SHE GASPED LOUDLY, MOVING TO sit next to Derek in one of the nicest cars that she had seen in years. Before anyone was even remotely near to the hospital room that she had just been in, they were already half way down the road with a blue jeep closenbehind them. Her phone vibrated in her jeans, making her slightly surprised that it was not broken, yet she ignored whatever it was.

Though Valentina's phone still continued to vibrate in her jeans, she stared at Derek and waited. She waited for any sign that he acknowledged her existence, or if he had any more questions because she definitely did. Valentina felt a need to remind herself that she was not the kind of girl that would wait for the guy to make the first move.

"How do you know those guys that were with you?" The brunette felt the temptation to turn behind and look at the car that seemed to be following the two Hales. If she could squint her eyes enough, it was almost as if she could see Scott and Stiles in front of her.

"It's a very long story, Val."

A small chuckle left the younger Hale's mouth, "We have a lot of time." Before Derek could even begin to think of the words to answer with, his phone was ringing in his pocket. He let a huge huff before he retrieved the phone, answering then putting it on speaker so that both of the Hales could hear.

Valentina glanced over at the the phone, seeing the caller ID being 'the Stiles kid' as she imagined the kid that she was just in a room with. "Look," Stiles began, as if they had already been there for the first half of their conversation, and listened with full concentration, "A dear ran, meaning ran directly, into Lydia's window shield with Allison next to her before Scott's mum called us."

"Called Scott, not both of you. She called Scott." Derek corrected him, turning left which caused the brunette next to her to grab on the anything that she could, so that the car didn't move her. Once they were driving down the road, Valentina went over what Stiles had said.

"Who's Lydia and Allison?"

She glanced to the side, seeing Derek out of the corner of her eye, tapping his fingers on the wheel before he indicated that he was turning left, whilst the boys continued going straight down the same road. "This has nothing to do with me. Okay, a deer ran into your friend's car, that in no way affects me. I'll call you back in a bit, Scott." Derek swiftly hung up before Stiles could begin a rant on anything and everything.

The cold air ran swiftly across Valentina's face, as she took a deep breath in, feeling like the she was finally able to breathe. All those years, thinking that all of her family was dead, that she was the last of her line, the last Hale and that she had to create a credible legacy. She thought about this constantly, even though she knew that she was not going to be able to do that at all.

The only thing that Valentina Hale could do well, was run. Her mother taught her, before the fire burnt her alive, that if you don't think that the fight you're in is one that you're going win, then the next best thing you can do is run, but what her mother didn't know was the guilt that came with running.

Knowing that you just ran away from your entire family going up in flames, yet you just keep running, your legs carrying you as fast and far away as they can before you need to rest. When you rest, whether that be days from when you begun or hours later, all you can do is think of the life that you have just surrendered yourself to, a life full of running.

"Valentina!" Derek shouted, attempting to get the small werewolf's attention. She turned to him, her eyes full of confusion, wondering why she had just been shouted at, even though the knew how her mind had drifted off onto a completely different subject. "Lydia and Allison are their friends. Supernaturally, we're not sure what Lydia is but, Allison was a hunter, an Argent."

Valentina's eyes widened and hearing the name Argent, wondering how Derek had managed to become friends with an Argent. At first, she was going to question him on why he thought it was safe for being friends with an Argent, but then she actually realised what she wanted to ask, beneath all the fake explanations.

"Who's that, uh, Stiles kid?" Her voice lowering when she asked, slightly biting her lips as she waited for her to be made fun of. Valentina hoped that she wasn't going to be, that it would take him a few days for it to be exactly like it was before the fire, she definitely knew that she needed that time, but she was not Derek.

Usually Valentina was laid back, but she had not been like that for a long time. She told herself that she knew that man that sat next to her, the last time she saw it may have been a few years back but she knew it. Valentina knew her cousin inside and out, she was allowed to laugh once or twice, wasn't she?

"Stiles?" Derek glanced towards Valentina, noticing how she was tense the last time he looked to her, but now the Hale was actually smiling, laughing in fact. "There were two boys there, and you decided on him? Maybe time does change people, what about - what was his name - Billy Anderson?"

Valentina began to laugh uncontrollably at the memories at her crushes when she was barely a seven year old. "I told you that I'm confidence!" She exclaimed, pointing her finger angrily at the werewolf before she calmed down, bringing herself back to the topic. "I wasn't saying that. I was just wondering."

Derek reversed into the car into his parking spot, turning the ignition off and getting out the car, "Good, I would have killed you if you did." Valentina let out a loud scoff, as she rested her hands on her hips and walking after her cousin.

"Well, now that I know that I'll have your disapproval, I might just go and shoot my shot. He is rather good looking." She retaliated, justifying herself by mentioning that it was not like she would being going down in her taste in men, it would definitely being upwards, in some ways.

Valentina felt that ignoring her issue, might help her but she was not ignoring that she found Stiles very good looking but she barely knew him enough to have form any good opinions on him. Besides that, when she was in the room with him, and a reminder that they were only there for a few minutes, she found him extremely annoying.

"Now you're just toying with me." Derek joked, opening the door to his loft, as Valentina was following right behind him. His loft was an industrial apartment complex downtown and larger than she had expected. It had a very spacious main room with concrete floors, but what she liked most was the large back wall window, that overlooked the city.

The bright lights from each building blinded the girl, but she didn't mind them, still stunned from the view. Derek leaned against a huge metal table that sat in front of the window, "Did you bring clothes with you?" The question brought Valentina back to the present, thinking whether she had originally or not.

She shook her head, licking her front teeth, "That, I don't think I did." The two Hales racked their mind for a solution to their problem, "I'll just wear this again—" Valentina suggested but she was interrupted, by Derek's thoughts on the situation.

"You have one of my shirts and those jeans will probably work for tomorrow, whilst you're at school, I'll find you something." He insisted, whilst he began to pull out his couch, which soon became a sofa bed.

"School?"

Immediately, Derek stopped what he was doing and looked to his younger cousin, "You haven't you been to a school since you left?" She sat herself down on the sofa bed, wondering how she would respond to his question. Valentina knew that she did not, but it wasn't as if she completely abandoned everything that she knew.

Her knowledge of algebra and the human body were not like they were when she was ten, she knew more than she did then, and she definitely new more than some people her age in some subjects. Definitely not physics though, she had always disliked that subject, based on her lack of knowledge on it.

"Derek, I didn't leave, I ran." She corrected him, making the situation slightly awkward before she attempted to go back, answering his question properly. "But to answer your question, no. No, I haven't been to school for a while but it's not like I don't know all the things that people my age are supposed to."

"You know how much I value education." Derek plumped down next to Valentina, before she looked to him, her back hunched and her hands tugging at each other. Her eyebrows furrowed, his opinion not matching up with her past knowledge.

"Derek, you hated school." Valentina objected, refusing to accept any kind of surrender when she could remember a young Derek Hale, walking into a room and throwing his bag onto the floor. Not only did he do this, he had repeatedly mentioned how he did not need school in his life and how he could function perfectly without it.

The older Hale shifted in his seat, before standing up and pushing two of the pillows down, "But I remember you loving it." She huffed loudly, knowing that beneath all her lies, she did one enjoy certain aspects of her school life, yet she was not popular. In fact, it seemed that the small werewolf was widely feared, which seemed to shock close to none.

"Yeah, when I was ten. I was probably doing finger painting." A scoff was blustered out after she had finished, leaning against one of the pillars. Valentina found herself looking back to the windows, wondering if there was ever going to be a time where she had got to get used to the view.

"Actually fractions, if I remember correctly." Carefully twisting her head back to Derek, she rolled her eyes indignantly, grabbing a notebook from the large table at the back of the room. She settled the book down rather obviously, on the ground next to the sofa bed.

"You are infuriating." Valentina huffed, flopping down on the sofa bed as Derek began to walk up the stairs, chuckling down at the small brunette. He looked down at his younger cousin, watching as her eyes began to peacefully drift off after the long and painful day she had had.

"And you have your first day of school tomorrow."