A/N:-

So, as I said earlier, here is the second consecutive chapter from Derek's point of view. The next chapter will be from Nora's pov again.

***

The entire gang of people stared at us shamelessly as I ran behind Nora. She scampered through the crowd at a lightning speed as I chased behind her, calling out her name.

"Hey, dude! What happ-" Jake began but I interrupted him.

"Will talk later, Jake. Not now. You guys enjoy," I shouted without looking back and followed Nora out.

"Nora! Nora! Come back here! Don't you run away!" I hurried behind her.

Since she was wearing heels, it made it all the more easy for me to catch upto her. She had started walking down the road when I caught upto her.

"Don't touch me!" She hissed as I grabbed her hand.

"No. You will stand here and listen. What the hell was that back there?!" I shouted.

"You were busy with Reina! That's what happened there!" She shouted back, wiping her face.

"Listen, nothing happened back there. You have to trust me and stop assuming things whenever I speak with Reina," I went to wipe her tears when she took a step back.

"How can I, when I know how much you are obsessed with her?" She sniffed, "It's not about loving me back anymore. It's about how you are and will always remain stuck to her. You are worse than a leech."

That's it. She was going too far now. I felt like I had been slapped. Did she really think so low of me? That I was still some pathetic teenager pining over my best friend's sister? Did she not see me dance with her? Did she not see how much guts it took for me to dance in front of everyone without feeling conscious?

"See? This is your problem. You claim to love me, yet you don't trust me! How are things going to go on smoothly between us if you don't trust me?!" I bellowed, scowling deeply.

"Because you haven't yet given me a reason to trust you!! You simply say that things don't mean the same to you but still you-"

"That didn't happen, you dumb psycho! Nothing happened between me and Reina! I am over her! I don't love her anymore!" I snapped.

"Then what's stopping you from us?" She retorted, "What's holding you back every single time?"

"Me! Just because I don't love Reina anymore doesn't mean I will immediately jump into a relationship!" I reasoned.

"Immediately? Two years is immediately for you? You have got all time calculations wrong then," She shouted.

"For fucks sake, I need to be sure of you and today's behavior just proved that you are so insecure of Reina. I am not the immature one, you are. You pretend to be all rough and tough but deep inside you are simply insecure and jealous. What you said to Reina was horrible. She doesn't deserve that, Nora. She is a good person.
Hell, I never knew you loved me until you sprung it on me! How can I give an answer so fast? You are expecting an answer too fast!" I almost tore my hair off in frustation.

"I am not saying you love me back immediately but you said you will give us a chance and you are already having withdrawal symptoms," She wiped her red nose.

"I don't love Reina, Nora. Please get that into your head. She doesn't either but at least she trusts me. You can't even do that because you still see me as this guy who never grew up beyond his high school years," I shook my head.

"Really? So you didn't tell us in college how Reina is still there? Or all those times when we spoke, how you spoke about relationships and love? How she was never just a girl for you? And let me remind you, this happened after we came to Greywall."

"That was weeks ago, Nora. Things changed! I spoke to Reina one night and got my closure. I got my closure. Coming to Greywall was necessary because it showed me that yes, everything is history between me and Reina. It was an eye opener. She knows it and she believes me when I say I moved on. If she can trust me, why can't you?"

"This is what I was talking about. You might not love her, but she is still there. You are always using her as an example for me. You are always comparing me with her. No girl likes that and I am no exception," She said bitterly, "I am so sick of getting compared to her perfect self!"

And suddenly I found myself questioning if this fight was even about the kitchen incident anymore. It was Nora's general insecurities and fears about Reina that was coming to the surface.

"I am not saying you love her. Maybe you don't. But you always think of her or reminisce about her when you finally make a move and you cannot do that. The day you stop comparing with me with Reina, that is when you will be truly over her," She cried.

"I don't compare," I said but my voice had dipped down few octaves.

"You do. I can see it in your face," She rolled her teary eyes, "Let me tell you something. I am insecure, yes. I am rich, spoilt, bratty, mean and I am used to getting what I want. I am possessive about you, specially when it comes to Reina. I might be clingy at times and desperate at others but what I truly know is that I love you, Derek Callingham," She rasped.

I stood still as she spoke her next words. Her emotions were tumbling out in waves as she spilled her heart out.

"I have my own way of showing love and I am not comfortable when you get close to Reina. I will never be comfortable until we have something fixed between us. You are stringing me along for a week now and it's killing me. I am impatient for your love and I want it. You won't ever be fully happy with me as I come with many drawbacks but so do other couples," She looked away.

"I am insecure about you because I fear you will run away. That's what you do always. Run away. You are either withdrawing whenever we have a moment or you think of it as a sin and insult to the memory of Reina! How can you expect patience and understanding from a person who is going through heartbreaks everyday? I am all those negative things you can list, but I love you fully and I am not ashamed to admit it. You couldn't even tell anyone here about me," She shook violently, wrapping her arms around herself.

"I never said that, Nora," I whispered, "I never said-"

"Hell, I didn't even expect anything from you Derek but you gave me false hope that there might be something possible between us. I was ready to move on after my proposal but you provided an obstacle. That's the difference between you and me. You never had the guts to say it at the right time and refused to move on and when I did it, you are refusing me to move on," She sniffed.

I froze as her words hit me.

"For gods sake, if you don't see any future, just tell me. I won't die. I won't mope like you are doing. I certainly won't force you to like me back. If you can't handle me, grow a pair and throw it on my face," She spat, "Give me the clean chit and I will move on. It will take time but I can do it. Just don't hang me in a mid path."

I winced as she pointed out my mistakes from before. I had done all this with Reina.

"You are so confused, Derek Callingham. You always take the wrong decision," She said in frustration.

"I-I don't."

"You are right. It's partially my fault too. For agreeing to come here," She had a look of disgust on her face.

I stiffened, "You don't mean that."

"From the time I am here, I am simply hurting myself. I don't know where I belong anymore," She said, looking around, "I just need to get home."

"Listen, you are upset-"

"Maybe there was nothing going on in the kitchen but my worst fears always come back when I see you with her. I see her and then I see me. And no matter what people say or do, they will always choose the more beautiful and nicer person. I am keeping all my emotions suppressed as to how its killing me from inside but today, I just couldn't," Her lip wobbled as she spoke.

"You can't expect me to not be jealous when I see you so close with Reina. It's a default mechanism. Specially, when I love you so much that it hurts. If you don't want, just tell me and I will survive being just friends with you, but don't you dare give me false hopes about a possible future and then go off with Reina. I am a mean bitch unlike her and I get hurt easily. So, if you don't like me, for fucks sake, tell me. That's all I ask from you," She barked angrily, "This hope that you gave me is killing me."

"Nora, don't leave Greywall," My voice broke this time.

"There is nothing worth staying here for anymore," She said rudely, "I am simply getting hurt. At least, if I go back, I know my parents won't hurt me any more as I expect that from them. But, you are slowly torturing me here, Derek."

"I am sorry. I didn't realize I was hurting you like this. But I wasn't wrong about tonight," I replied.

"Patience is not my virtue and suffering is not something foreign to me," She said, "I believe you but the more you delay, the less understanding and patient I become. I am not the most caring and sympathetic person. You know me so well so please give just give me a fixed answer. I feel so tired with the uncertainties and mixed signals."

Her words pricked me like thorns and my inner self poked at me asking me if even I wasn't worth her time.

I needed to make a decision fast. At least, when I was at her place two years ago, I was blatantly rejected, but she was right. I was stringing her along without giving her a fixed answer. It had been few days already and nobody was getting anywhere. However, it wasn't my fault entirely because I knew my thoughts held truth too but Nora wasn't in the correct sense to understand now.

"I really love you, Derek. With all my heart. Can you say at least half of it for me?" She questioned, her face looking broken.

"Nora..." I gulped, "I am over her. I really am. Please trust me."

She gave a watery smile, "I knew you wouldn't say it. You are still talking about her. I am going back to your place," She sniffed again.

"I will come with you," I said immediately.

"Don't. Please don't. It hurts enough. Don't enhance it," She raised her hand, looking bitter, "I just need some time off you and your perpetual confusion."

I paused as she turned and walked down the road.

~°~

"You should go," Olivia said glumly.

"I know, I want to. But, I know Nora better. She won't like it. She needs me to give her space," I said, rubbing my face.

"Thats a pathetic excuse, Derek. She is hurting, you should go to her," Axel admonished.

"I agree. Things looked bad when she left," Jake looked serious.

"She hates me right now and doesn't want to see me," I sighed, "I never planned for any of this."

"Just go Derek," Reina suddenly spoke sharply, "Stop giving excuses and go."

"I am not giving excuses, Reina-"

"Aren't you?" She scowled, looking pissed off, "The girl you love is hurting and you are sitting here."

"She insulted you, Reina. She doesn't trust me. I do trust her but she-"

"Here is a thing," Axel interrupted and sat in front of me, pulling a chair.

"You do have feelings for her, don't you?" He asked.

I looked at him and trailed my eyes to the other three. Olivia looked tensed, Jake looked distressed and Reina looked impatient. Axel looked dead serious.

"I am not asking physics, Derek. Its a question to which only you should have the answer. Do you like Nora? Yes or no?" He asked.

"I-" My phone rang. Axel closed his eyes in irritation as I looked at the caller ID.

"Ma?" I asked, picking the call. "What are-"

"Derek, why the hell did Nora just went up to her room crying without any proper explanation? Did you say something to her?" She asked in a firm tone.

I swallowed, "I'm coming. I'm coming."

I ended the call and got up, "You guys were right. I am going. See you later."

"Answer the question. Don't evade-"

"Look, it seems I am messing things up again and I will fix it again. The first person is Nora. Her well being is more important than my feelings right now. If anything happens to her, I will never forgive myself," I stated.

They looked grim and didn't say anything as I left.

~¤~

"Ma?" I asked, softly closing the door behind me.

"Derek Callingham! What did you say to the poor girl?" Ma emerged from the living room looking absolutely livid.

"Ma, I am going to speak to her," I said, "And I had dinner at Jake's. Don't wait up for me."

"I don't get it why I cook. It always seem you are either having dinner at Jake's place or eating out. Go speak to her and fix whatever that has happened." Angrily, she walked away.

All the ladies were angry at me. See? This is the reason why I preferred staying away from them.

Taking fast paced steps, I climbed the stairs and knocked on the door, "Nora?"

When I got no response, I opened the door and peeked in. The room was pitch black except for the fading moonlight entering through the window. Nora was sitting up on the bed, with her legs bend and her hands on her knees and staring out of the window with a blank, stoic expression.

Even from the lack of bright light, it was obvious she had been crying. She hadn't even changed her dress and her cheeks had patches of black smudge from the makeup.

"Nora, I am so sorr-"

"Come here, Derek. Don't speak," She shifted and patted the spot next to her without looking at me.

Confused, I closed the door, went and sat beside her, "Wh-"

"Ssshhh," She placed a finger against her lips, "Don't say anything else. Just stay silent."

I shut up effectively as I looked out along with her. The moon was half crescent and there was not a sound to be heard elsewhere besides our uneven breathing. Nora's eyes were wide as she looked out without uttering any word, thinking about heavens know what.

We sat there for how long, I don't remember. At some point, I stopped looking outside and opted to look at her, wondering what was going inside her head. Her tears had dried up completely and her eyes were returning to normal color, I could make out from the dark. At one point, she rubbed her cheeks off the black mark and sniffed one last time before again looking outside.

Not caring if she would get angry, I placed my hand on hers. She didn't flinch or jerk her hand away. She slowly turned her head my way. She stared down at my hand on hers and then looked at me. I couldn't read what was in her eyes as they looked like a closed book.

There could be anger, sadness or accusation. Or everything.

"Derek, I am so sorry."

The way she uttered those words broke something inside of me. She looked so egregiously vulnerable that it made me want to hug her for an eternity.

"I overreacted again. I shouldn't have said all those," She shook her head slightly, burying her face in her hands, "I am so sorry for calling you names and losing my temper. I trust you, Derek. I do. If you are saying you have moved on, I believe you have. I just wasn't being able to see you both close and realize that you still hadn't given me an answer. You don't owe me any explanation about you and her."

"Don't worry. I get what you are trying to say. I had gone through the same thing two years back," I said softly.

"I am just not used to jealousy. It's so new to me. The guys I have liked before always liked me back, besides celebrities of course," She chuckled, "I still didn't feel it back at Yale. But after coming here, I experienced it for the first time. The feelings became too strong as we spent too much time together. I was so jealous to see you and Reina, specially when she is literally beautiful in every sense of the term. You don't see girls like her everyday. It's enough to drive any girl to heights of insecurity."

"You are beautiful to me," I admitted.

She gave an honest smile, "I believe you."

She did and I was glad she did. That was all I needed, for her to trust in me.

"I am sorry," She repeated, "I didn't mean to hurt you. You can obviously be with her. I am not anyone to say who you should be with. She knows you longer than me."

"You know me better," I replied without any hesitation.

"You are cute," She smiled lazily.
I didn't know what happened but a switch flipped inside my head suddenly. Maybe it was the tense atmosphere or the fact that Nora looked mystique in the pale moonlight but without further hesitation, I cupped her face and leaned in to softly press my lips against her.

Her lips tasted salty as I kissed her slowly, taking my time. Earlier, she had been the one to initiate it. Now, it was my desire to do the same. She didn't pull back or slap me right away. She kissed back after some time.

Fuck, Nora was really sweet. A foreign longing raised its head inside me. The longing that had last poked its head with the first kiss.

It was different than the first kiss because I had been having a mental breakdown when she kissed me and there was a pressure to do well because I hadn't kissed anybody since Reina two years ago. But right now, it was slow and there was no hurry, like we had all the time in the world.

Nora broke it off midway and leaned away, opening her eyes, "There goes the second one. Bet's up."

Those words were enough to jolt me out of the sweet bliss I had been in, "What?"

"You didn't have to do that because I accused you today, you know. Though, there was the bet too. I don't want you to kiss me out of obligation, Derek. Never ever," She smiled wryly.

"No, I kissed you because I wanted to. It was way better than Reina's. You won the bet," I nodded earnestly.

She gave a lazy grin, "Good to know. I hate losing anyway."

"Nora, I am sorry for making you cry. I promise you this is the last time I am making you cry," I said, cupping her face in my large hands again.

"Don't make promises you can't keep," She whispered, pulling my hands away.

"I know, but this time I know what promise I am making. Nora, you might not believe me. You have many reasons not to but you are wrong about one thing," I said firmly.

"What is that?"

"As time is going by, even if I am making comparisons between you and Reina, trust me, its just to see how much better you are than anyone I have known. I have no qualms that you are insecure or desperate. I am too, always have been. But, wouldn't you like it better if you had a completely sure Derek instead of a half sure one?" I asked.

She didn't reply.

"Plus, it's just not about some relationship. If we date and suppose we break up, I don't think I will be able to move on. You are so precious to me. Our friendship or whatever it is that we have is much more beyond words. I am more clear, logical and practical now than I was few years back."

"I understand. If we break up, I might move on but I won't forget you, Derek. I can't. You have influenced me so much. You don't realize it. You have such a big heart and you showed me that sex is actually so overrated," She gave a loud chuckle, "I have actually learnt how to be slightly patient, cherish a person and be there for him/her whenever that person needs me. I have become a better person," Her smile faded as tears filled her eyes again.

"I am sorry for hurting you. I know what you feel. I have experienced the same but if I don't want to hurt you further, I won't give you fake promises immediately," I tugged at her arm and she broke down again, sobbing and wetting a patch on my shirt.

"I promise you, by the end of your vacation, you will have your answer," I stated as I gently patted her head, pressing my cheek against her head.

She nodded and raised her head, "I will be going away soon. You can give your answer when we meet at university again. I am sorry for acting like a bitch earlier. I am gonna speak to Reina the first thing tomorrow."

I smiled, "You are one of a kind, Nora. Nobody can change that, not even me."

"I mean it. Don't be under pressure. I was too emotional then and overreacted. Give me an answer when you are ready. I don't care what your answer is but don't say anything on behalf of my feelings."

"I won't. I promise. I won't lie to you."

"A-are your eyes moistening too, Dora?" She hiccuped.

"Don't be stupid."

"That's your area, not mine."

"It's good to have you back."

"Can you stay here for tonight or is that too much to ask as your hormones will start dancing and you will run away?"

"I was actually going to ask you that," I nodded honestly.

I don't think she believed me entirely but that was fine with me. I didn't exactly give her reasons and even few days back, I would hesitate sleeping with a girl in the same bed, regardless of Ma being in the same house or not. But I wanted to now. I really wanted to.

She laid down on the bed and I laid down beside her, engulfing her tiny frame in my hands. She cuddled up to me, keeping her head on my chest and keeping her hands between us.

"Why do you hate dancing?" She asked quietly.

"I don't actually. I am just very self conscious in front of others."

"Mm. Bad childhood memory?"

I nodded, rubbing my cheek on her mop of hair, "Back in elementary school, we had some dance on stage. I messed up the steps real bad and was facing another direction. Everyone started laughing at me, even some of the parents looked at me with pity. I froze in shock, standing still in the middle and I wet my pants. That made them laugh harder and I got teased a lot up until middle school. No matter how well I did in studies, the only thing people remembered was how Pissy Derek wet his pants on stage ages ago when he was six."

"Oh god," Nora rubbed my chest soothingly, "I don't understand what happiness people get laughing at others when they are at a low point."

"Yeah, it kind of scars your memory as a child. It has stayed with me. Shifting here was a good for me."

"Shit, I had no idea, I am sorry I forced you," She sincerely spoke, "I know many might say it's nothing and it's just an embarrassing story but I do get it. Childhood bad memories stay with you, small or big."

"You didn't force me, the decision was ultimately mine. Nobody makes me do anything. Though I would prefer if you didn't say this to anyone here."

"Jake doesn't know?"

"Nobody besides Ma."

"And nobody will ever know of this again," She said with finality, "I am glad you took such a bold step today. You were the star of tonight and I am sorry again for ruining it."

"Honestly, it doesn't matter. I wanted the dance with you and I got it. What happened later has nothing to do with it. If anything, we just got a lot of stuff out in open."

"You wanted to dance with me?"

"Absolutely. I just figured I am among those kind of people who need a push, motivation or incentive to do something."

"And what was the push for tonight?"

I looked at her, she was running her finger along the buttons of my shirt innocuously. She looked up when she realised I was staring at her.

"You."

She blinked and before she could feel overwhelmed again, I pressed her closer to me and stroked her back lightly, feeling a slight shiver myself as the blanket laid securely on us, "Sleep well, Nora."

There were few seconds of pause.

"I will now. Don't drool on my hair or I will draw on your face with a sharpie."

And we indeed slept well that night. Minus drool on her hair.

****

Author's note:-

Does anyone know when are the Wattys results going to be announced?