Stay With Me

Chapter Fifteen: Sweet Sixteen

"I'm saying, we need a new plan, because next time, one of us is going to be too hurt to heal," Derek told Scott and Isaac, who had refused to leave Scott's side.

"I get it," Scott told Derek. "We can't save Jackson."

"We can't seem to kill him, either," huffed Derek, sitting down and folding his hands. "I've seen a lot of things, Scott, but I've never seen anything like this. Every new moon's just going to make him stronger."

"Then how do we stop him?" asked Scott.

"I don't know," Derek told him. "I don't even know if we can."

"Maybe we should just let the Argents handle it," suggested Scott. 

"I'm the one who turned him," sighed Derek. "It's my fault."

"Yeah, but you didn't turn him into this!" argued Scott. "This happened because of something in his past! Right?"

"That's just a legend in a book," Derek rolled his eyes. "It's not that simple!"

"What do you mean? What aren't you telling me?" asked Scott.

"Why do you think I'm always keeping something from you?" demanded Derek.

"Because you always are keeping something from me!" Scott protested.

"Well, maybe I do it to protect you," retorted Derek.

"Doesn't being part of your pack mean no more secrets?" asked Scott.

"Go home, Scott. Eat. Sleep. Heal. Make sure your friends are safe. Because the full moon's coming, and the way things are going, I've got a feeling it's going to be a rough one." Derek avoided Scott's question.

<<<<<<>>>>>>

"You should rest," Isaac murmured, as Scott pressed another kiss to his lips on top of Scott's bed, at his house.

"But I like kissing you," argued Scott, eyes half-open. "Besides, I know when I wake up, you'll be gone."

Isaac frowned at Scott. "I have to go back to Derek's pack, Scott," he reminded the other beta. "He made me a werewolf, he's letting me stay at his loft, he gave me a family, he gave me a home. I owe everything to Derek - if I don't do what he says, then I'll lose everyone and everything that I care about."

Scott stared intensely into Isaac's ocean-blue eyes. "I get it," he finally said. "Just know that if you ever need to be somewhere else, I'll be here, and if I'm not, then I'm out dealing with other stuff, and I'll be back soon."

"Thanks, Scott," murmured Isaac, his lips moving back down to Scott's. "I love you."

Scott went still at his words, and Isaac took it the wrong way.

"Shit. Scott? Scott - oh, God, I shouldn't have said that, my father was right - "

"Your father was an asshole," Scott finally told him, "and I love you too." He kissed Isaac harder, more passionately, and a burning fire seemed to erupt between the two werewolves.

"What about Deaton's orders?" questioned Isaac, as Scott took off his shirt.

"Screw Deaton's orders," retorted Scott, and Isaac grinned at him and took off his shirt, too.

But despite the amazing night they'd had, both Isaac and his clothes were gone in the morning, just like Scott had known they would be. That didn't make it hurt any less, though.

<<<<<<>>>>>>

Allison drove Matt home, since she'd picked him up in the first place, since she had a car and he didn't. She offered him a weak fake smile as they pulled up to Matt's mailbox. Matt looked over at her.