Heartbeat // A Derek Hale Love Story (Teen Wolf)

I Need That

"Derek?"

Derek didn't reply, probably because the barbell across his chest and shoulder was absolutely loaded down with plates of weight. There was so much that the cast-iron barbell was literally bending under the weight.

He proceeded to squat down, his form perfect with his back straight and chest up.

I was pretty sure what he was doing was called a front squat.

I laughed at myself because had thought Tynan's deadlift had been impressive, which was easily a third of what Derek was squatting with on his chest.

Derek grunted softly as he stood again, and from where I stood I could see him trembling ever so slightly, his dark hair stuck up at the front shaking a little.

"What?" Tynan snapped, taking up a mildly aggressive stance and gripping the sticks a little tighter. "Who the hell are you?"

After standing up successfully, Derek dropped the bar in front of him, it hitting the floor with a concussive thud that echoed in the room as well as sending powerful vibrations through the floor.

He proceeded to suavely step over it, approaching with a little bit of a smirk on his face.

"I'm Derek." He introduced himself, running his hand through his spiky hair.

"Do you know this guy?"

"Sort of." I replied, glancing up at Derek who was looking down at my hands, which had a few band-aids on stuck to them.

"That's great." Tynan growled, his face contorted.

Derek didn't look like he cared one bit what he'd said.

"How're those hands?" Derek asked, blinking.

"Better." I replied, smiling as this encounter was much more pleasant than the night before. Then, I realised I'd never told him my name. "I'm Lillian Stager, by the way."

"Derek Hale."

"I think we're good over here, Hale." Tynan interjected aggressively, clearly intimidated by Derek, which I found rather amusing.

"I beg to differ." I snorted, raising to point one of my bamboo shafts just a bit.

"What did I do?" Tynan asked innocently, and I rolled my eyes, glancing at Derek.

"You wouldn't freaking spar properly." I sighed, looking back to Tynan.

"I was sparring!"

Derek snorted, the amusement in his eyes growing.

"No, you weren't. You were too busy antagonising her." His gaze flicked my way.

"You spar then, if you're so good." Tynan snarled, shoving the sticks into Derek's brick wall of a chest.

"Gladly." Derek stifled a laugh and wrenched the sticks out of Tynan's grasp.

"Do you train in Kali?" I pondered aloud, meeting Derek's green gaze.

"I know my way around these." Derek held up the tan coloured sticks, and kept them up in a position to spar. "Ready to go?"

"God, yes." I laughed breathily, enjoying Derek's facial expression.

With that we began, Derek taking a swing at my thigh, which I combatted with my left stick, their impact making a loud crack.

That energetic snap was music to my ears. When I was sparring with Tynan he hadn't hit hard enough for the sound to be present.

We continued swinging and blocking, Derek seemingly ready for anything I threw at him.

I couldn't help but think: this was how it should be.

Derek was so seamless in his movements, something I was still working on. His energy was practically radiating off his body and affecting me in a positive way, even though Derek didn't look happy.

I figured because he was concentrating on what we were doing, he didn't think to look like he was having fun.

In any case, Derek attacked my right stick with both of his, sending it flying out of my hand. Before it even hit the floor, I reached behind me and pulled one of my extra sticks out of it's black sheath. I whipped the two shafts into an 'x' and brought them down on Derek's shoulders before he could block me.

He let out a breath, relaxing his own arms as he stared at me, knowing I'd just won.

"That was amazing." I breathed, grinning uncontrollably. "The match, I mean."

"Maybe, but you cheated." Derek told me, arching a thick brow as I sheathed my extra stick.

"I wouldn't call it cheating." I bit my lip to keep from grinning, extending my fist to bump against his.

I think it took him a moment to realise what I was doing, but did eventually acknowledge me and bump his fist against mine.

With that I turned away, to retrieve my other stick. When I turned back, Derek was walking away to the rig his barbell was.

"Hey!" I bounded after him, not wanting to let him leave without hopefully seeing if I could see him again, not giving Tynan another thought. "Wait!"

"Yeah?"

"You're amazing at Kali," I gushed, stepping in front of him.

"Thank you."

"I came here looking for someone to train with," I continued, trying to focus on his green eyes. "Jean told me Tynan knew what he was doing,"

I cast a glance back at Tynan, who looked particularly annoyed.

"But it's clear he doesn't." I explained. "You do. I think you're even better than I am. And I need that. I want to get better, and to get better I need someone to train with me like you just did. I need someone who's not afraid to push me around because I'm a girl. Tynan seemed to think he couldn't hit hard because I 'couldn't handle it'. Maybe he can't actually strike harder than a tap, I don't know."

That earned a quick exhale from Derek that sounded like a chuckle, as the corner of his mouth quirked upward just a bit.

"I need someone who believes I can handle it." I finished, relaxing as I said what I needed to say.

"You think I do?" Derek finally spoke up, raising his dark eyebrows incredulously.

"I know you do. You wouldn't have picked up those sticks if you didn't."

Derek said nothing once more, but his eyes revealed that he looked almost impressed with what I had said.

Hell, even I was impressed with myself.

"And," I continued, a playful spark lighting my face. "You owe me for almost flattening me into a pancake last night."

Derek laughed, the sound deep and husky, as a smile spread across his face, the look definitely suiting him.

"Is that so?"

"Yep."

"Okay." Derek said, chuckling.

"Okay?" I asked hopefully, my chest swelling with joy at the thought of learning things from someone so profoundly skilled at martial arts.

"Okay, I'll help you."

A/N: Thanks for reading, you lovely people!!

School is rough and it's seriously inhibited my updating schedule as of late. :/

More updates to come! Comment below to let me know if you liked the chapter!

- TAAF_