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The dance was the last thing on your mind this week. You didn’t even have a date, even though you had told everyone the opposite. You weren’t planning to go with anyone, you just told everyone you had someone because you didn’t want to bother with people asking you to go with them.
You looked down at your phone. You hadn’t heard from Derek for a while. You were getting pretty worried. Ever since that night in the woods, you and Derek texted each other constantly. You would tag along with Scott whenever he was meeting up with Derek. Unlike Stiles, you didn’t have a problem being around him.
You were not official or anything of that sort. But that didn’t stop you from watching him from the corner of your eyes. Or winking at him whenever your eyes met. Or even the subtle times you would lay your hand on his biceps whenever you two stood close to each other.
Derek always reciprocated. He would always lead you through a door by your waist, or offer you his jacket whenever he could. He never admitted it, but he liked it when you smelled like him. You two had started to spend a lot of your free time together. Stiles made it easy since he was always off researching or something of the sort. You knew he distrusted Derek, but you didn’t. So every-time Stiles dragged Scott off, you met up with Derek.
You would spend some alone time in the woods watching the stars and moon. He would teach you a bit about his family history and taught you some stuff about wolves. Betas vs Alphas. You learned that Derek had always wanted to be an Alpha, but some wolves never got the chance. When you weren’t together, you were often texting each other about random topics. Mostly related to whatever subject was driving you nuts at school. The messages never stopped.
Which is why the sudden silence was unnerving.
Was it something you said? Did he get tired of your jokes? You thought that things were going so well. So what was with the silence?
A sneeze brought you out of your thoughts.
“Ew Stiles.” You whined. You waved your hands in the air to dissolve the sneeze and perfume that flew your way. As you turned away from your sneezing brother, you spotted Lydia and Allison. You instantly smiled and waved them over.
**********
Stiles followed Lydia like a puppy around for the next half hour as she looked through all the dresses. You were caught off guard when Lydia asked Stiles to go to the dance with her. You knew she was having some relationship issues with Jackson, but it was strange Stiles was her second choice.
You and Allison were both also admiring the dresses around the store. You weren’t going to go, but you loved looking at all the cute dresses around you. You laughed as Lydia threw more dresses onto the pile that Stiles was already holding. He ran off after her as she went straight to another rack.
“So, who are you going with?” Allison asked, pulling a dress out from one of the racks.
You shrugged and walked over to a dress that caught your eyes. “No one. I might not even go.”
Allison frowned at you. You were never really one for these kinds of things. You just went because Lydia would drag you along. But now that she had Allison, she left you alone this year.
“But Lydia told me you had a date.”
“I told her that so she wouldn’t set me up with anyone.”
Her face went from confusion, to regret instantly. “Damnit Y/N. You should have told me. We could have gone together.”
You laughed. “It’s all good. You have Jackson.”
She merely wrinkled her brow at that comment.
****
“Are you sure you don’t want to go?” Stiles asked, the fifth time that night.
You rolled your eyes and looked up at him. “Yes, Stiles. I told you. I don’t feel good.” You frowned at him. You were in bed curled up with a book on your lap. You were half telling the truth. You didn’t feel good. Derek hadn’t answered your texts for a few days now. You wondered if he was just ghosting you at this point.
You thought everything was going so well. You couldn’t tell what was wrong. He just suddenly vanished. You frowned as you wished he would have just told you why.
“I’ll be okay. Just go. Enjoy the night with Lydia.” You said in a sing-song voice.
He blushed, and turned around to hide his face. “If you need anything, or just want me to come back, let me know, okay?”
You nodded. “Now go! Don’t keep her waiting.”
********
You closed your book with a clap. It had been a few hours since Stiles left for the dance. You looked down at your phone again. 0 new messages. You groaned and stood up. You couldn’t handle not knowing. Why would he ghost you like this?
You put on some clothes, and went downstairs. Stiles had the Jeep, and your dad was working tonight, so you only had one option.
The bike wasn’t as hard to ride as you remembered. Your dad would still take it riding sometimes when he had some free time. Though, he never seemed to have free time as of lately, animal murders and all. You pedaled faster as you realized how much trouble you would be in if your dad knew where you were going.
It took about 30 minutes to get to the Hale house.
“Derek?” You called out. You knew if he was around he would be able to hear you. You leaned your bike against a tree and started on foot. “Derek?” You asked again. It was mostly dark, but the moonlight was bright enough to encase the charred remains of the house in some light. You walked around the front of the house. You never really went inside by yourself. Derek always met you outside, or somewhere else. You were a little afraid to open the door as you felt the house could collapse at any moment.
You walked around the back yard, but still found nothing. So you circled back towards the front of the house. You looked down, and noticed a small amount of light coming from what looked like the floor. You quickly made your way towards the source, and was soon face to face with what looked like an entrance to an underground bunker of sorts. The bars were covered with vines, so you weren’t expecting it to open, but that theory was ruined when the door was opened with ease. You tilted your head in confusion.
All of your instincts were telling you to turn back. To call Stiles and tell him to come to your location. To turn around and go back home where you were safe.
But you ignored your instincts, something you had been doing a lot of lately.. You were too curious to turn away now.
You walked slowly into the hallway. There were more lights lighting up the long brick hallway in front of you. Everything looked quite old, but at the same time you could tell this path was used recently. The fresh footprints along the corridor told you that much.
At the end of the hallway, you noticed a large metal door. The floor was slightly wet near the entrance. It looked fresh. With all your strength, you pushed open the door.
You gasped at the sight in front of you.
Inside, you found Derek hanging unconscious. His arms were bound above his head with chains, and he was attached by a series of wires to a strange looking machine.
You immediately ran towards him.
“Derek? You asked, panic lacing your voice. You grabbed his shoulders and shook him. “Derek, wake up.” You said, shaking him harder. You could feel your heartbeat through your chest now.
This explained so much. Why he wasn’t answering his phone. Why he went and disappeared without a trace for a few days. You knew deep down he wouldn’t have just ditched you like that.
But who could have done this?
“Der…” You said as you put your hands on his cheeks. You felt him stir and lift his head up slightly.
“Y/N? W-what are you doing here?” He said, slowly gaining consciousness.
You don’t know why, but in that moment as soon as your eyes met, you leaned forward to press a kiss on his lips. You felt your heart flutter as you felt him kiss back. The kiss was desperate, your bodies pulled together as if they were attempting to become one. The spark of energy you felt the first time you reached for his hand was tenfold. You pulled away once your lungs told you you needed to take a breath. Time stood still for that one moment.
Until, it didn't.
“Y/N?! What are you doing here?” Scott asked, confused. He looked from you, then up at Derek.
“Scott! Thank god.” You said, relieved. “Quick help me get him down.”
There were a million things going on in his mind right now, but now was not the time. Without asking any more questions, Scott stepped forward to help you.
“Shouldn’t you be at the dance?”
“I was. Things got kind of messy.”
So many thoughts ran through your mind. You wondered how much action you missed tonight.
“Where’s Stiles?”
“At the hospital with Lydia.”
“What?! Why is…”
Scott interrupted you with a shush. You couldn’t hear anything. The room was dead silent. But you were still afraid to say anything. You two had already managed to get one of Derek’s hands free, but were still working on the other one.
“Someone’s coming.”
“Get her out of her.” Derek said.
Without any protest, Scott led you out of the room. You turned around to glance at Derek. He nodded, his way of telling you everything will be okay.
Scott led you down the corridor. You were in some sort of underground bunker. Luckily, you two found an area that was covered in darkness. You could hear footsteps now. You kept wondering who exactly it was that did this to Derek. Scott pushed you gently behind him, and you two hid in the darkness to watch a man with a baseball bat come into view. You started to breathe faster as you had a sneaking suspicion of what the man was about to do.
“Wait here.” Scott said after a few seconds. You could hear the man talking to Derek. You wanted to go with him, but you trusted Scott would have the situation handled. Suddenly, there was what sounded like a punch and a body falling to the floor. You waited a couple of minutes before leaving your hiding spot.
You could hear Scott and Derek arguing about something. You decided then it was okay to leave.
You made it to the tail end of their argument. They stopped as soon as you stepped into view. They could both sense your fear, and decided that at that moment, the most important thing was to get you all out of there.
*******
You stayed close to Derek once the three of you got out of the creepy underground bunker. Derek kept a close eye on you and made sure you were in between him and Scott the whole time.
“So you and Derek?” Scott asked. Derek pretended like he didn’t hear you, and just continued ahead.
You winced. “I was hoping you didn’t see anything. Don’t tell Stiles okay? You know how he gets.”
Scott nodded. Stiles always made a big deal out of Y/N’s love life. He felt bad for the way he treated her sometimes. They were the same age, but he babied her as if she was way younger than him.
“Secrets safe with me. I had a hunch anyway. You always smelled like him.” He said, grinning. You blushed and smiled back, raising a hand to ruffle his hair.
“Hold on. Hold on.” Derek said, suddenly stopping in front of you. He was out of breath, which was totally abnormal for the small amount of walking the three of you were doing. You winced at the thought of how much pain he had gone through these past couple of days. “Something doesn’t feel right.” You unconsciously leaned into him for safety.
“What do you mean?”
“Like it was. Was too…” Derek said, suspiciously.
“No, don't say ‘too easy’. When people say that, bad things happen.” Scott said.
Without warning Derek pushed you backwards. You lost your footing at the sudden movement and fell backwards, your head hitting the tree behind you. Everything went blurry for a few seconds. Just then, you heard the sound of an arrow hitting flesh and saw Derek on the ground. In a matter of seconds, you heard another arrow.
It all happened so fast you didn’t know how to react.
“Your eyes!” You heard Derek scream.
Without hesitation, you squeezed them shut, and even then, could see a flash of bright light. You kept your eyes closed for as long as you could.
“Derek? Scott?” You asked, obvious fear lacing your voice. You tried to open your eyes, but everything was blurry. You tried to push yourself up using the tree, but fell forward as the world started to spin.
Before you could say another word, you felt a pair of arms pull you onto your feet. “Common. Let's go!” You ran as fast as you could, tripping forwards a few times and catching yourself with your hands. You closed your eyes hoping it would help the dizziness. You could feel Derek fall down behind you as he pushed you forward. “Go Y/N! Run!”
You immediately ran back towards him to help him up. Your vision was still blurry, but you could barely make out his body on the floor. “No! I’m not leaving you again!” You tried your hardest to get him off the ground. Tears were now falling freely down your cheeks. You dropped to your knees as you felt the world spinning out of control. Derek used all his strength to catch you before you hit the ground.
“Y/N…”
He pulled himself up and tried to shield you from whoever was shooting at you. You hid your face in his chest.
“What’s this? Found another human to manipulate, have you?”
Derek growled and tightened his hold around you. Kate merely rolled her eyes at him. She would deal with him later. She continued forward and made her way towards the other beta.
You hid your face further inside his chest. You weren’t sure when you started shaking, but you were suddenly aware you were. Your vision was clearing a bit. You could make out two figures standing in front of Scott now. One looked suspiciously like Allison, since you could see the bow in her hands.
“I'll get us out of here. I promise.” Derek said. You could practically see the cogs churning inside his head. He was trying to think of the best way to get you safely out of the woods, before his crazy ex-girlfriend killed him in front of you. Who knows what she might do to Y/N too. Kate was unhinged.
You could hear Kate and Allison exchange words. You couldn’t quite make up what they were saying. You could practically hear your heartbeat through your ears. You weren’t able to hear much but the sound of Derek’s breathing. You were quick to notice another voice joined the duo.
Derek took this opportunity to get you both onto your feet. You closed your eyes and let him lead you away. He was half carrying you as you were still having some trouble gaining your footing.He didn’t bother to turn around to find out if anyone was chasing you.
You were able to make it pretty far from the house. You flinched when you heard a gunshot, but Derek was determined to lead you as far away from the house as possible and quickened his pace. Once you were far enough from immediate danger, Derek stopped and faced you.
“Y/N, listen to me. You need to go find Stiles and get to safety.” He said, gently cupping your cheek with one hand as he laid the other gently on your waist.
“W-what about you.” You said. “I won’t leave you to get tortured for days again.”
“I’ll be fine. I have Scott. Just trust me okay. Stiles is already on his way.” Derek could hear the sound of a car racing through the woods. It would be here any minute now.
You nodded. You trusted Derek. You knew he had a plan. He smiled and leaned forward to kiss you on the lips. It was quick, but it was enough. “Find Stiles.” He said sternly, before turning back and quickly sprinting back to the Hale house on all fours.
As if through an act of god. You heard the sound of a car in the woods behind you. You quickly headed towards an opening within the woods and out of the tree line. Your legs were wobbly, but you forced yourself to keep going. You could see its headlights now. You ran up next to the car, as it screeched to a stop, barely missing you.
In an instant, the driver door swung open and you were engulfed in your brother's arms.
“Y/N…” He said panting. “Thank god you’re okay.” He said, squeezing you even tighter.
You didn’t relish in the moment as you knew Derek and Scott were in danger, so you pushed back and frantically started speaking. “Stiles. We have to go help them. Scott and Derek need our help!” You said hysterically.
Stiles looked you up and down and noticed how disheveled you looked. You had tear tracks running down your face. Your clothes were covered in dirt. You had some blood stains on your t-shirt from falling into the ground earlier. The thing Stiles really wanted to do was take you to the hospital. Based on your labored breathing, he was sure you were about to have a panic attack.
“Stiles!!”
Your scream brought him out of his head. “Okay, okay. Let’s go.” He said as he wrapped one arm around your waist and guided you into Jackson’s car.
You could feel Jackson’s eyes on you, as you climbed in. You and he were close, as he had an on and off relationship with your best friend for years now. You had done your fair share of third wheeling. “You okay Y/N?”
You nodded. “Yeah. I’m fine.” As those words left your mouth, you started to feel the pain your body was ignoring from earlier. The adrenaline was starting to wear off. You bit your lip to ensure you didn’t let out any whimpers as the car jumped up and down through the rough terrain. You could feel your breathing slowing down as you tried you hardest to prevent a panic attack.
In a matter of what felt like seconds, the car came to a sudden halt. You jolted forward slightly and groaned.
“Stay here!” Stiles ordered. Normally, you would fight him on that. But at that very moment, you felt like you needed a couple of minutes to sit down. You closed your eyes and focused on breathing. The sudden roar of an animal and glass shattering forced you to open your eyes. You watched as what looked like a werewolf man was on fire in front of you. You quickly got out of Jackson’s car as fast as you could and ran toward Stiles, quickly wrapping your arms around him. He quickly returned the gesture. You two watched as the flames died down to reveal a very burned Peter Hale. You turned away, you weren’t one for gore.
Stiles pulled you into a tighter hug and turned you away as well. “It’s okay Y/N.” He pulled you back towards the car.
“Wait!” You heard Scott scream. You opened your eyes for one second to see Derek standing over Peter. You knew what he was going to do before he did it. Something in your heart told you so. So you closed your eyes again before you could see it happen.
The rest of the night went on in a blur. You could vaguely remember Stiles pushing you back into Jackson’s car and him getting into the backseat with you. You stared blankly at the road in front of you until the road became your house. Stiles brought you upstairs and into the bathroom, where he pulled out a first aid kit to clean the scratches on your hands. He shined a flash light into your eyes to make sure you didn’t have a bad concussion.
“Are you going to tell me why you were in the woods with Scott and Derek?”
You looked down at your hands. You really didn’t want to talk about that right now. Stiles could sense this, and didn’t press on.
********
After a good night's sleep, you woke up relatively okay. Stiles grilled you on why you were in the woods with Scott and Derek the night before as soon as you walked out of your room. You told him you went with Scott to find Derek, and ended up getting attacked by Kate and Allison. Stiles bought your story pretty quickly. You and Scott were often up to no good without him when you couldn’t find him. Though he did feel a little guilty that he was busy with Lydia at the hospital instead of making sure you were okay.
You two spent the day lounging on the couch, eating junk food. Your body was still sore from last night and you didn’t want to move. Your dad was off investigating Kate’s murder. You knew he wouldn’t be home until late at night. You looked down at your phone when you saw a text come in. It was Derek. ‘Are you okay?’ It said. You texted back.
‘A little bruised and battered, but yes I’m okay. How about you?’
You and Derek texted for a few hours while you idly watched the television in front of you. He kept asking if you were okay, not only physically, but mentally knowing what he did to his uncle. You always knew about Derek’s desire to be alpha. Not to mention the fact that Peter was a bad guy. So you weren’t too mad at the fact Derek ended his uncles life.
Scott came by a few hours into your movie marathon and started planning with Stiles on what they were going to do next.
‘Are you free tonight?’ Derek Texted.
‘I can be.’
The next message was a pair of coordinates. You knew what they were for.
You merely sent back a smiley face.
Scott and Stiles decided they wanted to go check up on Lydia. You lied and told them you wanted to hit the hay early as you were still worn out from the night before. As soon as they left and were out of sight, you put on some clothes, and headed off.
You took an uber this time. No more late night bike rides for you. Especially since you lost your dad’s bike last night. Allison’s family took it home with them to clear any evidence you were there that night.
As soon as the car dropped you off, you hurried into the woods. You and Derek stayed far away from the Hale house as it was now considered an active crime scene. You quickly jogged your way deeper into the trees. You stopped when you were out of breath. Behind you, you heard a familiar voice.
“What did I tell you about running around the woods at night by yourself?” Derek said with a smile this time.
You turned around and looked at him lovingly. He took a few large strides forward and pressed his lips into yours. He wrapped his arms around your body and pulled you as close as he could. You two were breathless by the time you pulled away from the kiss. You looked up into his eyes and felt his gaze on you. “Is it over?” You asked. He nodded, knowing exactly what you meant.
He kept the words ‘for now’ inside his mind. He had a feeling this was just the beginning of their problems. But for now, he just wanted to pretend like it was.
“Never thought I'd be dating an Alpha. I pegged myself for a Beta type.” You joked.
He threw his head back and laughed that laugh you had grown to love so much. “Well, we actually haven't gone on an official date yet. How about this weekend?” He asked, flashing that gorgeous smile you fell for.
“It’s a date.”
With a smile painted on his face, he pulled you in again for another kiss.