Author's Note: So today in class, we spoke about King Arthur and how knights are supposed to be charming, and I was thinking: 'damn, Derek would make a horrible knight.' but then, we all know we love Derek and we wouldn't want him to be charming and smooth talking. So I made this in honor of my favorite Disney film of all time, and congrats to me for starting the Darkness Rising series! Oh, and I don't own the Darkest Powers series, Kelley Armstrong does. I don't own any of the stories mentioned, or the description of one of the films. I got it from Wikipedia. And last but not least: I know I should be focused on So, Sneaking Into A Movie Star's Trailer Wasn't The Best Plan of Action, but I'm getting on it. I honestly don't think these things about the mentioned fairy tales, well, except for Peter Pan, (go Artemis Fowl fairies!) and Aladdin is in my top three favorite films, but if you look at it in a certain way, this is what you can come up with.

Her Werewolf In Windswept Fur

Because who needed a knight in shining armor anyway?

"That's so stupid."

"No it's not-"

"Yeah, it is."

"No, it's not-"

"Chloe, I'm always right, it is stupid."

Derek and Chloe were looking at some old children fairy tales, Sleeping Beauty, Red Ridding Hood, Hansel and Gretel, all the classics everyone adored as a child was before the two teenagers in Kit's library.

Maybe it was so that he could keep in touch with his inner child, but Derek found them stupid, and Chloe thought Derek was stupid for thinking that the fairy tales were stupid.

"How can you not like the story of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs?" Chloe asked, shocked that Derek turned up his nose at the very thought.

"Uh, because she's a huge cry baby who has like five minutes of her film dedicated to her crying her eyes out because of owls," Derek scoffed.

"To be fair, it was dark, she couldn't see much, and she was running for her life."

"So? We do that on a daily basis and you don't see us falling to our knees, forming waterfalls," Derek said, rolling his eyes.

"Well, Snow White doesn't have super wolf powers or freezing abilities and she can't contact the dead."

"Then she's boring."

"Okay, but how do you not like Cinderella? That's a classic!"

"Yeah, classic, as in cliche! I mean, how do you meet someone and after one dance, less than an hour together, and you're head over heels for them? Ready to marry the very next day?" Derek snorted. "Besides, in the original, everyone cut off their ankles to try and fit into that stupid shoe. I bet even Tori wouldn't be so desperate, she'd put her foot in a bloody shoe. And if Cinderella's shoe really was a perfect fit, how did it fall off in the first place?"

"Fine Mr. Logical, what about The Little Mermaid?" Chloe asked.

"Easy. It sucked. She turns up in the beach nude, and her legs are totally messed up. No one has legs that long, and in the actual story, she died and made everyone else miserable. Plus, she didn't even have a name in the original!"

"Why are these stories so morbid before Disney?" Chloe wondered aloud.

"Because those people knew how to write a true fairy tale," Derek said.

"What's wrong with Little Red Riding Hood?"

"She was eaten by the wolf, and cut out by the carpenter."

"Aladdin?"

"All about greed. But I'll admit the monkey in the film was a nice touch."

"The Princess and the Frog?"

"She kissed a frog!"

"Peter Pan?"

"Doesn't Tinker Bell look like a totally slut?"

"Hansel and Gretel?"

"They pushed the witch into the fire!"

"It was self-defence!" Chloe spluttered. She was running out of fairy tales. Why weren't there so many?

"So can I push you into a fire?"

"DEREK!"

"CHLOE!" he mimicked. "I'm telling you, you won't find a single fairy tale that's good and happy, or that I like. It promotes innocence and the belief in stupid princes who'll climb towers and dance with you and sing in perfect harmony even though they've never met you."

Chloe made on last attempt.

"Beauty and the Beast."

Derek said nothing.

"What? Nothing morbid for this story?"

"Oh, there are morbid versions of this story. It been around since 1773, course there's gory versions.

"The original story was a wealthy merchant lived in a mansion with his three daughters. They were all very beautiful, but only the youngest, twenty-year-old Belle, was lovely and pure of heart; her sisters, in contrast, were wicked and selfish. The merchant eventually lost all of his wealth in a tempest at sea. As a consequence of this, he and his daughters were forced to live in a small farmhouse and work for their living. After some years of this, the merchant heard that one of the trade ships he had sent off had arrived back in port, having escaped the destruction of its compatriots. He returned to the city to discover whether it contained anything valuable. Before leaving, he asked his daughters if they would like him to bring any gifts back for them. The oldest two asked for jewels and fine dresses, thinking that his wealth had returned. Belle was satisfied with the promise of a rose, as none grew in their part of the country. The merchant, to his dismay, found that his ship's cargo had been seized to pay his debts, leaving him without money to buy his daughters their presents.

"During his return, he became lost in a forest. Seeking shelter, he entered a dazzling palace. He found tables inside laden with food and drink, which seemed to have been left for him by the palace's invisible owner. The merchant accepted this gift and spent the night there. The next morning as the merchant was about to leave, he saw a rose garden and recalled that Belle had desired a rose. Upon picking the loveliest rose he could find, the merchant was confronted by a hideous 'Beast', which told him that for taking his most precious possession after accepting his hospitality, the merchant must die. The merchant begged to be set free, arguing that he had only picked the rose as a gift for his youngest daughter. The Beast agreed to let him give the rose to Belle, but only if the merchant would return.

"The merchant was upset, but accepted this condition. The Beast sent him on his way, with jewels and fine clothes for his daughters, and stressed that Belle must never know about his deal. The merchant, upon arriving home, tried to hide the secret from Belle, but she pried it from him and willingly went to the Beast's castle. The Beast received her graciously and informed her that she was mistress of the castle, and he was her servant. He gave her lavish clothing and food and carried on lengthy conversations with her. Every night, the Beast asked Belle to marry him, only to be refused each time. After each refusal, Belle dreamed of a handsome prince who pleaded with her to answer why she kept refusing him, and she replied that she cannot marry the Beast because she loved him only as a friend. Belle did not make the connection between the handsome prince and the Beast and became convinced that the Beast was holding the prince captive somewhere in the castle. She searched and discovered multiple enchanted rooms, but never the prince from her dreams.

"For several months, Belle lived a life of luxury at the Beast's palace, having every whim catered to by servants, with no end of riches to amuse her and an endless supply of exquisite finery to wear. Eventually she became homesick and begged the Beast to allow her to go to see her family. He allowed it on the condition that she would return exactly a week later. Belle agreed to this and set off for home with an enchanted mirror and ring. The mirror allowed her to see what was going on back at the Beast's castle, and the ring allowed her to return to the castle in an instant when turned three times around her finger. Her older sisters were surprised to find her well fed and dressed in finery. They were envious when they heard of her happy life at the castle, and, hearing that she must return to the Beast on a certain day, begged her to stay another day, even putting onion in their eyes to make it appear as though they were weeping. They hoped that the Beast would be angry with Belle for breaking her promise and would eat her alive. Belle's heart was moved by her sisters' false show of love, and she agreed to stay.

"Belle began to feel guilty about breaking her promise to the Beast and used the mirror to see him back at the castle. She was horrified to discover that the Beast was lying half-dead from heartbreak near the rose bushes her father had stolen from and she immediately used the ring to return to the Beast.

"Upon returning, Belle found the Beast almost dead, and she wept over him, saying that she loved him. When her tears struck him, the Beast was transformed into the handsome prince from Belle's dreams. The Prince informed her that long ago a fairy turned him into a hideous beast after he refused to let her in from the rain, and that only by finding true love, despite his ugliness, could the curse be broken. He and Belle were married and they lived happily ever after together."

"Whoa, quite a story," Chloe said.

"Yeah, but . . ." Derek stared at the ground and mumbled something.

"But what?"

"I like that one," Derek said, rubbing his neck.

Chloe blinked. Had he said what she thought? He actually liked Beauty and the Beast? Derek wasn't one to like Disney stories; fairy tales were gory and morbid and a good campfire story for him, but not for joy. Why would he like that story?

"Why?" she asked before she could stop herself. "That's the most depressing I've ever heard! I mean he committed suicide!"

"Because . . . " He rubbed his neck. "It's realistic, I mean, she gets to know the Beast before she makes her choice, like, longer than a day, he doesn't harmonise with her- well, he does, but only once," he faltered.

Something told Chloe that wasn't the real reason he liked Beauty and the Beast. Sure, it was realistic, and Derek was all about realism, but that wasn't why he liked it.

"Why?" she repeated.

He mumbled something.

"What?"

"Because," he took a deep breath. "It reminds me of you and me."

Chloe stared at Derek in shock. Had he really just said that? By the blush on his face, then yes, she had heard right.

"How?"

"You're . . . well, you're beautiful, and I'm a monster. I'm a werewolf, and you helped me. You made me better. You . . . fixed me, I guess. And while I can't have the curse lifted off me, I know you'll be there to help me control my inner Beast."

"Derek, that's so sweet," she said smiling. She leaned closer to him, her lips just a centimetres away from his-

"Chloe!"

Chloe woke up with a jolt. Derek was sitting at the foot of her bed, a worried look on his face. "Chloe, are you okay? You were screaming frustratedly in your sleep-"

"Yeah, I'm fine," she said, her heart beating erratically. She was suddenly in the mood for a good Disney movie. "Hey Derek, can we watch a Disney movie?"

"Those lies?" he asked, wrinkling uphis nose.

"Isn't there one you like?"

Derek's lips were thin. He nodded, almost embarassed. "I'll go get it."

When he came back, a picture of a brunette in a golden gown, facing with a monster in a blue suit looked at her, Disney's Beauty and the Beast, it read.

She smiled.

Who needed a knight in shining armour? She was fine with her werewolf in windswept fur.

Edited: June 18th 2014