Full Moon ☾ Derek Hale

Chapter Twenty Four: Restraint

"Mom, do you need help?" Scott quietly asked as mom struggled to take the car key off the ring. 

"No." She spat. 

"Mom, let me help you."

"No." She forcefully stated, continuously toying at the metal. Noticing her shaking hands, Scott wrapped his hands around moms, trying to calm her. Tears brimmed her eyes as she held in the sob trapped in her lungs.

"What is going on with you? Is this about Allison?" She asked Scott, looking deeply into his chocolate brown orbs. Scott held onto our mother's hands for dear life, like the stronger he held them the more she'd forgive him. Scott's breath caught in his throat.

"Do you really want to know?" He painfully asked. Immediately, in my peripheral vision, I could see Stiles aggressively shaking his head. 

"Uh, uh..." Scott stammered for words. 

"Is this about your father?" She realized. My heart began racing at the thought of Scott admitting to her why the two of us had been acting so off. She didn't deserve to be pulled into this world. She couldn't. 

"It's-" 

"It's about me." I interrupted. Mom's watering eyes flickered over to me, confusion setting in across her features. Suddenly, by just looking at mom, a foreign feeling of distantness overtook me. For the first time in several years, I felt strained from the family Like I didn't belong. "It's my fault. I'm coming up on a, uh, a ten-year anniversary and I went off the deep end a little while ago. I guess I've been rebelling and I've...I've been drilling the thoughts about Rafael not being here into Scott's head. So it's my fault." An uncomfortable tightness began constricting my throat.

"But why?" Mom's voice cracked. "We've done nothing but unconditionally love you since before the moment you walked through our doors. I know you two haven't had a father figure around, but I've tried my hardest." My chest ached with grief and distress. One of my biggest fears when I had first come to live with Melissa and Scott was doing something I couldn't come back from-something that would make Melissa kick me out. Those feelings had disappeared over the years but they came back hitting me like a truck.

"I guess I was lonely...sad." I paused to swallow the rock hard lump lodged in my throat. "Please don't blame Scott for the bad behavior. He's been covering up for me. I asked him not to see anything. He's been taking care of me. I'm really sorry. This was all my idea."

"Is this true?" Mom asked Scott. Scott parted his lips, unsure what to say. I shot him a glare, silently telling him it was okay. It was the best answer we could give her. It was for her own good.

Scott reluctantly nodded, keeping silent.

"Okay." Mom took a long breath. "I'm sorry. To the both of you. I didn't realize not having your father around would be even worse than him being here. I'm sorry." She paused again once more. "I think I'm going to go get the car. We can talk more about this at home."

"I can walk." I quietly offered. "I, I think I need to stay at Lydia's tonight."

"No." She immediately stated in defense. "You can't, no. You're grou—" 

"Mom." Scott quietly stopped her. He looked at her in hopes to persuade her opinion otherwise.

 "Fine. Your grounding starts tomorrow. You come home right after school." She ordered. I nodded in agreement, shoving my hands into my jacket pocket and silently walking out of the building. I didn't know much right now, but all I knew was that I needed to go somewhere far, far away from here. 

 The numbing emotional wall that had managed to stay up the entire time I was at the station began to crumble the farther I walked. I could feel a stinging behind my eyes, followed by a warm liquid spilling down my cheeks. My breathing labored and I felt myself beginning to hyperventilate. I stopped in the middle of the empty road, squeezing my eyes tight as the tears continued. I walked over to the sidewalk, sitting myself down on the edge as the weight of the world came down on me.