Paige genuinely liked being around her Aunt Odette, minus the scary hunter aspect. Odette was very kind to her, answering every question she could. All answers were the honest truth. And that made Paige feel incredibly grateful. She also taught her some simple moves of defense if Paige needed it along the way, Odette pressed that she could teach her more once she had more time. Which was a way of saying once this kanima business was dealt with, or the Derek business.
Odette pulled her phone out and read something before she grinned over to her niece, "All right, I've got some work to do. You know your way back to the hotel?"
"I know the way." Paige says with a rather small smile on her face, "It's getting dark soon anyway, so I should head there and check my messages. I probably have thousands from my friends."
"You sure you're good on your own?"
Paige halted for a moment and turned to face her aunt. Had anyone asked her that before? People usually just assumed she was all good and that was it. "Oh, uh, yeah, I'm okay."
"You sure?"
"Yeah."
Odette just stared at the smile on her niece's face and wondered whether that smile was real or not sometimes. She just nodded her head and watched as Paige walked off. Odette understood faking happiness. She had seen a lot of people like Paige in her life, where being that happy person was what others relied on in their lives. But now Paige needed someone like herself to help out. Odette sighed softly, Paige reminded her of Estelle in many ways, which in turn made her miss her sister.
Paige kicked at the ground while stuffing her hands into the pockets of the jacket she was currently wearing. She actually wondered if her friends had messaged her at all. They probably did since she didn't show up to school. Which was very rare for her to do. Paige did not like missing days, she usually had perfect attendance.
One thing Paige knew for sure was that someone got hurt today because she felt a little bit more in pain while doing the defense training with her aunt. So she'd need to ask what she missed. Paige was sure that people had been thrown around. As she was walking, Paige realized that she had zoned out.
"Oh... crap..." Paige huffed as she recognized the old train yard, she either just ignore the natural pull of her faeil powers or go to see what was happening. But as she stopped when she thought she saw Peter Hale. Her heart stopped in her chest, he wasn't opaque like a normal person was. She could see through him like he was a ghost. He was burnt and covered in scars and dirt. Like he just dug himself out of his own grave.
She felt a chill crawl down her back. Paige rubbed at her eyes and hoped that he wouldn't just be standing there anymore, but he still was. It wasn't as though he was staring at her, but it was like he was looking at someone else. Paige would definitely like to know what power caused her to trip out like this because she didn't like seeing dead people. Or... was someone else seeing dead people because if Peter was haunting her wouldn't he have bugged her by now? He was slightly knelt down, his back curved and hand raised. It looked like he was kissing someone without them actually being there. Then he looked up and the next thing made Paige flinch in pain. An echo of a scream filled her ears and all Paige could do was cover them, but it didn't stop the sound from coming.
Paige's brows stayed furrowed even after the screaming had stopped. It was like an outer body kind of experience and Paige really wished she knew who she had been connected to just then. Or what just happened. She really knew nothing about being a fairy and needed to learn as soon as possible.
Her thoughts were broken when she heard a pained scream from within the old abandoned building. Paige faltered and rushed towards the sound. She went running inside, stopping at Erica all beaten up and broken in the old train. Scott looked up as Erica held onto Stiles, "Paige!"
Stiles' head shot up at the mention of her, "Paige!? Where the hell have you been all day?"
"What happened?" Paige's concern filled her features, even for the girl that despised her and broke her, "Is she going to be okay?" Her eyes fell to the blood on Erica's wrist and winced a little bit, her bones were obviously broken right there matching the broken bones that Paige had previously, but this time with blood.
"You'd know if you would have shown up to school today!" Stiles snapped over at her, completely irritated that Paige hadn't been there, "Or at least answered your phone!"
"I didn't have it-I don't have it on me." Paige answers while Stiles set Erica gently down, before Paige could say anything else Derek left the train right past her. Which caused Scott to go after him.
Stiles placed Erica's jacket under her head and got up, "What the hell, Paige?"
"What? Why are you mad at me?"
"You know the shit we're dealing with and just decided to take a day? Seriously? Jackson almost killed us today and where were you? Probably indulging on some candy and taking a stroll!"
Paige took a beat as his words hit her and just stared ahead at him, "I'm sorry what?"
"We needed you today, Paige. And you weren't there at all. You know how important this is for everyone, we can't have you just taking days off because you feel like it. I'm seriously disappointed in you. You should have-"
"Are you serious, right now?" Paige's voice snapped and bellowed right over at him, making Scott and Derek twist their heads to look at the old train car, "Do you know what I've been going through? What's happened at all? You don't even ask how I am or why I suddenly didn't show up to school. Can't I care about myself for once? For once! I am not going to apologize to you just because I missed one day of school to take care of myself! I am always there for you and Scott. I do not hesitate to help either of you! You're my family! I love you both so much. But-" Her voice wavered from anger momentarily as her heart clenched in her chest, "The fact that you didn't even think to ask how I was... I know Scott is going through stuff because he's a werewolf. But I'm going through stuff too. And you don't even care because you're disappointed in me. I can't always be you and Scott's crutch... I need to lean on you guys sometimes too..."
Scott had already told Derek was he wanted to say and instantly walked into the train car, "Paige, hey-"
"I'll be at school tomorrow." Paige mumbles as she avoids Scott's comforting hand, she rubbed her arm with her palm, "Scott, can you fill me in on what I missed over text?"
"I-" Scott faltered a little bit as he grew sad at her sudden coldness, "Sure, I will."
Derek kept his arms crossed while standing outside, his eyes fell on her as she walked out. Her eyes were downcast and towards the floor, most definitely avoiding eye contact with him or even looking his way in general. Her demeanor was completely different, even when she had been crying she didn't feel like this.
"Paige-"
"I really just want to go home." She says softly, still not looking over at him. Paige felt drained and kind of wanted something sweet but she wanted to avoid sugars.
Derek glanced back over to the train car, hearing Scott and Stiles argue over how Stiles just treated Paige, "I'll walk you."
"That's not a good idea." Paige finally looked over at him, which made Derek almost waiver. The usual brightness wasn't there in her eyes anymore, she looked genuinely tired. "I'm not going to Stiles' house nor my own home."
Despite this, Derek kept a steady pace behind her and she didn't say a word about it. Instead of talking to fill the silence like she always did, Paige was silent. Her hands were deep in her pockets and she just stared ahead as she walked. And for some reason, Derek felt wrong about it. He had told her so many times to shut up or be quiet, but now that she was it didn't seem right.
"So you and me?"
This seemed to get her attention, as she instantly stopped walking and whipped her head to look in his direction. Paige's eyes were wide and Derek could tell that her cheeks grew warm by the sudden red tint that appeared on them. "Wh-what?"
"Your powers were activated because you met your soulmate, right? And that's me."
Paige choked on her own words as she kept walking forward, now making sure to keep her gaze away from him but out of embarrassment this time. "Why are you so calm about it?"
"And how exactly should I react to a girl telling me I'm the love of her life."
"Wait, no, no-" Paige twisted with a finger pointed to a rather smug and amused Derek, "I did not say that."
"You practically did."
"Well, those weren't the exact words cause I do not love you." Paige quickly shot right over at him, her hands holding onto the fabric of her pockets tightly, "One I barely know you. And two, you're still on the top of my spooky-scary list. Well, one of the top. I might have to swap some things around cause you're not as intimidating as you were when we first met... Or... well, when we met when I was older. Which, by the way, that forest land isn't actually private property anymore since it isn't exactly owned by the Hale's. You just said that to freak us out. That whole mystery thing you had going on for you bugged me too. If you would have just came out and told us everything from the beginning maybe the outcome could have been different. Well, that also depends on how Peter would have reacted to everything as well. And-"
Derek watched as she continued to theorize what could have happened if anyone handled anything differently. She was mumbling and rambling on, but at least this was Paige. And it seemed she didn't even realize that she was rambling, her hands were no longer clenched in fists but instead one was rubbing the back of her head. Her long hair had been down and her fingers were tangling in the strands. When she rambled, he noticed her brows were always crinkled as though she was in deep thought even though she was just talking. Her eyes usually would look down during her rambles as well, but even with that she seemed to not be tripping over anything in the process. Her voice was slightly elevated and faster during her rambles. It took Derek a moment to realize that Paige had stopped talking and walking in general, staring over at him with a brow cocked up.
"What?"
"I said you should stop walking with me. I took the back streets but if you're seen by a hunter you're dead meat."
Derek blinked his eyes a couple times, did Paige not realize that she'd also be dead if she was caught with him? "Are you okay?"
Paige raised her hand and scratched the back of her head as her eyes closed, "I'll be fine."
"I wasn't asking if you'd be okay. I was asking if you were currently okay."
Dropping her hand back down to her side, Paige just huffed, "I know you heard what happened between me and Stiles. You don't have to ask just because he didn't."
With a rather irritated look appearing on his face, Derek crossed his arms over his chest, "I'm asking cause I want to know. Answer the damn question."
"Why would you even want to know anyway?"
"Why are you being so difficult?"
"I'm not being difficult."
"Yes, you are."
"No, I'm not."
Derek was fully prepared to throttle Paige at this point, "Is it so hard to believe that I care about your wellbeing?"
"Yes." She deadpanned. Paige then stuffed her hands into her pockets as a smile appeared on her face, "But since you're being so insistent, I'll answer." It seemed like she was feeling a bit better to Derek, that small brightness in her eyes had returned, "I'm feeling better now, thanks to you. Thanks for walking with me and checking in on me. But I know you'd rather not get shot at by hunters with wolfsbane bullets again, so you should go back and check on Erica."
Derek didn't respond to her vocally but did give her a small nod of acknowledgement for what she said. She didn't even bother to wait if he would say anything, instead, she twisted on her feet after waving goodbye to him. His arms raised up to cross over his chest as she watched her walk away.
He still couldn't wrap his head around her at all. Paige was definitely spaztic, reminding him a lot of Stiles, but she wasn't the same kind of spaztic. She was just bubbly, like the world was amazing and filled with glitter. So to see her like she was today, looking as though she gave up, made even Derek feel horrible. His worst problem lately was the fact that he needed to focus on the kanima but his mind kept wavering to Paige. Even more so now that she admitted how her powers manifested.
Derek hummed a low rumble deep in his chest while placing one of his palms behind his neck, "Soulmates, huh?"
I am so sorry that I have not updated! I am unsure if some of you know but there have been a lot of fires in California right now and rolling blackouts. The amount of smoke in the air right now is ridiculous. So I've been preoccupied, plus I am about to start up my fall semester at school. I've got twenty-two units, plus I'm stage managing a show. Which is kind of weird and hard since it's all on zoom. So I am learning as I go. I also hope you guys liked the chapter, I am really enjoying writing the slight change in Paige after everything she's gone through and learned. Plus the relationship between Paige and Odette is really nice to write. It's almost calming.
Another thing I wanted to press was the reactions of her two best friends when it came to Paige not being in contact with them at all while they were dealing with kanima Jackson at the school. Paige has always been there for her friends no matter what. She's the bright bubbly cloud that keeps them together. But now Paige is trying to find time for herself and be selfish for once. When I was writing this I was thinking of the song Fake Happy by Paramore.