unnamed } { but my heart is beating and my pulses start

[impetere]

Cora knows there are a lot of parts of this that aren't right.

Derek knows it to. It's part of the reason why they left after the alphas and Jennifer were gone and Scott became an alpha. Thy both know that what they did was unfair on a lot of levels, both to the pack and to Boyd's family, but it's the only way they could think of to keep him safe. The alpha pack had already tried to kill him once. She doesn't want to even think about what would happen if they hadn't succeeded.

Even the Hales thought they had succeeded at first. It isn't until they were moving the body that they started to notice that the scent for a dead body wasn't quite right. The gashes aren't as big as they remembered. There's a heartbeat, faint and foreign, barely flickering in Boyd's chest, but it's there, and the siblings know that they needed to do something and fast. It doesn't take long for them to load Boyd into Derek's truck, placing him gently in the back seat and Derek climbing behind the wheel, giving her instructions to keep it quiet, not tell anyone, just keep them from asking too many questions. At least with no body, Boyd's parents never got to find out that he died. They just think he ran away again, and that's probably for the best.

She does her part, keeping Stiles and Peter busy while Derek makes the arrangements, even though she wants to be there for Boyd to help him more than anything. Not long after that, she's the one that's sick which delays the moment even further, but once all of it is said and done, Derek and Cora hit the road and Derek follows through on his promise, bringing her right to Boyd.

She doesn't know how bad off he is or how he's handling any of this, but she's there now. And she comes bearing burgers.

Derek lets her into the safehouse and she slips forward, darting around him and scanning the front room for any sign of her friend. "Boyd?" she pauses and waits for an answer. "We brought food."

Comments

[valorem]

He doesn't feel good about it when all is said and done. Boyd wasn't a vengeful person per say. He did have a strong sense of justice. He hated that he was stuck recovering while those people ran around town doing whatever they wanted. He wanted to help. A part of him missed his parents too. He wanted to go home and apologize for everything all over again. They worked hard to provide for him. He knows he was short-sighed before and took it for granted. (One of the benefits of being bed ridden is having time to think.)

The fact is he almost died. If he wanted to make anything right, he'd need to make a full recovery. By the time the Hales join him he's pretty close if the generous estimate of 60% counted as close. He knows for them to return it must be over. He swallows anxiously and braces himself for what they lost along the way.

"I'm up." He exits his room. He might appear fully recovered if one didn't note the way he made a point not to do crazy things like turn his torso while he walked toward her. It's so good to see Cora again that he sighs in relief. Some of tension he's been carrying during his recovery is gone briefly. "What did you get?" It's not what he wants to say. It's a front and they both know it by now. Eventually he'll get around to the truth: I missed you. I hope everyone is okay. Yes, even Stiles. For now this is the best he can do.

[impetere]

She knows it's not what he wants to say, but she'll play along all the same, holding up the brown paper bags of greasy fried deliciousness for him to choose from. "Burgers mostly. But there's fries and onion rings."

She glances up at him with a small smile, because it's a good thing to see him up on his feet again, even if he's still moving slowly. Movement means he's still alive and that is the thing that matters to her, more than anything else.

She also hopes that sooner or later, he'll be able to go home again - but one thing at a time.