Derek made Isaac hide in the bathroom while the pizza got delivered. Isaac muttered something about feeling like a mistress being hidden from a suspicious spouse, but Derek just told him to shut up and not make any noise. At least he was relaxed enough to make a joke and didn't look like he was about to burst into tears at any moment anymore. Although those weren't the best kinds of jokes to tell, especially if someone happened to overhear. This would be hard enough to explain as it was.

As soon as he was gone, he called Isaac to come out and passed him a plate with two slices on it. Isaac looked at the plate suspiciously, but took it over to his bed anyway. Derek grabbed his own and was about to dig in when he realized Isaac hadn't started eating yet.

"What now?" Derek grunted.

"How do I know you didn't drug these?"

"Why the hell would I drug your pizza?"

"After the murder and kidnapping, it probably isn't so far out of your purview."

"What would I have to gain from drugging you?"

"I don't know. I still don't know why you chose me in the first place. There are probably a lot more people out there with more 'potential' than me," Isaac pointed out. "Maybe I should trade slices."

"If I was going to drug you, I'd just drug the whole pizza. Being a werewolf would let me burn through any effects long before you would," Derek scoffed.

"You sure know how to make a guy feel comfortable," Isaac huffed, shaking his head. "I guess it doesn't really matter anyway. You're already strong enough to control what I do."

"Don't say it like that. You make me sound-"

"Creepy?" Isaac finished for him, raising his eyebrows. Now he was kind of missing the crying.

"I'm not creepy."

"Which one of us are you trying to convince?"

"Maybe the kid who is going to get extra pineapple on his next pizza?"

"Well, that threat is even scarier than the one you gave me in the cemetery."

"I barely threatened you."

"You basically said you'd kill me if I told anyone about you. I gotta say, not the best way to endear yourself to me."

"Will you just eat your food already? I think the extra cheese makes up for that."

"Your exchange rate is very flawed," Isaac snorted, but he picked up a slice and started eating anyway. And for someone so wary of eating before, he sure wasn't letting anything stop him now. Not even the need to breathe, at least from Derek's point of view. Isaac had already eaten both of his slices before Derek finished his first. He noticed Isaac sneaking glances at the box, but he didn't make a move to grab more. The kid probably wasn't allowed to ask for more at home, among other things.

"Go ahead. It's not going to eat itself," Derek grunted, jerking his chin toward the rest of the pizza. Isaac hesitated another moment before finally moving over and grabbing two more slices. Derek made a note to order more food next time. He was about to grab the last two slices when he saw Isaac eyeing them as well. Derek was still kind of hungry, but some misguided part of him had him waving Isaac toward the rest of the food. Isaac shot him an appreciative smile, taking both of the slices and slapping one onto Derek's empty plate. This kid was not starting to grow on him at all.

They finished up the food and Derek shoved all the garbage in the corner, not wanting to leave the room quite yet. He didn't think Isaac would try to pull a runner, but he didn't want to take that chance, for both of their sakes. They were in an okay place at the moment and Derek didn't want to ruin that by giving Isaac a temptation that he couldn't resist.

But now that they'd eaten, Derek didn't know what to do. That was pretty much as far ahead as he'd planned out. All their other time had been taken up by Isaac sleeping or freaking out, but he was doing neither of those things right now. He actually looked pretty bored.

"What now?" Isaac asked, sitting cross-legged on his bed.

"I don't know. Am I supposed to entertain you?" Derek grumbled.

"Where are the puppies and candies that kidnappers always promise?"

"Kidnappers never actually have those things."

"And you know that from experience?" Isaac asked with a smirk.

"When are you going to stop making those jokes?" Derek sighed.

"When they stop being my only form of entertainment."

"The TV remote is right there. Have at it," Derek said, gesturing to the table between the beds.

"I can choose what we watch?" Isaac asked in surprise, reaching over to grab the remote.

"I don't watch TV, so I don't really care."

"Oh, you're one of those people," Isaac chuckled, raising his eyebrows.

"What people?"

"People who prefer books over TV."

"No, I just don't have a TV."

"Why not? Everyone has a TV."

"The place I live doesn't have electricity, so a television set isn't really high on my priority list."

"Why not?"

"Because a television requires power," Derek replied, staring at him like he was an idiot.

"Duh. I mean why don't you have electricity?" Isaac scoffed, rolling his eyes. "I figured you just motel hopped or something."

"No, I usually stay somewhere else."

"Somewhere without power. Why didn't you take me there?"

"Because," Derek grunted. Did he have duct tape? Was it too much to ask for a little quiet?

"Because?" Isaac pressed.

"Because it wasn't a good place to take someone."

"Someone as in a teenaged kidnapping victim?"

"Someone in your condition," Derek said, pointedly raking his eyes across Isaac's various injuries.

"Oh," Isaac said quietly, furrowing his eyebrows a little as he thought about what Derek said. It wasn't him being considerate, just practical. Being stuck with someone in the dark for days with a barely working bathroom was something he wanted to avoid. It wasn't like he wanted to take care of the kid. "You're strange."

"Excuse me?" Derek huffed before he could stop himself. Isaac's opinion of him didn't matter, but maybe he was a bit curious. It was just the boredom.

"You try so hard to act like you don't care, but then you do nice things. It's confusing."

"Well, I don't care. That should clear things up for you." Isaac let out a quiet chuckle, before looking at him with a sad smile.

"That I'm used to."

They watched TV in mostly silence for the next few hours. For some reason, Derek couldn't get Isaac's last words out of his head. Did it really matter that Isaac thought Derek didn't care about him? That was the truth, wasn't it? He only cared enough to get him out of a bad situation. The bare minimum. So why did Derek feel guilty that all the kid seemed to know in life was no one giving a damn about him?

If they were pack, Derek would love Isaac. That feeling would just come naturally as a leader. It didn't mean they would be friends or even like each other, but there would be an affection tied to hierarchy and survival. And it could possibly lead to something more personal, although Derek didn't really see that happening. He'd pretty much sworn off of emotional attachments after everything. The pack would mostly be a technicality.

But if he did end up turning Isaac, he'd have to take care of him. That hadn't really been a part of the plan. Before he knew how bad things were for him, Derek was planning on sending Isaac back home and using him when necessary. That option was gone now and Derek was feeling some sort of way thinking about Isaac comparing him at all to his father. Derek didn't care for much different reasons than Isaac's father didn't care, but that probably didn't matter much in Isaac's eyes. It was going from one bad situation to another. Derek really thought his most complicated Beta situation he'd have to deal with was the one involving Scott McCall, but this was no easier. And he had no one else to turn to for help.

"Do you think they're actors?" Isaac asked suddenly, snapping Derek out of his internal musings.

"Who?" Derek asked, staring at the screen in confusion. He had no idea what they were watching.

"The people on these talk shows. It seems strange to go on national television to air your dirty laundry," Isaac replied, pointing to a woman who was crying in an oversized chair to a bald guy.

"Maybe they don't see any other options?"

"I just can't imagine things going well for them when they get back home. Everyone is nice and understanding in front of the cameras, but the second there aren't witnesses, the real personality comes out."

"Speaking from experience?"

"No, I've never been on TV," Isaac replied slyly. Derek scoffed, recognizing the deflection. He wasn't sure why Isaac would bring something like that up if he didn't want to talk about it, but Derek wasn't going to press. He was far from a therapist, even the hokey TV kind. "What was your dad like?"

"Excuse me?" Derek asked in surprise. Isaac was staring at him with those big, curious eyes. The bruise around one of them was somehow making it look more blue and innocent. "What does it matter?"

"I don't know, I was just wondering," Isaac shrugged. "You know about my dad, right? Was yours the same way?"

"No, he wasn't," Derek responded, feeling a bit uncomfortable. No one ever asked about his family, unless it was to gain something. Most people knew the story of the fire, so they either left the whole subject alone or whispered about the incident, thinking he couldn't hear. But someone wondering about them as real people caught him off guard. "He was a good man. Strict, but fair. And he loved his family."

"Is that how you'll be as the head werewolf?"

"It's Alpha. And actually, my mom was the Alpha of our pack, not my dad."

"Really?" Isaac asked with a bit of astonishment in his voice.

"Really. She was very much respected as well, even when it came to people outside of our pack."

"Sounds amazing."

"She was," Derek confirmed. He wondered what his mom would think if she could see what he was doing right now. Would she be proud of him for helping this kid? He'd like to think she would. She would probably scold him for being so standoffish with Isaac, but that instinct wasn't going to go away easily.

"My mom was great too. I mean, she didn't lead a pack of werewolves or anything, but she was a good mom. She wasn't like my dad," Isaac added quietly at the end. "She died a few years ago."

"I'm sorry," Derek said sincerely. That wasn't a pain he wished on anybody, but it seemed rare for anyone in this town to have both of their parents. Maybe Beacon Hills was cursed and he should leave for good.

"I think losing her and then my brother was what pushed my dad over the edge. He wasn't always like this, you know? They were the good ones and then he was left with me. I didn't know how to help him."

"Isaac, it was never your job. And there is never an excuse for what he's done to you," Derek insisted. He was the wrong person to be providing support, but Isaac seemed to need to get this off his chest. And if he became pack, these conversations might pop up more often. Derek would need to recruit more Betas for that.

"Maybe not an excuse, but an explanation. No one just decides to start doing… that, for no reason. Maybe I can figure out a way to convince him to go back to the way it used to be."

"Isaac, I don't think that's how it works."

"Why not? If I can convince him to hate me, maybe I can convince him to love me again?"

"Isaac, stop!" Derek shouted, as ill-conceived as it was. Isaac jumped a little and snapped his jaw shut, staring at him with fearful eyes. Not his best work, but at least it got Isaac to stop and listen for a minute. "Isaac, you've called me a creepy kidnapper more times than I can count. You've argued with me, tried to run away from me, and ate most of the pizza I bought for us to share. And still, I don't hate you."

"But-"

"And keep in mind, I don't have to be here. I could leave at any moment and never see this town again, which would honestly be a relief. But do you know why I haven't? You. I see something in you, even if you never agree to become a werewolf. And that's how I know that anything your father feels is really toward himself. You can't fix that because it was never about you in the first place, but I'm damn sure not going to let you go back and bear the brunt of it either. Your days of feeling that way in your own home are over."

Derek was out of breath by the end of his spiel. He preferred to be the mysterious, silent type, so a speech like that was out of the ordinary for him. But the thought of Isaac sacrificing himself to his father due to a sense of misguided loyalty and hope pushed him over the edge. There was no way he was going to let Isaac go back willingly.

"Uh, I don't- I don't know what to say," Isaac mumbled, tapping the remote control against his knee. Derek didn't know what to say either. What did you say after discussing something like that? They surely weren't going to hug.

"How about we not talk and watch something besides Dr. Phil? His mustache is making me want to go outside and hunt a rabbit," Derek deadpanned, easing a surprised snort out of Isaac. He followed the suggestion and flipped it to some cooking show, which he quickly became engrossed in. But Derek noticed Isaac glancing at him every so often with a look of hesitant gratitude. It wasn't like Derek said anything that great, but if Isaac appreciated it, that was fine by him. He still didn't care that much.