Twilight Worlds

by KiroDrakSlayer

AU. No supernatural. Read inside for summary. Sterek

3. Chapter 3- Midnight show

A/N: Hey there everybody, once again I'm back with the update.

Holy shit! Did this chapter give me a good fight in some parts, but luckily I was able to best it and got it right. Man, when I saw how many words this one ended with I just couldn't believe my eyes, still I gotta say it was a lot of fun to write as always. XD

By the way, just a heads up, rating might have to change in the next chapters so beware.

As always I wanna thank all the readers who take their time to read this story and I just gotta say: Holy crap! I was so thrilled to see my views doubled that I fist-pumped and unfortunately hit a shelf, man did that hurt hahahaha. I mean, it makes me so happy to see that you guys are liking this... or also the views just mean that you guys are keeping tabs on me to see if I finally decided to post the update, which still works for me. XD

mistsandstorms: I also was laughing like crazy about the whole situation between Chris and Scott.

I know it's been a slow build-up guys, so thanks for your patience and keeping up with me so far. Anyway, before I keep up the rambling lets roll.

DISCLAIMER: blah blah blah Teen Wolf not mine blah blah blah just doing it for fun blah blah blah.

Now, have fun. :)

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Chapter 3. - Midnight Show

Derek was standing in the middle of a hallway of the shopping mall (this one was not the one from where Laura and him got kicked out by the way) while watching his wristwatch every now and then, his eyes would drift from one side to the other just glancing at the bypassing people. Many of the shoppers were all encased in their own personal worlds, too busy to pay any attention to the tall raven haired man who was holding a pair of shopping bags, both filled with several different clothes. He sighed.

That morning Derek got up around nine in the morning, which wasn't really that early but also wasn't so late that he could say that his whole morning went to waste. He did feel surprised that he could manage to sleep longer than what he had expected, especially after the little dough fight that he accidentally walked in yesterday.

Derek spent the rest of yesterday's evening going through some papers in his room, occasionally taking brakes either by browsing whatever thing he felt like investigating in the internet or using the online radio feature. After a few hours his body started to protest for the lack of movement and the lack of hydration, which prompt him to seek some water. As he left his room and started to pace for the kitchen he wondered why the house (mostly the second floor) was being so quiet. Little did he know that once he reached the first floor his questions would be answered, more specifically right after being hit in the face by a lump of dough which was sent flying from the kitchen. It turns out that Laura and Cora tried to bake muffins, and while baking they started doing small talk, soon the chat became jokes and the joking evolved into a dough fight. The entire place was smeared with it. When both girls turned to see their brother's face covered in the mix of flour, milk and eggs they bursted into laughter, and a soon as the laughter ceased (which did lasted for a good few minutes by the way) they decided that it was finally time to act like mature adults and start cleaning the mess. Derek's retaliation didn't help at all. Soon the three Hale siblings were engaged in another food fight; however, said fight wasn't limited to the dough in the walls and floor but also started to involve whatever the three 'youths' could grab from the cupboards or even the fridge. The war came to an end when a chorus of clearing throats caught their attention.

Talia and Peter were standing by the kitchen's entrance. The woman with crossed arms, a cocked brow with an expectant look on her face, and also tapping the floor with her foot silently demanding an explanation. Peter was also with his arms crossed, leaning against the door frame but with his usual smirk. Needless to say that all three Hale siblings spent the entire night cleaning the mess.

Derek smiled at the memory.

"Now that's what I call a sight for sore eyes." the sudden comment made Derek quickly snap out of his thoughts and turn his head around. Peter was standing a few steps behind him with his usual smirk.

"And here I thought you had ditched me for a couple of asses." Derek made a smirk of his own.

"Well I did feel compelled to do just that in the last store I was in," he said approaching the younger Hale, "But then I thought 'Shame on you Peter Hale, your dear nephew is patiently waiting for you' so here I am." he smiled and made a slight bow.

"Lemme guess," Derek smirked crossing his arms, "The old perv charade is losing its touch?"

"Okay, first of all" the older man pointed a finger at him, "I'm not old, I just barely made it to my adulthood. Second, who said it didn't work?" he smugly asked pulling out a piece of paper and waving it in front of the young man's face.

"For god's sake." sighed a defeated Derek. "Peter, seriously, how many times do you need to get laid a day to be satisfied?"

Peter sharpened his eyes, rubbing his chin and carefully eyeing Derek. "Is not a rhetorical question, right?"

"I give up." said Derek looking skyward shaking his head, inwardly asking for more patience.

"Anyway," said Peter reaching for his phone, "We better get going now my cute Dery-boy, assuming we both want to make it in time." the man started to walk away while texting.

The younger man quickly grabbed paced after the older. "So then are you finally going to tell me just what the hell are we doing tonight?" said Derek catching up to Peter.

"That's not how surprises work my dear Dery-boy." he said slowing his pace and draping an arm over his nephew. "But there is one thing I can tell you."

Derek remained silent, cocking a brow as a sign of expectation.

"Tonight's adventure is like my late birthday-present for you." he said wiggling up and down his brows.

Derek darted is yes from his uncle to the road in front and back at the older man. "Why do I feel like I'm going to regret this?"

Peter stopped making an offended look, gasping and putting a hand over his chest. "Derek, is that the way to thank your kind and generous uncle?"

Derek stopped a few steps later, looking back at his uncle. "Have you ever met my uncle?"

Peter snickered.

"No, seriously." continued Derek crossing his arms. "For my eighteenth birthday, the man spent four months buttering me up for the 'greatest birthday present of all time' and do you know what he gave me in the end?"

Peter crossed his arms, deciding to let his nephew's charade continue. "What could have been said present?"

"A fucking BDSM set!" said Derek raising his voice, trying not to let his arms flail around… not so much anyway.

"Sounds like a wonderful present to me." Peter shrugged.

"Oh it was great indeed." quipped Derek. "A great fucking embarrassment."

"You know Dery-boy, you can be soooo dramatic at times." he said brushing off the topic and continued walking back to the car.

"Dramatic?!" after the initial bafflement Derek finally started pacing after the older man. "Peter I had to put up with Laura and Cora's Laughter for a whole week, I just couldn't get them to shut the hell up." when Peter gave him a look as if to say 'That's not so bad' then he continued.

"Father couldn't look at me in the eye without flustering, so he just evaded me the whole week."

"Oh Dery-boy, you shouldn't take it too personal, you know?" he patted the boy's shoulder. "We all know how much of a prude your dad can be sometimes"

Derek's jaw just dropped a little. He did definitely not gap, thank you very much. "Peter, for god's sake! Mother pleaded me not to be like you!"

"Oh Dery-boy, as if you could do that." the older one snickered.

"Peter is not funny!"

After reaching the Camaro and exiting the parking lot the car was on road back to the Hale Mansion, both Hale men kept making small talk about several things.

After what he felt it was like the usual long drive in company of his dear uncle Peter (Or anyone from his beloved family) he finally collapsed in his bed, face down on the duvet, groaning that he still had many things to take care of before allowing his uncle to take him prisoner for the rest of the night… which by the way he really wasn't looking forward to that. Fifteen minutes later the raven haired man was already taking a shower, washing away the tension he felt just by imagining what kind things awaited him tonight. Trails of cold crystal clear water allowing his mind to go blank for a few minutes, not really caring about anything else but only the sensations the cold water is giving him. Several patches of the soap's foam are being dragged along the water trails until they reach the tiled floor, forming a swirling spiral just before disappearing down the drain. Every muscle on Derek's body strains and stretches with every twist and turn he makes, the shades and the reflects of the bathroom's light over the water changes and he keeps turning around without moving from his spot under the shower. His eyes are closed and his mouth his pressed in a line, his face is completely void of emotion as he only focuses on the task of rubbing his shampoo back and forth through his hair.

Derek's features start to twitch when he suddenly remembers that tonight his uncle and him are going out for… something, which he totally now has to take as Peter's gift for his birthday. Although it still strikes him as odd. He's not talking about the fact that Peter wants to drag him around the city at night, doing only god knows what. It also isn't the fact that they could end up in something completely and totally embarrassing (mostly for him because, come on, Peter has no shame at all. Actually scratch that, Peter was born without shame) and he shudders at the thought. Hell, even the lingering question about what is it that his uncle has planned doesn't really seem weird, because at this point in his life he pretty much stopped expecting anything from the older Hale. Life sometimes makes you learn the hard way (mostly specifically the please-someone-shoot-me-in-the-head-I'm-so-embarra ssed kind of hard way). What really was making him feel uneasy about the whole situation was the fact that Peter told him to take it as a late birthday gift... not that Peter has ever been punctual with birthday gifts but mostly because his uncle did gave him a present already. Said present arrived a day after his birthday party, it was a large box containing: a pair of wolf statues carved in onyx, a silver bracelet with a triskelion carved in onyx as well attached to it, and a book with the title Kama Sutra (His uncle, really). So why in the name of all that is sacred and holy did his uncle say that?

That was the question that still lingered unanswered in Derek's mind, he still kept wondering why did his uncle say to take this night as a late birthday gift when he already gave him one (late as well mind you). Needless to say that at the same time he also didn't want to know, albeit his mind continued to fathom his uncle's true purpose without success. He had known Peter long enough to know that the older Hale always did things with something else in mind, and he was incredibly glad to admit that that something wasn't always sexual related (Which was rare).

Finally coming to terms that his uncle's mind was the biggest, if not also the most disturbing one as well, enigma of the century he finally shut off the shower. Taking a towel from the bathroom's rack he draped it around his still dampened and muscle-ripped waist, shaking his head a few times to shake off some of the water drops that dripped from his moisten hair locks. Walking out of the bathroom he stopped before the bed, carefully eyeing the set of clothes carefully placed over it. When did this happen? He vaguely recalls hearing a door being opened and closed, but then again he was so focused on other things that he couldn't really tell if he was imagining it or not. Who would go to the problem of arranging a set for him? Derek let out a defeated groan when his mind put two and two together.

"Dammit Peter." he mumbled. "You too Laura."

The answer was already clear in his mind. Although it wasn't exactly Peter who came and rummaged his closet he was pretty sure that it was his uncle who initially asked Laura to pick an appropriate set of clothes for tonight's adventure, because his older sister just couldn't ever have enough meddling with his life and probably every opportunity that life gave her to do so she welcomed it with wide open arms. He could only imagine Peter's smugly face when he asked the older Hale sibling.

Cora was out of the picture because the fact of getting to be involved with his clothes was a no go for her. One night while doing the laundry, some of Derek's clothes got mixed in between the several laundry baskets that all Hale siblings used to piled between the three of them (or more like they still do that). As soon as Derek exited the laundry room Cora was the next one to use it, and the night proceeded without much trouble. While taking out her clothes from the washing machine her surprise was big when she accidentally pulled out a pair of boxer briefs, such was the shock that to say that Cora screamed like a banshee was an understatement. Ever since then the Hale house stated that each person had to keep their dirty clothes locked away in their respective rooms until laundry time came around, also Cora yelled at her big brother that she would rather first cut her hand off with one of Laura shaving razors than allowing herself to touch his clothes ever again. Both older siblings cocked their brows as an answer.

While still lingering in memories Derek's phone started to buzz announcing an incoming text, the raven haired man quickly dismissed the issue with the clothes and went to pick up his vibrating device. It was a message from Peter.

'Seriously? We're just a few rooms away.' he thought sighing.

Basically the text was saying to get dressed ASAP and meet him in the garage.

Derek groaned and started to get dressed; he was definitely not looking forward to this.

---

The garage was in relative silence when he first arrived, not that he expected for someone to be there but in this house it wasn't that unusual to find people occupying a room when you less needed it. Making sure he was completely alone he went for the tool rack and pulled out a couple of boxes placing them by the white Cavalier, he unbuttoned his shirt and slipped it off still keeping his white wife beater revealing light tan white skin and placed a dirty rug under the car to start checking the engine. After all he did promise Boyd he would give it a little checkup just to make sure that the car wouldn't get busted like last Monday.

He started to hum a random song he remembered hearing in the radio this morning while randomly picking up tool from the boxes, lightly brushing his fingers on the tools until he felt whatever tool he needed at the moment and quickly taking it out to continue with his task. A couple of hours later, together with some grease and oil stains all over his arms, chest and face, he was done with the checkup, returning every tool to its rightful box and each box to its rightful place by the racks. Not that he had an obsessive compulsive disorder or anything, but he really didn't wish to get maimed.

"Now Derek has no excuse to say that I always leave a mess behind." the boy said while rubbing off the grease from his hands with a rag.

Derek was the one who always growled whenever he found the tools laying all around the garage, his frown would make the man's brows crunch together and his glare would be as lethal as a shotgun, making a slight snarl. The boy snickered at the memory.

After putting everything back in place he checked his watch, it was just signaling seven o'clock in the afternoon. 'Not so late.' He thought while scratching the back of his head, thinking what to do while waiting for the others. As far as he remembered Cora said that she would busy helping out her mother on some minor business, and Boyd and Erica were right now driving around town in the bike, which meant he was going to be alone for another couple of hours… and bored.

So having nothing better to do he decided to climb in the back seat of the Cavalier and take a short nap for the time being. He was expecting for some of the guys to show up and wake him up by screaming into his ear, mostly Erica or Cora; or maybe Boyd would wake him by pulling him from his legs and dropping him on the floor; or maybe even Laura by just splashing his face with cold water; hell even Derek would probably carry him and leave him on the driveway (which did happen once).

What he didn't expect was to suddenly by awoken by hearing Peter's voice talking to someone, and since he only heard a pair of steps he figured that the older Hale was talking on the phone.

"Yes, I'm aware of that already." the voice of the older man sounded a bit annoyed.

Still a bit drowsy Isaac peeked over the window, lifting his head just enough so he could see Peter tracing back and forth in front of the black Camaro… which wasn't there when he last went to sleep. 'How long have I been out?' asked himself in disbelief, his frown could be qualified as Derek-like. He figured he must've been really out cold because the Camaro's engine could be quite noisy, 'Just as Derek when he barks in fury' he mentally snickered. His attention returned to the older Hale.

"Listen as long as we can keep playing it cool-" he seemed to be interrupted, "Yes, yes I know." he made an exasperated groan.

The teen's heart started to race when the older man began walking around the Camaro. Thank god he first went to the side opposite of where he was, or more accurately the side opposite to the Cavalier.

Actually he was beginning to wonder how come the older male had not spotted him already. As far as he knew Peter had a horrible talent to always get hold of the little imperceptible details that used to go over everyone's head, and then use them to his advantage or someone else's embarrassment. The thing was that Isaac was covering himself with some of the blankets that Cora used to leave in the car (sometime the teenager used to take naps between classes) together with other stuff that all four teens used to leave in there as well, so it wasn't unusual for people to see a lot of random stuff laying in the back seat (Talia used to call it 'The Bum's corner'). He ducked back when he notice the man approaching the Cavalier.

"Yeah, I've already contacted him," he heard Peter saying, "He said that it had been already taken care off."

Isaac thought that maybe the man was in the middle of his usual business, either about business business or maybe some of those 'disturbing-jail-earning-sex-related-calls' that Derek used to shiver about. Still something was off in all of this, something he couldn't quite tell what it was… but it was definitely off.

"Yeah," the voice of the man snatched back his attention, "I've already started looking into that. The thing is, as much as I want to go and just get this over with-" he was interrupted again making Isaac peek once again. He saw the man frowning with displeasure.

"Ok, ok, ok," he said. He looked like he was trying to keep him temper under control. "Listen!" the risen tone made Isaac jump scared… a little. "Right now I'm heading over the place I told you before," he saw him making a pause, "Exactly," the man nodded, "Don't worry, I'll make sure of that." The man smirked.

For a few seconds Isaac saw Peter going from one expression to another, probably faces the man was making at the statements or questions the other person was making over the phone. When the older man made a sudden move the teen yanked himself back down.

"Listen I think I hear my nephew coming down through the stairs, so I'll call you back later ok?", Isaac peeked again, "Don't worry, I'll be careful." He saw the man sighing and looking skyward, rolling his eyes. "Yes." he barked. "Bye."

A minute later Derek was walking into the garage, quickly making his way to the older Hale. Isaac wanted to peek a little more but ultimately decided to yank his head back, covering himself with the blanket again.

"I'm ready." said Derek.

"You sure took your sweet time," he heard Peter say in a smugly tone, "Lemme guess," Peter paused, "The hair right?" the older boy sighed, "Well you sure like to put a lot of effort into it."

Isaac couldn't hold back a smile when he heard Derek's growl. "Let's get going." the younger Hale said before beginning to walk to the driver's seat.

"Ah ah ah" he heard Peter saying, probably interrupting Derek's steps because they also immediately halted as well. "Tell me something Dery-boy, Do you actually know where are we going tonight?"

Derek's silence let out that he in fact didn't.

"That being said..." the sound of a couple of jingling keys echoed after that. "Now you be a good Dery-boy and let me handle the rest ok?" he heard the older man patting the younger one, probably in the cheek.

The teen could only imagine what kind of face Derek was making, and that made him smile. The older boy always used to be very protective of his precious Camaro, although with someone like Cora continuously roaming around it like a fucking famished vulture Isaac knew he really couldn't blame him. He also started to shiver from laughter when he remembered that usually Derek was really skilled at finding a shit load of synonyms of the phrase "fuck off" whenever someone tried to take his precious Camaro away from him (99% of those times being mostly Cora).

After Derek's growl echoing in the garage Isaac heard both doors being opened and closed simultaneously. After that the Camaro's engine roared and the automated door of the garage started to slide open, after a few seconds of the car's engine making a roaring sound, probably because Peter was pumping the gas pedal just to annoy Derek, he heard the car pulling out quickly and making its way out of the property, the roar fading into the night.

Once the door was close again, the teen felt it was finally safe to slip out of his hiding spot. Once out he quickly reached his phone, confirming it was storing two messages, one from Cora and the other from Boyd.

From Boyd: Hey dude I need a favor, Erica and I are kind of… stranded… flat tire. We're near the preserve's entrance.

Isaac's laughter was short lived when he saw the time the message came in: '7:30 pm,' and subsequently he checked the current time: '11:00 pm.' Fuck.

'What?!' shouted Isaac inwardly.

At first he winced because it had been more than three hours since the text arrived, he figured he was in for a good one and was probably never gonna hear the end of it from Erica. But aside that, he was glad that no other text from those two was stored, that meaning they really weren't minding him being late most likely because they were probably busy 'entertaining' themselves. Isaac snickered. Then he decided to check Cora's.

From Cora: ISAAC LAHEY! WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU?! WHATEVER THE FUCK YOU'RE DOING LEAVE IT NOW AND GO FUCKING HELP BOYD AND ERICA BEFORE I MAIM YOUR GENITALS AND RE-PURPOSE THEM AS DINING BELLS TO ANNOUNCE DINNER AT NIGHT.

Isaac's face paled.

At first panic rushed through his system at the usual Cora-like treatment, but then after his mind made a few connections it struck him as odd. Why would Cora get this worked up about them having a flat tire? Two options popped in his mind: either Erica spent the last three hours calling Cora until she got the Hale sister so fed up, like Derek in a Monday morning, that she simply snapped and decided to finally help; or the blonde girl must've pulled out some blackmailing material on her to get her like this. Sweet.

So in clear fear of the potential damage his manhood was being threatened with, he sighed and packed a new tire for the bike, he climbed into the Cavalier's driver seat and began the long road towards the preserve.

Recent events being tossed into a corner of his mind.

---

The place was like a dream.

He was running through the greenest grass field he ever thought it could exist. Occasionally jumping on the little puddles he could catch of glimpse of, mostly because of the running he was doing and also because of the tall grass that was long enough to be gently brushing his shins as he kept running.

Glancing back he saw a tall young woman running right behind him, with all purpose of catching up to him. She was dressed with a white dress that showed sunflower patterns on both shoulder and the waist, her long nut-brown colored hair was elegantly gliding with the breeze, and her smile was as dazzling as the sun itself.

She was calling him out while chasing after him.

When she finally caught up to him, she grabbed him by the hips and threw both of them into the grass, he clung to her shoulders just before falling. Happily laughing they both started to roll from one side to the other, without letting go of each other. When both of them felt tired and out of air they stopped gasping for oxygen and glancing at the clear blue sky.

"I can't beat you." he said still gasping.

"Well," she paused rolling on her side to have a better glance of him, "For starters my legs are longer than yours." she smiled.

"Are you calling me shorty?" he said pouting.

"Maybe" she said not being able to contain the laughter.

"It's not funny." he cried lightly shoving her shoulder.

"Besides," she putting her elbow on the ground to rest her head on her hand, "I was a good runner when I was younger."

"Can I be a runner too?" he asked genuinely interested and worried of a negative answer.

"Of course you can!" she exclaimed lifting herself to sit in a lotus position. "You don't think so?" she looked at him expectantly.

"I just don't think I'm good at it." he said while also sitting the same as her. When he turned his eyes to her he felt his forehead being flicked. "Ow!" he scowled.

"Okay, now listen," she pointed a finger at him, "Never. Again. ok?" punctuating every word, he only made a confused look. "I don't want to hear you say 'I never' or 'I can't' or anything of the sort, got it?"

Although confused he still nodded.

"Listen," she said closing the distance and taking his hands, "The moment you say those words you're closing yourself off to your goals." he tilted his head confused, "Maybe you won't be able to get it now, but when as get older you will."

Her assuring smile made him smile as well.

"Just never give up." She said eyes locked on him, his eyes carefully reading her expressions. "Even when things seem to get bad and ugly… just never give up. Fight and keep going." she smiled again. "Ok?"

"Okay." he gleefully said.

"Then is a promise?" she said holding out her pinky finger.

"A promise." he repeated hooking his pinky finger with hers.

After a shake of both fingers they both smiled again at each other.

"I love you Stiles."

"I love you mom"

Promise.

Suddenly he yanked himself from his bed sitting and gasping for air.

With eyes wide open as a pair or plates he eyed the place, recognizing it as his usual bedroom with every piece of furniture he possessed in its rightful pace. His chest felt like if his heart was pounding its way out, his lungs still felt severely short of oxygen, his mind was a fuzzy mess and his entire body was sweating and shivering.

It was all a dream.

'That fucking dream again.' he mentally cursed.

Feeling a wave of anger coursing through his body he unconsciously grabbed his pillow and threw it as hard as he could to the mirror hanging from the wardrobe's door right in front of him, said mirror slightly shaking from the cushy impact. Looking again at his own reflection Stiles felt disgusted by the sight and flexed his legs to hug them, borrowing his head between them and starting to rock back and forth. It was not the first time he had that dream.

When he was little, back in his hometown, his mother used to take him out for walks in the forest surrounding the town, their house conveniently placed a few minutes away from the town's outskirts. They would always go to the same clearing in the middle of the forest to run or have picnics or just lay on their backs and stare at the sky, it was their secret spot to do whatever they felt like doing. Stiles always saw that place as a safe spot where the world could never touch them, where he could always go and feel that nothing in the world could ever go wrong. After his mother passed away the place became more a refuge from his pain, a place where he could go and mourn her all he wanted without the sympathetic looks he hated so much, a place where he could let out all the pain without feeling like someone was judging him. Eventually the place started to feel more like a prison to him, unable to shake off the pain every time the memories assaulted him and made him yearn for the past, where his mother still lived. Finally one day, on the first anniversary of his mother death, Stiles went to the clearing thinking that the place would ease off some of the pain he had built during the entire day; however, as soon as he entered the clearing he suddenly felt weak and knelt bursting into tears. He decided to never return there.

As time went by it was on few occasions when Stiles' subconscious would bring those memories of the clearing back to him, but now he could no longer shed tears and instead just boiled in anger every time it happened.

The boy shook his head.

Not really eager to dwell on past things Stiles decided to reach for his phone on the nightstand right beside the bed, he clicked the side button checking the current time cocking his brows when he saw the time. '9:30 pm?' Stiles muttered surprised. Is not that he was the dozy type of guy when taking naps but he also couldn't say that he slept like a log, probably it was mostly because of his habit of always being aware of his surroundings that he could never sit still for long periods of time. So it was a little surprising to see that he had in fact slept through almost five complete hours without waking up even once, or not even opening his eyes half-sleep because he heard something. He was really surprised.

Sliding his legs to the side of the bed Stiles remained seated on the edge, his hand firmly gripping the sheets while his feet were well planted on the rug and his eyes were staring at space. He was actually mentally reviewing his agenda for the night, and as always he was having a hard time just accepting what he was going to do… like most nights. After a few seconds he finally decided against staying in bed and headed for the kitchen, going through some of the cupboards and the fridge, making a light and healthy meal so his body could stay up and running for the rest of the night. Once he was done cooking he went to drop down on the couch instead of the table, munching away without any kind of emotion on his face. His body was actually moving only by the instinct and the idea of needing energy for later, his mind was busy rescheduling everything he was going to do for the night. Once he was over with his food, he quickly paced to the bathroom and took a quick shower, trying always to focus on simple things that didn't induce deep thoughts or reasoning. He really needed not to think right now. After the shower he grabbed a towel and paced back and forth through his room, opening drawers and pulling out whatever piece of cloth he felt like putting on, avoiding any eye contact with any reflecting surface that he could see. As any other night, right before his night job, he would always avoid looking his reflection in a mirror. Pulling on a black sport shirt and sport pants together with his black and white sneakers and his ever-trustful red hoodie he took his phone from the nightstand and his keys, spinning them around as he made his way to the door. Placing his hand in the doorknob he stopped for a few seconds and closed his eyes, he took a few deep breaths and tried to steady his heartbeat.

'Remember,' he said mentally, 'You have a dream and no matter what you will make it happen.'

He wince a bit before mentally slapping himself.

Shaking his head he finally opened the door and quickly stepped out gently closing it behind.

---

The sound of electro music echoed through the walls making the vibrate as if the sound came from them, said vibrations made circles in the coffee she was sipping at occasionally. The neon lights squirming their way in through the closed off blind shades reflected in her glasses, making her tilt them every now and then. Even the constant ringing of the phone because of clients requesting information was nothing to distract her or make her lose her temper.

The woman's light brown skin was glowing with the color of the lights that came in, her chocolate colored long curly locks cascaded her shoulders in an elegant fashion, and her dark hazelnut eyes were hard focus on the agenda she had been reading over the last two hours. She was dressed in her tight gray office suit and a white ruffled blouse, nibbling a pen as she kept reading and occasionally adding more notes.

A knock on the door caught her attention, although that didn't make her divert her eyes.

"Who is it?"

"It's Ennis." came a hoarse voice from over the door.

She finally looked up. "Come on in."

The door opened revealing a tall man, broad muscles covering his entire body, clean shaved head and dark fierce eyes.

"Is there anything you would like to inform me?" she asked after several seconds of silence. Her expression was hard as if to say 'I'm working' and that was a clear statement that she did not tolerate distractions while on duty.

"The shipment for tonight's theme has arrived." He said with a stern look on his eyes. "Right now is being unloaded into the warehouse."

"Finally," she said with an exasperated sigh, "Good thing it came so fast even on short notice." Standing up she quickly paced out of the office, pushing aside the taller man to get out who sighed and started to walk right behind her. Both made their way to the storage in the back of the building, stopping right before said cargo.

"Hand me the delivery papers." She said extending her hand, her tone somewhat demanding.

The man's brows met the line of his shaved hair crossing his arms.

"Ugh, please?" she groaned rolling her eyes as well.

The man only nodded with a pleased smirk, walking away to a counter a grabbing a binder. "I've already did a thorough check up." he said before handling the binder.

"I know you did." she commented nonchalantly, pulling out the paper and flipping over the pages. "I just want to check some details to pencil them in." her eyes were flying all across the numbers and lines.

"I sometimes forget Miss Efficient Secretary wants to have everything under control." he hissed.

"Well if it weren't for me..." she left the sentence incomplete still eyeing the papers.

"Yeah, yeah, this place would've bankrupted long ago." he quickly completed rolling his eyes.

"Good thing you understand that. Now," she said finally looking up and slapping him in the stomach with the binder. "Be a good and obedient worker and take these to the lobby," she watched her wristwatch, "It's already half past ten and our little star boy will be arriving at any moment."

"Actually I think I saw him going to the dressing rooms just before I went to knock on your door." said Ennis watching the woman pace away.

"Really?" she asked a bit surprised, looking back to the man nodding. She remained quiet for a few seconds, arms crossed. "Well anyway, I'll get back to the office." she began to walk away again. "Call me if anything happens."

"I will." he said before she disappeared.

Being back in her office she quickly closed the door leaning back against it, she let out a heavy sigh with both hands firmly gripping the doorknob. She eyed the phone buzzing like crazy in the middle of the black mahogany desk; an annoyed sigh escaped her lips. It was tiresome most of times to be the only one capable enough to handle the administrative part of the business, but oddly enough she had always found it quite entertaining and really challenging. Probably those were some of the reasons she had been hired to do this. The continual buzz of the phone caught her attention again and she immediately went to pick it up, raising a brow in sing of intrigue when she saw her boss' name on the screen.

'Why?' that was the only word in her mind.

Not over-thinking it she quickly tapped the answer button putting on the speaker.

"Now this is odd." she said nonchalantly.

"You sure know how to greet people don't you?" the snarky voice came over. She was a taken aback by the fact that the background was silent.

"Where are you exactly?"

"It's just like you to completely forget proper working etiquette." the man sighed. She could practically hear him rolling his eyes. "What does my location have to do with anything?"

She smirked before answering; almost swearing he could hear her lips twitching up. "It's my understanding that working protocols only apply if both people are actually working," then she added, "Which I'm pretty sure you're not doing right now. Oh, and answering your last question, well it's quite strange to hear you calling me from a silent place. You're usually roaming the clubs whenever you're travelling."

"It was a long flight, ok?" he could hear the man ruffling his hair with annoyance. "Besides, it's not like I'm ignoring the envelope you accidentally placed in my suitcase." the sound of the envelope's paper crunching came over the phone. "And by the way, it is not roaming, ok? It's called business advertisement. Usually it's more effective when you go directly to the customers. It's quite effective."

"Well, about the envelope, considering where you were going to spend the weekend I figured it was a good chance as any." she chuckled. "But you know, good thing you also help with the advertisement thing. You're finally understanding the importance of expanding."

"Why do I sometimes get the feeling that you act more Boss-like than me?" she smiled picturing what face the man was doing with that question.

"Just with the administrative things." she said proudly.

"Thank god for that." he chuckled. "Anyway, the reason why I'm calling you-"

"Fucking hell Deucalion! What happen this time?" she quickly interrupted anticipating any kind of stupidity his boss had done by now.

He let out a sigh. "Seriously Kali? Can't you give me a little bit more of credit? You should have more faith in your boss."

"Have you met my boss? Should I tell you about the time he completely blew off a good business opportunity in New York?"

The man groaned. "I thought we had agreed to never talk about that anymore."

"Ah ah ah" she said correcting the man, "Not in front of Ennis."

"Fuck." he hisses.

"Anyway, back on topic. What is this call for?"

"Well, as I was saying, I just came back from doing a few rounds in some the bars and clubs and got myself a good amount of interested new clients." he chuckled. "Not that it was that hard to convince them once they knew what the business was about. Did you know we're quite famous?

Kali scoffed. "Of course I knew." imagining her frowning at that expression she quickly added. "Did you already forget how many times we tell clients to give recommendations for the club?"

"Ah yes." he quickly said. "One of your many business policies." he smirked.

"Say what you will, but you gotta admit that thanks to that we've been getting our fair share of clients for the past decade."

"I won't argue with you at that." he said smiling. "Anyway, I also called to ask about my special package."

"Ah that." she said sprinting to search on her agenda, quickly flipping through the pages and coming to a stop tapping one of the lines with her finger. "Actually I've been keeping track of it all day. According to the last update it made it to the delivery office around the last hours of the evening, and since weekends are non-working days I'm afraid you'll have to wait until Monday."

"Hmm," he remained contemplative for a moment, "well as long as you have it ready for my arrival I won't complain."

"Seriously?! That would be a first." she snorted.

"Ha ha, very funny." he said mockingly. "Oh, and how's tonight's theme looking?"

"To tell the truth, quite promising. Your little star boy just arrived."

He smiled. "Then I trust you'll do the usual for me, right?"

She sighed with annoyance. "Yeah, yeah, I will so don't worry. Okay?"

"Thank you very much my beautiful secretary." he said in an elegant tone. "I am looking forward to it."

"Could you please quit it with the high mannered acting crap?"

"Ok, ok, I'm sorry. Well, anyway see you next Monday."

"Ok, see you."

After hanging up she sighed once more, a little bit annoyed at the constant headaches that her boss gave her. She had to admit that Deucalion knew his way around things pretty well, after all it was him who talked her into this business from the very beginning and also, at some point, it was him who gave her the confidence she was lacking. Not that anybody else knew or needed to know that (Actually it was more like her threatening him into never saying it). In many ways she admired the man and knew that no matter what situation they came across, as long as they stayed cool headed and focused they could overcome it.

They only thing she could never agree to was that fixation her boss had, a fixation she knew would one day be the ruin of them all.

She sighed once more, getting ready for another night in the club.

---

Trust is important, an important factor that drives people in different ways.

It does not come equally to everyone however, and the way you cope with it varies with each person.

Derek Hale knows this very well.

Back in school Derek was the kind of guy who had it all easy. He was really good at sports, so it was quite easy for him to join whatever sport team he felt like trying. He's always been good looking so he had no difficulties in catching people's eye and turning heads more often than not, attention that in those times he really liked. He was really smart, and kind bookish, so he was always at the top of his class. He also had the already going prestige and fame that his family name had so it's not like there was a single person who hadn't at least heard of him, such that at one point the young Hale boy inwardly gloated of his position in life.

Derek Hale indeed had everything any person would wish to have, he had everything a teenager could only dream of, he could have the entire world at his feet. Life, however, had other things coming his way.

The Hale family always had high moral standards about life itself, family and social values were an everyday thing amongst them so no Hale family member ever grew to be a pedantic or self-conceited jerk or a showoff or anything of the sort. For as long as Derek could remember his parents always made efforts to teach him and his sisters how to always care for family first; to treasure friendship and loyalty; to respect all people alike regardless of religion, sex preferences or breed status… and the list would just get longer and longer if he kept going on like that. Bottom line, the Hale Family was family who did not tolerated self-conceited bullshit and would always help its family members to be people of good.

The tall young Hale would always make a happy smile every time he remembered the good old days of his childhood and most of his days as teenager (In Cora and Laura's words he would mostly be doing a stupid looking face and he would immediately tell them to shut the fuck up), every one of his memories was a treasured jewel he would never dream of letting go. Like the several times when all of them, his uncle included, would go on road trips all around the country mostly looking at roadside attractions or camping every now and then whenever they thought the place was amazing (Actually it was more Cora and Laura non-stop blabbing how beautiful it looked and Talia casually suggesting how great it would be to spend the day in a place like that until his father just had to give up) or any other thing they could think of. Regardless of whatever they did, Derek was just happy to be with them.

Things, however, began to go down because of an unavoidable reality: the true world.

If he could just go back in time and re-do things over, he would first go and scream at himself to not be so naive and to not be such a stupid trustful idiot. He certainly was not blind to the term of betrayal and deception, neither was he ignorant to the flaws of human nature, but he did have to admit that, up until that moment of his life, he never actually grew out of his childish bubble of a world. The pain and confusion he gained out of it was more than enough proof of that. So it was really no surprise that he changed to what he is today, it was no surprise to his family that he wasn't as open as before, it was not so uncommon to close himself off from people with the potential to hurt him again.

He was not willing to allow himself anymore suffering from anyone.

His family was the only people worthy of his trust.

"Stop it." a voice interrupted his line of thoughts, poking him just between his brows.

"Hey!" he quickly slapped the finger away. "What was that for?"

"So you would stop sulking." said the older Hale while driving, eyes on the road.

"I was not sulking." the young man frowned.

"Dery-boy, if there's one thing you can't ever hide from me is your sulking." he smirked.

Derek rolled his eyes. "So what, now you're a shrink?"

Peter scoffed. "Please, you're not that hard to read." he saw the younger boy glared at him with a sharp look, "No, really Dery-boy, I mean your face might put on this scowl of death and your eyes might be able to just freeze things right on the spot but..." he let the pause linger in the air.

"But…?" Derek just repeated, the expectant look on his face forming within seconds.

"Well, I'm a Hale after all," he looked at his nephew from the corner of his eyes, "And I think that together with knowing you for almost a full length of twenty eight years provides me with a good chunk of experience on how to read you, my dear Dery-boy." he smirked.

Derek kept silent for a few seconds, taking in every word from his uncle. "How many times have I told you to stop calling me that?"

Peter smiled, knowing his nephew as well as he did he was not surprised by the younger Hale's reaction with the sudden change of subject. "A thousand time I guess," he smiled at Derek, "But you know that's not gonna stop me, right?" Peter knew very well that Derek, in his usual way of being, was silently thanking him for pulling him out of his depressive thoughts.

"Yeah, unfortunately I know as much." he sighed looking out the window. "Can you now tell where the fuck are we going?" he said in an annoyed tone.

The older man just snorted, well aware of Derek's way of trying to not think about whatever was crossing his head. "Don't worry Dery-boy. I told you, didn't I? This is a special gift from me to you, for your birthday."

Derek said nothing, remembering once again how odd it seemed. He had already received a birthday gift from Peter.

"Besides," Peter continued, "It's kind of a little getaway from the stressful side of a business life." he said in a dramatic tone.

"Getaway? Seriously?" he said in a disbelieving tone. "Peter I'm pretty sure that every day you have enough getaways for at least five business lives. Actually scratch that, I'm pretty sure you're the only person who could make a business life out of getaways." he said crossing his arms and giving his uncle a mocking smile.

"You really think so?" Peter asked with a thoughtful look in his face.

"Oh my god." groaned the young man.

"You know I think I'll look into that another day." the older man said smiling.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. So," he remarked the word, "What exactly is the place we're going to?"

"Ah ah, that's not how surprises work Dery-boy." he said with a mischievous smile. "Besides, I assure you that you're totally gonna thank me for this"

"The only thing I'm ever going to be grateful to you for is when you stop calling me that."

"Oh you know you love it." he flaps his lashes at the young Hale.

"Seriously Peter, I'm starting to regret this. Where the heck are we going?" he said a little bit more exasperated.

"Derek," the man made a long pause, his tone was a stern one making the young man frown with expectation and a little bit of concern for the unusual tone in the older man. "I know how much you like and also need to be ahead of possible events, I understand that and I understand why you're like that, really." the younger Hale sighed with the implication turning his eyes down to his lap and clenching his fists. "But seriously Derek, when was the last time you just rolled with things and enjoyed the moment? Sometimes life is about surprises, spontaneity, improvisation." he paused to take a quick look at his nephew, the boy was breathing evenly, most likely measuring the weight of his words. "Listen to me Derek," he paused again not looking away from the road feeling the boy's eyes on him, "For once don't be Derek Hale, just be Derek."

The older man said no more after that, he really was having a great time annoying the fuck out of his nephew but he also knew when to take things seriously. Derek, on the other hand, finally giving up on trying to get some information out of his uncle and taking in every one of those last words decided to remain silent for the rest of the drive and tried to not feel too uncomfortable with the whole situation. If he was being honest he still felt quite worried of what his uncle had in store for him, but also he felt kind of excited as well with the whole mystery albeit he knew he might ended up regretting it later.

Derek snorted at that.

Begrudgingly he knew his uncle was right. He knew he had to do exactly what the older Hale was saying, but it was difficult to break free from a certain routine or certain way of thinking, a habit that was so engraved into his everyday-life aspect that it was almost impossible to think of himself without doing such thing or having such thoughts. It was just his way of being him. So trying to hide a smile, especially from his uncle, he just waited eagerly for their destination.

Not that his uncle needed to know.

---

He was finally seeing his reflection.

His gut wrenched with disgust.

The man in the mirror was not him.

The man in the mirror was another person.

Like every other night, especially on weekend nights, he would always arrive at eleven o'clock in the evening or a little bit earlier to start with his other 'job.' It was the other side of him that sometimes felt like drifting along with the situation, taking a liking to the place and the things that his real self allowed out of need. His face made an almost imperceptible twitch of disgust at the thought. He sometimes hated himself for allowing such low drop in his life, but it was not like he had many other options or any options at all. He knew he didn't want to be a burden to his friends and any relatives he could count on where out of the question. Ever since the day he lost his mother he knew that a piece of his soul was taken away from him, he was so drown on a spiral of sadness and misery that he couldn't care if the whole world exploded right before his eyes. It took him a good time to get back in track, probably after the intervention with his father.

His father decided one day to drag his ass out the bed, forcing him on a road trip to Seattle. It was the longest ride Mr. Stilinski knew about that it could be made without too much stopping for refueling, which he knew would give his son a moment of hesitation to try and run back home to crawl under the blankets if he ever got the chance. The entire time during the ride was a non-stop argue (a discussion so heated that at one point Mr. Stilinski had to pull over and not crash into their certain deaths) about how his son should start to get the fuck back to life and move on, the boy obviously was reluctant to do so and started yelling back about how his dad cared so little for the passing of his mother. Stiles felt a hand slapping his cheek right on the spot. Mr. Stilinski quickly said that of course he was missing his dear and beloved wife, which made his heart felt like being torn apart every time he thought about it, but he also said how much it was tearing him seeing his one and only son wither away in sadness and him not being able to help him out. He also said that if he could have known things were going to end up like that then maybe it would've been better if he had died instead of Stiles' mother. In that moment the young boy couldn't hold back a new set of tears.

His father being dead? No, of course he didn't want his father dead and even if the opposite had occurred then he would as well mourn his father's passing. It's just that having his mother being taken away when he was thirteen years old was rough, and also that fact they were very close just made it all the more painful. Regardless of the situation there was no child who, having being loved by his parents, wouldn't mourn and cry over the death of one them.

In the end and after several miles of screams, guilt trips and tears, and finally a pull over for the last straw of guiltiness, father and son were finally hugging each other and apologizing for every little thing, laughing in the end with another hug, a soft smile and a new vision for both of their lives. It would be hard and there was no denying that, but they knew they still had each other and they both knew they would always give their best to be there for each other.

The boy smiled at the memory.

He was so engrossed in his memories that he totally missed the sound of the door being opened and then closed.

"Such a thoughtful face." said a voice right behind him, snapping him back into reality with a startled jump and gasping.

"Holy fuck!" he gritted at the other guy. "Why in the fucking hell do you always have to come and scare the living shit out of me?" he cried flailing his arms around.

"My, my," the said the other guy clicking his tongue with displeasure, "Such a colorful language, don't you think?"

"Fuck off Aiden." he said turning back again to face the mirror, applying the finishing touches to the mask we was supposed to wear for tonight's show.

"Ok, I get it, you're busy." said the other guy stepping back and leaning against the wall. "I just came by to see how you've been? You know, you been a little gloomy lately." he started making small talk.

"Like I've always been." he answered applying some kind of glitter jelly to the mask he was going to wear for the night.

"Well then I take that you're ready for 'Carnival Night,' right?"

"As ready as I can be." Stiles looked a Aiden through the mirror. "Where's Ethan by the way?"

"He's getting ready." he answered toying around with a stone ornament. "He's got the first two rounds with the new guys."

"I heard about the newbies." he returned his eyes to his task. "How do they look by the way?"

"Well," Aiden paused making a thoughtful face. "They're well-built if that's what you're talking about." he said seeing the other boy shaking his head with a smirk, "Though if you refer to their way of performing then I gotta say I haven't seen that yet."

"Figures" he simply said.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Aiden asked furrowing his brows.

"Well," he paused looking from the mask to Aiden's reflection, "He's usually more into the whole business than you," when the other boy scowled he added, "Ethan is always going from one side to the other helping in every aspect he can. I've heard he has pissed Ennis many times because he just can't stop sticking his nose in thing he shouldn't concern himself with," he paused putting the finished mask aside and turning to face Aiden, "Or so Ennis said." he shrugged.

"Well, he's dedicated. Obviously he'll want to do and help much as possible." his tone was almost filled with pride.

"That's true." Stiles smiled at the statement, eyes fixed on the guy. He had known the twins Ethan and Aiden for at least a whole year since he started working in the club, and if there was one thing that everybody could see it was that regardless of the constants pissing-each-other thing they had going on they also respected and admired each other… of course not that they said that out loud. He smirked when he saw Aiden's light blush.

"A-Anyway," he said stuttering a bit and tearing his eyes away from the other boy, "I just wanted to make sure that you were getting ready." he said leaving aside the stone he was playing with, heading for the exit. "Remember that Spark is the one opening for the main event, and it's not like 90% of the clients are her for any other reason." he said with irony.

Stiles huffed at his words; the other boy knew pretty well how much he hated any comment related to that. "Yeah, yeah, I'll be ready before it's my turn."

"You better be." Aiden turned back, side-looking at Stiles with the door almost closed behind him. "Besides, I pretty much doubt you'd want to get on Kali's bad side." When he saw the other boy about to say something he quickly added. "With that I'm talking about that really scary side of hers when she goes all crazy about the club. You know how she can get all wolf-mode when someone threatens the business." he fought down a smirk when he saw the other guy shivering at the thought.

"Ok, ok, I get it." he sighed. "I'm not exactly looking forward to have my head blown off by the power of her stare you know."

Aiden chuckled. "Then let's get to business my dear Spark." he said wiggling his eyebrows before closing the door.

At first he let out a chuckle because even though Aiden could sometimes be such a snarky and sarcastic asshole ("Hello Kettle, I'm the black pot", said Aiden. "Ok, I get it" Stiles groaned) he still had a good side which was funny and really cool, and it also was rarely seen by anyone who wasn't Ethan. He had grew to like the pair, Ethan more than Aiden for obvious reasons, and being in the same line of work as well as working in the same place kind of forced them into a certain degree of coexistence, so is not like he could say that he didn't have enough time to get to know them both. He first had met them about a year and a half ago when Ennis introduced the pair to him as the new acquisitions for the club (God how he hated that word whenever the shaved man used it), he was a little bit surprised because, although it was not that uncommon for twins to be working in the thing same as him, he never before had the chance to actually be acquainted with an actual couple of twin brothers or sisters. So yeah, that's one more off the bucket the list.

Stiles decided to not linger in his thoughts anymore before his mind started to get bright ideas about randomly popping up any kind of topic, that fact being a good trigger for his mouth to ramble even to himself. Carefully eyeing the rest of the several outfits he would be wearing for the night, together with the recently customized mask for the Carnival themed party, he then knew it was time for another quick shower, despite the fact that he took one before leaving his apartment, just to make sure the makeup he was going to have applied didn't get ruined with the sweat layer he worked on his way to the place. He winced at the thought, but knew there was really not much he could do about it, especially since it was Kali's idea to do this whole thing (or actually it was just getting suggestions from the boss and it was always Kali who came up with the setup) so there was not much complaining he could do… unless he wanted Kali's legendary fire glare to burst his head into smithereens. So yeah, no thanks.

He gave himself one last glance through the mirror.

"Put on a smile," he whispered forcing his face to smile, "You're the star of the show that everybody expects tonight so you have to smile." He knew he was just trying to relax himself, but the words came out more like a scold and warning.

"You are the star boy who everybody loves." he said again trying to smile, his lips were just awkwardly twitching.

"You're the one everybody comes to see, the mayor reason why this place is successful," every word he spat at his reflection sounded like it was being said by another person. The words just felt too foreign in his mouth.

He frowned.

"You are the main reason why Stiles can still pursue his dream." he voice turned harsh.

"You are the main reason why Stiles hasn't fell into despair yet." his eyes made a death glare.

"You are the main reason why Stiles hasn't yet turned insane from all of this." his voice broke.

"You are… his only way out." he whispered, feeling a sting in his eyes.

"You are Spark." He said last before allowing himself a couple of tears.

The soft sobs were quickly drown in the loud music pounding through the walls.

Just like every night.

---

"The Wolf Pack Nightclub?!" To say Derek was gaping would be an understatement. "This is your idea of a birthday gift?! A fucking strip club?!" he was flabbergasted and watching his uncle unlock his seat-belt making that stupid cocky grin of his that only made him pent up more anger and confusion at the same time. "For crying out loud Peter! You know, next to your BDSM present and the Kama Sutra book you gave me, I think this is the worst of them all."

Peter remained quiet, staring at him with a blank expression.

"What?" Derek barked no longer able to contain the silence.

"Are you still a virgin Derek?"

"Seriously?!"

"Ok, so you're not." he said shrugging dismissively, exiting the car and leaving behind a flabbergasted Derek.

"Damn it! Peter!" once the younger Hale was out of his stupor (And after several failed attempts to break free of his seat-belt) he quickly went after his uncle. "Peter!"

Just before Derek could say another word the older man interrupted. "Ok, listen here Derek." with those words the young boy stopped. Peter only called him by his name when he wanted to say something serious. "Seriously Derek," he said clasping his hands together, breathing evenly and taking a few seconds to find the appropriate words. "For once, just try to relax. Life is an adventure and sometimes, just sometimes, is best if you ignore your brain and listen to your instincts."

Derek remained silent; the words were starting to bring up old and unpleasant memories.

"Derek, we're all humans and we make mistakes. That is inevitable and you know it" he added getting a good idea of what was coursing through his nephew's mind. "All I'm asking you is to just let go of all your worries, just for tonight follow my lead, okay?" he saw the hesitation in the boy's face. Derek just hated relinquishing control. "You know you can trust me." he said putting his hands on Derek's shoulders. He felt the boy relaxing under his touch.

After a few moments of silence Derek finally looked him in the eye, poking him in the chest with his index, a menacing look in his face.

"If you so as much hook me with another drag queen I'll rip your throat out-"

"'With your teeth.' Yeah, yeah, I already know how that goes." completed Peter after interrupting him smirking. Derek only sharpened his glare at him.

This wasn't the first time Derek had been dragged to a nightclub by his uncle, and the Hale boy also knew it wouldn't be the last. They had gone before to other nightclubs (more like Derek being tricked into going), especially on the several occasion that both of them went out for business dealings. It was during one of those trips that Peter, after dragging him into a club, had hooked him up with a drag queen (Yeah, too many tequila shots to recognize some things)… but that was a story for another time.

"Don't make me regret this Peter." he said in a warning tone. The older Hale simply stepped aside extending his arm to the building as an invitation.

---

The Wolf Pack Nightclub.

There was no one in this city who didn't know about it or even at least heard about it, it was a night sensation that all adults dreamt about. It was a place that dragged attention every time its name made it through someone's lips, like a charming spell that attracted attention wherever it was chanted. Even the young population of the city knew about it and almost every night there was a couple of tricksters being drag down to the police station for use of fake ID's, cases that only increased the mystery that was 'The Pack,' as most referred to it. It was well known that The Pack was closed to general public and, even when you were someone of name and fame, without the proper credentials you were not allowed inside; it was one of the rules for admittance that only selected people could make it in, many of them not knowing how you could get to be one this selected people. Actually the rule was quite simple and yet hard to come by, the only way to be admitted inside was by 'reference' which could only be supplied by an actual member of the club or by anyone who worked in the club; however, said recommendation was not absolute. Whenever someone new was recommended to the club they would always receive advice to announce such thing when presenting their reference (which had to be an authorized numeric code), after which they would receive a kind of a tour through the club's facilities and filled in about their activities. Finally at the end of their first night, the newcomers would be asked to leave behind a way of contacting them to inform them of daily events, reservations, offers, bonus, etc.

The Pack seemed more like an organization than just a club.

When Derek and Peter made their way to the entrance they start noticing that every few seconds a person or a group of people were being allowed through a big double metal door, only after a few seconds the door was opening again either allowing entrance to more people or the last people being dragged out probably to the police or something (some of them were tossed into the nearest garbage bin). Aside from those who went straight for the door showing some kind of credential the rest of the people made a line waiting for their turn to be granted entrance. They both decided to get in line and wait for their turn, something that came along pretty damn quickly as most of the people making line were smart-asses trying to fake their way in. Security was sure strict in here. When their turn to go inside came around Derek's expectations were to find themselves confronting a couple of enormous guys who would block their way, considering his luck whenever he went out with Peter he expected no less and also thought about expecting a commotion if they weren't allowed inside (It wouldn't be the first time Peter incited one). Big was his surprise when they were greeted by a young man who held an agenda and had a small headset, probably wireless because Derek couldn't see any kind of wiring. The boy seemed to be barely twenty two years old; his height was average as his head barely seemed to reach above Derek's shoulder; he had short curly dark hair; his skin was clear and shiny under the lights of the small lobby and his eyes were somewhat stern but at the same time playful. He was the complete opposite of the enormous muscle security guard that Derek was expecting to handle admittance.

"Good evening gentlemen," the boy greeted slightly bowing at them. Derek thought that maybe this place was really more than just a simple strip club. "My name is Matt, what can I help you with?"

"Good evening Matt." greeted Peter in return, making his usual creepy smile. "My name is Peter and this is my nephew Dery-boy," he signaled the young man beside him to which Derek scowled in his uncle's direction, "We're new to the place."

"Ah! I see." said the boy quickly. His brows perking up and a smile forming in his lips as if there was a deeper meaning to those words. "In that case, can I please see your reference sir?"

"Why certainly my dear boy." answered the older Hale wiggling his brows at the boy while handing him a gray card he pulled out of his pocket. Derek sighed and rolled his eyes while disapprovingly shaking his head. He really wouldn't blame anyone, especially the boy, if they ended up kicked out.

"Okay," Matt's eyes were fixed on the card, "This will just take a few seconds." he said and quickly vanished through a door in the side of the lobby, leaving both Hale men alone in the small lobby.

"We're not getting kicked out right?" Derek asked genuinely concerned.

"Why would they do that?" Peter's face was making a 'duh' expression at his nephew. "We haven't broken any rules so far and I expect you to keep it like that, ok Dery-boy?"

Derek only glared at him sharpening his eyes; his expression was clearly saying 'Are you really serious?'

Peter was still smiling innocently. "What?"

"Sorry to keep you waiting." said Matt quickly exiting the door he went through a few seconds ago. "Your reference has been confirmed," he gave them two IDs, "Congratulations gentlemen, you're officially now members of The Pack." he said with a smile.

"Thank you very much Matt." Peter said giving him another smile, Derek rolled his eyes classifying said smile yet again as creepy.

Matt went to the back of the lobby, standing near a big box placed in the corner near another double metal door. This one seemed to be one of those especial doors that were used to seal off sound.

"Here you go, gentlemen." Matt said getting back Derek and Peter's attention. The boy was holding a mask in each hand.

"What are these for?" asked Derek feeling a lit aback by the items, grabbing the mask in Matt's left hand.

The mask he grabbed was designed like the face of a wolf, with white fur design in the middle and the rest being black fur, the whiskers on the edges of the mask had dark blue glitter that almost made them look like they were swirling whenever they moved; under the mask's left eye there was a small pattern of three lines, each one doing a swirl to the center of the mask, they were covered in dark green glitter. The design was simple and yet very attractive in Derek's eyes, it also made a perfect fit for his face. He couldn't help the grin as he felt quite satisfied with his choice.

Peter's mask on the other hand was a bit flashier because of the excess of designs, patterns and ornamentation. To begin with the mask was a bit more wider than Derek's, the edges making downward spirals made it look like it; the color base for it was a darkish gray tone covered by small line patterns of light gray under the right eye as if they were lines of wind being traced by a small painting brush, said lines also covered by glitter of the same color; the inside edges of the eyes were framed by a pair of weaved threads of black and white, both giving off small glitters here and there; under the left eye there was a small black jewel (most likely costume jewelry) that had the shape of a tear; the upper cut of the mask appeared as a pair of furry wolfy ears and the undercut seemed like the mask was doing an evil grin. It looked somewhat vicious and dangerous. Peter felt quite smugly once he had it on.

"Well you see," started the boy getting the guys' attention, "Almost every weekend The Pack arranges a little theme party for entertainment and variety, you could say it's one of the little... 'things' that our customers always look forward to. Don't worry explanations will come later" Matt went to open the door and held it open for both men. "Now gentlemen, why don't you follow me? Let us begin your tour around The Pack."

"Lead the way." said Peter stepping right in.

Derek didn't move from his place. "Wait, what about the others waiting outside?" he signaled the exit.

"Don't worry about the others." Matt replied with a smile. "Usually one out of fifty is a real customer with reference, so it's not that unusual for sudden delays in the line when a true new client shows up."

"You heard him Dery-boy, come on." he said waving him to get inside. Derek just let out a sigh and started walking after his uncle.

"Besides," said Matt, "In another couple of minutes another will take my place and attend the others." he closed the door and walked ahead of the Hale boys.

Matt was leading them first through a corridor that was full of doors on both sides; each door had a number and a letter attached right in the front probably being part of a labeling system of theirs. Matt stopped a few steps ahead turning back to his customers.

"The doors to my right are called 'Private Seats'," he wiggled his brows up and down, Peter smiled and Derek only nodded. "'Private Seats' can only be used on previous reservation notice; they can also increase the price depending on who you ask for."

"What do you mean by 'ask for'?" Derek asked. He really seemed like he wasn't getting the gist of it. Matt only smiled and Peter shook his head groaning.

"Please excuse my boy here, he's new to all of this." he said draping an arm around Derek's shoulders and patting him in the chest. Derek only glared at him and slapped off the hand.

Matt chuckled. "It's ok, there's always a first time for everything." Derek was about to reply to that when he felt a nudge in his rib cage, glaring to Peter once again. "Now, the rooms to my left are called 'VIP seats'. These ones offer a better view of the main stage and most of the main hall where all parties and events of The Pack take place. They're more for the purpose of relaxing or, as many say, cooling down a bit from the party. Usually these rooms play the same music as in the main hall, only a little bit muffled. It's also a place to go through our service menus in a more relaxed way." he walked to nearest door signaling a weird plate on the wall next to the door frame. "If you ever wish to use one our VIP seats, as well as our Private seats of course, simply use your ID card and slide it over the plate." Both Hale men nodded. "Just make a mental note that a room can only be accessed with one ID card at a time, and once a room is registered under a card the outside plate will not admit another one... though the room can be exited with any card. But please keep in mind that only one card can be used to enter the room." both Derek and Peter nodded again.

Matt began to walk again.

After a few more doors the hallway finally made turn to the right, revealing some steps that went upwards and at the end of those steps there was an exit. Derek noted how the beat of whatever music was being played started to get louder as they climbed the stairs, once they made it to the top the young Hale saw a door with a small two-side mirror window, some lights were flickering in and out so he thought that on the other side it was what the boy had called the main hall.

"Through this door we would be stepping into the main hall's second floor, which mainly is just a balcony that goes all around the second floor. Usually is more for panoramic views, especially when the guys are performing."

Derek nodded. "You mean the strippers right?" Peter sighed making the young Hale look at him with an annoyed expression as if to say 'Now what did I say?'

"Mostly yes." answered Matt getting their attention. "But it's more than just stripping." when he saw the younger man looking at him like he had grown a third eye Matt smiled and added. "Don't worry, give it time and you'll understand. Anyway I'll continue. The main hall also has four spiral staircases connecting both floors, but sometimes when there's any performance showing up, people tend to use the staircases, if you know what I mean." both Hale men nodded. "Now the first floor has several seats and tables all around the place for your comfort, as well as booths but mostly only on the edges of the hall or near the stage. We have two bars, each on the sides of the hall, and our bartenders are experts in any kind of drink you can ask for. There are also waiters to take your drinking order in any moment." Matt took a moment to see how his words had settled on each of them. "Well I think that would the basic things to know around here."

"I see." Peter immediately said. "If that's the case then I think I'll be slowly taking my time to look around. That's not a problem right?" he asked the boy.

Matt shook his head. "Oh no, not at all. After all we always encourage our customers to discover and explore our various services." he smiled.

"Now that's what I call customer service." the older Hale said draping an arm around the boy.

The young Hale expected to see the young boy freaking out, however Matt was unfazed by the gesture making Derek wonder just what kind of things had he experienced before. "Well then, I guess that means you'll be taking your own tour around, right sir?" the boy asked side glancing the older man.

"You can bet I am," Peter answered pinching the boy's cheek. Derek thought yet again that they would probably end up getting kicked out. "Dery-boy heads up!" the quick call made the younger Hale jump (just a little) as he felt a couple of keys hitting his chest, his hands quickly scrambling to catch them. Once he had the keys he noticed it was the keys for his Camaro, he looked back at his uncle with a cocked brow as silent interrogation. "So you can leave whenever you feel like it but remember, you promised me that you would just be you, ok?" his uncle gave him a smile.

"Ok, I get that." he said half annoyed and half grateful. "But what about you? I mean how are you gonna-"

"Don't expect me to come back with you." he simply answered, smirking.

The younger Hale sighed finally getting his uncle's meaning. "Of course." he shook his head because his uncle couldn't really help it, could he?

"Well anyway I'm off to explore 'The Pack'." he said using the most dramatic tone he could come up with in those words, turning back and walking down the aisle until he was out sight.

"I'm so sorry about him," Derek said turning his eyes to the boy.

"It's okay." the boy waved his hands dismissing the whole situation.

"It's just that he can really be such a-"

"Creep?" the boy completed smirking.

"Exactly."

"Don't worry." the boy laughed. "Believe me, if you had the same job as me you would consider something like that," he pointed in the direction Peter took off, "So fucking normal that it wouldn't even be funny." he smiled again.

"Fuck." it was the only words that came out of Derek's lips.

"Well, I guess that's all for now so I'll leave you to explore to your heart's content," the boy bowed at him, "If you have any more doubts be on the lookout for me." with another smile the Matt started to walk away.

"Wait." Derek said after a few seconds, the boy turned his gaze to him. "I-It's a little bit embarrassing for me but… Is there anything you can suggest me to start with?" when he saw the boy's brows rising up he felt even more stupid for that question. Derek suddenly decided that the wall was an interesting thing to look at.

After a few seconds of silence the young Hale finally decided to look at his host, the boy was looking his wrist watch. "Well," he said without averting his eyes from his watch, "In a few more minutes Spark will begin his performance," Matt finally looked up at Derek, "So I'd say that that would be a good start," he snorted, "A fucking good start actually… well of course, in the given case that guys are your thing."

"That's actually not a problem to me but, Spark?" the young Hale had a confused look all smeared across his face. Making aside the fact that he just outed his bisexuality in front of a complete stranger of course, which he would later have the time to freak out about.

"Oh right, I keep forgetting you're new. You see, Spark is the number one performer of The Pack and he's the main reason why every weekend the place is so fucking cramped with customers. So if you're new and don't know really where to start with I highly suggest that you go and see him perform. Really." he said wiggling his brows.

"Is he really that good?" he made skeptical look. He couldn't just wrap the idea that one dancer was enough to bring in so much public.

A few minutes ago, when Matt showed them the entrance to the main hall through the second floor, Derek took a good glance over the two-side mirror getting impressed to see many people in one place. He could understand that a place such as this could bring so many people together, but that most of them came only to see one single dancer seemed a bit over the top for him.

Matt started to nibble is lower lip, closing his eyes and making a face that said that he had trouble putting his thoughts together. "How should I say this?" he hesitated again with the words that tried to come out of his mouth. " You see, there's really no way to say it in words sooooo you're better off seeing it for yourself." feeling a bit bold Matt took Derek by his shoulder and turned him around, pushing him towards the exit. "Either way go and make your own opinion." having said that Matt once again began walking away down the corridor just as Peter did a few minutes ago. "Oh, and try not to drool too much." he last said while laughing and finally disappearing from his sight.

Derek felt a bit taken aback by that last comment. For a second he wondered if by any chance Erica frequented the place, because those kind of asinine comments could only come from someone like her (or worse yet, maybe Laura worked here for all he knew). Shaking his head and thinking it was not the time for family comparisons he decided to do as Matt had suggested him, to watch Spark performing. So crossing the door that lead to the second floor's balcony his sense were suddenly drown on the loud and intense music blasting at their fullest potential in the room. Some of the lights that moved around forming squiggly figures liked to walk all over his pupils momentarily blinding him. So searching for a spot where the neon lights couldn't get the chance to drill shining holes through his eyes he leaned on a spot next to the nearest staircase, taking his time to glance at the entire hall.

To say that the place was really big would be an understatement.

The main hall was easily able to contain at the very least around 200 hundred people given the space in the first floor combined with the second floor's balcony, also if took into account the space that was provided by the four staircases in contrast with the space taken by both bars then it could easily go up to 220 people. Not to mention the space between booths, where people could probably squeeze in one or two more.

Derek also took notice about the fact that everyone in the hall was wearing a mask, no matter where he turned his gaze to everyone in sight was wearing one. Each mask was a different from the others, each mask branded a unique style and design, and yet he couldn't help but feel that there was something more to it than that, unfortunately he just couldn't place his finger on it.

He decided to leave his spot near the staircase when his eyes lingered for a few seconds on one of the bars, he suddenly felt throat drying up and thought that it was a good moment to have a drink. Once down on the first floor the nearest bar was the one on the right side of the hall, the bartender was a seemingly young and slim dark man with a buzz cut and honey colored eyes. Unlike the customers in general Derek took notice that the club's staff didn't wear any mask at all. As the boy poured and served drinks to the different customers, his face was occasionally lighted up by the neon lights flickering in and out, revealing a huge grin in his face, he was clearly enjoying his job. The young Hale thought that it was things like those that gave bars and clubs a totally different aspect. As soon as Derek approached the bar the young boy noticed him.

"Hey there buddy." he greeted with a big smile. "Newcomer aren't ya?"

"Am I that obvious?" Derek cocked a brow and made a playful smile.

"Well buddy, when you have a job like mine you tend to recognize every one of your customers." he winked at Derek.

"How can you tell when everybody is wearing a mask." he tilted his head.

"You just get the knack of it." he chuckled. "Anyway, what can I get for you?"

"Any suggestions?" Derek felt surprise by himself; it was fucking odd of him to be asking for suggestions.

The boy seemed to be eyeing him carefully. "I think I know a perfect choice for you." saying that the young man took out two bottles, ice and some lemons and started to out the ingredients in a cocktail mixer. A few shakes later the drink was served in a highball glass. The drink was a light bluish and the was a slice of lemon sitting in the edge of the glass. "Here you go buddy, one Blue Lagoon for you."

"Thanks." Derek took the glass, his lips twitching into a slight smile. After paying for his drink Derek turned around and leaned with his back against the bar, he eyed the hall once more. "Hey… um..."

The boy behind the bar chuckled. "The name's Marc."

"Ok, so Marc, when is this Spark performing?" he said nonchalantly.

"Ah," the boy smirked and wiggled his brows, "So they already told about Spark, huh?"

"Well this kid Matt said that I should totally see his performance to understand, not sure what he meant by that." Derek's brows rose in sign of confusion.

"Well then, see those booths by the side of the front stage?" Derek followed his signaling finger, eyeing some empty booths just by the side of the stage, he nodded in response. "Go there and take a seat." Marc eyed his wristwatch. "Spark's show starts in about five minutes."

With a last nod Derek started walking towards one of the empty booths near the stage, he took his seat and leaned against the cushy backrest occasionally sipping his Blue Lagoon. He eyed his wristwatch.

'Five minutes, huh?' he somehow felt a bit annoyed about all this and yet there was a part of him who at the same time felt quite excited. 'This better be worth it Peter.'

With another sip of his drink the young Hale remained still waiting for the famous dancer.

---

"Easter themed my ass." said an annoyed Spark when he saw himself in the mirror.

At first when he was dressing and making the touches to his mask he hadn't notice, but now that the attire was complete and all he felt not only stupid but also thought that the whole set itself was ridiculous. Ok, so he understood that with Easter holidays and all it was quite common and also somewhat predictable (especially if he took his boss into account) that The Pack wanted to do a carnival-like party, but was this really necessary? The first attire he had to wore for his first show was, as always, a thin cloth made of white silk with sequin patterns on it, on both the pants and the jacket- or shirt- or whatever the hell it was the cloth that covered his upper body. The jacket- or shirt- or whatever- had openings framed by metal rings allowing little spots of soft pale skin to get bathed in whatever light could come through (He actually laughed at those since he thought it would a fitting attire for those who were still attached to The Matrix), said holes cascaded the back of the boy in two lines right down to the small of the back and being continued by the ones running along the back of the legs in the pants of the attire… of course said holes were only missing on the underwear zone ('No prior-nudity-flashing, thank you very much'). The suit was mystically shining with every available light projecting its own beams at every near surface, shades and lights seemed to blend perfectly together whenever his muscles contorted making the thin fabric look like it was his own skin. He was wearing dark gothic boots, adjusted by three strap belts with shining metal buckles, which reached as far as his calf; said boots matching the black belt perfectly adjusted around his slim waist; and finally the third 'black' colored match being the wolf-like mask he was given to wear that night.

His wold designed mask, which he thought it was freaking awesome ('Hey, wolves are cool and mysterious'), had a line of black fur in the center and the rest was white colored fur; the whiskers in the edges were framed by a thin line of darkish-silver glitter and they made upward swirls giving the appearance of a happy grin; under the mask's right eye there was a pattern of three straight lines going downwards which gave the appearance of being claw scars, they were covered in dark-gray glitter. Spark thought that the mask was really a nice touch, it made him feel somehow nostalgic and excited which was a weird combination in him.

His was pulled out of his thoughts when he finally noticed Ennis leaning against the frame of his opened door. Seriously, how come that fucking door didn't make any kind of noise when somebody else opened it but cried out loud when he as much was barely touching the doorknob? By the way, he did definitely not yelp. Seriously.

"Ready to go?" he asked, smirking after a 'Holy crap!' shout from the boy.

"Don't you people understand the concept of 'knocking'? I swear to god, you guys are gonna give me a serious heart attack one of these days." He also did definitely not flail his arms… too much anyway.

"Don't worry," the taller man said smirking, "If push comes to shove then I'm sure Kali will have something up her sleeve to save you."

"Fuck," Spark hissed.

"You can say that again." Ennis was trying hard to not choke on his own laughter.

"Then again we're talking about 'The Magic Hat' so it really shouldn't be so surprising." both of the snorted.

The twins had the habit of coming up for nicknames for everyone, and it goes without saying that Kali's nickname (unbeknownst to her and thank god for that) was 'The Magic Hat,' because Kali was able to obtain anything she needed in the right moment. Aiden once said that it was as if she could pull anything out of her ass with magic making Spark to laugh his ass off, it goes without saying that Kali just happened to be passing by when she heard that making Aiden and Spark to do over work for the next month on weekends.

"Well then before times runs out..." he let phrase unfinished making way for the boy to pass.

"Yeah, yeah, I know." and with that Spark headed for the stage.

Pushing a laughing Ennis aside to get through Spark finally started the short walk to the backstage, occasionally waving and smiling to several of the staff who were running around to have everything prepared. He was well known to everybody there, they all knew about the star boy of The Pack. For every show Spark had to perform in the staff would always ask him about what light he preferred or what music suited him best, there was always a non-stop rain of questions when it came to his shows. He liked that though, he liked that he could get to involve his opinion on things like those. Maybe others saw it as something so simple that it really didn't matter but for him it did a fucking lot. For starters it made him felt a certain degree of freedom; he helped him to feel that his life was not completely out of his will and control. Being in this kind of job you get used to the fact that most people see you as nothing but a piece of meat that only serves the purpose of attracting starved customers, hungry dogs. Then there is the fact that, as such, the owner of the place ('With whom you have that fucking jailing contract by the way') could easily make decision for him implying that he had no decision in this side of his life whatsoever. So really liked that, that he at least could get to say something about things such as the right music or the appropriate lighting.

He was now standing right behind the stage, his eyes fixed on the dim light beams that made it through the dark curtains that hid him from the audience. The announcer's voice was vague in his ears, his words sounded muffled in the back of his head, he really didn't care about anything every time he was about to hit the stage. His muscles were tense, his breath hitched, and he could feel all of his senses sharpening as if he was having some kind of boost. The adrenaline of the moment would always kick in right before he performed, and a soon as he heard his name being shout the curtain opened.

Showtime.

The dazzling lights were nothing to his eyes who were used to these every time he had to perform, he had learned to focus on just a single point in front of him and go for it (also there was the fact that this time he was wearing a mask). The music started to blast through the speakers and his feet moved accordingly, the beat coursed through his body like a river causing his muscles to twist harmoniously with the flow. It was like some kind of prankster demon had decided to possess a body and then proceed to move like a puppet through the entire length of the stage, contorting and bending his body in ways that were so surreal and yet so enticing that nobody could stop looking at. His hands moved across his body as well, as if they were not his or even worse as if something else had possessed them as well. Slow gestures and tracing slim fingers gliding or sliding across the skinny-tight-white suit he was wearing, with the shadows of the folds and the reflections of the lights combining perfectly together in a dance that evoked the most dark and lustful instincts of the now screaming audience. His legs and feet felt lighter as always when he moved across the stage, sometimes his feet weren't even on the stage as his hands would latch onto one of the several poles scattered across his working space and his body would take enough impulse to sending flying in circles around the pole while doing movements that you could only see in a gymnastics expert. The crowd would shout once again to show how pleased they were.

As time went on the music started to slow down, the clear signal for him to start ripping off the clothes that after this few minutes now felt like a second skin layer; so the clothes flew off revealing his real skin to be covered in a light glittery layer of makeup and very tight black glittering boxer briefs that made everyone gasp. Whistling, cheers, shouts and words that reeked of lust drowned the place. A soft silk-like-pale skinned figure was now shining like the brightest star in the void of darkness with all the lights of the stage pouring down on him, the dim shadows casted on the same skin by lean strong muscles had called a curse that prevented all eyes in the hall from looking anywhere else. The contortion and twist of said muscles as they swayed back and forth with the slow beat of the music had caused all eyes to sway in the same rhythm; every heart in the place was now pumping adrenaline like there was nothing else that mattered for the body. A spark had been ignited in every person in the room. He could feel it himself, as if every little spark of lust and want was calling out to him in a language that only he understood… every spark there was like a slave to the one and only true 'Spark.'

The music got louder again, the beat regained his fast beat and the lights began a new show of colors that danced over the white silky body. It was the signal that the show (the first show of the night) was arriving to its climax. The movements became more violent and erratic, yet all in all they never lost that lustful hitch that worked like some kind of aphrodisiac. Finally, after one last turn around the pole on the very front of the stage, he took the last beat of the music ending with a crawling position on the floor. The audience was ecstatic and cheered him shouting and whistling like there was nothing else that mattered for them.

It had been another successful show of the great Spark.

His chest was pounding like crazy, his muscles felt strained, his breath was uneven, and the layer of sweat made him felt sticky yet all in all he knew he had done a good job as always. His eyes started to wonder around looking at his audience and then time suddenly stopped.

There was a glow of green.

The green of those fields of old.

A green which evoked his past memories.

A green of his happy times.

A green that later became his prison.

A green that he had relinquished and now hated.

A pair of green eyes that, from this day on, he would never forget.

---

A/N: Finally the so awaited encounter takes place. I know, it was about damn time. XD

I don't know about you guys but I feel like some parts are leaning towards angst, not that I want this to turn into something too angsty but I think that the level of sadness it's still right.

I just gotta say I love planning Peter's dialogues and (I'll say it with no shame) I have absolutely no difficulties writing them down. wonder why huh? hahahahaha. Also I've noted how much Hale-family-bickering I like to write down... yeah, personal experience. :P

Anyway I wanna let you guys know that (just like on last chapter) you are free to give me any opinions you have on the story so far, or any questions you would like to make, or if you guys would like to make any kind of suggestions that you feel it could benefit the story, or even better you can also try and make guesses at what's going to happen (I know I would like to do that if the chance was offered XD)... if so then, by all means, go ahead.

Hope you people enjoyed the chapter.

See you guys on the next one. ;)