Stuck Like Glue (Derek Hale Fanfiction Book #2)

Chapter Ten: The Choice

           “I really think you should stay home tomorrow,” Derek said to me, his voice full of worry as he stirred hot chocolate into my coffee and handed me the mug. I’d woken up from my nap around eight, and now Derek and I were sitting in the kitchen, arguing over whether or not it was safe for me to go to school the next day.

“Derek, my stitches are fine. And besides, those guys were after you, not me.”

“That’s not true and you know it. To them, you’re the freak who’s dating a criminal, which makes you a traitor,” Derek insisted, taking a sip of his own cup of tea and frowning. I knew he regretted ever stepping into the school that day, but without him, who knows – Stiles and I may have gotten ourselves killed. I was just about to fire back a retort about being able to protect myself from dumbass jocks like them when the door pushed open and Cece stuck her head in.

“Um, sorry to interrupt but Derek, Isaac needs you downstairs for a minute,” she announced almost timidly, coming to take his seat as Derek rose and exited the kitchen. I rolled my eyes, wrapping my hands around my drink to take it upstairs with me as I got to my feet. While I’d come to accept that Cece was in fact Derek’s real sister, something about her still gave me the creeps. Well that and the fact that I just outright did not like her.

“Wait,” Cece said, grabbing my wrist firmly and looking me in the eye.

“What do you want, Cece?” I growled, ripping my arm out of her grip but sitting back down. She sighed, throwing her perfectly straight hair over her shoulder and taking a seat across from me.

“I know Derek offered to turn you.”

I gasped, my cheeks flooding with color without my permission. Ever since Derek had proposed I be the one to replace Boyd in his pack, I had been nervously trying to avoid the subject every time I was alone with him. A little voice in the back of my head was constantly weighing the pros and cons, really digging deep to find my answer to him when the time came, although there was really never any question about it.

“Okay,” I said slowly, trying to figure out where Cece was going with this. She couldn’t actually expect me to confide in her, could she?

“I just wanted you to know that it’s a big deal for my brother. We were born with this, and while it may not seem like it, he’s fragile when it comes to turning people. He cares about Isaac and Erica, and he cared about Boyd. Just like he cares about you.”

“I know that.”

“So for him to be willing to turn you…that’s a big deal.”

“You don’t think it’s a big deal to me too? I’m human. Always have been. I had nothing to do with this world a year ago, and now suddenly I’m faced with the opportunity to join it, for real. Right now I have sort of one foot in, one foot out. But if I take that big step, if I cross over to the supernatural…there’s no going back,” I confessed in a firm but shaky voice. It was frightening, voicing all the thoughts that had been bouncing around in my head all week.

“Exactly. So why prolong the inevitable? Derek’s tearing himself up on the inside because he has no idea how you feel. So why don’t you just tell him?”

“What do you think? I don’t wanna break his heart,” I revealed, looking down at my clasped, trembling hands. It was the first time I’d told anyone I didn’t want to be a werewolf. Not now, not ever. But how was I supposed to tell Derek that I didn’t want to join the world he lived in? Especially so soon after losing the baby. The pain in our hearts was still fresh, and I didn’t want to hurt him anymore.

“How am I supposed to tell Derek that I don’t want to be what he is? How am I supposed to look him in the eye and say no? I can’t Cece, I just can’t,” I said agitatedly, my eyes growing wet as the emotions rose up in my chest.