Love…love is….wonderful…hard…beautiful…love….

Casey dropped her head down on her desk and muffled a screech. What were they thinking requiring a high school student to be able to write about love? Casey loved love. She lived love, romance, and butterflies. That was her bit. But had she ever been in love?

No.

She'd liked Sam, Max had made her melt with kisses, but she hadn't loved them. She'd loved little bits of them, sure, but not them. Truman had been a challenge, someone who hadn't seemed to be worthy of her time, until he was.

But then, the cockiness Casey had initially been so drawn to, had destroyed them. No one, no one, stood up Casey on their one month anniversary to go to a hockey game with Derek and lived to tell the tale.

Ok, so she hadn't killed him. But their relationship was over. Funny thing was, she hadn't been mad a Derek. Stupid, stupid Derek who had probably known about the anniversary even though Casey had very, very carefully made sure not to tell anyone but Truman about her plans.

"Casey?" Derek poked his head in the door. "Are you still trying to write that stupid essay?"

"It's a story," Casey snapped, spinning around in her computer chair. Her heart was fluttering nervously, but she just ignored it. It was probably just nerves about finishing her story on time.

Derek's face lit up. "A story?" he asked. "By Casey McDonald. Now this I gotta read." He sprang towards the computer and scanned the sparse sentences on Casey's screen. Casey's heart fluttered again. Would he notice how similar Derek was to the hero of the story, Oliver?

Derek's eyebrows came together above his eyes as he stared at the screen. "Geez Casey," he muttered. "For someone who claims to be all about romance you certainly suck at writing love stories."

Casey gasped. He was insulting her story? As if he could write anything better. "No one asked you," she snapped. "It's not like you could do any better."

"Sure I could," Derek sapped back. "Boy meets girl. Boy loses girl to another guy. Girl doesn't realize boy loves her until key moment in time when she realizes that they're perfect for each other."

Casey rolled her eyes, though a little amazed by Derek's knowledge of chick lit; she couldn't help but hear the sarcasm in his voice. "Yeah cause its that simple," she muttered as she pushed him out of the way with her shoulder. It brushed his stomach and she couldn't help but feel a little flip in her own stomach as she noted how firm it was.

"Yes," Derek replied resting lightly on Casey's armrest, his side pressing into hers. "It is that simple."

"Prove it," she replied. Derek leaned in closely; Casey could smell mouthwash on his breath.

"Care to make it a little more interesting McDonald?"

Casey squirmed in her seat, trying to ignore how close they were. "Yes."

Derek smirked. "Ok these are the rules. I prove to you that its simple to write a story solely based on life experience and have your story done in time for the due date."

"If you win?" Casey demanded.

"I get to ask one thing of you and you can't say no," Derek replied. A smile on his face.

"I get one pass," Casey injected. Derek sighed and rolled his eyes. He leaned down and pressed his forehead into hers. Casey's breath caught in her throat as her stomach burst into nervous flutters. Already she could feel her fingers itching to start typing.

"Ok miss Priss," Derek agreed. "One. And you have to write this story. No backing out."

"It's a grade Derek," Casey huffed, despite his closeness, feeling a little frustrated with him. "Of course I'm going to do my work."

Derek grinned. "I should have known that." He start to get up, Casey grabbed his arm and yanked him down, her eyes barely an inch from his.

"And if I win Venturi?" she demanded. "If you can't prove to me that from the shambles of my ex-love life I can pull a story, and then what do I get?"

Derek smiled. "The same as me," he replied. "One demand, any demand."

Casey chuckled. "There is no way your going to win this thing," she said. "My love life sucks so much I couldn't even write a one page story on a kiss."

Derek smiled. "Remember its previous and current experiences going into this story."

"Current?" Casey scoffed. "Oh that's a good one. Just rub in how single I am. That'll make me want to write a love story."

"Just clear your schedule tomorrow night," Derek replied.

Casey stared at him. "Why?"

"Because you have a date." Casey's heart did a weird pitter patter and she blinked twice to make sure she wasn't just imagining it. But when she opened her eyes the second time Derek was still there, still smirking at her. She wondered vaguely if this was all just going to end up being a cruel joke.

"What are you talking about Derek?" she snapped. Derek sat up, looking a little flushed (though that could have just been her imagination) and winked at Casey.

"Just call me Oliver," he said with a smirk. "And I'll call you Rose." Casey's face flushed read, her characters names. That's what he was up to.

"What…"

"Be ready at seven tomorrow night," Derek interrupted, standing and heading towards the door. He paused and glanced at Casey over his shoulder. "And don't tell anyone Case."

()()()()

I know its short, do you like?