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A break from his awful life would be great. Just a day of two. It's not like he's asking for eternal happiness. By now Derek knows that such a thing is impossible. For himself at least.
His ex from hell was keeping him hostage for weeks and nobody noticed.
Well, from the smell of his apartment Peter noticed it pretty soon. Not that he bothered to inform anyone. The logical course of action for him was to move in and eat all of his food. Of course it was. Right now he could be curled up in his bed trying to forget everything that happened. Just a few hours, a day if he's lucky. Just until the next attack from an imminent threat. Instead he's grocery shopping. Fucking Peter! He doesn't even like the candy bars he usually buys.
“Hello, Derek.”
The aching of his body makes it difficult to stand, much less staying alert of his surroundings. Who would have thought that being turned into a teenager and back would be so painful? Apparently he was standing in front of the cornflakes isle for enough time that Deputy Parrish could sneak up on him.
Derek is looking at a terribly colorful box over the deputy's shoulder when he realizes that he wasn't listening. “What?”
“I was saying that I'm glad you're back.”
He just wants to pick something eatable, drive back home and rest until life decides to fuck with him again. Won't take that long. Kate is probably already waiting for him to shoot him or something.
“Right...”
Why is he even talking to him? The guy is still fairly new in town, but he should know by now that Derek is not the best choice to make friends with. Everybody knows that Derek Hale is a magnet for bad luck. Even the people that don't know the details to his miserably life.
Reaching for a box with overly sugared flakes Parrish smirks. “You were nicer as a kid.”
Why does the universe hate him so much? All he wants is some sleep. He certainly does not want to deal with a deputy that is figuring out Beacon Hills mysteries.
“I don't know what you mean.”
“Sure you don't.” There's the smile again. The smile that made his stomach flutter the day before. “Stilinski says there was something wrong with the fingerprint identification program. But we all know that's a lazy excuse.”
The Sheriff seems even more out of it since he knows the truth. In some way he was happier when he was still kept in the dark. Back then he wasn't responsible to make up lies. Sadly for all of them the Sheriff is as bad as a liar as his son.
“Haigh is going with clones. Like Orphan Black in Beacon Hills or something. But the kid seemed to have your memories from when you were young, so I think it was like 17 again. With memory loss of course.”
Today is so not the day Derek wants to deal with this. “Listen, I don't know what you're implying, but...”
“Come on! My handsome face is not the only thing that makes me a valuable part of the sheriff's department. I know that the ninjas a few weeks back materialized out of thin air. And I know there is a lot more weird stuff going on in this town. Like reversed 13 going on 30.”
Where is Scott? This is something he should deal with. As Alpha of Beacon Hills. Derek's not even sure if he's part of the pack. But he is positive that he's not the best choice to introduce people to the supernatural side of the town.
“I'm not thirty!” Parrish should know. Derek is pretty sure that's something that is mentioned in his police file. “And I wasn't thirteen.”
On the way to the check-out he frowns at the box of cereals he grabbed in a hurry. Not his first choice. He likes the ones with chocolate better.
“Don't run away.” Usually turning away and leaving the person mid-conversation is enough of a hint for most people. Apparently not for the deputy. “You can't confirm my theory and just leave. Was it a witch?”
Oh. Witch doesn't even start to cover it.
“You shouldn't ask questions.” Especially not in a supermarket. “The answers are less fun than you imagine.”
“So we can't have coffee while you tell me all about the Hellmouth under the hospital?”
He's not that far off. It's a nematon in the woods, but Parrish doesn't have to know that. It's better for him to stay as far away as possible from everything.
“No, we cannot.”
The laugh is surprising. Nice but surprising. Usually people get mad when they don't get the answers they demand.
“How about just coffee?”
Another psycho who wants to get close to Derek to manipulate him or someone who is genuinely interested in getting to know him? Only time will tell.