Just as a reminder to all of those who are reading: When the text is written in bold and italicized lettering "like this", that is the part of the conversation had in sign language.

Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Wolf. I also have no claim on any pop culture references that I may use throughout my writings. I only own my OCs. Enjoy the read.

(o.o)

Chapter 1.12

All that weekend was another weekend of radio silence from everyone, so I had to keep to myself again. I spent the majority of the weekend doing chores, catching up on reading, and obeying every other order from my mother to avoid an argument.

My cousin hadn't texted me and I never texted her. I wasn't sure about where she might have been, but I guess I was a little curious about what happened to her on Friday. Especially curious about the girl that she was with. I've seen her face before, I know I have. Wish I could place it though.

I never texted Stiles even though I told him that I would. I couldn't bring myself to. I felt pretty stupid about getting so upset when he didn't show up in the library. I wished that I hadn't lashed out at him because now I know that I'm going to be a blubbering mess the next time I see him. I don't lash out. At least not towards someone I've only known for a few weeks.

Had it really been that long since we moved back to Beacon Hills? Since my brother died? It seemed crazy that so much (yet so little) time had passed. My family moved clear across the country and it's like I hadn't even noticed that things were so different from what they were last year.

After the family had breakfast on Sunday morning, I wanted to go to the cemetery to visit Carter. And instead of getting into a fight with my mother about having disappeared all day, I asked her.

I waved my hand in front of her face.

My mother looked over at me from her place at the kitchen counter. She was preparing a sauce for her spaghetti dinner. Mom gave me a questioning look.

"Can I go to the cemetery?" I signed.

Mom sighed, placing her utensils down to sign. "Haven't you been there this week already?"

"Well, yeah. Not in a few days." I told her, trying to stay calm. If I didn't blow up at her then she'd have no real reason to say no to me. "But I saw it was gonna be nice today. Might take a book."

My mother looked at me again.

"I texted Derek. Asked him to come with me." I took a breath. "He hasn't seen the grave site yet."

She stared at me a moment longer before she nodded. "Okay. Be home before dinner. And see if Derek wants to stay and eat with us."

I showed my mom a smile and nodded at her. I actually wasn't lying to her about Derek because I have been texting him and I did ask him to come. He just never responded. People have been exceptionally good at not responding to my texts this weekend.

The walk to the cemetery was nice. It was one of the nicer days that Beacon Hills was starting to see. It almost felt like fall was drifting into the small town. When I arrived at the cemetery, I went straight to Carter's grave and sat down against the headstone. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. "Carter, are you here?"

"Hey, June-Bug."

I smiled at the sound of his voice. "I can't believe I'm just noticing how gruff your voice got since we were kids." Opening my eyes, I saw him seated in the grass across from me.

"It's call puberty, June." He said with an amused tone. "I wasn't quite through with it when you lost your hearing."

"True." I laughed quietly once looking to Carter.

He studied my face. "You didn't read the files," Carter stated, not asked.

The statement confused me and it took me a moment to respond to him. "How do you know?"

"You're still looking at me the same way."

I sighed. "There was a password connected to them. You never gave it to me." I relented. "Though, I did try to figure it out."

Carter nodded, looking up at the sky. "Yeah, I remember that now." He furrowed his brow, looking back to me. "I can't remember the password either."

"How?" I asked. "It was your computer, wasn't it? Why can't you remember your own password?"

"Why can you see me right now?" Carter questioned back. "Why can you hear me?"

I scoffed. "All questions we don't have the answer to." This was getting frustrating. "I'm just trying to do what you asked of me. I can't do that if I don't have all the information."

"June, I'd give it to you if I could. You know that, right?" He asked accusingly like he already knew the answer might be 'no'.

I looked down at my hands. "I just want to know what was going on with you. I wanna know why you have all these secrets."

"You'll find out," Carter promised. "You'll figure it out and you'll read all about it." He paused, studying me again. "School still okay? Have you made any friends?"

I shrugged. "I thought so. You remember I told you about Lydia and Stiles?" I asked and Carter nodded. "I texted them over the weekend and didn't get anything back."

"Maybe they're busy."

"Maybe." I agreed. "I texted Derek, too. I asked him to come to see you today."

Carter furrowed his brow. "Is he around much? Derek?"

"Sometimes. I want to talk to him more but it just seems like he's always busy. He never got back to me about coming." I looked to my folded fingers together in my lap. "I don't remember him being so reserved."

"He was." Carter insisted. "He just didn't want you to see it."

I looked up at him. "What? Why?"

"Hell if I could tell you. I have no idea. It's just what he did." Carter explained. "I certainly appreciated it. Guy went through hell, and he did whatever he could to make sure my little sister was smiling."

I blushed. "No, he didn't."

"He did."

I thought about it for a moment. Every moment I could pull from my brain about Derek. Even the most recent ones. When we hung out last week, we'd talk about me. We talked about how I was doing and hardly ever about him. Derek helped me rearrange Carter's room. He wasn't getting anything out of it. Derek helped unpack my brother's room because he wanted to help me. After Carter died, seeing Derek was the first thing I smiled about.

I laughed to myself. "Derek always could make me smile, huh?"

"It's the big brother in him." Carter shrugged. "Especially after Cora died. I swear for the longest time after the fire, I thought you were gonna steal my best friend."

"Well, maybe I will." I joked. "At least, I would if he ever texted me back."

Carter sighed. "You said you didn't remember that night. Your fever and the fire."

"Most of what happened after the fever hit is gone. I remember waking up in the hospital."

"But you don't remember getting there?" Carter questioned.

I shook my head.

"When your fever hit, you screamed bloody murder. So loud. And we didn't know what was happening to you. Laura was calm the whole time. Derek and I…" Carter let out a long breath. "Let's just say we had to be reined in a bit."

I laughed once. "Yeah, I bet."

Carter swallowed, furrowing his brow as he tried to remember that night. "You're my little sister. You were screaming and nobody knew why. Laura snapped at me and Derek to get with it. We had to calm down before you got worse. I was harder to get focused, but Derek was on it. The second he realized what was happening, he picked you up and carried you to the car."

I smiled at the thought.

"Then from the car to the Emergency Room. Handed you right to a really nice nurse who said she'd take good care of you." Carter looked up at me. "Even when he knew that his entire family was gone, he wouldn't leave you."

"That sounds like Derek."

"You didn't become conscious until a day or two later."

(o.o)

The room that I woke up in was strange. Five minutes ago, I was in my living room pretending to be Elastigirl. The lights in that room were so bright, even though they seemed like they were supposed to be dimmed.

My throat was sore and scratchy on the inside. I tried to clear it with a cough before trying to call for someone. "Daddy?" I said. Strangely, I could barely hear the word that came from my mouth.

I tried again, louder this time.

Still, I could barely hear myself talk. I felt my father's rough hand on my right arm and looked to him.

He spoke, but I couldn't tell what he was saying.

"Daddy, I can't hear you." As the frustration kicked in, the tears strolled down my face. "I can't hear anything."

My father held back tears as he nodded his head. He held up a single finger to me, telling me to wait.

I nodded back to him and watched him leave the room. Once he was gone, I noticed the others standing outside the room. Laura, Derek, and Carter watched through the window.

A man in a long white coat came into the room. He looked inside my ears. He snapped his fingers at them and asked if I could hear it.

I shook my head.

The doctor showed me a smile and left to join my family.

I saw my mom had arrived outside, and she put a hand to her mouth as the doctor spoke. The doctor nodded his head when he finished talking then he left my family. Mom tried to come into the room, but Carter stopped her with a hand on her arm. Carter looked back to Derek and Laura as he said something to Mom. Mom nodded in response and then someone finally came back into the room.

Derek and Laura moved to the corner. Derek spoke to Laura, but she immediately shook her head. She was saying no to something. Carter looked to Derek, nodded then looked to Laura. He smiled and made his way to my bed.

"Carter?" I asked, still not hearing the words. "What's going on?"

He put on a strong face and opened his mouth.

"I can't hear you."

Carter tried to calm me. He moved closer to me. "Can you hear me?" He practically had to speak directly into my ear so that I could hear him.

I nodded.

Carter sighed. "You got a fever. And it messed with your brain. You've lost a lot of your hearing."

I felt another tear escape. "Will I get it back?"

"The doctors say no. They said you might lose it completely."

I shook my head. "If I can't hear, how will Laura read me stories?" My throat tightened. "How will Auntie Talia sing to me?" I flashed my eyes over to Derek and Laura. I finally got a good look at their faces. Derek looked like he'd been crying. Laura looked like she was trying to hold herself together, but it wasn't working.

Carter grabbed my hand and my attention. "We're gonna make something work. They said there's this really awesome language that uses your hands. So, since you can't hear, we can show you what we're trying to say."

"Do you know it?" I asked, looking to him.

Carter shook his head. "I'll learn. We'll learn. You. Me. Mom and Dad."

"Will Derek and Laura learn, too?" I asked. "Cora?"

Carter dropped his head, hiding his face from me. He picked it back up, looking over at the Hales in the corner.

Derek stepped forward, taking the spot on the other side of my bed. He swallowed and showed me a smile. Derek spoke into my ear. "Laura and I will learn. But, CJ, my mom a-and Cora, they — " Derek looked to his sister.

Laura spoke, but I couldn't hear her.

Derek nodded, speaking to me again. "They'll decide for themselves."

I nodded, feeling my eyes get heavy. "I want to ask them, okay?" I looked to Carter. "Can I asked them when they get here?"

Carter nodded, looking like he was about to cry. "Yeah. For now, you sleep. Okay, June-Bug?"

I smiled and my eyes shut.

(o.o)

When I opened my eyes, Derek was sitting in the grass across from me where I'd last seen Carter. He seemed off, but he smiled at me. "Hey."

Derek waved.

"What are you doing here?"

"You texted me?" He said, signing the words.

"You never texted me back." I reminded him. "You're not really that good at keeping in contact with me."

Derek shrugged. "Sorry about that."

I furrowed my brow at him. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"That's a lie," I said quickly. "What happened?"

Derek pursed his lips. "How do you know something's wrong?"

"Honestly?"

Derek nodded.

I moved over to share Carter's headstone as a backrest and gestured him over. I grabbed his hand once he moved. "You look like they did after they found Paige in the woods."

Derek lowered his head, taking in a large breath.

"Someone was hurt." I insisted. "Who was it?"

Derek lifted his head and looked to me, so I could read his lips. "Boyd. Vernon Boyd."

I felt my heart stop, just for a second.

"Did you know him?" Derek asked, looking concerned.

"He's a friend of my lab partner. I just saw him with Isaac the other day." There was a pause. As I studied his face, he studied mine. I thought for a moment. "How do you know him?"

"He's...an acquaintance."

I scoffed and shook my head. "You don't get this upset over an acquaintance."

Derek nodded. "You do if it's your fault."

"I doubt that it's your fault." I turned and my knee lightly pushed into his outer thigh. "Look, Beacon Hills is some kind of death trap. It is not your fault."

"You don't know the whole story."

"Then tell me." I insisted. "I might be deaf, but I can be a pretty good listener."

Derek thought, watching me.

I sighed, then nodded. "Fine. You don't have to tell me. Although, I'm beginning to see how much you and Carter were actually alike."

"What does that mean?" Derek laughed.

"You're keeping secrets now. Lots of them. You never kept secrets from me. Carter did."

"If I know Carter, it was to protect you."

"Protect me from what?" I asked, not buying his words. "The most mysterious thing about him is his stupid computer. The one he never let anyone else use."

"You found it?" Derek asked his words alert.

I nodded. "It was in one of the boxes."

"Have you gone through it?"

"No, not yet. The documents are password protected."

"Do you know it? The password?"

I furrowed my brow at him. "What's with the twenty questions?" I asked, not knowing how to continue the conversation. If it kept going the way it was, I'd have to tell him that I'd been seeing my dead brother.

Derek didn't answer.

"As I said, Carter had secrets. I have tried everything." I said, looking to him. "Do you know anything he would have set as a password? Anything dear to him?"

"As far as I knew, that was you." Derek lowered his head, his face inches from mine.

I blushed, bit my lip, and turned away from him. "Carter had other things he loved."

Derek tapped my leg, making me look up at him again. "None as much as you. He was always raving about you."

I scoffed at him. "That's ridiculous. Carter was the superhero. Not me."

(o.o)

Derek ended up giving me a ride home. Thankfully, he also agreed to stay for dinner. I made him promise that it would be a Carter-free discussion zone. I knew to talk about him made my mom sit on the edge of her seat and I didn't want to make things worse between her and me. Mom loved Derek like he was her own son. She needed the dinner just as much as I did.

I hadn't actually talked to Derek about everything that I wanted to. After remembering what happened the night of the fire, and know how optimistic he tried to be around me, I wanted to ask Derek his side of things. I wanted to know why, when I thought he was being so truthful about his self, he was hiding almost as much as Carter.

But I didn't ask. Derek looked so lost. Losing Boyd took its toll on him and, as much I wanted to know why, I let him leave.

I got upstairs, changed into a pair of sweatpants and crawled into bed. Sighing, I grabbed my phone and, finally, created the text I should have a couple nights ago.

Can I get a ride to school tomorrow?

A couple moments went by before I received a response.

Of course. Be there 7:30? Stiles texted.

Yeah, that's fine. Thanks. I sighed, thankful that he didn't hate me. I plugged my phone into the charger, making sure my alarm was set, and closed my eyes to sleep. When my phone vibrated again, I got confused.

I'm sorry about skipping out on you at lunch. It was pretty shitty of me.

I smiled lightly to myself. It was, but I shouldn't have expected so much of you. I was a bit too sensitive about the computer.

Still. I should've texted or something.

You should've but I freaked out. I said.

Rightfully so. I was an ass. Stiles' text said.

I laughed quietly to myself, shaking my head at his honesty. Can we just agree that we're both wrong?

Only if you agree not to ask for a ride to school anymore. Just expect that I'll give you one.

I bit my lip, debating my options before going for the obvious choice. Okay. I can do that.

You know, you never told me that Lydia was your cousin.

That was a text I hadn't expected from Stiles. I knew it wasn't obvious that we were related given that we hardly look alike, but I thought Lydia might have said something already.

You never asked. I responded. I would have told you.

Just interesting.

I didn't know how to respond to that one, but he texted again a second later, so I didn't need to.

I'll see you tomorrow morning, okay?

Okay. Night, Stiles.

Night, CJ.

I fell asleep smiling.