Rhythm

Part 7

Time passed, bad guys came and went, but Beacon Hills remained the same. Protected. Surrounded by a squad of do-gooders with supernatural abilities. You made yourself smile as you wrote the last line in your diary.

"'Surrounded by a squad of do-gooders with supernatural abilities'?" You jumped at Derek's skeptical voice behind you, glancing up to see him reading over your shoulder, an amused look on his face.

Gasping and slamming the book shut, you turned to face him in your chair. "How dare you! Reading my diary and insulting it, too?" You tisked, shaking your head in mock disappointment.

"You are complaining about my criticism while ignoring the fact that I just snuck up on you? You're getting sloppy. You also should set your priorities."

You smiled down at the floor ruefully. "Really, Hale?" Your priorities were plenty set, and that was what was terrifying. Anytime it was just the two of you, your keen senses faded away, and simple things like jumping out of closets or coming around a corner had become a normal thing. He loved that he could scare you.

But you had noticed the same thing happening with him.

Looking up into those eyes you had come to memorize, you spoke quietly, almost sadly. "My priorities are as straight as they can be."

He crossed his arms, Mr. Broody Pants coming on. "Oh really? Then tell me."

You rose from the chair, going around to it's back and leaned against it. The wood groaning slightly in protest oddly similar to how you felt, creaking against the new pressure. Holding Derek's gaze, you spoke calmly. "My priorities scare me, they are so clear. And living here, among the supernatural badasses, they are constantly having to shift. Death or life? Friends or family? Pack or blood? You. That's the one I always come back to, the one I have to fight to put below anything else, despite what is necessary. And I find more and more that I can't."

Derek's face softened, his arms dropping slowly to his sides.

You began to smile as you continued. "I can't put you any lower on my list than the top, and I think that is why you can startle me, and why I can make you scream like a banshee if I sneak up on you. We're comfortable with one another. We trust each other. Explicitly. And I always have. Right from the start, I knew. I knew you were someone I could trust no matter what. And I do."

Derek stood motionless across from you, staring, a soft look in his eyes the only giveaway of any emotion in particular.

"You were right. It's a great little rhythm to fight to, and now that I can hear it, too, it's all I can think about when I can't hear it. You saved my life, helped me become who I am, and I'm thankful everyday. But even before all that, even though it was only a few hours, somehow I knew."

Derek was smiling softly, looking like he was about to cry, something he had only ever done in extreme circumstances, like a death he feels he could have prevented, or when thinking about his family, and even sometimes when he snuck down to watch Netflix after you were asleep. The Titanic had caused him to break down into a hopeless little puddle of sobs and incoherent muttering.

"Remember.... Remember when you told me about when you first saw me? You said there was a word in the silence."

Derek nodded. "You. I didn't even know your name, but my heart knew it was you."

You nodded, feeling your own tears coming. "That is exactly what you said."

"I know. I would never forget that. I couldn't even if I wanted to."

"Remember when you told me about all the different types of silences?"

He nodded. Nodding seemed to be the only applicable response to avoid the tears you had threatening to spill.

"What type was I?"

He smiled and reached out for your hand, taking it gently, and closing the distance as a silent tear finally fell down his face. "All of them."

Oh hell. That did it. Now you were letting the tears fall, holding back the disgusting, snotty sob of a laugh you knew was building in your throat.

"It was like seeing someone die in front of me, and the world just stopped."

"Because they were a little bit of your world, and that skip is so profound, it makes your heart beat sound like it's in your ears when you hear it again." You finished his explanation for him.

He nodded. "It was like when you look across a crowded room, and meet the eyes of a random stranger, and all you see is them. All I saw was you. My mouth was moving, sounds coming out, and my feet were moving, carrying me forward, but all that existed was you."

"That beat goes on for a while, and suddenly the world goes back to normal, because you realize they were always meant to be a part of your life. You just hadn't met them yet."

He was looking down at your joined hands, smiling as he gave them a gentle squeeze.

"And when your heart beat stutters whenever someone walks into the room. Into your thoughts. Into your dreams. You know that person is your person. The one who will forever hold a piece of your heart. A part of your world. The beat of your heart. The silence will always have their name."

He met your eyes once again, and you let out a loud sniffle, making him laugh softly and you shoved him gently with your shoulder.

"Do you remember what you told me?" He asked in a quiet voice.

You nodded. All you could manage was a whisper. "So don't you dare feel like you don't mean everything to me. I found my other half. The one who literally matches me beat for beat. Even the missed ones. Why would I ever let go?"

He pulled your joined hands up between you both, leaning into you, resting his forehead against yours, only managing a whisper himself. "I found my other half. My anchor. My mate. The one who literally matches me beat for beat. Even the missed ones. Why would I ever let go?"

A silence hung in the room as the words sunk in. A silence filled only with the sound of two hearts beating in perfect tandem. Even the skips. Except now the skips weren't the familiar silence you had grown used to. They didn't have just a name. They had a new word.

Home.

You looked up into Derek's eyes, and you knew he heard it, too. The moment your eyes met, the new silence surrounded you. And you knew your priorities were set right.

Home.