Derek Hale knew he should keep his distance from Stiles Stilinski. The last thing he wanted was to come off like a stalker. Appearing twice at Stiles's school may be a little harder to explain. There's only so many times you can use the excuse, 'I was in the neighborhood', without raising some suspicion.

Regardless, Derek found himself on the outskirts of the Beacon Hills High School parking lot. He couldn't explain it, but he felt like he needed to be there. Growing up in Beacon Hills, Derek learned to always trust his instincts. If your gut was telling you something it was for a reason. There were no such things as coincidences in Beacon Hills; especially when you were a werewolf.

As Derek got closer to Stiles's Jeep, he could sense that something was wrong. He could hear that knucklehead Jackson Whitmore in the distance.

"Stilinski, this isn't funny. Get up!"

Derek picked up his speed and when he got to Stiles's Jeep, he saw Stiles on the ground. A cold chill washed over him. He immediately turned to Jackson.

"What did you do to him?!"

Jackson swallowed what little saliva was left in his mouth. The look of rage in Derek's eyes was enough to scare him more than a little bit, and Jackson didn't scare easily. "Dude, I didn't do anything. He pushed me to the ground and then he started holding his head and screaming. He's probably just faking. He knows I'll kick his ass if he gets up."

Derek knelt down next to Stiles and then looked over at Jackson. "I'd really rethink that if I were you."

Jackson rolled his eyes. "Psh, whatever, man," he said before walking away.

Derek returned his attention back to Stiles. He could still hear his heart beating, but it was very slow. "Stiles. Stiles, can you hear me?" He tapped Stiles's cheek with his hand. "Stiles. Stiles, wake up."

"What happened?" Stiles woke up on the ground of the Beacon Hills High parking lot. He sat up, rubbing his head as he did so. "Where the hell is everybody?"

The parking lot was empty. There wasn't a car or person in sight.

"This can't be good."

The last thing Stiles could remember was pushing Jackson to the ground. He knew something else had happened, but he wasn't able to make it out. It was there, just waiting to be remembered, but something was blocking him from knowing what it was.

He could tell that something was off with his surroundings. The vacant lot was one giveaway, but the atmosphere and hue of colors was another. It was bleaker; darker, grayer than normal. It was if the world had ended and Stiles was the lone survivor.

I must be asleep, Stiles thought to himself. But that doesn't make any sense….unless Jackson knocked the lights out of me. Now, THAT makes sense. What the hell was I thinking, just pushing him like I was He-Man or something?

Stiles started looking around, not sure of where to go or what to do. The air around him had changed very suddenly. All of sudden he didn't quite feel as alone. Someone or something was there with him.

In the corner of his eye he thought he saw someone in a second floor window of the high school. He looked again and to his surprise there was a young woman watching him from the window.

"Hey! Hey!" Stiles started waving his arms to get her attention. "Hey!"

The girl in the window tilted her head and looked at him curiously before walking away.

"Hey! No, don't leave! Wait! Please!" Stiles began to run towards the entrance of the high school. When he arrived at the doors they were chained shut. A thick metal chain was wrapped around the handles.

"Oh, come on!" Stiles banged on the door rapidly. "Great, just great."

'Are you sure you want to go in there, Stiles?'

The hair on the back of Stiles's neck stood up. It was the voice of the polar bear. Stiles closed his eyes, "Please don't be behind me. Please don't be behind me." Stiles turned around with his eyes closed and when he finally opened them, there was nothing there.

"What in the actual hell is going on?!"

Stiles could hear the menacing laugh of the polar bear.

"What do you want from me?! What did I ever do to you?!"

The laughter stopped and the chains that had been wrapped around the entrance doors blew off in a loud bang. After the polar bear's warning, Stiles wasn't sure that he wanted to go in there anymore. But then he remembered the woman. He had to find her.

Stiles took the handle of the door and pulled it open. A forceful gust of wind pushed through the entrance and almost knocked Stiles on his butt. "Well, that's not creepy at all. Nope, not in the least."

Stiles took a deep breath and then proceeded to walk into the high school. As he stepped into the school, the doors behind him slammed shut. When he turned around, the doors were gone. He looked around and realized he wasn't in Beacon Hills High anymore, he was in the indoor aquarium at the zoo.

"I should have known."

Stiles was scared, he wasn't going to deny it, but he was also fed up. What was the point of these dreams? Why must he continuously be terrorized by a killer freaking polar bear?!

Stiles had momentarily entertained the idea of just sitting on the floor and patiently waiting for the dream to end, but this felt different from the dreams he was used to. He was more cognitively aware, he had control over his body and his decisions. Stiles knew that his being there was important. There was a reason and he knew that the young woman he saw in the window was an important piece to all of this.

Keeping that in mind, Stiles started to walk through the aquarium. It was exactly how he remembered it from that time his dad had taken him when he was a little boy. Both Stiles and his dad had been going through a tough time with Stiles's mom being sick. Stiles knew now that his dad had taken him to the aquarium as a distraction not just for him, but for the both of them.

At the time, Stiles had been in awe. The glass surrounded them on the sides and the ceiling. When he looked up he could see the schools of fish just going about without a stress or care in the world. He remembered being envious of them even at his young age. He had wished he could just swim freely and not have to worry about if his mom was ever going to get better. Stiles shook the old feelings away. He knew he had to remain focused and aware. He couldn't afford to be distracted this time around.

Stiles turned the corner and saw the entrance to the polar bear exhibit. "Alright, here we go. Nothing to lose. Well, except maybe my life, but, hey, collateral damage I guess."

Stiles walked through the large archway and was instantly greeted by a freezing cold blanket of air. He felt like he had just stepped into one of those giant walk-in meat lockers. He was surrounded by a faint fog. Once his eyes adjusted to his surroundings, Stiles noticed the woman from the window was standing by the glass enclosure.

"Hey!"

The woman turned around and had a grave look on her face.

Stiles walked up to the woman. She looked to be in her early twenties. She had very soft features and the skin color of mocha. Her jet black hair was full with loose curls and fell just under her shoulders. She was wearing a long-sleeved white nightgown that touched the floor.

"Who are you?" Stiles asked. "Why are you in my dream?"

A confused look took over the woman's face. "You don't know?"

Now Stiles was the one to be confused. "Know what?"

"Your purpose in all of this."

Before Stiles could respond, the glass enclosure started to crack all around them. The ground beneath them started to shake. "What's happening?! What purpose do I have?! Just tell me!"

The woman grabbed both of Stiles's forearms. "You have to remember! Think back!"

The trembling of the ground started to get more forceful and the cracks in the glass were growing larger. Stiles looked to his left and saw that the polar bear was walking on the ground of his enclosure, with the water parted on both sides of him.

"This can't end until you remember the truth!" the woman yelled at Stiles. "Please, think back to the first time you were here. The first time you saw him," she pointed to the polar bear.

"I was with my dad. I was a little kid. That's all I remember!"

The structure around them started to collapse. Water was spraying through the cracks and the polar bear was looking at them like they were his next meal.

'Remember me, Stiles?! We're old friends from wayyyyy back! Miss me?!'

Stiles looked at the polar bear and then back at the woman. "If you won't tell me my purpose then tell me yours! Who are you and why are you here?!"

The woman tightened her grip on Stiles's arms. "It will all make sense soon, but first you have to wake up."

"And how do you suggest I do that, mysterious woman of unknown origin?!"

"Stop fighting the truth. You need to be ready for what's to come. Don't be afraid. You have to want to wake up!"

The glass on the right side of them combusted and water started filling the enclosure. "I'm ready, really I am! I'm not afraid!"

"Then wake up!"

The glass on the left side collapsed and more water pooled in. It lifted both Stiles and the woman up off their feet. The polar bear peered through the broken enclosure and stepped into the room that Stiles and the woman occupied.

"Wake up! If you don't wake up, we'll be trapped here forever! WAKE UP!"

Stiles closed his eyes and screamed at the top if his lungs, "AHHHHHH!"

"Stiles, please wake up."

Stiles shot up and felt a sharp pressure of air fill his lungs. "I'm not afraid! I want to wake up! I want to wake up!"

"Stiles? Stiles, are you okay? You're awake. You're awake," Derek had his hands on Stiles's shoulders, trying to calm him down.

Stiles looked up at Derek and started to reorient to where he was. He was in the parking lot of the high school. There were cars and other people. He wasn't dreaming anymore...or was he?

Stiles shook his head vigorously and started to get up from the ground. "You're not real. None of this is real. It's just another trick. Another trick to get me to remember, but I can't remember! I don't know what I'm supposed to know! How can I remember something I never knew I knew! Just let me wake up, okay?! I just want to wake up!"

Derek took Stiles by the arm and said, "Stiles, this is real. I promise you, you are awake. Just calm down for a second and stop. Stop thinking, stop feeling, stop everything and just relax. Look at me, Stiles, look at me." Derek, very gently, took Stiles's chin in between his index finger and his thumb. "You're okay."

For Stiles it was like someone had bulldozed through the invisible dam that had been keeping all his emotions at bay. He started to feel so many different things, but the one that made him finally break down into Derek's arms wasn't sadness or fear, but relief.

"It's going to be okay, Stiles. I promise." Derek embraced Stiles and held the back of his head. It hurt him to see Stiles like this. So broken down and defeated. He wanted to know what happened to him, where he went while he was unconscious, but he wasn't going to pry. He would wait for Stiles to tell him; if Stiles trusted him enough that is.

Stiles pulled away from Derek's hold, gently. "Something is going on with me and I have no idea what it is. I…. I feel, no I know, something is coming. Something big and I'm not ready for it."

Derek could see the worry and concern that Stiles had. There was a shadow in his eyes that hadn't been there before. Whatever he saw while he was out had to have been bad. "Let's get out of here. I want to take you somewhere."

"Derek, I-"

"You don't have to tell me what happened or what you saw, but I want to show you something. I think it'll help."

"I think I want to be alone right now."

"Look, I know you don't really know me, and this is all really new and different, but you can trust me, Stiles. I just want to help you. Let me be your friend if anything else."

He's being so nice and I want to tell him everything, but it's just too much all at once! I can't even get a handle on these dreams and what they might mean. All of this who-knows-what with Derek is just maximum overload. I'm ready to explode. That's what Stiles was saying in his head, but when he looked at Derek he couldn't tell him all of that. He didn't want to hurt him. Why do his feelings matter to me? Like he just said, I don't even really know him.

"Derek, I'm trying to think before I say something that you might take the wrong way and you should know that that isn't something I do, okay? I usually just say what's on my mind. Gun fully loaded, you know?"

"I'm a big boy, Stiles."

Stiles sighed. "I…. I don't know what you want from me, okay? Like, you stand there and act all nice and calm and tell me you want to be my friend and I just don't know what to do with that, alright? I have a lot going on upstairs in this noggin of mine already and I don't need you and your big dreamy eyes taking up space that's not available. It's a lot all at once. I'm one marble away from an empty bag."

Derek stood there and took in all of what Stiles said. He wasn't hurt, nor was he angry. "The last thing I want to do is make it worse for you. Remember what I said before? I am not expecting anything from you. Stop thinking that you know what I'm thinking or how I'm feeling. I want to help you. We can put whatever this is between us on the backburner for now and just focus on you and what you need. Just let me in a little bit, man."

Stiles chuckled. "I don't get you. I don't get you at all and that irritates me to no end. Every time I think I know what you're going to say, you throw me a curveball from hell." Stiles shook his head and smirked. "You scare me, Derek Hale. And not because of your, you know, your condition, but because I don't know what to expect from you and that's not okay. I don't do well with surprises. I….I-"

Derek cut him off. "You like to be in control?"

Stiles threw his hands up. "See! Now, there you go finishing my thoughts and sentences! Like, what is that?! And to answer your question, yes I like to be in control. I like HAVING control and right now, there's not a damn thing in my life that I have control over! My own emotions have decided they can just feel however they want to feel and, hell, even my dreams have been hijacked!"

"Then let me help you get a grip on things. I'm the levelheaded one, remember? I'm not your enemy. Stop thinking of me as a problem. Why are you so quick to push me away?"

"I don't need anyone to take care of me, Derek. I'm a big boy, too…. kinda."

"I don't want to take care of you, Stiles. No matter who you are or how strong you are, everyone needs someone to be in their corner."

Stiles gave a small smirk. "So, you want to be my wing-man?"

Derek laughed. "For lack of a better word."

"Scott might take offense, you know. That's kind of his job."

"It can be our secret."

Stiles didn't know what to say. Derek had proved that he cared. Even though Stiles instinctively wanted to push him away, he was starting to like the idea of having Derek there for him. Maybe it was time to take a chance. Maybe it was time to grow up a little bit.

"What do you say?" Derek asked.

Stiles bit his bottom lip. "So, where is it you want to take me?"

Derek smiled. "I feel like you should get checked out at the hospital first. You were just unconscious for a little while."

Stiles shook his head. "Don't even think about it, buddy. I'm fine."

Derek cocked his head to the left and raised an eyebrow. "You sure?"

"Positive."

"Okay, then. You up for a hike?"

"Uhm…. well, when you say 'hike' do you mean like trails in the woods or more like mountain climbing? Cause these feet right here were not made for climbing mountains. Maybe a boulder here and there, but no mountains."

Derek laughed. "You're such a dork, you know that? No, mountain climbing. I promise."

"Alright, good."

"But there may be a cliff or two…"

Stiles stared at Derek. "A-a-a cliff or two? Yeah, that's a big 'no' for me, big guy. Sorry."

"I'm joking. And even if there were a couple of cliffs, I'd carry you on my back so you wouldn't hurt those delicate feet of yours."

"I'll have you know, a ballerina would be jealous of these flawless masterpieces."

"I'll take your word for it."

Stiles reached into his front pocket and took out the keys to the Jeep.

"Oh, no you don't. I'm driving," and as quick as lightening, Derek snatched the keys out of Stiles's hand.

"Hey! I appreciate the gesture, but no one drives my girl but me. Sorry, it's company policy."

"Stiles, you were just passed out on the ground. I'm not letting you behind the wheel. Besides you don't even know where we're going."

"I'm very good with directions."

Derek sucked his teeth. "Somehow I doubt that. A lot."

"Well, fine, but be gentle with her, okay?"

"Will do."

The two headed towards the jeep and when Stiles opened the door he said, "So where are you taking me?"

Derek sat in the driver's seat and said, "Do you trust me?"

After all that just happened, Stiles didn't even have to think about it. "I do."

"Then get in, my delicate footed gnome."

Stiles got into the Jeep and closed the door. "We need to work on that nickname."

"One thing at a time."

Stiles turned his focus to Derek and said, "One thing at a time. I can work with that."

Stiles wasn't sure of many things, but what he was sure of was that Derek Hale was someone he wanted in his life. He didn't know what road they were headed down, but he could now honestly say that he wasn't afraid to find out.

A/N: The longest chapter I have ever written! I hope I didn't throw too much at you guys. I toyed with the idea of splitting this chapter into two, but I wasn't really feeling that. The ending of this chapter marks a turning point for the story and our characters. It's balls to the wall from here on out! Hope you stick with me and this story! I'm having such a wonderful time writing it and hearing all of your opinions!

PS: I apologize if there are any typos/missing words. I am a HORRIBLE proof-reader lol. I re-read the chapter a hundred times and STILL miss my mistakes lol.

Happy reading!

~Ashy