Perfectly Lonely - Chapter 24

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

"Derek!" Avery yelled as she stormed in the front door of his house.

"Avery." He greeted from the top of the stairs where he was standing, wondering what she could be so mad about.

"Is that what this was all about, you didn't want me talking to Kate because you used to date her?" She asked.

He wasn't sure what to say.

"How could you not tell me that? I had to hear it from her, and she felt terrible for being the one who told me." Avery said.

"She doesn't feel terrible for anything she does." Derek said gruffly as he walked down the stairs.

"What is going on?" She asked crossing her arms over her chest.

He was silent.

He was sure if he told her about Kate using him to get to the rest of his family that she wouldn't forgive him; considering her mom who just vising his aunt was also killed in the fire.

He had always blamed himself for the deaths of everyone in the fire.

"You said I was important to you." She said taking a step backwards.

"You know you are." He replied.

"Then you have to start being completely honest with me right now." She demanded.

After a pause he said, "If I tell you, I'll lose you… I can't do that. I've lost everyone else."

"If you don't tell me you're going to lose me anyways, so start talking." She demanded.

"Avery." He said as he shook his head back and forth.

Sighing she turned around to leave but he stopped her.

She listened with tears in her eyes about how Kate had tricked him into falling for her, and how she used him to get to the rest of his family.

He explained that the fire was Kate's fault.

By the time he was done she had mascara laced tears running down her cheeks.

"Why didn't you tell me?" she asked, her voice cracked as she spoke.

"Because I knew you'd hate me for it." He said.

She wiped her cheeks, but it was useless as more tears started to fall.

He heard her heart racing, as she looked around the house remembering she was in the very place where her mom took her last breath.

"I don't even know what to say." She admitted.

He watched her with a pained expression as she continued to break down in front of him.

"I'm sorry, Avery." He said, his voice much softer than usual as he took a few steps forward.

She backed up and shook her head back forth.

"I have to go." She managed to say as she turned and ran from the house.

He stood in the doorway and swallowed hard as he watched her disappear into the woods.

Avery was the first person he'd truly cared about in a long time. It seemed that everything he cared for always got taken away in one way or another.

He'd hoped she'd be able to forgive him and they could move past it, but she'd reacted just like he expected but even though he knew it was coming; it didn't hurt any less.

~()~

Avery pulled her long, wavy blond hair up in a messy bun as she stood outside of her parent's bedroom.

Slowly she turned the handle and opened the door.

She looked around at the light green walls and the brown and green comforter on the bed.

It looked exactly the same as it did 6 years before when her mom died.

Avery's dad had slept in the downstairs guest bedroom ever since and Avery had only been in there a few times since.

They never really spoke about her mom, it was too painful for her dad and Avery tried not to think about her.

Walking past the dresser tears burnt her eyes as she picked up a bottle of her mom's perfume and smelled it.

Sitting the glass bottle back down with a small clank she walked over to the large walk in closet.

She ran her fingers over her mom's clothes; she'd always dressed in bright, cheerful colors; Avery dressed the complete opposite, mostly black all the time.

Pulling a photo album off of a top shelf she sat down on the floor next to the bed and took a deep breath as she wiped the dust off the cover and opened it.

More tears fell down her cheeks as she saw pictures of her parents and of herself when she was younger.

She let her mind wander as she wondered how different her life could have been if she'd never lost her mom.

Normally she'd never let herself think such thoughts, no amount of dreaming would bring her back.

She smiled and cried at the same time as she looked at another picture of her mom and dad on their wedding day.

Her mind flashed back to the hurt expression on Derek's face when she said she needed to leave.

She pulled every other photo album from the closet and looked at them until she ended up falling asleep on the dusty comforter over her parent's old bed.

Waking up much later in the night she gathered the photo albums and put them back in their place.

She kept thinking about Derek, this had been the longest they'd went without seeing or speaking to each other since their first actual date.

Pulling her jacket on she left and headed to his house, she let herself in the door and looked around before slowly walking up the stairs.

Pushing the door open to the room he'd been sleeping in she saw him standing by the broken window, staring out of the shattered glass.

"What are you doing here?" He asked as he turned and faced her.

"I missed you, a lot actually." She said with a small smile.

"You've forgiven me?" He questioned with raised eyebrows.

"I can't." She responded.

He nodded and his jaw tensed as he turned and looked back out of the window.

"I can't forgive you because you have nothing to be sorry for. Well, other than not being honest about this with me." She corrected as she walked farther into the room.

"What are you talking about?" he asked.

"Your family… my mom, none of their deaths are on you. Don't you get that? It wasn't your fault, you didn't set the fire." She said, her tone strong.

"I led hunters right to them." He reminded her.

"You fell for Kate's act. She's lying, manipulative, and a calculated, cold bitch. She's a psychopath, emotionless." Avery continued, as rage coursed through her veins when she thought of Allison's aunt.

He didn't respond.

Crossing the room she stood and faced him in the soft glow of the moonlight.

"I don't blame you, for any of it." She said.

He avoided her eyes and looked back out of the window at the woods.

Reaching out she took his hand and held it over her heart, he looked at her.

"You can hear my heart to tell when I'm lying and you can feel it too. I don't blame you for any of this." She repeated.

She was telling him the truth.

Pulling his hand back he said, "Yeah, well you should."

After a few moments, she reached down and took his hand again lacing her fingers with his.

He looked down to their connected hands and then to her face as she leaned up and kissed him.

Their mouths moved together, slowly and sensually as he let go of her hand and held onto the side of her face deepening the kiss.

~(A few days later)~

Avery said bye to Lydia and was standing outside of the school waiting for Derek to pick her up since he'd dropped her off that morning.

She looked around and spotted Teagan as she walked out of the school.

Avery started to raise her hand, but then stopped. She wasn't sure how to react to seeing her best friend now.

Teagan took a deep breath as she looked at Avery, her dad had said that Avery came by to check on her.

Not exactly sure what she'd say to her, Teagan started walking towards her. She'd missed her best friend so much and her dad told her Avery was really upset over their not speaking to each other.

Avery smiled happy that they were finally going to get the chance to talk, but then Teagan's face changed and abruptly stopped as she looked past her friend.

Confused at first, Avery looked over her shoulder to see Derek had pulled up and was waiting on her.

Teagan's breathing grew shallow as her mind flashed back to the night at the video stor, in all honesty Derek had saved her life.

But now she couldn't look at him without seeing his morphed face, glowing eyes and fangs. She hoped she'd never have to see him like that again.

Then a chill ran down her spin at the thought that Avery had seen him like that too, and was still dating, kissing and doing other intimate things with him.

Teagan raised her hand and gave Avery a small wave before quickly turning and heading back to school.

Avery sighed and got into the car with Derek.

Teagan looked over her shoulder and her eyes widened as saw she them kissing.

"Don't tell me Avery's back with that dick." Jackson growled as he also saw the heated kiss before they drove away.

"I think there are some things at work here that we don't quite understand." Teagan said softly.

When Jackson saw Derek, it made him see red. He'd bruised Teagan and cut up the back of his neck, not to mention Jackson still thought Derek was a drug dealer.

"He's dangerous, Teagan. He hurt the both of us, and for all we know he could be hurting Avery too. If I get the chance, I'm gonna kick his ass." Jackson growled.

"I think he wants to keep Avery safe." Teagan admitted.

Jackson looked at her confused.

"What?" He asked.

"I just don't think it's our place to get involved. And you promised me you wouldn't go after him because of what happened in the hallway." Teagan reminded him.

"He hurt you." Jackson reminded her, his nostrils slightly flared in anger.

~()~

"You really think he'll be able to communicate this time?" Avery asked as she walked into the hospital where Derek's Uncle Peter had been since the fire.

"I think it's our last shot." Derek said as he spoke quietly so only she could hear him.

Avery paused as they passed a sign that said 'surgery' with an arrow pointing down a different hallway.

"What are you doing?" Derek asked her as he turned and looked at her.

"Wouldn't it just be awesome to watch a massive surgery performed? Just like, see them open somebody up right in front of you?" She asked eyeing a set of double doors at the end of the hallway.

Sighing heavily and rolling his eyes Derek said, "Come on." As he grabbed her hand and pulled her towards his uncles room.

He looked down and smiled to himself as he heard the change in her heartbeat the second his skin touched hers.

Once they got outside of his uncles room, Avery stopped again. "Maybe I should just go hang around the surgery wing."

"Why?" He asked, confused.

"I don't like nursing homes." She said quietly.

"This is a hospital, not a nursing home." He argued.

"It's a long-term care facility… pretty much the same thing." She said as her grip tightened on his hand a little bit.

"When I was a kid, my mom took me to visit my grandma in a nursing home and I've never been the same since." She tried to explain her phobia.

"Come on," he repeated as he pulled her into the room with him.

She nodded and walked into the room as she sat down on the side of the bed with Derek, she looked down to their still intertwined fingers.

Derek took a deep breath, and she could feel his grip tighten on her hand slightly as he looked at his uncle Pete, who had been badly burnt and pretty much unresponsive since the fire.

He was the only one from Derek's family who'd made it out.

"I need your help." Derek said, to his uncle.

Avery looked over at him and realized she was the only person he'd ever take into a situation like this, where he might come off as vulnerable.

She truly was getting to see a side of Derek Hale that hardly anyone else would even imagined existed.

She gave his hand a reassuring squeeze as he continued to talk to his uncle.

Derek explained how someone had killed his sister Laura and was now the alpha.

"Is it one of us? Did someone else make it out of the fire?" Derek asked him.

Avery's heart rate increased a little as she thought about her mom dying in that fire.

"Just give me some kind of sign. Blink, raise a finger… anything." Derek pleaded.

When Peter didn't respond Derek let go of Avery's hand and leaned forward holding onto the handles of the wheelchair and yelled "Say something!" into his uncles face.

"Let him go!" A female nurse said as she walked in the room.

Avery jumped up from where she was sitting startled and Derek turned around.

"You think after 6 years yelling is really going to get a response?" She asked them angrily.

"You got a better method?" Derek snapped at her.

"Patience, just give him some time and he'll respond." She explained.

"I don't have any more time." Derek angrily said, his voice almost in a growl.

"Maybe a few more minutes…" Avery started to say, as she looked at Peter. For some reason she felt like he was able to hear them.

"We're leaving." Derek said gruffly to her as he grabbed her hand and dragged her out of the room.

She winced in pain at the tight hold he had on her, "Derek!" She yelled once they got out in the hallway.

"We don't have more time, Avery." He said, still angered by everything that was going on.

"My hand is smaller than and not as strong as yours." She pointed out.

He looked down and let go of her.

Looking down she moved her hand and made a fist a few times.

Derek frowned at her bright red skin, he had been so mad he really didn't even remember grabbing her hand to pull her from the room.

"Are you okay?" He asked, looking at her.

"Yeah I'm fine." She said.

Walking over to his other side, she held out her uninjured hand for him to take, he looked at it and then to her face, before he put a hand on her lower back and led her out of the hospital.

As they neared his car he stopped when he saw a folded up paper under the windshield wiper.

"What is that?" Avery asked as she opened the passenger door of his car.

He opened the paper and looked all around them.

"Derek?" She asked.

"Get in the car." He ordered.

Once they were both in the car he handed her the paper as he started his car and sped off, tires screeching from how fast he whipped around a curve.

"It's a deer." She said looking at the paper.

"See the spiral on it's side?" He asked.

"Yeah…" She said.

"It's a symbol for revenge." He told her

She couldn't help but smile, it wasn't that what he'd said was good news; it wasn't. She smiled because he was really starting to trust her.

Once they pulled up outside of the animal clinic Avery opened her door.

"What are you doing?" Derek asked her

"Coming with you." She said.

"I need you to stay in the car." He said.

"But I want to come with you." She said her eyebrows pushed together in frustration.

Seeing the look on his face she sighed and pulled her door shut.

"I thought you were really starting to trust me." She said with a frown.

"I trust you more than anyone else." He said.

Before she could argue anymore, he took her chin and pulled her face to his, as he pressed a deep kiss to her lips.

Pulling back he said, "I'm trying to protect you, please. Stay here."

She nodded and watched as he got out of the car and walked inside.

After sitting there for a few minutes she glanced around the inside of his car, her eyes stopping on his leather jacket laying in the backseat.

Smiling she pulled it on over her thin, black zip up sweatshirt she had on over a skin tight dark purple V-neck tank top.

She hugged the coat against herself, smiling when she caught a faint whiff of his cologne from it.

Looking over she saw Scott dropping his bike by the side of the building.

"Scott." She said as she opened her door.

"Avery… what are you doing here?" He asked.

"Waiting on Derek." She responded.

"I can't really talk, I'm really late for work." He said.

Leaning over she pulled the keys from the ignition and got out of the car locking it up with the key fob.

"Sure I'll come inside with you." She said, smiling.

"Uhh, okay…" Scott said confused.

She said it incase Derek was listening to them he might think she came inside because Scott asked her.

She tucked his keys inside of his leather jacket she was wearing and followed Scott into the building.

Heading to a back room they saw Derek with Dr. Deaton, the veterinarian tied to a chair and bleeding from his face.

"What are you doing? Are you nuts?" Scott yelled.

Avery stared wide eyed at him.

Raising his fist Derek hit Dr. Deaton knocking him unconscious.

"If he's awake he can heal himself, but not if he unconscious." Derek explained, as he then shot Avery an angry look for coming inside.

"Well, one thing's for sure; the next time you tell me to wait in the car, I'm not listening." She said.

"Why are you doing this?" Scott yelled motioning towards his unconscious boss.

"You want to know what the spiral means Scott? It's our sign for a vendetta, for revenge. It means he won't stop killing until he's satisfied!" Derek yelled at him.

"You think he's the alpha?" Scott finally pieced together.

"We're about to find out." Derek said as his claws came out and he started to move his hand towards Dr. Deaton.

Scott's face shifted into his werewolf form and he grabbed Derek's arm, keeping him from killing him.

Scott let out a deep growl and pushed Derek's arm back before saying "Hit him again and then you'll see me get angry."

Avery raised her eyebrows and looked between them as she joked, "So, I'm guessing this has the same erotic value as a cat fight would to you."

Scott kept his gaze heavy on Derek, and Derek looked at her with slightly narrowed eyes.

"It was a joke, just trying to lighten the mood…" Avery breathed out as she looked around the room.

Scott told them to take Dr. Deaton and meet him in the school parking lot.

A/N- Thank you all for reading! I really hope you all liked the chapter. ^_^

Miss E Charlotte and I both recently started new Teen Wolf stories, if you haven't yet... you should check them out. Don't worry we're not about to stop writing this story though. We're still having so much fun writing and working together on this.

Please take a few moments to leave a review and let us know if you're still reading. We both really appreciate your support so much! ^.^