Give Me Courage (Give Me Series #4)

13 - Proud

"I'm proud of you."

"What?" I snapped in disbelief, unsure if I heard Derek wrong.

He chuckled in response. "I said I'm proud of you."

I raised my eyebrow at him, not believing a word I was hearing. Maybe the sound in the boy's locker room was somehow altered. Why would those words ever leave Derek Hale's mouth? An amused look crossed his face as he leaned back against a row of lockers with his arms folded over his chest.

"Why?" I deadpanned. There must be a second meaning to this.

Another chuckle slipped from his mouth. "You've come a long way, Chloe. You're not the same girl you were when we first met."

"That's because I was abused by my father for years and didn't trust anyone beside Isaac." I scoffed at the mention of how I used to be.

Derek was right. I did come a long way. If it hadn't been for Scott and Isaac, I wouldn't have transformed into the strong person I am today, who no longer cries when something happens to her. Erica was a big part of my life, too. She helped shape me into a more outgoing person and becoming my own badass. There's not a day that goes by where I don't miss her.

Friends were the reasoning for the person I was today. I couldn't have gotten this far in my life without them. I don't know what I would do if Stiles wasn't in my life.

"And look at you now," Derek continued, "You're an Alpha hybrid."

Scott rounded a set of lockers with two lacrosse sticks in his hands. He tossed one to Derek. "Here's the extra one." The other stick was handed off to me. "And this is Liam's."

I gripped the stick in my hands, twisting it around in my hold. My head cocked to the side as I concentrated on listening to where Liam was in the weight room with Mason. The sound of weights being lifted clattered in my ears, as if they were right beside me. "I think they are nearly done." I told the two of them.

Derek nodded, "Then we wait until he comes here."

"-- know how I keep reminding Garrett to give me my hoodie?" Mason's voice floated to my ears, like he was in the same room as us and not down the hallway.

"Yeah."

"Well, I remembered you said he lived in that housing development on Spaulding, so I went there, and guess what? The housing development is still in development."

Scott and I walked to a different section of the locker room, in case Liam made it to the locker room before we had a chance to get away from Derek. This was all a test for Derek to see just how strong Liam was. It was his idea to use the lacrosse sticks as a way to make him angry.

I leaned against one of the sinks, holding the lacrosse stick out in front of me. "Uh, thank you." I lowly mumbled to Scott.

His head snapped up at my low voice. "For what?"

"Helping shape me into the person I am today." I pressed my lips together in a small smile. I momentarily thought back on all of the memories we have had with each other. "You've always been there for me, especially with the whole abusive dad thing. I'm just really grateful to have you in my life and I'm glad we can still be friends after everything."

The corners of Scott's lips tugged slightly upwards. "You're welcome."

The two of us glanced at each other from the corner of our eyes.

"Would it be-- Can we hug? Is that allowed?" Scott asked, awkwardly.

"We're still friends, Scotty." I laughed, wrapping my arms around his torso, careful not to hint him with the lacrosse stick.