Chapter Eight

"Control"

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Scott shot up in bed, his eyes wild. His irises glowed intermittently and he grabbed hold of Derek's jacket to push him back, clambering to his knees. He was breathing hard, and he didn't seem to recognize Derek at all.

It was a lot like the way Scott had looked in the Hale house basement, right before he had collapsed from blood loss.

Derek only allowed Scott to push him a short distance away. He kept his hands on Scott's shoulders to restrain him. "Scott, it's me," he said insistently.

Scott's breaths slowed as he settled a little further into the waking world. He didn't answer Derek, or release Derek's jacket from his clenched fists. He stared unseeingly at the empty air between them.

Derek clasped Scott's shoulders a little tighter. "You were dreaming."

Was I...?

Scott's heart pounded painfully in his chest and he still didn't meet Derek's gaze. His eyes felt hot, shining with held-back tears.

As Scott gripped Derek's jacket, his arms began to tremble. He finally raised his head and looked at the alpha.

Derek saw reality coming back to the young beta's eyes, and it wasn't good. Scott started to breathe harder, his brows drawn together, and his eyes starting to glow. But he didn't shift or lose control, at least not in the sense Derek expected.

Scott took two deep, shuddering breaths. He took another shaking breath and his shoulders hitched. A low sound came from his throat, a choked off cry, and his fingers loosened in Derek's jacket.

But the second before Scott let go, Derek pulled him forward, wrapping his arms around Scott's shoulders. He pulled Scott's head against his chest and gripped him there tightly, his other arm circling around the boy's back.

Scott's face pressed against the black leather of Derek's jacket. Once the dam broke and the tears started flooding, his shoulders shook violently with silent sobs.

The silent cries of anger that wracked Scott's body lit a burning fire in Derek's chest. Long before then, Derek had known Scott needed to do more healing. But especially then, as he held Scott tightly, Derek had no idea how to help with it.

So he didn't say anything at first. He kept a firm arm around Scott's back and just tried to steady him.

After a few moments, Scott seemed to come to his senses a little. He choked down his sobs as he squirmed out of Derek's grip and sat back.

Derek tried to get a good look at his face, but Scott turned and swung his legs over the side of the bed. The boy leaned forward a little, his face obscured from Derek's view by his dark hair. Derek knew he was trying to get control of himself.

Slowly, Scott's shoulders grew still and his breathing calmed. He pulled the collar of his t-shirt up over his chin to dry his eyes, exposing his midriff, and Derek saw that his worst injuries were finally healing into scars.

Derek lowered down to sit on the edge of the bed beside him. He didn't know what to say, and he worried anything he did say would make things worse. He looked sideways at Scott, though he still couldn't see the boy's face. "You okay?" He said, low and quiet.

Scott waited a beat and then nodded. "Yeah." He wiped his face some more with the back of his hand. Then he sat up a little straighter and glanced at Derek. "Yeah. I didn't mean to... that wasn't..." He trailed off, unable to find the right words.

Derek gave him a quick once-over. The kid looked bad... there was darkness under his eyes, and his neck shone with sweat that had drenched the front of his t-shirt.

Scott was not okay, and Derek knew what he had been dreaming about. "Your dream," he began, only wanting to offer a listening ear, but Scott interrupted him.

"It was just a dream. People have dreams - people have nightmares," muttered Scott. Then he frowned, and looked at Derek in confusion. "What are you doing in my room?"

Derek hesitated. He didn't want Scott to know what he had been up to, so his expression grew a little more stern. "I came to talk you about the Argents."

Scott cast a suffering look in Derek's direction. "You came to my room in the middle of the night to lecture me about Allison's family?"

"No," said Derek, shaking his head. "To warn you about Allison."

Scott exhaled in mild frustration, finally beginning to fully recover from his unwanted emotions. "Why didn't you lecture me yesterday?"

"Because Stiles was there. Listen to me, Scott. You can't trust her anymore."

Scott fixed Derek with an unfaltering stare. "I trust Allison."

"But you shouldn't," pressed Derek. "Now that her family knows what you are, there's no telling how much Allison really knows."

"I wanted to tell her about it anyway," said Scott with unfailing stubbornness. "I just couldn't figure out how."

Derek's eye contact was piercing, but Scott held his gaze without wavering.

"I trust her, Derek," he said again.

Derek breathed a few centering breaths as he watched the beta. Finally, he raised his eyebrows and dropped them back down. "Just be careful, Scott. The full moon is coming, and Kate Argent is in town. She doesn't follow a code... She's dangerous. She could easily fix something to turn Allison against you, and if your guard's not up when that happens, it won't be good for you."

Scott didn't answer right away. Then after a moment, he turned slightly to face Derek more. "I'm not part of your pack," he told Derek quietly. "You don't have to look out for me. I can do it myself."

Derek wanted to argue. He wanted to make Scott understand the precariousness of the situation. But something told him... now was not the time.

Fighting back his many replies, he gave a heavy shrug. "Alright." And then he stood up, as if to take his leave.

Scott looked up at him questioningly.

Derek explained, "It's late, I should probably..." he started to walk toward the window, feeling low.

Scott stood up. "Wait," he said quickly.

Derek turned halfway back and paused expectantly.

Suddenly Scott felt awkward. He rubbed the back of his head with his hand and shrugged his other shoulder.

Derek turned fully back around to look at Scott. There was a searching quality in the way he studied Scott's face.

Finally Scott found the words. "It's late and you live far," he said, walking over to the closet. He dug around for a minute, then pulled out a narrow, rolled-up mattress. He turned back around and showed Derek.

Derek hesitated a long moment, looking at the mattress. He knew Scott didn't want to be alone. He could see right through any façade that Scott put up. And he would have ended up on the roof for the rest of the night anyway...

Finally Derek gave a small nod and held out a hand.

Scott tossed him the mattress, and Derek caught it. He unrolled it and lay it flat on the floor, a few meters from the base of the bed. Scott threw a blanket and a pillow in his direction, too. Derek lay down on his back and covered himself with the blanket. He was near the window, and he could look out and see the moon. He didn't plan to sleep a wink.

Scott got back into bed. He feigned going to sleep, but Derek knew he was wide awake by listening to the sounds of his unsteady heartbeat.

Derek listened to Scott's breathing, and watched the bright moon through the window until it passed beyond the edge of the window frame.

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Knock, knock, knock.

"Scott, you should be awake by now!"

Scott jerked awake and sat up in bed. Derek made a similar movement of surprise from the mattress on the floor.

Apparently they had both fallen asleep.

The door banged open and Melissa McCall barged in, wearing pink nurse scrubs and carrying a laundry basket.

"Mom - " protested Scott.

"I'm sorry, honey, but you told me never to let you sleep past..." Melissa stopped talking as her eyes fell on Derek, who got hastily to his feet. His blanket dropped off of him and crumpled to the floor in a heap.

Scott also scrambled to his feet. "Mom - you can't bust in like that!"

But Melissa was impervious to his protests. "Who's this?" She asked sweetly, still looking at Derek with the air of a woman who would rather not know.

Derek offered his best attempt at a smile on short notice. "Hi, I'm sorry. I'm - "

"That's Stiles's cousin," interrupted Scott, walking over to stand beside Derek. "Mick - Mick - Miguel."

Derek tried to hide the dryness of his smile when he was introduced. He nodded his head respectfully toward Scott's mom.

"Oh," said Melissa with more sweetness. "And what is McMiguel doing on your floor?"

Scott spoke before Derek could try to answer. "His, uh - his car broke down, the, uh, I don't know, but there was a lot of - crap - leaking everywhere, and it was late. They towed the car and this was the closest place he could crash."

Melissa regarded her son for a moment more. No one was under the impression that she swallowed his story, but she gave a nod and turned, leaving the room. "I'm late for work!" She called from the hallway. "And you'll be late for school if you don't get your butt in gear!"

They heard her go down the stairs, and her foot steps receded further into the house.

Derek turned toward Scott, looking dryly amused. "You're the worst liar I've ever met."

Scott gave him a pained look. "It's not like I could tell her who you really are! I'm not supposed to know you, remember?"

For a moment, things seemed almost back to normal between the two of them. But it was fleeting.

Scott turned away and started gathering his clothes and his books. "I'm late... I forgot to set the alarm," he said, pulling on a clean sweatshirt.

Derek nodded his head. "Yeah," he answered distractedly. He waited until Scott turned back around with his backpack on his arm to speak again. "You think you're going to control yourself today?"

Scott avoided eye contact as he headed for the bedroom door. "I'm fine, Derek. I'm in control." He walked out without another word, but then reappeared to look back in at Derek. "Are you going to hang around my room all day?"

Derek made his way over to the window. "Go to school, Scott," he said firmly. He lifted himself through the window, and Scott heard him drop to the ground below.

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Kate Argent sat in her vehicle on a quiet street in Beacon Hills. The McCall residence was a few houses down from where she was parked, and she had deliberately chosen to camp out between a few vehicles similar to her own. She was on a mission.

First she needed Derek. Then she needed the beta. She needed them both.

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I hope you're enjoying it! If you leave a review, then I get to know for sure :P