Til The Dawn [Midnights #1] ✓

chapter 45

Scott hovered near the door, letting all his other teammates, including Stiles, file out in front of him as they headed to the field with Coach Finstock. He'd known Derek would stay back to make sure everything was cleaned up enough to meet his ridiculously high standards before he headed out too. And it had been Stiles to suggest this was where he should corner his Beta and convince him, within that absurdly small window of time, that he was wrong.

Which didn't at all feel like asking for trouble.

"Scott? What are you doing?" Derek hollered from the showers. "Get outside, man. I'm not gonna save you if Finstock finds out and makes you run 10,000 laps or something."

"We need to talk," Scott returned. "I, uh..."

"Not you too," Derek groaned, interrupting him as he came to stand at the end of one of the rows of lockers. "I already got this from Peter. Can we just talk about it later? After practice or something?"

"Are... are you actually going to talk about it?" Scott questioned softly. "Or are you just going to keep being convinced you're right and not even listen to us?"

Derek perked an eyebrow at his brashness, folding his arms across his chest. It was like he couldn't even tell anymore when he was getting defensive, which made Scott sad for him.

"Damn, okay. Go ahead, Scott."

"You're wrong," he blurted out reflexively at the invitation. "I, uh, think you're wrong. And I also think you should hear me out before you make up your mind about changing Isaac."

Derek sighed heavily as his shoulders finally drooped, the tautness of his muscles remaining, though. "I get where you're coming from..."

"How? You were born a werewolf, Derek," Scott interjected, barreling ahead before his confidence waned. "I was bitten. And yeah, I didn't get a choice, but that's exactly why you should think about this a lot harder than you are right now. You don't know what it's like to be like me or Isaac. You.... you don't know what it's like to be weak."

Derek nodded and swallowed hard, uneasy at the idea of being confronted with the way he'd never had to worry about certain aspects of his life like they had. And while there was no way that Scott, or anybody in town, would deny that Derek Hale had been handed the short end of the stick in a lot of ways, this wasn't one of them.

"I know it's not an easy thing to deal with, and that I've not always been that great at it, but don't just brush Isaac off because of anything I've done. Sit him down, present him with all the information, and then let him make the decision. An informed decision. And I think that's all Peter is saying too. Because right now you're just unilaterally holding his future hostage. That's not fair, Derek."

Derek flexed his jaw several times, his nostrils flaring slightly as he calmed down enough to speak again.

"Not fair?" Derek retorted haughtily. "Not fucking fair? Really, Scott? You want to go there with me?" Scott winced visibly as Derek advanced on him, his hands clenched into fists at his sides. "I'll tell you what's not fair. The fact that I'm being forced to make these decisions at all. That my Mom isn't here. That my sisters are gone. That's not fair, Scott. You think I'm just walking around all strong and stuff my whole life and that makes all the other shit easier? That I should just be cool with condemning someone to a life of solitude? Because you'll figure it out one day, Scott, probably when it's too late, but this life is lonely."

He continued to stare straight ahead at Scott as he came even closer, his worst nightmares regarding this conversation coming true.

"You have Stiles," Derek insisted, "so it's different. And I had Peter. And yes, Isaac will have all of us, but that's it. You have to lie constantly. You can't have a normal relationship. You can't be honest. And eventually everyone leaves because they know you aren't being truthful. Or you leave because you know they shouldn't trust you. They shouldn't love you. They shouldn't waste their lives with someone who can't let them in fully. That they deserve better. Why... why would you give someone you call your friend that burden, Scott?"

"It's not a burden," Scott pledged. "It's not, Derek. You think it's because you've lost people, but it doesn't have to be all doom and gloom. It's not for Peter, so you're only like this because you want to be."

Derek scoffed. "So everybody that comes to me with a sob story should be changed because being a werewolf makes everything better, huh, Scott? Is that it?"

Scott shook his head, disheartened by how much more callous Derek's attitude had become in the last few minutes. This cynical, pessimistic version in front of him now was the one Scott had known most of his life, the one that had intimidated him so much. And the one he'd always assumed Derek had worn with pride to protect others, to keep them at arm's length so they wouldn't get hurt.

Now he could see that had been to protect himself. At all costs. No matter the consequences.

"As much as you probably don't want to admit this, people willing to fight on our side is a good thing."

"Oh, okay, Scott. Want me to change Stiles while I'm at it?"

"If he asked you to, yes."

"He wouldn't do that," Derek muttered, the resolve in his voice not melting in the slightest.

"No, I don't think he would," Scott admitted. "But the point is the same, Derek. You can't shut people out. If what you and Peter are worried about comes true, we're about to be in the middle of a huge fight. And I don't want to lose anyone else, okay? I know you don't either. And I get that we can't tell everyone, but we don't have to punish them. And that's what you're doing by refusing to accept volunteers. Stiles didn't..."

"Get out to the pitch, Scott," Derek commanded as he interrupted him. "Now."

"Derek, I..."

"I don't give a shit about Stiles, okay? I give a shit about you and Peter," he responded menacingly, his voice more of a growl. "That's all I have space for right now. I can't invite more people into my life. And I don't want to talk about this again. Get. Outside. Now."

Scott's shoulders slumped as he turned, picking up his crosse and his helmet, not bothering to issue a goodbye in Derek's direction. And knowing continuing with their argument wouldn't help either.

As he slammed his stick against the wall outside the locker room in frustration, Scott resolved to ask Peter at the next available opportunity how to circumvent Derek entirely. They needed to be ready. And if Derek didn't want to get onboard with their plan, that was his problem.

The war was at their doorstep. And if they weren't careful, the entirety of Beacon Hills would be the casualty of that war.