I went back and read everything I'd written so far, and realized that this story kind of gets off to a slow start. I promise some fun stuff is coming up soon, so stick with me.

Disclaimer: I do not own LWD.

II

The next time they saw each other, it was unintentional on both ends.

Casey was running late for class. (There is, after all, a first time for everything.) Nothing seemed to be going her way that morning. Her usual eight minute walk had already taken fourteen minutes thanks to lights that took forever to change, large groups of slow-walking students who took up the entire sidewalk, and a campus fair at which she'd had to stop twice and politely refuse offers of club info. (She couldn't have just ignored them; that would have been rude.)

She finally made it to the elevator, which was on its way down from the top floor, and had to do a double take as the doors opened and revealed that Derek had been the passenger. Surprisingly, this was the first time she'd ever run into him on campus.

"Well, if it isn't my least favourite step-sister," he said as they exchanged places.

"Well, if it isn't my least favourite person," she retorted.

He flashed her a wicked smile and raised a single eyebrow as he told her to have fun in class. Casey found herself contemplating his reply but everything became clear the moment she stepped off the elevator and her nose was assaulted by a repulsive smell. Her heart sank as she approached her classroom and read a hand-written note taped to the door: Class cancelled due to sewage leak.

A cancelled class was typically enough to evoke disappointment, but after all she'd gone through to get there, it seemed like an even greater loss.

Upon her return to the main floor, she was greeted by none other than one Derek Venturi, leaning against the wall directly in front of her, arms crossed and a smug grin on his face.

"You jerk!" she cried before the elevator doors had fully opened. "Why didn't you warn me?"

"That would've been too easy," he said coolly, and put his arm around her shoulder. "C'mon Case, let's go for a walk. I know you have nowhere else to be."

Casey rolled her eyes and let out a sigh but continued to walk beside him in the direction of the club fair, painfully aware of his body against hers. (Since when was he this touchy?)

"So, has Nora been on your case about coming home for Thanksgiving, too?" he asked.

"Yeah, I've been meaning to talk to you about that," she admitted. It was only two weeks away, but something had been holding her back from asking him about transportation arrangements.

(Why on earth was his arm still around her shoulder?)

"Stop right there, Casey. Of course your loving, gracious, handsome step-brother would be more than happy to drive you…" he pulled her closer, "for a price."

She wriggled out of his grasp. "Der-ek! I already let you do your laundry at my place, what else do you want?"

"I kind of need a place to stay this weekend."

Her mouth went dry, and she told herself it was simply because that wasn't anywhere near what she'd expected him to say. (Well? What else could have caused it?)

"How come?" she asked

He stopped in front of the booth for the Film & Media Society and picked up a brochure. "My roommate's girlfriend is driving up from Toronto and staying the weekend; even you can probably understand why I wouldn't want to be around for that."

"I don't see the big deal, can't you just…" she stopped, realizing too late what Derek had been implying. She blushed, embarrassed by her failure to pick up on the innuendo. "Oh. You two sleep in the same room."

"There you go. Spacey as ever," he teased.

"Hey! Don't forget, you're the one asking me for a favour, here!"

"Actually, you're the one who needs a ride back to London," he reminded her.

"As if mom and George would ever let you leave without me," she called his bluff.

"How are they supposed to stop me if they're five hours away?"

She crossed her arms. "They'd probably be so disappointed in you that they'd make you turn around and come back. You willing to risk that?"

He opened his mouth, all too ready to spit out a clever retort. His face fell. She was right; he would never leave without her, but not for the reason she had in mind. And he wasn't about to confess anything.

She watched him carefully and realized she had won.

"Ha! Admit it, Venturi! You were totally bluffing!"

He skimmed over the brochure in his hands, ignoring her accusation but not actually retaining any information. Casey poked his side, and he flinched.

"Admit it!" she demanded again, with a smug, victorious smile on her lips.

"Fine!" He groaned. "Can we just call it even? You get a ride back home, and I get a place to stay?"

"No deal, Derek. I don't trust you to clean up after yourself."

"I'll eat out," he said.

"Promise not to touch my stuff?"

"Cross my heart."

"One more thing…" she said confidently.

He braced himself for her final condition.

"I get control of the radio in the car."

"No way!" he cried. He'd experienced far too much of her meaningless teeny-bopper crap when they'd lived together in high school.

"That's my condition!" she wasn't letting him get off that easy.

"Casey, have a heart. It's a five-hour car ride, and I'm going to be driving."

She opened her mouth to stand her ground, determined to outdo Derek as she had been since the moment she met him. But the poor kid looked helpless, for what was maybe the first time ever. Besides, she'd known from the moment he admitted his motive that her answer was going to be yes. She just wanted to milk his desperation for all she could get.

"Fine," she conceded. "No radio. For either of us."

He winced, but held out his hand to shake on it.

"This means we'll actually get to talk to each other," she reminded him, and he groaned.

Casey smiled the entire walk home. Maybe her trip to campus hadn't been such a waste, after all.