Chapter 12

Things were tense between the twins after Scarlet told Stiles about the situation with Derek. Of course, after what had happened at the jail and the lacrosse game Scarlet had her doubts about the relationship, if that was what you could call it. She hadn't seen or heard from him since he'd gotten out of the jeep. Scarlet joined Stiles and Scott as they moved frantically through the hallways of school. Apparently Scott had a dream about Allison and it felt too real. He was concerned that he had actually hurt her.

Scarlet begged off and headed to class without a word to either of them. Scott was still ignoring her because of the Jackson thing. Scarlet threw her stuff down on one of the lab tables and slumped into a seat. She jumped when someone sat down next to her. She glanced over to find Jackson staring at her.

"You ok Scar?"

"Fine Jackson, how's the shoulder holding up," Scarlet asked as others began to file into the classroom. She didn't miss the look that Scott shot her as he walked past them.

"It's fine, a little sore, but that's lacrosse," Jackson replied. "You hear about that bus thing?"

"No, what happened?"

Jackson explained that something had gotten into one of the buses and ripped it up. There was apparently blood all over the place too. Scarlet glanced back at Scott in shock. He had hurt someone. Scott and Stiles were currently caught up in their own conversation though. The teacher quickly separated them, making a snide comment as he did so.

Scott grabbed his backpack and moved to the seat directly in front of Jackson. The way Jackson was staring at Scott did not go unnoticed by Scarlet.

"Hey, I think they found something," a the girl sitting next to Scott cried. Everyone leapt off their stools and headed toward the windows.

They all stared down at the parking lot, where some EMT's were pushing a gurney toward a waiting ambulance. The man on the gurney suddenly shot up and screamed, causing everyone to jump. Scarlet collided with Jackson as she moved back and he put his hands on her waist to steady her. Scott backed away from the window and Stiles followed him, reassuring him.

"This is good, this is good, he got up, dead guys can't do that," Scarlet heard Stiles say.

"Stiles," Scott whispered. "I did that."

...

At lunch, Scarlet silently followed Lydia over to the table where Scott and Stiles were sitting. "Why do you want to sit with them," Scarlet asked.

"Because you sit there, Allison sits there, it will soon be the cool table," Lydia explained. "Once I'm sitting there I mean."

"Right," Scarlet said as she dropped her tray onto the table.

"We'll figure it out," Stiles told Scott.

"Figure what out," Lydia asked as she set down her tray and took a seat.

Stiles stared at her in shock. "Uh, uh, just homework," Scott explained as another lacrosse player sat down.

"Why is she sitting with us," Stiles asked. Allison, Danny, and Jackson all sat down before Scarlet had a chance to speak.

"Apparently this is the cool table now, aren't we lucky," she mumbled to Stiles.

"So I hear it was some kind of animal attack, maybe a cougar," Danny said.

"I heard mountain lion," Jackson replied.

"A cougar is a mountain lion," Lydia said quickly. At the look Jackson gave her she added. "Isn't it?"

"Who cares," Jackson asked. "The guy is probably some homeless tweaker who's going to die anyway."

"Actually I just found out who it is," Stiles said as he held out his phone. "Check it out."

The video explained that the victim was Garrison Myers and he was in critical condition.

"I know this guy," Scott exclaimed.

"You do," Allison and Scarlet asked at the same time.

"Yeah, when I used to take the bus, back when I lived with my dad. He was the driver," Scott explained. Scott and Stiles exchanged a look and Scarlet kicked Stiles under the table to get him to chill out.

"Can we talk about something slightly more fun please? Like... oh, where are we going tomorrow night," Lydia asked quickly. Allison paused mid-bite to meet her gaze. "You said you and Scott were hanging out tomorrow night, right?"

"Um, we were thinking of what we were going to do," Allison explained as she motioned to Scott.

"Well I am not sitting at home again watching lacrosse videos, so if the four of us are hanging out we're doing something fun," Lydia said firmly. Scarlet could tell from the looks on their faces that was the last thing Jackson and Scott wanted to do.

"Hanging out? Like the four us? Do you want to hang out, like us and them," Scott asked Allison.

"Yeah, I guess, sounds fun," Allison said nervously.

"You know what else sounds fun? Stabbing myself in the face with this fork," Jackson said holding up a plastic fork. Scarlet snorted at his comment, earning her a look from Scott.

"How about bowling," Lydia said as she took the fork from Jackson. "You love to bowl!"

"Yeah with actual competition," Jackson replied. "Scarlet is a great bowler."

Scott shot another look at her. "What? I am a great bowler," Scarlet snapped.

"How do you know we're not actual competition," Allison asked trying to defuse the situation. "You can bowl right?"

"Sort of," Scott said hesitantly.

"Is it sort of? Or yes," Jackson asked as he leaned forward.

"Bowling the new show of manliness," Scarlet muttered.

"Yes, in fact, I'm a great bowler," Scott snapped. "Better than Scarlet."

...

After school, Scarlet headed to her piano lesson before going home. She hadn't been there long when she left the house again and headed into the woods. It took her longer than she expected but she finally found her way to Derek's house. She wandered up to the front door and knocked, but no one answered. Scarlet heaved a sigh before pushing the door open and stepping inside. She shut the door, gasping when she turned back around to find Derek inches from her.

"Jesus," she cried as she stepped back. "I told you about doing that to me!"

"Do you always come in places uninvited or am I just special like that," Derek asked.

"I wanted to see how my mate was doing, but seeing as how he is still alive and acting like a jerk, I'll just go," Scarlet snapped as she turned back to the door. Derek's hand shot out and he pushed the door shut.

"A car is coming up the drive," he said as he grabbed her arm and pulled her upstairs with him. They lurked next to the window as the cop car pulled up. Scarlet felt Derek tense next to her and squeezed his hand reassuringly. He pulled his hand away from her, and moved a little closer to the window.

Scarlet watched as Derek's eyes shifted to blue and the dog in the police car began to bark wildly. It obviously spooked the policeman because he rushed back to the car and drove away. Scarlet stared at Derek for a moment before noticing that Scott was standing in the yard now.

"Jesus, is he following me now," Scarlet whined as she moved out of the room and toward the stairs. Derek moved around her and headed down the stairs.

"Stay in here," he ordered as he opened the front door and stepped out to talk to Scott.

"You aren't the boss of me," Scarlet shouted, knowing that Scott could hear her, but not caring. She listened through the door to their conversation, when Derek said probably to Scott's question about killing someone, she opened the door and stared at them both.

"Look, I can show you how to remember, I can show you how to control the shift, even on a full moon, but it's not going to come for free," Derek explained.

"What do you want," Scott asked tiredly.

"You'll find out, but for now I'm going to give you what you want. Go back to the bus, go inside, see it, feel it. Let your senses, your sight, smell, touch, let them remember for you."

"That's it, just go back?"

"Do you want to know what happened," Derek asked.

"I just want to know if I hurt him," Scott replied.

"No you don't, you want to know if you'll hurt her."

Scott finally looked at Scarlet. "So you're with him now," he asked.

"You could say that," Scarlet allowed as she ignored Derek's gaze. "You going to give me the silent treatment for it?"

"I don't get you, I really don't," Scott replied.

"It's not like I had a whole lot of choice in this Scott! I'm his mate, I've got the mark between my shoulders to prove it. Apparently that doesn't mean a whole lot to him though," she said jerking her thumb toward Derek. "Tell him my involvement with him getting thrown in jail."

Scott glanced between them before speaking. "Derek, she didn't know. We knew she wouldn't want to help us, so it was just Stiles and I. We didn't tell her about it until we were on our way here that morning."

Derek glanced silently at Scarlet before returning his attention to Scott. "Let me know how it goes at the bus," he said before taking Scarlet's hand and pulling her back inside. Derek waited until Scott was out of earshot to speak. "I'm a jerk."

"I am aware of this," Scarlet said as she flopped down on the sofa. "A monumental jerk."

"I just assumed since it was your twin and best friend that you were involved."

"If I got you thrown in jail, why would I come to see you? Also if you go to jail, I can't makeout with you anymore, and I really like that."

"You do huh," Derek asked as he joined her on the sofa, he went in for a kiss, but Scarlet turned her head away.

"You are going to have to do better than that," she murmured. Derek tugged her into his lap, his fingers running through her hair. Scarlet shifted over him, teasing him. "I didn't get an apology yet."

"I'm sorry," Derek said before kissing his way up her neck. His hands skimmed up her sides pulling her shirt up slightly. His lips caught hers in a heated kiss. "I'm sorry."

"Still not forgiven," Scarlet whispered against his lips. Derek shifted quickly so that she was lying beneath him on the sofa. He kissed her hard, only pulling away to let her catch her breath.

"Now," Derek asked.

"Getting there," Scarlet before as she went in for another kiss. Her phone began to ring in her back pocket, but she ignored it as she pulled Derek closer. The ringing stopped after a moment, but then it started right back up.

"Just see who it is," Derek said as he pulled away to let her sit up.

"I don't want to," Scarlet whined as she pulled her phone out. She glanced down at the screen and immediately answered it. "Hi dad."

Derek's eyes widened but he remained silent. "I'm with a friend," Scarlet said as she moved away from Derek. "Yes, I know there is a curfew. It's not that late now."

Scarlet ran a hand through her hair and sighed. "Yes I know it makes it difficult to enforce the curfew if your own children aren't obeying it, I'll be home soon."

She hung up the phone and glanced at Derek. "I have to go," she said with a shrug.

"I'll drive you back," he offered.

"Last thing we both need is you dropping me off at the Sheriff's house. Technically you are still a suspect."

Derek let out an annoyed sound and Scarlet immediately moved to him wrapping her arms around him. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bring it up, but we have to be careful. I don't want you in jail anymore than you want to be there."

"No, you're right, we do have to be careful. Not just with your dad, if the hunters know I'm here and they find out about you, they could try and use you against me. I have to keep you safe," Derek said as he looked down at her.

"All right, we keep a low profile, but I'm not doing anything tomorrow night and my dad is going to be at work all night. Can we do something then? Something normal? Like... a date," Scarlet nervously suggested.

"A date it is then," Derek said before kissing her gently. "What time?"

"7:30?"

"I'll be there, just get rid of your brother please?"

"I'll try but I make no promises," Scarlet warned as she pulled away from him and headed toward the door. "Now will you please point me in the direction of my house, otherwise I will be wandering around the woods all night."

"I'll walk you back, it will be safer that way," Derek said as he grabbed her hand and pulled her out into the twilight.