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

Control

"No."

Scott's disappointment was palpable. "I can't do this," he repeated. "I can't. I wish this never freaking happened to me. I'll never be normal, I'll never be able to live without looking over my shoulder my whole life, with my freaking girlfriend's family trying to kill me!"

Before the burden to comfort him fell on me, Lillian stepped forward. "Scott," she said. "Don't be ridiculous. Of course you can live a normal life. Look at Derek! You would never really know what he was unless he told you."

"Are you kidding?!" Scott snapped. "How did you end up tangled up in this mess, then, huh? You found out about him, too! And you broke up with him over it!"

Lillian narrowed her eyes. "Are we still broken up, Scott?"

Despite the situation, I allowed myself the briefest smirk.

"You know what," Lillian went on. "That isn't even the point, Scott! You don't have to be like 'this,' or whatever your problem is with yourself right now. Derek could've helped you not be a goddamn lunatic tonight, but you wouldn't let him help you! This is not 'it' for you! You don't have to accept this inevitability of being a violent werewolf. You don't have to kill people, you don't have to be aggressive, or violent. Derek is a werewolf and he was perfectly in control tonight, running around trying to save you from yourself! Stiles tried to help you, and good on him, but he has no idea what he's doing. Derek does. And you know what, Scott? If you'd let me, I could help you, too."

Scott stared at Lillian for a moment, but she didn't turn away. She met his gaze with ferocity.

"She's right, Scott," I murmured. "I know you don't like me, but I can help you. As much as you might think I want to see you suffer, I wouldn't mind helping you stop being crazy, because the sooner you get your shit under control, the sooner you stop being a pain in my ass."

"Have you guys forgotten that Allison's entire family hunts werewolves?!" Scott barked, indignance lighting his eyes as he tossed my offer aside. "No amount of me chilling out is going to help with that!"

"You don't know that," Lillian snapped back. "They don't even know who you are, do they? They only know about Derek."

"Not yet, anyway," Scott mumbled.

Lillian rolled her eyes. "Look, Scott, I know you're pissed, and you don't want to be in this situation, but you are. I'm not about to let you mope for the rest of your life about something that you can't control, without doing the things you can control to help yourself."

Warmth filled my chest at her words as the room fell silent. I couldn't stop the swell of gratefulness I felt for her as I looked at her, and I didn't want to.

"So, what are we going to do about the Alpha?" Scott asked quietly.

"I doubt he's going to make any more moves tonight, I think we can take the night to think about it. I for one am going to go over what Laura found before she died; whoever killed her might have been who she was closing in on, or at least looking into. I say we start there."

Lillian nodded. "All right. But there's not much we can do right now, so we should all try to get some sleep."

"I'll try," Scott said under his breath.

"Are you going to be okay here for the night?" I asked begrudgingly. Showing interest in this kid and his health and wellbeing was not as easy as Lillian made it look.

Scott nodded. "Okay, good. We'll keep you updated if we figure anything out," I promised, and I actually meant it.

*