Stuck Like Glue (Derek Hale Fanfiction Book #2)

Chapter Eight: Forgiveness

“You cut me with a knife, Stiles! Things can never ‘go back to the way they used to be’!” I exclaimed, getting ready to jump to my feet and storm out of the cafeteria in outrage. As much as I wanted to move past it, I couldn’t. Not without something else to hold onto.

“I know, and I was wrong, believe me. I was so wrong to do that, and I’ve regretted it every minute of every day since. I’m so sorry I ever hurt you. But I’ve grown, we’ve grown…and I’ve realized that I need you in my life, Chris. Please.”

“Why should I believe you?” I shot back, although he was already half-forgiven. I was just waiting for him to suffer a little longer. 

“Please Chris, please. We’ll treat you equally, and even be friends with Derek, I swear. We need you,” Stiles was practically begging me now, and looking into those familiar brown eyes, I found a part of myself that had been dormant for a while now coming back to life. I nodded, an ecstatic smile stretching across my face as Stiles whooped loudly, jumped up, and signaled to Scott, who sat across the lunchroom, no doubt eavesdropping on everything we said. He sprinted over, almost too quickly to be believable, and scooped me up into a giant bear hug, lifting my feet clean off the ground. My peals of laughter rang out in the sudden hush in the cafeteria as Stiles joined in the group hug.

“Why is everyone so quiet?” I giggled, craning my neck around to see past Scott’s muscular shoulders. The faces of everyone around us were shocked, eyes wide, mouths flopping open; everyone was staring at something in the entrance to the lunchroom.

“Scott, what is it?” Stiles asked in a low voice, officially putting an end to our joyous reunion. Before our friend could even open his mouth to respond, however, a gunshot exploded the silence in the cafeteria and sent people running for exits, screaming, and ducking under tables.

“Holy shit! What was that?” I shouted, instinctively dropping to the ground and covering my head with my hands. I could see Stiles do the same beside me, but Scott grabbed both of our arms and dragged us towards the source of the noise.

“Scott, what the hell are you doing? That’s where the shooter is!” Stiles cried, digging his feet in and trying to get some sense into our friend. But Scott was insistent, and suddenly I realized he was right; the probability of this incident just being your average school shooting was slim considering Beacon Hills was crawling with supernatural creatures. But unlike Scott, Stiles and I wouldn’t heal if we got shot.

            I pulled my two friends into an alcove by the water fountain the instant we made it out of the cafeteria. People were swarming everywhere, panicking and running and shouting for help.

“We need a plan,” I stated firmly, making eye contact with Scott, who nodded in agreement. Just as I was about to suggest we find Isaac and Erica, I spotted my friend’s long blonde hair amid the crowd of frightened teenagers and called her name. Luckily, Erica’s werewolf hearing enabled her to hear me over the commotion and she turned towards us, pushing through the throng with Isaac in tow.

“What is going on?” she asked us breathlessly, and we could only shrug. Nobody knew who had the gun, or why, but we all knew it couldn’t be anything good. Or normal.

“We need to find Dean.”

“No, we need to call Derek,” Isaac disagreed, pulling out his cell phone and dialing my fiancé’s number. I quickly reached out and hit the end button on his screen, shaking my head firmly.

“No, we can’t call him-“

“It’s the best move, Chris-“

“No, she’s right. If we call Derek, he’ll just panic and act irrationally because Chris is in danger,” Stiles pitched in, coming to my rescue, and I smiled at him gratefully. It was true – we needed Alpha Derek not Boyfriend Derek and that was out of the question if I was here. Well shit.