The Young Hunter: The Hunter's Daughter Book 2 (A Supernatural Fanfiction)

Chapter 8: Awkward

I wake up the next morning, my headphones in my ears. The sun peers through my curtains and I sit up. An empty plate lays next to me and my clothes are all wrinkled from sleeping in them. I check my reflection with my phone's camera and grimace at the raccoon eyes that my eyeliner had created.

I get up and walk to the bathroom across the hall and clean up my face. When I open the door, I run smack into Derek. I put my hands on his chest to steady me and when I look up, my eyes go wide with how close our faces were.

"Uh," I say, pulling away. I smooth out my clothes and look down. "Good morning."

"Morning," Derek says, putting his hands in his pockets. "I, uh, need to go in there."

"Oh!" I say with a nervous laugh. "Right, sorry." I walk to my room, shaking my head. Oh my gosh, Em! Get yourself together!

I sigh and lean up against my now closed door, my head spinning. It was going to be a long day.

***

"I'm going out," Bobby says. "The others will probably be back before me. I got a friend that's in a bit of trouble."

Derek and I nod. "Where at?"

"Montana," Bobby says. "You two make sure that there's room for Carter. The boys say she's pretty banged up."

I nod and Bobby leaves the house. Derek and I stand there for a moment.

"So," Derek says. "How are you?"

I nod. "I'm good. You?"

"Good," he says and I wince at the awkward tension between us.

"Emma-"

"Derek-" we say at the same time. "You first," I say.

Derek looks at me now. "I wish I could say I was sorry about yesterday... But the more I think about it, the bigger a lie that would be."

I feel my cheeks flush. "Derek-"

"I know," he says, cutting me off. "It's stupid. And I am sorry that I'm not sorry. I just... I don't want things to be awkward between us."

I nod. "Me neither."

He smiles. "Good."

"Can we just agree that we will never speak about it again? And promise that it will never happen again?"

He gives me a weird look. "Hm," he says. "We don't have to speak of it... But..." And before what I know what is happening, he comes up to me. He grabs my face in his hands and presses his lips to mine. I go to fight it, but instead, I feel my arms wrap around his shoulders.

When we pull away I feel as if I'm out of breath. I swallow hard and bite my lip. Derek smiles down at me and steps away. "I'm going to shower," he says. I watch as he walks upstairs and when I know he's out of earshot, I let out a small scream.

"Like I said," I say to myself. "You're dumb."

***

I try to avoid Derek all day by staying in my room. When I went down for dinner, though, I run into him. Literally.

I smack my head against his shoulder and pull back, putting my hand to my head. "Ow," I say. "I am so sorry that I keep doing that."

He laughs and rubs his shoulder. "You're fine," he says. He raises an eyebrow at me. "You okay? I feel like you've been avoiding me all day."

I shrug and put my hands in my back pockets. "No," I lie. "It's just been a lazy day, I guess."

He smirks. "Right," he says, drawing it out. "Whatever you say, Em."

I give a nod. "Yeah. I'm going to get some food and then head back upst-" I can't finish what I'm saying because Derek's lips are on mine without warning. This time, though, I do push him away.

"Derek," I say and he gives me a confused look. "We can't-"

He presses his lips together and looks down. "No," he says, shaking his head. "I understand."

"I'm sorry."

He shakes his head. "No. Really. I understand. You like him more."

"What?"

He gives me a humorless laugh. "Oh, don't play stupid, Emma. We all see how you look at Michael."

I cross my arms, suddenly angry. "And we see how you look at Carter. What's your point?"

He shakes his head. "My point is you're obviously head over heels for that guy. And sure. I like Carter. But I have feelings for you, too, you know."

"You do?" I ask my cheeks reddening.

"Yeah," he says. "How can you not see it? I try to make it as obvious as possible. Everyone else seems to notice."

"Derek," I say.

"No," he says, shaking his head. "You don't need to say anything more."

"Dammit, Derek," I say and without thinking I crush my lips to him, catching him by surprise. He pauses, but only briefly. He pushes me up against the wall, deepening the kiss. His hands tangle in my hair and I cling onto his shirt. When we pull away, we are both out of breath. We look into each other's eyes and give each other small kisses.

Smiling, Derek pulls away. "I was going to order a pizza," he says. "Any preference?"

"Pepperoni's good," I say and he nods.

"Alright," he says. "I'll be right back."

When the pizza arrives, we sit in the living room with the tv on. We talk and laugh and my mind wanders to simpler times. I remember back to when Michael and I had done this exact same thing the night my mom died, but I push that back. Everything was perfect right now and I don't want it to be spoiled.

Derek and I kiss a lot. At one point, he tries to go for more, but I stop him. "I'm going to bed," I say.

He smiles. "Good idea. I could use some sleep, too." I look at the clock to see that it was one in the morning.

I smile and walk up the stairs. I shut the door behind me and smile. I reach for my phone that I had left on my bed to see a new text message from three hours ago.

"Hey. Just wanted to see what you were up to. Hope you're having a good day and can't wait to see you," it reads. I freeze when I see it's from Michael. Good job, Emma. I bite my lip.

"It's not like you're cheating on him," I say, laying down. With that thought in mind, I close my eyes and slowly drift off.