A/N: Here's a little LWD oneshot. It's kind of pointless but it nagged at me to be written. It was originally a drabble, but I lost where I was going with it and it turned into this. It's not my usual Dasey, so you can look at it as brotherly/sisterly, friendly or Dasey…I hereby leave it to your discretion. Enjoy! R&R! Thanks! –Mac
Disclaimer: I don't own LWD.
Who Spiked The Punch?
It was a Friday night and as per usual there was a raging party at so-and-so's house (or maybe it was what's-his-face's, but who cares about semantics?) Everyone who was anyone was present and accounted for; even everyone who was no one had made it. The house was packed, the drinks were on ice, and the music was up so loud that the entire house and its foundation was vibrating—ensuring that there would be several noise complaints and a visit from the local authorities before the night was over. Somewhere in the midst of all that, unbeknownst to Casey McDonald, a bottle of hard alcohol had been accidentally tipped over into the punch bowl.
A couple of hours into the party, Emily Davis was frantically searching for Derek Venturi amongst the partygoers. After covering the inside of the house with no sight of him, she trailed out into the backyard. She once again caught sight of the reason she was looking for Derek in the first place, and picked up her speed as she realized the urgency of the matter had increased. Finally, relief flooded her as she spotted him lounging on a bench chatting it up with a girl Emily had never seen before.
"Derek, we've got a little problem," Emily said as soon as she was in front of him.
Derek frowned, looking back and forth between the girl and Emily, weighing his options. Making his decision, he turned his attention to Emily fully, "What's up, Emily?"
Emily simply pointed in response. From across the yard, Derek could see both Sam and Ralph trying to simultaneously fend off Casey's flirtatious advances and keep her from stumbling face first onto the ground. It was quite clear that Casey was more than a little tipsy. Derek groaned and started through the crowd to deal with the situation. Emily followed dutifully behind him. As Derek approached, Sam and Ralph visibly sighed in relief, and Casey squealed in delight.
"Der-ek!" Casey exclaimed as Derek appeared in front of them. She threw her arms around his neck. She nearly knocked him over, but he brought his arms around her in time to steady them and regain his balance. "This is a great party! I'm so glad you got me to come!"
"I'm sure you are, Case," Derek responded. He then turned his attention to Sam and Ralph, though he was sort of preoccupied with trying to hold up Casey and eye the cup of red liquid, that she held dangerously close to his white shirt, warily. "How much has she had to drink?"
Ralph shrugged—his eyes were wide and he looked terrified. Apparently, drunken Casey comes on too strong for his taste.
Sam, at the very least, offered up a verbal answer. "I don't know, man, that's the weird thing. She's only been drinking the punch."
"It didn't occur to anyone that someone might have spiked it?" Derek asked as if the answer wasn't obvious.
"She hadn't had that much before she started acting, well, like that." Emily gestured toward Casey's sloppy grin and how she had began to play with Derek's hair with her free hand. "I didn't really have a chance to figure out she had any alcohol before she was already drunk. She doesn't drink, like ever, so she's got a really low tolerance."
"You could say that again," Ralph muttered.
Derek ignored them, turning to Casey. "Casey, can I have a taste of your drink?"
"No way! This is mine." Casey shook her head, over exaggerating the movement and starting to wobble.
Derek tightened his grip on her, "Just a taste?"
"Okay!" Casey pushed the cup into Derek's hand, and then dipped her head to lean against his shoulder.
Derek took a small sip and it burned all the way down his throat, "That's loaded." He handed the cup to Sam, who tossed it out in the bushes. "Casey, how could you not taste the alcohol in that?"
"There was alcohol in that?" Casey's eyes widened, "I thought it tasted funny!"
"Okay, we're going to get you home," Derek shook his head. "Casey, where are the car keys?"
"Ooh, keys!" Casey exclaimed as she pulled the keys out of her pocket. "I'll drive!"
Casey launched herself out of his arms. He grabbed her around the waist and pulled her back. He snatched the keys out of her hand, "No you don't." He passed the keys to Emily, "Emily, could you drive us. I know Casey was supposed to, but, you can see that's not happening. And I would, but I've been drinking too. Not as much as Space Case here, but enough."
"Yeah, no problem." Emily nodded.
"We'll see you guys later," Derek said to Sam and Ralph.
"See ya," Ralph waved as they started back toward the house.
"Just get her home safe," Sam added.
"She'll be fine," Derek reassured, "But she'll be cursing the day she was born tomorrow morning."
After a short struggle to get Casey through the house and a detour that kept her away from the punch bowl, they were able to get her into the car. Casey immediately leaned forward from the backseat through to front seat to turn on the radio once Emily started the car. Derek winced as the loud music started suddenly.
"I love this song," Casey announced and began singing along. Emily turned it down as she pulled out into the street. Casey pouted, "Hey!"
"I can't concentrate with that on," Emily responded.
"I agree," Derek seconded.
Casey fell back into the seat next to Derek, pouting dramatically, "Fine."
A short drive later and they were pulling up in front of their houses. Derek pulled Casey out of the car and Emily returned his keys. He offered her thanks as she walked over to her own front door. It was a feat trying to get Casey up the stairs. She kept wanting to stop and just lay down on the first surface she found—namely the ground. He was finally able to get her up to her bedroom. Though he couldn't persuade her to change, he was able to get her to crawl into her bed and not curl up on the ground. He pulled her blankets up to her shoulders and once he was certain she was okay, he retreated to his room.
As he crawled into his own bed, he muttered to himself, "She is so lucky my Dad and Nora sleep in the basement."
The next morning, not to his surprise, Derek was up before Casey. Doing his best not to draw the suspicions of any of his family members, he fixed a glass of water and made his way back up stairs. He made a quick stop at their bathroom to pick up some aspirin on the way to her room. He slipped inside, making perfect time as she just began to stir as he placed the glass of water on her bedside table. She blinked and began to sit up but groaned and fell back onto her pillow.
"What happened last night?" Casey asked—or at least that's what Derek thought she said. It was hard to tell as her voice was muffled by the pillow in her face.
"You had a little bit too much fun at the party last night," Derek answered, pulling her desk chair over and sitting in it. "You should take this, it might not kick in right away, but it'll help with the headache."
Casey sat up all the way on the second try. She took the aspirin he offered her and picked up the water to wash it down. She turned to him once she swallowed, "How come you're not hung over?"
"One, I can hold my alcohol better, and two, I think you actually drank more than I did." Derek chuckled at the thought.
"I was only drinking punch," Casey responded.
"Yeah, and someone had spiked it."
Casey pursed her lips, "I knew it tasted funny."
"You said that last night," Derek said, "Right after I came to the rescue."
"Well, I'm sorry that I drug you away from whatever girl you were more than likely romancing last night," Casey muttered.
"First of all, you should know that you're more important than any girl I might meet at a party. And second, I wasn't coming to your rescue. I was trying to save Sam and Ralph from you." Derek replied, "Which by the way, I'm sure Sam doesn't appreciate you playing with his emotions like that, and you're way too intense for Ralph's taste."
Casey groaned, "Oh, God."
"Don't worry," Derek piped up before she got the wrong impression. "You didn't do anything too bad before I got to you."
There was a moment of silence before Casey spoke, "Thank you."
"Hey, it's no problem," Derek stood and began to leave, "Just some advice, if you want to stay sober, don't ever drink the punch. Drink a soda, from a can. Because 99.9 of the time it's not just punch you'll be drinking."