That Girl (A Derek Hale Love Story)

Chapter 19

EDITED

"Alright guys, that's enough for today." Haylie slowed down her pace a little on the treadmill, her eyes not leaving the reflection she had been watching for a while now. "Really good job. You should be proud of yourselves." The voice continued that she could hear perfectly, considering there was no sound coming from the headphones in her ears. She watched the small group of people head to their bags that held their belongings, talking in their groups and saying their goodbyes. Her eyes moved back to the man that was taking large gulps from his water bottle but nodding along to one of the women who stayed to talk to him. She appeared to be thanking him, as when he dropped the water bottle back to his front, he used one hand to reassuringly pat her shoulder. Haylie's eyes darted quickly back to her own reflection as the mans eyes fell towards her.

Haylie tried to look like she was focussed on herself while she could faintly see he was making her way towards her and away from the empty space his group had just been occupying. "Miss Stilinksi." He greeted as he stood next to the machine, his eyes falling on her phone that the headphones were connected to. Haylie pulled out a headphone with a smile and pushed the slow down buttons to change her jog into a walk.

"Detective Williams." She greeted, as if she hadn't known he had been in the gym with her all this time. "Twice in one day." He nodded and leant his body on the large mirror she had been watching him through.

"Both times you seem to be in a rush." He chuckled and leant forward a little to see the 4-mile marker on the treadmill. "You running from something?" The remark caused her smile to falter a little and look down to her running shoes. "I saw you come down from upstairs. Are you taking a class?" She shook her head and looked back up to his face to see the way it tilted in thought.

"Ballet." He nodded again. "The whole of upstairs is a studio." She expanded and decided to stop the treadmill altogether.

Detective Williams motioned with his head to where he had just been teaching. "You seemed pretty interested in my class." She looked back down again, embarrassed she had been caught when she thought she was being sly. "You know with what you told us about Hale, your interest makes me wonder if you're feeling a little unsafe." She quickly shook her head. "Hey it's okay. It's normal that if somebody is stalking you, you want to feel protected. It's a self-defence class so,"

"I already told you guys; Derek wasn't stalking me. It was a misunderstanding."

"He was arrested on suspicion of murder Haylie."

"I thought all charges had been dropped."

He waited a moment before nodding. "That's true, but it doesn't mean you can't still be afraid of what obsession can turn into."

"It looks to me like you're trying to make my statement into something it isn't Detective Williams. Derek was released. He isn't guilty of anything and my statement about our misunderstanding doesn't change that."

"Call me Dan." Haylie moved off the treadmill and towards her bag lying next to his feet. "Maybe you're right. Maybe I'm thinking too much into it but, just remember that you don't need to be scared and if there is something you didn't tell us, know that you can."

Haylie scoffed and picked up her own water bottle. "You keep suggesting that I'm scared. Why?" He reached forward and took the phone her other headphone was connected to. He nodded when he proved his suspicions were correct.

"Because your eyes and ears were on my class more than the people actually participating." She looked down to the lock screen, proving no music had been playing but before she could think of an excuse he shrugged and pushed himself off the mirror. "Look just think about it okay." He said, stopping her from saying anything to further embarrass herself. "Get home safe Haylie."