He went barging into her room, not bothering to knock. He found she wasn't in it.

Looking next door he found her in Lizzies room. He smirked, knowing he had just found his excuse. Knocking -- Lizzie wasn't beautiful when she was angry. She was scary -- he stepped in.

"I believe that there's an order that still hasn't been delivered." He said, pulling out his Smelly Nellie's notepad. "I brought two chocolate milkshakes tonight, and there was some advise that was ordered by our young friend here new possible boyfriend," He nodded his head in Lizzie's direction. "However, I still have one more order to do."

With that he grabbed the older females arm. Ignoring her protests, he drug her out of the room, pausing only to say over his shoulder, "There you go Liz, final order filled. No Case." He shut the door behind him, smiling at the laughter that followed them. Walking to his room, he pulled the brunette with him, and shoved her towards his bed. As she landed he shut and locked the door, then turned to look at her, grin still on his face.

"Do you mind?! We were in the middle of discussing something!" She demanded, rubbing her arm. "That hurt you know."

"Oh, I'm sorry. Would you like me to kiss it better?" He asked, rolling his eyes. He held up his hand to prolog her objections, and listed at the door. After a few seconds, he grinned and stepped away. "Good. Edwin has gone over to one of his friends to sleep over, and Dad and Nora are taking Lizzie over to one of her friends then out to eat."

"So?" She replied, glaring at him.

"So that means I can do this, and I won't be interupted." He said stepping up to her.

"What are you doing?" She leaned away from him as he came forward. Losing her balance she ended up laying on his pillows, legs still over the side of the bed. He pulled her legs up beside him, and then leaned over her, one arm on each side of her head to hold himself up.

"This," he replied before pressing his lips against hers. She tensed at the unexpected action and pushed againsts him. He stopped, and looked into her eyes. Sighing, he flopped over to lay down next to her.

"Derek, what the heck was that for?" She demanded, sitting up to look down at him. He shrugged, and then rolled over. She pulled him back to face her saying, "Oh no you don't! I want an explanation and I want it now!"

He pushed a piece of her hair back behind her ear, mummering, "You know, you really are beautiful when you get upset. Your eyes seem to have an extra glow in them." She slapped his hand away, blushing at his words.

"Don't think that being sweet will get you out of this Derek. I want to know why you kissed me." He shrugged again, letting his hand drop. His eyes had never once met hers since the kiss. "It's not fair you know." Her voice was starting to quiver.

"I was wrong. I am you know, every once in a while. Just don't go spreading that around. Reputations and everything." He didn't sound like he really cared if she told the entire school.

She got up out of the bed and stepped over to the door, pausing to glance over at him. He had rolled back over to face away from her. "It's not fair! You can't toy with me like this." She hissed, trying to open the door. He was behind her by the third try, and she froze when his hand covered hers.

Flicking the lock open, he whispered in her ear "I'm not toying."

He went back to laying on the bed, this time staring at the cealing blankly. She looked over at him, and then at the door. Slacking in defeat she stepped away and asked, "What are you doing then?"

"You're welcome to leave you know." He said instead of reply, making a shooing gesturing limply with his hand. Instead she crossed her arms across her chest, and waited. "I said leave." He repeated, getting up and opening the door for her. When she didn't move he slammed it, and went back to the bed. Sitting on the edge, he put his head in his hands.

She took a step towards him, arms dropping to her side, then paused. "Why?" She repeated quietly.

"It doesn't really matter." He replied from between his arms.

"Of course it does!" She shouted. He dropped his hands, falling back into his pillows, looking at the oposite side of the room from her.

"She wasn't a natural brunette you know," he said after a few uncomfortable moments of silence had passed.

"Who?"

"Any of them. Kendra, Beth, all the others." He waved his hand as if they didn't really matter.

"So what if they all dyed their hair." She sat down on his desk chair, looking at him.

"They were naturally brunettes. I didn't used to like brunettes. I used to have a thing for red heads actually. But then dad started dating N-." He stopped. Another minute passed.

"It was Sam who first pointed it out. He asked me why I was suddenly so intrested in chicks with brunettes. And why all the girls I went after were suddenly more passionate, harder to get. I told him I was sick of just snapping and getting the ladies, so I was going after something more challenging, and that I couldn't help it if they all just happened to have brown hair. He seemed to accept that, but just in case I started to change it up a bit, but it didn't seem right. So I made a compramise. They were all brunettes with dyed hair, with a brunette thrown in every once in a while." She saw his fist clench at his side.

"And then he had to go and start dating-" He stopped himself again, but the tesion didn't leave his body. "I nearly killed him for it you know. The friendship I could stand -- barely. I started suggesting we hang out at diffrent place. Places where I knew we would never run into-

"He figured it out though. Started asking why we never hung out over he-. Insisted we should play babe raider. What could I do? If I objected to his accusations directly he could figure out why I what I was avoiding. After the breakup it was easier though because he wanted to stay away as much as I wanted him to stay away. Then he got over his issues, but I kept on insisting that we go other place.

"Finally he demanded to know if I had any feelings for-. I denyed it of course. I could see what he would say if I told him the truth. He'd tell me it was wrong, and that if anyone found out they'd be really disturbed. I knew what he would say because I told myself it all the time -- not that it did any good. One day at lunch though I was watching-" She waited silently for him to continue.

"He said he knew, and it was no use denying it. He said he thought it was cool, and that it explained quite a bit, such as why I had a thing for goth chicks for a month. Asked if I had done anything to act on it. I was shocked that he was so cool with it, and asked if he thought it was wrong. He told me there wasn't since I wasn't actually-."

"It was nice to have someone to talk to about it. Someone who had been on the other side -- where I wanted to be. He understood when I said that I couldn't act on it. He suggested that even if I couldn't do anything major I could still get some smaller satisfaction. He suggested I use every excuse I could to touch-

"It was great at first. I used every excuse I could think of. And some of them were handed to me, making it so easy. After a while though, it made things harder. Rather than helping me, it made me want the real thing more. Hugs were the worst -- it took all of my will power not to kiss-.

"I started noticing though that each touch wasn't rejected nearly as badly as I thought they would be. In fact, it seemed as though they were sought after. I started doing it even more -- and discovered a little sigh with each one, a pout after I had stepped away. I started to test my boundries, getting as close as I could stand without fearing I would lose my self-control. Each time I allowed myself to get a little closer, and never did I get an objection.

"I pointed it out to Sam, and he suggested that maybe... maybe... maybe my feelings -- my love -- might be returned." He scoffed, and silence filled the room.

When she realized he wasn't going to say anything more, she stood and went to the edge of his bed. He didn't look at her or acknowledge her presence, but seemed to tense up. She stood for a second longer before she sat on the edge of the bed. Timidly, she placed her head on his shoulder burring her face in his neck and hair, curling her legs on the mattress.

She heard his heart beat speed up, and felt his breath catch. "I was scared," she explained, lips brushing against his neck. "I didn't know if you had finally figured out that I loved you and was using it against me as a prank."

She kept her face hidden, but sighed when he wrapped his arms around her, holding her tightly. "Never, never, never." He assured her, kissing her hairline, forehead, nose. She giggled at the last one, but kept her eyes close tightly. "I love you Case. I couldn't do that to you." He pressed his mouth the hers and this time she returned the kiss.

"How long?" She asked, putting her head back on his shoulder.

"Always." He replied, wrapping his fingers in between her own.

--------------------------

Blurgh! I'm so sorry about all the spelling errors. I just barely got my computer back from the repair shop, and haven't been able to install Wordperfect or Word on it yet. (I type up all of my stories in wordpad and then run them through spelling in one of those two. I prefer not to know how many pages I've typed until I'm done... otherwise I get distracted by the page number, and lose track of the story.)

Sorry if Derek's speech was a bit hard to follow, or OOC. I just don't really see him as being the type to just blurt out "Oh, I love you." for an explanation. Let me tell you it was hard to find ways for him to explain without him saying you, our, we, us, etc too oftan.

In case anyone is confused, here's the cut off sentences finished:

But then dad started dating Nora.

And then he had to go and start dating you.

Places where I knew we would never run into you.

Started asking why we never hung out over here.

Finally he demanded to know if I had any feelings for you.

One day at lunch though I was watching you.

He told me there wasn't since I wasn't actually related.

He suggested I use every excuse I could to touch.

Hugs were the worst -- it took all of my will power not to kiss you.