Poison and Wine

“Hailey! Come on! I can’t be late for my first game!” Aaron called up the stairs to his sister.

“I’m coming!” she shouted back. Hailey had been up half the night worrying about what could possibly happen at the game. She tried to stay positive and the thought that one of the werewolves would be there helped calm her down.

“All right, everybody in the car,” Jason said, shepherding his family out the door and to the car. Hailey climbed into the back with Aaron and was quiet the whole car ride.

“I didn’t expect an elementary school soccer game to be so crowded,” Alyssa said, climbing out of the car and looking around.

“See you later!” Aaron called, running off to find his teammates.

“Neither did I,” Hailey said, realizing that if Jackson were after Aaron and was in the crowd it would be difficult to find him. As she followed her parents to an open area to set up their chairs, Hailey kept an eye out for Scott, Derek, or someone else who looked like they could be a werewolf.

“I think this is a good spot,” Jason said, turning to his wife and daughter.

“Perfect,” Alyssa said, unfolding her chair and placing it next to her husband’s. Hailey was slow to unfold her chair, her eyes still scanning through the crowd. After a few minutes she gave up and sat next to her mother.

Every time someone walked by them Hailey would look up expectantly and be disappointed every time. Thinking that maybe whichever of the four would be there to watch from afar she scanned the far end of the field. With no one in sight she sighed and crossed her arms against her chest.

“They should be starting soon,” Jason said, looking down at his watch. “I hope the refs are good.”

“Dad, it’s just a kids game,” Hailey said with a laugh, leaning forward to look at her father.

“Which prepares him for high school, maybe college, and hopefully the pros,” he said, tipping a finger to his forehead.

“Oh honey,” Alyssa said with a laugh, patting her husband’s arm.

“Hi,” a deep voice said behind Hailey. She turned around to see Derek standing there, a folded up chair under his arm.

“Um, hi,” she said, not expecting him to actually be the one to show up.

“Honey, who’s your friend?” Alyssa asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Uh,” Hailey said, standing up. “Mom, Dad, this is Derek… Hale. Derek these are… my parents… obviously.”

“Derek,” Jason said, standing up and shaking Derek’s hand.

“Do you have a little brother or sister on the team, Derek?” Alyssa asked, smiling up at Derek. Hailey’s eyes widened and she looked at Derek who swallowed and looked down at the ground.

“No… I don’t,” he answered, looking to Hailey for help to explain why he was there.

“Derek… uh, stopped by the house the other day to, um, bring me something and Aaron, being enthusiastic as he is, asked Derek to come to the game,” Hailey said, finishing strong to make it sound believable.

“Oh,” Alyssa said. “Well come on and sit down. The more the merrier.”

Hailey let out a sigh of relief and sat in her chair. Derek unfolded his char and set it next to Hailey’s. He sat down and looked around and Hailey noticed he seemed slightly uncomfortable.

“Are you okay?” she whispered. He nodded his head without looking at her.

“I’m not usually in the crowd,” he said, scanning the group, probably for Jackson.

“So how do you two know each other exactly?” Jason asked, causing Hailey and Derek to both look over at him.

“Well, uh… Derek’s…”

“I’m Scott’s big brother. Well, not literally. I’m with that program… at the Y. I’ve known him for years,” Derek said quickly. “Hailey and I met at his Lacrosse game last week.”

“Oh how nice,” Alyssa said. “Melissa mentioned Scott’s father was out of the picture. That’s very sweet of you Derek.”

“Mom works at the hospital with Mrs. McCall,” Hailey said quietly to Derek.

“What did you bring to the house for Hailey to borrow?” Jason asked, deciding to be heavy on the questions apparently. Hailey rolled her eyes and looked at her Dad.

“A book, Dad. A novel, if you’re curious as to what kind of book. Can we stop with the questions now because Aaron’s team is on the field,” she said, pointing to the field where a large group of kids had formed from both teams. Jason looked to the field and stood, starting to clap for his son’s team.

“Wow,” Derek said, a hint of amusement in his voice.

“Sorry about that,” she said with a sigh, leaning back in her chair, rolling her head to the side to look at Derek.

“It could have been worse.”

“How?” she asked.

“He could have asked what my intentions were,” he said in a mocking tone, looking over at Hailey with a smile.

“Is that a smile on your face?” she gasped, sitting up in her chair amused. Derek rolled his eyes and sighed, turning back to the field. “Oh come on, it’s okay to show emotion sometimes, you know.”

“You sound like Stiles,” Derek said. Hailey let out a huff and crossed her arms. She turned her attention to the field and watched her brother run to his spot in goal. Her father had already abandoned his chair and was standing as close to the sideline as possible without actually being on the field.

“So, any sign of Jackson?” Hailey asked, looking up at Derek who was scanning the crowd again.

“No,” he said, shaking his head. “I don’t catch his scent either.”

“You’re trying to smell him?” she asked incredulously.

“Yes?” he said, turning to her. “Werewolf, remember?” he whispered.

“Right,” she said. “What if he was on the other side of the field? Could you sniff him out then?”

“Yes.”

“Cool. Creepy… but cool,” she said, shrugging her shoulders.

“Just, watch your brother play and let me handle keeping an eye out,” he said and Hailey scoffed.

“Fine.”

By halftime, absolutely nothing had happened that shouldn’t have. Aaron’s team was up two to one and Jason was very enthusiastic about his son’s performance in the goal. Even though nothing had happened Derek was still on red alert, just in case. None of them had been able to figure out why Jackson would attack Aaron even once so it was better to be safe than sorry.

The whole first half of the game Hailey had been trying to think of something to say in her head that wouldn’t sound stupid. A couple of times she looked up at Derek and opened and closed her mouth in an attempt to say something but nothing came out. One time, she could have sworn she saw him smirk. And the whole time he didn’t look at her once.

“Do you guys want anything from the concession table?” Jason asked, causing Hailey and Derek to look up at him.

“I’m fine, Dad,” Hailey said, shaking her head.

“No thank you,” Derek said.

“Well I could use some coffee,” Alyssa said, standing up to join her husband. As they walked away Alyssa looked over her shoulder and caught Hailey’s eye. He’s cute she mouthed to Hailey who rolled her eyes and laughed.

“What’s funny?” Derek asked, looking at her, his elbows on his knees.

“Nothing,” she said, shaking her head. It grew silent again and Derek leaned back in his chair. “So…”

“What?” he asked, looking over at her.

“All the others were busy? Or did you want to come?” she asked, raising an eyebrow. Derek pursed his lips and turned away.

“Scott had Lacrosse practice,” he answered.

“Okay… but what about Peter or Isaac?”

“Do you not want me here, Hailey?” he asked, standing up. “Because I can leave. I’m doing you a favor.”

“I know!” she cried, standing up and grabbing onto his arm. “I’m sorry, I was just curious. You don’t need to get all pissy.”

“Peter is watching Jackson’s house and Isaac is watching Lydia’s in case he’s there. Happy?” he asked, pulling his arm out of her grip and sitting back down. She stood in front of him and stared at him before sitting in her chair.

“Whatever,” she said, crossing her arms and legs. “I should meet them at some point though, you know.”

“I know. Which is why you’re coming with me after the game.”

“Excuse me?” she asked, turning to look at him. “I don’t think so.”

“Hailey you need to meet them. They need to catch your scent. Aaron’s too.”

“Oh there’s no way he’s coming,” she said, shaking her head.

“I know. You just need to bring something of his,” Derek said, exasperation in his voice.

“I feel like I’m heading out to meet bomb sniffing dogs,” she said with a sigh. “You know, if Aaron’s team wins Mom and Dad are going to want to take him out to lunch and there’s no chance in hell they’ll let me miss that.”

“I don’t know what you want me to do,” he said, shaking his head.

“Let’s just see how the game goes, huh?” she asked. “If they win I’ll just meet you somewhere later.”

“Fine,” he said with a huff.

“That means I’ll need your number… so I can let you know when and everything,” she said hesitantly. Derek turned to look at her and rolled his eyes. “What! It’s not like I have telepathic powers to let you know. Not all of us are supernatural.”

“What happened to just seeing how the game goes?” he said, his eyebrows raised.

“Touché,” she said, leaning back in her chair.

“So my uncle came up with a theory in regards to why Jackson would attack Aaron,” Derek said and Hailey snapped to attention sitting up straight again.

“And you waited this long to tell me because?”

“Because your Mom was there the whole time,” he said as if that should have been obvious.

“Spill,” she said, growing impatient. She glanced over her shoulder to make sure her parents weren’t on their way back yet and saw they had only moved halfway through the line.

“He doesn’t think Jackson was out to kill Aaron,” he said and Hailey let out a sigh of relief and relaxed a little. “However.”

“I don’t like the sound of that,” Hailey interrupted and Derek glared at her.

“However, he thinks there’s a possibility that Jackson wants to start building his own pack, even though he’s not an alpha and technically part of my pack.”

“Wait, you’re the one that bit him?” Hailey asked, her eyes widening.

“Scott and Stiles didn’t tell you that I take it,” Derek said, looking down.

“No,” she said, shaking her head.

“I didn’t think any of this would happen. When I gave him the Bite, it was to make him part of my pack because I knew he’d be strong but his body rejected the Bite and he became the Kanima,” Derek said, his face showing signs of regret.

“Hey,” Hailey said softly. “It’s not your fault.”

“Yes it is, Hailey,” he said, anger in his voice. “I was being selfish. I should have been more careful. If I hadn’t done it those people would still be alive.”

“You don’t know that,” she said, putting her hand on his arm and she noticed as he flinched and slowly pulled his arm away. “Why do you do that?”

“Do what?” he asked.

“Move away from contact. You were quick to shove me against the lockers the other day. But yesterday when you helped with the pain you seemed hesitant to even touch me and just now, you pulled away,” she said and Derek’s face softened with every observation she pointed out.

“The last time I let someone in, I lost everything that was important to me.”

“I know,” she whispered, causing him to look up at her, his eyes flashing red briefly.

“They told you about that?” he asked, his fists clenching against his legs.

“Yes,” she said hesitantly.

“I’m going to kill them,” he growled, standing up quickly. Hailey jumped up and grabbed Derek’s elbow and he turned to face her, baring his fangs.

“Hey, hey, calm down,” she hissed through her teeth. “Please, just calm down.”

Slowly, Derek started to relax, his breathing slowing. His fangs receded, his teeth returning to normal. He backed away from Hailey and gripped his head in his hands for a moment before looking back up at her. He could see the sadness in her eyes.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I’m sure they didn’t think it would be a problem telling me.”

“Well they shouldn’t have,” he said.

“I understand that but they were telling me about Allison and what happened to her Mom and K-“

“Don’t say her name!” Derek said a little loudly causing the people around them to look to see what the commotion was.

“Okay,” Hailey said, putting her hands up defensively. “Can we just, sit down and speak calmly?”

“Fine,” Derek said, returning to his chair, leaning forward, elbows on his knees.

“Derek,” she began, turning in her chair so she was sitting in it sideways.

“I’m sorry about what just happened,” he said, looking at the ground instead of at her. “It’s just… you already know more about me than I want you to. It’s like you’re unintentionally being let into my life and I’m the last one to know.”

“Well it looks like you two are having quite the conversation,” Alyssa said, startling Hailey causing her to fall out of her chair to the ground.

“Jesus Christ, Mom! You can’t just sneak up on people like that,” Hailey said, brushing the dirt off her hands.

“I’m sorry, honey,” Alyssa said, stifling a laugh.

“Here,” Derek said, holding a hand out to help her up.

“Thanks,” she whispered, reaching around to wipe the dirt off her pants before sitting back down, a blush rising in her cheeks.

“So what was so interesting?” Alyssa asked, taking a sip of her coffee.

“Nothing, Mom,” Hailey said, waving her hand in her mother’s general direction.

“The second half is starting,” Jason said excitedly, returning to his spot on the sideline. Hailey looked over at Derek who had his hands clasped together in his lap and was staring out at the field.

“Listen,” she said quietly and his head turned towards her just slightly. “The next time Scott or Stiles starts to say something about your personal life, I’ll stop them. From now on I’ll leave that up to you. You let me in as you see fit.”

“Don’t get your hopes up,” he said and Hailey smirked.

“Too late,” she said, causing him to look up at her, the smirk still on her lips.

****

“There’s my superstar!” Alyssa cried to Aaron as he ran over to the group, a smile on his face.

“Great game, kiddo!” Hailey said, bending down to hug her brother, congratulating him on his teams’ win.

“Thanks Hails!” he said, excitedly.

“Hey,” she whispered when he moved to let go. “Derek’s here and I told Mom and Dad you invited him so play along, okay?”

“Okay,” he whispered back, nodding his head.

“Nice job,” Derek said causing Hailey and Aaron to look up at him. He had a large smile on his face and his fist out for Aaron to bump.

“Thanks,” Aaron said, reaching his fist out. “I’m glad you came.”

“Me too,” Derek said with a laugh and Hailey raised her eyebrows at him.

“You ready for some lunch?” Jason asked, clapping his hand down on Aaron’s shoulder.

“I’m starving!” Aaron said, his eyes widening at the mention of food.

“Derek, you’re welcome to join us,” Alyssa said, folding her chair up.

“Thanks but I should get going. I promised my uncle I’d help him with something when I was done here,” he said, pointing over his shoulder towards his car.

“Well you’ll just have to come over to the house for dinner sometime,” Alyssa said with a smile and Hailey turned to glare at her.

“Mom!” she hissed through her teeth. Alyssa merely shrugged her shoulders and made her way to the car.

“Don’t linger, Hailey,” Jason said to her as he walked past her to the car.

“I’ll be there in a second,” she said, waiting until he walked away before she turned to Derek. “I’ll take that number now,” she said, a grin on her face.

“You know after this occasion you use this for emergencies only,” he said, taking her cell phone and punching his number in.

“Sure,” she said sarcastically, taking the phone back. “See ya.”

Derek nodded his head in reply before turning and heading to his car. Hailey shook her head and smiled as she put her phone back in her pocket. She rushed over to the car and climbed in next to Aaron who was in the process of detailing every moment of his time in the goal.

****

Once they returned home, Hailey went straight to her room and closed the door. Pulling her phone out of her pocket she scrolled through her contacts list until she reached Derek’s name. She took a deep breath before hitting send and holding the phone to her ear, her heartbeat increasing with each ring.

“Hello?” Derek answered sounding out of breath.

“Hi, it’s Hailey,” she said. “Are you alright? You sound out of breath.”

“I’m fine. Isaac and I were in the middle of training,” he said as he caught his breath.

“Oh well I can wait until you guys are done to meet up,” she said, shrugging her shoulders.

“It’s fine, we can meet now. Just… come to the house. It’s-“

“I… know where it is,” she said, interrupting him. She bit her lip, knowing he’d be mad.

“You have got to be kidding me,” he growled and Hailey could just picture him clenching his fist.

“That one is all on me so be mad at me,” she said in defense of Stiles. “I asked Stiles to show me. It was that day you came to my house.”

“Fine,” he huffed. “Don’t forget something of Aaron’s.”

“Goodbye to you too,” Hailey said in disgust, pulling the phone away from her when he hung up before she could say another word.

Silently she walked out into the hallway and over to the stairs, leaning over the rails. She could hear her parents talking in the kitchen and Aaron was in the living room watching TV. She looked over her shoulder into Aaron’s room and saw his laundry basket was still in his room. If Isaac and Peter were going to need to catch Aaron’s scent, their best bet would be to get it from something he’d worn recently. She reached into the basket and pulled out the shirt Aaron had worn the day before. Grabbing her backpack from her room she stuffed the shirt inside and made her way downstairs.

“Hailey,” Aaron called from the living room as she was on her way to the kitchen. She turned around and walked in to see him sitting on the couch his legs crossed. He patted the cushion next to him and she sat down.

“What’s up?” she asked, placing the backpack on the floor.

“They’re talking about you in there.”

“What about?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.

“You and Derek,” he said in a singsong voice, a grin on his face.

“What are they saying about us?” she asked.

“It’s gonna cost ya,” he said, holding a hand out and Hailey rolled her eyes. She opened a zipper on her backpack and pulled out a crumpled up five dollar bill and shoved it in his hand.

“Spill.”

“Well, Mom thinks you two look cute together and Dad thinks he looks too old,” he said quietly and Hailey rolled her eyes again. “Then Mom reminded Dad that he’s ten years older than her and Derek can’t be more than five years older than you. Dad said he didn’t like the looks of him. He said that he looks like he’s from the wrong crowd. Mom said he seems mysterious and Dad said that’s what worries him. And that’s all I really heard.”

“Thanks for the warning,” she said, slinging her bag back over her shoulder as she stood up.

“Where are you going?” he asked, his face scrunching up in confusion.

“A friends house.”

“What friend?”

“None of your business,” she said and he stuck his tongue out at her. She stuck hers out in return and made her way to the kitchen and her parents immediately stopped talking.

“Hi honey,” Alyssa said, a smile on her face.

“What were you two talking about?” Hailey grinned, already knowing the answer.

“Oh nothing,” she said, shrugging her shoulders. “Going somewhere?”

“I was wondering if I could borrow one of the cars to go to Stiles’ house. We have a presentation to work on for our English class and he wanted to get started,” she said. The lying was becoming easier each time.

“You can take my car,” Alyssa said. “But it’s the last time.”

“Why?” Hailey asked and her parents looked at each other.

“Because tomorrow we’re going to the car dealership,” Jason said a smile on his face. Hailey’s jaw dropped and she hugged him and then her mother.

“You guys are the best! Thank you! I’ll see you later. Love you!” she said, running towards the front door and grabbing her mother’s keys from the hook.

“Love you too!” they called back as she shut the door behind her.

As she drove to Derek’s house her nerves started to kick in. Hell, she was on her way to meet two werewolves. She didn’t know how they’d react to her. Aside from their names and the fact that Peter is Derek's uncle she knew nothing about them. But Derek wouldn’t have her meet them if it wasn’t safe and Scott wouldn’t rely on them. She kept telling herself that over and over as she took deep breaths to calm down.

Soon she was pulling up the dirt path in front of the scorched Hale house. She grabbed her backpack out of the passenger’s seat and climbed out of the car. When she looked up at the house she saw Derek standing on the front porch in a tank top, his arms crossed accentuating his muscles. Hailey swallowed and took a deep breath, knowing it would be hard to keep her heart rate down if he was going to stand there in that and made her way towards the house.

“No need to be nervous,” he said, picking up her accelerated heart rate.

“It’s not nerves,” she said, a blush rising to her face the second time that day as she looked at his arms. He looked at them and rolled his eyes.

“Come on,” he sighed, pushing the door open, leading her into the house.

Hailey's nose was attacked by the lingering scent in the house. It didn’t smell burnt, not after all those years, but it had a rundown smell to it, old, fragile. Her eyes raked the entryway, the burnt and broken rails of the staircase, the scorch marks left on the decaying wallpaper, the broken windows. Her emotions were taking hold of her again like when Stiles had brought her there.

“Hailey?” Derek asked, looking into her glistening eyes.

“I’m sorry,” she said, shaking her head and bringing a hand up to wipe her eyes. “I just still can’t believe this happened.”

“Me either,” he said and she could hear the sadness in his voice. “They’re waiting.”

She followed him to the left into what looked like it used to be a sitting room. The stone fireplace was the most put together thing in the room. Derek stopped walking and she turned to see two men, one younger than the other, sitting on a burnt and torn sofa. They both stood up and she nodded at them.

“Isaac, Peter, this is Hailey,” Derek said, introducing them. Isaac gave her a reassuring smile and Peter reached out, taking her hand in his and Derek growled.

“Relax pup,” Peter said, lifting Hailey’s hand up to his lips and kissing it. Before he let go he brushed his nose against it, taking a breath. “Lovely.”

“Thanks?” Hailey asked, her voice weak.

“Did you bring something of Aaron’s?” Derek asked as he continued to glare at Peter who simply smirked at him.

“Yeah,” she said, pulling her backpack off her shoulders. She unzipped it and pulled out the shirt, handing it to Derek.

“Smell it until you are able to know it like it’s second nature,” he said, handing the shirt to Isaac who nodded his head.

“And what do we have of yours to take a whiff of?” Peter asked, arching an eyebrow at Hailey and grinning.

“Will you shut up?” Derek spat, his claws coming out and Hailey stepped back.

“Whoa,” she said when she saw how menacing his hands looked.

“Play nice,” Peter said in a mocking tone as if he was scolding Derek.

“Here,” Hailey said, shrugging off her coat and tossing it at Peter.

“How old is your brother?” Isaac asked, speaking for the first time.

“Nine,” Hailey said, watching as he and Peter switched the clothing articles.

“If your theory is right, Peter, why would he want him so young?”

“Most likely so he could have the time to train him. The boy wouldn’t be his only target though,” Peter said, handing Aaron’s shirt back to Derek who started to smell it.

“The boy has a name,” Hailey said, crossing her arms. “Aaron.”

“My apologies,” Peter said. “As I was saying, if Jackson is trying to create a pack he would also go for someone around his age. Possibly a friend, someone he can trust.”

“Danny,” Isaac said and Peter nodded.

“You really think he’d do that to his best friend?” Hailey asked and all three nodded their heads.

“Without any hesitation either,” Derek said. Isaac handed Derek Hailey’s jacket but Derek shook his head. “I don’t need that.”

“Have my scent memorized already?” Hailey asked with a smirk and Derek’s nostrils flared.

“That’s a yes,” Isaac said with a laugh, tossing Hailey her jacket back. Derek snapped at Isaac who backed up against the couch, sinking down onto it.

“Derek,” she sighed shaking her head. “Was that really necessary?”

“Yes,” he said, handing her Aaron’s shirt. “We’re done here.”

“Oh, okay,” she said, pulling her jacket back on. “Nice to meet you two, I guess.”

“Come back soon,” Peter said, wagging his fingers at her. Derek grabbed him by the shirt and threw him across the room. Hailey’s jaw dropped, stunned and she backed out of the house. Derek walked into the entryway breathing heavily to calm down and she turned and walked down the steps.

“Hailey,” he said with a sigh. He followed her down the steps to the car.

“What did you do that to him for?” she asked, turning to him.

“I didn’t like the way he was talking to you,” he admitted, putting his hands in his pockets.

“So say that next time. You didn’t have to throw him across the room!”

“I couldn’t help it.”

“Uh, yeah pretty sure you could have,” she said, opening the car door and tossing her backpack in it.

“You don’t get it, do you?” he asked and she turned to look at him.

“Get what?” she asked. They stood there silently as she waited for an answer. He opened his mouth to say something but closed it, shaking his head. “Whatever Derek,” she said, climbing into the car.

She turned the key to start the engine and looked up. He was still standing there, his hands in his pockets staring at her. She shifted into reverse and backed the car up before turning back onto the road leaving Derek and the Hale house behind her.