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“Damn!” Derek swore before he flung the shoe he was trying to lace up across the room. He winced when it hit the wall hard enough to leave a dent.
“Who taught you that word?”
Derek’s soft cheeks burned darker when his sister took a cross-legged seat next to him on the floor. Her dewy eyes searched his face, making Derek tuck his chin and twist away.
“I-I don’t know,” Derek stammered quietly. “Somebody at school.”
“Derek, you know what happens if you lie in this house,” Laura said, deepening her tone and huffing, mocking their father.
Derek sighed and turned to look at her. “I just want to tie my own shoe,” he said with a pout.
Laura tilted her head, which flopped her ponytail, and squinted. “You wet the bed again, didn’t you?”
Scowling, Derek crossed his arms over his chest and scooted so his back was to her. “Shut up,” he said before his mouth tightened up. He was almost seven. He should not be waking up every night crying for his parents, let alone peeing himself. It was really embarrassing. Why was that hard for her to understand? Sheesh.
The wind was knocked out of Derek lungs when Laura dove on him. Expecting to have to wrestle her off, Derek squirmed and shoved at her, but Laura dodged his throw of an elbow.
“Quit it!” she snapped, her eyes flashing momentarily yellow. “I was just trying to hug you!”
Derek stopped moving and just looked at her sidelong. “Why’d you want to do that?”
“Because…” Laura said with a sigh, “you’re my little brother and I know my little brother better than anyone and you need a hug. Even you don’t think you want one.”
Derek was quiet for a moment before he chewed his lower lip and turned to hug her back. Heaving a frustrated noise, Derek let her shift him so she was sitting and he was leaning against her.
“You dreamed about falling again, didn’t you?” she asked quietly and Derek nodded before he hid his face against her shoulder. Laura sighed and kissed his cheek. “You’re not gonna fall, Derek,” she said insistently. “And if you do, I’m gonna catch you.”
Derek smiled weakly. “Thanks.”
“Wanna go play Beast Wars?” she asked with a slow smile and Derek sat up quickly.
“Can I be Optimus Primal this time?” Derek asked excitedly before giving her arm a shake. He hated being Rattrap. He was always Rattrap. “Please, Laura? Please?”
“Well, I guess I can be Cheetor…” Laura said with a shrug.
Derek threw his arms around her. “You’re the best sister ever!”
Derek was not having a good day. The coach had actually called his dad this time. Derek had lost his temper and smashed a bat on the ground — into about a thousand pieces, give or take. Then his dad had acted like it was nothing. He wasn’t even grounded and didn’t get a lecture. They’d just rode home, in silence, and now Derek was sitting in his room, bulled up and trying not to cry out of frustration. He wasn’t allowed at practice for the next two weeks, which meant he was missing the first game, not that his parents came to those, but…
“Hey, slugger,” his uncle’s voice said on the other side of the door following a knock, “I hear there’s some jerky with your name on it.”
Derek rolled his eyes and threw himself onto his pillows so his uncle couldn’t see his face when the door opened. Derek stared very hard at the wall, determined not to let himself cry in front of Peter. If you pressed Derek to admit it, he actually did look up to the man more than his own father. Not that he could ever bring himself to say that much. It hurt enough just to think.
“Chicken or beef?” Derek mumbled with his back to Peter as he felt the bed shift with the weight of someone sitting down.
“Beef. And take off the cleats, bud. You know better,” Peter said as patted Derek on the leg.
Sighing, Derek dragged himself up and swung his feet off the bed before pulling off his shoes. He didn’t look up to his uncle, knowing his eyes were damp. Peter nudge him in the arm while holding out a bag that reeked of smoked meat — it was Derek’s favorite.
“Cheers, crocodile,” Peter said as he put an arm around Derek and gave him a firm squeeze.
With a great sniff, Derek wiped his eyes. “Thanks,” he huffed and dug into the bag for a couple pieces which he shoved into his mouth so he didn’t have to talk.
“Listen, champ,” Peter said with a sigh. “You gotta learn to control that temper. People don’t understand us. Doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with you. Just means we gotta be careful around the peasants.”
Derek swallowed roughly and side-eyed his uncle. “I don’t believe in fairy tales…” he grumbled and grabbed another piece of jerky.
Peter chuckled and squeezed Derek to his side before sniffing Derek’s hair. “One of these days, you’re gonna wake up and realize this is our kingdom and you're a knight of the round table.”
“Does that make Laura a princess?” Derek wondered, not convinced.
“I think we both know that Laura would make a terrible princess,” Peter replied softly with another chuckle, making Derek grin.
After chewing for a little bit longer Derek huffed a sigh. “No practice for two weeks,” he grumbled. “What am I supposed to do? Play video games?”
Peter seemed to think for a moment. “When’s the last time we went on a hunt?”
Letting out a little gasp, Derek perked up and glanced at his uncle in awe and he was suddenly near-tears again. No one ever took him on hunts except Peter. His parents said he was too young. “Really?” Derek said in a tight voice.
“Yeah, yeah,” Peter said and dropped the bag of jerky to the bed before running his knuckles under Derek’s wet eyes. “Not like I have anything else to do around here.”
In the next second, Derek had hauled off and thrown himself against Peter, clinging and rubbing his face into his uncle’s side. Peter gave a startled sounding laugh before he squeezed Derek and patted him on the back.
“Get changed,” Peter said in soft tone. “We’ll go as soon as the sun goes down. I’ll show you how to track in the dark.”
Derek just clung tighter. “I love you,” he said, though it was muffled against Peter’s side.
Peter sighed. “Feeling’s mutual, kid,” he said as he ruffled Derek’s hair and patted Derek’s shoulder. “Don’t forget it.”
“Where do you think you’re going?”
Chuckling, Derek pulled Kate back into his lean, but strong arms to embrace her tight. Her move to get out of bed was decidedly premature, in his mind, but her groan of protest meant she thought otherwise.
Derek shifted so some of his weight was on top of Kate as he grabbed armfuls of the tangled sheets along with Kate’s warm body. He then snuffled his nose in her hair and tucked her against his chest whilst he grinned from ear-to-ear. He squinted at her and his eyes shone bright with adoration.
“You can’t get away from me that easy, Kate,” Derek mumbled against the side of her face before he blew on her ear. He laughed and gripped Kate tighter when she squirmed