Here's the thing: I can't seem to sit and write chapters. It's a time commitment that I really don't have right now, and I did start writing a new chapter story, but the inspiration just isn't coming. Though I am enjoying writing these Paul stories, and it seems like you guys like them, too. So I think I'm just going to keep writing Life with Paul (and any oneshots that pop into my head, of course!) and forget the other chapter fic for awhile, until I have the time I need to devote to it. That way, I can update this more often. Sound good?

Thanks for sticking with me!

Oh, and I guess I should mention that this contains a spoiler from Derek's School of Dating. :)

--Brandi

Disclaimer: I think I'm going to aim higher this time and try to get my hands on Shaftesbury. They're the people that have the most say in LwD World, don't they? I'll write a nice letter to their offices requesting the rights to Life with Derek, and then they can transfer them to me legally. But for now, nothing is mine.

Life with Paul: The New Girlfriend

Paul sat cross-legged on his couch, scribbling the latest news into his Case Files.

So Derek is dating this girl named Sally. Apparently Casey got them together. Not good. Not good at all.

He tapped the pen against his bottom lip as he thought.

Though now that they've been dating, she does seem to regret it. She certainly sounds jealous. By why help him get the girl when she knew it would make her crazy?

He didn't know Sally. She went to a different school. But from what Casey had told him, she was actually a pretty sweet girl. Which is why it was very telling that Casey seemed to hate her, now that she was Derek's girlfriend.

Shutting the files with a bang, he got up and paced his office. Derek was realizing how much he cared. How could he get Casey to do the same?

On his way to school, Alicia called him. He put the phone on speaker and rested it on his lap.

"What's up, babe?"

"Alex isn't feeling too well. His sugar's high, but he doesn't have a fever. I told him to go to school, and if he's still feeling bad, to call you to pick him up."

Paul sighed. He always ended up being the one to call out of work; Alicia had meetings all day that she could rarely miss, so he was stuck watching Alex when he was sick. "Okay, that's fine. Have a good day."

"You too, hon. See you later."

"Bye." Paul hung up and shook his head. This was a bad day for Alex to get sick. It was a Casey day, and he was dying to know how Sally's latest dinner with the family had gone.

PCPCPCPCPCPCPCPCPCPC

Sure enough, Alex called two hours later, whining that his head hurt and that he wanted to come home. Paul hated to do this to him, but he figured he had no choice – he left school to pick up his son, but came right back in time for Casey's appointment.

Alex sat listlessly in a chair, as Paul caught up on some paperwork behind his desk.

"I'm sorry I couldn't take you home, buddy, but you know I have an important meeting today."

"Whatever." Alex shifted so that his head was resting on the back of the chair, and pulled out his mp3 player.

"That's not going to help your headache," Paul offered, knowing Alex wouldn't care.

"I don't care."

"How's your sugar?"

"Back to normal. But I still feel sick."

"Sorry, buddy. We'll go home as soon as I'm done meeting with Casey, okay?"

"Okay," Alex sighed, and put on his headphones, tuning out the world.

Paul continued working until he heard Casey knock, and then come in.

"Paul, it was terrible. Derek spent the whole night playing footsie…" she trailed off as she saw Alex.

He perked up, turning off his music and standing to shake her hand and introduce himself.

Paul hid a smile. His kid had manners, he'd give him that. Especially when a pretty girl was around.

"Alex, why don't you go to the cafeteria and get something to eat while I talk to Casey?"

Alex looked like he wanted to argue, but decided against it. "Want anything?" he offered to Casey as he headed towards the door.

"Aw, how sweet. But no thanks, I'm not hungry."

"What, not going to offer your old man anything?" Paul raised his eyebrows.

"Nope!" Alex smirked as he opened the door and headed into the hall.

"Bolus!" Paul called after him.

"Yeah, yeah," Alex replied, shutting the door.

"Bolus?" Casey looked at Paul for an explanation.

"Alex is diabetic. It just means to remember to take his insulin."

"Oh, wow, I had no idea, Paul. That's awful."

Casey was looking awfully sympathetic. But he didn't want her pity. In his eyes, she was the one who was worse off. At least Alex wasn't afraid to say what he felt.

"It's okay, Casey. He deals with it very well. I'm proud of him."

She brightened. "That's great."

"Now, on to your newest Derek problem. He was playing footsie with whom?"

Casey rolled her eyes. "My Derek problem? Jeez, Paul, you make him sound like a disease. Which he can be."

Oops. "Derek's no disease. He's a pill sometimes, but that's about it." There was a twinkle in Paul's eye as he said it.

Casey looked stunned at the joke. "That's not fair. You don't even know him."

I beg to differ. Besides, you walked right into my 'only I can insult Derek' trap. Thank you for proving my point.

Casey continued, "Anyway, he was rubbing his foot all over Sally's, and I was right next to her so I could feel it too. It was horrible."

Flaunting his relationship right in front of you, huh? Derek sure does know how to make a girl jealous.

"Sally didn't cook again, did she?"

"No, Mom and George did. Sally kept complimenting them on how good it was. I wanted to smash George's casserole in her perfect little face." She looked murderous; Paul backed up a bit.

"Casey?" he wasn't quite sure how to react to this confession.

She relaxed momentarily. "Well, I thought about it." She paused. "The thing is, she's nice."

"But?" I know there's a 'but' in there somewhere.

"But…she's nicer when she's not with him." Ah, there it is.

"So you don't like the idea of Derek and Sally together?"

"I don't want Derek with anyone. He's a bad influence on all the girls he dates."

Paul chose to ignore that obvious stretch of the truth. "Did Derek and Sally do anything else at dinner that annoyed you?"

"Sally offered to help me do the dishes, but Derek took her upstairs, so I had to do them all by myself."

"Casey…" Paul looked at her sternly. "You know you would have declined her offer anyway."

"It's the principle of the thing, Paul!"

Yeah, yeah. You and your principles.

Something occurred to him. "You said they went upstairs?"

Casey rolled her eyes. "George made him keep the door open."

Just then Alex reentered the office, carrying a bag of chips and a bottle of water.

"Hello, again," he greeted Casey, settling down in a chair against the wall.

She smiled. "Hey, Alex. How do you like our cafeteria?"

"It's fine. Better food than we have at my school." He made a face of disgust at Paul. "I met this guy on the way back, Derek something. He was late for class and I was talking to him about his leather jacket. Can I get one, Dad?"

"Absolutely not," Paul replied, as Casey giggled.

Paul had been watching Casey as his son spoke and noticed that the corners of her mouth had turned up when he had said Derek's name. It wasn't a full smile, but it was something.

Casey stood up. "I'd better get going. It was nice to meet you, Alex. Bye, Paul."

"You, too," Alex smiled, as Paul chimed in his goodbye.

Great, he thought. That session accomplished exactly…nothing.

Alex turned to his father after Casey had gone. "She was really pretty, Dad. What year is she?"

"Grade 11," Paul answered. "But don't you get any ideas. She's a little too old for you, son."

Alex grinned, and opened his chips, offering the bag to his father. Paul took one and munched on it thoughtfully.

Figures. Casey's finally single, and Derek gets himself a girlfriend. He knew it was just so Derek could "prove" he wasn't into Casey, but really, he was making it very difficult for Paul to play matchmaker.