Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Wolf.

Chapter 4: Truth

"Everything is okay, Braeden. You were shot but you're at the hospital now, and you're fine."

Braeden felt disoriented and sore. She looked at Melissa, trying to make sense of what was going on.

"Do you understand?" Melissa asked.

Braeden looked up and saw Derek. Knowing that he was there with her gave her peace. She nodded.

"Good," Melissa said. "Last night you were in the woods and you came across another pack. Do you know what happened to them?"

"I told you they were poisoned," Derek jumped in.

"No. No, they were infected," Braeden corrected him. "It was a virus, designed to kill werewolves. And it did. It killed them all."

"I have to tell Scott," Melissa said. She left the room in a hurry, leaving Derek and Braeden alone.

"What are you doing here?" Braeden asked.

"I brought you here," Derek said. "Malia and I found you. You were in surgery overnight. The doctors said you should've died in the woods. They don't know how you survived."

"It's not the first time I should've died," she said, touching the scars on her neck given to her by Deucalion. "And why are the doctors talking to you? I thought they only talk to the patient's family?"

"They uh, think I'm your…husband."

Rose poked her head out the door and looked down the hallway. She had just heard gunshots fire somewhere in the hospital.

"Do you see anything?" her new co-worker asked from under the table where he had taken refuge. "Do you see the gunman?"

"No." She closed the door and leaned her back against it.

"Why does this always happen?" he whined. "This hospital is seriously cursed."

"Something like this has happened before?"

"Just a few months ago, some guys in black cloaks came and sliced everybody up. Still wanna work here?"

Rose opened the door and walked out to the hallway.

"Wait!" her co-worker yelled. "Where are you going?"

"To find my aunt."

She jogged down the corridor then stopped to peer around the corner for signs of trouble. Distress plagued her at the thought of finding her aunt lying dead somewhere.

Where is everyone?

At the floor above, she finally caught sight of Melissa. With Derek.

"Tia!" Rose called out to her.

She ran to Melissa and threw her arms around her. "Thank God you're okay!"

Derek's eyes widened. "Tia" means aunt in Spanish. Which meant Rose was Scott's cousin. He recalled a memory long ago when he had visited Rose at her house while she babysat her little cousin. She had angrily told him to not see her when her family was around. His face hardened at the realization that the little boy she so desperately wanted to protect from him was Scott.

Rose noticed a gurney pushed to the side of the wall with a white sheet covering a body underneath. Blood was still smeared on the white linoleum floor.

"What's going on?" Rose asked.

"I have everything under control, Rose. Just go back to work," Melissa said calmly.

"But I heard gunshots."

"The police are on their way. Everything's fine," Melissa said. She looked nervously over her niece's shoulder to the operation room where Deaton and Satomi were getting ready to leave with the body of the dead werewolf from Satomi's pack.

Rose tore her eyes away from the blood and turned to Derek. "What are you doing here, Derek?"

"You two know each other?" Melissa asked in surprise.

"We went to high school together," Rose told her. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw Derek's bloody hands.

"What are you doing here?" Derek said. He was annoyed at the fact that he was seeing her more and more. He wondered if she was following him.

"I work here. It's my first day."

"On a Saturday?" he shot back.

"They wanted me to start right away," she said coolly.

"I gotta go," Melissa said, sensing the animosity between them. She wheeled the gurney carrying the body into the elevator.

Derek walked away. He wanted to check on Braeden before going to the high school.

"Did someone try to kill you?" Rose interrogated as she followed him. "Was it a hunter under that sheet? Where's Laura? And how do you know my aunt?"

"I don't know your aunt," Derek said. He felt his chest tighten at the sound of his sister's name. "She's just taking care of my friend."

She knew he was lying and she had an idea how Derek and Melissa knew each other. She grabbed his arm to stop him.

"Did someone try to kill you?" she repeated.

"No," he said, giving her a hard look. He pulled his arm away and continued to walk to Braeden's room.

Derek opened the door gently. The mercenary laid in bed in deep sleep. Derek looked at her for a moment before closing the door to face Rose again.

"What do you want?"

"She's beautiful," Rose said. "How long have you two been dating?"

"We're not," Derek said sternly. "Now go away."

"But you want to," Rose said. She smiled at him knowingly and walked away, leaving an annoyed Derek in her wake.

"Are you coming or not?" Scott asked over the phone as he got ready to leave the police station.

"Not," Stiles answered in a flat tone.

"C'mon, Stiles. It'll help get your mind off Malia," Scott reasoned.

"Why? Is Rose still hot?" Stiles asked, almost sounding like his usual self.

"Dude, she's my blood. Everyone in my family is good looking," he said jokingly. "C'mon and see for yourself."

"Nah, I'm not in the mood. I just wanna go to sleep and forget everything that happened. You know, out of all the sucky days I've lived, this really is the suckiest. Almost getting murdered and losing my girlfriend all in one day?"

"She'll get over it. Eventually," Scott assured.

"Well wake me up when she does."

Twenty minutes later, Scott stood in front of apartment 1203 and rang the buzzer. The door opened a few minutes later, revealing Rose sporting black yoga pants and a University of Washington tank top.

"Scott!"

"Hey, I'm so sorry, I know it's late," he apologized as she stepped aside to let him in. "But I didn't wanna bail on you twice in a row."

"It's okay. You can come over anytime. Did you have any trouble finding this building?"

"No, I've actually been here before."

I bet you have, Rose said to herself as she thought of Derek. They sat down on a comfy red couch in the living room.

"How was the PSAT?"

"We actually didn't get to finish it. A teacher thought there was some virus going around, but it was just a false alarm," Scott said.

"What kind of virus?" Rose asked, immediately interested.

"They weren't sure what it was. I like your place," he said, changing the subject.

Rose's loft looked like a smaller version of Derek's. The open floor plan allowed him to see every room of the first floor, except the bathroom. Boxes were scattered around the whole space, each marked with where its contents belonged. He couldn't see her bedroom, so he assumed it was upstairs.

"Thanks and please excuse the mess. I'm still unpacking."

Scott felt a twinge of grief as he remembered Allison telling him the same thing a year ago when he first went to her house.

"It's not that big, but it was the only option within my budget for this place. This is a really expensive building," she continued. "But I like how open it is."

"Why didn't you pick another building?"

"Because I really like this one," she said simply.

Scott heard her heart beat slightly faster. She was lying.

"Don't pharmacists make good money?"

"Yeah, but I have a ton of student loans to pay off," she said. "Are you hungry?"

"Always am."

She led the way to the kitchen and prepared him a plate of lasagna, salad, and breadsticks.

"So how was your first day?" Scott asked.

"Pretty good. Beacon Hills definitely hasn't changed," she said.

Scott removed his jacket and laid it over the back of his chair. He sensed her looking at him and saw her staring at his tattoo. She quickly looked away and brought him his food.

"I saw your dad leave the hospital this morning. Must be good to have him back," she said.

Scott noticed her heart rate increase ever so slightly that he wondered if he was only imagining it.

"Yeah, but um, he has to leave for San Francisco. Work stuff," Scott said, digging into his food.

"How long has he been back?" she asked as she sat across from him and watched him eat.

"For awhile now."

"You think your parents are getting back together?'

"I don't know."

"Do you want them to?"

"I don't know. Why do you ask?" Scott felt a little taken aback by the question. He had imagined what it would be like if his parents got remarried, but he never spoke of this or how he felt about it out loud.

"Just concerned. I know he wasn't much of a father to you growing up."

Scott could sense her heart rate rising again. This time, he had no doubt. Was she angry at his father?

"Yeah, I know. I wasn't too thrilled when he came back, but he's actually making an effort," he said, trying to calm her agitation.

"Really?"

"You don't think people can change?"

"On the contrary, I know people can change," Rose said. Seeing that he had finished his meal, she pushed her chair back, stood up, and walked to the refrigerator.

"Want some cheesecake?" she offered, retrieving a box of store-bought cheesecake.

"Sure."

Rose set the box down on the table along with two saucers and a knife. As she lifted the knife, Scott heard a spike in her heart rate, and then suddenly felt the back of his hand left sting. He looked down in shock at the long, thin cut and quickly covered it with his other hand.

"I'm so sorry!" Rose cried. "Let me clean that up for you!"

Scott could hear her heart thumping wildly and knew that she knew. He didn't know how, but Rose definitely knew.

"Give me your hand, Scott," she urged, trying to keep her voice even.

"I gotta go." He shot up from his chair and ran towards the door.

"Scott, wait," she pleaded, following him. "We both know why I cut you."

Scott's head felt like it was about to explode. With everything going on – Liam, Kate, the Benefactor – the last thing he needed was for his prodigal cousin to get involved with this world.

"I gotta go," he repeated. He unlocked the door and slid it open.

Once in the hallway, he ran to the door which led to the stairwell, hoping she wasn't going to follow him. He pushed the metal door open and climbed the stairs two at a time. Once on the fifteenth floor, he hurried to his destination. He didn't realize where he was even going until he stood in front of Derek's door.

Scott pressed the buzzer and waited. He looked around him nervously, expecting to see Rose at any second.

He wasn't even sure why this new development worried him. His mom knew, and their relationship was as strong as ever. But everything was happening so fast. He still needed to decide if he was going to tell his dad about what was really going on. Now Rose seems to know and it had caught him off guard. It was all too much.

After what felt like a century, Derek finally opened the door. Scott quickly stepped inside, not waiting for an invitation, and ran his hands in his hair. The incision had already healed.

"My cousin just cut me with a knife. I think she knows," he said.

"Can't say I'm surprised," Derek said, a hint of bitterness laced behind his words.

"What are you talking about?"

"She always finds a way to know things."

"You know Rose?" Scott asked incredulously. "How?"

Scott heard footsteps approaching the door and knew it was her.

"Go upstairs," Derek demanded.

Scott ran up the spiral staircase and sat in the shadows of Derek's kitchen. He could hear Rose repeatedly press the buzzer on his front door. The sound of it started to make his head hurt.

"Derek!" she shouted from outside. "Open up, we need to talk!"

She hit the metal door with the palm of her hand and pressed the buzzer a few more times.

"Derek! Open this door! I saw your car in the parking lot. I know you're in there! Derek? Derek!"

She alternated with banging on the door and hitting the buzzer repeatedly. Derek finally gave in and slid the door open.

"Are you crazy? Do you want to get kicked out of this building?" Derek chastised.

"Why didn't you tell me about Scott?" she asked as she pushed her way inside.

"I don't know who you're talking about," Derek denied.

Rose scoffed bitterly and turned around to face him. "I'm not in the mood for your games. How did this happen?"

"Rose."

She swerved around. Scott slowly descended down the stairs and looked at his cousin uncertainly. He didn't know how to feel about all this, but he knew hiding was not the answer.

"I'm sorry I cut you," she said, walking towards him. "I just had to see for myself if it was true. If you really are a werewolf."

She stopped in front of him and Scott raised his arm, showing her the back of his hand where the cut she gave him had completely healed.

"You're right," he said. "I am a werewolf."

Rose closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she had gained her composure, she looked at him again.

"Tell me everything."

Thank you for reading! And thanks for the reviews, favorites, and alerts. It really motivates me to keep writing when I know there are people out there who actually enjoy my stories. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and let me know what you think so far. I was worried about the flow of this chapter because I had quite a few breaks here and there, but I will work on that. It's tricky because I don't want to write too much on what happened on the show. I want to focus more on the scenes they didn't show.

Anyway, the next chapter will focus on Derek and Rose's background and why Derek is so against her, so stay tuned!