A/N: Hellooooooo, everybody! I know I'm supposed to be working on ADKOL, but I'm having a huge writer's block for the part I'm at (which is a quite dramatic one, really sorry about that, horrible place to be stuck in a rut) BUT I had a huuuge inspiration breakthrough a couple nights ago, and I started typing, and THIS happened. Now, I'm still in like, full writer's mode and not reader's mode so I can honestly say, I don't know if this story is good or not. Honestly. I can't tell. It could either suck, or it could be slightly bearable, the choice is up to you, but please, please just give me an opinion so I have an idea, because I'm at a loss here. I have no opinion of it at the moment. So it's all up to you! Read it! Review it! Love it, hate it, just SOMETHING. Please. I'll love you forever. Really, I will. Oh, and also… this story is supposed to be a one-shot. I really liked the idea, but don't know exactly if it changed while it was in my head as I was typing, so IF you think I should go on, then let me know, I might continue, or not, depending.

On you.

The pressure….oh, man… Haha. So, yeah. Have fun reading. If it doesn't totally suck, that is.


He never said it. He never said anything, ever. He couldn't admit it. Derek was too high on his horse for that. He had too much confidence in himself. He was never thrown off his guard, never doing what he didn't want, never. There was nothing that could make him admit it. Not only did his ego prevent him from doing so, but…he couldn't admit it before her. That was the competitive thing with him. He couldn't stand to lose. And he never did. He couldn't stand to lose anything. But the one thing he couldn't do for sure was lose to her.

Or lose her, for that matter.

(Not that he had her, anyway…)

He had always been proud of the way he could cover his feelings up, the few times he did get any. And with those, they never lasted. Derek just had to push them away, and they left. He was unbreakable. He was invincible. He knew it, and he flaunted it. No matter what, there was always a way for him to get past feelings. He had never had real feelings before this, either. And when the tingles came, which were coming up more often lately, he pushed them away. Why?

Because he was not going to lose to her.

This would be hard, as well. She never admitted it, either. She wasn't going to. Derek had his ego, and Casey had her stubbornness. She wasn't going to admit it first. She was not ready to lose something else to him. He had already taken her sanity, her confidence, and even taken her bras once, to drive her up the wall, as if she wasn't already on the brink of losing it. But she wasn't going to lose this. She knew it was way below her maturity level, but when it came to him…there was no maturity involved. It didn't matter what she said, or what she did to teach him a lesson…it never worked. So, she stopped trying and stooped to his level instead, trying to get back at him. But she couldn't beat the King of Pranks. She tried, though. She really did try. And it worked a lot, too. He would never admit it, but some of her work did impress him. However, she never won.

Which is why she was not going to lose to him this time.

It had always been hatred. From day one, they were complete opposites. That was the thing. They hated the other one so much for not being what they wanted. The hated each other because they were so freaking different. They were everything the other person didn't want.

(Which was incredibly ironic…)

They were complete opposites. More than that, actually, if that was even possible. She would freak, he would grin, lie back, and watch. She would scowl, he would flash his smirk, which he knew, cut through her heart in the strangest, most angering way. She would always complain, he would always be the one she was complaining about. It was simple. A silent agreement.

They both would never admit it.

They both felt it. They both knew. But avoiding the topic at all costs had saved much awkwardness, pain, and confusion, anyway. They didn't know how to go about it. They didn't know. This was new, something they had never experienced before. And however long it had lasted, they never talked about it. They confused the tension for hatred. They always did. And with that tension, came anger. It was always hate-from the beginning, they despised each other, and wouldn't let the other one forget it.

Not that the other one ever could, anyway.

This little game that they played was screamingly obvious, though they were quite ignorant towards that factor. They never realized who saw, or what they saw. It took all their energy they could muster up to fight back, and they usually lost awareness of their surroundings, which got them into plenty of situations where they were, in a direct word, screwed, pretty much. When they fought, they could only focus on each other. Nothing was more important than making the other person's life completely miserable. This would just lead to more fighting, which would repeat the cycle, and it would go on and on. And there, from the very first day, it started. Eventually, everyone around them got used to it. Sam and Emily never expected different. Nora and George never stopped breaking up the fights. Edwin, Lizzie, and Marti took amusement to their arguments, most of the time. But here, no one was used to it. No one knew their relationship. No one knew that the way they acted was, apparently, normal, in a sense.

But after a few minutes of listening to the insults being spitted out in harsh tones, people figured it out, anyway.

(Unfortunately, it was that obvious.)

Here, Derek was more…himself. It wasn't bad back at home, but his busy house was so full of people all the time (friends over, distant cousins occasionally, Nora's weekly tea parties), that he never had the freedom he wanted. But here…here, parties lasted every night until the next day, the guys always stocked up on beer, girls were always willing (and/or drunk), the curious ones were always excited to try "new" things, and his small, cramped dorm was almost always empty. His lousy roommate usually camped out in the library for the evening and had night classes, which gave Derek plenty of time. It was a smooth course- no interruptions, no surprise guests- with the exception of one very annoying, obnoxious, vile stepsister, who just happened to be put in the room directly next to his. She showed up whenever the hell she wanted, much to his dismay. It became a routine, soon. Every night, he would find some hot, drunk girl who had nothing better to do at the party he would be at, and right before they were about to pull off the last piece of clothing…the front door would erupt with violent bangs. If her sudden, frantic style of knocking didn't scare the shit out of him every single time she came, he didn't know what did. And so, night after night, girl after girl, the devil kept coming. She always did. The worst part was, he knew that she knew that it pissed him off to no end, so she kept doing it.

Surprise, surprise.

He would open the door, flushed and breathing hard, with his shirt ripped off and a slight smile on his lipstick covered face, to a scowling, pajama clad Casey. His smile would vanish, and he would stand up straighter, staring at her with piercing eyes. Even though he always seemed to be disgusted when she showed up, he always expected her. You could practically set your watch by it. She always came.

"What. The. Hell. Do. You. Want," he would ask in a maddening, deep voice which made her feel extremely weak in his towering presence. She would simply sniffle and stand up straighter. She would never give herself away.

"I want you and that stupid, slutty bimbo to stop making so much noise. Some people are actually trying to sleep, so that they can make use of their time here at university, instead of jacking off during the day and sleeping with girls at night." She would cross her arms over her chest and look at him with the same chilling stare he was holding.

He wasn't going to stop. He didn't listen to her. She may have been the only person that could actually convince him to do something, but he couldn't say that. She couldn't know, and he couldn't lose. So instead, he tilted his head to the side, and his heart shattering smirk appeared on his red lips…and he would've actually looked kind of silly, being all cocky like that with the lipstick smudged all over his face, if only it didn't look so damn hot. She would falter through her angry, pissed off mood thing a little, he could see. She would either bite her lip subtly, or lean a bit forward, and usually, no one would tell, but Derek was the only guy who could ever see through her.

No one else would've noticed.

(He did.)

"Why, Case? Are you just tired of me being the one getting all the action, still?" he would say. Sometimes he would even jab at her old boyfriends, too. He would change it up nightly. It would always be some sort of insult towards her sexual life, though, which he knew would make her want to rip off his head. But there he would stand, his grin flashing wider, his eyebrows raised. This silent competitive thing was so getting to her, and they both knew it.

At about this time, whatever whore-y, drunk college girl that was laying half naked on the bed beyond the doors would get curious at who interrupted the...ahem, excitement. Derek never "recycled" girls; he was utterly terrified of commitment, even more so than the average horny teenage guy, if that was even possible. The girl was always new, so she would always be curious. If only someone besides Casey and Derek knew that this was an every night thing.

"Derek?" she would slur, and they would both glance behind Derek, past the open bedroom door, and watch her drunken ass try to get up off the bed. She would usually be wearing close to nothing, and Casey would always look back at Derek in sheer disgust, which in return, he would smile slyly, knowing what she was thinking. He would rack his brain silently, trying to figure out the girl's name- it had something to do with flowers… or trees or some leafy shit like that- and would come up with nothing. So, being Derek, he took the easy way out.

Looking directly at Casey, he would say, "Coming, babe," to the girl over his shoulder, and then he would grin smugly until he thought he would burst from being so fucking arrogant. But hey, he had held up for nineteen years now. He was just way too good at it.

"So…you wanted something, or do you just plan on standing there?" he would raise his eyebrows and lean suggestively against the doorframe, and although this was an unoriginal and outdated move, it was incredible how he could pull it off. He really did amaze himself.

She would be absolutely fuming now, and would spit, "Just keep it down. I don't need to hear you getting it on in there every night. Really, do you even have enough…of that…in your body for those many girls?"

"Sure do. Wanna see?" he would ask innocently.

"No! Ugh, you are such a fucking idiot!"

"I know you are, but what am I?"

His conceited grin would grow wider as she would grow more angry, steam practically billowing out of her ears, cheeks flushed with anger.

Passionate, passionate anger.

"Really, Derek? Are we going back to second grade?"

The drunken girl would be pretty much falling over on the ground now, moaning in impatience and mostly lust. Derek would slowly rip his gaze from Casey and glance back, his eyes uninterested, wishing the girl would shut up. But of course, he wouldn't say it. He never would.

Turning back to Casey, he would say, "I don't know about you, but I never did that in second grade," he pointed back to the girl. "Third, maybe, but…"

"Ugh. Just keep it down. I'm serious." She would lean into him, subtly. Her eyes would cloud up, and she would start breathing heavier, because even she wasn't immune to Derek's ways. His eyes would flash as they leaned into each other, and he would bite his lip and look at her expectedly, waiting for her to pull away. But she never did.

She would start to get the feeling that this was getting out of control, so she would open her mouth to say something, but Derek would press his finger to her soft lips and smile smugly. The air would hang in intensity, and he would slowly incline to her body, their body heat mixing in the air, and suddenly, Derek wouldn't want her to go anywhere.

But he wouldn't lose, of course.

So he pulled back. The intense atmosphere would deteriorate, and she would grit her teeth, turn on her heel, and walk back the three steps to her dorm door. He would clench his jaw in longing, watching her go, and reluctantly shut the door, her scent still lingering in the hallway just outside of his room. He would drag his feet back to the bed and the girl would grab him by his collar and plant kisses along the base of his throat, but he wouldn't be into it anymore. Thoughts of the girl with the screwed up hair, bunny pajamas, and fuzzy slippers would invade his mind and although he did seem to give the hot, naked college girl the best she's ever had, the girl next door would never leave his thoughts.

This is what he got, every night. Ruined sex, thanks to yours truly.

He could never fully enjoy his girls after her nightly visit. Of course, being Derek, he would drive the girl up to the wall which he shared with Casey's dorm and make the college girl scream so loud, Casey would pound her fists on the wall and yell until she stopped, causing Derek to laugh hysterically. Eventually the girl would fall asleep on his chest, and he would lay there in the dark, looking at the wall they shared, wondering why he was so goddamn whipped by someone who made him want to kill himself. And why he wasn't doing anything about it. Why he wasn't doing what he wanted. But he would remember…it was, of course, because he was Derek.

And Derek Venturi never lost.

Derek Venturi never admitted his weakness.

And Derek Venturi especially never admitted his weakness, if it was the one girl in the entire freaking world who he was forbidden to sleep with.


So I just spent like, 20 minutes silently debating to myself whether I should publish this or not. My brother's sitting across the room watching me, and thinks I'm having a seizure.

Make my tedious inner conflict worth it. Please review and make my day. :D