dust to dust (dated 10/27, closed to neil and bitty)

[triskehale]

It's about time that Bitty finds out that Derek is a werewolf.

Derek doesn't really know why he's waited so long. Maybe it's because he enjoys Bitty's company and from what he can tell, there is nothing about the supernatural world that is real where Bitty's from. He just doesn't want to scare Bitty off, but it's starting to reach the point where it feels dishonest, and Derek would much rather be able to be himself.

So that's why he's asked Bitty to meet him in the park, and why he's asked Neil to come along. He knows that Neil and Bitty are acquainted, and Neil has always been so accepting of what Derek is. He likes it, even. He hopes that having Neil there might soften the blow, and if Bitty does freak out and take off, Derek won't be alone.

"There he is," Derek says, nudging Neil's arm before pointing at Bitty. He's sitting at a picnic table a few dozen feet away and Derek lifts his hand in greeting. He takes a few steps away from Neil and suddenly stops. There's a noise like feedback in his ear and he blinks as the ground seems to fall out from underneath him.

One second, Derek is there. The next, he's completely vanished.


Derek opens his eyes in a bit of a panic, letting his gaze dart around. He's still in the park, still in Darrow, but everything is different. The sky is gloomy and dark and everything smells like ash. The scent burns his nostrils, distressingly familiar as it is, and his heart leaps into his throat.

"Neil?" He calls out, turning in a circle even though he's obviously alone. "Bitty? Fuck."

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[myfavoritedream]

"Christ," I practically growled, when the kid started begging, because I knew without a doubt that Derek wouldn't leave him there. He couldn't leave him, because that's the kind of person Derek was.

I felt sick, because I knew exactly what it was like to meet someone new, to think you had control over how quickly they got to know you, to think you had control over your own secrets and your own life, only to find out that it was all some big fucking joke. I felt sick, and angry, and so goddamn tired, because we never, ever stopped being fucked with. It was never going to stop.

"Can we get off the street, please?" I said sharply, "Then you can have your fucking tearful heart to heart."

[triskehale]

Derek stares at Bitty, unsure of what to even think, let alone do, but he can't help but to flinch a little when Bitty begs him not to leave him. Bitty supposedly knows so much about him, but still thinks that Derek might just leave him to fend for himself? That stings most of all, he thinks.

Neil's sharp tone makes Derek blink, and he thinks he understands the bitter sting of anger coming from him. He's protective of Derek, sure, but he also knows how this feels.

"I'm not going to leave you," Derek says, sounding irritated and hurt all at once. He nods at Neil's suggestion and then scrubs his hands over his face as he looks around. "This place looks like Darrow, and it the layout's the same, Dimera is closest. Come on."

He starts stomping his way across the park, boots flattening the dead, useless earth that used to hold lush green grass. He has no idea what's going on and he just had his world rocked on its axis, but the sad thing is that he's sort of used to that particular sensation. His mouth flattens into a thin line and he furrows his brow, cocking his head and pausing whenever he hears a noise, holding his hand out to stop Neil and Bitty before he deigns it safe and gestures forward again.

It takes them awhile, but they get to Dimera without incident. He clears his throat and then opens the lobby door, shoulders drawing up as he hears that slick, slithering noise again. "Get inside. Now."

[puckandpie]

The look on Derek's face when I beg him not to leave me is worse than the horror I'd seen there moments ago. I can tell he's hurt that I think he'd leave me and I want to tell him it's not that I think he would so much as I'm absolutely terrified right now and I feel horrible and he and Neil are the only two familiar things right now and I just don't want to be alone.

I keep my mouth shut though, swallowing tightly as I nod, glancing briefly over at Neil who looks more angry than hurt before ducking to look down at my feet. The ground is completely covered in a layer of ash. It almost looks like snow. And I follow them, staying half a step behind the whole way, guilt and fear making a complete mess of my insides.

When we get to the apartment building, I hurry inside, fear spiking at both the noise we hear and the pitch of Derek's voice. My heart is pounding, a million beats a minute and I grimace.

"The elevator's broken," I tell them both, my voice little more than a whisper. I'm honestly not sure I'd want to risk stepping into an elevator here anyway.

[myfavoritedream]

"I'm just one floor up. We'll take the stairs," I said, already shouldering past them so I could push open the stairwell door. It was heavy, the hinges squeaking against what seemed like years of rust.

The stairwell was pitch black and I was hit immediately with the heavy smell of damp and still air. I glanced over my shoulder at Derek, because I knew he'd one to go through first.

[triskehale]

Derek goes ahead of Neil, eyes glowing bright red in the darkness. He can see while they can't, and he listens hard to make sure that the stairwell is clear. "Follow me. Go slow and hang onto the railing."

It's slow going, and while they move it gives Derek time to think. The guilt and fear rolling off of Bitty sits thick in Derek's nose, and it makes his mouth twist. Derek has felt betrayal, time and time again, and this doesn't feel like that. Derek knows people that were fictional back where he's from, and he hasn't told them. How is that any different?

He isn't angry at Bitty. Maybe it's because he's too freaked out by this place they've found themselves in, or his world has been rocked too hard by the knowledge that in some other world, people watched his life unfold. He doesn't know. But he knows that Bitty meant him no harm. It's just a shitty situation.

"All that time I wasted pretending to be human," Derek finally says, but he doesn't sound angry. He sounds almost amused, despite everything. "I totally could have saved that pie that slid off of the counter."

It's his way of telling Bitty that it will be okay for now, and not to worry about that. There are far bigger things to worry about now, anyway. They make it to the top of the stairs and Derek checks the hallway before urging them forward. He touches Neil's shoulder as he passes and then Bitty's, squeezing a little before letting go and bringing up the rear. Once they reach Neil's apartment, he takes the keys and opens the door, looking around with red eyes to make sure it's clear before letting them in and locking the door.

[puckandpie]

It's easy to just follow their directions, ducking into the stairwell after Neil pulls open the door, cringing against the smell as we make our way up. It really feels like we've just stepped into some awful horror movie, nearly every sound making me jump.

At the top of the first flighty, Derek turns back and I feel my stomach plummet again for a second when he looks at me. His tone doesn't sound angry though, almost sounds teasing when he mentions the pie I'd accidentally knocked off the counter at Semele's last week.

Still, it's only when he squeezes my shoulder as I pass him that I feel some of my anxiety settle. He still has every right to be angry, of course, but the idea that he might be able to forgive me is an enormous relief. Especially since there's no way I'm going to be able to leave his side for awhile. Not with things like this.

I've never been to Neil's apartment before, but I follow them to what must be the door, scurrying inside once it's unlocked and then immediately letting out a breath.

At least until I see something move out the corner of my eye.

[myfavoritedream]

My apartment didn't feel like my apartment. The furniture was in all the right places, but there was a layer of dust on everything. The coffee cup I'd left out on the table was gone. The stack of magazines on my kitchen table wasn't there. I was afraid to check what was in the fridge.

Over the desk, I'd hung a cork board, and on it, I'd tacked pictures. Ticket stubs. Things cut from magazines. It was all still there, but the faces in the pictures were eerily blurred. There was one of Derek, sitting outside The Bite. I'd snapped with my cell phone and printed on a shitty library printer, but it was faded and almost unrecognizable.

Nothing about the place seemed real or like it was mine. I kept thinking I saw things move, but only when I wasn't looking directly at them. Maybe the shadows themselves were alive.