Chapter 40: The Ex III
Joe's glass would have crashed to the floor if Derek hadn't utilized his werewolf-speed to snatch the stem mid-air. He wasn't even looking as he handed it back to her. They were both staring at the radiant Kelly Brooks and the near unrecognizable Jimmy Carter standing at the end of the bar. It was Jimmy, Joe was sure of that and judging by the incredibly tense muscles on Derek's arm that he had around her waist, he was sure of it too.
It just didn't look like Jimmy.
It looked like if you had taken the idea of Jimmy and applied it to a male supermodel. Or given Jimmy's picture to a photoshop-expert and told him to go to town. It was a far cry both from the old Jimmy and the bloated monstrosity Joe had encountered up in the woods.
Beard was still in place, but instead of the unkempt mess he used to have, this was groomed and cut shorter so it looked slightly scraggly on purpose, giving him a bit of that hipster lumberjack-vibe. Hair short, lighter in color than she remembered, and faded on the sides, but those changes were still minor compared to his body. Shows what a healthy diet, a lot of exercise and a werewolf bite can do for you. Like Derek, he wore a slim-fit shirt that emphasized a lot of newfound muscle. Wide shoulders, thick chest, narrow hips. He'd always been tall, but now even his neck seemed thicker. Extreme makeover. There was no denying it, he looked good.
Jimmy met Joe's disbelieving gaze across the bar and winked.
"No, no," Joe hissed as she felt Derek move forward. She put her hand on his chest, prepared to put her whole bodyweight against him if necessary, knowing it would not do much difference. "Not here, please, Derek."
His torso expanded under her arm, obviously straining to hold back. Derek's nostrils flared as he looked down at her. "What is he?"
"What do you mean?" Joe tried to keep her voice really quiet, almost speaking into Derek's shoulder, as Kelly did the round with Jimmy, making everyone shake his hand. "He's like you."
"No," Derek growled and it was way too close to her ear for comfort. Even when he wasn't trying, his breath tickled the sensitive skin on her neck. "No, there's something else. I can't place it, but-"
"And this is Joe, who's doing her PhD at Berkeley, so she's local, and her boyfriend, Derek," Kelly said as she reached them. At least the shock concealed the lurch Joe's heart gave at the mention of Derek as her boyfriend. Jimmy gave them a dazzling smile and extended his hand to Joe.
"Nice to meet you?" Joe said and tried to get eye contact with Jimmy. What was he playing at and what was he doing here and why was he looking like that and just what the hell?
Almost the same height as Derek, Joe realized, when the two men faced each other. Derek, of course, was not going to be out-played by Jimmy. He gave his own version of a Colgate-commercial and grabbed Jimmy's hand with a loud slap. "We know each other, actually. Go way back. Good to see you again, Jimmy."
"Derek," said Jimmy with a strained smile and Joe realized they were trying to break each other's hands, as evident by the protruding veins on their forearms. "How's life?"
"Great," said Derek through gritted teeth. They were both smiling widely and Joe could see fangs protruding slightly. "How's afterlife?"
"Whoa, okay," Joe said and put a calming hand on Derek's flexing arm, afraid they would start marking territory in less hygienic fashion. They broke their grip, but not their eye contact, and Joe tried not to flinch when Derek immediately put his arm around her again, a bit too tight for comfort. Joe smiled, but it was hard without looking like a sociopath. "So, James, how'd you end up here? Tonight? With Kelly?"
"Actually, it's my fault," Kelly interjected, not commenting on or maybe not even noticing the previous tense atmosphere. "Everybody was bringing a date and I didn't want to be," she seemed to count internally, "the fifteenth wheel, so when I met James in the library, I decided to be bold and ask him out." She let out a sassy grin. "I am woman, hear me roar!"
Kelly grabbed onto Jimmy's arm again — his really big arm, Joe realized — and steered him away. "Oh, there's Michelle and her partner. Let's go say hello!" She called to Joe and Derek over her shoulder: "We're seated in like ten minutes, guys."
Derek smiled — or at least showed his teeth — but Joe was close enough to him that she felt the low rumble of a growl.
"Relax, please," Joe murmured and his fingers digging into her side subsided a bit even as his nostrils flared. "This is a night of normality. No dismemberment or carnage, remember?"
"It's only carnage if there's multiple deaths and ripping his throat out doesn't count as dismemberment," Derek bit out, still following Jimmy with his eyes.
Trying to keep her voice light in case someone was watching them, she mumbled: "Dude, you are so not getting a free pass based on semantics."
"What is he doing here?" Derek demanded and leaned against the bar, obviously angling away from Jimmy's direction. With his arm still around her waist, it brought her flush against him and she tried not to notice his heat.
"I don't know," Joe exclaimed and rolled her eyes when Derek gave her a look of disbelief. "Dude, I had no idea he would be here. I still have no idea, maybe just a coincidence?" She risked a short glance in Kelly and Jimmy's direction. "I also don't know how he looks like that now. Is that normal? Because if the bite does that to everyone, I might have to reconsider."
"It's not normal." Derek finished the rest of his drink in one go and Joe wondered if he wished he could get drunk now. His hard stare shifted from Jimmy to her and she saw his nostrils flared. Still in control, but hanging on by a thread. "How many times have you seen him exactly?"
"Oh, sorry, I thought you didn't get jealous?" Joe said, just to lighten the mood, but regretted it immediately as Derek's gaze grew even darker. They were standing way too close, probably looking like a lovesick couple whispering to each other, which was far from and simultaneously not that far from the truth. Stuttering, she tried to explain: "Three times. First that night I tried to shoot you," somehow the mood did not lighten of this either, "then when I went to the crime scene by the trailer."
Impatiently, Derek prompted through gritted teeth: "And?"
"And yesterday," she finished. Had it only been yesterday? That meant Kelly must have met him sometime during the last twenty-four hours. She wondered if Derek was even aware of his fingers tightening in the fabric of her dress as he closed his eyes, obviously fighting to remain in control. "Should we leave?"
The word came as a growl: "No." He stretched out his neck as if to ease the tension and somehow managed to relax his face a bit as well. She had her back to the main entrance, but Derek glanced over her shoulder. "Alex just got here."
Before she could ask why that mattered or even turn around fully to confirm his words, Nick and Pregnant Girlfriend Whose Name began with a C appeared next to them at the bar.
"Kelly tell ya which table's ours?" Nick asked Joe, who shrugged in return, almost having forgotten about the whole dinner. "Someone's feet are hurting again and the barstools are too tall apparently."
"Okay, you try having your feet swell two twice their size," Cameron hissed back and rolled her eyes at Joe, like she was suppposed to be some kind of confidante. "You know, I was planning on wearing boots just like yours and I could not get them past by toes. And because someone forgot to pack my flats, I'm stuck in these ugly sneakers that-"
Nick didn't wait for her to finish. "I asked you ten times if you were sure you had everything-"
Ignoring the squabbling couple except for smiling politely, Derek leaned down to Joe. "I don't trust him," he mumbled with his lips against her temple, the low tone resonating straight into her pleasure center. It looked natural, she supposed, nothing more than a public display of affection, but the combination of his scent and words threw her for a loop. "He tried to blow your head off."
Joe made some hopefully appropriate facial expression when Christina sniped back at Nick. She turned her head slightly towards Derek, speaking so low he would have to have werewolf-hearing to catch it: "My head's fine. Please don't start anything."
Glancing over her shoulder, she inadvertently caught Alex' gaze across the bar where she stood chatting with Kelly and Jimmy. Joe snapped back to the front and focused on Derek because for once it was easier. This was turning into a lot in one night.
They were spared any immediate fistfight — although by now Nick and his girlfriend looked closer to it than Derek and Jimmy. Kelly announced their table to be ready and they dutifully shuffled into the craft brewery's dedicated section for parties, a little away from the main restaurant. Assigned seats, of course, because Kelly never left anything to chance. As luck would have it, she had placed Joe and Derek on the far end from Alex and Maddy. But she had placed herself directly across from Joe, which meant Jimmy across from Derek and Joe's smile grew even stiffer when Kelly kept gushing on how lucky she'd been since Jimmy and Derek already knew each other.
As Kelly left them to make sure the staff knew about some food allergies, Joe tried to catch Jimmy's attention and mouthed: "What the hell?"
Of course he only had eyes for Derek, who in turn stared back evenly. Oh well. As long as they kept their eyes non-glowing, a staring competition seemed manageable.
The servers came around to take their drink orders and Joe worried the dick-measuring contest would get out of hand before they got their drinks. She wanted a large something with a lot of alcohol, but settled for a beer knowing she would not drink it as fast when she did not particularly like the flavor. Getting drunk was not going to improve the situation.
When Kelly returned, Jimmy made a big show of pulling out her chair for her and Joe felt her face scrunch up in something akin to disgust. Her lip pulled back further when Jimmy whispered something to Kelly, who immediately fell into a giggling fit. No, she was not jealous, but Kelly was her friend and she had at least thought Jimmy was her friend too and seeing the two worlds collide made her organs collide inside of her. He could have warned her if he was making a comeback to society by crashing her safe space like this.
A heat on her back made her aware of that Derek had draped his arm across the back of her chair. He had managed to tear his glare away from Jimmy and now watched her. Concern? Jealousy? Anger? Instead of trying to interpret and make sense of anything, Joe just shook her head in dismissal and tried to not wince at the taste of the homebrewed beer.
"So, Derek, right?" Caleb asked with too much enthusiasm for it to be genuine and Joe fought the urge to roll her eyes. He'd always had been a bit protective of Joe for some reason, even though they'd lost contact when they both moved from Berkeley. He had that generic hipster-look, with a finely trimmed mustache and neatly laid hair. "Never seen you around here before. Did you go to Berkeley?"
It took Derek a slight inhale to get back into character.
"No," Derek said, seemingly without a single care in the world, and took a swig of beer. "I'm a licensed mechanic, actually, out of New York. Originally from Beacon Hills, but moved east after high school. Came back when I missed the fresh air."
Licensed mechanic? Joe's eyebrows rose on their own. First she ever heard of it. Not that she knew too much about him, but he did not usually lie and it would explain a lot. She still thought he could make a fortune as a model, preferrably underwe- no. Joe blinked to pay attention to the conversation. His words had piqued the interest of the other male members of the group, several of them were car buffs.
"Mechanic, huh? What kind of car d'you drive?" Kyle, another seat over with his shy girlfriend between him and Derek, butted into the conversation.
"2009 Chevy Camaro." Derek seemed more at ease now and winked when Caleb let out a low whistle. "With a six point two litre vee eight."
They might as well have been talking in code, but apparently this was exciting news for everyone who knew about cars.
"Horsepowers?"
Derek didn't hesitate. "Four fifty-five," he said and laughed at the satisfied groans. Joe met Kelly's gaze over the table and both shrugged. At least Jimmy's lip was curled in distaste, as she would have expected. Nice to know she knew him at all.
"Not the six-fifty LT four?" Caleb practically leaned over the table, ignoring his boyfriend Sam, who sat closest to Jimmy across from Derek.
Derek shook his head. "No, too heavy on the mileage. Plus the turbo-charge is so loud you get complaints just by driving around."
"I guess four fifty-five would be more than enough to get you around," Kyle said with obvious approval. He leaned across his entire girlfriend to smirk at Joe as he asked Derek: "So, as a mechanic, have you convinced Miss Stubborn over there to finally let that old '99 fire-hazard of a Ford shuffle off this mortal coil?"
Out of habit, Joe just gave him the finger while she took a sip of her beer.
"The Fiesta's holding up good," Derek came to her defense and she felt his thumb stroke the back of her shoulder lightly, as if sensing her agitation. The small touch sent a charge of something indescribable into her stomach and she nearly choked on her beer. "Changed the engine to a 1753 cc Endura-D after some problems with the coolant cap." This latest part was adressed almost directly to Jimmy across the table, accompanied with a stiff smile.
"Can we talk about literally anything else than cars?" Joe intervened, although coughing from the beer going down her pipe. She ignored Caleb's comment on how she used to need a calendar reminder to change the oil on her car. "Kelly, please, how is your alumni-stuff going?"
Kelly took over and it turned into faculty-gossip, as it always did. Professor Kane came up, because the woman wore a wedding ring, but no one had ever come close to finding out who the husband was. Theories ranged from deceased to imaginary, which Joe found unfair, but did not have the energy to argue. She let Derek do most of the talking and found herself glaring at Jimmy instead, who occupied most of Kelly's time. And Kelly kept laughing of whatever Jimmy said and it did not match at all with how Jimmy usually conducted conversations. He'd used the word 'copulated' the last time they met!
And, to top it of, Alex kept glancing her way. She tried to not notice it, they were seated as far as possible from each other, but if she kept it up, Maddy was going to notice too and it would be an awkward conversation all together. Sure, Alex could blame alcohol and Joe could blame Derek leaving her 'hot and bothered' as Alex had claimed, but it did not change anything. A kiss was a kiss. Question was if she should tell Maddy or give Alex the chance to come clean?
"Earth to Delgado," Sam's slightly whining voice cut through and Joe blinked at him. He rolled his eyes. Where Caleb looked like a generic hipster, Sam looked like he worked in an museum — which he did, having the same major as Joe — but still had to let the world know he played in a depressive indie-band in his free time. "What's this I hear about you abandoning Kane in favor of Walker? I thought you were with me on the ACAB-train?"
"Hey!" Kelly, who worked for California Department of Justice, protested. She had majored in criminology. "What's wrong with Walker?"
Before Sam could reply, Kyle burped and said: "She's a lesbian." At the chorus of offended groans, he shrugged. "What? It's true! Face it, I'm the straightest guy here and my gaydar's better than any of yours."
"Kyle, I cannot believe we have to have this conversation again, but you're using really non-inclusive language and you just portrayed being a lesbian as something that is wrong with a person," Caleb explained patiently. "And you are definitely not the straightest man here. Do I need to remind you of the New Year's Eve three years ago?"
"We do not talk about that New Year's Eve!" Sam protested now. "Joe, back me up here!"
All too aware of both Jimmy and Derek's attention, Joe cleared her throat. "There was no New Year's Eve in 2008."
"Thank you!" Sam exclaimed and their end of the table fell into the age-old argument about that disaster of a party where the punch was spiked thrice because of a misunderstanding. Everyone remembered different versions of what happened, but most agreed there had been a partner swap before the big kiss although no one agreed on whose idea it had been in the first place. They had photographic evidence of Sam and Kyle making out at midnight, which Caleb found hilarious.
It didn't take long for Kelly to steer the conversation back onto safer topics, probably realizing that Jimmy, Derek and Kyle's shy girlfriend were left as awkward spectators.
After the appetizers, Joe jumped up to use the restroom when most of the table cleared to take a smoke break or order more specialized drinks from the bar. A progressive restaurant in a college-town, they only had three larger unisex-bathrooms down a secluded hall and she chose the one furthest in to get some privacy. She glared at herself in the mirror when washing her hands after tending to nature's call.
If she kept this up, poor Derek would be forced to do almost all the talking. This was not getting any easier if she insisted on being so sullen. Screw Jimmy and screw Alex. She had more right to be here than Jimmy and just as much right to be here as Alex. With that in mind, she made sure the dress laid correctly over her hips — she still thought it was more cool than ugly and Kelly obviously approved so everything else didn't matter. Screw Derek too. She straightened her back, made a decision to get her head back in the game and pushed the door open into the hall.
She nearly walked into Derek, who was leaning sideways against the wall just outside the door. Automatically, she held the door open, just assuming he had been waiting in line. When he shook his head, she closed the door slowly behind her and narrowed her eyes at him. No one else was in the hall.
"Do you have some kind of fetish we need to discuss?"
"Our hearing's selective," Derek said, unamused by her question, but not moving to let her past either. His tension regarding Jimmy seemed to have eased a bit during the dinner, probably helped by Jimmy focusing all his attention on Kelly instead of anyone else. When her suspicious frown never lifted, Derek rolled his eyes. "I'm not listening to you use the bathroom, Joe."
"But you could if you wanted to? You know what, don't answer that." He made no indication to move out of the way and she folded her arms. "But since you're obviously not in line either, what are you doing? Are my chemosignals that bad? Am I on suicide-watch?"
He glanced over his shoulder as the door furthest down the hall opened and then closed. Leaning in to her, he dropped his voice lower and said: "I'm handling your ex. Non-violently, unless you want to change tactics?"
Had he spared her accidentally ending up alone with Alex in the hallway or had he stopped Alex from following Joe? Had he said something to Alex? Verbally, she was sure Alex could destroy Derek in minutes if she tried to. As she had not heard any shouting, it must have happened in a civilized manner if it did. No blood on the walls either, so he probably told the truth about the non-violent part.
"You're being," Joe's eyebrows pulled down in concentration, "really understanding and helpful." He looked somewhat amused at her and she shook her head. "Even though I let Stiles use your car? And pried into your private life? And tried to shoot you?"
"With the kanima-poison," Derek said slowly, apparently still feeling guilty, "I think we're even on that last one. Asking once isn't prying, my car can be fixed, but if you get hurt-"
"Humans heal too," Joe said, following his lead to lean sideways against the wall. "Just slower. I didn't even scar after the kanima-claws."
He did not look convinced. "You got lucky."
"Pure skill," she countered and tilted her head to stare up at him. "And for the record, I asked at least twice."
Now he tilted his head at her. "Do you want me to be angry with you?"
"Maybe I'm a glutton for punishment?"
"Do you have some kind of fetish we need to discuss?" he asked with a raised eyebrow and Joe found herself smiling in response. A flicker of uncertainty over his face. "What?"
"I don't know," she admitted and her smile widened without her having any say on the matter. "I like this whole talking-thing we're doing. It's nice."
That earned her a satisfied smile from him too, one that made her heart beat just a bit faster, but neither could follow-up when a tiny voice asked to be let through. They both stepped aside to allow Kyle's shy girlfriend past them and went back to the table where the servers were preparing for the entrees. He pulled out her chair for her, probably just because Jimmy had done it for Kelly. When she glared at him suspiciously, he only raised his eyebrows, but she saw the teasing smile lingering on his lips. Okay, maybe not just because of Jimmy then.
Down the table, Joe tried to ignore the questioning looks Alex sent her, even more obvious than before. Had she tried to corner Joe in the bathroom? It could have been to apologize, a classic strategy Alex had used as long as Joe had known her. Or it could have been to ensure Joe was not going to tattle to Maddy. Or it could have been a coincidence and she really had only tried to use the restroom at the same time as Joe. Derek had intercepted either way, saving Joe the hassle.
Maybe they could survive this night after all, despite Alex and Jimmy?
Entrees followed and conversation picked back up. Where Joe tried to ignore Alex, it seemed like Derek was prepared to ignore Jimmy for the time being as well. Most of the time at least. Whenever Jimmy took a break from whispering with Kelly to join in the general conversation, it was only to throw jabs at Derek. He of course retaliated in kind. It might have been taken for light-hearted banter if they'd been friends. They were anything but.
The temptation to drown her sorrows surfaced again, but she squashed it. This dinner felt different than the others had. Last year, only Nick had brought his girlfriend and of course, Sam and Caleb had still been together, but there hadn't been all these newcomers. The guys were discussing cars or sports again and Joe tried to talk to Kyle's new girl. With Derek between them and the girl's inability to speak loud enough for Joe to hear, she eventually gave up and focused on her drink instead, studying the label.
This was her friend group and now it just felt invaded by both Derek and Jimmy. And Maddy. Jimmy had not looked remotely surprised at seeing them when entering before, meaning it could not have been a coincidence. Still, he had not actually done anything yet besides gushing over Kelly. Joe noticed she was harboring more suspicion against him now than earlier. Maybe Derek had a point. She did not know what Jimmy was capable of. He'd fooled her once, shame on him. If she let him fool her twice...
At the next small interlude before desserts, most of the table got up to take a smoke or restroom break again. Even Kelly fluttered away and left Joe, Derek and Jimmy alone at their end of the table.
"Are you two gonna start pissing up against the walls or something?" Joe snapped, directing her question to both of them. "Because if you are, give me a warning and I can go drown myself in the bathroom first." Derek scowled, never breaking eye contact with Jimmy, who looked more relaxed. Rolling her eyes, Joe asked: "What the hell are you doing here, Jimmy?"
Jimmy smiled and trailed his finger around the dew of his beer glass. "Enjoying a mediocre overpriced dinner and," he took a sip and made a face, "pretending to enjoy this less than mediocre homebrew."
"You know what I meant,."
"I did say I would contact you."
"Okay, next time, send an e-mail or something. Smoke signals. Give me a heads up, man."
"You would have to admit it makes more sense to meet outside of Beacon Hills," Jimmy said, finally looking away from Derek for two seconds. "When Kelly approached me, I saw an opportunity and I took it. I am willing to admit that I am not that accustomed to beautiful women asking me out either and by the time I realized she was your friend, it seemed crude to cancel. To leave lovely Kelly alone here among all these," Jimmy shrugged a bit, but there was a glint in his eye, "couples."
"Never could get a date in high school, could ya, Slimmy?" Derek asked drily and Joe found herself shrinking as Jimmy's facade bristled.
Jimmy's hand tightened around the beer glass and Joe saw the remains of some red splotches, like he had been covered in before. "High school is over, Hale, but I suppose it's easy to get stuck in your heydays when you never actually did anything worthwhile after that." He seemed to inhale meditatively before continuing. "If you must know, Kelly found me while I was using the college library to look into the 2006 swim team like Joe asked me to. By that confused look on your face, Hale, I assume Joe never told you we managed to find the missing connection between the kanima's victims."
His words made Joe try to shrink even further under the intense glare, courtesy of Derek Hale now. She had not told him Jimmy knew about the kanima at all.
"I would have been surprised you didn't manage to make the connection yourself, but then again, I actually knew you in high school. If it wasn't about the next big basketball game or the cheering girls on the sideline, why would you notice it, right?" Jimmy asked drily. He shifted his attention to Joe, his voice a little less taunting. "There was nothing in my notes connected to any deaths surrounding the swim team. I checked the crime databa-"
"I already did that," Joe cut in, trying to ignore Derek's deepening scowl next to her. Focusing on work might remind both of them they were on the same side. "There's nothing. No murders, suspicious deaths or other reports."
"Indeed, but considering the swim team mostly consisted of minors, any records related to them might be sealed. There is another reason I agreed to a date with Kelly. Her vocation." He trailed off and Joe's eyes widened when she connected the dots.
Leaning over the table, she hissed: "You are not using Kelly for information!"
"As an employee for the California Department of Justice, she has access to the forensic service archives and even the state hospital records-"
"No!" Joe snapped loudly, glancing at the few people down the opposite end of the table in case they heard. A tiny part of her questioned if she was angry he was using her friend or because she hadn't thought of it first. She squashed the thought, deciding it was definitely the first. "That could get her fired. There's other ways to get access to those records. We can just take what we have to the Sheriff-"
Jimmy tilted his head. "You trust the Sheriff? The police? Really?"
"Don't trust you," Derek cut in, sounding uncharacteristically calm, and Joe glanced over at him. He was leaning back in his chair, at least appearing casual as he held onto his beer bottle with one hand. Only the flexed jaw betrayed how agitated he still was. "You might want to consider calling it a night, Jim. Walk out of here while you still can."
"Well, unlike you, Hale, I was actually invited here tonight," Jimmy said, unpertubed. "Joe told me you invited yourself, correct?"
Remembering how she had let that slip under her rant yesterday, Joe closed her eyes in defeat to avoid looking at either of them. Now it was Derek's hand that tightened around his beer bottle, even though he directed his glare towards Jimmy instead of her.
"But I must say I'm impressed by this act," Jimmy continued, hot under the collar apparently when seeing a physical response to his taunting. "What are you doing here, Derek? Talking about cars? Pretending to be normal? Who are you trying to convince — Joe, her friends or yourself?" He leaned over the table and whispered: "Or are you really just biding your time until you work up the nerve to repeat history and give her the bite?"
The near empty beer bottle exploded in Derek's hands. The noise attracted the attention of the lower half of the table and Joe winced at the pain when shards of glass cut into his hand. Swearing, Joe shot up from the chair and spotted the waitress already hurrying over with a rag.
"Jesus Christ," she muttered and gestured for Derek to get up too. He only frowned, like the idiot he could be. Like the other people had not seen him smash a beer bottle with his hand. She hissed under her breath to make him understand: "We gotta at least wash the blood off. Come on." She gave Jimmy a sour look when passing him, but said nothing. This was ridiculous.
Joe led Derek away from the general restaurant and into the same large unisex toilet at the end of the hall. It followed the decor pattern as the rest of the building with dark walls and rich bronze accents.
Without even making a face, Derek picked glass out of his hand and Joe felt the twinges of it in her own hand. She ran the cold water, but by the time he put his hand under, it was healed. Good thing he had his sleeves rolled up, otherwise he'd get blood all over his shirt.
"Maybe we can fake a trip to the ER," Joe bit out and absentmindedly cleaned his hand like it was a natural thing to do. For some reason, Jimmy's words had struck a nerve with Derek, but she couldn't figure out why. They had even talked about the bite in the car. "End the night early. What do you say?"
"I don't know what's wrong with him," Derek muttered, as if he hadn't heard her, and his eyes were fixated on her hands where she scrubbed stains of blood from between his fingers. The cold water counteracted some of the warmth from his skin, but not all of it. Eventually the water turned clear instead of pink.
Joe scoffed. "Power trip. He's living every high school loser's dream. Getting a makeover and rubbing it in his bully's face. Like Isaac. And Erica. Oh wait, Boyd too. You're the bully in this narrative if you're confused."
"That's not what I meant," Derek said and ignored her quips. Bloodless, he grabbed some paper towels to dry himself of. "He's different. He's like a werewolf, but there's something else, an edge to his smell, I can't...I can't place it. Something sharp."
"A sharp edgy smell?" Joe asked with raised eyebrows as she leaned against the sink and Derek rolled his eyes at her question. "Sorry, regular nose here. That doesn't make any sense." Seeing Derek so frustrated while being this close to him and let's face it, feeling pretty guilty for not telling him everything about Jimmy already, made her sigh. "When I first saw him, he said he was between states. Does that mean anything?"
Obviously not judging by the blank look Derek gave her.
"Look at his hands when we get back." They were still waiting for desserts and couldn't leave just yet, not without making some excuse at least. She could not even remember what they had eaten for entrees. "He had blisters like that all over him. And he was, I dunno, lumpy. Half-turned, all the time, not like you, but almost like Peter. I don't know what else, he covered himself up so I couldn't see all of him."
"All of him?"
"He wore a ski-mask," Joe clarified, not bold enough to make another oh-you're-not-jealous-comment. She sighed, guilt still making her stomach churn. "Derek, I never told Jimmy I didn't want you to attend this dinner, I-"
"Doesn't matter." He cut her off and curled up the paper towels. "You told me." The small lump sailed into the traschan with precision that made more sense now that she knew he used to play basketball. He lifted his eyebrows at her. "In the campus coffee shop, remember?"
"Can you just let me apologize? I know I should have told you about Jimmy-"
"No," he cut her off again, his anger shifting into a cold flat blankness. Why did so many of their conversations take place in bathrooms, she thought, when he went to lean against the opposite wall. "I'm not entitled to know everything in your life. Besides, if you managed to find him, I probably would have too if I tried."
"Way to undermine my detective skills."
He shrugged, not bothered by her sour tone. "As you said, I have an unfair advantage."
Derek sighed and looked down at his own hand, his completely healed and bloodless hand. The accelerated healing was something Joe never got fully used to seeing. He flexed his fingers and bent them one by one. "Peter was always into the weird stuff. And I mean really weird. Ancient, occult...if Jimmy became his protege, he might have learned something he probably shouldn't have."
"Like coming back from the dead?" she asked, trying to be witty, but had to swallow to suppress the bad memories. It wasn't funny.
They'd never talked about that night. She'd talked to Scott about all of it. She'd talked to her dad about some of it. Aunt Mel, the Sheriff, the FBI-agents... but never Derek, not that they had too many deep conversations to begin with, but this would be a hard one. Too much to unpack, she guessed. Starting with the torture, ending with Joe's promise to Kate.
Her words came hesitant. "When Peter-"
He glanced up at her, concern laced in his bright eyes and she realized he was probably accurately sensing her mood again. Sometimes she wished he put that concern to himself as well. Her memories were bad, she could only imagine his.
"When Peter killed Jimmy or bit him or whatever he did," Joe tried again, "I stared into Jimmy's eyes after you-" She took a deep breath. "After you saved me. He was dead, Derek. There was nothing in his eyes. I would never have-" Never have helped Kate if she knew Jimmy was alive. Or even thought for a second he might be still alive. This was the real reason she had looked so hard for him. This was the festering guilt inside of her.
Her face scrunched up on its own, memories too vivid, too clashing with the asshole supermodel-version of said dead guy that was just out in the restaurant. Her voice cracked. "I swear, he was dead."
Without her noticing, Derek had pushed off from the wall and stepped closer to her. Not sure who closed the distance completely, but she found herself encapsuled in his arms again. She leaned into him where he held her, rubbing small circles on her back, calming her down — again. Last time he held her, she'd been so scared for Scott, so terrified beyond words, but now... The memories faded away too easily by his scent and his heat and his soothing hand on her upper back.
Some other things became apparent when her mind filled with him. The warmth seeping through his shirt, penetrating the thin layer of her dress. Her body molding to fit perfectly against his. And where normally the tip of her nose would reach his chin, the heels she wore made them almost equal in height, bringing them closer, their faces closer, their lips...
Something shifted. Something changed. If it was her, or him, or both of them, but the embrace became less comforting and more enticing. His hand stopped rubbing her back and instead slid up to her neck, slowly, as if giving her the chance to stop him. She did not, even with her heart hammering in her ears and her mind slowing down to nothing.
Her breath stopped however when his fingertips touched her sensitive skin through the small keyhole fastening of her dress. Skin against skin, it sent sparks straight through her spine and into her core. With his other arm holding her in place around her waist she had no chance to escape, but that hadn't been on her mind at all. There was nowhere else she wanted to be. Her eyes closed involuntarily when Derek's fingers edged up the back of her neck to her hairline. She suppressed a shudder as they continued up, cupping the back of her head with her curls between his fingers. He was so careful. Gentle. Soft. Curious.
Was he moving her head or was she doing it on her own? They were so close, she did not even know whose breath she felt in her own body. Her hands rested on his upper back, a remainder after the innocent embrace that had turned into anything but. She did not dare move them, afraid of both interrupting and continuing.
With every breath he took, his chest rising and sinking so the motion transferred into her, she felt it on the side of her neck, fanning over her blushing skin as they moved slowly, but with purpose. Just like at the rave, turning their heads at a torturous pace towards each other. Stubble scratched over her cheek. She kept her eyes closed, too afraid of what she would see if she opened them, not sure what would happen if she saw him looking at her with those burning eyes. Her lips parted on their own. Ready. Wanting.
A heavy knock on the door and Joe tried to practically jump through Derek. He steadied her, even though he closed his eyes in obvious frustration at the interruption. More obvious than she thought he could manage. More frustrated than she thought he would be too.
Kelly's voice came through the door: "You guys okay in there? Do we need to call an ambulance or something?"
Joe tried to talk, but her throat was completely locked down and Derek had to answer instead.
"We're fine." He cleared his throat. "Just a superficial cut, it's already stopped bleeding."
"Okay, great. Dessert is ready in like two minutes and there's that special announcement, so..."
"We'll be right there," Joe said, voice breaking on the second syllable. She heard Kelly's heels click away from the door and unconsciously rested her head on Derek's shoulder while trying to catch her breath. "Oh my God."
Derek said nothing, and let her stay for a few seconds while they both just tried to breathe normally. He inhaled deeply, steeled himself, before he stepped away and made a great show of adjusting his rolled up sleeves without looking at her. He sounded gruff as he said: "Two minutes."
Two minutes. Head spinning, Joe turned and tried to gauge the damage in the mirror. Lips flushed, but nothing to indicate they'd done anything else than patch up Derek in the bathroom. Not that they had done anything else, but she somehow felt more ruffled than she actually was. Derek's hand had been in her hair, but he hadn't ran his fingers completely through it, thank God, as that would mess up the curl pattern and Kelly would definitely have noticed. Joe adjusted some wayward strands of hair and shimmied in her dress to make sure it laid correctly over her body.
She caught Derek behind her in the mirror, watching her in the midst of straightening his shirt. It did not look as strange as she thought it would. They did not look that strange. They kind of looked...cute together? To cover up from the increasingly tense atmosphere, her head still spinning from his scent alone, she tried to smile. "You don't like the dress?"
It had not been the right thing to say. Somehow his eyes became even darker. Derek shook his head, but if it was an answer to her question or to clear his mind, it was hard to say.
"You look-" His eyes were heavy lidded and trailed from the top of her curls to the bottom of her high heeled boots. She waited for whatever adjective he decided to use, half anticipating the standard 'fine' or 'okay'. Derek did not seem to know either and let out a long breath as he went to open the door. His eyes came back to hers, open and sincere. "-amazing."
A tingle erupted somewhere in her chest. Joe met her own stare in the mirror as he slipped out the door. If her pupiles dilated any more, her eyes would turn black. She leaned over the sink, unable to catch her breath, and bit her lip gently as if that would make them relax instead of anticipating Derek. This was probably what Alex meant when she had said Joe looked 'hot and bothered'. Hooo boy.
Weak-kneed for some reason, she wobbled a bit when she walked, but Derek, forever the faux-gentleman, had waited for her outside the bathroom door again and gave her his arm. Trying not to overthink it, she took it and they returned to the others. No sign of broken glass or beer on the table; Joe made a mental note to tip the servers. Their desserts waited for them already and they sat down as Derek explained away the broken beer bottle somehow to his newfound buddies of Caleb and Kyle.
Jimmy, however, gave Joe such a knowing look that she tried to put her whole face into the chocolate-based whatever they were getting for dessert. She asked the waitress for a cup of coffee, done with any kind of alcohol for now, hoping she could get her hormones in check before being confined inside a car with Derek for half an hour. Maybe she could convince him to go out for a quick 15 mile run to Beacon Hills if she got sober enough to drive?
When Kelly excused herself to go administer something, Joe mumbled into her dessert, knowing Jimmy would hear it just fine. "If you hurt her, Jimmy..." She was talking about Kelly, beautiful, bubbly, social Kelly, who had her own share of trauma like everyone else. "If you hurt her or use her in anyway, I'll hogtie you and deliver you to the Argents myself."
"Come on now, Joe," Jimmy said conversationally as he leaned across the table to be heard. Something playful in his eyes, so unlike what she was used to. "Don't lose your head here."
Pure instinct made Joe slam her hand onto Derek's thigh to stop him from rising. It seemed to do the trick, although he practically trembled in badly-concealed rage. The other guys closest to them gave them weird looks and Joe tried to convey with her eyes that Derek had to calm down.
He remained seated, but was anything but calm. Joe saw his lip lift in an animalistic snarl and his eyes flashed red, once, too fast to be anything but a trick of the light if you weren't paying attention.
Only two people paid attention, and while Joe only rolled her eyes, Jimmy smiled slowly. Like Derek, he revealed his own set of canines and his eyes flashed-
Joe could not help herself. "Purple?"
Someone down the table clinked a spoon against a glass and Jimmy's eyes were back to his normal ones in a blink. Joe looked at Derek, but he seemed equally as confused as her. No chance to talk, as Alex had risen from her seat all the way down the table.
"Speech!" Kyle cheered on and Alex gave him a finger, much like Joe had. "Fifty words or less!"
"Shut up, Kyle," Sam hissed, giving Joe an apologetic glance, and it seemed to do the trick.
"Uhm, I, uh..." Alex seemed nervous, dressed in a loose shirt and a pair of jeans. She and Joe had not even come close to talking all night and now their eyes met briefly. There was something apologetic in her eyes, but it seemed to strengthen her resolve. "Unfortunately, most of the people at this table represent my closest friends. I say unfortunate, because I think most of you are assholes."
Laughter, heartfelt from the original group, a little uncertain from the partners. Joe just stared, wondering what fresh hell this could be. She had hoped to just finish the desserts and high-tail out there.
"I think it's cool how we get together at least twice a year. The amazing Kelly Brooks is of course in charge of it and deserves a hand." Kelly, down by their side of the table, smiled shyly at the applause earned from the group. "This year, everyone brought along someone they felt were special enough to share this evening with us. And so did I." Alex looked down at Madeline by her side, who gave her hand a squeeze visible even from where Joe sat.
"Most of you guys know Madeline by now," Alex said and Joe raised her eyebrows. How long had they actually been dating? How bad had that kiss at the rave really been?
Joe was barely aware of Derek's arm coming from behind her chair to the side.
"Most of you guys know Madeline to be the same amazing girl as I know her to be."
Derek's hand grabbed onto Joe's, stealthily holding it underneath the table and she cast him a confused look. What was going on? Did he know something?
"And, so, I found it appropriate that you guys should be the first to know." Alex tried to compose herself, but cracked in a huge grin. She lifted Madeline's hand to the air and cried: "We're getting married!"
Somehow, by a miracle, Joe had managed to act normal the rest of the evening. Like a trophy wife, she'd trailed after Derek who held his arm around her at all times. They had to stick around for the champagne to celebrate Alex and Maddy's announcement. She'd even congratulated them, still not sure how or what she'd said, but there hadn't been any screaming so she couldn't have made too much of a fool of herself.
Somehow, Derek navigated the rest of the evening to avoid both Jimmy and Alex. Somehow, Derek had been the one to make some excuse to get them out of there, that they had to be up early the next day for something or another, she couldn't even remember. Derek was a hell of a good liar.
"You should seriously consider acting as a career choice." Her voice came muffled because she had her face propped against the passenger seat window, letting the cool glass alleviate some of her feelings. Her makeup would leave marks, but Derek would probably survive. He didn't answer, too engrossed in his driving and probably worrying about important stuff, like Jimmy's purple eyes. "I think...I think that's enough normal for a while."
Derek snorted loudly, but at least he looked more amused than angry. "Yeah."
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you about Jimmy." Her voice sounded hollow and lost, not like her own. "I just missed having someone to talk to again about this stuff. Makes you color-blind. A lot of red flags ignored." She mimed something passing right over her head. "Whoosh."
"Again, with this dinner I dragged you to, I think we're even," Derek said drily and focused on the dark forest road. She guessed he liked to flex the Camaro's muscles on the open stretch of roads instead of the highway. "You okay?"
Joe didn't move from the window. "Does everyone turn into an asshole when they're bit?"
"You think Scott's an asshole?"
"No, Scott is precious and should be protected at any cost," Joe mumbled to the window again. She felt drunk of that single beer and two glasses of champagne she had. "He's the exception. And maybe Isaac, he's too adorable to be an asshole."
"Isaac? Isaac who beat up a pair of guys to get tickets to the rave?" Derek asked with an amused look on his face.
"A-dor-able," Joe repeated slowly, too not-really-drunk and empty to care about stuff. "It's the curls. Can't be an asshole with curls." Her face twisted at her choice of words, especially when Derek let out a loud laugh. "I'm sorry for that mental image."
"Jesus Christ," Derek said in a tired voice, but kept laughing. He rubbed his face. "What a mess."
She glanced over at him. He probably meant more than her attempt of a conversation. Derek's eyes were heavy, even though they seemed alert as ever and he scratched his five o'clock shadow that was getting closer to midnight now. There was amusement in his voice, as he had reached that level of fatigue where things were funny instead of infuriating.
"I got three new werewolves that I'll probably have to chain up during the full moon," Derek explained, gesturing to the road. "A venomous snake-monster that's roaming the streets on some psychopath's bidding. Hunters breathing down my neck, a beta that's dating one of said hunters. A purple-eyed whatever doing who-knows-what." Derek looked over at her where she sat slumped in the seat. "And I got you. The most stubborn woman alive."
"I thought you said you didn't got me," Joe pointed out their earlier conversation and Derek shook his head. "But I'm glad to be included on that list of things you consider your biggest problems."
"You know what I meant."
"And I'm not that stubborn."
Derek glanced over at her with a good-natured eye roll. "No, you are, which is why you've been fighting to stay awake for the last ten minutes now. Get some sleep, Joe. I'll wake you when we get there."
Her initial instinct was to argue, but then it would only prove his point about stubborness. Instead, she rested her gaze on him. He was easy on the eyes, so to speak, and not the worst thing to see before falling asleep. She just hoped she wouldn't snore.
"This did not count as a first date," she let him know before her eyes shut.
This could/should probably have been split into two chapters, but... A lot happening, with Jimmy and the bathroom and Alex and Derek. Hope you enjoyed it nevertheless :)
Next chapter will shed some more light on Alex, by the way, I realized she's coming off a bit one-dimensional right now.
There's a lot going on in real life now too, with the pandemic and Christmas and deadlines and everything. I've had so much overtime at work I've been told to take a few days off to rest. I just wanted to say how much I appreciate all you guys who read (and especially review) this story. Did not have any particular ambitions when I started writing this, but both writing it and interacting with you guys been a welcome reprieve in keeping me sane the last few months. So I'm grateful, is probably all I want to say :)
As always, thank you for reading and I'm looking forward to hearing what you think!