I'd like to thank everyone who has followed, favorited, and reviewed this story! You guys are so amazing and way too good to me!

This chapter was pure torture to write since about half of this episode was flashbacks and half of those were about Derek. I kept jumping from just skipping this episode, to keeping it super short, and to how it ended up now.

I'd like to address:

1. I just went back and changed Marlee's age in the first chapter from 17 to 16. I feel like that's more appropriate for the timeline. So, again, Marlee is 16 now.

2. I sincerely hope I didn't turn anyone off from this story by making Marlee able to speak Spanish. (It occurred to me about a week ago when I saw a gif from Orange Is the New Black with the quote "You see? Fucking white girl, speaks Spanish.") The education that Marlee spoke about is actually the same education I had (except I also took the class in junior year of high school as well) but with my ADHD, it was harder for me to remember quite a bit of the language. I thought it would be cool to have Marlee actually remember all of that Spanish and it will also help the storyline a bit when it comes to meeting Rafael McCall and the Calaveras.

3. The poll that you can vote on whether or not Marlee remains human or gains a supernatural essence is still up on my profile. It will be up for a couple of more chapters, as the supernatural arc wouldn't kick off until the 3A finale.

4. The Tumblr blog, fyeahteenwolfocs, is having its last week of OC Positivity Month. Be sure to check out all of the amazing OCs that have been featured this month.

5. I post a one-shot for a potential "Teen Wolf" OC, Della Oswald, a while ago. If you haven't already, go read it!

As always, you can look me up on Polyvore ('earthdiva'), find me on Tumblr ('missunderstoodxoxo'), or look through the Marlee Decker tag on Tumblr.

Inspiration for this chapter: "Arsonist's Lullabye" by Hozier (that's actually how the title is spelled) and "The Scientist" by Coldplay

Disclaimer: I own the Decker/Keating clan, Amy Shriner, and the car known as Ron Burgundy. Everything else belongs to the rightful owners.

"There's something uniquely exhilarating about puzzling together the truth at the hands of an unreliable narrator." – Maria Semple

"They were there for two days, waiting, hiding. That's what we're taught to do when the hunters find us… hide and heal."

Cora Hale stood in front of the large window in her brother's loft, staring out at the downpour as she spoke. Rainwater had left streaks on the glass, removing some of the black paint that had been used to create the Alpha pack's symbol. It was the day after the fight with Kali and the twins… the day after Boyd's death. As soon as the last police car had drove away the night before, completely out of sight, Derek took off.

"Okay, so is two days standard, then, or are we thinking Derek's on, like, some extended getaway?" Stiles impatiently demanded.

It had been decided that none of them were going to school that day. It was a Friday, so it wasn't like they were missing out on much anyway. While Allison and Scott- who were currently interrogating Allison's psychotic grandfather, Gerard- had parents that knew about the supernatural, everyone else had been given a day off solely because of the loss of Boyd. Isaac was at the McCalls' house, feeling absolutely miserable over the death of yet another pack member. (Marlee had sent him several funny YouTube videos that morning, hoping that he would at least smile sometime.) Lydia had locked herself up in her room, not only feeling a bit guilty about Aiden's involvement in the tragedy but also because she felt responsible for not having sensed it sooner. This left Stiles and Marlee with the task of talking to Cora. He had picked her up in his Jeep earlier and drove her to the mechanics' shop. Despite everything that was going on, she couldn't help but have a brief feeling of elation at the sight of her beloved Ron Burgundy. After thanking the man who had worked on her car and leaving him a decent tip, Marlee had followed Stiles over to the Hale loft. Cora was currently telling them about the time young Derek and Peter had been forced to hide in a root cellar to escape the Argents. It seems that it wasn't unusual for Derek to be gone for days.

"Why do you care?" Cora responded, turning to face the other two teenagers.

"Why do I care? Let's see… because over the last few weeks, my best friend's tried to kill himself. His boss nearly got ritually sacrificed. A girl I've known since I was three was ritually sacrificed. Boyd was killed by alphas. I- you want me to keep going? 'Cause I can, all right? For, like, an hour."

Marlee rolled her eyes at her friend's rant, though she did strongly agree with the fact that shit had been constantly hitting the fan lately and it needed to come to an end.

"You think that Derek can do anything about that?" Cora walked towards the center of the room.

"Well, since he's the one everyone seems to be after, it's more like he should do something about it, yeah."

Marlee's lips twitched into a frown. While a part of her shared the same sentiment as Stiles, she also didn't think that it was fair to put all of the responsibility on Derek. He was just one person- a person who seemed to have a lot of inner turmoil.

"I don't know." Cora mused. "There's something different about him now. He wasn't like this when I knew him."

"What was he like?" Stiles prompted.

Three heads turned at the sound of someone walking down the spiral staircase. In all of his arrogant, V-neck glory, Peter Hale descended upon them.

"A lot like Scott, actually." He said in realization. "A lot like most teenagers… unbearably romantic, profoundly narcissistic-"

"You're still narcissistic as fuck." Marlee interrupted Peter's speech.

"… tolerable really only to other teenagers."

"So, what happened? What changed him?" Stiles asked.

"Well, the same thing that changes a lot of young men… a girl."

Well, that was just a bit cryptic, not to mention a little anti-climactic.

"You're telling me some girl broke his little heart? That's why Derek is the way he is?"

At that, Marlee slugged Stiles in the arm for making it sound so trivial. There had to be more to the story than just 'some girl breaking his little heart'. After all, this seemed to be the catalyst of Derek's brooding and self-loathing. Marlee couldn't get the image of his haunted eyes from the night before out of her mind.

"Do you remember Derek before he was an alpha- had blue eyes?" Peter asked his niece before turning to Stiles and Marlee. "Do you know why some wolves have blue eyes?"

"I just always thought it was, like, a genetic thing."

"If you want to know what changed Derek, you need to know what changed the color of his eyes."

"'Changed' them?" Marlee questioned, picking up on that key word.

"His eyes weren't always blue." Peter revealed.

Peter moved towards the sofa to sit down and, to his surprise, Marlee followed. She curled up on the other end, guessing that they were in for an interesting history lesson.

"Back when he was a sophomore in high school, Derek met a girl. Her name was Paige and they were about as opposite as two people could be. While Derek was a popular basketball player, Paige was more… introverted and played the cello. At first, she wanted nothing to do with him but he was persistent in his efforts to win her over. The stereotypical teenage romance, if you will."

"Except it wasn't that stereotypical because Derek had fangs and fur underneath that pretty boy exterior." Marlee commented.

"Okay, so if Derek was a sophomore back then, how old was he? How old were you?" At Peter's unchanging expression, Stiles asked with a hint of humorous disgust, "How old are you now?"

"Not as young as we could have been, but not as old as you might think."

The blonde girl sitting a few feet away from him muttered under her breath, "You're such a fucking smartass."

Peter smirked in her direction. "Got something to say, sweetheart?"

"Ew, don't call me that! You're old enough to be my father."

"I can assure you, Marlee, that I am not that old."

"Okay, that was frustratingly vague. How old are you?" Stiles jerked his thumb in Cora's direction.

"I'm seventeen."

"See, that's an answer. That's how we answer people."

"Well, seventeen how you'd measure in years."

"All right, I'm just gonna drop it." Stiles seemed a bit exasperated with the present Hales and their indefinite werewolf ages. "What happened to Derek and the cello girl?"

"What do you think happened? They're teenagers. One minute, it's, 'I hate you, don't talk to me.' The next, it's frantic groping in any dark corner they could manage to find themselves alone in for five minutes. Their favorite dark corner was an abandoned distillery outside of Beacon Hills."

"All right, hold up. How do you know all this? You just said that they were alone." Stiles interrupted.

"Back then, I wasn't just Derek's uncle. I was his best friend. His closest confidante. That's how I know."

Something about Peter's explanation left Marlee a little uneasy. For one, even if he was popular and more open back then, Derek hardly seemed like the type that would gossip about where he and his girlfriend liked to make out. Also, Derek and Peter sure didn't seem to get along now. Yeah, okay, there was definitely some bad blood there but to go from being family and best friends to intense dislike- possibly hatred- and unable to trust one another…

"Unfortunately, one of their rendezvouses was cut short by a meeting of the packs- Kali's, Ennis', and Deucalion's. One of the betas that belonged to Ennis had killed a hunter and the Argents sought revenge. When Derek and I had been out in the woods, days before, that beta was shot in the throat with an arrow. We didn't know about it until after it had happened, but the Argents had brought the wounded beta to the distillery. They hung him up, using a chain, and cut him in half."

Marlee reached up and touched her throat, wincing. Her mind flashbacked to the day that her friends had explained the supernatural to her. They had mentioned that Gerard was rather fond of using a sword- a sword which she now knew was the one that had been in the principal's office on the first day of school. Scott had also added that Derek and himself had witnessed Gerard slicing an omega in half.

Known weapons in Beacon Hills: fangs, claws, guns, traditional bow and arrow, crossbows, swords, all sorts of venoms and powders- oh, and who could forget baseball bats? Of course. Yep, time to invest in some body armor.

"They looked to my sister, Talia, for advice. She was something of a leader in the supernatural world. She had a few… talents that were valued among others."

"You mean she could turn into a wolf." Cora spoke bluntly, feeling the slightest twinge of grief while referring to her mother.

"Thank you, Cora." Peter seemed mildly annoyed with the fact that his attempt to keep the story mysterious was failing.

"Wait," Stiles appeared a bit baffled, "when you say 'wolf'- do you mean, like, an actual wolf or the hulked out monstrosity that Peter here used to turn into?"

"I mean an actual wolf."

"Moving on. Now, where were we? Oh, right- Ennis used one of his claws to make a spiral in the side of the distillery."

"Like the spiral you put in that deer last year." Stiles remarked, remembering the photo that Scott had shown him, which he also found in his father's case files later.

"Our mark for vendetta."

"Man, you guys really take that revenge thing to, like, a whole new level, don't you?"

"It's not just revenge. Losing a member of your pack isn't like losing family. It's like you lose a limb." Cora elaborated.

"They wouldn't even let him see the body."

Marlee detected a hint of sympathy in the older man's tone.

"I don't get it. What does this have to do with Derek?" The female wolf was becoming increasingly frustrated.

Peter turned to his niece before answering, "Everything. It's never just a single moment. It's a confluence of events. Personally, I looked at Ennis' circumstances, I saw profound loss. Derek saw something different. He saw opportunity."

Marlee got up and moved to sit next to Stiles at the table as he asked the magic question, "Opportunity to do what?"

"To always be with her."

Oh, for the love of God. What is this? Twilight?

"The thing was, he had this constant fear. He was obsessing over it, thinking about it all night, all day. Always on his mind."

"And that fear was…?" Stiles gestured for him to elaborate.

"That she would find out what he was or that she would die. Ultimately, his fear was that she would leave him. Which is why he used the packs congregating to his advantage."

Marlee narrowed her eyes at the man, more than a little suspicious now. While she hadn't known Derek as long as everyone else in the room had, Peter's words didn't seem quite right to her. Even if he was worried that Paige would find out about his secret, it seemed unlikely that sophomore Derek would come up with turning his girlfriend into a werewolf as a solution.

"I kept telling him not to do it. Every day the more he thought about it, the more convinced he became. You know teenagers. I bet he even blames me. He's probably convinced himself the whole thing was my idea."

"Why didn't he just ask Talia about it?" Marlee offered.

"The last thing she needed at that time was her teenage son asking her to turn his girlfriend into one of us. She and her emissary were already under enough pressure as it was."

"You mean 'Deaton'." Stiles clarified. "I know he's got all of that druid stuff going on but why do werewolves even need emissaries in the first place?"

"They keep us connected to humanity. But they're a secret even in the pack. Sometimes only the Alpha knows who the emissary is. Derek and I had no idea about Deaton." Cora explained.

"Or his sister, Morrell."

Hold on a second-

"She's an emissary too?" Stiles questioned.

"For the Alpha pack."

"What the actual fuck?" Marlee blurted out.

"Our guidance counselor?" Stiles exclaimed, incredulous. "Wh- Why the hell don't you people tell me any of this stuff, huh? I shared some really intimate details with her."

"And did she give you good advice?" Cora inquired.

Stiles opened his mouth to answer and hesitated for a moment, "Actually, yeah."

"That's what they do." The three teens turned to look at Peter. "That's what Deaton used to do for Talia."

Marlee spoke up. "Okay, so, Derek saw an opportunity. Who did you two go to about all of this?"

"Like I said, he saw what was happening with Ennis and his pack, giving Derek the inspiration he needed."

"Ennis?" Cora asked, softly, before continuing in a sharper tone. "Why would you choose him?"

"Why not?" Peter asked, rhetorically. "Ennis needed a new member for his pack. Paige was young and strong. Doing a favor for Derek meant Ennis would be in good with Talia. Back then, everybody wanted to be in good with her."

Okay, now Marlee was almost certain that Peter was being less than honest with them. If Ennis had needed a new member for his pack, he wouldn't have just bitten Paige and left her in Beacon Hills. He would have taken her with him when his pack left. That was something that Derek wouldn't have let happen, especially if the whole point was for them to be together.

"We went to Ennis and Derek asked him to give Paige the bite. He agreed to go through with the plan, determined to collect a new beta for his pack."

Stiles felt sympathy for the man he had been criticizing earlier. "He doesn't remember it was Ennis, does he?"

"If he does, he keeps it to himself."

"So then what happened? Did he turn her?"

"Almost." Peter looked off to the side as he spoke. "He came at Ennis. A fifteen year-old boy… against a giant. There was no reason for him to fight. She'd already been bitten."

"So, did she turn?" Cora questioned, curious about the fate of her older brother's first love.

"She should have. Most of the time, the bite takes." Peter paused for a second before repeating, "Most of the time."

"When you offered it to me, you said, 'If it doesn't kill you…'" Stiles slowly began to realize what they were about to hear.

"If."

There was a sinking feeling in Marlee's gut as Peter continued to tell them what had happened to young Paige.

"Ennis could already see what was occurring, what her fate would be. He left the two of them alone because they were useless to him at that point. Derek went to Paige and asked me what was happening to her. He knew the answer, though. It didn't matter that she was young and strong. Some people just aren't made for this. She fought. She struggled desperately. Trying to survive."

Despite her suspicions about Peter's story, Marlee felt a tear slip down her face. Derek hadn't been that much older than the blonde had been when she lost her father. It didn't matter that it wasn't the same kind of love. She knew how it felt to lose someone and blame yourself for it- to blame yourself for everything that happens to you and everyone around you after an event like that.

My fault, my fault, my fault, my fault, my fault, my fault, my fault…

"Eventually, she begged for death, unable to take the pain any longer. Derek embraced Paige and broke her neck and spine, putting her out of her misery. I remember taking her body from his arms, to the woods, to a place where I knew that it would be found… another in a long line of Beacon Hills animal attacks."

"And what about Derek?" Cora's voice was even but her eyes were glossy with unshed tears.

"Taking an innocent life takes… something from you as well. A bit of your soul… darkening it. Dimming the once brilliant, golden yellow to a cold, steel blue." Peter looked up and his eyes turned that infamous shade. "Like mine."

After another half hour of discussing what to do about the Alpha pack and their promise to Derek, Peter left for his own apartment. The others stayed to process everything they had just been told. Cora and Stiles sat next to each other while Marlee lied on the floor in front of them. She stared up at the ceiling, hair fanned out around her head, as she thought about how heavy Derek's heart must be after dealing with the tragedies he had faced in less than a decade.

No wonder he tries to be so broody and distant. He doesn't want to let anyone in because he thinks they'll either hurt him or he'll hurt them...

Just as she began to muse about how she related to that, Cora broke the silence. Marlee sat up to look at the pair in front of her.

"What?" Cora asked Stiles as she peered at his thoughtful expression. When he looked up at her in confusion, she gestured towards her own face. "What's this- what's this look on your face?"

The boy blinked in surprise. "What look?"

The werewolf rolled her eyes as she snapped, "The kind of look that makes me wanna punch you."

"Oh my God. You are so Derek's sister. I forgot."

"What is with the look?" Cora repeated.

"I just don't believe him." Stiles answered.

"Neither do I." The skeptical girl in front of them piped up.

At Cora's questioning look, Stiles turned his body towards her. "All right, in Ms. Blake's class, we're reading Heart of Darkness. And it's in first person, right? Narrated by Marlow. The thing is he's- he's an unreliable narrator. You know the details of it have changed, you know, just because of his perspective."

"Some of the things he was saying don't add up." The two looked over at Marlee as she spoke from her spot on the floor. "He also said that he was Derek's closest confidante. That seems like complete bullshit if you consider the fact that Derek doesn't seem to like Peter… at all. If they were really that close, you would think that he would be at least a little fond of his uncle still- even if Peter is a sociopathic asshole."

"Well, then we heard the story from Peter's perspective."

"Right, and I don't think we got the whole story."

"So, what? Are you just gonna ask Derek about the girl he fell in love with and then killed?"

"If I have to… yeah."

The depressing atmosphere of the loft was finally starting to get to Marlee. Making a decision, she stood up before brushing herself off.

"Guys, I think I'm gonna head out. My mom's probably already started wondering where I've been all day."

"All right."

Stiles rose from his seat and wrapped his arms around the blonde girl who he had come to consider as a friend. They stood there for a moment, offering a bit of comfort after the past twenty four hours they had just experienced. When Stiles let go of her, Marlee moved to stand in front of Cora.

"Hey." She said, softly.

The brunette looked up at her in curiosity.

"It's going to get better. I'm not saying that everything will be all sunshine and daisies but I am saying that we've just gotta hope that it will get better."

The Hale girl gave a weak smile at the human's attempt to lift her spirits a bit.

After leaving the loft, Marlee trudged over to Ron Burgundy and sat herself down in the driver's seat. Both hands on the steering wheel, she gazed out her windshield at the drizzle, lost in thought. It didn't take long for her to make up her mind and start the car. Pulling out of the parking lot, she drove to the end of the road. If she turned to the left, it would lead her home, to the sanctuary that was her room, her mom, and Edgar.

She turned right.

"Nobody said it was easy, no one ever said it would be this hard… oh, take me back to the start…"

Marlee thought it was appropriate that this song was playing as she drove up to the abandoned distillery. She went back to the start, just as she had guessed that Derek had as well.

Grabbing the bag of groceries from her passenger seat, she threw her hood up before getting out of the car. It was night time now and thankfully, the rain had stopped and the moon lit up the sky. Marlee reached the main doors that were protected by a part of the roof that jutted out. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and called out, "Derek?"

Opening her eyes again, she waited but received no response. Marlee wasn't fooled though. One of the many things she had learned over the last couple of years was that going back to a place filled with memories was ideal for reflection.

"I won't come in," She said, knowing that Derek could hear her from inside the distillery, "I don't mean to bother you. I'm just dropping off some food. I didn't know if you had any." She set the plastic bag on the ground. "I'll leave it here and drive away. You don't have to take it if you don't want to."

At first, Derek had been irritated when he heard Marlee's car pull up. He wanted to be alone, to grieve in peace. Now, he was relieved to know she was going to give him his space.

"I'm worried about you, Derek. I know you feel like everything is all your fault but it's not. There are so many fucked up moments that happen in life and it feels like the world is trying its best to break you. You didn't mean for any of it to happen though."

The alpha was full of self-loathing and grief but to hear someone tell him that none of it was his doing- Derek was grateful. Maybe that was all he had ever really needed. Maybe he had just needed to hear those words when he was in the darkest place in his mind. The only time he had ever really gotten that type of comfort was when his mother had found him in the root cellar when he was grieving over the loss of Paige. Every other time- the fire that killed his family, Laura's death, Erica's death- no one had been there to tell him that it wasn't his fault.

"I'm going to go now. I understand that sometimes it really is better to cope on your own. I just wanted you to know that though." Marlee paused for a second. "Don't push us away, Derek. When you come back to town, don't shut us out. We care about you and we will stand by you. We won't go down without a fight."

Turning away from the doors, Marlee prepared herself before rushing to her car, the moon gazing down upon her as water and mud sloshed with every step she took.

"Why do we fall? So we can learn to pick ourselves up." – The Dark Knight trilogy

Reviews are always appreciated.

XOXO