Pretty Girl - Sugarcult

Derek pounded his fist into the wall, wishing he could punch it without breaking something. He settled for grabbing fistfuls of hair and pulling as he screwed his eyes shut. She was out with him again. Why did she keep going back to Charlie? All he did was cheat on her with other girls, but she kept going back. Was she some kind of glutton for punishment?

Someone knocked on his door and he called for whomever it was to go away.

"Please, Derek. I really need someone to talk to," Casey called from the other side, sniffling.

He jumped up and raced to open the door for her. Even with her hair tangled, her clothes rumpled, and tears pouring down her face, she was beautiful.

"I offered him everything," she choked out, collapsing into his arms and clinging onto him as if her life depended on it. "Everything." Then a sob escaped her lips and was quickly followed by another.

Derek grasped her tightly to him, gently pulling her inside of his room and silently promising her that he wouldn't let her go until she pulled away or asked him to. She never did.

I Shall Believe - Sheryl Crow

How did this happen? Casey didn't know. She loved Derek with all of her heart. So why was she cheating on him? Was she really so lonely with him being gone during hockey season so much? Was it the emotional distance that had been building between them lately? She didn't know, but surely she didn't deserve his kindness anymore.

Still, when she came home that night, for once not coming from a secret tryst with Andy Carlson, Derek was nothing but loving. A romantic candlelit dinner for two was set on the table. He gave her a bouquet of white lilies, her favorite flowers. He gazed adoringly at her all evening, never betraying the fact that he knew about her secret affair, which she was certain that he did.

"I won't give up on you."

"What?" The startled declaration startled her. The passion and confidence that blazed in his eyes rendered her speechless.

"I know about…him," he stumbled over the last word, clenching his jaw tightly as his gaze dropped to the tablecloth. Casey winced and closed her eyes.

"I'm sorry." Her voice was as soft as a whisper, but it felt like a shout to her ears in the eerie silence and she wanted to crawl under the table and hide. She had never felt so ashamed.

He nodded and his eyes met hers. "I'm not giving up on you, Case. I'm not saying everything is okay or that all is forgiven and forgotten, but if you let him go, I know that it can be." He swallowed thickly as his eyes flickered down to her wedding ring and he grabbed her hands in his. "That's how much I love you."

Killing Loneliness - HIM

"Derek," she sighed. Noel flinched but kissed Casey harder, pretending once again that he hadn't heard her say her stepbrother's name while they were making out. It didn't happen often, but it happened enough times that he knew for certain that he hadn't misheard and he wasn't imagining things. In fact, he was almost positive that if he asked her, Casey would admit that she had said it.

But he didn't. For one thing, Noel didn't want to admit the level of pathetic desperation he had let himself sink to. It was embarrassing. Then he worried that if he said anything to her, she would be so ashamed of herself that she would break up with him--and, as sad it was, he didn't want that.

Then there was the fact that bringing up Derek seemed unnecessarily cruel. It was only four months ago that her family lost him in the car crash and she took it really hard. She still cried almost every day. It no longer startled him to feel cold tears suddenly drip onto his cheeks when they were kissing. He just pulled away and tucked her under his chin, letting her cry.

Sure, he thought about confronting her, but to what end? Nothing good could come of it and it just seemed cruel to bring him up when Casey was trying so hard to use Noel to forget about him.

Scared - Three Days Grace

Casey couldn't sleep at night anymore. She tossed and turned for an hour at a time in those brief times that she dozed, waking up gasping as tears roll down her cheeks.

One night the nightmares felt so real that she launched herself out of bed so fast that she stumbled and fell into a heap onto the floor. Casey curled into a ball and sobbed, hugging her knees to her chest as she wished that she had never heard the truth about what happened to Emily. How could she have dated someone who would later brutally murder her best friend?

"Witness protection" didn't make her feel any safer. Byron had escaped. He was still out there somewhere, probably hunting her down.

She screamed when someone touched her shoulder and a hand quickly came over her mouth. Casey tried to fight him off as he grabbed her upper arm, but then she heard gentle shushing and looked up. Derek was staring at her with concern.

"Casey?" was the only word to leave his mouth, but his eyes were a different story, asking 'Are you okay?' Without a moment of hesitation, she launched herself into his arms and let him comfort her.

Title and Registration - Death Cab for Cutie

Derek muttered a string of curses as he scrabbled through his glove compartment for his proof of insurance. Maggie was going to kill him when she heard that he got another speeding ticket. The thought made him smile wryly. If some guy had told him in high school that, five years later, his best friend would be a girl, he would have laughed in his face. Well, any girl other than Casey.

No legal documents could be found, but a photo caught his eye and his stomach clenched. They were so happy that day at the carnival. It was his and Casey's three-year anniversary. Of course they were happy. This was just one of the strips from the photo booth where they had been photographed kissing, laughing, and making silly faces.

A handful of pictures had caught them not looking at the camera or doing anything at all. They were just looking at each other, completely oblivious of the world around them. Though they didn't say a word, it was obvious that they both thinking the exact same thing: I love you.

Derek's throat tightened as he stared down at the tiny cell of one of those rare photos. Then he quickly shoved it back into the glove compartment, burying it underneath a bunch of papers and CD jackets as he tried to bury the memories along with it. The picture he kept in his wallet was better anyway.

Disclaimer: No, I don't own "Life With Derek". Have you not seen what the show would be like if I did? Read all of the above and you'll get a better picture. ;) More drama, more Dasey.

A/N: My version of the iPod shuffle challenge. What? You don't think I finished each of those in their song length? How dare you see the obvious! Hahaha. I tried doing it the normal way, but they felt unfinished and unrefined, and I liked some of the ideas (these) too much to abandon them in less than four minutes. Still, most were done in less than ten if you don't count minor editing. I also did a whole bunch of songs yesterday and then put together the best ones to post. Here they are. :) Whoever created the challenge, thanks for the inspiration.