Let Me Love You

Please, Go Off

The rhythmic beating of my fists connecting with the steel wall of an abandoned subway car echoes throughout the tunnels along with my occasional grunts and labored breaths.

"Hadlee."

I ignore my brother and continue to let some of my aggression out on the subway car, denting it severely with each continuous punch.

"Hadlee. Stop."

I continue until my knuckles split open and start to bleed, letting out one finally extremely violent blow to a window and shattering it; lodging shards of glass in my hands while a large growl rips through my chest and the sound echoes through the silence.

"Hadlee."

"What, Derek?" I snap at him, moving to sit down and aggressively pluck the glass out of my hands.

"Aren't you supposed to be at school?" he moves in front of me, taking my hand and pulling the glass out much more gently than I had been.

"I'm not going. I don't have time for Scott's bullshit and with my luck, I'd be stuck dealing with him all day. No thanks," I tell him, "I shouldn't have come back. I should've stayed in Devenford."

"If you want to go back for a while, then go back. We can deal here," he tells me as he wraps up my hand, "Erika and Boyd are deciding to run soon anyways, you could leave with them."

"I'd be leaving you behind though. I can't leave my big brother again. It's just you, me, Cora, and Peter left."

"I'll be fine."

"Are you sure about that? Because you seem to have gotten yourself into a lot of trouble since you've been back in Beacon Hills, Der."

"If I'm not mistaken, so have you Had."

"Shut up," I give him a small smile, moving to pull on my jacket that had been previously discarded on the ground nearby.

"I'm not kidding. If you want to go back to Devenford for a while, go. We'll be okay until you get back."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure," he nods, gently pulling me into a hug, "I'm just as irritated as you are, but if you need to leave and take time for yourself. Do it."

I suck in a deep breath, "Okay. I'll be back soon."

>>>

I toss my bag of clothes and such in my backseat with my purse on the passenger side floor before getting in my car and pulling out my phone to make a call as I start up my car; the sun starting to set.

"Hi beautiful, what's up?" his silky smooth voice sounds from the speaker and my heart melts immediately.

"Hey, what are you doing tonight?" I ask, putting my phone on speaker and setting it in the cup holder and I pull out of my current parking space.

"I have a home game, why? Are you okay?" he questions, worry lacing his voice and I can envision the crinkles in his forehead that form when he furrows his eyebrows.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm actually on my way over to Devenford right now," I tell him, keeping my eyes on the road while stopping at a stop sign.

"I thought you said you couldn't come back over this way for a while?" a hint of amusement lacing his tone as he speaks.

"I did. But I got fed up with some of the people and I don't think being here is good for my headspace right now," I explain, turning onto the highway to make the drive over to Devenford Prep.

"So you decided to come to Devenford?"

"No, I decided to come to you."

"And you thought this was a good idea, why?"