A/N: I do not own Teen Wolf or the characters.

I'd like to thank all the readers and everyone who has posted a review. I really appreciate it.

This chapter is a continuation with Riley POV. In a previous chapter, I wrote that Derek's mom's name was Sarah. This was before I watched the episode of TW where her name was revealed to be Talia. So I went ahead and made the change. Talia sounds a lot better that plain old Sarah. Sorry for the confusion.

I'd like to give credit to my Betas, Dark Alana.

Chapter 17:

Cabin in the Woods

'Have a nice weekend! Try not to kill people!'

If that's not a great way to start a vacation, I don't know what is. I guess really this isn't a vacation, so I should stop thinking that it is. My life is going to change in just a few nights. It'll change forever. Isn't that what I would have wanted, eventually? Sometime down the road with plenty of conversations with Derek and time. Time to decide what I would have really wanted.

Fast-forward and here we are, driving down a highway in Derek's Chevrolet Camaro. Going…somewhere. He hasn't given me a location. We haven't even talked in the last hour since leaving the hospital. He hasn't even tried talking to me. I don't think his eyes have even left the road.

Oh, this was going to be so much fun!

"Where are we going?" I asked.

No reply.

"Derek," he glanced my way, "Where are we going?" I asked quieter.

"There's this cabin in Boulder Creek," he replied, "I'm taking you there for your first transformation. It's going to be another thirty minutes or so."

I can't be mad at him. I just can't. He's been through so much as well. I can't shut him out. No matter how much I need him to get me through this…He needs me too. I think I have burnt through most of my hatred for him the last couple of days in the hospital.

"Okay," I whisper, but I know he can still hear me, "Can we stop somewhere when we get there? That surprise green jell-o really didn't do anything for me."

"I can stop somewhere to get some supplies."

And then there was silence again.

XXX

We finally made it to the little town called Boulder Creek. If at all possible, this town is smaller than Beacon Hills. A person probably go nuts living in a place like this. Where everyone knows everyone.

Derek parked outside Creek General Store and Food Mart, and told me to stay. I proceeded to roll my eyes and follow him inside anyway. I think he was very irritated with me as I grabbed a cart and walked beside him.

I felt almost normal pushing the cart while Derek made small choices and through it inside. Like a dream I had not that long ago, but this time something was missing. A toddle with its legs sticking out of the child seat; kicking his tiny little legs and knocking the grocery list out of my hand many times.

When I came back to reality, Derek had physical stopped the cart to get my attention. I forgot where I was and I could see the concern in his eyes. I need to get my emotions in check because I know he can feel them.

Blinking a few times to clear my head before I turned away from him, "You can finishing shopping," I let go before walking from the situation.

I walked around for a few minutes before finding my way over to the fresh meats section. I watched the big guy behind the counter cutting fresh steaks. I could smell the blood on the air and my mouth began to water. I was hungry.

"Can I help you?" the guy turned to ask me.

I had to clear my throat, "No, I'm just…watching." I turned to walk away when I bumped into Derek.

"What can I get you?" the guy asked him this time.

"Two of your biggest steaks," Derek said as I watched the butcher make his order. We left the meat counter, "Is there anything you need?"

"I don't even like red meat all that much," I said.

"Well, you're wolf does. And she's showing herself more as the full moon grows closer," he explained.

"Wonderful. Well me, my wolf and I are ready to go," I replied sarcastically.

Derek bought enough food to last us the weekend.

Not long after we drove up to a medium size cabin isolated in the woods. They don't call it cabin in the woods for nothing. The grass was a little high and the cabin itself looked like it hasn't been taken care of in a while.

There was one step that led to the wooden porch. At the very end of the porch, there was a porch swing. As I stood before it I ran my hand over one of the arm rests.

Summer 2001

Riley is 9

Derek is 12

"Derek read to me."

"Go away," Derek said.

"Please."

"Derek, just read to your sister," I said sitting at one end of the wooden swing with Derek on the opposite end.

"I'm reading about Tony Stark and the Avengers," he said, "Leave me alone."

"I'll tell mom," little six years old Cora threatened.

"Fine, I'll read to her," I said, "Come here, Cors."

"I remember this place," I said to Derek as he was unlocking the door, "I came here one summer with you guys."

"My parents bought this place years ago and come here when they needed to be away from their pack. No one has been here in years," he said before walking inside.

I stared at the swing and longed to go back to that time when everything was okay. When everything wasn't so complicated.

"Why did your mom allow me to spend so much time with your family? I wasn't part of the pack; I was just a little girl," I said as I walked into the cabin.

The place didn't look too bad, considering its has been abandoned for years. All it needed was a woman's touch.

Derek put down some of our things that he brought in from the car, "My mother always had a reason for doing some things. Maybe she saw something in you or maybe you were just a little girl who befriended her son."

"And everyone else was okay with that?"

"Talia was Alpha, what she said was law," he said before going outside to retrieve the rest of their things.

Walking around the main room and exploring the other rooms, I couldn't believe I had forgotten this place. My father worked a lot and my mother seemed like she always wanted to be someplace else. This place is one of the few places where I have felt at home and I think I have Talia to thank for that.

I stood at the door way looking in on the room I shared with Cora. There were only three rooms; the master bedroom and two smaller rooms. Laura claimed the other room which left Derek to sleep on the couch.

What was going to be the sleeping arrangements now?

"You can have the master room," Derek said, standing behind me, "I'll take the couch."

I turned to look at him. We haven't shared a bed in a while. He was giving me space and I was grateful for that. It was probably for the best anyway.

I walked further down the hallway to the bedroom he spoke of and Derek left me alone for a while. I opened up the dusty curtains to let some light in and opened the window to air out the place. Looking around I decided the first thing to do is get rid of the sheets. I was lucky to find some spar ones in the linens closet.

After awhile, I finally emerged from the bedroom and searched for Derek. It wasn't hard to find him. Where was he going to hide in a cabin?

He had done his own cleaning in the kitchen. The living room still needed some work. The entire situation was a work-in-progress.

"Are you hungry?" Derek asked with his back to me.

"Yeah, I'm starved," I said, leaning against the counter watching him prepare the steak. I don't think I will ever know how he learned to cook, but with six years on your own, I guess you had to learn how to survive. "Do you need help?"

He turned his head slightly, "Asks the girl who can burn cereal."

I bite my tongue, "I didn't burn the cereal. The manufactures burned the cereal. I just opened the box."

"And you just poured the bowls," he teased.

"I didn't force you to eat."

"You kind of did when you pointed your finger at me," he said.

We smiled at each other and everything was forgotten, but only for a moment.

I looked away first, "I need to do something."

"You can cut the few potatoes I got for steak fries," he said.

I walked forward to begin my task. We stood side by side each other as we worked almost in sinc with each other. Our arms grazed each other but nothing more. I know he could probably sense what I was going to do and it seemed I could do the same with him.

We sat down at the table to eat. I ignored the fries and green beans and went straight for the lightly cooked steak. I was disgusted with myself because it was still practically mooing. I enjoyed the first bite and moaned with delight.

"Good, huh?"

I forgot Derek was across from me. Damn him!

I took another bite and kept my happiness to myself.

He must have thought we were in a good place because he started to talk about it.

"Do you have any questions?" he asked.

Didn't answer as I nibbled on a crispy fry.

"About what to expect?"

"I saw you and Scott transform," I said.

"That's not the same."

"I have a question," I said, changing the subject, "Eye color. Will mine be yellow like Scott's or blue like yours?"

He took a deep breath before answering, "Yellow."

"Why are yours different?"

"I…" he started, "We didn't come here to talk about me."

"Funny, I didn't come here to talk about me either."

"We have to talk about what happened," he said, getting agitated, "You need to be prepared."

"What do you want to talk about, Derek? Huh? That your psycho ex-girlfriend ran me down with her car and killed my baby. I'm actually pretty clear about that one. Or the fact that it was Peter's bite that healed me from all my wounds. Or the fact that because of that bite I'm turning into a werewolf." At this point I looked directly into Derek's eyes, "What exactly do you want to talk about?"

He didn't say anything as the room filled with silence for a moment.

"I smell blood," he stated.

Not known to me, I had dug my nails into the palms of my hands. I must have clinched my fists shut during my out burst. I looked down at my hands and quickly stretched my fingers releasing them from my closed fists.

The wounds weren't what caught my attention. It was the inch long claws extended from my fingers.

"Riley just calm down," Derek said, coming over.

"How do you make it go away?" I asked desperately.

Without thinking, Derek grabs my head and the only thing I saw was him, "Just breathe and don't think about it."

Bring my clawed hands to rest of his shoulders, I close my eyes and took a big breath. When I open them again, my hands are normal as they rest on him.

After he releases me, I push back my chair and head for the front door. I am desperate for some fresh night air.

Stepping outside onto the pouch everything is fine again. I turned palms up and noticed there wasn't any sign of punchers before I gripped onto the banister and almost lean into it for support. As I stand there I listen to all the nighttime sounds and on the air it smells like rain.

I felt Derek's approach to my left side before he announces his presence. He stood there observing me.

"Is that what it's going to be like when I get angry? Hateful words and claws?"

"Our emotions are more heightened than humans," he explained, "It comes with the territory. Wolves are very loyal creatures. So, when we feel like we have been betrayed…It hurts."

"I don't even know what I feel anymore. Everything was a lot simpler before you came back."

"You wish I'd never come back?" he asked.

Turning to face him, "No, I wouldn't have changed any of that for the world. When you came back, I felt alive again."

Derek looked out into the dark woods, "You weren't the only one to have something taken away by Kate."

"Kate," I sighed, "If it wasn't for her, we wouldn't have had anything taken away. She came after me because of you. The twisted past you guys had with each other." I put my hand to stop him from saying anything, "I don't want to know what happened between you two. Because of it this baby, who didn't have any chance at life, was taken away."

Looking back at me, "Are you blaming me?" he asked.

"I feel like I have to blame someone," I said.

"It was my baby too."

I rested my right hand on his upper chest as a comforting gesture, "I know," a tear slide on my cheek, "We haven't had the time to properly grieve."

I stared at Derek as he whipped the few tears away. Slowly, he lowered his head to kiss me gently on the lips. I didn't push him away. I kissed him back.

I think that's what we both needed. Not only to grieve but to accept the loss together. The kiss signified that we were not alone.

Derek was the one to stop first. He grabbed my hand and walked me over to the porch swing. He sat down and I beside him with his arms holding my body to his. We fit together like two pieces in a puzzle.

We listened to the night and spoke few words to each other. In that moment we had, we couldn't follow that up with full moon talk. There was always tomorrow.

Turning our bodies side way on the swing so my legs and one of his weren't hanging off, I sat between his legs with my back to him and my head resting in the crook of his shoulder and neck.

I was so contempt with myself that I didn't remember falling asleep in his arms.