keeper (d. Hale)

nothing to feed on.

"No, absolutely not, no," Derek repeated with certainty as he paced in front of Delilah.

"Derek, you have to-"

"I DON'T HAVE TO DO ANYTHING!" He roared loudly into the night and without looking at his wife.

"Don't you dare, scream at me," she shot back calmly.

Derek looked to her; his heart and soul. The very reason he woke up in the morning and slipped into a safe sleep at night. She was sitting on the porch swing with her arms crossed tightly around her body as she pulled his sweater tighter around herself.

He couldn't let her do what she had just laid out for him. Couldn't and wouldn't.

"I'm not..." Derek stopped his pacing and closed his eyes as he tried to get himself under control.He waited until he knew his eyes had faded from blue to green until he spoke again or at least tried too. "I'm sorry. You just can't... you shouldn't..."

Delilah caught his hand and pulled him down until he was kneeling in front of her. Her hands gently combed through his hair as she quietly shushed him and encouraged his breathing to settle into some he could sustain with the panic still coursing through his body.

Derek took the moment to bury his face against her stomach when he let out an involuntary shutter to hide the sob in his throat.

This was a mess. An absolute, bloody mess, and nothing had even started to roll into motion.

Derek could hear the others inside preparing, going over the plan Delilah had presented to them when she pulled herself up and out of Derek's arms when her words became her own again. It was terrifying to watch and maybe if he closed his eyes, he could pretend it wasn't happen.

That would have worked just fine for him but the sound of Delilah's voice and the scratch of the marker as she drew out maps on the kitchen wall, had them slamming back open.

Delilah held him gently against her as she continued to move her fingers.

"I can't lose you," he whispered after some time.

"Nobody ever said anything about losing me."

"But you might never come back..."

"You think I'd be able to do that to you?" She said with a frown and stopped her hands.

After a moment of her stilled silence, he sighed.

"No." His answer was muffled as he clung to her shirt to pull her closer to him.

"And who said you weren't coming too, just not until later like we discussed?"

He lifted his head to look up at her as she looked down at him.

Delilah looked so pretty under the soft porch light and the darkening sky. In fact the light around her seemed to cascade through her curtain of hair as she held his gaze, making her appear ethereal.

"This all ends tonight," she whispered down to him as she moved to wipe away the wetness beneath his eyes, "and then I got some big plans for us."

Derek moved hesitantly as Delilah gently guided him to sit on the porch swing beside her. He fought to get his breathing under control as she pulled away from him for just a moment to ensure he was settled properly. Just as he was about to protest, Delilah immediately straddled his lap and leaned her weight against his chest. Her arms hooked around his neck and she placed a kiss against his heart where she knew her name to be. He sighed at the contact and snuck his hands beneath her shirt to stroke the bare skin across her back.

"Big plans," she said again in almost a mumble into his neck as she turned her head. "Issac's got his school holiday coming up and despite this shit show his grades have improved so much from last year. He might even make honour roll."