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

Shudder

Lillian's POV

"I really liked that restaurant," I remarked as we turned onto the municipal highway out of town toward my house, resting the styrofoam container of leftovers on my lap.

"It was nice," Derek replied.

"Do you want to go straight home or go anywhere else?"

"Who are you, my chauffeur?"

"Of course," he joked. "But do you want to go anywhere else?"

"No, but it's pretty warm, I thought we could go for a swim in the pool by the barn."

"Would I need a swimsuit for that?" Derek arched an eyebrow, and I shoved his elbow playfully.

"Yes," I snorted. "We'll have to see what happens after the swim," and I smirked.

"Alright, well I'm going to have to go to my place and grab a swimsuit," Derek explained, running a hand through his hair. "Although, I must say I don't particularly like swimming. So don't expect me to go in the water."

"Whatever," I rolled my eyes as we approached the gate onto his property, and my gaze fell on the fence lining the wooded area. They were all brand-new, the slats in the fence made from tiny tree trunks and branches. "What..."

Then it hit me: the fences were made entirely of wood. No barbed wire.

"Derek," I started, eyes trained on the length of fences. "Who did this?"

The corner of his mouth quirked upward. "I did."

"When?" I gaped.

"You sleep a lot. At least you did when you were freshly injured," he said in reply. "I thought I might as well be useful while you were dead to the world."

"Don't you sleep?" I scoffed, heart swelling at the magnitude of the task he had undertaken.

"I worked on these when you slept during the day," he explained, turning into his driveway and through the gate up to his house. "I'm not completely nocturnal, you know."

"Thank you," was all I could manage, emotion crawling its way up my throat. "How long did this take you?"

"A couple weeks," Derek said, "I finished the fences a few days before you got Hudson."

The adorable, fast-growing puppy with nearly boundless energy popped into my mind. Well, he had boundless energy when I was around or he was outside, at least. When I left him alone in the loft, he often bounced up on my bed and passed out smack in the middle of the mattress.

"I can't believe you did that," I breathed. "That must have been so much work."

"It was worth it," Derek assured. "It was nice to get some exercise too."

"If you say so."

*

Hudson was exactly where I thought he would be, curled in a ball on the bed, but stayed there only for a few seconds as we stepped inside. He leapt off the bed and launched toward us, his feathery tail thrashing wildly as he greeted us at the door.

"Hello," I cooed, stroking his soft ears. "Did you have a good sleep?"

Once I put my box of leftovers in the mini fridge I had, careful Hudson didn't get them, I sat on my bed.

"So you said you wanted to go for a swim?" Derek asked, meeting my gaze.

I smirked, "Yeah, I do."

"It's been a while since I've gone for a night swim," Derek remarked, glancing outside at the darkening sky. "Feels a bit...risque."

I leaned across my bed to flick on the string of fairy lights woven through the iron curls of the headboard, washing the room in a buttery glow. "Maybe it is," I murmured, just barely loud enough that I knew Derek would hear. His answering grin said enough.