It did not take minutes. In fact, Stiles and Scott have been searching for information about the robbery for the past three hours and they’ve yet to come up with anything. In the meantime, Derek and Charlie retired to the loft. Isaac hasn’t been seen since everyone left the vet office. Charlie suspects the beta needs time to his thoughts.
Derek cuddles Charlie to his chest, his fingers playing with hers while they lounge on the couch. Neither speak. The silence surrounding them is comfortable and enjoyable. Both know it won’t last long. Not while living in Beacon Hills. Derek brushes his lips against her head that she rests on his shoulder.
“We should get some sleep,” he murmurs. He’s noticed that she’s more lively than she’s been in months but he’s worried she’ll over-do it.
She chuckles lightly, rotating her head so that they’re face to face. Derek searches for any signs of exhaustion that she might be hiding away. Her blue eyes shine as alive and bright as the day he first laid eyes on her. She closes the small distance and captures his lips in a gentle kiss.
It’s sweet and slow. Her kisses usually are. It’s Derek who takes that little bit more. Who is unable—unwilling—to fight the primal urge that she awakens inside him. So, when she gently rakes her nails against his scalp, he pulls her onto his lap and deepens the kiss. His fingers dig into her back as he closes the space between their chests.
They sit there, melding their lips into one. Hands caressing cheeks, backs, and running through each other’s hair. Derek’s fingers find the buttons to her cardigan and pops each one free. She helps him slide the fabric from her shoulders, the cool air of the loft sending goose bumps across the exposed flesh. She’s just discarded his own shirt when she feels it.
At first she ignores it. The sudden, warm goo in her ear. It isn’t until it drips down her bare neck that she pulls away from Derek and holds a hand to the exposed column. When she pulls her fingers away, she blanches at the sight of black blood on her fingertips.
Derek’s seen her cry before. Once after the kanima and his kid master took everyone hostage in the police station. The culmination of events of that night had been overwhelming for her. Especially her half. Then she had cried herself to sleep at the beginning of the summer after her first episode. However, Charlie had never reacted the way she did in that moment.
Disgusted, Charlie throws herself away from Derek. She scratches at her neck and ear in an attempt to make the blood disappear. Red and black mix as her nails nick her skin. Derek stands with her, his arms finding their way around the panicking blonde but she fights against him until he is forced to release for fear of hurting her. When she faces him, Derek feels every piece of his heart break.
She’s terrified. After months of trying to pretend as though she wasn’t bothered and after feeling fine for an evening, the sight of the black blood has thrown her over the edge. Derek holds his hands out between them, wanting to comfort her but clueless as to how to do so.
“W-what’s h-h-happening to m-me?” she asks, her words barely audible through the tears.
Derek takes a hesitant step forward. “I don’t know. We’ll figure it out.”
A few more tears escape her eyes and that’s when Derek sees it. The black liquid bubbling at her lips and the beginning drips from her nose. Her fingers follow his gaze to feel the newest blood. A fresh wave of tears escape her and she backs away until the wall stops her. When she collapses onto the floor, head in her hands, she asks the one thing Derek’s refused to think for the past three months.
