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Guess Who's Going Soft?

Chapter One

He was lying on his bed listening to music with his headphones when she suddenly appeared standing next to him. He didn't say anything at first, just stared at her, waiting for her to explain why she was in his room at that hour.

She stood, looking at him, with a small smile on her face.

"What?" he finally asked, sliding off his headphones.

She fidgeted a moment, seeming unsure of herself. "I know what you did."

He rolled his eyes. "What did I do this time?"

She laughed. "You called my dad and told him how upset I was about him rushing off so soon after dinner."

He sat up a little. "Oh yeah, well, he was supposed to be sworn to secrecy."

She sat down on his bed. He looked at her with his eyebrow raised, but said nothing.

"I just wanted to say 'thank you'". She fiddled with her hair a moment, staring at him. Her eyes moved down a bit. "You still have a little "ketchup" on your neck, Derek", she said, reaching over with her fingers to rub it off. The small smile widened a bit.

He chuckled. "Yeah, well, Kendra is very expressive with her gratitude."

They sat looking at each other.

He shifted uncomfortably. "Was there anything else, Casey?" He smirked at her.

"Uh, no. I guess I just wanted to tell you how sweet it was." She stood. "Well, goodnight." She turned to walk out of his room.

"Goodnight, Casey." He slipped his headphones back on and went back to his music, thinking about the events of the day.

It was one of the few family dinners he actually enjoyed. All the excitement and preparations going on. He knew Casey wanted everything to be just right for her father's visit. Of course, things had not gone the way she wanted. He wondered why she continued to try so hard. It seemed that every time she put tons of planning into something, it never worked out. He would have given up long ago. Hell, he had given up long ago trying to be perfect. He rolled with the punches, barely getting by on his homework, family duties…don't even mention housework.

That's why he was so reluctant to leave the house that night for his date with Kendra. He was just so curious about Casey and Lizzie's dad. What he would be like. Derek wasn't kidding when he said that he just had to see where the freak (Casey) came from. He still hadn't got any answers, because Casey's dad had actually turned out to be quite cool. Giving Derek his secretary's email address in order to send flowers to Kendra, offering tickets to the Rangers game, he was so….normal.

So not like Casey.

He laughed to himself. Oh well, another adventurous night in the MacDonald-Venturi household. Whatever was said about them, they were never boring. And watching Casey fall face first to the floor with her rice flying…..priceless. He hadn't had that good a laugh in ages.

He slipped off his headphones, and turned out the light. Tomorrow would bring even more interesting things, he was sure of that. Because ever since the MacDonald's moved in, things haven't been the same.

She sat at her computer, finishing up the last of her assignment for English. She loved English, loved all her classes, really. Loved learning and everything that went with it. She just wished that she could fit in better with the other students. After almost a year of attending her new school, Casey still felt like an outsider. Sure, they didn't call her "klutzilla" anymore, and even the hated term "grade grubber" was history. Thanks to Derek for helping her shed both those nicknames, which was ironic considering he had helped create the first one.

She had Emily, of course. But she wished for more female friends, preferably ones who didn't always fawn over Derek like he was the greatest thing since sliced bread. They would be hard to find, considering that all the girls seemed to like him. But there had to be someone that didn't buy into his routine. She just hadn't met any of them yet.

She logged off her computer and changed into her pj's. Climbing into bed, she replayed the evening's events. She was so surprised when the doorbell rang and she had looked through the window to see her father standing there. It made the whole disastrous evening worth it. She couldn't wait until next week when he came back to take her and Lizzie to dinner.

She fell asleep with a smile on her face thinking of it.

TBC