L A Y L A ' S   P O V

"I have nothing to wear."

"Layla, we're looking at about ten different outfits options right now."

"None of these even remotely go together. Do you have no fashion sense at all?"

Derek sighs and let's his eyes fall closed. He starts counting on his fingers, muttering dates underneath his breath. He reopens his eyes and shrugs. "Makes sense."

I barely even have to think twice about what he was calculating because I may be a little snappy today. "My period is coming soon?"

Derek snorts a laugh. "Exactly. That why you're so—"

I pin my arms across my chest when I raise an eyebrow. "Why I'm so what?"

At my narrowed eyes and I dare you expression, a sheepish look crosses Dereks face and his eyes widen. "That you.." He says, stepping into me and cupping my face in his hands. "Are so breathingly beautiful."

"Nice save..asshole."

Rossi is hosting a New Year's Eve party tonight at his house, a small get together with some of the people from our office. I'm actually quite excited about it, except for the fact that I won't be able to kiss Derek at midnight. That's one of the many things that are annoying me today.

You know when you plan an outfit out in your head and are set on it, then you try it on and it looks absolutely nothing like you hoped? That's my delma right now.

So as a result I've pulled everything from the closet and layed it out on the bed, trying to come up with something different. But I can't and Derek is no help either. He tells me anything looks good on me. Which is sweet in theory, but really no help when I'm trying to decide between a two piece co ord or a dress.

"Fine, take your anger out on me." Derek shrugs nonchalantly, pulling me into him. His lips are smiling when he presses them to mine. "But remember it's the world that's out to get you today not me. I'm on your side."

The world really is out to get me today.

Not even including the pmsing I'm currently experiencing, I burnt my breakfast this morning and when I tried to make my coffee, the milk was sour. So I decided to order food instead and the wrong order was delivered. Twice.

Derek was at the gym when this all happened so I dragged myself out of the house to go get some food instead. When I finally got my right order, I stopped at CVS to run into the pharmacy while on my way back home. What do I come out to on my car? A parking ticket. Apparently I didn't see the no parking sign while I ran in to grab my contact prescription. Ironic.

Derek had to sit through me ranting about my day while I did my makeup, which I had to redo three times because it either was too cakey, too light or too dark. I honestly could have cried by the time I got to the stage of doing my hair and the parting wasn't sitting right.

But Derek isn't looking at me like I'm crazy yet so I'm taking that as a win.

I'm grateful that these are the biggest problems in my life right now, but it doesn't mean it's not frustrating.

Derek takes a seat on the edge of the bed, pulling me into his lap. I drape my arms over his shoulders when I sigh. "I'm a chipped nail away from completely giving up on life."

"Want to stay home tonight?" Derek's hands slip beneath my shirt, fingertips gently grazing my skin. "I'll tickle your back and give you all the forehead kisses you want."

There is absolutely nothing I want more. But before I get to say that, my phone pings with several new messages. I pick it up from the nightstand and Derek and I read the messages with excessive champagne and party emojis from Penelope, telling me how excited she is about tonight. Derek and I don't even have to say anything when we look back at each other. There's no way we can't not go tonight.

Derek's sigh is hidden in my neck. "Fine, we'll go but we're leaving before twelve. I'm not missing my first new years kiss."

"First?" I snort a laugh, grinning down at him. "You going to tell me you're a virgin too?"

"No," He mumbles, pressing his lips to my skin. "I've never kissed anyone on new years."

I laugh quietly when his lips flutter over the sweet spot behind my ear, tilting my head back. "Why not?"

"Because it's special," A kiss is ghosted over my jaw, then my cheek, the corner of my mouth before finishing with one on my lips. "I saved it for you."

That might be the cutest thing I've ever heard. All in a couple of months I went from not knowing Derek to him being my absolute favourite person on this planet. My smile is so wide it hurts. "You are such a softy."

Derek raises an amused eyebrow at me. "And if my mental period calculations are correct, you are going to be in your soft stage tomorrow. All needy and cuddly—"

I'm definitely not as open about the mushy stuff as Derek is because he is the soft one in this relationship and I will die on that hill. "I do not have a soft stage."

Derek levels me with a pointed stare. "Layla, last month you crawled into my shirt with me because you said I wasn't close enough to you."

My lips fold into a thin line when I feel my cheeks heat up. I clearly blocked that part out. I recover quickly though, shrugging when I stand from his lap. "Well if you don't like it maybe I'll crawl into someone else's shirt instead."

"Don't like it?" Derek catches my arm before I spin. "You want nothing but me all day long. It's my favourite day of the month."

Maybe I'm in denial because I have felt myself becoming more dependent on Derek recently and it honestly scares me a little. Feeling like you need someone else is a scary concept because what if one day they're not there anymore..who's going to pick up the broken pieces?

As you can see, I'm really in my feels today.

The neediness Derek is describing clearly doesn't happen a day sooner as I stubbornly try to pull my arms back from where he's gripping my wrists. I try and fail. Derek's eyebrows raise in a silent challenge when he snickers. "Is that all you've got?"

I attempt to break away from him again. And again. And again. And again until we've somehow turned this into a game.

Derek's laughing at me the whole time while I struggle against him. He looks like he's not even trying. His grip on my wrists loosens. "You're too easy."

He's lucky my hands are restrained and I can't slap him because that comment is a little open ended. I try to fight back my amused smile. "I'm easy? I knew sleeping with you in that bar would be a mistake."

"Excuse me? A mistake?" Our tug of war battle is forgotten and Derek hauls me towards him, pulling me down to straddle his hips. His narrowed eyes and playful expression is completely focused on me. "I think it's the best decision you've ever made."

"Meh. The jury is still out on that one."

The next thing I know Derek flips me down on the bed underneath him and he crawls on top of me when he starts tickling my sides. Derek found out I was ticklish recently and he has really used that knowledge to his advantage these past few days.

It's not long before I'm laughing and squirming beneath him, breathlessly begging him to stop. Usually I'm begging him to not stop, so this is a change of pace. "No, no, no. Please stop. I can't."

Derek uses one hand to pin my arms to the mattress above my head, still tickling me. "Not until you say it," He laughs, grinning down at me.

"Sleeping with you was the best decision of my life!"

Derek finally stops tickling me, sighing with amusement when he puts his weight on me. "It's so nice to finally be acknowledged for my good work."

After our laughter fades, we fall into a comfortable silence. We're so close that I can feel the thud of his heart beating against my chest. Derek's fingers slowly brush a stray piece of hair from my face. His eyes find mine and I try and fail to tell what he's thinking. But he's just looking at me, his lips curved up into a gentle smile.

"What?" I ask, mirroring his smile. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

Derek blinks and shakes his head a little. "Nothing," He says, his voice barely above a whisper.

Can that be added to the list of things annoying me today? Nothing is not an acceptable answer. "No, come on. Tell me."

Derek's eyes drop to my chin and his eyebrows scrunch. "You have a hair on your chin."

In record time I muster up the strength to shove him off me, beelining to the bathroom mirror. Despite Derek's laughter as he follows me into the bathroom, I thoroughly inspect my chin before I come to my conclusion.

I turn and slap his arm. "I do not!"

Derek snickers, unbuttoning his jeans. "Yeah but you should have seen your face."

I pick up the shirt he just took off from the ground to whip him with it. "You are so annoying."

Derek narrowly dodges me when he steps into the shower. "That is so mean," He says in mock offence. "I would never say that to you."

"If I find you annoying it means I care enough to find you annoying. Take that as a compliment."

When the shower starts running I walk back into the bedroom. Not only did I not have anything to wear, but my options that were layed out on the bed are now all wrinkled from us rolling around on it. Derek has it so easy. He gets to take a two minute shower, throw on some pants and a shirt and he's ready when my process started hours ago.

I head back into the bathroom when I resort to my plan b. "I might head over to Averie's." I say to Derek. "She should have something I can borrow for tonight."

Derek wipes away the condensation on the shower door. "Okay," He says. "You driving to Rossi's or going to get a ride with them?"

Once again, there's another annoying thing about this being a work party. Derek and I can't show up together, can't be ourselves there, and we're going to have to sneak off later tonight and hope we're not seen.

I shrug. "I'll probably get a ride with them."

Derek pokes his head out of the shower door, puckering his lips at me. "Find me later," He says after I kiss him. "I'll be the handsome one in the suit."

Averie and Spencer's house is only a couple streets over from Derek's so less than a two minute drive later, I'm walking through their front door.

"Hello?"

"We're upstairs!"

I head straight up the stairs after Averie yells out to me and follow the voices filtering out from the main bathroom.

Averie is in the bathroom with Aidan who is sitting on the countertop while she brushes through his wet hair. Like me, Averie is semi ready because she is also still in sweats, but Aidan is dressed in a white shirt with little black suspenders.

"You look so handsome," I grin, squishing Aidan's cute little face. "And older. Did you enjoy your birthday?"

Aidan's birthday was a couple of days after Christmas when Derek and I were still in Chicago. With the two occasions being so close together and the fact that Aidan is the only child in my family I got to buy for and he's Derek's godchild, we may have went a little overboard on gifts. We basically cleaned out several of the shelves in the kids section.

I listen as Aidan explains how much he loved all his presents and he's showing just the same amount of excitement as he did in the video's Averie sent to us of him opening them that morning.

"Dad said I was spoiled," Aidan says, looking towards me. "But that's okay because mommy said I'm so cute I'm allowed to be spoiled."

Averie subtly fist bumps him. "And where did you get that cuteness from?"

Aidan grins. "You, mommy."

Averie smiles at him when she cups his chin in her hand. "I have you trained so well."

Spencer enters the bathroom with us, holding out two different colour ties. "Opinions?" He asks, holding them against his shirt.

Averie tilts her head to the side. "Do you have a darker red one? That would look best."

Spencer half groans, half laughs. "Of course you would suggest literally the only colour I don't have."

"Maybe Derek has one that colour," Averie says, finishing brushing through Aidan's hair, placing the brush back in the holder. "You have time to stop by."

"Yeah, no." Spencer snorts, shaking his head. "I'm not going over there unannounced."

Averie laughs at how quick his dismissal was. "Why not?"

Spencer's focus is on the two ties in his hands when he says, "In case he's there with his girlfriend."

Ah, fuck.

"I'm sorry, what?" Averie almost chokes. "Girlfriend?"

Spencer's face drops. "I did not just say that out loud, did I?"

I stand here silently watching this encounter go down, eyes floating between the two of them. Averie looks like she's in complete disbelief and Spencer doesn't look at all suspicious towards me. So he knows.. but just doesn't know it's me. Did Derek talk to spencer about us? I so badly want to ask what they talked about but I stay silent.

I've never seen eyes as wide as Averie's right now. She smacks Spencer square in the chest. "He has a girlfriend? Derek's dating someone and you knew and didn't tell me?"

Spencer raises his hands in defence, shaking his head." I couldn't! He told me in confidence."

Averie steps into Spencer, poking her finger into his chest with every word. "Tell. Me. Everything."

Spencer, who clearly now cares more about gossiping with his wife than the confidence of his and Derek's conversation, grins. "He's giddy like a little kid when he talks about her. I've never seen him like this."

"Oh my god. Finally!" Averie laughs, still shaking her head in disbelief. And if it's possible, she looks more excited then Aidan did when he opened the light up activity board I got him. "What about her? Who is she?"

Spencer shakes his head. "He didn't tell me who it was but a few things he said was and I quote 'She's great. Funny. Beautiful inside and out. So chaotic in the best way possible.'"

Warmth blooms in my chest and I will my cheeks not to turn slightly pink. Awe. See? Derek is a softy.

Averie turns to me because I've yet to contribute a single word to this conversation. "Did you know about this? That he's dating someone?"

Yeah, me. "I had no idea."

Aidan tilts his head, questioning eyes settled on me. I've said it before and I'll say it again, that child is too smart for his age. He caught Derek in my apartment that day and has kept his word on not saying anything else, and still now, he says nothing.

"Did you think he'll bring her tonight?" Averie beams, clasping her hands together. "This is so exciting. I have to tell Pen—"

Spencer sighs and shakes his head. "No, Ave. You're not allowed to tell anybody. Derek said he's not ready for any one to know yet."

Averie's shoulders slump when she frowns. "Makes sense. This is the first girl he's ever been serious about."

"I think it's someone we know," Aidan says, casually swinging his little legs on the countertop.

"Oh yeah?" Spencer asks his son, nothing but amusement in his tone. "Who?"

Aidan's mischievous eyes land on mine. "Penelope."

I'm praying my sigh of relief isn't audible. Aidan may get his smarts from his dad, but that cunning streak in him is all Averie.

"Yeah, okay," Averie laughs teasingly at Aidan's suggestion, lifting him down off the countertop. "Maybe it is. Or Emily. Or JJ."

Aidan giggles. "Or Layla."

He one hundred percent is loving watching me sweat. He is an absolute menace. I love it.

"I'll just go with this one," Spencer says, returning to the tie debate. He knots a black tie around his neck. "You can't go wrong with black."

On so many levels I agree with that statement.

Luckily the whole Derek's girlfriend conversation is put on the back burner when Averie and I go into her closet and she starts showing me some of the dresses I can borrow.

Averie runs her hand across a row of hung up dresses. "Take your pick because none of these are going to fit me for a while." Before I get to say anything, she turns to the side, whipping up her sweatshirt to reveal a little baby bump. "Surprise!"

Well if that doesn't perk up my day I don't know what will. "Oh my god," I rush to her and squeeze her so tight. "Congratulations!"

While I try on a few of her dresses, Averie tells me all about how she found out she was pregnant, shows me some sonogram photos and how excited she is to have a new baby this summer.

I eventually settle on a red satin scoop neck dress with a slit up the leg and help Averie squeeze into a sleek black dress. I say squeeze because she hasn't told anyone else she's pregnant yet, she's just going to show up to the party tonight with the bump on full show. Iconic.

"I already can't wait to get this dress off," Averie says with a deep breath, slipping on her heels by the door. "I'm pre planning my drive through order for the way home already."

Never agreed more. "Chicken nuggets in bed?"

Averie laughs, holding the front door open for me. "Sounds like we will be ending our night the exact same way."

The first day I moved here Aidan offered me one cheerio on the car ride. I've clearly moved up on his scale because today I've been promoted to holding the bag of cheerios and sharing them with him.

"Wait, Spence," Averie says, circling her hand around his arm before he pulls out of the driveway. "Can you run back inside and grab some of those salted crackers?"

I snicker when he hops out of the car without question. "You need snacks for the ride too?"

Averie laughs and meets my eyes through the rear view mirror. "I'm going to stash some in the car in case I feel nauseous later."

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A/N: I hope you enjoyed this chapter! :)

I don't understand how we're 32 chapters in and I feel like not that much has happened yet so I hope you guys don't mind that this story is long😅