That Girl (A Derek Hale Love Story)

Chapter 12

EDITED

Most of the drive to the studio was silent. There was an unspoken level of embarrassment for both parties involved in the nearly kiss and to cope was apparently, to stay silent. Once they had reached the road leading to town Haylie opened her mouth to try and break the silence, but Derek beat her to it. "The animal clinic is right opposite your studio, right?"

Derek knew it was, but he knew whatever she was about to say was not a topic he was likely to want to discuss. He could tell from the constant fidgeting that she was feeling the tension in the car as much as he was. "Yeah it is, why?" She had turned a little to face him after he spoke. His eyes remained on the road and she saw clearly that while her embarrassment had made her shy, his had made him cold.

"Scott should be working today. There's no reason for me to stick around and babysit." The cold tone took her completely of guard for only a moment before the insult stabbed her in the chest.

"Ouch."

He didn't bother to turn to her. He was doing what he did best which was pushing anyone away that could get too close to him and with what happened in the house, Haylie was definitely getting too close to him. She kept her eyes on him for a minute more, expecting after her sarcastic remark that he would say something in return. Maybe tell her he didn't mean it that way and that he was sorry for insulting her. But no. He stayed silent until they pulled into the small parking lot.

While he turned off the car, she had no intention of sticking around. "You know Derek." He turned to her just as she reached into the backseat to grab her gym bag. "Don't worry about looking out for me. I didn't know you putting me in danger was such a burden to your lifestyle."

He reached over to keep the door shut just as she tried to open it and make a dramatic exit. "Okay you know, you keep blaming me for what happened..."

"Because it was your fault." Haylie interrupted him and managed to move further away from into the car door as he moved back.

"I must have missed the part where I tied your sneakers for you and told you to go for a run." He stared at her waiting for the response however, she didn't have a comeback for him. In her mind she had been blaming Derek, but he was right, it wasn't his fault that the Alpha attacked her. "I was the one saving you and I told you the truth when your brother was lying. I'm the one that has spent this whole morning with you because you wanted to feel safe." He was working himself up as he listed the things, he had been doing for her. Yet she still stayed silent, letting it sink in just how right he was.

However, a technique she had learned from Lydia came out of her instead of an apology. "Well I didn't ask you to do that so, maybe if you stopped with the mood swings you would have more than just me to hang out with on a Saturday morning." Denial with a hint of insult. Instead of waiting to regret her words, she opened the car door and swung her bag on her shoulder. What she didn't expect was to hear the second slam of a car door.

"You want to talk about mood swings?" She stopped and turned to face him as he came around the car. Her heart beating a little faster with the anticipation of him even mentioning the feelings between the two of them. "You are the one that can't make up their mind about whether to trust me or not. Of course, he was never going to mention their feelings. "After all the things I just listed off and the fact I have promised you more than once I will protect you, you're still looking at me like the bad guy."

"How the hell am I supposed to know whether to trust you or not? I don't know you Derek."

"Because you can't spend more than 10 minutes around me without telling me that I did this to you."