Derek has no idea how he let Laura talk him in to this. Actually on second thoughts he does.

Number one she's his sister. His older-than-him sister. Which kind of gives her free reign to be bossy or at least she thinks it does.

As kids they fought a lot.

She would try to boss him around and he fought back. Not with his fists. Because hitting girls was a coward's thing to do, at least that's what his dad had taught him. So instead he fought with the only weapons he had, silence and deadly looks. And on the whole it worked - most of the time. When it didn't their arguments were pretty heated and loud. There tended to be lots of yelling (her) and slamming of doors (him).

Their parents must have been saints to put up with them.

Now they fight a lot less. Which is something that everyone around them is eternally grateful for.

Being bossy though isn't the only thing that Laura can do. She's also something of a nagger. Which is reason number two. But she's not your ordinary nagger. Oh no. She isn't whiny or obnoxious, she is much, much better than that. She's uses reason and logic and the sheer force of her personality to get you to do exactly what she wants. And once she wants something no amount of saying no will work. It's what makes her such a good lawyer. Not that he would ever tell her that.

Still despite their tendency to butt heads from time to time, they were close. She had his back and he had hers. They were family and along with Cora, their sister and Peter, their Uncle, they were all the family they had.

Family first. Which was the third and perhaps the most important reason. Even if one such member of the family was like some weird and terrifying mix of Madeleine Albright and Catherine Zeta Jones, with four inch high heels, immaculately groomed nails and blood red lipstick.

Most men generally melted at her feet or ran away in terror but as he's her brother it doesn't work on him. He can stand his ground. Unfortunately for him she's always known exactly what buttons to push and push she had.

He should have known it was futile. The moment she had gotten Cora to gang up on him too it was a lost cause. One sister was bad enough but two, well he pretty much caved in then and there just to get them to leave him alone, though not before he had made it very clear he was doing so with a great deal of reluctance.

Still just because he was here it didn't mean he was going to enjoy himself. He would sit down, have a drink and then make his excuses.

With a deep sigh he got out of his Camaro and made his way towards the restaurant, the chill of the autumn air wrapping around him. The cold night was a perfect match for his mood. With a face set like granite he looked like a man going to his execution rather than a man going on his first date in eleven months.

A date that his sister had set him up with.

A date with a man he has never met, much less laid eyes on or talked to.

This was what his life had been reduced to. Going on blind dates set up by his sister.

He sighed again, tilting his face up towards the night sky, pleading for some kind of divine intervention. Anything in fact that would get him out of this date.

Knowing that fate wouldn't be so kind he faced the restaurant's entrance and pushed open the front door.

*TW*TW*TW*

The restaurant was nice. Really nice in fact. There are stone walls and wooden beams and frosted glass and the food smelt amazing. At any other time he'd be happy to be here but right now he really wishes he was some place else.

For a moment he's tempted to turn around and just leave but he knows that if he did he'd be letting Laura down. She'd forgive him of course, because that's what families do, but she would be disappointed and as much as he can handle her anger, handling her hurt feelings is a whole lot harder. So yeah he can do this, despite now much he'd really rather not.

He glanced around wondering if his date was already here. Part of him hopes he is and part of him hopes he isn't and he's not really sure why he's so nervous. He's dated before. Maybe not a lot but there's been dates. Plural. And while it might be true that he hasn't had a date in a while he's not completely new to this. Still a blind date is a first for him.

Suddenly he realised there's a voice chattering away and that the voice was talking to him. Feeling a little embarrassed at being so distracted that he hadn't noticed sooner, he pulled his gaze away from the roomful of people and turned his head in the direction it was coming from.

A young woman with dark strawberry blonde hair, fair skin, hazel eyes and a mouth that's just a little too wide for her face is staring up at him. She's pretty in an old fashioned, Pre-Raphaelite kind of way and was wearing a Mandarin style red silk dress that stopped at mid thigh. She seemed almost fragile and yet there's something in her gaze, in the way she locked eyes with his, steady and calm, that tells him she's a lot stronger and tougher than she looks. She's also tiny even with the strappy high heels she was wearing and was looking up at him with concern, eyes wide, her head tilting slightly to one side.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

Now fully focused on her he smiled. It changed his whole face from stern and frowny to warm and seductive and it was easy to see why pretty much anyone with a pulse would swoon at his feet from just that smile. "Sorry I was little distracted. I'm fine. What were you saying?"

Seeing that she now had his attention she stared at him for a second, as if she truly was trying to figure out if he really was okay, before she beamed a smile at him. "Your reservation. What name is it under?"

"Hale. Derek Hale."

Briskly turning around she walked with confidence back over to the hostess stand and glanced down at the register that was laying on top. She looked at the page for a second, quickly running her index finger down along the page. Halfway down the page she stopped and looked back up him, her warm, friendly smile once again in place. "Mr Hale. Welcome to La Maison. I'm Lydia Martin, your hostess. If there is anything I can do you for please let me or any of the staff know. Your guest is already here. He's waiting for you over at the bar, if you would like to join him."

Derek felt a mixture of relief and alarm at this news and turned around, scanning the bar, trying to remember the few details Laura had given him. Tall and blond are two things he remembers and Rick. Yes he's pretty sure his date's name is Rick. At least he thinks it is. Maybe he should text Laura to double check. On second thoughts better not; she'll only tease him mercilessly for days and he's not prepared to give her that kind of ammunition.

Luckily for him there's only a handful of people at the bar and discounting the middle aged couple in designer clothes and a pretty brunette in a short, short dress it leaves only one. His back was facing Derek and he's exactly as Laura described; tall with dark blonde hair that is slightly damp and slicked back with gel.

With a deep breath to give himself courage Derek headed in the bar's direction. Two steps in and tall and blonde picked his drink up from the bar and turned around, almost as if he sensed Derek's approach and looked directly at him. Derek has to admit that Laura has good taste. The guy's good looking with designer stubble and blue eyes and dressed immaculately in a navy blue suit with a light blue button down, blue silk tie and a handkerchief tucked in his jacket breast pocket. Derek almost felt under dressed but he's not going to worry about it. He knows he looks good, probably even more so without a tie and handkerchief in his breast pocket. Black is his colour and with his suit jacket unbuttoned showing off the soft white shirt underneath he looked deadly and super hot. Like every woman's - and some men's - bad boy wet dream. At least that's pretty much what every pair of eyes that are on him at this moment are thinking.

Tall and blonde smiled as Derek got closer. "Derek?"

"Hi. Sorry I'm late."

"Don't worry about it." Tall and blonde smiled again and it's a nice smile, if just a little too perfect. In fact everything about the guy is perfect. There's not a hair out of place or a crease in his suit and though it shouldn't bother Derek it does. Perfection, as far as he is concerned, is over-rated. Of course if he told Laura any of this she would just smile that smile of hers and tell him that he was using it as an excuse not to get close to anyone and maybe she's right.

He has good reason though and she knows this. Still he at least owes the guy a chance, even if it's just for Laura's sake and smiled in return. Turning to the bartender that was hovering nearby he ordered a drink. He's not much of a drinker, never has been but he enjoys the odd drink of whiskey now and again. Likes the taste of it. Rich and warm and velvety smooth and right at this moment he could really do with a shot of something.

There's a couple of minutes of awkward silence as the bartender gets him his drink and Derek wonders if tall and blonde is as apprehensive as he is about this blind date. Somehow he doubts it but still you never can tell what's going on underneath. Some people are very good at masking their emotions. This Derek knows only too well.

"Laura mentioned that you're a writer."

Derek's not surprised that Rick's the first one to break the silence. He can already tell that the guy is use to being in charge. He's calm and confident, pretty much like his sister Laura. Maybe it's a lawyer thing since they are both lawyers. "That's right," he said, taking a slow measured sip of his whiskey.

"So what kind of books do you write?"

"Didn't Laura tell you?"

Derek's pretty sure she didn't, he knows that the mystery about what he writes was all part of the game she plays. For once he doesn't mind going along with the game and was almost looking forward to seeing Mr Tall, Blond and Perfect lose some of his composure.

In the second it takes for Rick to think Derek's question through he quirks an eyebrow up. "Actually she didn't." There's surprise in his voice as he realises this. "She was kind of vague and mysterious about it." He paused for a moment, his head tilting gently to one side as he looked at Derek with curiosity. "Let me guess. Crime novels?"

Derek can't help but give a smirk at this and he wondered for the 100th time why everyone assumes he's a crime novelist. Is it the stubble or something? "No. I do not write crime novels," he said, his voice barely concealing his exasperated amusement.

"Okay. Well..." he paused as he looked Derek up and down, his gaze appreciative as he did so. "A work out guide?"

Derek snorts at this, partly because tall and blonde is not as subtle as he thinks he is when it comes to flirting, which Derek is pretty sure it was. "Really? Do I look like someone who would write a how to guide?"

"No. Maybe not. You know you're not making this easier."

"No. I'm not."

"Okay then, what do you write?"

This time Derek places his drink on the bar and turns slightly to look at Rick. "Have you heard of Haley Wolfe?"

"Who hasn't. She's that author who wrote..." Rick stops completely in mid-sentence, his eyes widening as realisation hits him. The expression on his face is enough to make Derek's night and he can see why Laura enjoys playing these games. Rick, not surprisingly, tries to temper his surprise down but the more it sinks in as to who Derek is, or more accurately his alter ego, the more he fails at hiding his amazement. "... Wow. So you're… Wow. I... never would have guessed. "

"That's kind of the point."

Any further conversation was halted by the arrival of the pretty red-head from earlier who beams both of them one of her lovely smiles. "Mr Hale. Your table is ready for you if you and your guest would like to be more comfortable."

For a moment Derek remembers he was only going to stay for one drink but now that he was here it feels rude to just walk out and Rick actually seemed okay, so maybe the night isn't going to be quite the disaster that he thought it would be. Decision made he flashed a smile at her. "That sounds great. Thank you, Lydia."

"Can you just give us a minute. Thanks."

Both Derek and the strawberry blonde look at Rick, slightly surprised but the girl recovers quickly, giving another smile as she discreetly leaves to talk to some of the other diners as they enjoy their meal.

Now alone Rick looks at Derek and right then Derek knows that the night was going to go exactly how he thought it would. Somehow he's not all that surprised.

"I need to be honest with you. I don't know what Laura told you but I'm not looking for anything remotely serious so if she told you otherwise I'm sorry. I did tell her but the more you say no to her the more she seems to think that you really mean yes. But I'm pretty sure you already know that."

"Yeah, I do."

Rick leaned forward, placing his hand on Derek's leg and dropping his voice to a more seductive whisper as he carried on talking. "Look if you want to go back to my place for a fuck then great because I would definitely be on board with that but that's all it's gonna be. Okay?"

Rick titled his head just a fraction and smiled and for a second Derek was tempted to wipe the almost too perfect smile right off the guy's face. He doesn't of course, because really the guy can't help that he's a jerk.

"No. Not okay. I'll think I'll pass."

With that he stood up, picking up the remains of his drink and tossed it back. Finished, he placed the empty glass back on the counter and turned his back to Rick, calmly walking away, smiling as he did so, leaving Mr Tall, Blonde and Perfect Jerk to look on in surprise.

*TW*TW*TW*