I'm not sure what my opinion of this fic is, mainly because I spent more time editing it than writing it. I wanted to do a fic that wasn't Mortal Instruments or Harry Potter, and this was the first series I thought of. Hopefully, you guys will like it.

Oh, yeah. I don't own the Darkest Powers series. If I did, Chloe and Derek would have gotten together in the first book.

"I want to-"

"No."

"I was only going to say…"

"No."

"But-"

"Chloe, I distinctly remember telling you no." Derek Souza finally looked up from the book in front of him and lifted his eyes to meet his girlfriend's. "Actually, I think I said it multiple times."

Chloe let out a loud breath of air and glared at him. "But Derek…"

Derek raised a questioning eyebrow. He and Chloe had been dating for less than a month, but they were already beginning to drive each other crazy. And not in a good way. Derek had to admit that it was partially his fault. They were at a safe house in the middle of nowhere, and Chloe was desperate to leave.

While he could understand her desire to get away from the boring monotony of the place, Derek also understood that the world outside was dangerous. Even after fighting numerous ghosts, werewolves, and other supernatural creatures, Chloe refused to see the danger of the situation. Derek, on the other hand, could already foresee the trouble ahead. He refused to let her leave the house.

"I'm not a kid, Derek!" Chloe declared hotly, finally losing her patience. "And you're not my dad. I don't need your permission to do anything!"

"You can't go outside." Derek growled shortly. "It's dangerous; I don't have to be your dad to know that. If you had any sense in that little head of yours, you would know it too."

"Oh, so now I'm stupid as well as childish?" Chloe snapped. Small and blonde, she was less than half of Derek's size. Chloe knew that the same werewolf genes that made him so large caused every inch of him to be pure muscle. He could pick her up and throw her around if he wanted to.

Despite this knowledge, she was glaring at him, challenging him. She was trying to make him realize that if she sat in this place for one more day, she was going to go insane. Tori's constant complaining, Lauren's disappointed looks, and the hurt that still sometimes showed in Simon's eyes were all driving her mad. Derek himself did nothing to ease the discomfort of the situation. All he did was read his stupid books and practically ignore her.

She was fuming as she turned on her heel and stomped out of the house, slamming the door behind her. Derek let out a loud sigh before jumping to his feet and going after her.

"Come back here, Chloe." He called at her back as she stomped away. "You know it's not safe out there."

"I don't even care anymore." Chloe answered without looking over her shoulder. "I just want to get away from you."

Derek let out a growl. "Chloe, I'm warning you. Come back here now, or I'm going to come get you." Chloe let out a loud frustrated noise of her own, but Derek was glad to see that she stopped walking. She was glaring at him again, but he didn't really care. He just wanted her to be safe.

Chloe's glare only intensified as she saw the concern on Derek's face. He was always like this. One second, he was abrupt and rude, and the next he was her concerned protector. He never seemed to make up his mind. Chloe had thought that it would get better when they were dating, but Derek was as difficult as ever.

"What do you want, Derek?" She demanded. She crossed her arms over her chest defensively.

"Come back inside." Derek told her.

Chloe only rolled her eyes. "Um, no." She turned around once again and strode off. It had started to get dark while they were arguing and Derek wasn't about to risk Chloe getting attacked while she was out all alone at night. She was his to protect, and nothing was going to stop him from protecting her. Not even Chloe herself.

"Fine." He bit out. "I warned you." Even though she wasn't facing him, Chloe could tell from his voice that she was receiving a full-blown Derek Souza scowl. The next thing she knew, her feet went out from under her and she was being lifted into the air. Derek hefted her over his shoulder and strode back towards the house.

"Derek!" Chloe shouted. She banged her fists against his back and tried to kick him, but this only caused him to hold on tighter. "Derek Souza! Put me down!"

Derek didn't bother to respond. He threw open the door of the house and slammed it behind him. "Whoa, what am I interrupting?" Derek's brother, Simon Bae, who had once had a crush on Chloe himself, was looking uncomfortably at the scene in front of him.

"Simon, tell him to put me down!" Chloe tried the innocent look that always made things go her way, but it didn't quite work considering she was upside down and her hair covered her face.

"Um… I don't think Derek's going to listen to me." Simon sounded like he'd rather be anywhere but here. That was probably due to the fact that Derek was glaring at him. Ignoring his brother, Derek left the kitchen and went to the room where Chloe and Tori slept.

Closing the door behind him, Derek dumped his girlfriend unceremoniously onto the bed. "Stay there." He told her. He went to lock the door so she couldn't go back outside.

"I'm not a dog, Derek." Chloe glared. "Unlike you."

Derek frowned. "That's a cheap shot, Chloe. You're better than that." The tall boy's bright green eyes bored into hers, but Chloe refused to apologize for the insult. "You should be nice to me." Derek told her seriously, leaning against the door that he had locked. "I have you trapped here. A big, dangerous werewolf like me. For all you know, I could try to hurt you."

"Hurt me?" Chloe snorted. "You would never hurt me. You spend so much time treating me like I'm about to break that you couldn't hurt me if you tried."

"True," the bulky, dark-haired boy admitted. "But that doesn't mean you're getting out of here."

"You'd be surprised." Chloe told him. She reached up to take off the amulet around her neck. Lunging across the room, Derek stopped her. The amulet that Chloe always wore kept her powers in check. Her powers were much stronger when she took it off. There was no telling what she could do. Derek trapped both of her small hands in one of his large ones and held on tight.

"Now," He said with finality, "I am going to keep you right here, even if it's the last thing I do." His scowl was gone and Chloe thought she detected a hint of a smirk. She tried to pull away from him.

"Are we just going to sit here until I give in?" She retorted, still struggling against him.

"Possibly." A little of Derek's hair hung in his eyes, giving him a dangerous look. "I'm sure I could think of something else for us to do." Green eyes met blue ones once again and Chloe gulped. A slow smirk spread over Derek's face.

"W-w-what are you going to do?" The blonde asked nervously. Even though she wasn't at all scared of her werewolf boyfriend, Chloe couldn't rid herself of her annoying stutter. His close proximity made her uncomfortable and brought out her nervousness.

"Do you really have to ask?" Derek replied. His deep voice was gruff as usual, but now there was an underlying tenderness. He sounded as if he was afraid to hurt the delicate girl in front of him.

No, she mentally answered his question. She didn't have to ask. Without even looking at him, she knew exactly what he wanted. So she leaned forward to kiss him.

Derek loosened his grip on her hands and gently kissed her back. Too soon, the kiss was over, and Chloe opened her eyes and lifted her head to find Derek staring down at her.

"What?" She asked uneasily.

"You're so cute." It was hard to tell who was more surprised by the words that came out of his mouth. Derek definitely hadn't meant to say that, but it was true. He found it adorable the way she took comfort from him. And he definitely didn't mind holding her. Or doing slightly more inappropriate things with her for that matter.

She cocked an eyebrow. "Uh-huh. Well, if you think I'm cute, like a little five year old, then you probably won't appreciate me doing this." As she spoke, she pushed him back until he was the one sitting on the bed. With a killer smile, she climbed on top of him and wrapped her arms around his neck. Derek scooted back on the bed and made more room for her to sit.

When he looked down at Chloe, he couldn't help the adoring look that covered his face. Usually, he tried to keep such looks from crossing his features. It wouldn't do for an alpha like Derek to admit that he was completely whipped. But for now, he smiled bemusedly. Chloe was so caught up in him that she never even realized what he was doing.

Derek Souza, teenage genius, had managed to efficiently distract the beautiful, petite blonde in front of him. He doubted that she would remember her desire to leave the safe house for hours. Smiling to himself, Derek leaned down to kiss her once again.