A/N: Wow! I posted Chapter One yesterday, and I'm happy to see I already got some reviews:D
So everyone knows: I've already written up to Chapter 4 on this fic, I'm just uploading 'em one at a time. ;)
Keep the feedback coming! Thanks a million!

xo. dolliecat

Casey awoke the next morning to a deep throbbing in her skull, and small sweat beads all over her upper chest. She opened her eyes slowly, the warm sunlight stung, but she could tell she was in her room, on her bed. There was a dark, leather jacket wrapped around her body and a large gray bucket next to her bed. She leaned over to peer into the bucket, and from the mixture of the gray-green glop in the bucket, and the burning in her throat, Casey easily guessed it was last night's stomach contents.

She sat up slowly, her heartbeat pounded in her head and her eyes finally adjusted to the light in the room. She saw Derek sitting at her desk chair, staring at her.

Immediately she noticed he wasn't wearing the jacket he'd been wearing lastnight, he wasn't actually wearing a shirt at all. He sat in her chair, staring at her with nothing but a pair of plaid red boxers on.

Casey groaned and fell back onto her bed.

"You okay?" Derek asked finally.

Casey groaned again, "I feel like a jackhammer's going off inside my skull."

Derek laughed easily, the sound was comforting to Casey's brain, "Welcome to Hangover 101."

Casey rolled over and made sick in the bucket beside her bed once more. After she finished, she wiped her hand on her exposed wrist and turned back to Derek.

"What about George and my mom?" she rasped, "What did you tell them? Do they know?"

Derek shook his head, "No. I told em you caught a 24 hour bug that's been going around the School. I told em you were tired, and you didn't want to be bothered for the rest of the day." Casey leaned over and got sick again, Derek inhaled sharply, "I was guessing you needed time to re-coop."

Casey nodded, "Thanks," she mumbled.

"Not a problem." said Derek quietly.

Casey stopped. She had almost expected Derek to have a smart reply, and she was taken aback when he complied to her thank you. "No smart remark?" she said, laying back down.

Derek looked at her seriously, "Do you remember anything about last night?"

Casey racked her brain, it hurt to close her eyes, but it helped her focus. She remembered Derek in the doorway yesterday, and she remembered Max talking to her at the party lastnight, she also remembered a strange, dellusional dream where she and Derek were alone in a room.. Kissing. It was a happy dream, one that felt like she'd been floating on a cloud with a warm, bubbly feeling inside her.

"Max asked me if I'd ever drinken before," she said, her eyes still closed, "I told him no, and he offered me some of his beer." she shook her head, "I didn't think one sip would do me this bad."

Derek scoffed, "Oh, I think you had more than one sip."

Casey's eyes shot open so fast it hollowed to the back of her skull, "What?"

Derek shook his head, "By the looks of you yesterday, I think you may have had maybe five or six beers. You were... Out of it."

Casey thought quickly of her delusional Cloud 9 dream. But she knew that could've only been a dream. She couldn't have gotten that drunk! No, no, no. And Derek? He would've shoved her out the window before he kissed her.

She didn't get another chance to think, for the bile made its way back up her throat and she made sick into the bucket once more.

Derek stood and walked towards the bed, he slid in beside her on her on the side opposite the bucket, and wrapped his arms around her waist as she finished making sick.

"Derek-" she started, but he cut her off.

"Shh, Casey, please." he said, holding her, "You're sick. You're really sick. This is all I can do to help you right now."

Casey's stomach fluttered, but not as if it were about to come out of her mouth. That same, warm, floaty feeling returned to her and she thought again of her cloud-like dream. It couldn't have been real.

"Thank you," she whispered again, snuggling into the flesh of his bare, warm chest.

Derek didn't answer, he simply pulled her closer, so close she was actually in his lap now, and held her tightly.

LATER

The day passed in that fashion. Casey would fall asleep in Derek's arms, and he would watch her sleep. She would wake up, occasionally and get sick, then curl back into her position and fall back asleep. Derek hadn't slept in twenty-four hours or more, he was sure; and yet, with Casey in his arms, he couldn't sleep. All he wanted to do was watch her sleep, and make sure she was okay.

As she slept, he stared into her angelic face and thought to himself. Casey had actually kissed him lastnight. She kissed him good, too. It wasn't a brother-sister kind of kiss, it was worthy for an elevator scene on a Soap Opera. Did she actually feel something for him like he did for her? Did he feel something for her at all? He kept replaying the feel of her soft warm lips against his, and he couldn't help but smile everytime. Reasoning was useless. Even though she had been drunk, and deffinately dellusional, she had said, 'Ive been wanting to do this for a long time..' So she wanted to kiss him? It wasn't spontaneous? She actually had thought about her feelings and decided she wanted him?

"Derek," Casey stirred, but Derek could tell she was still asleep, Since when did she talk in her sleep?, "Derek, please. Derek, please!"

Derek became completely still as he watched her sleep, She was dreaming about him.. But what did she want?

"Derek," she called again, "Derek it was real, wasn't it? I didn't dream I was on Cloud 9. I kissed you Derek, I kissed you!"

Derek was in pure shock, Casey remembered?!

"Derek please!" she was getting louder, she would be screaming soon and Lizzie and Edwin would come in for sure, "Derek, Please Kiss me!"

Derek didn't even have a second to think. He reacted on impulse, and as Casey had - subconsciously - commanded, he kissed her.

She stopped screaming, and her lips moved back against his, but he was pretty sure she was still asleep. She was trying to open her mouth, but he wouldn't let her. He had to stay in control, he couldn't lose to her demand, not right now.

When he pulled away, Casey was silent. Her breathing said she was still sleeping afterall, but she curled deeper into his chest and sighed, pulling herself closer to him. He held her closer and kissed the top of her head, lightly, "Goodnight, Casey." he whispered.