Playground Memories - Chapter 18

~A Teen Wolf fan-fiction collaboration between Miss E Charlotte and Sage Londyn~

Teagan didn't know how long she had been sleeping until she snapped her eyes open with a gasp. The little sleep she did get was restless as she had nightmare after nightmare.

She watched the time on her alarm clock tick away until the wee hours when she finally sighed and tossed the comforter off of her before standing up from her bed, giving up on getting any actual peaceful sleep.

She glanced around her empty room and kind of wished she hadn't sent Jackson away. She wrapped her arms around herself and felt like talking to someone, but who?

Jackson would think she was crazy, as would her dad. Avery was definitely out of the question. Aspen was a good listener but wasn't very good with the advice. She knew who gave the best advice, her mom.

With that thought in mind, she walked over to her desk and grabbed her car keys. Aspen raised his head when he heard the noise until she told him everything was ok and to go back to sleep, which he did.

She slipped on a pair of running shoes then made her way out of her room and into the hallway. She snuck past her dad's closed bedroom door knowing it meant he was fast asleep. She knew he slept heavy and would never hear her leave, plus it wasn't like she would be gone for long.

She just needed to visit her mom then maybe she could get everything off of her mind and finally get some sleep.

Many minutes later, she pulled her car into the empty parking lot by the dark cemetery. She grabbed a flash light from the glove box then made her way towards her mother's grave.

After walking through the creepy cemetery for a few minutes she paused when she heard a rustling noise nearby. For a moment she was starting to regret coming here so late alone. After the attack earlier and finding out about werewolves, this was definitely not one of her brightest ideas.

When she heard another noise coming from behind her, she quickly spun around and gasped when she saw someone standing behind her. She raised her flashlight, prepared to strike whoever it was until she heard them speak.

"Whoa, Teagan, it's me Isaac." He called out, as he raised his hands to block her attack just in case she didn't hear him.

"Isaac?" She asked confused as she shined the light in his face then breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that it was actually him.

"God, you scared me." Teagan said as she placed a hand over her heart, "What are you doing here?"

"I work here." Isaac answered as he shot her a look, worried that she was confused and disoriented at the moment.

"Right, sorry. I don't know what I was thinking." Teagan said, feeling her cheeks heat up with embarrassment. Of course she knew he worked there, so why did she ask such a stupid question?

"Is everything ok?" Isaac asked with a worried look still on his face.

"Yeah.." She said on instinct, then added as tears filled her eyes, "Actually no. No everything is not ok."

Isaac reached into his pocket and pulled out a pack of tissues then handed them to her. She sniffed and shot him a small smile of thanks as she pulled out a tissue and dabbed at her eyes.

"I uh, I heard about the attack on you and Avery tonight." Isaac said, "I'm glad to see you're ok."

"I'm not so sure I am ok." Teagan said softly, "But thank you Isaac."

"If something like that happened to me I would want to be as close to my brother as possible." Isaac said as he glanced over at where his brother was buried.

Teagan softly smiled, glad to see that someone understood why she was there.

She was starting to think she was stupid for wanting to run to her mom, but knowing he would do the same made her feel better.

"At least that's what I'm assuming you are here for." Isaac added, as he turned back to look at her.

"Yeah that's why I'm here. I just wanted... I needed to be close to her." Teagan said back.

Isaac nodded his head in understanding then turned to walk away to give her privacy until she spoke up and called out his name, he turned to look at her.

"Can you uh; will you sit with me?" She asked quietly. She didn't know why, but she just wanted him with her. He always seemed to understand what she was thinking and feeling and she needed that right now.

Someone to understand.

"I-I don't know. I should really...I got work to do." Isaac stuttered. It wasn't that he didn't want to sit with her, he just feared it would get back to Jackson somehow and he would get on his case again.

"Right, sorry, I shouldn't have even asked. I mean, that's the type of thing you do for a friend." Teagan said a little harsher than she meant.

It wasn't that she was trying to be rude; she was just tired of the back and forth with him. Were they friends or weren't they? She honestly didn't know where she stood with him.
Isaac stuttered a few times, unsure what to say back. He wanted nothing more than to be her friend, but he wasn't part of her crowd.

Her people didn't want him around her; Jackson and his buddies had made that point to him plenty of times.

Teagan sighed when she saw the look on his face and felt guilty for her comment. She quickly apologized to him, "I shouldn't have said that. I'm not thinking right tonight and I feel so stupid for even saying this but I-I thought we were friends Isaac."

"Y-you thought we were friends?" Isaac asked surprised.

"Yeah I did, but I can see now that I was mistaken and I feel incredibly embarrassed. Can we just pretend this conversation never happened?" Teagan asked, then before he could answer she continued, "Between the trauma tonight and lack of sleep, I'm just talking crazy. So just forget all of this. Please."

When Isaac didn't say anything, she pointed behind her toward where her mom was buried then added, "Ok, I'm going to go this way. You go back to work, but remember this never happened. Ok? Ok, great... see you Isaac."

After a small wave to him, she turned around to walk away but before she could take a step he reached out to grab her arm, taking her by surprise, as he called out, "Wait."

Teagan turned back around to look at him as she waited for him to speak. She thought he was never going to explain why he stopped her until he finally opened his mouth and said, "I didn't know that you saw me as a friend."

She gave him a sad smile, it made her sad to see him so surprised that someone would want to be his friend. Did he really think that badly about himself?

"You've been there for me, more than once since I've gotten back in town. You've been there when I needed someone, that's a friend Isaac and that's something that I would never forget." She said softly, as she reached out to hold his hand and gave it a small friendly squeeze.

"I can um, I can take a small break." Isaac offered, letting her know that he could go sit with her if she still needed a friend.

She smiled at him, thanking him then turned around to walk towards her mom's tombstone. Her hand still holding his as the two walked across the cemetery together in a comfortable silence.

~()~

Avery walked up to her front door to go inside, Derek headed around the side of her house to get up through her bedroom window.

"Avery." Richard said as she walked in the door.

"Hey dad." She said.

"The Sherriff called, he said you were in a video store when a mountain lion broke in there?" He asked.

"Yeah." She said nodding.

"Are you okay?" He asked looking her over.

"I'm fine." She said.

"You almost died, how are you fine?" He asked.

"I lived… that's how." She responded.

Derek stood at the top of the stairs, where he was standing he could see Avery and her dad but they couldn't see him.

"Damn it, Avery." Richard said as he shook his head back and forth.

"Damn it, what dad?" she asked irritated.

"If you're not okay, I need you to tell me." He said.

"Can we not do this right now?" Avery sighed.

"Do what?" He asked.

"Play house, act like a family." Avery explained with an arched eyebrow.

"We are a family." He stated.

"Dad, why are you wearing your coat?" She asked.

"The alarm was tripped at the bank and I need to go in." He admitted.

"I was seconds away from getting ripped to shreds tonight, do you understand that?" She asked, shaking her head.

"Of course I do. I got the call about the bank going on 40 minutes ago… but I waited until you were home." He said, sounding a little proud of himself.

"But you're still leaving…" She said sadness apparent in her voice.

"When I come back we can talk about this." He offered as he walked past her.

"I'll probably be asleep, I just want some time alone." She said softly.

Leaning down he kissed her on top of her head.

"If it's absolutely necessary I can call someone else in to take care of it, but I really should go… I'm the owner." He explained.

She took a deep breath and looked down at the floor before looking back up to him.

Derek watched as she smiled and said, "No, it's okay. I understand the bank is important to you… go ahead."

Once her dad was gone she started up the stairs and she and Derek went back into her room.

"Can you believe that?" She muttered as she kicked her shoes off and sat down in her computer chair.

Derek stood quietly and watched her, not sure how he was going to tell her what he needed to say.

"Whatever, it doesn't matter. I'm not alone, you're here." She said with a small smile.

"I have to leave for a while." He said.

"What?" She asked as she stood up and walked over to him.

"With Scott's help I think I can find the alpha, since he was turned by it… he has a sort of connection. I need his help to find the alpha." Derek admitted.

"And this has to happen right now? Not even an hour after you saved me?" she asked.

"I'm sorry." He said, his apology was sincere as he looked at her.

"Can you please just stay?" She asked. The words almost felt alien as they left her mouth.

She was always telling people she needed time alone, not pleading for them to stay.

"The sooner we find the alpha and kill it… the better." Derek tried to reason with her.

Avery's jaw tensed in anger. It hurt worse that he was saying he was leaving than when her dad left.

"I almost died!" She yelled.

"I know that…" He said back, his voice raised to meet hers.

Cutting him off she said, "Then why won't you just stay with me?"

"I want to, but this…" he started to say but she cut him off again.

"Is important?" She breathed out, hating those words.

"I need you to understand how much danger this town and you are in until we take care of this." Derek said.

She turned around from him for a few minutes and swallowed hard as she choked back tears.

"Avery…" Derek started to say as he took a few steps towards her.

Turning around she faced him as she smiled, "It's fine. You're right this is important… just go."

He cocked his head to the side as he watched her.

"I'll be back…" He started to say but again she wouldn't let him talk.

"It's alright, I'm fine… everything is fine." She said.

"I can hear your heart." He stated with a sigh.

"Doesn't really matter. You're going to leave anyways, so just go…" She said as she sat back down in her computer chair and took her phone out of her pocket hoping to have a text or call from Teagan.

"I'm coming back." He said as he stood in the doorway of her room.

She looked up at him, her eyes meeting his as she said, "Be safe, so you can come back."

Once he was gone she looked around her room trying to decide what to do. Her eyes stopped on a basket of clean clothes that needed to be folded and put away in her dresser.

She walked around her room straightening things up and trying to keep in control of her emotions.

She couldn't believe that she had been attacked and seconds away from being killed and both her dad and Derek leave her to be home by herself.

There was no point in calling Teagan, though she felt like she didn't have anyone else.

Avery rubbed her temples as her head was pounding; her breathing grew shallow as looked around her clean room.

Before she was even sure what happened she swiped her arm across the top of her dresser knocking everything off of it on to the floor with a crash.

She still felt like she couldn't get her breath.

Looking over at her desk she saw a picture of her and Teagan, she picked it up and threw it across the room. The frame busted on impact with the wall and tears started to fall down her cheeks.

Soon her computer and desk lamp were on the floor, she threw the lamp off her bedside table across the room, but it missed the wall and broke the small window that faced out the side of the house.

It was a little while later she stood in the middle of her now destroyed room, still breathing heavily as she looked at all the damage she'd caused.

Walking over to her window she looked out the broken glass and saw the busted lamp laying on the ground at the side of the house.

Walking into the bathroom she stared at herself in the mirror, her cheeks were lined with black streaks from her mascara running from crying earlier.

Wetting a wash cloth she washed her face off and re-applied all of her make up before brushing her hair and trying to take a deep breath.

She continued to stare at her reflection, smiled widely at herself and thought that if she didn't know the storm brewing under the surface she could have fooled herself into thinking she was okay.

Feeling sick to her stomach she held onto the sides of her dark blue porcelain sink and tried to catch her breath, but it still felt like the walls were closing in on her.

Rising up she swallowed hard as she looked at herself in the mirror; hit by a sudden burst of rage she punched the mirror as hard as she could.

Her light brown eyes widened as the broken glass shards rained off the wall and fell in her sink and on the tile floor.

Looking down at her hand she saw she was bleeding from her knuckles.

She winced when she open her hand and made a fist a few times as every movement hurt.

Quickly she raced down the stairs, leaving her phone and purse behind.

Walking a few streets over from her house and cutting through a field, she found the small park on the edge of a wooded area.

The park was almost equal distance between her house and the house that Teagan had grown up in. When they were younger, they'd always sneak out to meet each other at the park to talk about everything under the sun.

Hardly anyone every came to the small park and the playground equipment looked like it hadn't been update in a really long time.

After her mom died, Avery would go to the park to try and clear her head. It was easier to be out of the house, than be home with her dad but feel like they were a million miles away from each other.

Even after Teagan had moved away, she'd still go the park when something was bothering her.

Climbing up the stairs of the slide, she ignored the spider webs and sat down facing away from the slide.

Slowly she leaned backwards so that her top half was laying back on the cold metal of the slide angled downwards. She kept her knees bent and her feet down on the stairs so that she wouldn't accidently slide down head first.

She stared up at the night sky, as her eyes traced the outline of the moon and clusters of stars she finally was able to take a deep breath.

She took a few more breaths; breathing in deeply and holding the air in until her lungs hurt before she'd exhale.

It was close to 2 hours later, and her head was hurting from the blood rush as she stayed with the top half of her body angled down on the slide.

Hearing footsteps she raised her head and looked from side to over the raised edges of the slide, but didn't see anything.

Laying her head back on the cold hard metal she saw Derek standing at the end of the slide looking at her.

"What are you doing?" She asked him.

"I think I should be asking you that, it looks like a tornado went through your room." He said, his voice a little gruff.

"It kind of did." She said quietly.

"How did you even find me?" She asked, not moving.

"I tracked your scent." He admitted.

"Why?" she asked, her voice flat.

"I went back to your house and saw your room." He accidently snapped, he'd been worried about her.

"Do you know what I was doing when Stiles texted me about you being hurt that night?" She asked still looking at him upside down.

"No." He said not understanding why she was bringing it up.

"I was heading out the door with my dad for dinner, a cellphone free dinner because he decided to finally take an interest in what was going on with me. He hasn't sat down for a meal with me since the year my mom died." She explained.

"I didn't text you to come there." He reminded her.

"I know and half way to the animal clinic I thought; if he's really hurt and wants me there, why didn't he call or text me himself?" She said with a dry laugh.

"And then once I got to the clinic I thought; this jackass just shoved me against a wall and yelled at me, what am I doing here?" She continued telling him.

"But then I saw you stumble out of Stiles' jeep and I saw how bad you looked and all I could think was I had to do something to help you. And just like that, nothing else mattered." She explained.

He opened his mouth to say something but she stopped him as she said, "You're important to me, Derek."

"You don't think you're important to me?" He asked her.

"I think we have two different definitions of important." She admitted.

"You are important to me, Avery." He said.

"But not as important as everything else." She said quietly.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have left." He told her.

"It doesn't matter." She said as she stared back up at the sky.

"I think that it does; I think a lot of things matter to you more than you let on." He said as he watched her.

"Yeah, well maybe thinking isn't your strong suit." She muttered.

"I shouldn't have left you alone after the video store." He finally said.

"It's fine." She said, brushing his apology off.

"Stop doing that, stop saying that everything is fine." He told her.

Rolling her eyes she quickly sat up and blinked her eyes as everything was spinning from laying so long with the blood rushing to her head.

"I'm here because I care about you, Avery. So stop lying, stop pushing me away." He said as he walked around the side of the slide and looked at her as she sat up.

Her surroundings were still spinning but she tried to go down the stairs and fell, but Derek quickly caught her.

Sliding out of his arms she stepped back and rubbed her forehead wishing she hadn't laid upside down on the slide for so long.

"I'm not pushing you away… I tried to hold onto you for dear life, but you just left." She said.

Tears started to well up in her eyes as she replayed the nights events in her head.

"I should have listened." He said as he watched her.

"It's not a big deal." She said, her voice hoarse as a few tears started to roll down her cheeks.

Turning around she started to walk away but he pulled her back against him.

More tears fell down her cheeks and she put her hands against his chest and tried to push him away, but he didn't let go of her.

"This is me pushing you away now, so get off of me." She said her voice cracked as she tried to push him away, but he was too strong.

"And this is me holding on, I'm not leaving." He said as she continued to cry.

Slowly she stopped trying to push him back, and held onto him burying her face in his black shirt as she continued to cry in his arms.

A/N- Thank you all for reading, hope you guys all enjoyed the chapter.

On Miss E Charlotte's profile are links to her polyvore and tumblr accounts. While you're there don't forget to check out her other stories too! ^_^

Also, up on my profile is the link to my polyvore account and I have another Teen Wolf story too.

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