didn't think of it, as it's never really been necessary. Before, Derek just always made sure Isaac had some money to buy his food at school. Now, however, there was no school anymore, so no breakfast either. He checked his wallet and found some money left from last week. Quickly taking the keys Derek had left on the desk, he made his way outside, hoping Derek wouldn't return yet in the meantime.
Coming outside, he immediately noticed the small grocery store surrounded by flowers. Making a sprint, he quickly went inside and took a look around, only to find a girl his age behind the counter.
'Good morning and welcome to – ' Just as she looked up, the words silently died out and she failed to finish her sentence properly. She looked away.
Is that a blush? Isaac wondered.
She cleared her throat and finished her sentence. 'Welcome to McKenzies. How can I help you?' This time, she seemed to have regained some confidence, as she was smiling by now.
Isaac wasn't going to lie, the girl was pretty and having flustered her sure gave his confidence a boost. Giving her his cheekiest smile, he assured her that he didn't need much and he'd be able to find it himself.
He quickly grabbed the few ingredients to make himself and Derek some pancakes and made his way to the counter. While putting all of the stuff down, he made sure to steal a quick glance. Her hair was messy, as if she'd just gotten out of bed. Given the fact that it was only eight in the morning, that could be very true. Other than that, it was a little wavy, dark brown, reached her back and was clipped away with a blue bow. She turned around again, a faint blush still on her cheeks.
'That'll be it?' she asked, taking the ingredients and scanning the price.
'Yeah,' Isaac found himself at a loss for words. As much as he had flustered her, she sure had the same effect on him.
'So, I haven't seen you here before. You're not from around here?' she asked, looking up from the ingredients she was still scanning. Besides the lovely hair, she had some pretty green eyes too.
'Um, no. Actually yes, we uh…' Isaac cursed himself for his poor skills when it came to girls. He took a breath.
'We moved here. Yesterday, actually,' he smiled again.
'Oh, so you're the one that has moved in the loft that has been up for rent?'
'To be exact, it was my guardian that moved in,' he subconsciously held his breath before uttering the word 'guardian'. Still not used to that, he thought. 'So I obviously moved in with him.'
'Oh, that's nice.' Yet Isaac couldn't help but notice the way she looked when he mentioned he lived with a guardian. As if she was disappointed? She probably thought he was another troubled kid that lost his parents. The grin on Isaac's face faltered, not believing he'd still have a chance with this girl.
'That'll be eleven dollars and twenty cents, please,' she said. Isaac quickly gave her the money, took his things and rushed his way out. He just wanted to leave this embarrassing moment behind.
'Um, excuse me?' Sighing, he reluctantly turned around. 'You forgot this.'
She was holding up a brick of milk. Damnit, Isaac! He reluctantly returned to the counter and took the milk, accidentally brushing her fingers. And there it was, that small exchange of electricity, causing her to jerk her fingers away. So she felt it too? She bit her lower lip.
'Can I uh…' she laughed hesitantly. 'Can I know your name?'
'It's Isaac.'
'It's nice to meet you, Isaac. I'm Emma.'
'Nice to meet you too,' he nodded and gave a last small smile before leaving the small store.
I swear, girls. I'll never get them. Isaac shook his head incredulously and made his way up to the loft again, happy to find that Derek hadn't returned yet, only to be waiting in front of a locked door.
Taking out a few pots and pans, he started mixing the ingredients together.
{ -x- }
Very suddenly the door was kicked open and it made Isaac jump. He was just finishing his last pancakes and was putting them on two plates. And there he stood, Derek. Two big bags in his one hand, slung over his shoulder, and two Starbucks Frappuccino's and a brown, paper bag in his other. He threw the bags to the side and closed the door. Isaac couldn't help but think how sad it was that all his belongings, as well as Derek's, fitted into one bag.
'What are you doing, Isaac?' He came up to the kitchen island and took place on one of the old bar stools, placing the Frappuccino's and the bag on the island. Just as he did that, Isaac made sure to pour some syrup on the pancakes and pushed a plate towards Derek. Isaac himself took place on the bar stool opposite of Derek.
'I made us breakfast. I just didn't think you'd bring breakfast too,' Isaac looked sheepishly at the Frappuccino's and the paper bag, which surely contained something tasty.
'I'm sorry,' he looked away, frowning.
'No, don't be. I'm just surprised you can cook,' Derek laughed, taking a bite of his pancakes. 'And you can't just cook, you cook very well, Isaac. This is delicious.' Isaac smiled, finally eating his pancakes too.
'Guess we'll have to keep these muffins for later,' Derek said, looking at the bag with a knowing look.
'Muffins?' Isaac's head perked up. 'You bought muffins?' The look on his face was priceless.
'Yep, two big Bountiful Blueberry Muffins,' Derek sighed, knowing he was teasing the crap out of Isaac.
Isaac grabbed the bag, not even having finished his pancakes, and took a look inside. He closed it again. 'Oh no, you didn't.'
He looked at Derek and bit his lower lip. 'These are my favorites, how'd you know?' Derek laughed, but decided to stop the teasing.
'Erica told me once. She said it might come in handy if I wanted to bribe something out of you. Said she'd done it countless times and the trick had never failed her.' A sad smile appeared on both of their faces, feeling just slightly nostalgic for their fellow Beta's presence.
'Can't believe she told you that,' Isaac told him quizzically. 'She was the only one who knew.'
'Well I'm glad she told me. Now I know she spoke the truth and I can indeed use it against you,' Derek laughed again.
'Oh, really?' Isaac cocked his head, arching his brow, failing to hide a smirk coming up.
'No, just kidding,' Derek's laughter died down. 'I'm glad she told me, because now I can make sure you get your weekly doses of blueberry muffins.' Derek continued eating his pancakes, as did Isaac. His were, however, finished in two more bites. He immediately grabbed the brown bag again and looked at Derek. 'Do you mind if I eat mine?'
'No, of course not,' Derek grinned, happy he'd found a way to put a smile on Isaac's face after what sure was an awful night again. Isaac took it out and relished every single bite.
It was silent for a moment, which gave Isaac the perfect opportunity to ask Derek something he'd been thinking about for a few weeks now.
'Derek, would you mind if I kept an eye out for a job?' Derek looked up.
'You're not quitting school, are you?' he seemed genuinely worried about the idea. Again, it warmed Isaac's chest.
'No,' he laughed, the sight of a worried Derek, holding his fork mid-air, just about to eat a pancake, was hilarious. 'No, no, not at all. I just, before we moved here and you became my… My guardian,' Seriously, still not used to that. 'I was already looking out for a job, just to save some money so I could live on my own someday.'
Derek frowned in an instant. 'You didn't want to live with me?' Derek suddenly began to fear he'd made a huge mistake with taking custody over Isaac.
'No,' Isaac started fiddling with the straw poking out of his Frappuccino. 'No, I liked living with you. I just always had the feeling I was a burden to you.' Derek was still frowning, yet Isaac didn't dare to look him in the eye.
'But now I know that's not exactly the case,' Isaac threw a confusing look at the custody papers on the desk, still unable to grasp how it was possible Derek genuinely wanted him.
'Then why do you still need a job?'
'I just thought I might be able to help you, since you said you were short on – '
'No,' Derek told him sternly. 'I'm the guardian, I'm the one supporting you. Not the other way around.'
'Yeah, I know, but I could help,' Isaac tried to convince Derek, but felt quite intimidated by the stern look he gave.
'No, Isaac. I won't refrain you from getting a job. If you want that, sure do so. But you're keeping that money for yourself,' Derek assured him.
But Derek – '
'No, Isaac,' Derek tried finishing his pancakes.
'Bu – '
'No!' Derek sighed, dropping his fork in his plate and looking incredulously at Isaac. How can he not get it? Isaac shut up immediately and frowned. Great, now I feel like shit. Damnit, should I apologize?
But before Derek could utter the words 'I'm sorry', Isaac already spoke up.
'I just don't want you to think I'm taking advantage of you,' Isaac whispered, looking down on his Frappuccino, as if it held all his answers.
Derek sighed deeply, hiding his face in his right hand and rubbing the sides of his face. He peeked through his fingers and saw the younger one humped before him, a serious frown adorning his face, still searching his Frappuccino for whatever it was he was looking for.
'Look, Isaac,' Derek told the boy, yet he refused to look up from his drink.
'Isaac, can you look at me for a moment?' Derek took his hands down and folded them in front of him. Isaac looked up grudgingly and Derek could've sworn he was inches away from looking like a puppy.
'I don't think that, okay?' Derek looked him in the eye, making sure he'd grasp it this time. Derek knew that all of these insecurities all came from one single point; his father's abuse. So maybe he should just hit the nail on the head, just to get through to that stubborn mind.
'I'm not your father.'
Isaac looked away and Derek wondered if his mind was playing tricks on him, because he could've sworn he saw Isaac's eyes glistening, if only for a moment. Maybe he'd hit the nail just slightly too hard.
'You know that, right?' Derek wanted to make sure this conversation ended with both of them on good grounds. It's only been the first day that he got to try and be Isaac's guardian and he didn't want to have Isaac thinking this wasn't going to work out. Because it will work out. Eventually.
Isaac nodded, took a breath and looked Derek in the eye. 'I know.'
Derek sighed, not quite satisfied with the answer because he could feel the tension that still surrounded both of them. Finishing his pancakes, the air was filled with awkward silence. Derek knew this road was going to get rocky and he had to remind himself why he even thought of taking custody over this boy again in the first place. Not that he regretted it, it had just all seemed easier before this responsibility was dropped on his shoulders. Easier, but lonelier too, Derek. And there it was. His fear of ending up alone, plus the fact that this boy clearly needed some sort of home. Those were the reasons you stood on Mr. Stilinski's doorstep yesterday morning. Remind yourself of that.
Derek cleared his throat, pushing any doubts off of his mind. 'So, any idea where you'd like to work for the summer?' Derek tried to start a light-hearted conversation, to outweigh the heavy words from earlier, if only for a little bit. Isaac merely looked up surprised.
'So you'd let me get a job?' he asked suspiciously.
'Sure, but on one condition,' Derek gave him a small smile. 'You're going to use that money for you. For example, when you meet on hell of an amazing girl and you take her out for your first date. I'm not going to buy the flowers for her and you make sure you get that girl some flowers, you hear me?' By now, Isaac had to try his best to hide the smirk bubbling up. Derek should've known he had a certain brunette on his mind, from earlier this morning.
'What makes you think I wouldn't get her flowers?' he laughed by now.
'I don't know,' Derek laughed along, the tension completely seeping away with the seconds. 'If I take a look at the youth of today, I have serious doubts about their proper manners.' Isaac couldn't hide the wide grin smeared all over his face anymore.
'You don't seem like the polite type of guy yourself,' he laughed.
'I don't?' Derek pretended to sound insulted, but failed to refrain himself from laughing.
'You don't,' Isaac snickered, the laughter silently dying out. Isaac's cheeks and ribs hurt from laughing so much and he couldn't remember when that had happened for the last time. If it had ever happened before, he wasn't so sure anymore. Derek made a move to leave the kitchen.
'Well, keep me updated on finding a job, okay?' he made his way over to the desk and took out a map that was lying in one of the shelves. He knew Derek was going to go over all the places where Boyd and Erica could possibly be, because it was the map that had a few crosses here and there. All the places Derek had already checked. Finishing his Frappuccino and putting the other one, together with the muffin, away, he made his way over to Derek and hunched over the map.
'So, what's the next place we're going to check out?' Isaac asked, tracing the map with his eyes.
Derek pointed at an area on the outskirts of town.
'The factory that's been closed down years ago.'
A/N: So I've decided to continue this little story, because the amount of positive feedback, both on Tumblr and , was overwhelming! You can't imagine how happy it makes me, knowing that you guys enjoy reading this. I hope you're not disappointed with the second chapter and while this seems like a continuation to the previous chapter, I don't think I'll write such a consistent story in the future anymore. It'll be just little snippets of the life of Derek and Isaac, about things completely irrelevant to the plot. You'll see in the future, what I mean by that. ;)
Other than that, I hope I don't get hate for including Emma? She's an OC, I seriously doubted about whether to include her or not and I hope you don't mind I did. I just felt like it happens to everyone in real life. You go to the store, you see a hottie behind the counter and you're completely flustered about it. But eventually, you go home, you think about him/her for a few days and that's it. It doesn't mean anything big, it just happened. And that's what I want to achieve with this story. Completely random and irrelevant stuff happening to our favorite pack members! :)
So yeah, the feedback up to now has been amazing. I wish I could respond to every one of you separately, but I have no idea how to do that, so I'll say it here. Thank you for reading and enjoying my story. :) Keep an eye out for perhaps a third chapter?
