sooooooooo this is my first fanfic. ever. I posted this on tumblr already, but thought I would make an account here and post it because, well, I'm interested in doing more. So, tell me what you think, but go easy on me please :)

p.s. this is based loosely off of Hinder's "Lips of an Angel" (hence the title), but you don't need to know the song to get the story.

I own nothing.

Derek Venturi's life was great. He was passing all his classes (including feminist theory, which he signed up for after losing a bet with Sam). The birthday present Marti wanted was relatively inexpensive (which meant he could be the Best Big Brother Ever and still be able to pay his car insurance that month). And, to top it all off, he had a hot, sweet, easy-going girlfriend (who was nothing like Casey at all). So why is it that not 40 minutes after taking his relationship with said girlfriend to the, ahem, "next level", he was on the phone with the very girl who starred in all of his dirty dreams for the better part of high school?

"Der-ek! Are you even listening to me?" that girl's voice screeched, pulling him out of his thoughts.

"Case, what the hell would make you think I was listening to you?" He responded reflexively. He didn't know whether to be impressed or concerned that he slid back into his old role so easily. It had been two months since they had last spoken, but it felt like longer.

Their first semester at Queens, they had been almost like… friends. No, not friends, they could never be friends. But it was obvious to the both of them that, in their own, weird way, they enjoyed the other's presence. Of course, Derek knew how he felt, but he wasn't so sure about Casey. The time they spent together was voluntary, seeing as no one was forcing them together anymore. They fought, oh boy did they fight, but the fights seemed to become even more… charged.

Then Christmas break came around. Being surrounded by the family they shared was like a rude wake-up call. Derek felt like an idiot for thinking anything could ever happen, for going through all that trouble to make sure he and Casey ended up going to the same University. It didn't matter how far away they went, it wouldn't change the fact that the "step" in step-sibling was a lot easier to overlook that the "sibling". So when they got back to school, it was almost as if they had made a silent agreement to stay out of each-other's lives. For good this time. Well, until now.

"You're right. I shouldn't have expected you to behave like a civilized human being. I just thought, considering the subject matter, you might be remotely engaged." She quipped back, once again bringing him back.

"Considering what subject matter? You forget, I wasn't listening."

"My horrible taste in guys. "

Oh boy.

"…Is there anything more to say on the subject than that?" He knew he was fighting a losing battle, but he really did not want to have this conversation.

"I thought I had learned my lesson." She continued, as if she hadn't heard him.

"Well there's your problem! Even a keener like you should know you can't study your way through relationships."

"Ugh I don't know why I even called you. Of course you're no help. There must be someone else I can call-"

Derek dragged a hand across his face. He should let her go. Go back to bed with Ellie. Anything but further this conversation.

"Case, wait."

Obviously, his mouth and his brain weren't on the same page.

"What Derek?"

"Tell me what happened."

"Why? It's not like you care." She sniffled. Oh shit, was she crying?

"Casey. Whatever it is, it's the reason that instead of being in bed with my very hot girlfriend, I'm in the living room of her apartment, in my underwear, at two in the morning, talking to my obviously insane stepsister. So, I'm sure as hell going to find out what that reason is." He all but growled.

"Oh, I didn't realize… you, uh… I didn't mean to interrupt… girlfriend?" she stammered. She actually said a lot more than that, but whatever she muttered, Derek couldn't understand. Flustered was better than crying, but he was going for angry.

"Earth to Space-Case!" he taunted, reverting back to a more reliable tactic. "You gonna tell me or what?"

"Ricky broke up with me." She responded finally, in a painfully small voice. He was losing his touch.

Wait, who the hell is Ricky?

"I thought I had finally found a nice guy, someone who cared about and respected me. But it turns out he was no better than any of the other losers I end up with." She lamented.

"You lost me." Derek informed her.

"Sex, Derek. He wanted me to have sex and I wasn't ready. So he dumped me."

Three thoughts ran through Derek's mind. First: ohmygod, is Casey's a virgin? Second: That dick tried to pressure her into doing something she wasn't ready for! Third: She's coming to me with this!?

"- I mean even a scumbag like Truman was willing to wait, like, four months until I was ready to sleep with him! And Max and I didn't do it until shortly before we broke up."

If Derek was drinking something, he would have spit it out. This was too much information in too small an amount of time. Sure, he had always been involved in her love life, intentionally or not, but this was more than he had ever known before. And there was only one intelligent thought he could muster at the moment.

"You lost it to MAX?!"

Okay, maybe intelligent is a bit of a stretch.

"Der-ek!You're missing the point!"

Right. The point. The one where Casey's douchebag boyfriend broke up with her because she wouldn't sleep with him.

"Well what do you want me to do about it? Isn't this the part of the chick flick where you and your friends cry, pig-out on ice-cream and talk about how much he sucks?"

What Derek wanted to do was kill the guy, but he figured that wouldn't make either of them feel better. For very long, anyways.

"I can't!" she cried.

"Why not!"

"None of your business!"

"You're making it my business!"

"I can't okay! I kind of… blew my friends off while I was dating Ricky. It wouldn't be right for me to go to them now."

"So now what?" He asked her. "You want me to stand in? Help you through your break-up? Not going to happen."

"I'm not asking you to. I just… never mind. I should let you go. It's late, I've bothered you enough."

Derek was conflicted. On the one hand, he should take the out she was giving him. If he left, like he knew he was going to if he didn't go back to bed now, he could be sure he and Ellie wouldn't last a whole lot longer. Sure, Ellie was pretty easy-going, but her waking up alone after their first night together wouldn't look too good. Not to mention, a late-night rendezvous with a girl he's been in love with for four years doesn't strike him as being entirely faithful, regardless of whether or not anything actually happened.

On the other hand, his feelings for Casey had just hit him like a freight train. He was worried about her, and he missed her. And she called him! So obviously this… whatever it is wasn't one-sided. If he let her go, he was sure they would just go on as if this conversation never happened. In fact, they'd probably end up even more distant. It would end anything they had resembling a relationship.

He looked from the bedroom, where Ellie was still asleep, to the phone, where Casey was still on the line. Damn he thought. And he made his choice.