"DEREK!"
Edwin and Lizzie jumped as the front door slammed shut. A frazzled Casey stood there, panting wildly. The kids gulped.
"Can we…erm…help you, Casey?" Lizzie asked hesitantly.
"WHERE IS HE?!" she screeched.
Edwin covered his ears. "How bout repeating that at a human decibel?"
Casey narrowed her eyes at her younger step-brother and stormed over to where he was sitting. Lizzie jumped off the couch while she could and gave a small salute to Edwin, who glared in return.
"Where… is…Derek," Casey growled, grabbing Edwin's collar and pulling him toward her.
"Room!" he squeaked out. As she let go of Edwin's shirt and spun around, he quickly added, "But his door's locked!"
"Not for long," she hissed, running up the stairs.
Once she reached his door, Casey raised her fist, ready to beat his door down. She suddenly realized, however, that yelling and screaming wouldn't get her in there. No…she had to use a different tactic.
"Derek?" she called out sweetly.
There was a pause, then a hesitant, "…yes?"
"Uh, can I borrow your Pink Floyd CD?"
Another pause. "…why?"
"I just…need to see it for a sec. Emily asked me if this one song was on their CD, so I wanna check."
"Okay. Which CD?" he asked.
Crap… Casey panicked. "Um…well, I can't remember the title, but I'd recognize it if I saw it." Wow, I'm getting better at this!
"Oh. Where've you seen it before?"
"Em showed me…duh." As soon as the words left her mouth, Casey stomped her foot in frustration. She knew exactly what was coming next.
"Ah, ha. Funny how she needs you to look at the CD when she already has it…" he stated smugly.
Casey gave up, kicking the door hard. "Let me in, Derek!" she yelled.
"I knew it! You suck at lying, Case."
"And you just suck. LET ME IN!" She grabbed the door knob and pulled it back and forth, hoping that would somehow help. She didn't know what else to do.
Turns out, her efforts weren't in vain. There was a loud, sharp click! and suddenly she could twist the thing.
"What was that?" Derek asked.
Casey decided it was best to play dumb. "I…I don't know. I think I broke it!" she replied, anxious.
"Great, Case. Just great." She heard him come closer to the door.
"Do you see anything?" she asked worriedly.
"Hold on, woman. I'm checking," he answered impatiently. "I better not be locked in—"
Casey took this as her opportune moment and flung open the door, knocking Derek to the ground. "Oh, look!" she cried, feigning happiness. "It's fixed."
Derek just sat there, hands over his face. "I think you broke my eye," he groaned.
"Get up," she growled, standing there with her arms crossed.
Derek laughed nervously. "Let's calm down first, Case…"
"NOW," she ordered, grabbing him by the arm and yanking him upright.
"Hey, watch it…" he whined, cradling his arm.
"Why?" she demanded, ignoring his complaint.
"Uh, 'cause I don't feel like going to the hospital?"
"Funny, Derek. You know what I'm talking about. Why would you do something like this?!"
"If you're referring to the conversation I had with John earlier today—which, by that scary look in your eye, I'm guessing you are—then I have nothing to say," he replied, crossing his arms.
"Good! Because you've said enough." Casey thrashed her arms around in the air, becoming increasingly angrier by the second. "Greaseland, Derek?! Two-year-old?! I made Sam contemplate suicide?!"
Derek put a finger up. "Now, I didn't say that. I just said he had the hotline on speed dial…"
"Oh, stupid me!" she cried out. "And we did not date sixty times—"
"See, I said forty."
"Whatever! The point is we didn't! And he wasn't trapped; he would've dumped me much sooner if that was the case."
"Blah, blah, blah," Derek said, rolling his eyes. "I don't see what the huge deal is. Those stories weren't that bad…"
"NOT THAT BAD?!" she screamed. "You told them I was OBSESSED with you! How is that not "that bad"?!" she asked, violently poking his chest.
"Whoa, calm down, princess," he warned, backing up into the wall behind him.
"Ugh! Only you would call me "princess" in a time like this," she snarled, poking him again. "We actually had a moment when we were stuck in that bathroom, and you turn it into a Casey Horror Story?" Her voice had gradually faded into a much softer tone. "How could you?"
Derek had never seen Casey this upset…or hurt. He admittedly felt bad, but had no plan of actually showing it. He just shrugged. "You'll thank me, someday."
Casey's face twisted in fury once more as she shook her head. "Stupid, selfish asshole! Guys won't even look at me now, thanks to your "stories"! And suddenly I'm supposed to buy you flowers or something?!" She hit his chest with her fist. "I hate you!" she yelled, spinning around on her heel.
Derek leapt forward and grabbed her forearm, spinning her back to him. "Casey, relax—"
"Relax?!" she spat in his face. "You try having the entire school staring at you like you're some kind of secret lunatic. You try having people gossiping about your hidden "altar" dedicated to your step-brother." She laughed incredulously. "Oh, that's right; those things never happen to Derek Venturi. Just his loser step-sister."
"I'm sorry, okay? Calm down…"
"Yeah, right." She tried tugging her arm away. "Let go!"
"Calm down first."
"No!"
"Casey…"
"Let go!"
"No! Calm down!"
"Let go!"
"Calm down!"
The two were in a struggle now, Casey trying to pull away and Derek holding on for dear life. She stomped the floor again, angrily.
"Derek!"
"Casey!"
Just as soon as she had managed to loosen his grip and nearly slip away, Derek forcefully pulled her back to him. The energy caused her to slam right into his chest, taking them both by surprise.
Casey looked up at him slowly and immediately noticed how close their faces had become. Derek looked down at her and couldn't help but take in her big, blue eyes and pouty lips. Don't, Venturi…don't even think about it… Chests heaving, they stared at one another, scared to move.
Casey couldn't take the moment any longer. "I…should, um…"
"Yeah," was all Derek could reply.
Neither moved.
"Okay—" Casey began, but was suddenly interrupted by Derek's mouth fervently covering hers.
He heard her make some sort of surprised groan in the back of her throat, but he couldn't care less. Not right now, at least. He'd deal with the repercussions later. In a short instance, however, he realized he might not have to.
Because Casey was kissing him back.
Quite eagerly, too. She pressed back against the wall, grabbing his face in her hands. Derek wrapped his arms tightly around her and pulled her even more so against him. Flushed together, their tongues entwined.
A deep growl sounded from Derek's throat as Casey bit his lower lip. Where had she learned to kiss like this? Actually, Derek didn't want to know. All he knew was that he and Casey—his hot, grade-grubbing step-sister—were full-fledged making out. Nothing else mattered.
Casey's head was spinning as Derek started a trail of hot kisses down her neck. She ran her fingers through his hair. The moment felt so surreal to her… Kissing Derek? Like this? Perhaps in a couple dreams, but she never thought it'd actually happen.
"Derek," she panted. "Why'd you really start those stories?" She had to ask. It was killing her.
He groaned against her neck in frustration. "Who cares?"
Casey pulled away. "I just think it's random and weird. Who'd you tell first?" Derek couldn't stop staring at mouth. "Derek."
"Right, sorry." He looked up at her with the cutest expression she'd ever seen him give her. "You're definitely…so right?"
"Derek, I asked who."
"Oh, right. John Malsh."
"The new kid? Why…? Did I piss you off this morning or something?" she asked.
Derek was back to staring at her lips. Oh, how he wanted to kiss them again… "Um…not exactly. He asked about you, so I said that stuff. Can we kiss now?"
"Derek! Concentr—" His lips were on hers again, kissing her thoroughly. Casey felt her eyes start to flutter shut, but she stopped herself and pried away from him. A little dazed and a lot flushed, she asked, "Got self-control?"
"No. Don't need, either," he replied huskily, leaning down toward her again.
This time, however, Casey turned her head away. Derek groaned, leaning back against the wall. Casey grabbed his chin and made him face her, narrowing her eyes. "What do you mean, he asked about me?"
"God, you're hot when you're pissed…" Casey rolled her eyes and stared at him expectantly. He sighed. "John said he was thinking about asking you out. So he wanted me to tell him about you."
Casey just raised an eyebrow at him.
"Yeah, yeah, I know. 'But why, Derek?' He's a creep, Case. You wouldn't want to go out with someone like him."
Casey searched his face for a moment. Suddenly her eyes grew wide. "You were jealous!"
"What?"
"You didn't want him asking me out. That's it, isn't it?"
Derek rolled his eyes, but wouldn't look at her. "Shut up," he muttered.
"You could have just told him I wasn't interested, you know," she told him.
Now Derek looked at her. "You mean, you…aren't?"
"Nope."
"Good. Now, can we…move on?" he asked, staring at her mouth again.
Casey moved forward until her lips were only centimeters from his. "If you're referring to what we were doing five minutes ago—which, by that look in your eye, I'm guessing you are—then I have nothing to say," she whispered.
"Thank God," he muttered, capturing her mouth in another searing kiss.
--
4 Months Later:
"Hey, you're Casey's step-brother right?"
Derek looked up at the guy sitting in front of him. "And…?"
"What can you tell me about her?" the guy asked, looking hopeful.
Derek smirked. "She yells a lot. Complains about the small stuff. Looks like a real mess in the morning." He folded his arms across his chest. "And if you mention her one more time to her boyfriend, he'll kick your ass."
"Ha, please. Who's her boyfriend?" he asked smugly.
Derek just stared at him, smirk completely vanished.
"Oh... Right. Well…I wasn't…yeah," the guy stuttered, turning back around quickly. Derek just laughed quietly.
He couldn't wait to get home.