Work Text:
"Bean?" Asked a quiet voice in the darkness, "Bean, wake up."
Bean's eyes fluttered open. "Derek?" She mumbled out sleepily, "What are you doing up?"
"I had a nightmare," he admitted. He clutched his teddy bear close to his chest, watching his own toes curl into the carpet.
"Why don't you bother your mom about it?" Bean spat.
"I don't want to be around dad," he told her, "He scares me."
Bean sighed. "What do you want me to do about it?"
"Can I sleep next to you tonight?"
"I'm not going to keep the nightmares away," she laughed.
"I know!" He huffed, "but if they come back I want to be near somebody."
"And you want it to be me?" Bean scoffed, "Why?"
"Because your my big sister," he whined, "and your supposed to look out for me."
"I'm your half sister," she pointed out, "No one said I had to do anything for you."
He didn't say anything for a moment, nuzzling his teddy bear in nervousness. "You know, I think we could be a good family."
She stared at him in tired confusion.
"I thought if I was nice to you, you'd start to like me," he whimpered.
"There's no way I'm going to accept you or your freaky lizard mom as my family. You just can't make up for what I lost," She sighed.
He held the bear up to his face again. Muffled by the fabric of his teddy, he squeaked, "You think we're freaks?"
"A little bit?"
He buried his face into teddy bear, feeling the cottony material becoming wet under his eyes.
"Hey, woah, wait, don't cry Derek," Bean sat up, putting a hand on his shoulder, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that."
"It's okay," he sobbed, "I should have known I wouldn't be good enough for my cool older sis- half-sister…" Bean flinched. Derek continued "I'm sorry I bothered you, Bean. I'll go back to my room now."
"Wait," Bean called, "Come back."
"No, don't worry. If the nightmares come back I'll-" he thought for a moment- "Well, I'll figure something out." He flashed her a fake smile in a feeble attempt to reassure her, deceptive tears still clinging to his cheeks.
"Derek, I don't think your a freak," Bean confessed.
He looked back at her, clearly confused. "But you said-"
"I say a lot of things I don't think," Bean explained, "I shouldn't blame you for something you couldn't control."
He took two timid steps back towards her. "Like what?"
She shrugged. "Dad marrying your mom, I guess."
"Oh. I'm sorry."
"No, Derek, you don't have to apologize," she smiled at him gently.
"But you'd be so much happier without mom and me," he mumbled, deciding to look at his fidgeting fingers instead of her.
Bean was speechless. She mulled over what he said for a minute, the silence seeming thicker every second. "No, I don't think I would."
Derek blinked at her. "Why do you say that?"
"I spend all this time pining for my own mom and wishing that Oona hadn't married my dad and everything, but I realize that it wouldn't fix anything. Even if your mom and my dad had never met, my mom would still be dead. It's not anything you and Oona could fix by not being around."
"Do I make you sad to be around?" He asked softly.
Bean sucked in a breath. Truthfully, yes, but did she have it in her to be honest with him?
Derek nodded his head slowly. "I do, don't I? That's why your so quiet."
"Uhg," Bean groaned in frustration, "How are you so good at reading people?" The two stared at each other. "It's not really you yourself. It's… When I see you and Oona, I'm reminded that this is how it is."
"If I ran away or something, would you feel better?" Derek asked.
"No no! Don't do that!" Bean replied, shocked. "I don't want to feel anymore alone than I already feel. Here, come closer."
He inched towards her, still gripping the teddy bear tightly. When he was at her bedside, she ruffled his already messy hair. He looked up at her in surprise.
"I guess we're in this together, for the long haul," Bean thought aloud.
"We are?" He asked.
"Yeah, I think we are," she said, giving him a gentle nudge on the shoulder. "That's how siblings are, after all."
"Even half-siblings?"
"Yeah, even half-siblings," she reassured him.
"So I am good enough for my cool older half-sister?" He asked her.
She chuckled quietly. "I wouldn't go that far. Now, c'mon. I want to go back to sleep, but if you stay here, I'll do my best to keep the nightmares away, even if that's not how it works."
"Really?"
"Really."