Title: Pause and Rewind
Rated T
Summary: Sometimes, things didn't always end up as planned. Dally/Past!Dasey one-shot.
Disclaimer: I don't own Life with Derek.
A/N: I wrote this because it's a request from Dye-my-hands-violet. You might know her LwD fanfics on fan fiction: Dear No Name and Sweet Dreams Casey. If you haven't read them yet, I highly recommend her stories for any Dasey fan or any one in search of a really good fanfic read!
This is sort of like a trade; I requested a video from her on youtube and I asked if she wanted a fanfic in return. She sent me a prompt and I'm more than pleased to write it out for her. So, I hope you enjoy this Rachel! I hope everyone who's reading enjoys it as well. Please review!
Dedication: For Dye-my-hands-violet
In truth, Derek had always planned to move out west to Vancouver to be with Sally ever since Senior year began. Yes, they broke up, but Derek knew that he'd never find a girl like Sally even if he resumed his old manner and hit on every hot girl he laid eyes on. Sometimes, things didn't always end up as planned. For example, instead of moving out west to be with Sally, Derek ended up attending college with his step-sister Casey McDonald. At the beginning of the year, the very thought of them going to the same school again repulsed the two teenagers. Only, their opinions changed just before the semester actually started. Derek found himself in Casey's dorm room every day for a week before mid terms started up, both freshman performing their famous "I-tutor-you/you-relax-me" technique.
Their relationship grew closer, an occurrence that was completely unexpected. Being with Casey almost even made him forget about the plans to rejoin Sally in Vancouver. He was always happy, there was never a doubt in his mind. Life was good.
Unfortunately, good things sometimes come to an end. This time, for Derek, it ended too quickly. Drama had struck an arrow through his new, highly profound, 'friendship' with Casey. An action that caused Casey to travel to France in order to avoid him. An action that made her move to France.
His father and Nora had been extremely disappointed with him. Lizzie refused to even speak with him, loyally taking Casey's side. Edwin had grown a backbone and sided with Lizzie and Casey while Marti hid in her tent whenever her big, brother came home for a visit.
His heart broken, he dropped out of his college and finally proceeded with his first plan. Contacting Sally wasn't hard, especially since they still kept in touch through email and phone calls. Derek was sure that Sally was going to be on his step-sister's side when he told her the story. To say that he was surprised when Sally comforted him and took his own side would have been an understatement.
His relationship with Sally kicked off exactly where it ended last time, with just as much heat and passion as before. Their own relationship grew closer each day if it were even possible. Derek found enthusiasm and passion in filming once again soon after he paid less attention to the drama ordeal. He began recording every moment he and Sally were together on dates, or whenever the two were just enjoying each other's company. He'd film her as she woke up, as she got ready for the new day, as she took a shower. Sally didn't object to being the center of attention. In fact, she encouraged his passion. They had moved in together that following spring; privacy didn't exist in their apartment. Neither of them seemed to mind this.
Life seemed to be treating Derek Venturi well once again, his mind preoccupied and his love for Sally renewed. What Derek had failed to realize through all his good fortune, was that it wasn't that easy to break a pattern. That old habits died hard. That even though all these great things were happening to him as of late, it was unpredictable when they would all come to a shattering end.
"I'm so happy you decided to visit!" Sally squealed as she embraced her best friend Beth in a warm hug. Beth Pace eagerly returned the hug.
"It feels like forever since you've moved from London," Beth whined as she stepped even deeper into the depths of Sally and Derek's apartment, shrugging off her overnight backpack. "You know, there's this invention called the telephone. It's not new, but it's very sufficient."
Sally rolled her eyes. "I'm sorry." Derek and I have just been really busy. I'm finishing up my final semester before summer starts and he's trying to find a job."
At this, Beth pushed her long, red hair over her shoulder and gave Sally The Look. Sally was very used to The Look, which was why she just sighed and shook her head, indicating she didn't want to receive a lecture. Her best friend ignored her.
"I'm serious, Sally. Are you sure going out with Venturi is the best thing?" Beth began, frowning. "You've got a promising career as a Lawyer ahead of you, and you're wasting your time with guys like him?"
"You're just sour because he dumped you three days after you started dating." Sally retorted.
"Hardly," Beth scoffed, kicking her feet up so she could rest them on the coffee table comfortably. "I just think you can do so much better than him."
"Fine, keep believing that," Sally said as she graciously carried in Beth's backpack. "But you're wrong about Derek. Once he finds a job, he can save up for college."
"Let me guess," Beth said in an amused voice. "He wants to major in music?"
"No, film." Sally corrected with a grin.
"Touching."
"He has a passion for filmmaking. Honestly, if he were here he'd be recording this very conversation."
"That sounds annoying." Beth crinkled her nose in disgust, shifting awkwardly. She had always been camera shy and Sally knew this…which was why she invited Beth over a weekend during March break, when Derek was off trying to visit his Dad and step-mom. The poor guy tried everything to convince his family that he was honestly sorry about this whole drama ordeal. Sally couldn't help but be mad at Casey, who she immediately scratched off her "buddy list" the moment she heard Derek's story. The last Derek had spoken of her, Casey had traveled overseas to live in France. Derek mentioned that Casey had always wanted to visit France, especially after Emily Davis returned from her trip after the summer of their Grade 11.
"So, what do you do around here?" Beth asked as Sally sat down on the opposite end of the couch. Beth glanced around the apartment aimlessly. "Want to go to a club tonight or something?"
"No can do," Sally rejected the idea. "At least not this weekend. Even though you're here that doesn't mean I'm not going to stop studying."
"Aw, come on. You're never fun when you study," Beth pouted. "I want to do something fun with you."
"I can be fun," Sally protested. "Derek films me laughing all the time."
Beth smirked. "Oh really?" She sang teasingly. Sally blushed, but sat up straighter.
"Yes, really," Sally admitted. "We're always joking around with each other. He actually keeps me entertained while I'm going over boring material for some class."
"I imagine he keeps you entertained during other activities as well." Beth giggled. Sure, she detested Derek but there was no doubt that the two made a happy couple. And really, when it came to her best friend, all that counted was Sally's happiness.
As Beth's giggling died down, Sally's eyes twinkled in amusement. "Why imagine when I could show you?" She asked with a smirk. Beth's giggles stopped almost instantly; her eyes grew round with disbelief.
"He actually films you when…?"
"Most of the time."
"So, you have videos of you guys…?"
"Countless videos." Sally answered before the question was even finished. The look on Beth's face made her want to burst into laughter; Sally loved it whenever she stunned her best friend.
"Now we're talking fun!" Beth laughed. "Why are you still sitting there? Show me the tapes!"
Sally almost obliged but then stopped half-way in the middle of she standing up. "I don't know," She sighed. "I don't think the videos are meant for anyone but us to watch."
"A video is a video," Beth retorted. "What? Does Derek have them locked up or something?"
"No, we keep the DVDs under our bed."
"So, I'm failing to see the issue here," Beth pressured. "Derek's away visiting his family in London. What he doesn't know won't hurt him."
"True," Sally mused. Ever since both girls were ten, they always told each other secrets. The best friends knew absolutely everything about each other. It would be wrong to keep these from Beth really and Sally didn't want to be the cause of breaking the trust that held their friendship together. "Okay, I'll get them."
"I'll make popcorn then." Beth declared, making her way to the small kitchen as Sally went to retrieve the videos.
"Wow, Derek sure knows how to keep himself busy," Beth laughed as Sally reentered the room with a shoebox full of DVDs. Sally grinned as she reclaimed her spot on the couch and placed the DVDs on the coffee table so that the two friends could leaf through them. She watched as Beth glanced at the marked titles.
"In the Shower, A Night of Fun, Another Night of Fun, Yet Another Night of Fun…" Beth read the titles out loud, bringing a hand to her mouth as an attempt to prevent a giggle fit.
"Yeah, Derek needs to come up with better titles." Sally agreed as she took the DVDs from Beth. "So, which one is first?"
"Hold on, I want to check out the other ones," Beth protested as she plucked out a blank DVD from the shoe box. "What's this one?"
Sally paused as she looked at it. "Not sure," She admitted, taking the DVD into her hands. "Derek always gives each one a title."
"Well, put it in and lets give it our own title," Beth smirked. "We can probably come up with something better than "Yet Another Night of Fun."
"Okay," Sally agreed as she got up from the couch. She turned on the television and placed the disk inside the player. Sally knew that her boyfriend always messed with his footage. Derek usually couldn't help putting a soundtrack or some flashy effects to make the porn…even more enjoyable. Only, as Sally started the DVD she noticed that no title made its' way onto the static screen. In the background, Beth had reached over to get settled with the popcorn bowl. "Maybe it's a blank?" She suggested.
Sally was about to concur but before she could press the button for the DVD a visual popped onto the screen out of nowhere. As the static fuzz faded, Sally recognized Derek's old room in London coming into view. His room was shadowed and the camera was pointing at his computer. She exchanged a look with Beth as she sat back down on the couch with a remote.
"We never did it in his room." Sally assured Beth, confused.
"So what-?" Beth asked as the camera angle shifted. Sally's eyes grew round as the image on the television grew recognizable.
"Oh shit."
"Just after our first time." Derek half-whispered into the camera. The Derek on television was much younger, perhaps 18. Just before he and Casey started college. Sally was used to seeing her boyfriend wearing absolutely nothing, so the fact that all that was covering Derek was a blanket wasn't bothering her. What was bothering her was his naked companion, who was laying next to him in his bed. Casey McDonald appeared asleep, the blanket covering most of her exposed body.
On the television, Derek reached over to film his sleeping step-sister. "She's beautiful." Sally heard him whisper. Beth was speechless as she slowly chewed on her popcorn.
Derek's face now couldn't be seen but his arm reached over to brush a strand of Casey's hair that had fallen over her eye. Casey stirred as she half-way opened it.
"You're not filming are you?" She muttered sleepily. Without waiting for an answer, she pulled the covers over her so her face couldn't be seen. Derek chuckled.
"I thought you wanted to remember this night for the rest of your life." He reminded her.
"I will remember this night for the rest of my life," Casey argued. "That doesn't mean I want it to be on film. Someone could get their hands on it. They'd know."
"Someone like who? Edwin?" Derek snorted, turning the camera as he reentered the shot, lying down next to Casey, camera hoisted high.
"Relax. No one ever has the courage to fully search my room…except maybe you. Our memories will be safe."
"Memories," Casey repeated, sighing irritably. Nevertheless, she closed her eye once again and snuggled even closer to Derek Venturi.
Beth and Sally were both stunned. Speechless. They stared in bemusement as Derek wrapped his arm around his step-sister , still hoisting the camera high.
"Will you turn that thing off?" Casey muttered. "It's killing the mood."
"Really? I don't think so."
"Der-ek."
Derek laughed and swiftly kissed her forehead before the shot faded to black. Before Sally and Beth could even say anything, a new shot made its' way onto the screen. This time, Derek's room was completely lit. The image showed Casey, now fully clothed, sitting at Derek's computer. She seemed to be reading an article of sorts intently. Sally heard Derek laugh off screen.
"What could be so interesting? You haven't spoken or snapped at me and I've been recording for at least five minutes!"
At this, Casey snapped out of her trance and turned her attention to the camera. She rolled her eyes at it and then looked back at the computer, clicking the mouse to scroll down the page.
"It's this college, université de la Sorbonne, that Emily mentioned one time. It sounds really awesome and I'd really love to apply."
"Why?" Derek's tone now turned bitter. "We've already gotten accepted into the same school. Where is it, anyway?"
Casey smiled at him. "Paris."
"Texas?"
"No. France. Why on earth would I get excited about a college in Paris, Texas? I've never even been to Texas."
"You've never been to France either," Derek argued. "Why do you want to travel so far, anyway?"
"Haven't you ever wondered what it'd be like to live in another country?" Casey sighed, dreamily. "Paris is full of culture and beauty. Plus, it's the city of romance."
"Well, then, I definitely don't want you to go," Derek declared. "You'll meet some French boy and then you'll forget all about me."
"Trust me, Derek. I could never forget about you even if I wanted to," Casey smirked. "Besides, why are you really against me applying? You know I'd be faithful, even though an ocean will be splitting us apart."
"It's just…" Derek sighed and put down the camera. He entered the shot so he could walk over to Casey, the hurt in his features now present. "I don't know. I guess I'm not sure I'll be able to make it through college with out you. You keep me together when it comes to stuff like that. I can never say thank you enough for helping me get through those stupid high school finals."
Casey blinked. "Derek, that's so sweet." She smiled, taking his hand.
"You know what else is sweet?" Derek asked with a grin. He leaned over so his lips were hovering above Casey's. "You."
Casey's laughter bounced against his mouth. "You're starting to remind me of George with those cheesy lines of yours."
"I'm going to pretend you didn't say that."
A knot twisted within Sally's stomach as she watched their lips connect, a make out filled with so much passion and vigor it made her sick. Stunned, she raised the remote to turn off the television. Beth looked over at Sally in confusion, the popcorn forgotten. She had lost her appetite.
"That was…different." Beth finally spoke, breaking the silence. Sally didn't even respond as she brought a hand to her head, still confused. What was that? What did she just now see? She knew those who eavesdropped wouldn't always like what they'd hear but this was just ridiculous.
"I told you. I told you. Venturi is nothing but trouble," Beth declared the moment she was able to find her full voice.
Sally shook her head. "We weren't together then. He wasn't cheating on me."
"But this was right after you two had broken up, right?" Beth pressed. Sally nodded this time, slowly. "I knew it! I knew it all along. I warned you about him the first time didn't I? I told you he'd just forget. But you wouldn't listen…"
"Beth, just shut up." Sally finally snapped. The confusion was giving her a headache and her best friend was not making matters any better.
"Why are you telling me to shut up?" Beth asked, angrily. "You should be yelling at your so-called boyfriend right now instead of snapping at me."
Even though Sally wouldn't admit it out loud right then, Beth was right. She felt like shouting, she felt like cursing. She felt like throwing things. At Derek.
She should be calling her boyfriend up right now and demanding the answers to her questions. Derek and Casey!? When the hell had this happened!? Was this part of the drama that caused Casey to move to France? Was this why his family was mad at him? No, Sally decided. The relationship wasn't wrong (generally speaking), it was just unconventional. Sally knew that George and Nora would indeed be surprised by this news but it wouldn't cause them to completely shun Derek from the McDonald-Venturi household. She had no idea how the kids would react, but she knew Marti loved Derek so much that she wouldn't go into hiding just because her step-sister was making her favorite brother happy.
Derek had mentioned the college that Casey was most likely attending in Paris right now. He had told Sally about their fight, about how he violently lost control for a moment when Casey kept persisting that she'd move to France. He told Sally exactly that he was furious; that right when their "friendship" was growing, Casey decided to skip off to Paris. Sally was touched that Derek cared so much now about his new friendship with his step-sister. She was furious with Casey because Casey had kept egging him on about that stupid school. Derek wouldn't have lost his temper if Casey hadn't been pushing his buttons, Sally used to tell herself. Derek had never once been violent with Sally before, and Sally knew that Derek regretted his action; that he regretted his mistake. He regretted it so much. Now, Sally realized that his mistake wasn't as innocent as it seemed. Derek had struck Casey out of anger, but his real reason of doing so was because he didn't want to lose her to Paris. He didn't want her to leave. He loved her.
As Beth rambled on and on about something Sally wasn't grasping, Sally realized the unfortunate truth. It had been Casey all along. You couldn't just throw two teenagers under the same roof and not expect anything to happen. Either they'd automatically behave like brother and sister, or they'd develop feelings for each other that they'd hide by their fighting and ridiculous banter. As much as Sally hated it, it made sense. There was always something going on between the step-siblings. Sally knew that Derek never cheated on her when they first went out. She could tell. But this meant that their relationship, that she, was sort of an obstacle in the way of Derek's true desire.
Derek didn't want her.
Derek wanted Casey.
"…something strange about her," Beth was now saying. "I remember hearing about her from Derek. He'd always go on and on about how much he couldn't stand…hey, where are you going?"
Her cell phone had rung, the ring tone her favorite song. Derek's favorite song as well. Sally got up from the couch, removing her hand from her forehead. Beth watched, bemused as her best friend stared at the phone for a few seconds before quickly flipping it open.
"Marti finally came out of her tent. I haven't been able to make peace with Lizzie or Edwin but Dad and Nora are slowly forgiving me I think."
A tear finally escaped and rolled down her cheek. Sally wiped it away. "Great," She said, bitterly.
"What's up? You sound irritated."
"I…I'm not…um, really…" Sally tried to say the words that she wanted to say but they came out in a stutter. She finally gulped. "Um, Beth's here." Sally informed him, kicking herself mentally. She finally found a way to keep her voice steady, and then went about telling him irrelevant information.
"Well, that explains it."
"Tell him I heard that." Beth retorted, scowling.
Sally shook her head. "Hey, when are you coming home?"
"Why, do you miss me?" Sally could almost hear him smirk.
"No, well, I…" Sally sighed, closing her eyes in frustration. "Derek, we need to talk."
-Fin-
A/N: I know I ended this abruptly, but I felt that this was a good way to end it. You get Sally's initial reaction and Rachel gets all the questions she wanted answered in this one-shot, answered. Lol. But really, when it comes to relationships you don't really have "We need to talk." followed by something pleasant. I'm sure there are pleasant things that have happened after those words, but with this story it's safe to assume "break up." I just didn't know how to actually write a break up scene after this without making it feel rushed. In the future I might a one-shot based off of Casey's version from this story, but this won't be a two-shot. A special thanks goes out to Aurélie (lyraGW on youtube!), who gave me information about Casey's school.
Thanks so for reading everyone, until next time!
"Never let go of the one you truly love."
-December'sRose