Red Eyes and Revelations [Derek Hale fanfic]

The secret hobby

Derek opened the door to his apartment and turned on the light.

“I’m sorry for the mess.. I’m a guy, so..”

I entered a 3 room apartment with white walls, only the most necessary furniture and little décor. I hadn’t been to many single guys’ apartments, so I didn’t know if that was the standard look. I didn’t find it messy though, I thought it was common that a couple of pieces of clothes were lying around ones apartment. There wasn’t much personality though, no pictures on the walls, no funny souvenirs or other decorations. There was a black couch, a TV, a bookshelf filled with books and a dining table, and of course a kitchen.

“Are you thirsty or anything?” he asked me while I studied the room with my eyes.

“A little thirsty.. a glass of water would be nice. Is it ok if I take a look around?” I asked.

“No it’s fine.” He said pouring me a glass of water.

I went to the left and opened the door to the next room which appeared to be his bedroom. Of course there was a huge bed, many Americans have such one I’d figured. Again there was a bookshelf and a closet for his clothes.

“You don’t have much stuff?” I said when he handed me my glass of water. Our fingers touched when I grabbed the glass and it made my body tremble.

“No, I’m not very materialistic.” He answered.

“I figure.. uhm.. what’s in the other room?” I asked.

“It’s not that interesting really…” he said and I could tell he was embarrassed about whatever he kept in there. That only made me even more curious!

“Can I look?”

“Uuuh.. well.. maybe a quick glimpse then. I guess I owe you that.”

“What do you mean?” I asked a little confused.

“I almost killed you today, I could try paying you back by humiliating myself a little.”

“Is it like.. a porn temple in there? Because I’d like to have a warning then!”

“HAHAHA no, it’s not porn..”

“Ok, then let me have a look!”

I opened the other door and turned on the light. What met my eyes was something I’d never expected to find in his apartment. Apparently Derek had a hobby – he was painting! The room was filled with paintings on the wall and the floor. Most of them were abstract drawings in dark colors, they all seemed to symbolize anger or something like that – they didn’t look like happy pictures. Some of the paintings even had claw marks and were half broken.

“You paint?” I asked surprised.

“I know it’s silly.” he said sounding like he was ashamed.

“It’s not silly, they’re actually pretty cool. Yet some of them look a little.. creepy?”

“I paint my mood, I'm not into art at all. It’s a way for me to control myself. In my past my temper got me into trouble. When I get angry I easily turn, I’ve almost learned how to control it. It wasn’t until the other day I’d started having trouble again.”

“Aaaah.. that explains..”

I looked at the many painting until my eyes caught the one he was working on at the moment. It was different from the others, it didn’t look so aggressive and it had more light colors.

"What about the one you're working on now?" I asked, pointing at the unfinished one.

"Yeah that one.. I started doing that a couple of weeks ago. When I met you."

"Hmm?"

"I guess you brought up a different feeling. When I started, I was more confused than angry, but I painted anyway to be in control. I picked different colors than usual, I didn't notice that at first." He said, looking at the painting.

"I guess I have a good impact on you?" I said, meant as a joke.

"You do." He said seriously. 

I’d been consumed by the painting and the surprise of knowing what it stood for, that I hadn’t realized Derek was trying to get eye contact. 

“Are you ok, Molly?”  he asked since I kept looking at the painting, imagining what it was gonna look like when it was done.

I turned to him, I was a little stunned to know that I was causing the change in his style of painting.I’d never gotten this kind of compliment from a guy before.

“I am, I think. It’s not every day a girl gets a compliment like that. It’s breath taking.. thank you.”

My cheeks turned red of course. I wanted to kiss him so badly, but at the same time he’d made me pretty shy so I was paralyzed. I could see Derek blushed a little too, he looked happy about the fact I liked the picture, and I thought it was a little entertaining that I wasn’t the only person who blushed all the time.

“Derek there is something I have to admit.. I’m sort of on a little quest. Uhm.. maybe we could go to the living room? I need to sit down a little..” 

I was feeling a little dizzy, first I was scared to death and now I was almost flattered to death. There’s a limit for what a woman can take on one day!

“So what quest is that?” he asked kinda worried when we'd both sat down in his couch.

“It's no secret that a lot of stuff has happened lately that is very unusual for the average 23 year old woman. And uhm.. it’s forced me to think a lot about the future, the past, and.. you and me. When I left, I wanted a new life – that I have gotten! I’ve decided that going back is no good for me. If I go home, I would never be able to tell anyone about this – shrinks would lock me up! If I stay here, I can at least talk to a few people about it. Yes, you are supernatural, but that I would have to get used to. But in the past I’ve had people in my life I decided to trust, which turned out to be a mistake. I know you’re trying hard, I can see that, to make me trust you. It’s like my common sense, logic, and heart is fighting about what I should think and feel. What I know this far is that you take my breath away. I know I care about you, and I owe you my life. But I also know that you, for good reasons, have been hiding stuff about you and.. well.. you’re a werewolf. What I am saying is that I know I like you, but I don’t know you.. does that make sense? You’re very mysterious, and that makes me a little.. confused.. and..”

I had a hard time reading Derek’s face expression. He looked very serious, kinda like if I was a teacher that was trying to teach him something. He wanted to understand.

“.. Jason of course had figured out something was going on between us and he asked me if I felt like calling it off. He made a good point though, the most fair way to make the decision was to let me get to know you. Derek if I should be able to feel 100% comfortable around you, I need to know you who you are and why you suddenly have to leave your phone and go to an old house in the woods and get angry…”

Derek was staring down in the sofa. After a few seconds he turned his face towards the window, he was thinking. The silence was making me a little nervous. It was nice finally to get some things off my chest, but waiting for his response was a little nerve wrecking. Finally he started talking.

“I get what you’re saying. It’s only fair that you know about my behavior – actually it’s safer that you know. Maybe you should call Jason, it might take a while if you want to know the whole story…”

…to be continued…