keeper (d. Hale)

i won't tell if you don't.

"Who?" Delilah demanded with an edge to her voice. "Who did you call for?"

"I don't know," Lydia mumbled with her head in her hands. Her red hair fell over her shoulder in an uncharacteristically greasy mess and her hands were anxiously combing at the ends. "I just knew I had to do it, not who it was for."

Derek sighed as he sat down next to his wife at the kitchen table. It was morning now and despite having a fantastic night together beneath the full moon, he couldn't help but feel the wary pull of sleep at the back of his eyes. He was exhausted and not at all ready to deal with the banshee in front of them. 

"Lydia," Derek tried to reason before Delilah could jump back into her interrogation, "everyone but Peter has been accounted for. So, if you know you were calling for him, then please just tell us."

He looked to his wife who displayed a combination of desperation and panic behind her eyes as she stared across the table. Her fist clenched and unclenched on her lap. 

Lydia could only clutch the thick duvet Derek had wrapped around her in response. Her eyes glazed over before she shut them tight with a pained shake of her head.

"Lilah, she doesn't know," Derek said softly as he watched the girl struggle.

"She has too," Delilah croaked before turning to face him fully. She implored him with a look that cried for answers and he felt his heart break knowing that he couldn't provide any of them. 

Derek snuck a glance away from his wife to look at Lydia. She still hadn't opened her eyes but from the dark circles bruising her pale skin, it was evident that she had not slept. Not last night and most likely not the night before. 

He dragged a hand across his jaw before letting out a deep sigh.

He wanted to find his uncle as much as she did but it was obvious Lydia was oblivious to the situation. She was always slightly out of it when ever she gave into her desire to scream. 

Derek grabbed Delilah's hand under the table with a squeeze before she could question the banshee further.

His wife sighed with a long exhale before she squeeze his fingers back.

"You're right, you're right," she murmured to Derek with a nod of her head. She was being to harsh in her desperate search for answers. She turned her attention back to the teenager and tried to offer her a small smile. She deserved that more than anything in this moment. "Lydia, why don't we get you back into bed? We've all had a long night. I'll bring you a cup of chamomile tea."

Delilah squeezed Derek's hand again before dropping his hold and standing. Lydia followed her movements before accepting her out stretched hand with out hesitation. 

"I'll start the water," Derek said before standing as well. He watched the two slowly move out of the kitchen and down the hallway. Delilah was softly stroking Lydia's red hair as they walked.

Derek filled the kettle and settled it on the stove.

As he waited for the water to boil, a pair of arms linked around his waist and a comforting weight pressed into his back.

"We don't actually need that," Delilah muttered into his back with a nuzzle of her face against his shirt. "Lydia's already asleep. She's absolutely exhausted."

Derek covered her hands with his own before using his free hand to reach into the tea cupboard.

"Its not for her, it's for you."

He pulled out the peppermint tea and shook the box.

Delilah smiled before she felt him turn in her hold. He wrapped his arms around her and placed a lingering kiss to her forehead.