Enjoy. I hope to get at least 10 reviews per chapter, so please remember to review.

it's been forever and I am so sorry! I suck at remembering to post stuff lately, but I haven't forgotten! Okay, and I also sort of time hopped for the purpose of this chapter. So this takes place the day after the last chapter, just in case anyone was confused I decided to switch some things up. Also, this wasn't my favorite chapter in the world, everyone seemed to annoy me in this chapter, but i tried making it work, but I'm apologizing ahead of time, hopefully it'll all be cleared up by the end of this chapter.

Don't forget to favorite, follow, and review!

Disclaimer: All characters belong to Kelley Armstrong

Chapter 8

Chloe's P.O.V.

"Derek!" I called out urgently while keeping an eye on the pan in front of me. "Is this all the butter we have?"

Derek appeared at the entryway to the kitchen, his dark hair messy while currently tugging on a loose navy colored shirt. "Huh?" He grumbled, his voice garbled from his previous sleeping state.

"B-butter," I said again, jerking my head to the empty package lying on the granite countertop. "Do we have anymore?"

Derek rubbed his fingers against his eyes and nodded, before slowly walking towards the fridge, opening it up and tossing me some more butter.

I smiled at him graciously in my frantic scurry for some salt. "Thanks, I didn't want to ask Mrs. Talbot next door."

Derek didn't say anything, pulled out a chair and collapsed into it, rubbing his fingers against his temples. "What time did I—" Derek started until I cut him off.

"Late," I answered him, avoiding his gaze. "You got home really late."

Derek rubbed his forehead with the palm of his massive hand, his hair twisting in between his fingers. "I don't even remember anything."

I was going to ask if he remembered the pretty Asian girl in the white dress that I was fairly sure he went home with, but I decided against bringing it up, instead focusing at the task I was currently doing. I also neglected to mention, that I had trouble falling asleep last night so I just so happened to wait until he got home before passing out in an exhausted daze at precisely 4:53 in the morning. But, those were just minor details.

"You're hungover and you've still managed to wake up before Tori." I sent him a small smile. "Not like it's very hard, though."

Derek's lips twitched slightly as he rubbed his eyes. With a sigh, he cradled his head in his right hand, "Do I smell pancakes?"

"I'm pretty sure you have a better nose than most bloodhounds." I grinned slightly, pulling the maple syrup out of the pantry. "Can you smell the cat down the hall too?"

Derek smirked at me slightly, his hangover clearly not as bad as I expected. "The cat's next door actually," Derek's green eyes glowed in the dim light of the morning, "And your pancakes are burning." I raced towards the stove.

"Crap!" I said slightly louder than necessary. I heard a grumbling from Tori's room, but still, she didn't even open up her door. I cursed a little more, causing Derek's eyes to widen a little in surprise, while I yanked the gas off. I let out a sigh and rubbed the palms of my hands against my faded pajama top.

I stared down at the charcoal colored pancakes still smoking from the pan. I didn't say anything as I sat down in the seat next to Derek and covered my head with my arms. "Well, that was a bust." I muttered a halfhearted joke, my lack of sleep helping the sense of failure feel more tangible.

Derek shrugged, "I'll still eat them." He stood up and walked towards the smothering pan and picked up the limp, pathetic pancake and shoved it onto the clean plate that he was holding. He walked back to the table, maple syrup in the other hand with two forks. He handed me one of the forks as he sat down, taking the other into his own hand and doused the meal in the sweet, sticky syrup.

"Dig in." Derek said, already cutting out a little square for him to try and it was nearly impossible not to smile at his behavior. He scooted his chair a little closer to mine so we could share the plate better before letting out a halfhearted 'yum'. I laughed, mustering up a large smile before holding up my fork in the air.

"Cheers." I said with a smile plastered to my face, my cheeks rosier than usual as Derek met my fork with his and the two metals clanked as they touched.

It tasted pretty horrible, one side runny and watery while the other side was burnt to the crisp, making the whole pancake tasting surprisingly similar to soggy cardboard, but Derek didn't really seem fazed by the dirty taste or the unpleasant texture.

"What's the occasion?" Derek asked gruffly, eyes meeting mine for a second before downcast to the plate.

"Huh?" I asked stupidly, not quite sure of what we were talking about.

Derek glanced down at the pancake. "Why'd you make breakfast?"

"Oh," I said as I pushed my bangs behind my ear, "It's Tori's last day in the apartment and I thought it would be nice t-to do something."

Derek nodded and finished the rest of the pancake in silence.

"Since this didn't exactly work out," I gestured to the kitchen, "Should we run down to a bakery and grab something there?" I asked quietly, glancing up at Derek.

He shook his head. "No. I mean, you already made all this batter." He shrugged his shoulders. "Might as well use it."

I nodded, scooting my way closer to the kitchen. "I guess."

I stared at the huge bowl of batter sitting patiently on the granite counter and sighed. "I'm going to need your help."

Derek snorted, brushing his hair out of his eyes. "Yeah, I don't think so." He shuffled over the the bar stool in the kitchen and sat down promptly.

I rolled my eyes as I washed my hands, as usual, Derek couldn't be bothered to help even though he was the one who suggested the idea. "Fine, but I'm no good at the flipping part of pancakes."

Derek's head was placed firmly between his two hands, his eyes closed as he grumbled, "Use a spatula then."

I didn't say anything as I began to make the pancakes, only turning out slightly better than the first batch. I glanced up and noticed Derek watching me for a few seconds. I still didn't say anything as my cheeks flushed.

"You're doing it wrong."

I didn't bother looking up, instead wiping my hands on my apron. "You got to be more specific than that."

Derek's voice was thick and low as he answered, his hangover clearly still bothering him. "You shouldn't be cooking it that long."

I rolled my eyes for the second time in about ten minutes. "I-I told you I wasn't any good." I glanced at him for a second, his black bangs falling in his eyes like curtains.

Derek grunted something unintelligible and stood up, rubbing his temples and sighing. He reached me and took the pan away, "You're going to burn the building down like this."

I rolled my eyes and placed my hands on my hips. "I'm just making pancakes." He turned towards me and I stepped a little closer, smiling. His smirk grew for a split second before it fell into a frown and he turned back to the stove.

Derek didn't say anything as he began to cook, flipping the pancakes only slightly better than me, if I do say so myself. But I didn't say a word as we switched places and I took a seat in his old one. I rested my head against my palm as stared straight ahead.

"So," I began before I even realized it. "Did you have fun last night?"

It was really meant as an innocent question, but I sounded far too harsh for even Derek to interpret it as innocent.

Derek straightened his posture slightly and continued to look at the pan. "Sure."

We were both silent until regrettable I opened my mouth again. "What'd you do?"

I wanted to slap myself across the face screaming 'Shut up! Just shut up already!' but the words had already slipped from my tongue and I couldn't deny this feeling of anxiousness that was arising in me. But I already knew what he did, or at least I could assume what he did, or who he did what with but I didn't want that to be the case. I wanted Derek to tell me he didn't spend the night with some girl he met in a bar, and that they most certainly didn't go back to her apartment, and that they definitely didn't sleep with each other. But that was too much to ask.

Derek still didn't look at me, his gaze completely focused on the pancakes. "I don't remember."

I mumbled, "Okay." But Derek heard my sarcasm and for the first time he lifted up his head to look at me. My face flushed an uncontrollable red, what was going on with me? Why did I even care? I refused to meet his gaze, not wanting to see his face as a voice emerged from the corridor, making me jump an inch in my seat.

"Why do I smell burnt hair?" Tori asked, her head popping around the corner to the kitchen, her pixie hair spiky from tossing and turning in bed. She grinned at both of us, "No wait, that's pancakes."

I raised both my hands up in the air, surrendering. "Hey, at least I tried." I stared straight at her, avoiding looking at Derek at all costs.

Tori opened up the cupboard and snatched a glass before yanking open the refrigerator and pouring herself a glass of orange juice. She leaned against the cabinets as she popped an Advil and chugged her drink, trying to cure her hangover. "So, what's this?"

"Sort of your goodbye present, actually." I said, pushing my hair behind my ear as I glanced up at her. Her face was slightly confused for a second until realization dawned on her and that it was her last day here. She pushed herself off the counter and gave me a quick, brief hug, which probably startled the both of us. I gave her a quick pat on the back before she released me.

Tori grinned at Derek, who was still silently flipping the pancakes and also avoiding meeting my wavering gaze. Derek mumbled something along the lines of this being a celebration, but Tori chose to ignore him and sat down at the kitchen table, waiting to be served. I kept the conversation with Tori going for as long as I could without bringing up suspicion of the earlier conversation with Derek. God, I sounded like an idiot, like a jealous friend or something. No, I knew exactly what I sounded like, which is why I urged the conversation with Tori along so insistently.

Derek finished the batter, and placed all the flapjacks on one plate, stacked high on top of each other as he snatched five and placed them on a separate plate before heading to his room, fork in the other hand.

Tori's eyes bulged, "Hold it right there." Derek's groan could've been heard down the hall. "You're eating breakfast with us." Derek just shook his head no.

"Derek," Tori sighed, taking a sip of her orange juice. "It's my last damn day here and I'll be damned if you refuse to eat breakfast with your little sister." Derek scoffed and rolled his eyes, but returned to the table, ours eyes making contact for a split second before I frantically changed my line of sight. I quickly stood up and grabbed the rest of the pancakes from the counter. We ate in silence, the pancakes an improvement from before.

"Chloe, what are you doing today?" Tori asked, her mouth full, her eyes focused on her plate.

"Hm? Oh, nothing really, I have a concert tonight with Nate though." I mumbled through the silence. Derek glanced up for a second before lowering his head again.

"Derek?" Tori asked, directing the question this time to her brother.

"I have a headache." Derek said simply, as if that was his excuse not to do anything for the entire day.

Tori snorted. "Yeah, okay. Well, I'm going to need your help today, both of you."

I stifled a groan, "And what exactly do you need help with?"

Tori grinned at us. "It's moving day."

...

Standing in a room full of boxes and Derek wasn't extremely pleasant, especially since the boxes were heavy and Derek and I weren't exactly talking. I know I overreacted this morning, trust me, I know and I can't explain why I acted the way I did, but I did.

Liz and Simon were busy, so they couldn't help out today, which was fine, but that left Derek, Tori, Ash, and me. Which was also fine, but Tori was currently in the bathroom taking a shower and Ash was grabbing us some coffee. Which would also have been fine if I didn't open my mouth this morning. Derek wasn't saying anything as he shuffled things into boxes, but we hadn't exactly spoken since this morning, and the current silence indicated to me that he wasn't in the mood to talk at all.

Since my concert with Nate was later that night I decided to that would be my excuse to bow out early, giving me time to shower and get ready before heading out to dinner with Nate, so I set my alarm on my phone for 4:30, giving me another twenty minutes in solitude. We were currently in Ash's and Tori's new apartment, which was littered in opened and unopened boxes. They both decided to get a brand new apartment, which was significantly cozier than ours, but charming. However, there only being one piece of furniture in the only apartment, Derek and I were forced to share a small love seat. Not that we were sharing though, as Derek was pacing the length of the living room.

We had mostly finished the unpacking, there were only a few boxes left from Tori's apartment and they were going to bring Ash's things tomorrow. I stared at the ground, my feet kicking each other every once in a while as they swung. I wasn't sure if I was expected to say anything to Derek, not that I really wanted to. I wasn't really sure what I meant this morning, after all, I wouldn't really mind whoever Nate spends the night with, but with Derek, with Derek it's just different. I cared for Derek in a completely different way than Nate, which is odd considering Nate was my best friend and Derek was Derek. And why would I stay up until five in the morning just to make sure that Derek was safe? Derek could take care of himself and he didn't need some 5'2 girl panicking over him. I stared at a piece of crumpled paper stuffed in the cardboard box.

"Chloe," Derek grunted with a sigh, clearly not wanting to say whatever he was about to say.

"Hm?" I mumbled, still not looking up from the torn sheet of paper, my eyes solely concentrated on the ground, as if I was afraid to look at Derek, like I was afraid to hear what his next words were going to be. Because I knew that they were going to hurt like hell.

"What did you think I did last night?" Derek plunked down on the small sofa next to me, far too close than I wanted him at the moment. The proximity made me nervous; how was I expected to respond when I could barely breathe because my heart was beating so rapidly?

"I-I don't kn-know." I lied, hoping he didn't pick up on my stutter.

I could feel Derek shift slightly away from me, allowing me to breathe a little better but a feeling of disappointment settled around me. Derek sighed, putting his head in his hands, and rubbed his eyes slowly with his palms. "That's bull, Chloe." Derek sighed.

I raised my eyebrows, "Bull?" I glanced up for a moment, Derek's gaze caught with mine. "How am I supposed to know what you did? I was at home." My eyes searched his, silently begging for him to tell me that I was wrong, I was so, so wrong.

"I didn't sleep with that girl." Derek said after an extended silence, his green eyes piercing my own. And there it was, there was the relief that flooded my body, and my fist unclenched and I could finally breathe properly. My entire mood changed, as if that quiet, simple sentence could brighten up my entire day. I could feel Derek move again, but this time it was a little closer to me. I looked away.

I let out a shaky breath, my cheeks permanently tinted pink, "O-okay."

And suddenly it dawned on me. I knew why I overreacted, I knew why I cared so much, and I knew if I thought those things that I would be doing something extremely dangerous.

He was my roommate.

The timer rang on my phone, announcing that it was 4:30, so I fled.

So Chloe finally gets it, she was being really annoying this whole chapter in my opinion but I think it was necessary for her to realize her feelings for Derek. And now since she's realized them she's going to try her best to get rid of them, so let's see how that goes. Anyway, thank you so much for putting up with me not being active lately. I don't have an excuse at all, but again, I'm really sorry. This chapter took me four months to write, but now it's finally out, so I'm happy.

I hoping to get in the updating groove again, so fingers crossed for a new chapter within the next two weeks, but no promises.

If anyone has any suggestions or predictions about future chapters I would love to hear them in the reviews or you can private message me anytime you want.

Oh, and how great is Atoning by Kelley Armstrong, her novella. I'm excited, a little nervous but hopefully it'll be great. Chloe is really forward now, and Derek's been feeling her up and just wow. I really want more Derek, but I can't really complain, can I? Message me if you want to talk about the story.

Thanks again for reading this story!

Don't forget to favorite, follow, and review!

Thanks, Bridget