The Coffee Shop
Disclaimer: I don't own LwD
AN: Enjoy

The Coffee Shop:
Chapter 1

Casey was still new to the coffee shop, brilliantly titled The Coffee Shop.

"It's supposed to be meta," her boss explained, "imagine all the people who will fall in love in here. When they say 'I fell in love in a coffee shop' ... they'll actually mean here!" he explained way too enthusiastic about the idea.

Although Casey was a romantic at heart, even she thought it was weird. Who actually falls in love in a coffee shop? That was straight out of a movie, and as the hard truth of reality reminded her on a daily basis, the real world did not compare to the movie. Not even a little bit.

Regardless of the ridiculous name, she was starting to fall in love with the small coffee shop. Getting free coffee really helped her bank account, because her caffeine intake was probably way too high to begin with, and it started to take a toll on her finances.

Aside from saving money, it had the added bonus of being quiet too. Unless of course it was the morning rush, The Coffee Shop was pretty quiet, and Casey liked quiet. When it got slow, the quiet let her concentrate on her studies, which were pretty overwhelming. She took the biggest course-load the school allowed her to and she worked in-between class breaks, along with being part of the dance team. She had little to no time for herself.

To be honest she didn't need to work at all actually. Her tuition was completely covered by her father. And being a top student meant she was on the receiving end of a few small scholarships every once in a while. But living on campus became expensive. And she didn't want to trouble her mom any more than she already did. So, she worked on campus to make ends meet.

.*.*.*.*.*.

She had only been working at The Coffee Shop for two weeks when it happened.

It was quiet, right after the morning rush. There were only two or three people sitting at tables reading, or taking advantage of the free Wi-Fi. That's when she saw someone park their car (which seemed to have been in an accident recently due to the massive dent on the left side fender) directly outside the Coffee Shop…which just so happened to be in a 'no parking zone', but the driver didn't seem to care.

She recognized him the second he stepped out of his car. It was hard not to. He was one of the most popular guys on the entire campus.

Everyone knew Derek Venturi.

Yes, even Casey.

She had gone to some of the home games with Emily, who squealed about Derek 75% of the time. But Casey had never actually met the guy. She had to admit that even she had a little crush on him. He was always strolling and smirking around campus in his leather jacket, with a cool and collected aura about him. Even through the hustle and bustle of campus, he was never running to class, he was never in a rush. He always took his time. And the way he walked around, with that swag in his step, it just looked like a close-up shot of that boy, at the beginning of any teen comedy.

It was pathetic, but Casey couldn't help it.

He made his way inside the shop, wearing a pair of dark Ray Ban sunglasses covering his eyes; which Casey was thankful for, she did not want to be on the receiving end of the looks Derek was famous for. However, when he strolled in, he let the door slam behind him, which c'mon, RUDE! There were people studying; way to break the nice, calm vibe. That was when she knew it wasn't going to be a pleasant exchange.

"Large coffee. Black," he practically growled at Casey from the other side of the counter.

"Coming right up," she replied, forcing a smile because that's the way she treated customers. Even the grumpy ones, like Derek.

Casey turned toward the counter behind her. She pulled out a large paper cup from the stack before filling it with coffee. She easily put the lid on top before slipping the cardboard sleeve around the cup so he didn't burn his hands. She turned back towards Derek and placing his coffee onto the counter.

He had left a few crumpled-up bills on the counter for her by the time she turned around. Casey counted it easily before looking up at him awkwardly. "Uh, sorry this isn't enough," she muttered while uncomfortably staring at the money he had left on the counter for her.

Derek looked down at the money in her hands with pursed lips. "That's what Kendra always charges me," he scoffed, sounding offended by Casey.

"Do you usually get a small?" she replied, knowing that exact amount for a small cup of coffee.

"No, I always get a large," he replied, his features tight and tense.

"Well, I am not Kendra..."Casey breathed out, "would you like a small?" she asked Derek.

"Ugh," Derek groaned before pulling a few more wads of cash out of his pocket and slamming them onto the counter. He didn't bother to unfold them for Casey. "Clearly you don't know who I am," he grumbled, completely annoyed with Casey.

But, the thing is Casey knew who he was. Of course she knew, but she looked back at him blankly. "Sorry, am I supposed to?" she asked, secretly thanking her acting teacher in high school. Because acting cool and collected in front of a guy that attractive was hard. Having to be a bitch to him, to bring down his ego, wasn't easy either.

She saw the muscles in his jaw literally tighten as he gritted his teeth, looking like a combination of mad and confused. "Ohhh, you're one of those girls aren't you?" he asked, "I can totality tell. Stickler for protocol. You probably spend every free second in the library where organizing your notes is the most fun you have all week, isn't it." He teased, not so playfully, as he watched her count the additional bills he had given her.

She busied herself with counting the money and getting him the correct change. He, on the other hand, gulped down at least half of his black coffee within seconds, leaving Casey to believe that he was nursing a hangover.

"Yeah, that's exactly who I am," she finally replied dryly. She wanted to say more, god did she want to, but she also wanted to keep her job. And she couldn't disrespect a customer so soon. Even if he was asking for it.

He stared at her for a second, about to mouth off some more but his phone interrupted him. She watched him stare at the caller ID with a wince across his face. Clearly it wasn't a call he wanted to take, but still he took it anyway.

"Dad, I told you it wasn't me!" He claimed, speaking into his phone.

That was one hell of a greeting, Casey thought.

"I swear I wasn't drinking last night!"

A lie, Casey could tell as Derek pressed his fingers into his temple. A splitting headache from a reckless night of drinking would do that to you, she would know.

"Look, it was an accident okay? Can't you work something out?" he asked while running a hand over his face, looking for a way to ease the tension, "... is that Marti?" Derek asked, a hint of interest spiking in his voice.

Casey pushed his change onto the counter in front of him, hoping he would just leave.

She watched him as he pocketed all the money, not leaving her any sort of tip. He picked up his cup and made its way to a table near the front of the shop. It was still within earshot and Casey could hear the rest of the conversation. Even though she told herself not to, she couldn't help it. He was disturbing the entire vibe of the coffee shop!

"Hey Smarti," he started again, with a completely different tone.

He was smiling, even! He looked good with a smile.

"What's wrong?" he asked while frowning, "Woah, woah, stop crying Smarts, start over…. Why were you at mom's? Was Ed with you? ...No Smarti, he probably just had a work thing," he promised her, "Hey… how about you beg dad to come up and see one of my games soon? You know I've been missing my good luck charm! …I know Smarts, I'm sorry but I'm too busy to come visit you. Look, dad's really mad at me right now, I crashed The Prince last night, and I'm already late for class, so just tell dad I'll call him later okay? And make sure to give him hell for me, okay?" he asked, another genuine smile spreading across his lips. "Love you too, kiddo." He added before hanging up.

"Der bear!" Kendra squealed, the second she entering the shop, a whole ten minutes late for her shift. If she would have been there on time maybe Casey wouldn't have had to deal with Derek. She made a bee line for Derek, her smile wide and bright, like he had just made her day just by being there. She bent down in front of him, wrapping him up in her arms.

"Hey," he replied, in a sleepy exhausted voice. That fight with his dad must have taken all the aggression out of him. He wrapped one arm around her shoulder, kissing her cheek innocently. "Teach the new girl how to ring me up properly okay?" he suggested before getting up with a sigh and walking out of the shop.

He didn't give Casey a sparing glance.

Kendra shot at Casey confused look. "What happened?" she asked, walking passed the counter and into the back room to put her stuff.

"He ordered a large. I rang him up for a large. How dare I?" Casey explained sarcastically, loud enough for Kendra to hear her from the back.

"Casey!" Kendra yelled, "Derek's..." Kendra stopped trailing off to take a deep breath, "he's kind of a big deal." She added before appearing in front of Casey once more. She was now wearing her black apron with The Coffee Shop's logo on the center, and her name tag pinned above her heart.

"So, you like him?" Casey asked bluntly. Because after two weeks she was starting to get a feel for who Kendra was. And she was usually not that friendly with customers. Derek must be special.

Kendra looked at Casey with an amused smile. "Hun, everyone likes Derek."

"Guess I didn't get the memo." Casey shrugged, heading towards the backroom to get her things.

"You're still going to ring him up the same way, aren't you?" Kendra called out to her, sounding disappointed.

"Yeah, I am," she nodded to herself, "did you date?" Casey asked after she had finished in the back. She had class in ten minutes and she really had to run. But she had to know.

"Me and Derek?" Kendra asked. As if Casey could possibly be speaking about anyone else.

"Yeah."

"We went to the same high school, we were on again off again for a few months during my junior year. Nothing too crazy. Why?" Kendra asked, narrowing her eyes at Casey like a target.

"Cause you still seem to have feeling for him." Casey shrugged before slipping into her jacket and pulling her bag over her shoulder.

Kendra stared back at her for a second. "Like I said, everyone likes Derek. But no, I'm over that. We're just friends now. I cut him some slack-"

Casey decided to cut her off. "I'm sure everyone cuts him slack." She groaned because that was the problem. That's why he had such an attitude, because everyone let him get away with it. But not Casey. She refused.

"Casey, you don't even know him." Kendra fought, crossing her arms over her chest defensively.

"And I don't intend on getting to know him either." She added, pouring herself a cup of coffee to go in her bright pink thermos. She was definitely going to need it since she still had a very long day ahead of her.

"But if you did, you'd understand why I cut him slack. He might be golden boy here, but Derek has gone through a lot. He's earned it!" Kendra continued to defend the boy.

"Ohh boo-hoo." Casey mocked, turning to face Kendra. "What happened? He didn't get to be captain till senior year."

"More like his parents got into a very messy divorce and he practically raised his brother and sister while his dad worked and..." Kendra trailed off, closing her mouth, "you know what, it doesn't matter. You don't care, that's fine. I'll just tell him to avoid your shifts." Kendra shrugged.

"Sounds perfect," Casey finished with a smug smile before disappearing from the shop into the breezy afternoon. She had class to get to.

AN:
There is always a Coffee Shop AU in like every fandom...Always! And I didn't really see one in the Life With Derek Fandom, so I wanted to try it... I have no idea how this is going to go over. But bear with me, yeah?

I know I made Derek into such a diva, but you have to remember, he's hung over, pissed off that he crashed The Prince, his dad's yelling at him, and all he wants is coffee and Kendra's not there, so he has to deal with Casey and it's all just not good! I promise he will not be that Diva-esque moving on. Just had to have a bad first impression ;) Like when Dasey first met…in a way.