"REALLY? THEY FIRED you just like that?" Chad Thomas asked with his face scrunched up. I huffed a strand of my hair out of my face from the opposite side of his room, nodding my head in distain.

It was true, I had been fired from my job at the grocery store. Part of it was because I stormed out of the place without notice or really telling anybody and because I had taken off so many days over the summer.

Now all I had was my job at the bowling ally, which I would have to start picking up more shifts at.

Currently I was at Chad's house helping him pack his shit for collage. We'd been going at it for an hour now and I was just starting to break a sweat. My hair was tossed up into a pony tail messily and I wore navy blue leggings with a loose fitting teal tanktop. I had also gone straight from the gym to his house.

"It sucks," I huffed, folding shut a cardboard box before labeling it Books. This was the third box of books and he still had enough for another.

"Are you gonna get another job to replace it?" Chad asked, transpoting a stack of clothes from his dresser into a box.

"Not yet. I think I'm just gonna work more hours at the bowling ally," I sighed.

"You hate it there," Chad frowned, halting his movements to look my way. I did the same and tilted my head at him.

"I've had worse jobs, Chad. I can put up with the smell of feet, obnoxious children, and the same ten songs blaring on repeat for the pay. Only way to put a roof over mine and Isaac's head," I said pointedly with a shrug. There were a fair share of things I disliked about the bowling ally, but they paid fourteen dollars an hour and the cheese fries were good.

"Remind me again why you don't just move back in with Derek?" Chad didn't know a thing about the supernatural but I had given him a basic rundown on mine and Derek's relationship, "Y'all are probably gonna end up married with three kids and a golden retriever soon anyways."

I rolled my eyes at this, getting back to boxing up books, "We're not even really dating right now. Besides, I don't want to have a false sense of security by relying on someone. I want to be the one to provide for me and Isaac, not someone who could throw our asses out at any moment."

"Not even dating? Please, Julia, do not patronize me," he pretty much only pulled out what he wanted to, "What's the difference between dating and just being friends?"

"Romantic interest," I offered, keeping my eyes down. I didn't want to see the look on Chad's face. I was worried if I did I'd end up spilling my guts and confessing that I was pretty sure I almost, possibly, sort of loved Derek.

"Romance, hand holding, sex, cuddles after sex, dates, living together," Chad listed, "You guys do all of that. You said yourself that you're having sleepovers almost every night."

"We've never made it official," I denied persistantly. I refused to accept that we were dating unless it came straight from Derek's mouth.

"Girl, shut up," Chad scoffed, "You keep waiting for him to make it official but what if he's waiting for you to? Just ask him the next time you see him. And not after having sex, I'm talking the next second you see his face, grill him."

"Chad, I--" my voice was interrupted by my phone ringing. I glanced around before spotting it. Upon picking it up, I saw it was Isaac.

"Hello?"

"Hey. I'm at Derek's, we're having Peter come over to do some werewolf thing and go through my memories," Isaac replied, making my brows furrow.

"What?" I blurted, flicking my eyes over to Chad. I had to be mindful of what I said.

"So he can find out what I forgot. Possibly find out where Erica and Boyd are," He explained. That was all it took for me to agree.

"Okay. I'll be there within the next half hour," I nodded even thought he couldn't see me.

"Sounds good. See you then."

"Bye."

I hung up before sympathetically looking towards Chad. He had a slightly smug expression on his face as he raised a brow, "And where exactly are you running off to?"

"Derek's," I said in a slight mumble. He opened his mouth like he was about to say something but I held up a finger and talked over him, "but it's for Isaac, not him!"

"Mhm," Chad rolled his eyes through he was smiling, "Likely story."

"I'm serious!" I laughed, grabbing a nearby shirt off the floor and throwing it at him.

Easily dodging it, he shook his head, "Whatever you say."

"I hate you."

"Love you too."

* * * * *

I'd been at Derek's loft for a total of ten minutes and I was already mildly annoyed. His genuis idea to go through Isaac's memory actually wasn't the greatest. Isaac was clearly growing nervous as well.

"You know, I'm starting not to like this idea. Sounds kinda dangerous," Isaac said as he paced back and forth in front of the large window, "You know what? I definitely don't like this idea, and I definitely don't like him."

"Ditto," I mumbled from where I was propped up against the table a few feet away, Derek sitting in a chair right beside it.

"You'll be fine," he said, almost sounding annoyed. I rolled my eyes.

"Does it have to be him?" Isaac asked, approaching the table.

"He knows how to do it. I don't. Be more dangerous if I tried doing it myself," Derek explained again.

"You know Scott doesn't trust him, right? You know, personally, I'd. . . well, I'd trust Scott," Isaac rambled while playing with another chair. I hummed.

"Honestly I'd trust just about anyone other than Peter," I said simply. Something about him was just extremely offputting despite his amusing wit.

"Do you trust me?" Derek challenged, finally turning to look at my brother.

"Yeah," Isaac replied, prompting his alpha to nod, "I still don't like him."

"Nobody likes him," Derek said lowly.

Of course that summoned the man himself as the door slid open dramatically, revealing Peter Hale. He wore a white shirt under a brown jacket and plain jeans.

"Boys, Julia," he greeted, slowly sauntering in, "F.Y.I., yes, coming back from the dead has left my abilities somewhat impaired, but the hearing still works. So I hope you're comfortable saying whatever it is that you're feeling straight to my face," he had his arms outstretched as he looked between us, a cocky expression etched on his face.

"We don't like you," Derek said bluntly. I smiled.

"Your voice kinda gives me a migraine," I added on with a shrug.

"So shut up and help us," Derek concluded, slamming shut and setting aside his book before standing up and stalking closer.

"Fair enough," Peter raised his brows and flicked out his claws at his side.

Isaac took a seat on the chair while Derek moved to sit on the couch. I placed myself in front of Isaac, my arms crossed as I watched Peter's every move. The game plan was that Peter would stick his claws in the back of Isaac's neck and suddenly he'd see his memories.

"Relax. I'll get more out of you if you're calm," Peter instructed a nervous Isaac. I knew he wouldn't be doing this if he didn't care so much about Boyd and Erica.

"How do you know how to do this, again?" He asked, glancing back.

"It's an ancient ritual used mostly by alphas, since it's a skill that requires quite a bit of practice. One slip, and you could paralyze someone. Or kill them," Peter elaborated, scrutinizing the back of Isaac's neck. My worry only increased after that.

"You-You've had a lot of practice, though, right?" Isaac asked the question on my mind.

"Well, I've never paralyzed anyone," Peter said rather ominously.

"Yeah, no," I shook my head, starting to walk over to them, "Let's not--"

I was cut off by Peter abruptly shoving his claws in. Isaac made a strange noise and jerked a bit, his arms going up to try and pry Peter's hands away. I bit my lip anxiously. Peter and Isaac both continued to struggle, Derek soon leaping to his feet.

"Wait, I see them," Peter choked out, continuing to move around weirdly. Derek and I exchanged a nervous look.

Soon he shot backwards, hunching over the table while Isaac gasped, also leaning forward and rubbing his neck. I kneeled in front of him while Peter took a few steps, still visibly rattled.

"You good?" I asked Isaac. He nodded, calming me imedietly.

"What'd you see?" Derek asked. I turned as well, focusing on Peter. I'd never seen him like this.

"It was confusing," Peter shook his hand out, "Um, im. . . images. Vague shapes."

"But you saw something," Derek was more telling than asking.

"Isaac found them," Peter finally blurted.

"He found Erica and Boyd? Where?" I demanded, rising to my full height again.

"I barely saw them. I mean, glimpses," Peter shook his head slightly.

"But you did see them!" Derek raised his voice.

"And worse," He revealed.

One look with Derek and we said the same name at the same time, "Deucalion."

"He was talking to them. Something about time running out," Peter went on while Derek sat back down and I let out a heavy sigh.

"What does it mean?" Isaac asked sadly, looking to Derek.

"He's gonna kill them," Derek suggested, rubbing his hands. I frowned and sat down beside him.

"No, no, no," Peter repeated, disagreeing, "He didn't say that. He did make them a promise that by the full moon that they'd both be dead."

"The next full moon?" Derek asked angrily. My jaw clenched, facing Peter.

"That's tomorrow fucking night."

"Precisely."

* * * * *

I sighed softly as I was stood in front of the sink at Derek's loft, blow drying my hair after getting out of the shower. I was dressed in a large camo print shirt that used to be Camden's and my plain black underwear. As I was running my hand through my still damp hair, another person joined me in the mirror.

Derek was also still wet from our shared shower, his hair flopping against his forehead and a pair of shorts hanging from his hips. He sent me a grin before suddenly shaking his head wildly, flinging water droplets all over me.

I gasped dramatically, turning to look at him with my jaw dropped, "Do you have to shake yourself dry?"

Derek snickered moving closer to wrap his arms around my waist and watch through the mirror as I continued drying my hair. I raised a brow at him but said nothing as I kept going.

He usually wasn't this clingy. He never was so touchy and huggy. It made me happy but confused. Chad had successfully gotten into my head and now I felt the question what are we? on the tip of my tongue. I felt like a dumb school girl.

"What're you thinking about?" He asked, his chin moving from where it rested on my shoulder. I smirked as I turned off my blow dryer and set it down, turning around in his arms to face him.

"You," I said honestly, my arms looping around his neck. He adorned a similar expression to my own, slowly pulling my closer.

"Really?" He asked lowly, our faces only a few inches apart. I nodded and he continued, "What about me?"

I grinned even wider as I limited the space between our lips to barely a centimeter.

"You smell like a wet dog."

Giggling at my own joke, I fled the bathroom and ran towards his bedroom. I heard him huff and chase after me, both of our feet thudding against the hard floor. I barely made it into his room before I was lifted off of the ground and thrown.

I was smiling widely as I bounced against his bed, turning to face him. Moments later Derek jumped on as well, grabbing my ankles to pull me closer to him. I laughed again.

"You better take that back," Derek ordered jokingly, stradling me and holding my wrists on either side of my head with his large hands. I grinned cheekily at him.

"Never."

Derek rolled his eyes, dipping his head down to pepper kisses along my neck.

And even though what happened next was fun and all, part of me wished I had asked that damn question.

a/n

hiiiiii i hope y'all liked this chapter, it was cute/fun to write especially the last scene. i know a lot didn't happen this chapter but there's just some things we've got to get through one way or another 😴 fret not, my precious readers, it will pick up the pace soon. i'm so ducking excited to write some parts 🥰

also i don't think i've ever mentioned this but i picture david lambert (gif above) as chad

don't forget to toss some comments my way (as if y'all aren't already the best 🥺😘) & i will see y'all next time! <33333