Breathe ⇏ DEREK HALE

T w o

Nikolai jolts awake to someone lightly kicking his leg, "Hey, kid?" 

Quickly sitting up, he takes in his surroundings. He's still in the woods, but there is a man standing in front of him, looking fairly confused as to why this kid is just laying in the middle of the woods. "Uh, yes?" Nikolai questions, his voice groggy from just waking up.

"Mind telling me why you're laying in the middle of the woods?" the man questions.

Rubbing his eye, Nikolai just sighs, "I was napping until I was rudely awoken, Mr. Dark and Mysterious. Actually, I should be asking why you're in the woods, you're obviously not out here jogging..." he gestures at the man's choice of clothing, which didn't look bad, it's just the fact it's definitely not meant to be exercised in.

After not getting much response other than a grunt, Nikolai gets up from the ground and swings his bag over his shoulder. "I obviously can't just keep calling you Mr. Dark and Mysterious, so stranger, what's your name? I'm Nikolai," He gives a half-smile and holds out his hand for a shake.

"Derek," He takes Nikolai's hand and gives a quick shake before taking his hand back.

Feeling accomplished by learning Derek's name, Nikolai's smile grows into a full one, before he raises a brow and looks off into the woods. Derek seems to also notice what caught his attention as he also turns to where Nikolai is looking. "Did you just uh, hear someone howl?" Nikolai asks before adding, "If you can even really call that a howl."

Not answering, Derek starts walking in the direction the both of them had just been looking in. Standing there for a second in confusion, Nikolai quickly rushes off to follow him. It didn't take long before both of them were standing there watching as a guy was searching for something on the ground while his friend just stood there talking. "Maybe the killer moved the body," the boy with the buzzcut says simply. 

Derek glances at Nikolai questioningly before turning back to watch the two, "If he did it I hope he left my inhaler, those things are like eighty bucks."

The buzzcut kid leans back a bit and looks over and notices Nikolai and Derek standing there and quickly slaps his friend to get his attention. With both boys looking, Derek starts walking towards them, Nikolai following. "What are you doing here? Huh?" Derek asks harshly. "This is private property."

Nikolai looks at Derek out of the corner of his eye, wondering why he didn't react the same way at him for being out here. "Sorry man, we didn't know," buzzcut apologizes.

"Yeah we were just looking for something but, uhm, forget it, uh-" 

He's cut off by Derek tossing something at him, which he catches. He opens his hand to reveal that he tossed him the inhaler he was looking for just moments ago. The two look between Derek and Nikolai, wondering what just happened. They didn't have time to respond as Derek begins to walk away, Nikolai looks between Derek and the two before rushing off to catch up with Derek once again.

-

"So, what was that all about?" Nikolai inquires, still walking with Derek.

"Nothing that concerns you," He says simply.

Nikolai bites his bottom lip, a nervous habit of his, and tries to think of a response. "Well, I mean it kind of is, those two are in my sister's class, so it'd be nice to know if they're criminals or something."

He looks down at his black and white converse, looking at the scuff on the toe of it. Not realizing Derek had stopped, he runs into his back. "Oh shit, I'm sorry!" He quickly apologizes and takes a step back.

Sighing, Derek turns to look at the shorter male. "No, they're not criminals, but why are you still following me?" 

"Oh uh," Nikolai pauses, "the thing is, I don't really get along with my parents, I don't hate them, we just don't see eye to eye is all."

Derek scans over the younger face, noticing the beauty marks that are scattered. The next thing that leaves his mouth surprises him, "I guess you can hang out around here for a bit, just don't go bringing friends around."

Nikolai's face brightens up, and he watches as Derek walks up the steps of the burnt and falling apart house before sprinting after. He runs up the steps and walks through the open door, closing it behind him. As he turns to follow Derek once more, he is shocked by his surroundings. Sure, it's all burnt and falling apart, but at the same time, Nikolai finds it comforting. He finds it beautiful in its own way. "Are you just gonna stand there gaping or are you going to sit down?" Derek asks, snapping him out of his stupor.

"Oh uh, yeah!," Nikolai apologizes, turning to look at Derek who is sitting on a chair in the corner of the room, "I just, even though everything is burnt and falling apart, I can't help to feel somewhat comforted it. It's beautiful."

Derek just watches as the male walks over and sits in the chair near him, wondering how someone can find beauty in something that has been through so much. "So, Der, can I call you Der? I don't know, I think I'm going to call you Der," he rambles, "Anyways, back on topic, what is this place, do you live here?"

Even though he won't admit it, he liked the younger calling him Der. Derek nods in response to Nikolai's question, "I do, and this was my childhood home before it got burnt down."

Derek waited for him to respond badly to the fact that he lived here, but he got quite the opposite, "Oh my god, awesome, I mean, not the fact it got burnt down, but the fact you actually live here is, I mean, sure it's not in the best condition," Nikolai says as a piece of wood falls, "But it's still really nice."

Once again, Derek only grunts in response, which doesn't seem to bother Nikolai, in fact, it's quite the opposite. He's only known this man for about an hour, but he already feels comfortable around him. Not even bothering to check the time, the two just sit there in silence, enjoying each other's company, there's no tension or awkwardness in the air, just comfort.

author's note:

i honestly had a lot of fun writing this chapter, i felt kind of confused as to how i should start it at the beginning though.

i hope you enjoyed it though! and remember, don't be a silent reader, your thoughts and feedback are greatly appreciated! xx