"You found me."
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I found God on the corner of first and Amistad. Where the west was all but won. All alone, smoking his last cigarette. I said 'where you been', he said 'ask anything'.
It had been two years since Holly had last seen Derek. Back in 2012 they had been inseparable. They had almost gotten to the point of marriage, when Holly found out the truth. It had taken her a long time to process the information, but when she did, she found she still couldn't live with it. It turned out that Derek was a werewolf. Holly felt like her entire reality had just been thrown off a cliff. There were no such things as werewolves. And even if there were, what were the odds of her of all people falling in love with one? It was too much for her to handle. Derek only made it worse when he said she couldn't leave, that he wasn't sure if she'd keep his secret. Holly saw him getting angry, so she ran. She ran out of the apartment, out of the building, out of the city, and before long, she was out of the state. And now, as she saw him, staring at her, she felt all the old memories rushing back to the surface. All of the pain and heartache she'd tried so very hard to forget. She had no idea how Derek had tracked her down, and a small part of her tried to get her to understand that she was supposed to be afraid. He was here to hurt her. Wasn't he?
Where were you when everything was falling apart? All my days were spent by the telephone. It never rang, and all I needed was a call that never came to the corner of first and Amistad.
"What are you doing here?" Holly asked, trying to close the door as she spoke, but as expected, Derek sneaked inside before she had time to react in any way. "Look, people know I'm here, so if you hurt me-"
"Is that why you think I'm here?" Derek asked, turning to look at her. He looked genuinely shocked. "You think I want to hurt you?"
"Well... don't you?"
"Never!" Derek sighed. "Holly, I am so sorry about what happened two years ago. I should have gone easier on you, I should have... understood what you were feeling better. I hurt you. I scared you. And not a day goes by that I don't regret it."
Holly just stared at him, saying nothing. What was there to say? "I'm sorry I ran. I was afraid."
"I know", Derek nodded. "I know. And if you want me to go, I'll go. But... I've missed you. So much."
Holly allowed herself to smile a little before shaking her head. "I don't know if I can do this. You're a werewolf! How is that even possible? How do you live with that? How do you expect me to live with that?"
"Okay, let's just take this one step at a time", Derek said calmly, walking over to her, reaching out a hand to touch her face, and he was forever grateful that she didn't pull away. "I'm not a murderer. I don't... just eat people for fun. Please don't think that. And I'd never under any circumstance hurt you."
"Never?"
"Never", Derek promised, leaning a bit closer, pressing their foreheads together. "I love you."
Lost and insecure, you found me, you found me. Lying on the floor, surrounded, surrounded. Why did you have to wait? Where were you, where were you? Just a little late, you found me, you found me.
Holly looked up at him and realized that he was taking her breath away, as he'd done so many times before in the past. Among all the hurt and mistrust, she realized that she had missed him more than anything. She'd missed the feel of his arms around her, protecting her from the world, she'd missed his smile, the way he calmed her down. She realized at that moment that she didn't care who or what he was, all that mattered was that he loved her. Because she loved him, too. More than she could express. But for the time being, the three simple words would have to do:
"I love you", she whispered back, leaning closer and kissing him deeply, wrapping her arms around his neck, pulling him closer. Derek kissed her back, touching her waist, pulling her closer, and Holly realized that finally she was home.
