Never Let Me Go (Derek Hale Fanfiction Book #3)

Chapter Eight: On the Move

                        “What was that all about?” I asked Aiden as he slid into the chair across from me after nearly fifteen minutes outside. He grabbed his food, wrapping it up in the grease-stained red-and-white paper bag and standing again.

“Cora’s pissed at me because we stopped.”

“Well did you tell her I hurled?” I asked as we exited the McDonalds and headed to the car.

“Yup." 

“And she still didn’t care?”

“Nope.”

“Aiden!” I cried, grabbing his hand as he made to start the car and pull back out onto the road. He raised his eyebrows at my bold gesture, gently sliding his hand out from underneath mine and frowning slightly.

“What?” he snapped, turning onto the highway and gliding effortlessly back into the constant flow of rush-hour traffic.

“Why are you acting so strange all of a sudden? Is it something I did? Something Cora said to you?”

“A little bit of both, as a matter of fact. Cora wants us to head to Texas.”

“What?” I blurted out in astonishment, nearly choking on the sip of sweet tea I’d had in my mouth.

“She thinks with the vamps back in Beacon Hills, you’ll be safer staying with Derek in Texas until the weddings over and they leave, or until Derek comes back. Whichever happens first.”

                           Aiden and I took turns driving for the next seven hours, until we reached the halfway point at Safford, Arizona. It was three in the morning, and we were both so tired that we didn’t even register the fact that the hotel employee asked us if we were a couple.

 “Yes, we’d like a room please,” Aiden mumbled, rubbing his face for the third time and yawning widely. I blinked heavily, swaying slightly on my feet as I tried to stretch the soreness out of my cramped hand muscles. We didn’t have a single bit of luggage with either of us, so we stumbled into the elevator and up to our room easily. It was only when I began to strip off my jeans and crawl into bed that Aiden shook himself out of his sleep-reverie and grabbed my shoulder.

“Chris, what’re you doing?” he slurred, peering at me with one eye opened. I shrugged tiredly, burrowing under the covers and closing my eyes.

“Whatever,” I heard him say, and I cracked one eye open just in time to see Aiden pull off his t-shirt and jeans, and throw them on the ground. Oh God. I tensed up for just a second, before Aiden’s warm body heat was slowly encircling my back, and my muscles relaxed of their own accord. It’s just spooning, I thought. It’s totally harmless. And that was the last thought I had before I succumbed to the persistent fatigue harassing my body.

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                                 It took us two full days to drive all the way from Beacon Hills, California, to Blue Ridge, Texas, but we finally made it. I’d spoken to Derek only once on the journey, and had managed to keep it a secret that we were going to see each other very soon. My entire body buzzed with excitement as Aiden maneuvered the Prius down the dusty dirt road of the house that Derek was staying at, and I didn’t miss the look that Aiden shot me as I jiggled my legs up and down. I’d tried to fix up my appearance at the hotel earlier by purchasing some mascara and a clean tank top from the gift shop, but I knew in my heart it didn’t really matter. I’m about to see Derek’s face, for real. Touch his skin. Run my fingers through his hair, down his chest, over his abs...Kiss his lips.