Stuck Like Glue (Derek Hale Fanfiction Book #2)

Chapter Seventeen: Reconciliation

           I was too stunned to respond, although Cate apparently didn’t have any such qualms. Stepping forward to partially block my view of Derek, she crossed her arms over her chest and let out an animalistic growl.

“Back away, wolf boy,” she hissed, glaring at Derek. Quick as a flash, Isaac and Erica were out of their seats and by Derek’s side, eyes glowing yellow and sharp teeth bared.

“You first, bloodsucker,” Isaac spat, jaw clenched tightly in restraint.

“Enough, okay? Cate, I can handle this,” I said at last, regaining my voice and gently shouldering my friend out of the way. What the fuck are you thinking? My inner voice chastised me, but the instinct to at least hear what he had to say overpowered any misgivings I might have. Derek nodded gratefully, and I swiftly followed him out onto the stretch of sidewalk outside the restaurant.

Derek’s POV

“Go ahead. Talk,” Chris said coldly, crossing her arms over her chest and glowering at me. The hatred and pain in her beautiful dark eyes made my heart squeeze, and I wanted more than anything to just be able to pull her into my arms and soothe away all the wrong in her life. But with another sharp pang of regret, I realized I was the wrong in her life.

“Chris, I just want a chance to explain.”

“So explain. I’m listening.”

Okay then, here goes nothing. “I just wanted you to be safe. I didn’t want you to have to always live in fear of him; to flinch every time someone said his name. I wanted to protect you, more than anything else in the world, and I still do. Please believe that.”

“But if you wanted to protect me, why would you take away my father? No matter what he did, he was still my father, Derek. Maybe it’s been a while since you’ve been around actual family, but to me that means something.”

Ouch. I tried not to show how much her words wounded me, but I felt like Chris had just stabbed me in the chest. Did she really think I didn’t know what family meant? That I didn’t treasure the bonds of family just as much, if not more than she did? If there was one thing I could change about my life, I would bring back my family without hesitation.

“How can you even say that? Family means everything to me, and I don’t treat it lightly-“

“But when it’s not your family, who cares, right? When it’s somebody else’s family, you can just kill them and you think nobody will care right? Because nobody is as important as your family, Derek,” Chris spat in disgust, and now I was confused. Didn’t she just say that I didn’t care about family? And now she’s saying I only care about my family?

“No, of course not. I would never take away somebody else’s family. Especially because I know what it feels like to lose somebody you love,” I admitted, feeling the usual burn in my throat as thoughts about my deceased family rose to the surface. I pushed them back down, swallowing my grief, and focused my gaze back on Chris’s glowing face, which was marred with a furious and upset expression.

“So then why did you do that to me, huh? You say you’d never take away somebody else’s family, and yet you took away somebody in mine.”

“Chris, you’re father stopped being your dad a long time ago. The sooner you come to terms with that, the sooner you’ll realize that what I did was solely out of love for you.”

“Don’t you dare-“

“No, don’t you dare. Don’t you dare act like your father was the perfect man! Like he was worth forgiving, like he deserved to live. You told me everything that he did, and you know just as well as I do that he would never have apologized to you. You lost your father a long time ago, Chris! Why don’t you just admit that?”