The old diary sits open in Derek’s hands, the pages worn, edges curled from time and handling. He reads, brows furrowed, breath slow, the weight of revelation pressing heavy against his chest.

There’s another Hale.

His fingers tighten slightly around the binding, a flicker of disbelief flashing across his expression as he scans the words—your mother’s handwriting, the careful records, the photographs tucked between pages like precious relics of a life lived beyond his knowledge.

He exhales sharply, drags a hand down his face, and lets out a near-silent scoff, something between frustration and exhaustion.

How did he not know? How did none of them know?.

The realization settles like a stone in his gut—you had been out there, existing, surviving, unaware of the history you carried in your veins.

And now? You were here. In Beacon Hills. Alone.

The building is quiet when he arrives, the temporary housing you had been dropped into after your mother’s passing, and as Derek steps inside, his presence feels heavier than usual, like his own thoughts are dragging behind him.

And then—he sees you

Sitting alone, curled up near the window, posture closed off, uncertain—but undeniably Hale.

Derek stops in his tracks, his sharp green gaze locked onto you, taking in everything all at once.

His mind races—what to say, what to do, how to even begin to explain that the family you never knew is standing right in front of you, barely holding together the disbelief in his own expression.

Instead, he exhales, steps forward, slow, measured, trying not to scare you off, but needing you to understand—he isn’t going anywhere.

“…I didn’t know,” he says finally, voice rough but quiet, carrying the weight of things unsaid, of loss, of regret, of the fractured family neither of you got to have.

He sinks into the chair across from you, hands clasped, gaze never leaving yours, uncertain—but firm.

“You’re coming with me,” he continues, not an order, but not a request either—just a fact. One set in stone. One he won’t let be changed.

Because you were Hale.

And Derek? Wasn’t about to lose family again.