Poison and Wine

“Hailey, honey, what happened to you?” Alyssa asked frantically as she came into the hospital room where one of the doctors was currently casting Hailey’s arm.

“Mom, how did you know I was here?”

“I saw your name on the board,” Alyssa said, looking over at Stiles then back at her daughter. “What happened? Are you alright?”

“I’m fine,” Hailey muttered under her breath.

“It’s just a slight break,” the doctor said, looking towards Alyssa. “She’ll need to keep the cast on for at least six weeks and come in for a checkup then we’ll determine if it needs to stay on longer. I think you can tell her about how to care for it.”

“Thank you Dr. Thorpe,” Alyssa said as he got up and left the room. Once the door closed she stood up and faced Hailey. “What happened?”

“I just fell down some stairs, no big deal. You know how clumsy I am,” she said, shrugging her shoulders.

“How did you get here?”

“Stiles drove me. Scott’s bringing my car home for me.”

“You’re not driving until that thing comes off,” Alyssa said, pointing at the cast.

“I figured as much.”

“You need to be more careful,” Alyssa said, stepping forward and kissing Hailey’s forehead. “I’ll finish up with the paperwork and everything here. You and Stiles go home, order pizza or Chinese for dinner, whatever you want.”

“Thanks Mom,” Hailey said, hopping off of the examination table and grabbing her jacket. Stiles helped her wrap it around her shoulders and grabbed his own jacket.

“Thank you for bringing her here Stiles,” Alyssa said, putting her hand on his arm.

“Anytime Mrs. M,” he said, smiling at her. She opened the door for them and led them down the hallway to the elevators.

“I’ll call your father so he doesn’t freak out when you get home.”

“I love you, Mom,” Hailey said, stepping into the elevator.

“I love you, too,” Alyssa said, waving as the elevator doors closed. Once they started going down Hailey turned to Stiles.

“We have to go to Derek’s house,” she said.

“I, uh… I think I should take you home. They can wait until tomorrow,” he said bringing his hand up to scratch the back of his head.

“Stiles if we don’t go tonight Derek is going to freak out and think something bad happened to me.”

“Something bad did happen, Hailey,” he said. “That’s why I think I should take you home. He’ll understand.”

“No, we need to get them out tonight. Stiles, please,” she said, anxiety in her voice.

“Alright, fine,” he said, throwing his hands up in the air. “What’s at Derek’s house?”

“He said there’s a box there somewhere with information on where to get money to pay the bail and you know where it is.”

“Yeah, yeah I know where it is,” he said, nodding his head.

The elevator doors opened on their floor and they got out. Stiles led the way through the parking lot to his Jeep and opened Hailey’s door for her. He climbed in beside her and drove to the Hale house. As he drove Hailey called Scott.

“Are you okay?” was how he answered the phone.

“I’m fine. Jackson broke my arm and I’m a little bruised but other than that I’m fine,” she said.

“I’m so sorry, Hailey,” he said with a sigh.

“It’s not your fault. You saved me, I owe you a huge thank you.”

“Let’s just say it was me paying you back for saving us from Lydia on Friday night.”

“Deal,” she said, with a slight laugh. “So… what did you do to Jackson?”

“We were fighting and after awhile he ran out of the house. I don’t know where he went.”

“So he’s just out running rampant somewhere?” she asked, her eyes widening in fear.

“I don’t know for sure. He could be back at his house by now.”

“Where are you?”

“Just driving. I was going to bring your car home but when I drove past your house I saw that your Dad was home so I figured that would be a bad idea. Where are you guys?”

“Heading to Derek’s house.”

“I’m close. Meet you guys there?”

“Yeah, we’ll be there soon.”

“Alright. Bye,” he said, hanging up.

“What was that about running rampant?” Stiles asked, turning to look at Hailey.

“Scott said they were fighting and Jackson gave up and ran out of the house.”

“Well that’s all tons of horrible.”

“Tell me about it,” Hailey said, turning her head to look out the window. “Scott’s meeting us at Derek’s house.”

“Good, if Jackson’s prowling around the woods Scott will be able to sniff him out.”

“Yay for optimism,” Hailey said sarcastically.

After a few more minutes of driving, Stiles was turning onto the dirt road leading up to the Hale house. Scott was parked in front of the house and was leaning against the hood with his arms crossed. Hailey opened the door on her side of the Jeep and climbed out.

“Oh my God,” Scott said, walking towards Hailey and Stiles. His eyes were drawn to the bruises on Hailey’s right wrist. “I’m surprised he didn’t break both of your arms.”

“So am I with how hard he was gripping them,” she said, pulling him in for a one armed hug. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah, he didn’t get me too bad. A few scratches here and there but they healed up really fast.”

“That’s good, I guess,” she said, turning towards the house and leading the way. “So where’s this box? Hidden under the stairs?”

“That’s too obvious,” Stiles said, shaking his head. “It’s actually under the floorboards in the kitchen.”

“The kitchen?” she asked, arching an eyebrow.

“Yupp,” Stiles said, nodding his head. “Scott, you’re going to have to pry them up.”

“No problem,” Scott said, opening the front door and heading to the kitchen. He got down on his knees under the broken table and started pulling up the floorboards. In less than five minutes he had them up and thrown to the side. He pulled the box up and handed it to Hailey.

“What exactly am I looking for?”

“There should be a debit card in there and a paper with the pin number on it. Also, there’s a good amount of cash. The cash might actually be enough,” Stiles said, looking over Hailey’s shoulder. She found the envelope full of cash and handed it to Stiles since he could use two hands to look through it better.

“Are we good with that?” she asked, nodding towards the envelope.

“Yeah, yeah it should be enough,” he said, stuffing the envelope in his breast pocket. He closed up the box and handed it to Scott to put back under the table.

“Don’t you need a hammer to put them back?” Hailey asked, gesturing to the floorboards that were sitting in a pile.

“Already on it,” Stiles said, pulling a hammer out of one of the broken drawers. He handed it to Scott and when he was done they all headed out together.

“I’ll meet you at the station,” Scott said, climbing back into Hailey’s car. Stiles nodded his head and he and Hailey climbed into the Jeep.

“So are you going to tell Derek what happened to your arm before or after he gets out of the jail cell?”

“Haven’t decided that yet. I mean, what are the chances of your Dad actually letting me go back to the cell to talk to him first?”

“Actually highly likely.”

“Really?”

“Well first of all, he likes you. Second, you get the sympathy feelings because of your arm,” he said, nodding towards the cast.

“I guess I’ll give that a shot then,” she said, sitting back in her chair. “Though I have to admit, I’m a little scared.”

“That makes two of us.”

****

*Derek’s POV*

“What is taking them so long?” Derek asked, running his hands through his hair. “They should have been here by now.”

“Maybe she likes the idea of you being a jailbird,” Peter said, a smirk on his face.

“Shut up,” Derek said, shaking his head.

“You don’t think something… bad… happened. Do you?” Isaac asked, looking up at Derek from where he sat on the floor.

“I’m trying not to think that,” Derek said through his teeth. “But it’s not working out so great.”

“If something happened I don’t think it’s anything serious,” Peter said sincerely.

“And why not?”

“If Jackson had say… given her the Bite,” he said causing Derek to growl. “We would have known.”

“Yeah,” Isaac said. “Jackson would have made it clear if that had happened. We could hear him no matter how far away.”

“Possibly,” Derek said, shrugging his shoulders. “But we won’t know for sure until she walks through that door.”

“We’re in luck,” Peter said suddenly, looking towards the doorway separating the holding room from the front of the building.

Derek turned his head to look and saw Hailey walking in, Sheriff Stilinski behind her. His eyes were drawn to the bright green cast on her left arm and he had to keep himself from shifting in front of the Sheriff, which was proving difficult. He stood up and walked over to the bars, grabbing onto them with both hands.

“Hailey what happened?” he asked. Hailey looked up at him, fear in her eyes and she bit her lip.

“Nothing,” she said. “I went to Stiles’ house and clumsy me tripped on the stairs and I broke my arm. No big deal.”

“Hailey,” he said, shaking his head. He knew she was lying.

“Really Derek, it’s no big deal,” she said, staring straight at him.

“Alright,” the Sheriff said, stepping in front of her. “Ready to get out gentlemen?”

Derek stepped back so the Sheriff could unlock the door. Behind him he heard Peter and Isaac stand up and step forward. Once the door was open Derek made his way out and straight to Hailey. He pulled her close to him, being cautious of her arm.

****

“Are you going to tell me what really happened or do I have to guess?” Derek asked as he drove Hailey home, Scott and Stiles following behind them in the Jeep. Peter and Isaac decided to run back to the house; also attempting to see if they spotted Jackson out anywhere.

“I’d rather wait until you’re not operating a vehicle,” she said, looking up at him. He rolled his eyes and was silent until he pulled up and parked in front of her house.

“There, now tell me,” he said, turning to look at her. Hailey took a deep breath and sat up. She unbuckled her seatbelt in order to face him.

“Okay so… basically… after Sheriff Stilinski took you away I went to go back into Jackson’s house to get my stuff and when I walked in he wasn’t in sight. All of a sudden he came up behind me and grabbed my wrists, slamming me against the wall.”

“I’m gonna kill him,” Derek growled.

“Let me finish,” she said. Derek huffed and nodded his head. “I tried to hit him but then he grabbed my left arm and twisted it. Ergo, cast. He held onto me tighter hence the bruises on the other wrist. He was… he was about to bite me… when Scott and Stiles came in and saved me.”

“I. Am going. To kill him,” Derek said, his eyes glowing red. Hailey’s eyes widened and she put her hand on his knee.

“Hey, hey, hey, calm down please. Please.”

“Why should I, Hailey?”

“Because my Dad is coming outside,” she said, pointing towards her front door. “And I’d rather he be okay with you coming inside. Stiles is here which means he can part the ash line.”

“You want me to come in?” he asked.

“After what happened to me earlier, yeah,” she said. She opened the door and climbed out as her Dad crossed the street. “Hi Daddy.”

“Hailey,” he said, finally reaching her and pulling her into a hug. He squeezed her tightly for a quick second before pulling away and gently lifting her casted arm.

“I’m fine, Dad.”

“This happened just by falling down the stairs?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Yupp,” she said, biting her lip.

“Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later. I’m surprised it hasn’t happened multiple times.”

“Thanks Dad,” she said, rolling her eyes. “Listen uh, Derek’s here so I need you to be nice.”

“I’m always nice… when I want to be.”

“Well can you be nice for me? Please? Scott and Stiles are here too, you like them.”

“That’s true,” he said, nodding his head and stuffing his hands in his pockets.

“Now I’m not dating either of them. I’m dating Derek. I need you to be nice to Derek. Okay?” she asked, putting her hand on his shoulder.

“I… will do my best,” he said.

“Thank you. Did you and Aaron eat already?”

“Yes. Your mother said you’re going to order in?”

“Yeah. Are we allowed to hang out in my room?” she asked, raising her eyebrows.

“Hm… my teenage daughter hanging out in her bedroom with three boys… or in the living room where I can easily join and/or supervise… what do you think?”

“That’s… what I thought,” she said, nodding her head.

Hailey gestured to Derek letting him know it was okay to get out of the car. She walked around the car and saw Scott and Stiles climb out of the Jeep. They hung around for a minute until Jason went in the house so Stiles could part the Mountain Ash line. He crouched down in front of the line and held his hands over it, concentrating for a few seconds. Hailey watched in fascination as the ash parted.

“That was awesome,” she said, watching as Derek and Scott stepped onto her front lawn for the first time. Once they were over Stiles re-connected the line.

“I think once the full moon is over, we’re going to pay Deaton a little visit,” Derek said as Hailey led them into the house.

“What for?” Stiles asked.

“To see if he can teach me how to part the line,” Hailey answered.

“Is that really such a good idea?” Scott asked.

“Think of the other factors, Scott,” Derek said cryptically. Hailey raised an eyebrow and turned to look at him when she saw his reason for answering like that. Aaron had come down the stairs to see what all the commotion was about.

“Derek, hey!” he said, a smile on his face.

“Hey buddy,” Stiles said, raising his hand towards Aaron in a wave.

“Hi Stiles, Scott,” he said, smiling at the two. “Hails, you’re a mess dude.”

“Thanks Aaron,” she said rolling her eyes as the guys laughed.

“Can I sign your cast?”

“Of course,” she said.

Aaron did a little fist pump before running into the kitchen to grab a Sharpie. He came back to sign her cast, Scott and Stiles waiting to go after. As she stood there holding her arm out she felt Derek slip his arm around her waist, holding her close to his side.

****

Around ten-thirty, Jason came into the living room where the four of them were spread out. Hailey was lying down on the couch, her head resting on a pillow against Derek’s lap. She looked up when she heard her father come into the room and sat up.

“It’s a school night,” he said pointedly, crossing his arms.

“Alright Dad, I can take a hint,” she said, rolling her eyes. Jason nodded his head and went upstairs. Hailey and the guys stood up and she walked them outside. Stiles parted the line so Scott and Derek could leave.

“I don’t like the thought of leaving you,” Derek said, turning to her.

“Once Stiles fixes the line there won’t be a problem. Jackson won’t be able to get in here.”

“But there are the other…”

“The other factors, I know. I’m the one who reminded you of those factors, remember?” she asked, raising an eyebrow. “Besides you can always sit in your car creepily watching like you did the other night.”

“Hailey,” he said with a sigh, shaking his head.

“What do you want me to say? That you should climb through my window and stay the night?” she asked and Derek smirked. “You can’t be serious.”

“It’s for your own protection. And Aaron’s.”

“Yeah but, my Dad…”

“Is climbing into bed as we speak.”

“That’s still creepy,” Hailey said, shuddering. Derek huffed and turned to Scott and Stiles for help.

“You might as well let him, Hails,” Stiles said, shrugging his shoulders. “Especially since I’m here. And in the morning I’ll come pick you up for school and part the line again so Derek can sneak out.”

“Purely for the safety of me and my family?” she asked. Derek nodded his head and Hailey sighed. “Fine, but you should at least move your car around the block or something.”

“Okay, I’ll meet you in your room,” he said, turning to go to his car.

“I can’t believe I’m letting a guy sneak into my room,” she said as he started the car and moved it around the corner.

“At least you have the knowledge that when you go up to your room he’ll be there,” Scott said, annoyance in his voice.

“Yippee?” she said. “I’ll see you guys tomorrow.”

“I’ll pick you up at 7:30,” Stiles said as Hailey turned to go back into the house.”

“Sounds good. And thanks again, both of you. I… just… thanks.”

“I told you, anytime Hailey,” Scott said, smiling at her and giving her a wave.

Hailey smiled and closed the door, locking it behind her. She made her way upstairs hoping to beat Derek there. When she was about to turn the knob on her door she heard Stiles’ Jeep start and she groaned. She twisted the doorknob and looked in her room, Derek was nowhere in sight.

She walked in, closing the door behind her and made her way to the window. Derek was crouched on the bit of roof outside. He raised an eyebrow when he saw Hailey and pointed to the lock on the inside of the window. Hailey laughed and unlocked the window, pushing it up. She stepped back as Derek climbed inside and everything suddenly felt strange. To see Derek, completely dressed in black, standing in the middle of her room which was accented with different shades of purple… it was weird and she couldn’t help but smile.

Derek walked quietly across her room, his fingers grazing along her bedspread. She was silent as he took everything in. He stopped at her desk, picking up a picture frame that held a picture of Hailey, Aaron, and their parents. Hailey noticed the frown that appeared on his face as he set it down and turned to her.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, softly, walking over to him.

“It feels wrong for me to feel so happy now that I have you,” he said.

“You deserve to be happy,” she said, sitting at the foot of her bed and gesturing for him to do the same.

“Maybe. But it feels like an injustice to them,” he said, clasping his hands in his lap and looking down.

“Your family,” she said and he nodded his head. “It’s not your fault what happened to them. She manipulated you to take away the people who meant the most to you just because they were different.”

“I should have known better,” he said, his eyebrows scrunching together.

“You were young, there’s no way you could have known.”

“There were so many signs, Hailey. I just didn’t pay any attention to them,” he said, turning to look at her and she could see that he was tearing up, on the brink of opening himself up completely.

“There’s no use dwelling on it, Derek,” she whispered, slowly reaching out to wrap her arm around his torso and rest her head on his shoulder.

“Even though it’s been seven years, I still miss them. But I can’t show it.”

“Yes you can.”

“And make myself look weak?” he asked. She pulled her head away and looked up at him.

“I could never think of you as weak.”

“You might not but Isaac could, or Scott.”

“You don’t have to hide your feelings all the time. You’re as human as the rest of us.”

“I can’t help it.”

“Then just… show it to me,” she said, shrugging her shoulders. “That’s what I’m here for. Since I’m your mate that means I’m dedicated to you, and vice versa. We should be able to be open about everything.”

“You’re going to have to be patient with me.”

“I know,” she said.

She moved away and slid back on her bed so she was lying on her side, her head on the pillows. Derek hesitated for a moment before taking up the other side of the bed, lying face to face with Hailey. He was stiff as a board, keeping a good distance between them. Hailey laughed and put her hand on top of his.

“Relax. Take your jacket off, you don’t need to be so stiff.”

“Your scent is so much stronger here… on your pillows.”

“And it’s getting you all hot and bothered?” she asked sarcastically with a laugh. Derek pressed his lips together and rolled onto his back. Hailey’s eyes widened and she sat up slightly, leaning on her elbow. “Oh my God… you are!”

“Shut. Up,” he said through his teeth, not daring to turn and look at her.

“Well… what do we do?”

“Strip the bed is the only option I can think of. It will make it easier,” he said, standing up and stepping away from the bed. Hailey got up and quickly pulled her blanket and sheets off the bed. She dumped them in her hamper and went back to grab the pillowcases.

“Is that better?” she asked.

Derek stepped forward and glanced at Hailey before bending over and sniffing the bed and her pillows. He straightened up and nodded his head. Hailey decided against putting a new set of sheets on so she instead grabbed a new blanket and laid it across the bed. Derek shrugged off his jacket and kicked his shoes off before climbing back onto the bed. Hailey went to her dresser where her pajamas were and made her way to the door.

“I’ll be right back,” she said quietly. Derek gave a slight nod as she pulled the door open, slipping out and heading to the bathroom.

As she changed and brushed her teeth, her nerves started to kick in. She was going to spend the night with Derek. The first of many nights she kept reminding herself. Before going back out she took a deep breath and composed herself. Quietly she slid back into her room and shut the door.

“Can you turn that lamp on?” she asked Derek, pointing to the lamp on the table next to her bed. She tossed her clothes in her hamper as she heard the lamp click on. She shut the main light off and walked over to the bed, pulling the blanket up and sliding under it.

Since their relationship was still so new she wasn’t sure what the boundaries were. She hoped to be able to cuddle up to Derek but didn’t want to startle him, whatever the case may be. Instead, she lay on her back and turned her head to face him. He was on his back as well, his head turned to look at her.

“I don’t bite,” he said, a grin slowly spreading on his face as Hailey covered her face with her hands to stifle her laugh.

She moved her hands away, a smile still on her face, to see him lift his arm, inviting her closer. She scooted to her right and rested her head against his chest as his arm came down around her shoulder. He lowered his hand, letting his fingertips graze the edge of her cast, a frown forming on his face.

“Does it hurt?”

“A little,” she said, looking at the cast. “Not as much as before though.”

It was silent as they adjusted to this new atmosphere. Hailey listened to Derek’s heart beating under her ear. Her muscles relaxed as she adjusted her position, bringing her broken arm over to rest on his stomach. Derek’s hand came up, absentmindedly playing with her hair.

“It’s nice to see you so gentle,” she said softly.

“I would never hurt you… again, that is,” he said, anger in his voice as he remembered the other week when he had bruised her shoulders.

“At least you didn’t break anything,” she said with a sigh.

“Are you talking about Jackson?” he asked, gently touching her broken arm again.

“No,” she whispered. Derek was silent for a minute as he thought.

“Brett?” he asked. Hailey didn’t say anything. She just nodded her head against his chest. “What did he do, Hailey?”

“He broke my heart,” she said simply.

“How?” he asked, so quietly that Hailey almost didn’t hear him. She cleared her throat and gripped onto Derek’s shirt as much as her cast would allow her to.

“We started dating in the 8th grade. He was my first and until now only boyfriend. We were together for almost two and a half years. I loved him so much. At the end of sophomore year just a few months ago I told him we were moving to California. He didn’t even want to talk about long-distance and broke up with me right on the spot. A few hours later I found out that for the past year he had been cheating on me with one of my close friends. It was literally the worst day of my life.”

“Hailey,” he said softly.

“There’s no use dwelling on it. Especially now,” she said, turning her head to look up at him.

Derek gave her a small smile and reached out, pushing some of her hair back behind her ear. He leaned down, gently kissing her forehead before reaching over and turning the lamp off. Hailey snuggled against his chest again and could feel him hold her slightly tighter to his chest, as if he was afraid to let go.