A/N: There isn't much I hate more than a story that's hard to read and could easily be fixed a little by some formatting. So, since the general consensus seems to be that the flashbacks were confusing, I went and put the flashbacks in italics. Since they were so long, and I put the dates in bold, I thought it wasn't necessary. But, I didn't think to tell you guys to pay a lot of attention to the dates either. Sorry. Now that's fixed, read on! (And I should definitely get extra reviews for changing all that because I think that it took me about 20 minutes. lol.)

Note: Pay special attention to the date of the first flashback because I added something that I forgot to in the first version (in the conversation between Casey and Derek). Oh, in general, you should pay attention to the dates in this story because, while I won't skip around like crazy, there will be a lot of flashbacks, though I'll try as hard as I can to make smooth yet distinct transitions.

Chapter 03 – Once Upon A Time

"It's like I'm the one

You love to hate,

But not today."

- Simple Plan, Shut Up

Monday: November 19, 2007

12:25 P.M.

"Guess what I heard from Cindy Pomeroy after Algebra?"

"What?"

"Well, she told me that Jeffrey Spade told her that Karen told Andrew that a certain someone has a crush on Casey," Kendra replied smugly.

"Oh my gosh, who?" Emily demanded, bursting with curiosity.

"Uh, Casey, Hun, aren't you interested to know too?" Kendra asked, looking at her friend across the table.

"Huh?" Startled, Casey looked up from her lunch. She had been lost in thought and didn't have the least idea what Kendra was talking about. "Sure," she replied flatly, pasting a smile on her face that didn't fool anyone.

"Casey, what's wrong?"

"What makes you think something is wrong?"

"Well, for starters, you normally pay attention to what we're talking about and occasionally even participate in the conversation," Emily pointed out completely free of bitterness.

"And, of course, your socks don't match," Kendra added.

"What?" Looking down, Casey saw that, sure enough, one of her socks was white and the other was pink. Blushing, she couldn't believe that she hadn't noticed all morning. Honestly, she couldn't believe that she'd made the mistake in the first place. She rolled her socks up in pairs before she put them in her drawer.

I must have mixed up the pairs.

Even though it was no big deal, the mistake really bothered Casey. It was highly unlike her to make such an error, especially with something as simple as folding and putting away laundry.

"Hello! Earth to Casey?" Emily finally got her attention when she waved her hand in front of Casey's face.

"What?"

"Hun, we're really starting to worry about you. I mean, you've been out of it for weeks, but this is ridiculous. It's getting worse," Kendra said with concern.

"I'm tired. I didn't get a lot of sleep last night," Casey countered defensively.

"What about last Thursday?"

"What about it?" Casey knew exactly what Kendra was referring to, but she was hoping that she would just drop it.

"I found you crying in front of somebody else's locker, babbling about how you'd been trying for a whole hour, but you couldn't get it open."

"People would be calling you Basket Case if it hadn't been after school and everyone else was already gone."

"That one-hour study session in the library finally paid off for once," Kendra added, looking relieved.

"Basket Case?"

Casey took a deep breath and turned to face an all-too familiar smirk.

"I'll have to remember that one. Thanks, Em." He winked at her and Emily gave him a stern look. "I can use it every time you pull the drama queen act and get all emotional." Then he scratched his head, pretending to think really hard. "But what will I call you on the even days?"

Ralph, who had come over to see what was going on—or to sneak a peek at Kendra, who he had a crush on—laughed alongside Derek until Casey gave him the evil eye. He stopped immediately, clearing his throat, and slowly backed away a few feet before running away to sit with Sam and Sheldon.

Derek shook his head and said, "Man, I don't know what you did to him, Case, but he sure is afraid of you." Mockingly he asked, "Did you show him what you really look like first thing in the morning?"

"No, I did something much, much worse," Casey replied with a sly smile. "I stuffed your practice jersey in his locker during the playoffs and told him that if he didn't stop hitting on me that he'd find your lucky boxers in there too."

"What's so gross about the jersey?" Emily asked naively.

"He doesn't wash it from two weeks before they start to the last game, however long that might be," Casey answered. All of the girls cringed and Derek, who was recovering from the shock of his stepsister's actions, finally closed his jaw and clenched it.

"You stole my jersey?" He asked incredulously. "You said it was in the laundry!"

"Guess I'm a better liar than you thought."

Derek was not amused and said, "I panicked for three days straight because I couldn't find it! And all along, you, my own stepsister, were using it to blackmail Ralph?"

"And finally he arrives at the conclusion that the rest of the group reached five minutes ago. What's the matter Derek? Was there turbulence? Did you have to make an emergency landing somewhere else?" Casey taunted him.

"I will get you back for this, McDonald. Just you wait," Derek threatened, curling his fists at his side.

"Right, well, how about I wait over here and you," she pointed over to the table that he usually sat at, "wait over there," she suggested. Then Casey wiggled her fingers at him mockingly as he stalked off.

"Man, you guys are fighting worse than ever," Kendra commented as Casey turned back around to face them.

"Yeah, what's up with that?" Emily asked, finishing off her sandwich.

"It's all Derek's fault. He's been really hostile lately," Casey answered, taking a sip of her Coke Zero. "I mean, we got a lot closer last year and even though we never stopped bickering, we didn't really fight a whole lot. It was all kind of…playful, in a way. But now he's reverted to acting like the Ape Man he was when we first met most of the time. I don't know what did it, but I really wish that something would undo it."

12:32 P.M.

"Man, what's going on with Derek lately?" Sheldon asked, biting into his peanut butter and banana sandwich. "I mean, it seemed like him and Casey got along a lot better last year, even before the accident. Now it seems like he's always picking fights with her."

"I don't know, man, but I think he's crazy for making her angry," Ralph commented as he messily bit into his Sloppy Joe. "She scares me more than Mrs. Schlepper."

"Dude,no one is scarier than Mrs. Schlepper," Sam countered with a chuckle. Ralph laughed as Sheldon cringed.

"Yeah, yeah, it's easy for you guys to joke about. You're not the ones who have to go home today and tell her that you got a 'C' on yesterday's math quiz."

"Oh, man, you're dead."

"Worse. I'm totally grounded."

Derek dropped down onto the bench beside Sam and ripped a giant bite off of his own Sloppy Joe. Part of the meat dribbled down his chin, but he didn't even notice as he stared at the wall behind Ralph and Sheldon's heads. Sam raised his eyebrows, mouthing, "Whoa." It was obvious that whatever had gone down at Casey's table had really ticked him off.

The four guys sat in an awkward, tense-filled silence for about three or four minutes before Derek turned his gaze to Ralph, his face devoid of emotion.

"So, Ralph, I got a question for you," Derek began nonchalantly. His tone sounded perfectly innocent, but anyone who knew Derek well could tell that if they were in a cartoon, steam would be rolling out of his ears.

Poor Ralph, who knew that he was likely to be the subject of Derek's wrath, froze like a deer in headlights as little men in his head ran around screaming, "Code Red! This is not a drill, ladies and gentlemen! We have a Code Red!"

"Do you remember anything special happening around the playoffs a few months ago?"

Ralph thought really hard for a moment, but he couldn't remember anything special happening during the hockey playoffs. Well, you know, except for Derek's team winning, but he was pretty sure that Derek was talking about something he'd done.

"Not really."

"Really? Nothing comes to mind?" Derek asked, leaning back and folding his arms. Sheldon and Sam looked back and forth between the two, wondering themselves what he was referencing.

After a moment of silence, where Ralph was thinking very hard, Derek finally said, "Maybe something involving…a jersey?"

Everyone could see the light bulb click on in Ralph's head, but it was too late. Derek jumped up and slammed his palms down on the table.

"That whole time that I was running around, frantically calling everybody I'd seen in the last two weeks, including lots of girls who really didn't want to hear from me—or, worse, they did—and you didn't think to tell me that my lucky practice jersey was with you!" He hissed, careful not to let his voice carry over to the other students. "Tell me, Ralph, just how long did you have it? Half a day? A whole day? Three days?"

Ralph nervously tugged at the collar of his tee shirt.

"D, Man, I wanted to tell you, but she threatened me!" He cried in defense. "She said that if I told anyone that she'd lie and say that I took it! And considering how freaked out you were, and how unpredictable you are when you're freaking out, I knew that there was a least a 50/50 chance that you'd believe her!"

Derek took a deep breath and slowly let it out, clenching his fists. Then a confused look crossed his face.

"Wait a second. You were more afraid of pissing off Casey than of pissing off me?" He asked incredulously.

"No!" Ralph answered quickly. "I just figured that I had a better shot of you not finding out anything."

After a moment, Derek cocked his head, accepting his reply. Then he sat down and shoved down the rest of his food as the others looked between them, trying to decide if it was really over.

Standing up, Derek let out a loud belch and said, "Well, I got to go see Maria about going out on Friday night. See ya." Sheldon, Sam, and Ralph said goodbye to him and continued eating.

Once Derek was out of ear shot, Sam said, "Okay, level with us, you're really more scared of Casey, aren't you?"

Ralph nodded vigorously, eyebrows raised as he shuddered at the thought of making her angry. Sheldon and Sam laughed, but Ralph knew that they had both seen the wrath of Casey before, and they themselves had been very afraid.

3:05 P.M.

Casey and Kendra had barely stepped inside the door and put up their things when Kendra brought it up again.

"Now can we talk about it?" Kendra asked, her tone verging on whiny.

"No, not yet. There are people here too, you know."

"Well, it sure doesn't sound like it," Kendra replied. "Hello? McDonalds and Venturis?" There was no answer. "Now isn't that convenient? Looks like we're the only ones here." Without any invitation, which she hardly needed since she had become one of Casey's best friends over the summer, she gracefully sat down on the couch and waited for Casey to join her.

"Well?" Kendra prompted.

Sighing, Casey said, "I just don't like Taylor. He's cute and sweet and funny, but I'm just not interested."

"Oh, come on, Casey! I know that there's more to it than that." Then she thought of something. "Is this about Max? Are you still not over him?"

I only wish that were the case, Casey thought. I want to tell her what's going on, but what if she's grossed out? What if she thinks it's incest and she screams and runs out of here to tell everyone else?

Now, wait a second. How could you think that Kendra would do such an awful thing? That's not the kind of person that she is. Just tell her the truth and give her a chance to prove you wrong.

Casey took a deep breath, preparing herself to tell her deepest darkest secret.

"Or is it because you're still hung up on Derek?"

It felt something like being shoved off of a tall building and finding yourself suddenly free-falling.

"W-what?" she stuttered, concentrating on keeping her jaw from hanging open like a moron.

"Or is it because…"

"I heard you the first time!" Casey snapped anxiously. "Oh my gosh, I'm sorry! I shouldn't have snapped. I'm just…you threw me," she babbled, jumping up to pace back and forth in front of the couch. "I mean, it's not just the fact that you know, but it's the way you asked, like you were talking about the weather or something and not some huge, colossus, life-changing thing!"

Kendra cringed and pressed herself back into the couch. Casey was getting hysterical. Her voice was getting higher; her words were coming out faster. She was about two steps away from crying.

"And," her face crumpled, "what am I going to do when they figure it out?" She finally stopped pacing as tears rained down her cheeks, trickling down her chin and neck, leaving her skin itchy.

"Oh, sweetie," Kendra cooed, standing up and pulling her into a hug. "Everything will be okay. It's really not as big of a deal as you're making it out to be," she assured her.

Casey snorted. She was far from convinced.

"Look, I know that it's highly unconventional, but there's nothing legally wrong with it and only uptight, close-minded people think that there's something morally wrong with it."

In a burst of maternal protectiveness, Kendra guided her friend to sit down and she went and got her a glass of water. Then, sitting beside her, she rubbed Casey's back in a soothing pattern.

"But what about my family?" Casey asked between sniffles.

"I'd bet a million dollars that at worst, they'd be kind of weirded out by it, but would accept it eventually."

After a moment of contemplative silence, Casey composed herself and wiped her face with a Kleenex.

"Well, it doesn't matter anyway because we're talking about this like Derek's actually interested in me when he's not," Casey said, looking down into her lap and smoothing out her skirt.

"Oh really?" Kendra replied doubtfully. "Because the evidence suggests otherwise."

Laughing bitterly, Casey asked, "Like what?"

"Like the way he looks at you."

"Like I'm a disgusting she-beast with three heads that just crawled out of the mud?"

"Like you're the only girl in the room."

Casey blushed at the thought. She would have liked nothing more than for Derek to look at her that way, but she was sure that Matchmaker Kendra was just imagining that something was there that didn't exist.

"Look, Kendra, it's not that I don't think that I'm good enough for him or anything, but I'm not Derek's type."

"Honey, you don't have to have blonde hair for Derek to be interested in you." They laughed. Apparently Casey wasn't the only one who had noticed a distinct sway in Derek's preferences lately.

"That's not what I mean," Casey said with a giggle.

"Well, then what do you mean?" Kendra asked. "Never mind, it doesn't matter. Derek doesn't have a type. Or, well, I guess he does. Derek's type is girl he finds attractive. But, other than that, he's dated all across the boards: smart girls, athletic girls, cheerleaders, musicians, girls who like to read—"

"Girls who wish they could read."

"Oh, don't be catty," Kendra scolded, prompting an eye roll from Casey. "Seriously, guys find that way unattractive. What really intrigues them is a woman who can compliment other women, especially someone she might consider a rival."

"Only because they're hoping she's secretly bisexual."

Sighing, Kendra muttered, "You're so impossible when you're like this." Then she sat up confidently and, after flipping her hair over her shoulder, she said, "The point here is that you should go for it."

"So that he can laugh in my face and hold it over my head for the rest of our lives? No thank you," Casey replied glumly, pulling her knees up to her chest so that she could rest her chin on them.

"Okay, first of all, Derek isn't that mean. And, second of all, if you're too much of a coward to make a move, then you need to get over him and move on with your life."

Casey stared at Kendra and sighed. She wanted to bite back that Kendra wasn't the one who was secretly attracted to her stepbrother, but she knew that she was right. It was either that, or she'd be pining after him her whole life, and how pathetic would that be?

"So, are there any other guys that are currently interested in me? Maybe someone who can keep up intellectually?" Casey asked half-heartedly.

"You're giving up that easily?" Casey nodded. "Really? I thought you liked him."

"It would never work," she answered, shaking her head and refusing to comment about her feelings again.

Sighing, Kendra said, "Okay, just don't go rushing into anything. We don't need another Max, right?"

Casey laughed and replied, "Kendra, that's horrible! Max isn't a bad guy; he's just not for me."

"Yeah, well," she waved it off and continued, "The guy knew absolutely nothing about chivalry. In my book, that's bad."

"What about your boyfriend?" Casey demanded. "When was the last time Keith opened up a door for you?"

Kendra thought about it for a moment and then said, "You know something? I don't know." Then, with a shrug she decided, "Well, he's got to go." Then, with a smile, she added, "Besides, I've had my eye on Seth Summers since last Tuesday. Did you know that he has a motorcycle? I sure didn't." Whipping out her phone, Kendra asked, "Do you mind if I call Keith real quick and break things off?"

Casey shook her head and replied, "Go ahead."

It still amazed her how quickly Kendra went through guys. When it came to dating and commitment, she was all too much like Derek.

There's just another reason for me to get over Derek. He'd probably move on to the next girl before I could call him my boyfriend.

Looking at her friend, she remembered how a lot of people at school had speculated that Kendra and Derek were a perfect match. They were charming, gorgeous, confident, outgoing, and both had the old wandering eye. This was exactly why Casey had known that the relationship was doomed from the start. Sticking two people together with the exact same relationship problems was very rarely a good idea. Usually it just meant that things fell apart twice as fast.

But not half as fast as any relationship between Derek and I would surely unravel.

5:25 P.M.

"Edwin, sandwich, now," Derek ordered as he shut the door hard behind him and dumped his hockey gear on the floor. The younger brother was still pretty spineless, especially when it came to Derek, so he sighed and marched into the kitchen.

Meanwhile, Derek walked over and flopped into his recliner with a sigh of content.

I've got my recliner, the remote control, and my little brother is making me a sandwich. Life is good.

It had been a long day for Derek. Hell, it had been a long year for Derek. Ever since he first realized that he liked his stepsister in a not-so-brotherly way, his life had gotten much more complicated.

March 31, 2006

2:49 A.M.

"Oh my God!" Casey slid as she flew down the hallway in her bunny slippers. Tears filled her eyes as she stumbled and her foot caught the corner of the banister as she all but threw herself down the stairs. "Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God," she whispered fervently like a chant.

"Mom, George, Lizzie, and Edwin, wake up!" Casey shrieked as she ran to the closet to grab her coat, hat, and scarf. She heard doors opening and footsteps coming from all directions as she quickly dressed in her winter gear.

"Casey!" Nora appeared, wrapping her robe around herself, with George right on her heels, looking bleary-eyed and confused. "Casey, what's going on?"

"Why are you yelling?" Lizzie demanded as she tugged a half-asleep Edwin behind her.

"Casey, why are you crying? What's wrong?" Nora asked, pulling her daughter into a hug.

"I, I, Derek just called!" Casey said between sobs.

"What?" George looked around, just now noticing that his eldest child was unaccounted for. "Where is he, and what the heck is he doing out in the middle of the night?"

"He, he was coming back from a party with Ralph," Casey answered, crying hysterically. "And he was begging me to, to unlock the door because he forgot his key." She took a deep shuddering breath and continued, "And I chewed him out. I was lecturing him for being so irresponsible as to be out like this in the first place, and telling him that I just might leave him outside all night because it would serve him right." Then the crying escalated and she couldn't go on.

Fighting the urge to shake Casey and demand to know that she and Derek were both all right, Nora continued to soothe her daughter and gently prodded her to continue. "Casey, sweetheart, then what happened?"

Once she had calmed herself enough to answer, she said, "Then he called me a bad stepsister and threatened to humiliate me at school in some horrifying new way and I said that he'd do it anyway."

Tense though they were, the entire family laughed except for Casey, who sort of grimaced.

"But," her face crumpled again, "but then he said, 'Fine! But the next time you bring a date over…'." Casey stopped and the only sound was her noisy crying that was slightly muffled by having her face pressed into Nora's shoulder.

"And…?" George prompted.

"And there was a loud crash, and people were screaming, and brakes were squealing, and then the line went dead!"

"Oh my God," Nora whispered. "Did you call 911? Do you know where they were?" Casey shook her head miserably and her mother grabbed her by the shoulders. "When did this happen? Just before you came down?" She nodded.

"We, we have to find him," George decided, running a hand through his hair before pacing a few steps. "Okay, Nora, you take the minivan, and I'll take The Prince, and we'll drive around to see if we can find him."

"I'll go next door and go with the Davises," Casey volunteered. George was about to protest, but he saw the determined look on her face and knew that he couldn't stop her.

"All right, but call first." Casey nodded and punched their phone number into the cell phone that she had hastily shoved into the pocket of her blue pajama pants.

"What about us?" Edwin asked anxiously—finally able to say something.

As Nora left to start the search and Casey ran out the door, garbling the whole story to Emily through sniffles and the occasional sob, George paused to think.

"Um, okay, Edwin, you start calling everyone and ask them to look around. Maybe someone will spot him on their street." He nodded and raced into the kitchen to grab the phone. "Make sure you call Sam, the Bagmans, and the Schleppers first!"

"On it!"

"What about me, George?" Lizzie asked, gripping the stair railing so hard that her knuckles were turning white.

"Can you stay here and look after Marti?"

"Sure." With everything taken care of, George broke out into a run, grabbing his coat from the closet before he headed back towards the back door. "Wait!" Lizzie called frantically. He stopped and turned to her as he shrugged into the sleeves. "What do I tell Marti if she wakes up?"

George froze and swallowed hard. "Well, um," he furrowed his brow in deep thought, "Tell her that everything is fine, until we know more. There's no need to worry her when Derek could be fine."

"Okay. Good luck," Lizzie shouted as her stepfather disappeared with the jingle of keys and the slam of the back door.

Oh, Derek, please be okay. You have no idea how much you mean to us all, Lizzie thought anxiously.

3:17 A.M.

"Oh my God. What happened? How bad is it?" There was a pause. "Why won't you guys answer me, damn it?" Casey cursed. All three adults raised their eyebrows, and then Nora shot the doctor an apologetic look. The fiery brunette merely glared at Dr. Jan and pointed at him in an accusatory manner. "Hey! Look at me! I'm his stepsister, okay?For all legal intents and purposes, that makes us family, which means that I get to know what's wrong with Derek!" she ranted shrilly.

"Casey, please, we're all scared and frustrated, but it's not Dr. Jan's fault."

"And if you'd refrain from yelling, then I could tell you what happened to Mr. Venturi." Casey instantly shut up, hanging on his every word. Nora wrung her hands and George tapped his foot, trying very hard to keep himself from pacing back and forth across the room. "Your son was in a car wreck, Mr. Venturi."

Yeah, yeah. We know that already. Why are you dragging it out? Are you trying to torture me? Because as soon as Derek hears that he's been trumped, there will be hell to pay,Casey thought angrily.

"Mr. Bagman was driving rather cautiously, though he was speeding by about 10 mph, when a drunk driver in the opposite lane suddenly swerved into their lane. Mr. Bagman swerved to avoid the other car and they rolled into the ditch."

"Oh my God," Casey whispered in a strangled voice.

"Are they okay?" Nora asked—stepping forward as George grabbed her hand for support. George was speechless as his mind reeled with questions, accusations, and curses directed at the driver who might have killed two teenage boys.

But, then, George asked, "Was there," his voice cracked and he cleared his voice before repeating, "Was there anyone else involved?" He couldn't believe that he had asked that,considering everything that he could have asked, like 'Are they okay?', 'Are they alive?', 'What about the bastard who nearly killed my kid?', and 'While we're on the subject, how about you give me the bastard's name and room number so that I can finish the job myself?'

"No. The woman who was driving the other car was alone and no one else was riding with your son and his friend," he answered.

"We're here!" Edwin shouted as he ran towards them at full speed with Lizzie at his side. They huffed and puffed, bending over as they sucked in air and Nora looked at them warily. She wasn't sure that she wanted any of her children to hear what was coming next, whatever that might be.

"I'm sorry to say this, folks, but I can only take a couple of people with me to go see Derek," Dr. Jan announced, sliding his glasses up his nose.

"What? But can't you just—" Casey interrupted furiously.

"Casey, why don't you take Edwin and Lizzie to sit with the Davises?" Nora suggested gently. Casey's jaw dropped in shock.

"What? No! I want to see Derek!" She protested. "Please, Mom, I have to see if he's okay," she begged, grabbing her mother's arm.

"Please, Casey, we'll let you know as soon as we have all the facts."

"But—"

"Follow me, Mr. and Mrs. Venturi," the doctor instructed. Giving her daughter an apologetic look, Nora took her husband's arm.

"Come on, Georgie."

3:59 A.M.

As soon as Nora entered the waiting area, Casey darted to her side and grabbed her shoulders.

"What's going on? How is he? Is he okay?"

"Derek's going to be all right," she assured her. "In fact, if you promise to be calm, then you can go see him now, even though it's past visiting hours. He's in room 209." Before she could get out another word, Casey was running in the direction that she had come from. "Wait? Don't you want to know how he is?" she shouted after her. Casey ignored her mother, deciding that she would find out from George so that she could get a look at Derek herself.

Casey rushed past other people, careful not to bump into any doctors or nurses, as she kept herself from breaking into a run.

201. It'll be okay, no matter how bad it is. 203. Oh God. What if it's serious? What if he had to have surgery? 206. But wouldn't it have taken longer? 208. She'd have said something if it was that bad, wouldn't she?

Halting in front of a door, her heartbeat raced furiously like a war drum banging in her ears. She felt light and heady as she saw him lying prostrate on the hospital bed. His face was wrapped completely in bandages and there were all kinds of wires and tubes sticking out of his body.

Sinking into a chair, she cried, "Oh, Derek, what have they done to you?" She started crying again as she wondered if his face, that perfect, gorgeous face, had been ruined. "If only, if only I'd stopped you from going to that party. I'm so sorry! I should've," she hiccupped, "I should have told Mom and George if that was what it took! I knew that it was dangerous and I knew that you would go anyway and…"

She sniffled pathetically. "Do you need blood? What about a kidney? You can have one of mine, even though I'll have to pee every thirty minutes for the rest of my life, just please don't die!"

Casey's chest heaved with sobs and she managed to force out, "I can't believe that the last thing that I said to you was mean and petty, when I should have told you how much I love you!"

Suddenly, applause filled the room and a puzzled look came across her face. Discerning that it was coming from the other side of the white curtain, Casey peeked around it and gasped.

"Der-ek!"

There he was—sitting up in the bed by the window, mocking her and shaking with silent laughter that soon burst forth in full out guffaws. Casey's eyes scanned his torso up, which was the only part visible, and saw that his arm was in a sling and there were stitches running across part of his left eyebrow and in a long jagged line above it.

Of course. Even when he cuts up his face, it's in a way that will leave a sexy-looking scar.

Then, she jerked, blinking furiously.

Wait a second. Derek…sexy? She shuddered and thought, Now that is crazy talk. Focus on the burning humiliation and outrage you feel towards Derek for letting you think that he was in critical condition. Er. Scratch that first part. Just focus on being furious with the jerk.

"What the hell, Derek?" she whispered furiously, mindful of the other patient as she smacked Derek's good arm.

"April Fools!" He gasped through between laughs.

"April Fools? April Fools? First of all, you're a day early and, second of all, I can't believe that you let me think that you were…" Derek started wheezing and coughing and her brow furrowed in concern. "Derek? Derek, are you okay?" She reached out and grasped his shoulder, trying to get a look at his face. "What's wrong? Do you need some water?" He nodded and she looked around for a pitcher.

After Casey poured him a glass, she rubbed Derek's back and raised the glass to his lips to help him drink it. Once he downed half of the cup, he nudged it away and she put it back on the nightstand. Then she awkwardly tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

Derek turned to look at her and she met his gaze. They stared at each other in silence, trying to ignore a persistent, tugging feeling that was new to both of them and urging them to do something,though they couldn't figure out what.

I can't believe that you would give me one of your kidneys. I mean, I knew that you didn't hate me, but I never realized how much you cared. Kind of makes me feel bad for being such an ass.

God, I can't believe I said all that. I'm never going to live it down. I actually said that I lovedhim! I mean, I figure that he knewthat I did, and I know that he cares about me just as much, but we've never saidit. He's never even let me hughim for heaven's sake—and we're a lot closer than we used to be.

The sound of a toilet flushing broke their trains of thought and they both looked up in time to see George exiting the bathroom.

Flushing with embarrassment, he folded the paper behind his back and cleared his throat.

"So, Casey, I guess you've been de-briefed?"

"Actually, no, I haven't."

"Well," George sat down in the chair by Derek's bed and continued, "He's broken his collar bone and cracked a few ribs…"

That explains the trouble breathing when he was laughing so hard.

"Then he's got that nasty cut on his forehead," he pointed at it, "and he has a mild concussion."

Casey's heart leaped into her throat.

"A concussion?"

"It's just a mild one. The doctor prescribed him some pain medication for when we get home and we have to watch him for any strange behavior that could indicate further trauma, but he should be fine."

Her heart swelled with love and sympathy for her stepbrother, but as she saw the self-pitying look fall over his face, she realized that the last thing that he needed was for her to coddle him right now.

"So, to clarify, you mean that we have to watch for signs that there's been any newbrain damage?"

Derek slightly shocked, swiveled his head up to stare at her with an open jaw.

What the hell? Since when does Casey kick people when they're already down?

She raised an eyebrow, challenging him, and his face spread into a mischievous grin as a wave of gratitude rushed through him.

"Well, you'd better call those doctors, George. I think poor Derry has already gone brain dead." She paused and tapped her finger on her cheek. "Or is it that he never had a brain to begin with?"

Since it's just what the doctor ordered, Derek thought.

As the rest of the kids rushed in to greet him, he smirked and replied, "Speaking of brain damage, do you think that could be the reason that you're such a freak?"

Monday: November 19, 2007

5:31 P.M.

Ever since Derek had overheard Casey's bedside confessions, he'd seen her in a different light. How could he not? It wasn't every day that you overheard your daily verbal sparring partner offer you one of her kidneys, and while he knew that Casey had a tendency to overreact to things, he had the strangest feeling that she would have actually done it. Or, at least, that she would have tried to.

It wasn't long before strange thoughts began to occur to him. Whenever Ralph commented about Casey's sex appeal, Derek suddenly found himself silently agreeing with him, and simultaneously wanting to punch his friend in the head. Sure, he still pretended that the thought of Casey as anything but his lame stepsister made him retch, but as early as two nights after the accident, he'd started having dreams about her coming on to him. Then he started dreaming about coming on to her. After that, he'd started dreaming about her more and more often until he hardly ever dreamed of anything else.

Even his nightmares surrounded her. He dreamed of coming onto her and, instead of being welcomed into her arms, she recoiled in disgust. Other times, his bad dreams were of her with other guys that she openly flaunted in his face. His poor best friend had been so confused when Derek kept glaring at him all day long after an especially vivid nightmare of Sam and Casey getting back together. And though neither had ever talked about it, and they told the coach that it was an accident, they both knew that Derek had intentionally caused Sam to trip and face plant at practice that afternoon.

Naturally—a few weeks after the dreams had begun—he started thinking about her during the day too. Occasionally, he even had flashes of his dreams when they were in the same room together and his cheeks flushed as his throat tightened, and he had to excuse himself.

Worse, a couple of months later, he found himself not just wanting to kiss her or touch her—which was bad enough, in his opinion—but he felt compelled to compliment her and…be nice to her. For a while, he had tried to ignore these notions, but he kept slipping up anyway. He and Casey got closer.

Eventually, Derek had started thinking about them actually dating. They started spending time together, even in public. They sometimes ate lunch together at school. Derek coaxed Casey into coming to parties with him. She helped him get his grades up. They watched movies together and played card games.

Of course, they were both so fiercely competitive that when either one was stressed, heaven forbid that they should lose, because the winner was bound to get shut out for the rest of the day.

Then Max broke up with Casey and Derek found himself doing anything and everything to make her feel better. He took her out to movies and out to eat. Sometimes he even paid for her and he wondered how things would be different if they were dating. He imagined sitting next to her and putting his arm around her, intentionally grossing her out with his eating only to apologize afterward and, still chuckling, kiss her cheek. He wondered if she'd kiss him on the first date.

He fantasized so much about going out with Casey that he accidentally started putting his arm around her. She'd give him a weird look and he found a way to play it off, like pulling her into a headlock and noogeying her, but it still made his stomach drop every time he realized what he'd done.

Still, he wasn't too worried until his slip-ups went one step farther.

July 2, 2007

3:04 A.M.

Derek knew that he shouldn't have his arm around her shoulders. Sure, he was doing it in that mocking, pretending-I-care-about-you way, but he'd been doing it way too much lately for him to indulge himself now.

Still, the parking lot was basically empty by now and they had sneaked out to see the midnight showing of Transformers. Derek had been dying to see it and since he knew that he'd never get away with bringing a pre-teen to such a late movie without adult supervision, he had begged and annoyed Casey for sixteen days straight until she agreed to come with him. Well, sort of.

"All right, since we've already seen your movie, be honest. You cheated, didn't you?" Casey asked, sounding only slight accusatory.

"What?" Derek faked disgust. "I can't believe that you would say such a thing!" He took his arm from her and playfully shoved her away from him. "I just, I can't look at you right now," he said huffily.

"Der-ek." She bumped him in the shoulder, laughing. "Come on. I know you cheated. You hid royal spades from another identical deck somewhere on your person, didn't you?"

Grinning, he put his arm back around her and chided, "Casey, Casey, Casey, I didn't have to cheat." He sighed dramatically. "When are you going to realize that I—"

"—always win," she finished for him, snorting and rolling her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. I've heard that one before, and I didn't buy it then either."

"Well, believe it or not, it's still the truth," Derek replied smugly.

"Or some warped version of."

"Oh yeah? Well…" Derek trailed off and frowned.

"Lost your steam?" She asked with a laugh. He nodded, grinning as he sneaked a glance at her face. Derek loved seeing Casey laugh. He thought the way she crinkled her nose was just about the cutest thing in the world.

"Man, Derek, could you have parked any farther away?" Casey whined, noticing that their car was in the very back of the lot.

"I could've parked at the ice cream shop across the street," he pointed out, taking his arm off of her shoulders. "And at least you only had to walk this far after the movie. I made the trek before the movie too."

Smiling, she said, "That was really sweet of you, by the way."

Derek snorted and replied, "Don't go getting the wrong idea, McDonald. I just wanted you to save us seats."

"Mmhmm."

"But if you want to pay me back, you could always do my Biology project."

"Ha! In your lonely, pathetic dreams, Venturi."

"As if I'd waste my time dreaming about you."

More like, 'As if I'd waste my time dreaming about you doing anything but me', he thought.

"There probably wouldn't be any room with all of your blow-up dolls," Casey quipped.

"Well, if you're getting lonely," he threw his arm around her, "I could always loan you one," Derek shot back, making her gag.

"Ugh, that is beyond gross, Derek." He laughed as she shuddered and, without realizing what he was doing, leaned over to kiss her on the cheek. Inches away from her skin, he stopped and panic flooded his mind.

Oh crap. I was just about to kiss her!

Casey gave him a confused look and his brain scrambled for an excuse.

I was blowing away an eyelash? Blow in her face to annoy her? Tell her that her pores look bigger?

Then an idea hit him. He tightened his hold on her and belched in her face.

Oh my God, I can't believe that I just did that.

"Oh my God, Derek! I can't believe that you just did that!" Casey yelled shrilly, pushing him away.

Derek couldn't remember how many times he had pulled that kind of a stunt, even at weddings and funerals, yet he had never felt so mortified about it.

Monday: November 19, 2007

5:38 P.M.

That was the moment that Derek had realized that he was too comfortable around Casey. So, in an effort to distance himself from her, he stopped putting his arm around her. For the most part, he tried not to touch her. Of course, that didn't stop her from touching him.

The second time he almost kissed her, he really got scared. Once again, he played it off and told her that her pores were huge, but he knew that he was too far gone. He had to find a way to pull back before she caught on to what was really going on or he accidentally did kiss her.

So Derek started hanging out with her less and less. He went back to filling his Friday nights with parties and girls who didn't mean anything to him, but he still couldn't shake the urge to kiss her. That was when he started picking fights with her. He insulted her every chance he got. Every time he wanted to act like a boyfriend, he acted like an asshole.

Soon, things between Casey and Derek were back to the way they were when she first arrived on the Venturi's doorstep. They were almost constantly at each other's throats. The biggest difference was that Derek never let her touch him. He knew that if they tried wrestling over the remote, he'd lose what little grip he had on his self-control.

Annoying Casey and making her angry used to be his favorite pastime. Now, it was hardly ever satisfying and there was a hell of a lot more work involved. To be frank, it was exhausting trying to be the bane of her existence all of the time. But he had successfully driven a big, fat wedge between them, and that all made it worth the while. Or, at least, that was what he kept telling himself.

"Derek?"

Startled by the disturbance, Derek jerked in his seat and cleared his throat.

"Don't sneak up on me like that," he snapped at Edwin, grabbing the sandwich and soda from him.

One of these days, I'm going to put a bell around his neck, Derek thought.

"I didn't sneak. You're just jumpy," Ed replied, plopping down onto the couch. "What's up?"

"Nothing."

Edwin cringed as he watched a lettuce leaf soaked in mayonnaise fall onto his older brother's shirt.

One of these days, some girl is going to sit him down and tell him that if he doesn't learn some proper table manners—or just how to eat without being disgusting—that she's going to make him wear a bib, Edwin thought with a snicker. Or maybe she'll just serve him dinner from a trough until he takes a hint.

Derek quirked an eyebrow, but rolled his eyes and ignored his younger sibling.

"Is it about the girl?" Edwin asked.

"Shh!" Derek glared at him threateningly and, pointing, said, "You do not talk about her outside of closed doors or…somewhere else where we can't be eavesdropped on."

"All right, I won't." Edwin threw his hands up in surrender.

"Besides, I already told you that nothing is wrong."

"Uh huh. So, when did you decided to start watching The Wiggles?"

"Huh?" Derek looked up and saw that he'd never changed the channel. The creepy British children's show made him shudder and he quickly switched it over to a hockey game. He chanced a look at Edwin and saw him smirking at him in an all-too familiar way. "Not a word, E-Vent," he warned, grinning as he saw his brother's face fall and he cringed.

"You're never going to let that die, are you?"

"Sure, I will." He took another bite and this time waited until he swallowed before he added, "Right along with 'Klutzilla'."


Special Thanks to: moirariordan, True Love Lives Forever, Brianna, jcool789, ambercrystal from LJ, elvenfrolover05 (also from LJ), and anyone else's comments I missed for answering my question! I asked if Ralph had ever been given a last name, but it seems that, if he has, it's never been revealed.

A/N: Okay, so I'm actually really nervous about this chapter, especially the two flashbacks. Please try to give me feedback specifically on those parts. Those were late night/early morning inspiration and they came out so fast and...yeah...I'm nervous. lol. Yikes. Now my brain is going over other parts I'm nervous about and I'm not sure that I should post, but I think this is just one of those kinds of chapters, you know? It's times like this that I wish I had a Beta. I actually thought of asking before. Well, better late than never (read below for more). Anyway, I guess I better post this now. Thank you, my wonderful readers, especially those who review. ;)

Attention: If anyone would like to beta this story, please Beta-read this chapter and send your comments/suggestions to Mind you, I want someone who can give me feedback/suggestions on content as well as grammar. And I need someone who's feelings won't be hurt if I go against his/her advice.