It goes like this:
They've been living together for about a month, but orientation kept them busy, and then school and he hardly saw her. It was awful (he'd never admit that out loud), so he went with a classic and put honey in her shampoo. She came at him after her shower, cheeks pink from the hot water and eyes flashing with anger.
So, Derek and Casey fight (because, don't they always). He gets worked up over the look in her eyes and he realizes that they're standing only a few inches apart. That's when he realizes that they're alone and there's no family to run interference or interrupt. It was a lot easier to remember there was a line with Nora sighing from exasperation a few feet away, or the door opening to let in Lizzie and Edwin. So, he leaves to get drunk with one of his teammates. Casey is in the drama department, so in his drunken state, his addled brain thinks it's a great idea to break into the theater because all he can think is: Casey. It makes no sense when he thinks about it later, but that's what happens.
His teammate trashes the set.
Naturally they're loud, drunk shenanigans lead them to getting and all Derek can think about is how Casey is going to be livid when she finds out, and not even the fun kind of mad. It doesn't even cross his mind to be worried about their punishment until the professor peers down at them over her lenses and asks, "Well, what should your punishment be?" He's dumbfounded, but before he can suggest that the professor let's them off with a warning she shakes her head and informs them that there will have to be some kind of punishment.
"Suicides," the idiot with Derek suggests and he rolls his eyes. Maybe if they'd been caught by coach that would fly.
"We help fix the set," Derek suggests. It was only fair, they (well, not he, his friend) were the ones who trashed it; it would make sense that they fix it (it wasn't until later that he'd learn that this was an old set and they hadn't even started the set for this year's play).
The professor smiles, thoughtfully. She likes the idea. "Agreed," she says and his shoulders slump in relief; he wasn't sure how he was going to explain any other kind of punishment to their coach. Somehow he didn't think 'sorry, coach, I needed to blow off some steam after fighting the urge to kiss my step-sister' would go over very well. His relief was short lived as she continued, "I think you'll be involved with the theater group for the rest of the year, I'm sure we can find a spot for you somewhere on crew or cast."
That's how he and Trigger (nicknamed for his eagerness to take the goal shot, even if it's not remotely open) end up at rehearsals for Wicked.
It went a lot like this:
See, they lived in a big house, with a big family including three other (very nosy) children. Someone was always home, running through the rooms, shouting at or around him and Casey. Sure, they always got caught up in their fights and sometimes, momentarily, he would forget other people were in the room.
That was the problem.
But it never lasted long because there was always something to remind him. Someone to say something, someone to grab his attention or hers and the spell would be broken. It didn't sink in, not at first, what it really meant to be living alone with Casey. He was one step closer to blowing his cover, breaking the facade; one step closer to pulling the feisty brunette into his arms and planting a firm kiss on her lips.
He could picture it (only because he has imagined it, oh a thousand times or so); it would shut her up, for once. Then reality would settle in, she'd shove him away, the look of disgust would forever be etched into his brain, and living together would forever be awkward.
So, he tears himself away, gets drunk, only to be forced to spend more time with Casey.
As predicted, Casey is pretty pissed when she finds out what he (technically, Trigger) did. She yells at him for being irresponsible and inconsiderate, and a bunch of other things that he only half (completely, but he's got a rep, okay) pays attention to. "You had better not ruin this for me," She snaps before whirling into the kitchen and cooking them dinner.
She feeds him, so she can't be too mad and he's relieved. He hates figuring out his own dinner. It's not that he can't, but she's much better at it.
They go to rehearsals together, and then they stop off to eat dinner somewhere after. Sometimes it's on campus, and sometimes off. Sometimes other of the crew or cast join, most times they don't. The honey in the shampoo sparked something, though. Before, they were too busy to see much of each other. Now, Casey makes the time to annoy him at least once (usually more) a day, and he finds ways to prank her throughout the week.
They've reached the new normal and it's horrible and great all at once.
It could be like this:
The actors also help with the sets, so then it's him and Casey sharing a jar of paint and a project. Maybe it's a lingering look, maybe it's an accidental touch, but something between them snaps and they skip going out for dinner that night and she doesn't push him away when his lips finally meets hers.
Instead, she's pulled for costume design and Derek shares a can of paint with Trigger (and Derek really doesn't see himself kissing his teammate at the end of the day).
There's a girl on tech crew, Maya. She's girly, has long, curly hair and a sunny disposition and it is so reminiscent of Kendra that his first instinct is distance. But, she's kind of funny and not quite the same as Kendra, so he focuses on her. Sometimes, when they're not needed, they sit together in the front row and watch as the theater director waves her hands.
He doesn't get why, but whenever Maya isn't looking Casey is shooting daggers at the other girl.
A month of casual flirting, and eventually Maya pulls the trigger. "So, you gonna ask me on a date or what, Hockey?" She never calls him by his name.
"Or what," he says and she laughs.
"Dinner, after rehearsal?"
"Can't." He and Casey have a tradition now, after all.
Maya smirks at him, "Early bedtime?" and so it goes, until he's agreed to dinner. He pretends not to notice the look of disappointment when he tells Casey he can't meet her after rehearsal because he has a date.
They go to a wannabe Italian restaurant, but the spaghetti is pretty good and about halfway through the date, Maya realizes he's just going through the motions. She's smarter than he gave her credit for.
It comes out and he tells her about Casey and some kind of understanding lights her eyes, but she's sympathetic. He still pays for her food even though she mind tricked him into talking about feelings.
The next day they're sharing a bag of skittles while the actors run lines.
"Casey," Dr. T (because she has a doctorate, but she's not into formalities, so she insists on Dr. T-and Derek honestly digs this teacher, despite the fact that she's punishing him). "Let's go through the lion rescue and we'll go through I'm Not That Girl." So Casey gets on stage and Maya elbows him with a giggle when his eyes automatically follow her.
He swears her eyes land on him on 'he could be that boy' and he never really paid attention to the words before. It's so accurate to them. He'll never be the perfect boyfriend she dreams up and has a checklist for.
He's never heard Casey sound so emotional and he swears there's a tear in her eye when she finishes the song. There's a pause and then there is applause. "That is the kind of emotion I'm looking for," Dr. T says proudly. Casey smiles, but it's watery and false and Derek wonders if, maybe, she was dating someone who ended it because she took that song to heart.
He also wonders why he didn't know about this guy.
It could go like this:
Maya recognizes that she was really singing about Derek. All they really needed was for an outside observer to point out the obvious so that one, or both of them could act on it. She tells Derek, he makes his move, and they go on to live happily ever after (although, he'd prefer that he's not a scarecrow at the end of their story).
Maya says nothing, Derek recognizes it for what it is, a wish for things to be different than they are and if there's anything he learned from that song is wishing only wounds the heart.
It could go a dozen different ways.
They're in the middle of one of their infamous fights, her eyes are sparkling, there's nothing to interrupt them, and he just has to know, so he kisses her. In his favorite fantasies, she's the one who kisses him first.
The semester nears the end and the play goes up. The night of her final performance, Casey is beaming and high on adrenaline. He finds her, afterward, to congratulate her in his own way. She throws her arms around him, and in that fantasy, it's a mutual decision.
There's comfort, arguing, casual conversation. He imagines it every single way it can go down; every time they interact, he imagines how it might play out.
But he knows how it would end, every single time. So it goes.
Here's how it happens:
The play goes wonderfully and Derek doesn't kiss her on closing night. They finish the school year and they go back home to new routines and an empty summer. They argue and they talk and Derek doesn't kiss her.
She goes on dates and so does he. Nothing lasts and the summer ends and they're back at school, alone again.
He still doesn't kiss her.
He tries forgetting her, but that gets tiring her. He continues helping out in plays and she goes to his games. She gets wonderful grades, he's passing. They spend the next summer in their shared apartment; he has work and she has her externship.
Derek still doesn't kiss her.
The end of their college careers is approaching. Casey has a job offer a few hours away and Derek, well he's sent out several applications (most of them out where Casey is headed, though he doesn't tell her this) but he hasn't heard anything back, yet (except for the few near home that has offered him a job, but he doesn't tell Casey about those).
Casey starts packing a month before graduation and she's always been emotional, so she cries. He tries to comfort her, but he's never been good at that, so they fight. Except, it kind of works because she's not crying anymore.
Later, when they're not fighting and she's done crying, she tells him; "I just can't believe that we won't be living together anymore."
He rubs the back of his neck, because he just got the acceptance yesterday. "Actually, I was kind of hoping we could go ahead and get another apartment together because I'm not so sure my starting salary will allow me an apartment without a roommate."
She's confused, so he explains that he got a job in the same city she's working.
Casey bursts into tears again.
They graduate, they move into their new apartment, they start new jobs.
Derek still doesn't kiss her.
They aren't fighting, they aren't on an emotional high. Casey comes home from a rough day at work, Derek-who knew she was going to be coming home in a bad mood-had dinner ordered and ready when she got there. She's grateful, and simply says, "I love you."
He's frozen, because she can't possibly mean it the way he thinks and she's blushing a furious shade of red. "You don't have to say anything. Or even acknowledge it. I just thought you should know."
And this time, Derek kisses her.