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

Cold Beauty

A/N: Alright friends, sorry for not updating last week. I've been trying to be consistent but leading up to today and tomorrow I have a total of twenty-five pages worth of essays due. Last week I was honestly just too busy. But my last class is on Tuesday so I should be able to write a lot more soon!

Since this chapter is short, would anyone like a second post this week to make up for last week?

Thank you all for your continued support, I appreciate it. 

Cheers,

- TAAF_

Lillian's POV

I did not sleep well that night. I wasn't sure I ever would again.

With my eyes open, I saw Derek's face as it shifted. Closed, I saw it still.

Against my better judgement, I couldn't help but think of how beautiful he was like that. Utterly terrifying. But there was a cold beauty there that haunted me.

I would never have believed werewolves were real if he hadn't shifted in front of me, despite how the sight shook me to my bones. The man who'd trained me, kissed me, one I'd let sleep in my bed when I was too injured to be alone.

That man was an animal. A werewolf.

Despite how scared I knew I should have been, how I should never want to see him again, I couldn't stop worrying about him as I stretched my hand over the side of the bed he slept in when he was here. Hudson had taken his place, curled up and breathing softly.

It couldn't be that bad. If Derek had wanted to kill me, he would've done it by now. He had ample opportunity in the weeks I was recuperating after Ophelia crushed me. The thought that he could have torn my exposed throat open with his teeth those nights we'd spent together. Or how he could have ripped me to shreds with those claws as he slowly, lovingly took my clothes off.

We still hadn't gone all the way, and I was glad for it. I would not let myself be that close to someone without them being genuinely vulnerable to me as well.

I wasn't even sure if Derek still wanted to be together, I realized with a pang of sorrow, but if he did we certainly had a lot of things we needed to talk about.

I'd left him before he'd finished burying Laura, I felt that he needed that time to himself and be free of worrying about what I might think or say. I didn't want to heighten how alone he must have been feeling, and I knew still was, but I also knew I needed a minute. More. So did he.

*

Work was the most mundane thing I could've been doing with my time compared to last night.

Alan asked me to handle a grumpy Schnauzer known to bite. Big deal. My boyfriend had fangs sharper than him. Come at me, Buster.

Scott came in for his shift looking like hell.

"What happened to you?" I scoffed as he slumped down on the counter next to the desk I was attending.

"Long night," he huffed.

Same, dude. Same.

Just a few moments after he'd sat down, he got back up and went over to the drawers where we kept gauze and patches and packing. He slid the drawer open and pulled out a pad of sterile dressing.

"What's that for?" I asked, arching an eyebrow.

"Uh, what?"

"The gauze," I said, eyeing the package in his hands.

"Oh," he replied quickly. "I got stepped on with a cleat at lacrosse tryouts."

"Ouch," I winced. "Do you want me to take a look?"

"No," Scott said, defence lining his voice. Maybe he felt insecure about what happened, but it still made me think.

"Okay," I responded. "I'll pretend I didn't see you take that and I won't tell Alan."