every saint has a past

Cass did nothing to disguise her disappointment at the news that the Noah she was looking for might have moved to Seattle some time back. She was barely listening to Derek anymore until he mentioned his own name, her hand in the package of cookies when she froze and looked up at him. 

“Not Derek Roman, are you?” She asked with renewed interest. 

Derek looked surprised by the question, and then a little worried, considering the strongest connection between him and Noah was the Rascals-- and he wasn't sure how he felt about a stranger potentially knowing that he was in a gang. Bobbing his head anyway, he scrunched his brows to shoot her an inquisitive look. “Yeah, I am. Did you go to Stonefield?” Recalling Noah, he added, “Or do you just know everyone in town?” It wasn’t totally unheard of, though most of the citizens who did were usually well into their sixties.

Derek had done more than enough for her, that at such point, she felt like she owed him her life. Not only had he saved her, now, he was also making sure she was comfortable. Whatever she did to deserve him and his kindness was beyond her.

With his grin came the gift: a box of treats from Sweet Cheeks. Immediately, she accepted them, opening up the lid with haste, to reveal an assortment of goodies for her to happily munch on. “Aw, Bailey.” Her heart fluttered, knowing that her boss had worried about her, so much so that he had baked a bevy of pastries and sweet things just for her. 

Looking up to Derek, her gaze softened, filled with warmth and love. “Seriously, thank you. I don’t know where I would be without you.” 

“You’re welcome,” Derek said, squeezing her hand once more. “But really, I just want you to get better. Let’s face it, you’d be fine without me, but I don’t think it’d be the same vice versa,” he joked (and totally meant it). Leaning back in his seat, he glanced at the monitor tracking her pulse. “Do you know how long you’ll be in here? I thought I’d stay for a while, or at least until you get sick of me.”

Cass shook her head when he asked about family. “I’ve been in transit, but I’m here looking for some old guy named Noah. Know any?” She asked curiously, guessing that Derek was finally someone who might know people. He seemed likable. 

She stared in response to his fear of someone poisoning the food, wondering if he was paranoid or if there was a good reason for he would be concerned about someone doing something so heinous. “So you’re the mom friend, huh.”

“Noah? Uh, I did...” Derek trailed off as he paused to give her another look, wondering what she might want with a former Rascal-- the former Rascal. “I think he’s in Seattle now. He moved a couple months ago.” His expression turned sympathetic before lighting up once more, grinning proudly at her remark. 

“Hey, a lot of people love their moms. And we always have food.” As if to make a point, he fished out a package of chocolate chip cookies and tore it open before offering it to her. “I’m Derek, by the way. Sorry about Noah. If you want to keep looking for him, you’re probably going to need a plane ticket.”

Propping herself up to sit, she unfortunately struggled still. Failing to get fully upright, it instead resulted into a weird half-sit, half-lie down. It was the best she could do, considering her weakness, and the numbing ache that ran through her still. 

Eva wordlessly shook her head, a closed-mouthed smile on her face as she did so. Seeing his face was comforting, to say the least. “I’m alright. Better than dead.” she tried to joke, hoping it would light up whatever worry she had brought about the people who had to wait for her to stir back into consciousness.

But above anything else, there was something she needed to tell Derek. “You were there. You saved me.” she said earnestly, locking eyes with him. “How can I ever thank you?”

Derek noticed her struggling and veered off to the side, grabbing a pillow from atop a stack of fresh sheets presumably for Eva. “Here--” Leaning forward, he gently coaxed her up to tuck the pillow behind her. His expression crumbled at her joke, immediately squeezing her hand as if to stave off that line of thought.

“You can get better. Fast,” Derek said. He shook his head with a grin, turning to reach for the box from Sweet Cheeks. “You don’t have to thank me. There were lots of people helping others. And I care about you, of course I had to do it.” Pushing the box forward, he nodded at the pastries inside. “Bailey may have overdid it, by the way.” He’d mentioned to the baker that the sweets were for Eva, which had resulted in piling half the display case into his car.

For the duration that Eva had been in the hospital, she had spent most of it asleep and under heavy pain medication. Her body needed to heal, she was told, and that the drugs would do its work by lulling her to deep sleep. And for hours, she did just that, barely able to stir except for the occasional groaning, only to drift off right again. 

So when the blonde finally roused from her semi-comatose, she found quite a sight. A gift lay by her bed side: a box bearing the Sweet Cheeks logo. Colourful balloons were tied to her bed, adding a touch of life to the bleak white, sterile environment that was her hospital room. And not so far away was one of her saviours, Derek, who was by her side, yet again. 

Seeing him brought some happiness to her, despite the grogginess she was feeling. A smile peaked on her lips, as she tried to sit up more, eager to get a better look at him. “Hey.” she quietly said, forcing some volume out of her. “My hero.”

Derek instantly lit up at the sound of Eva’s voice, pocketing his phone to lean forward in his chair. “Hey, how are you feeling?” He paused with a grimace, sheepishly adding, “Stupid question. Like shit, I bet.” Reaching for her hand, his shoulders sagged in relief at the warmth. He hadn’t realized how worried he was until this moment, terrified that Eva might not ever wake up-- or wake up and not be the same. Brain damage was always a concern for drowning victims.

“Is there anything I can get you? Games, movies, food? I’m at your service for as long as you’re in here.” 

Cass shrugged, gesturing to the sign for the bus stop. “Just got here.” She offered, looking down at the armload of bags that he had dropped on the bench. 

“You planning to start a soup kitchen?” She asked, wondering at the amount of food that he’d bought. She was guessing that he was either a doomsday prepper or had an army of kids to feed.

“Really? Where’re you from?” Derek asked, expression not a little surprised. He couldn’t imagine anyone voluntarily moving to Muddy Waters at a time like this. Tragedies and scandals dominated the news, and the thought of someone willing to live in a place with a climbing body count seemed incredibly brave, or uninformed. “Are you visiting family?”

Jesse frowned as he watched Derek jump into the water, his brow furrowing as he waited for the other to resurface. He didn’t want to get in the pool, unsure that even if he found Derek or Eva that he’d be able to lift them back to the surface. 

He released the breath that he hadn’t realized he was holding, relieved to see Derek’s face come back even if Eva appeared limp and unconscious in his arms. “Here,” He crouched down next to the pool and leaned forward on his knees, reaching to catch Eva under her arms and help to drag her onto the side of the pool. 

He reached to check for her pulse, glancing up at Derek even as he folded his hands together over Eva’s chest to begin compressions. “You know CPR, right?”

@evaxreid​

Derek clambered out of the pool with labored breaths, leaning over Eva's unmoving form. She looked terrifyingly pale, though her skin was still warm to the touch. He glanced up to meet Jesse's eyes before nodding once despite the coil of fear tightening in his stomach.

"I’ve only practiced on dummies-- not like, a real person," Derek babbled, tilting her head back and opening her mouth. He inhaled deeply and pinched her nose closed to blow in a breath, pausing between Jesse's compressions. "Come on, wake up." He cradled the top of her head, tamping down on the urge to shake her frantically. "Wakeupwakeupwakeup."

jesse-childs:

Jesse was ignoring Derek and his photos for the moment, leaning up on his toes to try and see the stage better from where they were standing. He was eagerly watching for shenanigans until the moment that he heard the unexpected volume of the building groaning in protest as it lost composure. 

Assuming that they were making a beeline for the closest exit, Jesse followed Derek without question as he was pulled along. It wasn’t until they were shoving their way down the stairs that he realized that of course Derek wanted to stay and help, panic gripping Jesse’s chest as this slowed him down long enough to realize his culpability. 

He tried to insist on leaving, tried to pull Derek in the opposite direction before he realized it was useless to try and argue over the mayhem or fight against the superior strength of Derek and the tide of humanity that carried them on the stairwell. Resigned, Jesse did his best to shrug into the indifference that he’d been breaking in over this past year. He couldn’t fix anything but he could at least stick close by and try to keep Derek from making any sacrifice that couldn’t be undone later.

@evaxreid

The unknown weight on top of her sunk her body down, pinning Eva to the pool floor. Her lungs struggled to keep up with the oxygen flow her body needed, as the water forcefully fought its way towards her orifices. She was swallowing water at an alarming rate. 

Writhing, the blonde twisted around, a frenzied attempt at trying to find a way out of the watery hell, as she refused to give up without a fight. She tried to get her head above water, splashing around, to attract anyone’s attention. The violent water moved about, but none of them were for her. It was every person for themselves now, and Eva was unfortunately losing her battle. 

Slowly but surely, her breathing hitched, bubbles coming out of her nose and mouth as her lungs squeezed and ached whatever air it could. Her lids suddenly felt heavy, as her motions came to a halt. And just like that, her head idly moved by, following the currents of the water around her. Everything dissolved into blackness.

@notderekjeter·

Derek released Jesse to tear off his jacket, clambering over a tangle of pipes to get closer to the deep end of the pool’s edge. “Don’t get crushed by a beam,” he warned before jumping in after Eva. 

The water wasn’t cold, but he’d underestimated how murky the water would be from all the debris and dust. He could make out a dark shape that he hoped was Eva, swimming as quickly as he could to the bottom of the pool. It was hard to make out, but relief flooded him when he recognized her hair as he grabbed fistfuls of her dress to reel her closer. With an arm around her waist, he kicked back to the surface in the hopes that she was only unconscious.

Derek clawed his way to the surface with a gasp, pushing her halfway onto a plank that had fallen. “I don’t know if-- I can’t tell if she’s breathing.”

Jesse scowled in response to the comparison, shooting a dirty look over his shoulder towards the woman at the desk as if she were solely responsible for his being a sucker for Derek and strawberry-flavored candy.

He noticed where Derek was leading them and thought about trying to make a run for it, weighing the cons to this for both of them before deciding that Derek had more to lose than he did. “I can’t believe they don’t have a video confessional instead.” He waved towards the booth as they approached it. “Hey, you guys should do that at Our Merciful Savior. It’s two-thousand eighteen, if you’re gonna do anything it should have a YouTube channel.”

A startled laugh bubbled out of him as he shot Jesse an amused look. "I’m pretty sure a video confessional would defeat the purpose of penance.” After a moment, his expression turned thoughtful as if seriously considering the suggestion. “I guess an educational channel would work, but I don’t think it’d get many views. Not unless we dress Rusty up like a priest and have him give sermons.” 

“Uh-huh.” Jesse nodded, capping the pen and sticking it back in his pocket. “Shay was always the mastermind. Why do you think I’m here with you instead of pulling real pranks right now?” He asked. 

He glanced down at the flower on his jacket, his face contorting for half a second before Derek agreed to the plan of distracting the woman running the desk. 

Jesse had his hand in the box of submitted ballots, mixing their bogus votes in with the rest when he overheard Derek laying the charm on. Placing the lid back on the box, Jesse sidestepped to link his arm through Derek’s and pull him away again before the woman had a chance to take him up on more than his offers of Twizzlers.

“I can’t believe that works.” He was of course talking about Derek’s simple approach of being nice, this paired with his obnoxiously good looks making people trip over themselves to reciprocate.”You could probably offer them razor wire and they’d thank you.”

"It was nice meeting you!" Derek called out as he was abruptly tugged away, throwing a wave over his shoulder before turning to face Jesse. His grin widened at the other's remark, failing to mask his smug expression despite taking a bite out of a Twizzler. 

The truth was that Jesse had pulled the fire alarms that night but it was a lazy, last ditch attempt at ruining the event. He and Shay had made a lot of other plans that night and then sabotaged themselves instead by getting hammered in the parking lot and forgetting to execute any of them.

“It was Shay’s idea.” He admitted. “But we had something else planned and it didn’t work. Should have been better.” He mused absently as he jotted the names onto the ballots and tried to keep from wondering if Shay was okay now. 

He looked up when Derek nudged him, his brow furrowing as he followed the other’s prompt towards the photo booth. “Hey I drove. You came to prom with me.” He joked, gathering the handful of ballots that they’d forged. “I’m gonna go put these in the box. Can you charm the desk lady?”

“Shay destroyed my suit that night?” Derek feigned a scandalized look, lower lip protruding in a pout. “It was red, dude. I looked dope.” Admittedly, prom itself hadn’t been that eventful until everyone had gotten effectively soaked.

Flashing a grin, he reached out to flick the little flower pinned to the other's shirt. "I got us the matching boutonnieres," he declared proudly, still tickled by the fact that he'd managed to convince Jesse to wear it. At the request, his brows twitched upwards as he careened to the side to catch a glimpse of their gatekeeper. "No promises, but I'll do my best."

Breaking away from his friend to approach the table, Derek positioned himself between Jesse and the woman’s line of sight with a thousand-watt grin. “You look like you could use some candy,” he said cheerfully, offering a bouquet of Twizzlers.

Jesse took one of the candies offered to him, sticking the thing in his mouth and reaching to search his pockets for the pens that he’d lifted from the voting table. “We’re voting for Bailey and Eva. The Sweet Cheeks dream team.” He spoke around the Twizzler that hung from his lips, shoving other snacks aside to make room for their setup on the table. 

He glanced up at Derek when he guessed at the mayhem that Jesse should have caused at his own prom, Jesse’s brow furrowing for a moment before he reached to take the Twizzler out of his mouth and pointed the candy in Derek’s direction. 

“Uh-huh. Let’s go with that.”

Derek raised his brows at Jesse’s cryptic answer, glancing aside as he scrawled BAILEY + EVA beneath each ballot. “Was that not you? Did you go?” He’d attended three senior proms, one of which he thought had been Jesse’s year. Then again, it wouldn’t be surprising if he hadn’t attended; Jesse wasn’t exactly known for being school-spirited.

“I want evidence that you came to prom with me tonight,” Derek teased, elbowing his friend with a grin. He pushed his growing stack of counterfeit ballots towards Jesse as he nodded at the photo booth on the other side of the room. “I promise I won’t hang it. Frank will probably use it for target practice.”