Author's Note- Hey guys! So, my dearest cristinaice put in a request for a One-Shot where Chloe is completely clueless of just how much she affects Derek to the point that he becomes uncomfortable. You all know that citrus is sure to ensue. This is set a couple months after another One-Shot of mine titled, 'As My Own.' So that makes it part of my Darkest Powers Chronicles series. As I was writing this, though, it became less humorous- as I wanted it to be- and more focused on the hardship of Derek's overanalyzing brain around his relationship.

Regardless, let's get to it! I hope you enjoy this, hun! Thanks for the great pictures you drew for Forbidden. :)

What You do to Me

Really, it just wasn't fair. She had to know that she was doing this to me. She had to be aware of the powers she possessed- other than being a stronger than most, necromancer that could all but command an entire army of the dead- and was using it against me. Was this supposed to be some sort of punishment? Was she still pissed at me for following and keeping an eye on her when she went over to her new friend, Michelle's house? I mean, how many times did I have to explain to her that we were still getting settled into our newer accommodations after spending the last several months jumping from motel to motel and that I had to be sure that wherever she was, it was safe from anyone who could possibly recognize her as escaped Genesis ll experiment or missing daughter of Steve Saunders of whom was willing to pay a half a million as a reward for her return?

Regardless, and whether she was doing this to me on purpose or not, it was happening, and I was beginning to feel uncomfortable.

I tried- God knows I tried so damn hard- to avert my gaze, but I simply couldn't keep my eyes from skimming over her as more and more creamy, pale flesh revealed itself to me. Her baby blue tank top fell to the beach towel blanketing the beige sand beneath our feet, leaving her clad in nothing more than a ruby red string bikini top and mid-thigh length cutoff jeans.

I swallowed audibly.

"God only knows how much I needed this sun," Tori droned as she peeled off her tank top in suit of Chloe, sporting her own black bikini top. Her voice acted as my anchor to snap my human morals from being overwhelmed by the lustful thoughts of the wolf that shared half of my mind. I blinked hard and forced my gaze to subject Tori for concentration, using the idea of seeing my adoptive sister in a bikini as a cool down and distraction of the fact that my girlfriend of a year plus some was practically half naked.

"You're lucky you were even able to convince Dad to allow us to do this, considering all the shit that's been going on lately."

About three months ago, the home we had been renting in cooperation with a friend of Dad's had been ambushed by a handful of Cabals. They knew of our whereabouts thanks to said friend and our group had been separated for a good two weeks before it was safe for us to meet up again at our rendezvous point. That included Chloe's Aunt, Tori, Simon and I being separated from Chloe and my Dad. Since then, we had been filtering through motels as we travelled farther and farther from New York. We had only recently settled into a newer rental located in Oregon of which geological location I didn't really know nor care. We were greatly distanced from the Cabals and the relatives I had only recently discovered to exist about a year ago and that was all that mattered for the time being.

So, with all that going on, I wasn't exaggerating when I implied to Tori that she was fortunate to be where she was currently standing. The sunny shores of a vast lake about an hour away from where we presently resided. Tori had been pestering for something like this since long before we were attacked by the Cabals. Once we settled in here in Oregon, her begging got worse and Dad finally gave in, knowing that, if I detected any form of danger while I was particularly alert- seeing as how I didn't like this idea whatsoever- then I would get all of us to safety as soon as possible.

Tori gave me a dry look.

"Hey, I'm not the only one who was going stir crazy. We all needed this. Now, loosen the reins a little, will you, Fido. Take a breather. Enjoy nature."

"I do enjoy nature," I defended. I took plenty of walks around the woods that surrounded our house, familiarizing myself with the smells that belonged to it and searching for ones that didn't. There were also the weekly ventures Chloe and I took where I was still getting used to initiating my own Changes.

"You're little Changing sessions and patrols don't count. Put the werewolf and supernatural shit away and be a kid for once. Just for one measly day."

"I'm not a kid." I rumbled.

"Seventeen constitutes you as a kid when it comes to society's normalcies. That's my point. Pretend we're normal for just a couple of hours."

"I hate to admit it, bro," Simon began, stepping up beside Tori as he took off his own shirt, leaving him in his swim trunks. "But Tori is right. We need a break. Dad and Lauren are trusting us with this chance, so let's take advantage of it."

I grumbled as my siblings waited expectantly for me to comply. I glanced over at Chloe, focusing firmly on meeting her eyes to prevent from a distraction from my resolve that all this wasn't a good idea.

"And what do you think?"

She raised a brow at me and placed a small hand on her hip. The movement caught my attention but I resisted with all that I had from allowing my eyes to wander down the smooth appeal of her skin to that of her hips.

"Do you even have to ask?" Chloe chastised. "I agree with them, Derek. We need a break. We can all use a day to get away from all the training and self-defense lessons, ghosts, spells, wolf kidnappings, ambushes and disputes over starting school next month and just relax for a little."

I met the eyes of everyone in my group defiantly. I loved every one of them in different ways. Even Tori, though, I would never let her on to the fact. I never told anyone- Chloe included- knowing I would get shit for it. Regardless, though, they were bound to be the death of me. Whether it was one of them individually or all of them combined in a conspiracy against me.

"Fine," I muttered.

Tori smirked triumphantly and proceeded to untangle the sunglasses sitting on top of her head from her growing hair, put them on, then laid down on her beach towel, sun bathing. Simon beamed towards Chloe and I and suggested, "Do you guys want to go for a swim? I bet the water is amazing considering how nice it is out here."

Chloe spoke before me and I nearly jumped out of my pants when I felt her hand slip into mine, thumb tentatively stroking over my own. I was entirely too hyperaware of her presence due to the lack of clothing and physical connection was not helping my resolve to keep from noticing this too much.

"Nah. I think I need to take Derek here for a walk." She laughed, once again bringing up her constant little dog jokes she liked to exploit every now and then. She's been spending far too much time with Tori.

I glared down at her but she squeezed me hand and said. "What? We all know you won't relax unless you take at least one lap to make sure we're not in any immediate danger."

"She's got you pegged, bro." Simon teased. I rolled my eyes and grumbled once again, tugging at Chloe's hand in mine as I started to trudge my way towards the trees that lined the lake.

"For the sake of Dad and Lauren not being here, I'll take the pleasure of reminding you too not to stay out too long." Simon called after us, snickering. I ignored him, but Chloe glanced over her shoulder and stuck her tongue out at him.

After a few minutes of walking, where I occasionally crouched down and sniffed the ground to keep track of the smells that were supposed to belong in the forest and those that weren't, including several times I warned Chloe to be wary of a dead rodent lingering nearby, Chloe finally interrupted my concentration with a sigh.

"I think you've investigated enough, Sherlock. I'm sure we're safe or you would have dragged us out of here already."

"I can't be sure." I rumbled, annoyed. Not with her but the truth of my words. "This is a camping resort. There are so many human scents that I don't know whose friendly or not."

"That's the world Derek. It's like going to the mall. People are there for their own business. If we keep to ourselves, then they won't bother us."

She always had to bring this up. Because she knew it was true and she knew I couldn't argue with it. I hated that. I would always point out the possibility that one other person out there could have been around with business that involved us, but, we knew that the longer we remained inconspicuous, the longer the Cabals would wait to come after us. They weren't actively searching because they knew that, as long as we were with Dad, he would keep our powers in check. However, if there was any word of us- being spotted or hearing of unusual occurrences like uncontrollable zombies, sudden tremors caused by magic or attacks caused by wild wolves- they would come knocking.

For now, we were safe and I was worrying far too much. Really, I couldn't help myself. It was the wolf. The animal instinct in me and-

Suddenly, Chloe was in front of me, halting me and making me consciously aware of the fact that I was starting to venture deeper into the woods. Sometimes I did that. I'd blank out and let the protective instinct I felt burning constantly in my gut take over, guiding me to sniff out any sign that we were in trouble.

"Derek," Chloe murmured softly, her free hand reaching up and resting against my cheek. I ripped my gaze from the trees and met her eyes. Her soft, beautiful blue eyes that were just so open and expressive, showcasing just how much she cared and-

Sure, it had been over a year since we had started dating. But the fact still confused me as much as the day she had first kissed me. This was considering all the shit that I had put her through in that first week that we had met, where I had so obviously used her for my own gain. I put her up to bat against Simon with a flashy banner that screamed, 'Help! Damsel in distress. Save me and look for Dad.' And, worst of all, at the time, I didn't think anything of it nor did I feel bad about it. She was just another girl Simon was pining over and I saw that as something that I could take advantage of.

That is, until I started seeing that she wasn't just another girl that had caught Simon's fancy. Unlike the lot of them before her, I could talk to Chloe. I found that I remembered her name, what she looked like, her peculiar personality traits and her fiery defiance against me. I really started to see her as more than what I had originally thought she was worth when she cornered me in the bathroom and exploited my plot. Yet, she still agreed to it.

And then my first Change came.

The dynamic between Chloe and I had changed drastically during our run and I couldn't grasp what was happening to me and why. I had never come across an obstacle like Chloe before and I didn't know what to do about it. Was I supposed to keep pushing her towards Simon, who, at the time, seemed so right for her, or start pulling her back?

Towards me.

In the end, Chloe made her decision. I always shoved at my doubts, however. Enjoying the thought that a girl as amazing as Chloe had picked me over Simon while it lasted. Though, I lived with the constant nagging that Chloe would one day snap out of whatever trance she was in and realize her mistake, leaving me behind with only the memories of a fantasy to keep me sane.

Considering my recent discovery regarding Chloe, I didn't know if I would be able to handle that this far into our relationship.

Dad had taken me aside about a month ago and said he had gotten ahold of Tomas. He was a half-demon who had been around back when I lived at the lab with the other werewolves and had been a part of the program. Andrew had told us long ago that Tomas was probably the only one he and Dad knew of that knew the most about werewolves other than werewolves themselves. So, with that fact in mind, Dad had been trying to find the safest way to make contact with him without endangering our efforts to hide from the Cabals. After all, we simply couldn't trust anyone anymore.

From their conversation, Dad had taken notes of a lot of useful information that he thought would help me as I was quickly becoming a full-fledged werewolf. Including something Dad thought I should be aware of considering my current attachment to the necromancer of our dysfunctional group.

"Listen, Derek, there's- there's something you need to keep in mind if you're going to continue dating Chloe."

"If you're going to inform me of the fact that Chloe can change her mind about us at any minute, I'm already painfully aware of that too much as it is."

Dad's brows bent questioningly and he murmured, "No, no, that's not it. Chloe cares about you, Derek. Don't you dare think otherwise."

I tossed him a perplexed look.

"Then, what do you mean?"

Dad rubbed the back of his head nervously.

"Well, you see, wolves as animals have such strong instincts as far as connecting to another of their species in a way that keeps them permanently attached." He rambled quickly.

"Okay." I said slowly, still confused.

"Wolves, when they find their mate, they mate for life, Derek. They're attached to that person for their lifetime and- and they can't mate with anyone else."

"Okay."

"So, considering that werewolves are not only half human, but half wolf, the majority of their instincts are the same." Dad explained slowly.

It was all true of course and, deep down, I think I was always aware of this fact. I couldn't see myself with anyone other than Chloe and I didn't want to either. I didn't know what the future held for us, but, in my mind, I saw Chloe there no matter what. I often had to force myself from thinking too far into the future and living solely in the present, appreciating that I had her now. Because Dad had a right to be concerned.

Neither of us wanted to put the pressure of her being my mate on her shoulders considering her self-sacrificial nature. She needed to decide on her own if she wanted to stay with me, not because she felt obligated to because I would never be able to connect with someone that wasn't her.

The fact that she was still here, hand in mine instead of Simon's let me hope that she always would be.

"Relax. Please? Have some fun or I'll have to do it without you." Chloe said softly, her teasing lilt minute.

I sucked in a deep breath and took her other hand, the one that was on my cheek. I tossed one more look into the woods before exhaling in defeat and nodding. Chloe smiled and started to lead me back towards the lake's beach.

We had ventured pretty far in, so it was taking us while to make it back to where we had left Simon and Tori. In that time, I allowed myself to let go of my cautions and worries, if not entirely, then I did my damned best to shove them into the back of my head.

Unfortunately, that left my mind to revolve around other things. Which, currently, came back to my previous discomfort towards Chloe's lack of clothes.

It's not that I didn't like it. Quite the opposite, in fact. And that was the problem. Chloe and I had been dating for over a year and, I'd be lying if I said I hadn't experienced any sexual frustrations more recently due to that fact.

Before- roughly a few months before- I knew Chloe and I weren't ready for the next level of a relationship, and I never put too much thought into it. And, I really don't know when all that started to change. When I turned seventeen, maybe? Or maybe it had more to do with the time we were separated, and I feared every minute of every day for two weeks that I would never see her again. I couldn't keep myself from stressing over all the time and experiences we had yet to have and-

And then the vibe between us changed. At least for me, things became more- desperate. Like the thought that we might be separated again or that Chloe might think better of her decision to be with me would overshadow all that we had been through together in the past year. With that taunting my thoughts, it triggered my want for her. All of her. And I wanted to give her all of me in return. I wanted to experience each level our relationship could possibly hold all at once before something took us apart from each other again, in case there was no time for us left.

But I knew that was pushing situations passed their limits and rushing things that the two of us weren't really ready for. Most of the time, I could logically deter my unreasonable desires towards Chloe. At the moment, though, it didn't help that she was only wearing a bikini and a pair of shorts.

Sometimes I wondered if she ever felt the same.

"Wow, the view of the lake from here is incredible," Chloe stated, pointing off into the trees where we could barely see the first glimmer of crystal clear, blue water radiating the reflection of the burning sun atop it's dancing waves. "Do you see- mmm?"

I tugged Chloe in front of me, my right hand sliding around the back of her neck, titling her face up to meet mine as I planted my lips on top of hers. I didn't care about the lake. I didn't care that Simon and Tori were probably curious as to where we were. I didn't care that the Cabals were after us, that I was a werewolf or that the girl I was kissing was a necromancer.

All I cared about was that she was there, hesitantly kissing me back.

Chloe gasped as I pushed her back against the closest tree, but her lips held strong in the fight against my own. Her hands took their spot, resting lazily over my shoulders, her mouth casually dancing against mine as if this were any other moment that I shared a brief show of my affections towards her.

But it wasn't. I wanted to show her everything as far as I felt for her. Taken by surprise once again, Chloe gasped as my tongue glanced across her lower lip and I took the part in her lips as an invitation. I slipped my tongue into her mouth and tentatively teased hers. She held back, cautious, and I could see that she was starting to really question my actions. I was never really forward when it came to this sort of thing. Sure, I liked to tease and mess around whenever she suggested that she wanted to spend some time alone with me, but I allowed her to lead most of the time, making sure that she was comfortable.

Not this time. I had to make her understand what she did to me. She had to see her effect on me and, for once, I wasn't holding back.

Chloe finally caught on and her fingers curled into the fabric of my dark t-shirt, the pressure of her nails against my shoulder blades losing their effect due to the flimsy barrier. I didn't waste any time as I separated our locked lips to rip off my shirt, toss it to the forest floor, then find her lips again. My large hands slid around her waist to the small of her back, pulling her flush against me so that she had to bow her back against my hold in order to return my feverish kiss. Her nails bit into my back as I nipped her lower lip and she suddenly pushed herself up onto her tip toes, looking for more leverage. I could feel an uncomfortable strain down below as I swelled against the cargo shorts I was wearing.

I was beginning to lose my focus, drinking in Chloe's natural and aroused scent like an alcoholic on his sixth drink. A sweetly delicious sound escaped Chloe's lips as I raked my hands along her sides and up her spine. When her thigh brushed against a fairly neglected region in the southern hemisphere, I lost all control. Before I knew it, my back was against the tree and we were on the ground, Chloe taller than me now as she straddled my lap. I tangled the fingers of my right hand into the locks of her dyed, dirty blonde hair and my lips found her jaw, skimming along it and down the length of her neck as she clutched at my shoulders.

Chloe whimpered when I found my favorite spot, the connection between her neck and shoulder, and I suckled against it gently. This is usually where I stopped, keeping the two of us from journeying too far down the path we were heading. However, this time, I pushed my limits just a little bit farther. Breaking away from my attack against her neck, Chloe's breathing escalated as I skipped my lips along the string that held her bikini in place, following it to the slim fabric that covered her breast. I inhaled deeply as Chloe constricted her arms tightly around my neck, her scent overpowering my senses and making my head spin. I slid my tongue against the exposed skin of her upper breast, causing a low moan to escape her as she buried her face into my hair.

"D-Derek," She whispered, her voice muddled.

I slid my hand up her spine once again, fingers toying with the lose knot of her bikini, the feeble cloth taunting me. I glanced up at her, eyes locking with hers, asking for permission. Chloe's blue orbs were fogged and unfocussed, surprisingly open to the fact that, not only did she affect me in ways that I couldn't explain, but I could do the same to her.

She nodded and I felt a smile tug at my lips.

Maybe that was all that I wanted.

When I didn't advance, Chloe's gaze cleared a little and she gave me a questioning look.

"W-what's wrong?"

"I can hear Tori and Simon looking for us," I lied. Was I crazy to pass up this opportunity, where Chloe was expressing that she was more than ready to take the next leap into our relationship? Probably. But I knew that, no matter
how much I wanted to experience everything right here and now, while we had the chance and the time, right now simply wasn't the time.

However, as this seemed to be my main concern, Chloe was willing. At least, that's what she had just showed me and, I found that, for the time being, that was all that I needed.

Chloe sighed in exasperation; the air that escaped her putting a weight on our high and bringing us back down to Earth.

"Never fails, does it?"

I chuckled in response and dropped my hold on her so that she could stand. She helped me up, but, before she released me and started walking back towards the lake, I took up her chin between my thumb and my forefinger, brushing one last, soft kiss on her lips and whispered something I've been dying to say since we had been reunited after the Cabal ambush.

"I love you."

Fuuuuuuuuuuu- I had no idea where that went as I was writing it, but I love it regardless. Chloe knew that Derek loved her before, but he's never told her. So, this was roughly the first time he's confessed it out loud. How do you guys think she responded?

Hope you liked it, cristinaice. :) Thanks for reading.

Review please!