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

Chapter Twenty-One: Ghost World

                                  “So you guys are getting pretty serious now?” I asked Gracie as we bustled around the small apartment’s kitchen, preparing an elaborate dinner of spaghetti bolognaise, caesar salad, stuffed crab puffs, and butternut squash soup. I’d gotten really into cooking as I began the second trimester of my pregnancy, and had taken to making dinner for the apartment over the past two weeks since Erica’s death. I’d spent the first few days waiting for the other shoe to drop, readying myself for the emotional breakdown, for the crying and hurting and misery, but it hadn’t come. I’d shed a few tears over my fallen friend, but for whatever reason, I wasn’t torn up about Erica’s suicide. Mainly because the fact of the matter was, Erica had been kidnapped and trapped and tortured for months by vicious psychopaths, and had been suffering from PTSD and depression ever since. We’d tried our best to help heal her and get her back, but she’d been too damaged to push through. And it wasn’t her fault; it wasn’t anybody’s fault, it was just life. And after everything that I’d been through, her death was one of the easiest to process and deal with because it made sense.

“Yeah, we are,” Gracie answered with a glowing smile, carrying the bowl of salad out onto the table. She and Aiden had started dating, and besides the fact that it finally convinced Derek that Aiden didn’t have feelings for me anymore, the two of them were really happy together. While Erica’s room had remained untouched for the meantime, I was planning on clearing it out and allowing Aiden and Gracie to move in there together, since it was the biggest room in the apartment (after mine and Derek’s, that is). And with Winter Break just two days away, I couldn’t wait to finally have some time around the apartment to tidy up and get some of my projects done.

“That’s great! I’m thrilled for you guys.”

“Thanks, Chris. You’re sure it’s not weird that I dated your brother and now I’m dating your best friend?” 

“Hey, I thought I was her best friend!” Stiles exclaimed as he sauntered back into the room, wiping his hands on his jeans and smirking. After some consideration, I’d decided I couldn’t end high school without my best friends by my side, seeing as we’d started high school together. But Scott wouldn’t have anything to do with me; he’d told Stiles to tell me that I was a “selfish, ignorant, back-stabbing, disloyal whore.”

                               “But I decided I would leave off the ‘whore’ part,” Stiles had laughed, knocking me on the shoulder as I blinked back a few tears and forced a smile.

“Well I’m glad to have you back. There is so much shit I need your help with.”

“At your service, Mrs. Christina Laymen Hale.”

                                  “Of course you’re my best friend!” I chuckled as Stiles slid into the chair beside me at the dining table, while Gracie went to grab the French bread out of the oven. Aiden and Derek joined us at the table, Derek’s hands sliding around my shoulders as he leaned down and planted a quick kiss on my neck that somehow turned into a sensual sucking-type kiss and a hot murmur in my ear.

“This looks delicious...but I’m gonna save room to eat something a little different later tonight, wife.”

I giggled, my face heating up as Derek winked at me and sat down to my left, next to Gracie. Aiden was at the head, and between him and Stiles sat...Lydia. She and Stiles had gotten together over Thanksgiving break, and I couldn’t be more happy for them. Monday nights had sort of turned into our regular “couples night” dinners, which had been fun so far. Lydia, Aiden, Stiles, and I shared stupid stories about our high school angst, while Gracie complained about how creepy the Humanities professor was, and Derek listened to all of our problems with a quiet delight in the comedy that arose from our strife. I’d grown closer to Lydia as a result, although I was fairly sure Stiles had had to do some serious convincing to get her to initially show up at mine and Derek’s apartment. But now Lydia’s quick wit and brainy confidence was starting to grow on me, and as we got to know each other, more and more layers of her were revealed.