Title: Maybe

Author: jcfl16

Summary: Maybe I was wrong. Maybe he wasn't evil… Or maybe I was right. "DE-REK!!!" This is set slightly in the future, about during college years.

Rating: T (just to be safe)

Author's Note: This is my first LWD fiction so please be nice. This is just something that popped into my head I hope it turned out okay. Please read and review.

Disclaimer: I do not own LWD or any of its characters. This is a completely fiction story and is not for profit.

Maybe

Knot. Knot. Knot. Knot.

'What the hell!' Casey thought to herself. She rarely cursed, it just wasn't lady like, but this was ridiculous. She picked up yet another pair of tennis shoes that had the laces tied together (no, not tied, knotted) and tossed it over shoulder with reckless abandon (and yes Casey always thought to herself this way, with these words). Only one person could be responsible for this. Derek, her completely juvenile, pranking, selfish, dirty, tough, macho, thinks-he's-better-than-everyone, hot, and funny step-brother. And yes she said hot, she was not denying it because it didn't make sense it is the truth, but she'd never tell him that.

She huffed an indigent puff of air as she continued to scrounged thru her closet, for third time in the last hour. Her blue shoes, the ones that went perfectly with her dress, were missing. Or better yet, stolen, by none other than…

"DE-REK!" Casey's scream pierced through two octaves. Oh yes someone was going to pay, and it wasn't going to be the milkman.

When she received no answer she grabbed a pair of the tennis shoes that were knotted together and stormed out of her room. She rabidly tore thru each room of her apartment (which wasn't hard seeing as her apartment consisted of only her room, her bathroom, guest room/office, kitchen, living room, and laundry closet) looking for her culprit. He could not have gone far. No, he would have wanted to see her reaction, because what was the point of a prank if he didn't see it. He would be here she was almost positive.

After looking under the coffee table for the fifth time, someone behind her chuckled. Her back went rigid. From her squatted position on the floor she turned her head (Carrie style) look at him, with murder in her eyes and sweat on her brow.

"Looking for something?" Derek taunted with his usual smirk in place.

"You." She said with malice spitting out of her and the most terrifying death look she could muster. Which to be honest kind of made her look like angry blowfish, and that only caused Derek to laugh.

"Me. Yes, I am me Space Case." He rolled his eyes "But I'm talking about you," He then proceeded to point up and down her still crouched figure, hot as she was the position was just not flattering (for anyone), but it was very amusing "and you're almost exact replica of Mrs. Varner's angry cat when it's in heat." He let out a shudder at Mrs. Varner's name. She was the only teacher they were both currently taking and she was a nightmare. In fact she had been compared to a hell hound, except with worse breath, and in an un-godly yellow and pink polka dot dress with taffeta ruffling and… well, just all in all a complete mess.

"I do not look like a cat in heat!" Casey yelled miffed and slightly embarrassed, and completely ignoring the fact of it being Mrs. Varner's cat that she had been compared too. Seriously scary lady and her cat was no better.

When Derek again pointed to her she looked at herself and realized she was still crouched awkwardly. She quickly straightened and slipped and fell on her arse. This of course led to Derek laughing so hard he turned visibly red from the effort. Casey stood and dusted herself off the whole time glaring at Derek. Damn her klutziness.

"Oh this is priceless. And me without my camera." He said as soon as his laughing was under control. "I bet I could win a million dollars on 'Funniest Home Videos'."

"I'll kill you." Casey all but hissed.

"Sure, sure." He rolled his eyes. "Now why don't you tell me what you were looking for and maybe I can help." He said with a grin.

"Pfght." she snickered then proceeded to mumbled under her breath. "You, help, yeah right. I won't hold my breath."

"What was that?"

"You."

"What?" puzzlement covered his face.

"You. I was looking for you." Casey said exasperated.

"Me?"

"Yes, you."

"You were looking for me?"

"Yes." She spoke as if she were explaining something very difficult to a small child. "What are you deaf now."

"Deaf, not so much, no. But I am wondering why you think I'd be under a coffee table?"

"Huh?" Her bewilderment hit and then started to fade as she realized she had in fact been looking for a grown man, of 25 years, under a very small coffee table, she turned red from head to toe."I wasn't…" the look on his face let her know that this lie was going to fail before it left her lips. "I mean I was… but, it's not like… I mean I know… I really didn't think… well… umm… you started it!"

"Started what? I can assure you I have never once looked under a coffee table for anything other than a remote."

"No, not that. You started the whole… you know… thing, that caused me to look for you, and… Why am I explaining myself you're the one that's in trouble."

"Trouble. Why, whatever for my dear sister." He mentally choked on the word sister as it came out. A million years could pass and he would never be comfortable calling her that. No matter what he said the night he figured out they were going to the same college.

She mentally cringed away from the word sister as she said "You know exactly what you did. So don't even pretend like you don't, brother dearest." The word brother felt like acid as it came out. No matter what she had said that night about 6 years ago she could not and would not think of him as her brother.

But there had been no going back, ever since that day they had both forced themselves to refer to the other as brother or sister, respectively.

She swallowed hard and continued "You tied my shoes together and stole my blue heels. You know they complete this outfit and that I have been planning to wear them tonight for my first date since the break up with Truman."

No one had excepted them to last so long. 5 years straight and he had remained faithful as the first day they got back together. The rest of the family had gotten used to him, heck, most of them even liked him a little. When Casey had broke it off with him everyone had been shocked. Even Derek had new about the ring that Truman was going to give her at Christmas, and instead they get a crying Casey for Halloween, blubbering about how she was the worst person ever and yadda, yadda, yadda.

"So what? I always do things like that." He shrugged and strolled over to plop on her couch, with a lazy smirk. "I mean sis this isn't even the worse thing I've done in the past month." He flicked on the t.v. They've grown, he lives in the apartment building right next door (accident by fire in his last building, but I digress), they graduated with their bachelor degrees and they both have paid internship's and are in law school, so why oh why was there arguing so much worse than before.

The prank he was referring to had involved a pound and a half of Elmer's glue, 10,000 colorful feathers, peanut oil, a hair dryer and a block of blue chesse the size of Casey's head. That had been a heck of a mess and so stinky that the tenants almost got the 2 of them booted out. And how he got a whole crew of 12 construction workers to agree to serenade her while the whole thing took place she will never know. No, this wasn't the worst prank of the month but it was the one currently affecting her.

"Okay, so you have a point. But, I still need my shoes. So hand them over."

"Nope."

"WHAT?!?!?!" Derek was sure dogs could here this screech at a whole other level.

"I said no. As in N O. As in not going to happen."

"Why not?" She sounded whinny she knew it but her date was due any minute and she still had to put on her makeup.

"Because you aren't going out tonight. So you won't need them." He paused and looked up at her. Her mouth was hanging in open in a shocked guppy expression. "What's for dinner anyway I'm starved." Not like she ever willingly made him dinner before but why not ask, just in case she changed her mind.

Stutters were the only audible sound she could manage for a full minute, before she went around grabbed a couch pillow, startled his lap, and started wailing on Derek, and screaming. He threw his arms up in defense.

" You. Selfish. Lazy. Little. Jerk. What. Did. You. Do." Each word was loud and punctuated with a pillow swat. "Why don't I have a date tonight? What did you tell him? Are you trying to ruin my life?" the attack continued as she spoke and she was becoming very breathless very quickly. She always got breathless when she was angry, she couldn't help it, and Derek always made her angry.

Having enough with being attacked he reached for the pillow. That with as much force as she was putting behind it kind of hurt. He then proceeded to pull on the pillow till it was out of her hands and flying in the air to land safely behind the couch, and out of reach of angry Casey. Not wanting to be easily deterred she began hitting him palms open on any place she could reach. She hit arms, chest, abs, and forehead before he grabbed her wrists pulled a very skilled very practiced maneuver on her. Before she knew it she was pinned underneath him arms sandwiched between the two of them.

"Are you going to let me speak or are you going to keep screaming like a banshee and giving me bruises?"

"I think I'll take the option where you don't speak." She said with a nasty smile.

They laid there staring at each other in complete silence.

"I have the staring contest thing down pact Case. So it's up to you. We can keep staring or you can let me speak." Derek said in a very teasing tone.

"Humph." Was the only reply he got.

"I'll take that as an invitation for me to speak." He ignored her mumbles of 'You would' and continued on "Okay. Now, I know that I've told you before not to date my friends." When he seen that she was about to interrupt him he moved his free hand, the one that wasn't holding her wrists, and covered her mouth. And he didn't really notice that they were really soft. "Let me finish." She rolled her eyes. "Like I said I know I've told you about dating my friends. You didn't listen with Sam and you didn't listen when you asked Dan out last week." She mumbled something under his hand. "Well he is my friend, no matter what you thought. And that's not the point. The point is I know my friends, and Dan is a player." He removed his hand from her mouth. It was entirely more distracting than it should be (which is true for both parties but neither of them knew that). "He had you scheduled for a tonight and 2 other girl's also. Normally I'd tell him he's the man but you're my sister and as such I … feel… a certain … obligation to protect you." Slight pause. "But only for my dad and Nora's sake, not for you. Of course."

"You are trying to protect me?" Casey asks Derek; her response was when he nodded his head. "But you aren't helping me because it'd be a good deed…" he made a face that could only be described as horror struck, and she tried not to laugh. "You're helping me because you feel…" he cringed at the word and mumbled something about keeping it down. "obligated as my brother, and because mom and George would want you too. Is that right?" he nodded.

For a few minutes they laid there quietly.

"Bullshit." Casey said.

"Excuse me?" Derek replied.

"I said 'bullshit'. You have never done something like this out of brotherly feelings."

"I've never…"

"Nope, you haven't." she cut him off.

"Oh I hate to break it you honey but I so have done stuff like this for you before." Now he felt challenged. Did she not remember cause he sure did. He wasn't one to talk about his good deeds but she was provoking him.

"Really like when? Name one time you helped me out when I was dating?"

"Scott," Casey went still at his words. Scott had been playing her with 3 other sister's of player's on Lizzie's soccer team. She and Lizzie had even had a slight altercation over it. How'd she forget him? Well even if it was true about Scott there couldn't possibly have been another… "and Truman the time he kissed Vicky" Another true statement. "and you're dad when he left and you hadn't spent any time with him." Not the same type of relationship but still it counted.

"Why?" she said looking deep into his eyes. The same eyes that were roaring with a fire to prove her wrong the same eyes she's seen since she was fifteen.

"What?" He was thrown. He had been completely ready to tell her about other instances but now he had no idea what to say.

"Why?"

"Why, what?"He was confused, and she was looking at him with the biggest blue eyes he had ever seen.

"I… I don't know. Why did you do it? I never asked you too. I never said thank you. And you never considered me a sister, until recently. So, why? And, why are you bringing it up? Why did you not want to be wrong just now? Just why?"

"You're my sister." Was all he could whisper out.

"No I'm not." The words were out before she could stop them. The look's they were giving each other all of a sudden took on a very different meaning.

Like a splash of cold water Derek realized how they were still laying on the couch, arms pinned between them noses close enough to touch, bodies in full contact. He jumped up with a speed that was not previously known to man.

Casey sat up slowly after she gathered her soundings, and looked up at him.

"Do you really want me to be your sister?" Casey whispered as she looked down at her hands, which had begun to twine together.

"I…I…" this was ridiculous. The Derek Venturi did not stutter. Suck it up he told himself. "I don't know." Came out in a whisper and Derek felt what was left of his cool slip out of him with the words. Only she could do this and that would usually make him angry, but right now he was just confused.

Casey drew in a breath and stood up. Drawing all the courage she could muster she asked Derek a question. "When you scared off my date, however the hell you did it, did you do it because you were protecting your sister or because you didn't want me to go on a date with him?"

"I…"

"If you say I don't know one more time I swear I'll kill you."

He laughed. "Both I guess."

"So you do think of me as a sister." She said dejectedly.

"Well yeah. I mean you think of me as a brother don't you?"

"Yeah, totally."

He looked at her very closely for a minute and she started to squirm. He then started to smile.

"If you don't think of me as you're brother than how do you think of me?"

"What? I said I did think of you as my bro…"

"And that was a lie. You know you can't lie."

"I can too."

"Can not."

"Can too."

"Can not."

"Can… I will not be caught in this juvenile game with you. I said I think of you as my brother and that is that."As soon as she shut up Derek leaned in and kissed her full on the lips. It was soft but heavy. It was passionate and loaded. It was hot and bone chilling. It was Casey and Derek.

When he was done he leaned back and said "Whatever you say Sis." He looked down at his watch before she could react and said "I gotta run. Call me when you're ready to tell the truth." He spun on his heel looked at the forgotten t.v. with a smirk. He picked up the remote turned up the volume then walked right out the door.

Casey stood there stunned. She and Derek had just kissed. That was so wrong on so many levels, and yet, she really wanted to do it again. So she didn't feel like his sister but did she really feel like she could be his girlfriend? With a smile on her lips, that would not fade she thought that she'd definitely like to try. And she thought to herself 'Maybe I was wrong. Maybe he wasn't evil'

"Ooh. Aah. Oh yes. That's it. Come on. Yeah baby."Casey's head snapped to the t.v. where the noise was coming from. "Oh yes. Harder. Harder." With an increasing blush her temper flared and she thought 'Or maybe I was right.' Quickly she reached for the remote to turn off the porn that was blaring out of her screen. Her not-so-virgin virgin eyes couldn't take it, same for the ears. Porn was disturbing and degrading and sick and a little weird not to mention it cost serious bucks to get that. He was dead.

"DE-REK!!!" She yelled. From the open door she heard a distant familiar laugh. She might like him but she was definitely going to kill him, at least after one more kiss.

A.N.: I hope ya'll liked it. Again it was my first so be gentle. Please Review now that you've read. It's always appriated.