HARSHER THAN THE BARK
"You really don't remember anything?" Allison asked Lydia as she and Scarlett walked on either side of her.
Lydia sighed. "They called it a fugue state. Which basically means 'we have no idea why you can't remember running around in the woods naked for two days.'"
"Well, at least your back now. And you know, you aren't dead or anything so that's a plus right?" Scarlett asked, voice filled with hope. She couldn't imagine what Lydia must be feeling. If it had been her then she would have been petrified. And the worst part is that she can't remember anything. So, even Lydia herself doesn't know what she did or where she went. Considering the doctor's couldn't tell her anything though, Scarlett had an inkling that even though Lydia hadn't become a werewolf, there still might have been something supernatural behind it. And if there was then it wouldn't be very farfetched considering everything else that's happening in Beacon Hills.
"That's not the only plus." Lydia said with a smirk. "I lost nine pounds." She said, gesturing to herself. Scarlett and Allison both laughed. Trust Lydia to find that the best outcome of all of that.
"Are you ready for this?" Allison asked, referring to being back at school.
"Please, it's not like my aunt's a serial killer." Lydia retorted a little inconsiderately. Scarlett gave Allison a small yet sympathetic smile. She only let that pass with Lydia because of her incident. Of course her being out of sorts wasn't probably the reason she was so rude, that was just her personality.
Allison smiled back and shrugged, pulling one of the front doors of the school open again for Scarlett since Lydia had let it close behind her when she walked in.
"Thanks." Scarlett said as she walked through, Allison following behind her.
When they got to Lydia, they stopped beside her as a mass amount of the student body stared at her. They all held different expressions but most of them just looked at her like she was crazy. Scarlett held in her anger the best she could. Of course people were going to stare and talk but she couldn't help but be disappointed by it. Were these people raised with any manners at all?
"Maybe it's the nine pounds." Allison whispered to Lydia whose face was full of fear and worry. Lydia looked around before nodding to herself, flicking her hair back and putting on a brave face and walking confidently through the crowd like she owned the place again.
"Well, looks like she's back to being queen bitch already." Scarlett laughed. She didn't mean it in a nasty way at all. She'd called Lydia that since the beginning of high school. She had even said it to her face. Allison nodded and laughed, falling into step with Scarlett as they strutted through the halls together.
Scarlett watched the squabble between Brooke and another cheerleader and decided that she didn't want to hear any of it so instead of warming up with the squad like usual, she went to stretch beside Scott and Stiles who were deep in conversation.
"What are you two gossiping about?" She asked, sitting on the grass and beginning to stretch.
"Nothing," Scott said at the same time as Stiles said, "There's another werewolf on the team." Scott glared at Stiles and he shrugged.
"Another werewolf?" She asked, pretending to be clueless. She looked around the lacrosse team and spotted Isaac looking over at them but she quickly looked away. "Who is it?" Derek had never specified about whether or not she could tell Scott about him creating a pack and whatnot so she decided to keep quiet.
"We don't know. He must have only been turned recently though or else I would've sensed it before." Scott told her, scanning the field again.
"I have an idea." Stiles said, running away from the twins.
"Have you talked to Derek?" Scott asked casually.
"No. I have not. Why does everyone keep asking me that?" Scarlett snapped at him, making Scott lean back slightly.
"Chill, Scar. It was just a question. You two seemed pretty close so I thought maybe you'd talked to him." Scott said innocently, giving his sister a weird look.
"I'm sorry. But no, I haven't." Scarlett lied. Scott gave her a look when he heard her heart rate speed up for a second when she said that.
"You're lying." He stated, narrowing his eyes at her.
Before Scarlett had a chance to make up something else, Stiles came running back and thank God for that or else she would've been some deep shit.
"You're switching with Danny and you're going to be in goal today." Stiles told Scott.
"But, I don't want to be in goal."
Scarlett rolled her eyes and took that as her chance to sneak away from the two as they bickered like a couple. She walked back to the squad and all she could see was angry and pissed off looking cheerleaders which could only mean that practice was going to be hell for her and everyone else.
Halfway through all of the shouting and people falling because no one was putting in any effort, Scarlett looked over to the lacrosse team to see Scott and Isaac bashing into each other causing them both to hit the ground.
From their places on the ground they looked at each other fiercely until Coach blew the whistle. Everyone's head snapped to Sheriff Stilinski who was flanked by two deputies as they walked towards the field. Scarlett's eyes narrowed as she watched them until she realised they were making their way towards Isaac and then she started to freak out. They took Isaac away from the field to talk to him and Scarlett ran over to Scott and Stiles who were among the many onlookers.
"What's happening? What are they doing?" She asked quickly.
"It's him, he's the other werewolf." Scott told her. "His father's dead. They think he was murdered." Well shit. Did he already kill someone? God, turning teenagers was a bad idea.
"Well, do they think he's a suspect?" Stiles asked, looking at Scott as he concentrated on hearing the conversation.
"Why? What if they do?"
"Because, they can put him in a holding cell for twenty-four hours." Stiles said. Scarlett cursed over and over again in her head. Derek had told her to keep an eye on Isaac and now he was getting arrested. And to top it all off tonight was the full moon which meant he was going to turn at the station and then everything would be fucked.
"Like overnight?" Scott asked.
Stiles nodded, looking back at Isaac. "During the full moon."
"How good are the holding cells at holding people?"
"People? Good. Werewolves? Probably not that good." Stiles said doubtfully.
"Remember when I said I don't have the urge to maim and kill?"
"Yeah." Stiles answered.
"He does." Scott said grimly, giving Isaac a pointed look.
"Of course he does. That's just…perfect." Scarlett groaned. "You guys know that we have to get him out of there right? Like, if he stays there then a lot of people are going to get hurt."
"Yeah, I know that." Scott nodded. "We just need a plan."
All three of them looked at Sheriff Stilinski and the deputies leading Isaac away. Isaac turned back and his eye caught Scarlett's. She gave him a sympathetic look and he looked down, continuing to walk away. Scarlett took in a deep breath and started heading for the locker rooms.
"McCall!" Brooke shouted on her making Scarlett stop and turn. "Where the hell do you think you're going? Practice isn't over yet!"
Scarlett gave her an incredulous look before looking at the rest of the squad who looked completely done. "I think it's safe to say that it is." She said, earning a small chorus of sighs of relief from the squad. She smirked at Brooke's face and walked away from the field.
The locker room was empty when Scarlett entered it. She made a beeline for her bag and rummaged through it until she found her phone.
Derek answered on the first ring. "What is it? What's wrong?"
Scarlett sighed and put her head against the lockers. "We have a problem."
"What kind of problem?"
"The kind where Isaac just got arrested for being a suspect of his father's murder and they're going to lock him up in a holding cell for the next twenty-four hours." Scarlett rushed out.
"Shit." He swore. "Have they taken him away yet?"
"I don't think so. My guess is that the Sheriff is going to do some questioning first."
"I'll be out front as soon as school is over." He told her before hanging up. Scarlett looked at her phone for a few seconds before putting it back in her bag and getting changed when she heard all the other girls coming in.
The rest of the day seemed to drag on and on. All Scarlett could do was worry about Isaac. He seemed to have the worst luck. She wondered what Derek's plan was to get him out of the holding cell before the moon went up and she hoped to God that it was a good one. If they didn't get him out then Isaac would be left to turn for the first time by himself in the police station, with a bunch of people that carried guns. That didn't sound like a very good thing. In fact, it sounded extremely shitty and dangerous and Scarlett fretted over the danger that everyone was going to be in.
When the bell signalling the end of her last class rang Scarlett quite literally jumped out of her seat, grabbed her bag and rushed out of the classroom earning a few strange looks that she ignored completely. She pushed the door of the main entrance open and she saw Scott's back as he talked to Derek who was waiting in the Camaro looking pissed.
"Whatever's in the house is worse. A lot worse." She heard Derek say to Scott who just continued to stand there. She sighed and grabbed Scott's arm on the way past him, giving him no choice but to get in the car with her. Much to her dismay she had to sit in the back but instead of complaining about it, she remained quiet.
The tires screeched as Derek raced away from the school parking lot. Scarlett leaned forward so that she could talk to Scott. "Where's Stiles?"
"Detention."
"Again?"
"Yeah, Allison grandfather, who is the new principal by the way, made him stay." Scott said, clenching his jaw and looking out the window.
Scarlett's eyes narrowed and her face scrunched up in horror. "Wait, Gerard is our new principal?"
"How do you know his name?" Scott questioned.
"Allison told me while she was ranting on and on about her late night hook-ups with you." She said with a smirk. Scott glared at her and his eyes snapped to Derek. "Please, Scott. He already knows."
"Do you?" Scott directed the question at Derek.
"Yes." He answered simply. Scarlett shrugged at Scott and then turned her attention to Derek.
"Are you sure you wanna keep turning people from school with an Argent as the principal?" Her tone had gone from joking to worried in spit second.
"I already told you. I need more than just Isaac for a pack." Derek said, earning a strange look from Scott.
"A-already told you? So you have been talking." Scott said.
"Yeah, okay. We have. So what?" Scarlett asked, glaring at Scott.
"So you were lying!"
"It doesn't matter."
"Yes it does! It matters because you're lying to me and running around with him!" Scott shouted, giving them both deadly looks.
Scarlett's expression turned solemn. "I'm not lying to you Scott." She shook her head and sat back. She couldn't even bring herself to feel slightly guilty. He had never directly asked if there was anything between the two of them and she had already admitted they had talked so, she wasn't lying. How dare he accuse her of that? After everything? If anyone's the liar then it's Scott. Scarlett thought back to earlier when she had asked about what he and Stiles were talking about. Scott wasn't even going to tell her about Isaac. She scoffed internally and glared at his seat, only looking up when she saw Derek giving her a reassuring look in the rear-view mirror. That only made her feel slightly better. He hadn't said anything but she still knew that he was on her side.
The remainder of the journey was silent. Not one of them spoke up until Derek pulled up to Isaac's house. There was yellow 'caution' tape around the perimeter of the house, marking it as off limits. That obviously wouldn't stop the three of them though.
"What exactly are we looking for here?" Scarlett asked, getting out of the car.
"You'll see." Derek said being very vague. She hated when he did that. It just led to her being confused about everything. Scarlett rolled her eyes and subtly moved closer to him when they entered the house with Scott in the lead, holding up a flashlight. Derek looked down at her and she looked back up, her big brown eyes filled with anxiousness. The emptiness and eeriness of the house made her wish she could grab his hand just to feel safe but that was a bad idea with Scott right in front of them.
She tried to brush off the feeling as she looked around. The house itself seemed normal enough if you didn't count the shattered glass on the floor or the smashed plates and tipped over chairs. Scarlett imagined what must've happened and she instantly cringed at the thought of Isaac's father hitting him. Abuse itself was bad enough but angel-faced Isaac being on the receiving end seemed to be even more disturbing.
"If Isaac didn't kill his father, then what did?" Scott asked, shining the light around the house again.
"I don't know yet." Derek replied.
"Well then, how do you know that he's telling the truth?"
"Have you ever met Isaac?" Scarlett asked Scott. "I'm pretty sure he'd be incapable of lying about this."
"That doesn't mean he would be incapable of actually doing it." Scott countered, not turning to look at her.
"He didn't do it." Derek said finally. "I trust my senses." Scarlett smirked in triumph as Scott looked away. The three of them made their way to the basement door and Scott opened it. Scarlett peered behind Derek to look at the flight of stairs leading down. She felt a shiver go up her spine, not from the cold air but from the sheer creepiness of it all. Any basement was creepy to her but this one…was even worse and she wasn't even in it yet. "You wanna learn? Start now."
Scott started down the stairs slowly, each one creaking as he stepped on it. When Scarlett went to follow behind Derek put an arm out to stop her. He shook his head at her and she sighed, standing back a bit.
"What's down there?" Scott asked wearily.
"Motive." Derek replied immediately.
"And what am I looking for?"
"Follow your senses." Scarlett got another chill and she instinctively grabbed Derek's hand, moving closer to him again. She kept her eyes trained on Scott's form in the darkness even as she laced her fingers through Derek's. He looked down at their hands and instead of tensing up at what he wasn't used to, he squeezed her hand gently and comfortingly. She looked up at him and gave a small smile before looking back down at the basement.
"What happened down here?" She heard Scott ask faintly.
"The kind of thing that leaves an impression." Scarlett's eyes widened and she fought off another shiver. Images of Isaac's father abusing him flashed through her head and it seemed to get colder the more she thought about it. She wasn't even a werewolf and yet, she could still sense the unhappiness and misery that filled the house.
Derek sensed her uneasiness and wished that he hadn't brought her along. What a stupid idea. For someone as compassionate as Scarlett to be in the house where someone she considered to be a friend was beaten in must be dreadful. Pushing away his stupidity, Derek led Scarlett down the stairs without making a single sound and keeping their hands intertwined. He waited until they were standing right next to Scott to turn on the flashlight making Scott jump.
"Open it." Derek said, gesturing to the freezer with a lock on it. Scott did just that and when he did Scarlett let out a small gasp. Her eyes welled with tears as she looked at the fingernail scratches all over the inside of the freezer. There were so many of them. If Isaac was locked in there then he must've clawed at it until he bled because along with the scratches were blood stains. Scarlett cringed yet again and looked away, letting go of Derek's hand, shutting the horrible images out.
"This is why he said yes to you." Scott said, his voice filled with realisation.
"Can you blame him?" Scarlett asked in a small voice, gesturing to the freezer.
Derek looked at her and then back to Scott. "Everyone wants power." Scott clenched his jaw and took a step towards Scarlett so that he was slightly in front of her.
"If we help you, you have to stop. You can't just go around turning people into werewolves." Scarlett scoffed slightly stepping away from Scott and closer to Derek. She wasn't going to let him speak for her. Scott gave her a dangerous look but she ignored it.
"I can if they're willing." Derek protested.
"Did you tell Isaac about the Argents? About being hunted?" Scott hissed at him. That was a good point. Being hunted was a major part of all of this and accepting those consequences to become a werewolf seemed pretty brave or pretty stupid.
Derek nodded. "Yes. And he still asked."
"Then he's an idiot."
"And you're the idiot dating Argent's daughter." Derek replied immediately, catching Scott out at being hypocritical. "If I know about it then how long do you think it's going to take for them to find out? You saw what happens to an omega. With me, you learn how to use all of your senses. With me you learn control." Derek looked at Scott's hand and lifted it up to show him the claws that were growing from his nails. Scarlett swallowed uneasily as she looked. It wasn't exactly a pleasant sight. "Even on a full moon."
Scott yanked his hand out of Derek's grip, turning to glare at him. "If I'm with you, I lose her."
"It's better than dying." Scarlett muttered. She was completely torn between wanting both Allison and Scott to be happy by being together and at the same time wanting Scott to keep breathing and being with her was not the way to do that. Eventually the Argents would find out that they were sneaking around again and then they would waste no time in cutting Scott in half and that was just something Scarlett wasn't willing to let happen.
"You're gonna lose her anyway." Derek added on. "You know that." He shut the freezer and glanced at Scarlett again before walking away.
"Wait." Scott said making Derek turn back. "I'm not part of your pack…but I want him out. He's my responsibility too."
"Why? Because he's one of us?"
There was a small pause before Scott looked up again. "Because he's innocent."
Stiles pulled up in front of Isaac's house and Scarlett hopped in the back of the jeep, followed by Derek who sat in the front. When they were both in, Stiles took off towards the police station.
"So, we're just gonna go in there and get him out, hoping no one sees us?" Scarlett asked incredulously from the back.
"Yeah, pretty much." Stiles nodded. Scarlett let out a breath and looked out the window for the rest of the drive which wasn't that long. Stiles parked outside the station and they all looked through the window at the girl on desk-duty.
"Okay, the keys to every cell are in a password protected lockbox in my father's office. The problem is getting passed the front desk." Stiles explained to them.
Derek nodded. "I'll distract her." He said, about to open the door until Stiles put his hand on his shoulder.
"Whoa, whoa. You? You're not going in there." Derek looked at Stiles hand then back up to Stiles continuously, giving him a deadly look. "I'm taking my hand off."
"I was exonerated." Derek said.
"True." Scarlett murmured.
"You're still a person of interest."
"True…"
"An innocent person." Derek countered.
"Also true." Both of them turned to give Scarlett a look and she shrugged.
Stiles turned back to Derek, ignoring what Scarlett said again. "You? An innocent person? Yeah, right!" Derek gave Stiles a glare. "Alright, what's your plan?"
"To distract her." Derek said obviously.
"Uh-huh, how?" Stiles asked. "What? You gonna punch her in the face?"
Derek gave a short unamused laugh. "By talking to her." Scarlett perked up at that, not really liking the sound of it.
"You mean…flirting with her?" She asked as subtly as possible, trying to not let the jealousy show through.
"Talking to her." Derek corrected, glancing back at her. She rolled her eyes and sat back again.
"Okay, give me a sample. What're you gonna open with?" Stiles asked. Derek looked away and sighed, giving Stiles a blank look. "Dead silence…that should work beautifully. Any other ideas?"
Derek pondered the thought for a second before replying. "Thinking about punching you in the face." Scarlett let out a small almost inaudible laugh but Derek, of course, still heard it and he smirked slightly.
Stiles stared at him before sighing. "Just go." He said, gesturing to the door. Stiles got out as well and Scarlett followed him. They let Derek enter the station first while they waited behind for a few seconds before creeping to the door and peering behind it.
"Good evening, how can I help…" A delighted smile appeared on the woman's face when she looked up and saw Derek. "You?"
Scarlett rolled her eyes and ignored the jealousy that was clawing away at her as Derek flashed the woman a dazzling smile. That was the kind of smile that was reserved for Scarlett and it made her blood boil watching him flirt away. Sure, it would distract the woman. It would distract anyone. Derek was already sexy as hell. Add his smile to that and he could have anyone go weak at the knees.
"Um…I had a question." Scarlett watched as Stiles rolled his eyes as well. "Uh, sorry. I'm a little- little thrown. I wasn't expecting someone…" Stiles tugged on Scarlett's arm, snapping her out of her fixed glaring and motioning for her to follow him. They casually started to walk by the desk as Derek kept the woman entranced.
"Like, me?" The woman asked with a blush. Stiles and Scarlett had made it safely past the desk and when they got to the door, Scarlett held onto it and looked back at Derek and the girl at the desk.
"Well, I was gonna say so incredibly beautiful but yeah, I guess that'd be the same thing." Derek said, still smiling away. Scarlett narrowed her eyes and scoffed slightly, shaking her head until Stiles gripped her arm and yanked her away from the door.
"Am I seeing things or were you ready to rip that girl's head off?" Stiles asked when they got into the Sheriff's office.
"What?" Scarlett asked innocently.
"You were jealous." He stated, giving her a look.
"I wasn't jealous." She protested fiercely. "I was just annoyed by his tactics…you know women don't like to be…" She was going to ramble on about pointless shit but Stiles gave her a 'cut the crap' look. "Shut up." She shoved his arm and he laughed slightly, going to the lockbox and putting in the code. When it opened they both looked at it in confusion because it was completely empty. They looked at each other with raised brows.
They heard the sound of keys in the hall and they started towards it. "Oh, no…" Stiles murmured. Scarlett kept looking behind and around them and when she was about to walk into the hall with Stiles, he pushed her back.
"Oh, uh…just looking for…" There was a silence and Scarlett couldn't see what was happening from behind the wall but her head snapped up when she heard struggling and she ran around to see a man dragging Stiles away.
"Stiles!" She yelled, running after them. Stiles pulled the fire alarm as the man dragged him into the back room where the holding cell was. Scarlett managed to grab onto Stiles' hand and yank him away from the guy, or hunter, when he was about to drop him to the floor. Stiles and Scarlett both scrambled backwards, clinging to each other as they took in the bashed-in and open cell door where Isaac was supposed to be. There was a short silence before Isaac appeared out of nowhere, in werewolf form, growling and knocking the hunter out of the way. As the two of them struggled, Scarlett moved to the other side of the room with Stiles. They watched as Isaac made the man drop the wolfsbane and smashed his head against the wall rendering him unconscious. Isaac growled again and turned to face towards the other teens as Derek appeared, crushing the vile of wolfsbane with his shoe. When he saw Isaac about to go for Scarlett and Stiles he stepped in front of them and let out a roar that sent Isaac whimpering in the corner, turning back to his normal self.
"How did you do that?" Stiles asked shakily, still holding onto Scarlett who was looking at Derek in pure admiration.
Derek turned to look at the two of them. "I'm the Alpha." Scarlett couldn't help but smile brightly at him. He grinned back at her momentarily before facing Isaac again who looked freaked out. "Come on." He helped Isaac up and without another word the two of them left, leaving Scarlett and Stiles behind. They both moved to the centre of the room, looking at the knocked-out hunter on the floor.
"Well, that was…unexpected." Scarlett said.
"Yeah." Stiles nodded in agreement. They both looked up when they heard footsteps. Sheriff Stilinksi walked in with other deputies and they looked at the entire room, shocked. Scarlett and Stiles exchanged looks before taking in the room again. "Uh…he did it." Stiles said, pointing to the unconscious hunter.
Sheriff Stilinksi looked at the both of them and shook his head in disappointment. Did it always have to be them? "We're gonna need statements from both of you. And a proper explanation of just what the hell happened here."
"So, why isn't Allison answering her phone?" Lydia asked over the phone as Scarlett wrote down an answer to her math question. Lydia had been on the phone for about half an hour ranting about Jackson while Scarlett sat and did homework.
"She's with Scott. They usually both turn their phones off when they're together." Scarlett said with a sigh.
"This isn't fair, you know. Allison gets to run around in secret with Scott and you get your mystery boy toy and I…get slated by the entire school." Lydia's voice turned sadder and Scarlett felt bad. She knew that wasn't what Lydia was upset about. As much as she went on about how she didn't care about Jackson anymore, Scarlett could tell it was killing her that they weren't together anymore. Not to mention he's being a total dick to her. In Scarlett's eyes she thought Lydia needed someone much better but she could also understand her longing for Jackson. She was in love with him and even though he would deny it over and over again, he was in love with her as well.
"Okay one, I do not have a mystery boy toy and two, don't be jealous of Allison and Scott. I don't even think they're going to be together much longer anyway."
"What does that mean?"
Scarlett let her pencil fall on her book and she closed it over. "It means that- Oh my God!" She shouted, clutching her chest as she spun around in her chair to see Derek sitting on her bed.
"Scar? What was that?" Lydia asked worriedly. Scarlett glared at Derek and grabbed her phone from the desk.
"It was nothing. I just…have to go." She said quickly.
"Wait! Is it your boy toy? Is he there? Who is he? Can I-"
"Goodbye Lydia." Scarlett snapped, ending the call. She looked up at a smirking Derek. "How much of that did you hear?"
"Well I got here at 'mystery boy toy.'"
"You know, you could warn me before you just show up in my room." Scarlett said, grabbing her stuff off of the desk and putting it all away in her schoolbag.
"You could always just lock your window." Derek said simply.
"It's broken." Scarlett told him, giving him a blank look. He grinned and stood up, stepping towards her and putting his hands on her waist.
"So I'm your boy toy?" He asked with a smirk.
"Course not. You're my mystery boy toy…" Scarlett said teasingly before leaning up to kiss him. Saying that made her think about what he actually was to her. They hadn't made it official or anything, they didn't label it and no one knew anything about what went on between the two of them and Scarlett always worried that Scott might end up finding out and if that happened then everything else would be shot to hell.
Derek turned them around and pushed her onto the bed, kissing her more fiercely. She moaned softly when he started sucking on her neck. They both managed to get his jacket off of him without breaking the contact and his shirt was next to go. He allowed her to flip them over so that she was on top as their tongues fought with each other. She pulled away for a breath, pushing her messy hair back with one hand so that it wasn't all in her face while his hands moved up and down her sides, pushing her shirt up further.
"Can I ask you something?" She asked quietly.
He nodded to her, eyes bright. "Anything."
"What…what, uh, are we, exactly?" She didn't want to have to bring it up but it was inevitable. They would have to face it at some point and as much as she loved the excitement of sneaking around with him and meeting up secretly, she needed to know what was actually happening between them.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean," She sighed. "I don't want to lie to Scott." It was true, she didn't. She wanted her relationship with her twin to be a good one and that meant they couldn't keep things from each other, especially things like this.
Derek looked at her incredulously. "You wanna tell Scott? About us?"
Scarlett looked down and bit her lip. "No. I mean, well, not really. He would freak and have me locked up. It's just, I hate lying to him at all. And I - you know what? Never mind. I'm just being paranoid and stupid and forget I asked." She said with a slight fake laugh, leaning down to kiss him again. He only kissed back for a second before he flipped them around again. She looked up at him with sad eyes as he used his thumbs to stroke her rosy cheeks.
"If you wanna tell him then we'll tell him. I think it's a horrible idea but we'll do it if that's what you want." He told her truthfully, looking back and forth between her eyes.
She smiled sadly and managed to flip them around yet again. "Telling him would only cause havoc…" She kissed him again, wanting to forget the whole thing and just be with him but he actually wanted to talk about it because he could tell she was upset by it and he hated seeing her upset. He sat up so that she was straddling him and he gave her a look.
"Scarlett."
"Derek."
He rolled his eyes at her and began mindlessly rubbing her bare thighs that were exposed by her shorts. "In answer to your original question, we can be whatever you want. Sure, it's not exactly gonna be ideal if people know about…us, but I don't care. The perks of being an Alpha…I don't have to live by someone else's rules. We don't have to live by someone else's rules and if you want people to know then people will know. It could end up being dangerous but who the hell cares? I would never let anything happen to you. I swear." The unshed tears shone in Scarlett's eyes as her heart swelled. "Besides, you're already mine anyway."
Scarlett let out a small laugh and she smiled as she kissed him again, letting one single tear drop. She was pretty amazed that Derek had just said all that. She never thought he'd actually be up for people knowing about them but he was, apparently, and that meant so much to her because he wasn't that kind of guy. He didn't do dating or cute couple stuff or any of it but he was willing to announce that they were together to everyone, for her. And she was perfectly fine just knowing that.
"We don't need to tell anyone. Or label it or anything. I'm happy just keeping things the way they are and if somehow people find out then we'll deal with it as it comes along. But in all honesty…as much as I hate lying, I like the thrill of this secret little relationship and I don't want to change that." It was his turn to crack a smile and he pulled her close to him, crushing their lips together and kissing her with everything he had.
After a while of making out, Derek pulled away. "I need to get back to Isaac."
"Where is he anyway?" Scarlett queried, still sitting on him.
"You know the abandoned subway station?"
"Seriously? That's where you're hiding out?"
"Yeah." He shrugged, nudging her off of him so he could get his shirt back on. Scarlett bit her lip as she looked at him longingly. She didn't really want to be left alone. Her mom was at work as usual and she had no clue when Scott would be home. "What is it?" He asked when he saw the look on her face.
"Do you really need to go…right now?" She asked.
"Why?"
"Scott isn't home yet and neither is my mom and I would feel much better if you just stayed for a little longer. I mean, you don't have to. If Isaac's all alone then you should go." She told him, shaking her head slightly.
Derek looked out the window and then back to Scarlett. She was looking at him with her big doe eyes and he couldn't bring himself to refuse. "He'll be fine by himself." He eventually said, putting his jacket down on her chair and turning back to her smiling form.
For the next hour or so the two of them lay on her bed, not kissing or touching, just talking. They kept the topic away from werewolves as much as possible and instead just talked about random things like how much Scarlett wanted to leave Beacon Hills when she graduated. And how she planned to get a job that allowed her to travel the world. They talked about Derek's time in New York with Laura which eventually led them to the discussion of his family and what they used to be like and when that got a little depressing, Scarlett started bringing up embarrassing family stories from when she was younger. She told him all about her dad leaving and when she and Scott went to live with him for a little while. After that, she gushed about how much better living with her mom was and how much she loved her and looked up to her. And all the while it seemed as if them being a normal couple might actually work but knowing how their lives now worked…it wasn't likely to be like that all the time.