Chapter 7

Eclipse POV:

A gasp escapes my lips as I jerk out of my sleep. Sweat drips down my face as I look at the clock and groan when I see the time is 3 am. There's no way I'm going back to sleep for right now. Getting up, I make my way to the bathroom and splash water on my face before making my way downstairs.

Going into the kitchen, I fill a glass with water and sit on the couch as I sip at it and look at the sky outside my window. Around 5:30 the sky starts to get lighter as I set the empty glass on the table. My eyes start to grow heavy as I curl onto the couch, mentally preparing myself for the nightmares that sleep brings.

Just as I start to slip into sleep, a pair of arms slip under me and pull me into a strong chest. Something about it feels comfortable and safe as the person carries me upstairs and gently lays me down on the bed. Instinctively I grab their hand as they go to leave.

"Stay...please?" I whisper softly.

"Sure..." a husky voice whispers back before the bed dips and an arm wraps around my waist, holding me close to the warm body. "Sleep princess."

I hum softly as I let sleep consume me in a dreamless rest for the time in years.

The next morning...

The sun peaking through the curtains wakes me from the deep sleep. A strong arm is wrapped around my waist from behind and it takes me a minute to remember the events of the night before. Turning around, I come face to face with Derek's sleeping form.

I take the time to slowly look over his facial features. Roaming over his eyelashes down to his nose and then to his sculpted jaw. I blink a couple times, breaking out of my thoughts before getting up. Grabbing some random clothes, I hop into the shower to get ready for work. Its already been a week and although Derek and I rarely talk, we have been getting slowly closer.

I quickly get dressed and walk out of the bathroom to find Derek sitting up on the bed.

"Morning." His husky voice rings through the room.

"Morning... I need to go to work today. You're welcome to stay here or come with me, but afterwards we need to go talk to a judge friend of mine. She'll be able to get your record cleaned." I inform him as I grab my phone and keys, stuffing them into my pocket.

My hair and eyes flicker from one color to another before settling on blonde hair and purple eyes.

"Why do you do that?" Derek asks from behind me.

"Makes it harder for people to trace me back to here. If I went into the academy with the same look every time then somebody would be able to figure out my identity." I answer as I move around him and start down the stairs with him following behind.

"And why is it that I never see your real colors except for when I knock you out?"

"I don't want someone to find me..." I lock the door behind us and start walking, ignoring the rest of his questions as we walk towards the academy.

The rest of the day goes quickly. Before we know it, I'm explaining everything to my friend at the courthouse.

"So... I can't just let you go scot free but I can make you a deal. We need a professional whistle blower. You go into companies and report when they are breaking the rules and we take your pay for the first couple years to pay back the people you stole from. Afterwards, you can either keep the job or leave and find something you prefer. Deal?" The judge looks at Derek.

He nods quickly and take the paper with the information he needs to start the job and we leave for home.