You guys are awesome, thanks so much for the great reviews! Honestly, they did inspire me to refine the direction, I had been thinking a little randomly, and now I think I'm about set. It is very bad to start a story without seriously thinking about story arc. :) Alright, here's Chapter 2, I hope you enjoy, I actually went and did some research
on hockey basics for this, and I might even start getting into it, lol! Turns out I was WAY off in my thinking of when the season started to, but I already gave you that disclaimer in Chapter 1. Speaking of disclaimers, I obviously do not own Life with Derek or any of its characters. If I owned Michael Seater, I would not be writing fanfiction. Enjoy! Yes, I made a line break!
Chapter 2
Casey and Derek told their parents about the arrangement they had come up with, to explain why Derek would still be going out to play hockey and Casey would be helping him out with work. George and Nora could hardly believe their children were being so mature and starting to get along, but they liked it.
The next day was a Saturday, and Derek and Casey headed out to the practice ice where Derek and his friends usually had games. Derek was suited up in a Canucks jersey and had lent Casey some of his extra pads. She hadn't put her hair up yet and he stared at her for a moment as she swung her hair to one side to lean down and put on her skates. This might not be so bad after all, Derek thought. I mean, there are worse things than close contact with a hot girl, getting ourselves all worked up… Derek let his thoughts trail off. He had been thinking a little too much about Casey lately, ever since he'd met his match during their contest for house space. He wondered if she questioned why he hadn't put up too much of a fight about helping her. It was like a magnetic pull he couldn't resist, some insane part of him that wanted to be near her, watch her move, touch her skin, while every other part of him screamed the word "stepsister!" Derek shook his head, chalking it up to the lack of new prospects at school, the excuse he had taken to using.
Casey glanced up at him, seeing his eyes cast to the side in deep thought. The pensive look on his face was adorable, she thought, even cuter than when he had the chicken pox and had been so nice to her. Truth be told, as against cheerleading as she was, she was more than willing to pick hockey as a sport, and was grateful it worked out that way. Somewhere deep down, she knew that she had wanted to spend this time with Derek, that she had been coming up with little excuses here and there to spend more time with him, even fight with him more, just to experience the life that ran through her when she was with him. She fought this with every fiber of her being, tried to bury the feelings. But when this opportunity had come up, she had rationalized her desire to have this arrangement with Derek, had completely dismissed the idea that it was anything other than a mutual case of needing the other. There was no other way, she'd told herself firmly.
Besides, they thought at the same time, nothing will ever happen.
Snapping out of his thoughts, Derek grabbed his stick and helped Casey up. She picked up the other stick they'd brought and followed him out to the ice.
"Okay," Derek began, "so we went over the basic rules in the car, and now we're just going to practice some shooting and passing. Think you can handle that, Case?"
"Anything you can do," she smiled, "I can do better."
"I'll keep that in mind," Derek smirked. He knew what he'd be thinking about in his cold shower later.
Derek played goalie while Casey shot the puck toward the net, learning how to aim. Some of her shots were wild and Derek had to dive out of the way. "Jeez, Casey, try not to take my head off, would you? This face is priceless!" Derek shouted.
Casey rolled her eyes and tried again, but the shot was still too hard and uncoordinated. Derek sighed and took off his gloves, skating towards her. "Here, Case, like this."
Derek stood behind her and placed a hand over hers on the hockey stick. Casey stiffened, feeling the warm sweat of his palm over hers, imagining the same masculine touch over her whole body. It was a thought that came effortlessly, just a feeling sweeping through her in an instant.
"You don't have to be so angry at this point. You just need to relax … focus…" He breathed the words slowly near her ear, sending a wisp of hair to tickle her face, his soft voice calming the tension and disappointment she had been feeling when her shots didn't make the net. She wouldn't turn to look at him; she wouldn't bring her face that close to his. Back away from me, Derek. Don't let me think for a second that these feelings aren't wrong.
Derek guided her to a different angle of the puck and instructed her. "Just a medium amount of force, it's better to keep it short of the net where an attacker can get it than to overshoot, or hit the bars and give the defense time to recoup. Just ease up. I'm not there anymore, there's nothing worth hitting but the net," he joked.
Casey smiled. Derek moved his hand off the stick to let her shoot and she suddenly felt cold. She moved the stick back and took the shot as he had instructed her to. Her eyes widened in amazement when the puck actually went in.
"Oh my God, Derek, that was amazing, I actually scored a goal!" She jumped up and down quickly, a huge grin on her face and turned to him. He took in the sight of her excitement, her incredible smile, and had to smile back. She caught him up suddenly in a hug that stunned him in its sincerity. He shoved the thoughts away that he knew were coming. Don't make me feel this way, Casey. Not when I know you'll never think these things about me.
"Alright, alright Gretzky, it was one shot with nobody blocking you and no goalie, let's not get carried away. And don't forget who needed to assist you." Derek said, breaking the hug.
Casey kept a small smile on her face. "We'll see who's assisting who when we get back home and you can't understand why math has letters in it." She skated away to retrieve the puck.
Derek stood in place. "Letters?" he mouthed to himself.