Annabel Lee -Chapter 49

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

Before the girls knew it was Friday and they were walking across the parking lot toward their cars, which happened to be parked beside each other. The two talked about random things like school, weather and homework until finally Teagan couldn't stop herself from asking.

"So are you excited about your date tonight with Stiles?" She asked.

"Actually I am." Avery answered honestly, then added, "Which is something I never thought I would say."

"I know, same here." Teagan said with a laugh, then added, "I mean don't get me wrong, Stiles is awesome and we love having him in our lives now but if someone had told me a year ago or even at the beginning of the school year that you would be going out with Stiles, I never would have believed it."

"If someone would have told me that I would have said, 'what the hell is a Stiles?'." Avery joked back, since before now neither girl really knew who he was.

Teagan laughed then said, "But honestly A, I'm really glad you are getting back out there and I'm glad you are giving Stiles a chance. He is a really sweet guy and he is so excited that you said 'yes'."

"He has not stopped talking about it all week." Teagan added.

"So does that mean you know where he is taking me?" Avery asked.

"Sorry, but he won't tell me anything. He says he wants it to be a surprise and he knows I would tell you." Teagan answered, then added with a laugh, "Which is right, cause I would."

"Very true." Avery said back with a laugh of her own, then with a groan added,"Ugh, why does he have to be so secretive?"

"Cause he wants to surprise you, which is a good thing cause you love surprises." Teagan pointed out.

"Yeah I do, but I also like knowing how I should dress." Avery said back.

"You can never go wrong with a little black dress." Teagan suggested.

Avery opened her mouth to agree until they heard someone call out their name, causing the two girls to come to a stop and turn around to see Allison walking toward them.

"Hey!" Allison said to both girls, then she looked at Avery as she asked, "You're going out with Stiles tonight right?"

"Yeah, why?" Avery asked.

"Can you give this to him to give to Scott?" Allison asked, as she held out a folded up letter to Avery. Since Allison and Scott were not allowed to see each other, the two kept in contact by their friends or by sneaking around.

"Sure and I even promise not to read it, although can't promise that for Stiles." Avery joked, as she took the letter.

"Don't worry, I made sure to put in really sappy stuff in the first paragraph. There is no way he would want to read that." Allison said back with a laugh.

"Good idea." Avery said, with a laugh of her own.

As the two continued to talk a little longer, Teagan glanced off to the side and lowered her eyebrows in confusion when she noticed one of the boys from the lacrosse team taking pictures.

She had seen him before around school snapping pictures of random things, but right now it looked like he was talking pictures of them.

"Hey, T? You ok?" Avery asked, when she saw the look on her friends face.

Teagan turned back to look at Avery and noticed Allison had already left, then said, "Yeah, yeah I'm ok. I just noticed that guy, you know the one on the lacrosse team who is always taking pictures. I think his name is Matt or something, anyway I saw him taking pictures. I don't know if it was of Allison, one of us or what."

"Maybe he was just taking pictures of cars?" Avery suggested, then added, "Guys like cars."

"Maybe." Teagan sighed, "When did I get like this? So distrusting and suspicious of everyone?"

"Probably around the time we found out werewolves existed or around the time we learned there is a lizard-like creature going around killing people like your boyfriend's dad." Avery answered.

"Yeah, probably around that time." Teagan agreed with another sigh.

She would be glad when things finally went back to normal, although she guessed they never would since she was dating a werewolf now. But like she had told Isaac before, she didn't care what he was, she was not leaving him.

"You know what I just realized." Avery said, as the two finally made it to their cars.

"What?" Teagan asked, as she unlocked her car door and tossed her book-bag inside then turned to face Avery.

"Recently I was dating a murder suspect and now you're the one dating a murder suspect." Avery said with a laugh.

"Not funny, A." Teagan said back.

"It's a little funny." Avery argued back.

"Not even a little funny." Teagan said. She hated that people thought he did something that he didn't do. Plus the whole having to hide and never getting to see him part sucked too.

"You're right, I'm sorry." Avery said sincerely, then added, "But don't worry T. The truth will come out and he won't have to hide forever."

"I hope so." Teagan said back.

~()~

After talking to Avery and wishing her luck on her date, Teagan finally left school and made her way home. She walked in the front door to a happy Aspen.

As she bent down to pet him, she was surprised to see her dad coming down the stairs in a suit and tie. Usually after he got home from work he changed into something more causal for around the house.

"Are you going back to work?" Teagan asked him.

"Yeah, I'm sorry kiddo." Paul said, as he hugged his daughter then said, "I'm not sure how long I'll be so I might have to miss dinner, but I left you some money on the counter to order whatever you want."

Teagan nodded her head, then asked, "So I guess you're in the middle of some big case huh?"

"Yes and no." He answered vaguely, causing her to shoot him a confused look.

He sighed then added, "I wasn't going to tell you this until I knew more, but I've been looking into your friend's case."

"Isaac?" Teagan asked surprised.

Paul nodded his head then said, "The law firm hasn't been assigned to it or anything but I've been checking out a few things on my own time."

"Dad, I swear Isaac did not kill his dad. He would never do that." Teagan said, worried her dad had been looking for incriminating evidence against him.

"I know Sweet Tea. That's what you told me when this all first came out and I believe you. I believe him." Paul said.

"You do?" Teagan asked with tears in her eyes, happy that someone else believed in Isaac the way she does.

"Yeah I do. For one there is no way a teenage boy could rip a door off like the one that was ripped off of Mr. Lahey's car. I don't know who could do something like that, but I know he couldn't." Paul explained

Then he continued ,"And two, I just keep thinking about that boy who risked his life to save my baby girl's life and I can't imagine that same boy killing his own father."

Teagan softly smiled as she thought back to that night of the parent/teacher conference. The night she was almost hit by a car until Isaac pushed her out of the way.

"I've seen a lot of criminals in my life, but Isaac isn't one of them." Paul added.

"Thank you daddy." Teagan cried out in relief, as she rushed forward to hug him. Sure it might not be the best idea to have her dad poke around in Isaac's life.

She still wasn't sure what all he did know after recently looking into the Hale house fire for the sheriff, but she was just so thankful that someone wanted to help Isaac and there was no one better to help him than her dad.

~(Later that night)~

Avery descended the stairs in her house wearing a black dress, black heels and a dark grey sweater.

"You look nice." Richard complimented as he saw his daughter walk past the doorway of his study.

"Thanks." She replied as she stopped in the doorway.

"Going anywhere special?" He asked.

He'd really been trying to take an interest in his daughter's life.

"I've got a date with Stiles." She admitted.

"Stiles? What happened to Derek?" Richard asked.

Avery sighed heavily. "We broke up, remember? That night he jumped out of my window."

"No, I know that. But I thought you'd get back together with him." He admitted as he closed his laptop and stood from his desk.

"I'm moving on." She said, a jolt of attitude in her voice as she crossed her arms over her chest.

Richard nodded, but Avery caught a glimpse of something in his eye.

"What is it?" She asked him, as she looked down to her expensive black high-heels.

"I liked Derek." He admitted, as he carried a few folders over to his file cabinet.

"Wrong answer." Avery argued.

"You asked me a question, and I answered it. Don't call me wrong." He said looking at her.

A chill had set into their large house that evening, and she wrapped her sweater around her tighter as she spoke.

"Wrong answer for a dad. No dad would be happy if their daughter brought Derek Hale home to meet them. He has bad boy written all over him." Avery pointed out as she shook her head back and forth.

"I think he tried to give off a dangerous appearance, but I really think he's just guarded and he's been through a lot." Richard reasoned and defended his thoughts.

Sighing Avery said, "Okay dad I know you're new at this trying to be an involved parent thing, so I'm going to help you. Girl meets boy, falls in love. Boy chooses something stupid over the girl and boy breaks girls heart. Therefore, father of girl now hates boy and wants to kill him for hurting her."

Richard gave her a small smile as he nodded and said, "I'm sure you'll have a great time with Stiles tonight. You know, after the attack when you were in the hospital, Stiles never left."

Avery looked down to the hard wood floor and smiled to herself at remembering how nice Stiles had been to her, always coming into her hospital room to see if she needed anything and check on her.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the doorbell ringing.

"Bye dad." Avery called over her shoulder as she headed to the door.

Richard followed her to the door and stood behind her as she opened it.

"Hey." She greeted with a wide smile.

Stiles looked uncomfortably between Avery and her dad.

"Hey… hi there Mr. Dukate." Stiles greeted with a nervous smile.

"Oh, um. These are for you." Stiles said as he handed Avery a bouquet of flowers.

"You brought me flowers?" She asked shocked.

He nodded, smiling ear to ear at the idea of finally being able to take her out on a date like he'd wanted to for years.

"Thank you… I should put these in water then." She said as she turned and about ran into her dad as she headed to the kitchen.

"Come on in." Richard said to Stiles as he turned and followed his daughter into the kitchen.

Stiles stepped into the house and followed them.

"I need a vase!" Avery exclaimed looking to her dad.

"I'm looking." He retorted as he leaned down and opened the cabinet under the sink.

"Everything okay?" Stiles asked as he walked in the kitchen and they both were searching the cabinets.

"Yeah, everything fine. Just looking for a vase or something." Avery responded offering him another smile.

"There's one over there…" Stiles said softly as he pointed to a small table where there was an empty vase by the phone and answering machine.

"Huh, right out in the open and we both missed it." Richard stated looking to Avery as she rushed across the kitchen to grab it.

"I'm sorry, if I had known you were bringing me these I would have found something to put them in sooner." Avery apologized as she rinsed the vase and then put some water in it.

"Are you not used to getting flowers?" He asked, surprised.

He always thought he was supposed to bring a girl flowers before a date.

"No." She admitted.

"What… seriously?" Stiles asked, he knew Avery had dated around a lot and assumed most of those guys had brought her flowers or something too.

"This has never happened." Richard agreed, giving Stiles an approving smile.

Looking over he saw Avery sniffing the flowers again.

"I'll take care of these, you two go on." Avery's dad, Richard said as he took the flowers from her and nodded for them to go back towards the door.

"Thanks dad." Avery said smiling at him.

"It was great to see you again." Stiles called politely over his shoulder as he followed Avery out.

"You too, Stiles." Richard said as he turned back to the sink and added a little more water to the vase before he put the stems of the flowers down in it.

He smiled at the soft, floral scent.

When Avery's mom was still alive, he'd gotten her flowers on their anniversary each year. But since her death there hadn't been any fresh flowers in the house.

Once Avery and Stiles were in his jeep, he tried to start it but it took a few tries.

"Are you having car trouble?" Avery asked, looking over at him.

"No, the battery's just been a little weak. But I have a portable charger if it dies." He assured her.

"We could always take my car." She said nodding to where her car was parked in the driveway.

"It's fine, really." He assured her as he backed out of the driveway.

They ate a quick dinner and saw a movie, everything had been going perfectly and they'd both been having a great time.

As he drove them back towards her house she smiled to herself and thought about how she'd never have expected to have this much fun with him.

The more time she spent with Stiles, the happier he made her.

"I have to say, I really think this is the most fun I've ever had on a date." She admitted looking over at him as the moonlight illuminated the interior of his car.

"Really?" He asked, a little surprised.

"Totally." She assured him with a smile.

He smiled widely as he looked over at her.

"Why do you seem so surprised… hasn't anyone ever said they had fun on a date with you before?" She asked.

He let out a small dry laugh, "They might have… if I'd ever taken anyone else out."

"Seriously? This is your first date?" She asked, surprised.

He was quiet for a few moments before he said, "Yeah, but it sounds really stupid. I shouldn't have admitted it."

"It doesn't sound stupid… everyone just moves at their own speed." She said, not wanting him to feel weird.

"Plus, it's kinda cute… I get to be your first date and all." She smiled as she spoke.

He laughed and then his eyes widened as he thought that she might be his first for quite a few things.

"You just got really quiet on me." She said as she leaned forward and shut off the radio that had been playing quietly through their drive.

He gripped the steering wheel tighter and tried to force the thoughts from his head, it was only their first date.

Wanting to talk about something else, he spoke without thinking "I'm just surprised is all… honestly I spent all day worrying whether this date would add up to any date Derek or someone else took you on."

His eyes widened and he swerved as he took his attention from the road and looked over at her as she stared at him in shock.

"Holy… oh my god, I can't believe I just said that. I just brought up the worst conversation topic ever. I'm sorry." He stammered out an apology.

She took a deep breath before she said, "It's okay… I mean, I like you and if you want to then I'd really like to keep seeing you…" She began but he cut her off.

Excitedly, he said "Uh, yeah… yes, I want to keep seeing you."

"Meaning that we need to be comfortable enough to talk about my past relationships, including Derek." She explained.

He nodded, still feeling like he was on cloud 9 from knowing there was probably going to be a 2nd date.

"Granted, I didn't exactly expect it to come up on the first date…" She continued with a small laugh.

"It was a bad case of not thinking before opening my mouth." He apologized again.

"This is definitely a better date than I've ever been on though." She said as she adjusted in her seat some.

He opened his mouth to speak as he glanced over at her before looking back to the road.

But she spoke before he could, "In all honesty, spending time with you has kind of showed me what I've been missing."

"What do you mean?" He asked, wondering what he could possibly be giving her that Derek hadn't.

"That I'm 16, what Derek and I had was great in it's own way. But honestly, looking back it almost feels like I met him one week and we were like… married the next. We didn't actually go out on very many dates, we lived out of my room for months. I think that even with as much as I cared about him… I missed being a teenager." She tried to explain what was on her mind.

He nodded, not really sure how to respond to her statement.

Stiles glanced back over at her when he heard her let out a small sigh of relief.

Avery was telling him the truth, and it was really the first time she'd admitted it to herself; the first time it had felt okay to admit it.

They talked a little longer when Avery looked up just in time to see a little black kitten crossing the bridge they were driving over.

She opened her mouth to yell at him to watch out and not hit the animal but Stiles slammed on the breaks before she could.

They narrowly avoided hitting the kitten who turned and scurried back across the road.

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

"Yeah, I'm fine. Are you?" She asked, putting a hand over her heart and breathing deeply.

"I didn't have time to do anything but stomp on the brake." He admitted his breathing a little labored too.

"It's okay, I don't like cats but I'd rather have whiplash than us kill one." Avery admitted.

"It was a kitten." He corrected.

"A baby cat, still a cat." She said with an arched eyebrow.

Then she noticed she didn't hear the engine running anymore.

"Did your car die?" She asked.

"No… come on!" He exclaimed as he tried to restart the car, but the battery was dead.

"Damn cat." She muttered shaking her head.

"Kitten." Stiles argued again.

"Whatever, you said you've got a portable charger. Let's hook it up so we can go." She said as she looked at her cellphone and sighed when she saw she had no signal.

He also checked his phone but didn't have signal either.

"It doesn't work like that, it will have to charge for a little while before I can restart it." He explained.

She stared at him blankly for a few moments as he grabbed the battery pack and raised the hood of the car.

Getting out of the passenger seat she met him at the front of his car.

"It'll take about 20 minutes, what do you want to do?" He asked as he looked around on the ground to see where the kitten had gone.

"Umm, well…" Her voice trailed off as she looked around, her eyes stopping on the guard rail on the side of the bridge.

"I have an idea." She said, her tone playful as she walked over and climbed over the metal guard rail, and stood on the pavement on the other side and looked down to the lake.

"What are you doing?" Stiles asked, as he rushed over to her.

"We could swim." She said smiling.

"Swim? It's dark out… we'll freeze." He protested, not sure what had even given her the idea.

"Are you chicken?" She teased as she kicked her heels off and laid her sweater on the guard rail.

"No, I'm not afraid. I'm simply pointing out it's too cold." He argued with her, wondering if she'd really jump into the cold water.

"I think someone's scared…" She said with an arched eyebrow.

"I'm not scared, and it's not like we packed anything to wear to go swimming in." He continued to protest.

"True… but who says we need swimsuits?" She asked, her voice low as her eyes met his.

"What…" He started to ask but his breath caught in his throat and his eyes widened as he watched her.

She reached behind her back and unzipped her black dress as she faced him.

"You're really not doing this…" He managed to raggedly breathe out.

"I am… what are you going to do?" She questioned as she let her dress fall to her feet.

"Holy… god…" He mumbled as he stared at her standing in only a matching dark purple and black zebra print underwear and bra set.

She smirked to herself at his reaction as she stood still for a few moments.

His mouth hung open as his eyes traced over her body in the soft glow from the moonlight.

Without another word she turned and dived into the cold, dark water.

Blinking and finally able to catch his breath, he quickly stripped down to his boxers and shivered in the cool night air as he climbed over the guard rail; so distracted by everything that had just happened that he didn't see the approaching car as he also dived into water.

He reasoned with himself that after what he'd just seen, he'd need a cold shower anyways.

~()~

Derek slowed his car in confusion as his headlights illuminated Stiles jumping into the lake.

He stopped his car in front of where Stiles jeep was parked when he heard Avery laughing.

Putting his car in park he got out and walked over to the rail looking down as he watched Stiles and Avery.

"Wait, where are you going?" Stiles asked, his voice choppy from the shock of the cold water.

"Getting the hell out of here, it's freezing!" She exclaimed, her teeth chattered as she faced him with only their heads above water.

"But this was your idea." Stiles reminded her, even though he was pretty sure he wanted out of water more than she did.

"And it was a bad one, you should have stopped me. We're going to get hypothermia." She said as she started to turn and swim towards the shore, but stopped abruptly when Stiles splashed her with the ice cold water.

"You did not just do that!" She yelled laughing as she turned and faced him as he swam closer.

"I…" He started to say, but she splashed him back.

"Hey!" He yelled playfully as he splashed her again.

Derek let out a low growl and he had to stop himself from going into the water after them, he had to remind himself that Avery wasn't with him anymore.

He watched as they swam around and splashed each other, both of them laughing and yelling as the cold water hit them.

As much as he wanted her back, he thought of everything he'd put her through. He still blamed himself for her mother's death, and he knew all of the pain she'd endured to keep him alive when Kate captured them.

He crossed his arms over his chest and swallowed hard as he continued to watch them, punishing himself with every second he watched her having fun with Stiles.

"Okay, okay. Stop, we have to get out of here." She finally said, through her laughter.

"Maybe I'm not ready to get out." He breathed as he grabbed her arm under water and stopped her from swimming away.

Her eyes moved from his eyes to his lips as she raised an eyebrow and said, "oh yeah? Then what are you ready for?"

His breathing was labored as he faced her, only inches apart and up to their necks in cold water.

"Something I've wanted to do for as long as I can remember…" He said, his voice low and almost a whisper as he stared at her for a few more seconds before he leaned in and pressed his lips to hers.

Derek turned and headed back to his car, not able to watch them any longer.

Even after seeing her making out with one of her old friends the night they'd broke up didn't hurt as bad as seeing her with Stiles. He knew that was nothing more than some meaningless hook-up to give her a power trip and feel wanted.

But seeing her with Stiles was different, it was no secret how Stiles felt about Avery and her being with him wasn't meaningless. He knew Stiles might possibly be the only one who could really take her away from him… for good.

With anger and pain coursing through his veins and knowing he needed to get back and work more on training Isaac, he sped away. His tires screeching and leaved black marks on the pavement as he went.

Avery and Stiles were so absorbed in each other that they hadn't even heard the car speed off.

Finally separating after another heated kiss, they stared into each other's eyes.

~()~

After getting out of the water and heading back up to where the jeep was, they pulled their clothes back on, over their drenched underwear and smiled at each other for a few moments before Stiles opened his door and started the car.

"It works." Avery said smiling as she shivered. She felt like her lips had to be blue from as cold as she was.

Leaving his door open Stiles went back to unhook the charger from under the hood and Avery pulled on her dark gray sweater and hugged it tightly around herself as she looked back over the guard rail at the moonlight's fragmented reflection on the lake.

"Okay, ready?" stiles asked her.

"Yeah…" She said, her voice trailing off as she opened her passenger door.

"Why did you put it in here?" she questioned.

"What?" stiles asked confused, as he looked in his open door and saw what Avery was talking about.

The little black kitten they'd narrowly avoided hitting was sitting in the passenger seat.

"I didn't… it must have gotten in here when I left my door open." Stiles said with a shrug as he put the charger in the backseat.

"Out." Avery instructed as she pointed down to the pavement by her feet.

The kitten looked at her and slightly turned its head to the side, it's shiny black fur glistened in the moonlight.

Laughing Stiles got into the driver's seat of his car and said, "I don't think it knows any commands."

"Come on cat, time to go… out." She said again, as it peered up at her with it's bright green eyes.

She stared at it for a few moments as it spun in a circle a few times before finally laying down in her seat.

"Maybe it's deaf…" She mumbled under her breath as she picked the little animal up and set it to the side of the road and got into the car.

As Stiles started to drive away Avery looked in the side view mirror and saw the kitten hadn't budged.

"Damn it, stop the car." She said.

He slowed and came to stop, "What, are you oaky?" He asked.

"Yeah, I forgot something." She said as she opened her door and walked back to the kitten and picked it up.

"What are you doing?" Stiles questioned as she got back in the car with the small, shaking kitten.

"Getting a pet cat." She admitted as she held it up in front of her and looked to see if it was a boy or a girl.

"I thought you hated cats." He pointed out.

Shaking her head she said, "I do not hate them… I just don't like cats. But... look at her."

Stiles smiled as she turned the kitten to face him.

"And you almost killed her." Avery chimed in with a smirk as she shivered and sat the kitten down in her lap.

"I almost killed us, to avoid killing the kitten." He reminded her as he began to drive again.

After stopping at the store for a few essentials for Avery's new pet, Stiles drove her home as he asked "Have you thought of a name for her?"

She looked down as he reached a hand over and started to pet the small animal.

"Annabel Lee." She replied.

"Annabel Lee?" He responded.

"Yeah, I got it from…" She started to say but Stiles glanced over at her as he finished her sentence.

"From Edgar Allen Poe?" He asked.

"Yeah… but how you'd know that?" She asked.

"I know how much you love all of his stuff, and I bought you a book of his complete works when you were in the hospital." He explained.

"You did? You never gave it to me." She argued.

"I started to read it one night to kill some time when you were sleeping and everything was so sad, I was afraid it would bring you down so I just kept it." He admitted sheepishly.

"And read the whole thing?" She asked.

"Hey they had you on a lot of pain meds… you slept a lot." He joked.

She smiled as she tilted her vent towards her a bit more and shivered from her wet clothes and hair.

Standing in the entry way of Avery's house, Stiles sat the bags with the cat food, liter and toys down on the hard wood floor.

"Thank you… for everything." She said as she faced him.

Smiling he leaned in and kissed her again before they said goodnight and he left.

After shutting the locking the door behind him she looked down to the female black kitten in her arm.

"Welcome home, Annabel Lee." She said softly as she petted her.

"I was beginning to wonder if you were coming home tonight… why are you soaking wet?" Richard asked his daughter.

"We had some car trouble." She responded still smiling from the events of the night.

"Car trouble? What the hell happened? He crash into a lake?" Richard asked.

"No, we went swimming." She corrected his train of thought.

"But it's freezing outside and … why do you have a cat?" He asked.

"She's just a kitten and I named her Annabel Lee." Avery said with a beaming smile.

"I… really must be showing my age here but… dating must have changed a lot since I was still in the game. I never sent a girl home drenched in freezing weather with a kitten." He said running his hands through his hair.

"I can keep her right?" She asked, her eyes pleaded with him.

"I don't like cats…" He said, his voice trailing off as he saw the little kitten yawn before it looked at him with bright green eyes that almost seemed too big for its baby face.

"I don't either." Avery said, hoping he'd agree to let her keep the kitten.

"I think we should try and find her another home." Richard argued.

"Just hold her for a minute." Avery said as she pushed the kitten into her dads hands.

"Avery… I said no." He said, as he raised Annabel Lee up to get a better look at her.

He could feel the kitten purring in his hands.

"She's so tiny..." He said, defeat starting to sound in his voice.

"So we can keep her?" Avery asked, excitedly as she could tell he was giving in.

Sighing in defeat he looked at the kitten, "Well… I guess welcome home Annabel Lee."

"Thank you!" Avery said smiling widely as she took the kitten back from her dad and gathered the bags from the store as she raced up the stairs to her room.

A/N- I know a lot of you aren't exactly Avery/Stiles fans, but I still hope you all liked the chapter regardless and that even our Avery/Derek fans out there will look at her relationship with Stiles, with an open mind.

I'm sorry that some of you aren't happy with the recent developments in the story, but Miss E Charlotte and I know what we're doing here. And we both really hope that you'll stay with us and see how the story turns out. Plus, even though she's not with Derek right now, doesn't mean he's going to be cut out of the story or that there will never be anything between them again. Please, just bear with us and know how much we appreciate our readers! ^_^

Thanks for reading!