Author's note: I've had two chapters written up for this story, but I was torn as to which to post first. They both revolve around the same scene and time period, it's just that one is Casey's POV and the other is Derek's. I really wanted to do Derek's first, but my conscience kept bothering me by telling me that I hadn't yet posted something from Casey's. So I spent some time rearranging things to make it all work. And yeah, so I totally borrowed an idea from Bring it On and a couple of names from Ten Inch Hero. As if I'm the first to do something like that, lol! It's not even the first time I've done it!
Music suggestions: 'Nervous' by Melissa Etheridge, 'First' by Lindsay Lohan, 'Love/Hate heartbreak' by Halestorm.
Disclaimer: Life With Derek isn't mine. Otherwise, I could type "Life With Derek movie" into the search engine and actually find concrete info about it.
Like Wine: Chapter 3
It had been almost four months since their high school graduation, one month since she and Derek started uni together, and Casey felt completely unsettled.
She had no real explanation for the feeling, something just felt...off. The only thing that gave her any respite was that, as per usual, she could blame Derek for the feeling.
She didn't need a reason. Just living with him alone was reason enough.
She'd tried sorority life, and Derek had went the corresponding fraternity route, but for some reason, she'd been rejected days after she'd been informed that she'd been accepted. She'd planned on living in her sorority house, but when that fell through, she'd been left floundering. At that point, it'd been far too late to find a dorm or an affordable one-person apartment close to campus.
Conveniently for her, Derek's plans fell through as well.
She'd been sitting on the curb in front of her former sorority house, pondering her options before she called home when he'd coincidentally drove past her and pulled over. He got out of the car, stalked over to her, grabbed her up by the arm, and hauled her back to the car. Once he climbed back in the car and drove off, he informed her that her dad already had a two bedroom apartment put on hold for them, ready to be moved into immediately.
It had been news to her, and the man was her father, not Derek's.
It got even weirder from there. It was as if plucking them out of their usual environment shook up both their personalities. Translating, that meant that Derek was almost...nice to her. And that meant she had no choice but to do so as well.
Granted, they still had their moments. Derek was still Derek, after all.
If she were at all honest with herself, things between her and Derek had been different since they'd danced to her song at the prom. The subtle shift that had resulted that night had almost felt as real as the hair she'd twisted around her fingers as he held her, his grip tightening around her as she stepped in closer, resting her head on his shoulder.
She'd felt so relaxed in his arms that she hadn't even thought about it as she leaned into his shoulder. At the time, she'd just blamed it on the song and being caught up in the moment. But, try as she might, she couldn't ignore the little lurch her heart gave every time she thought of the moment she'd realized the song ended and pulled back minuetly. He'd been holding on to her so tightly that she could only pull back a few inches, her face almost touching his. It wouldn't have required much work on either side if they'd wanted to kiss. And then he'd said that line, as if he hadn't wanted to let go of her either.
And the thought had thrilled her much more than the thought of kissing Truman had.
For the most part, she'd been able to push the thoughts and feelings from that night to the furthest recesses of her mind, crediting it to being one of those temporary leases on sanity that were starting to frequent her body and mind. The thoughts that were beginning to prove that Derek might just be a good guy. Perhaps one of the most honorable men that she knew.
She sometimes felt like cursing him when the pile began to grow. Until one day, she realized it was out of control.
ooosoooooo*ooowoooeoo*
It was a few months into university that Casey realized how possessive and obsessed she'd become about Derek. Of course, it was rather rudely shoved into her face how obvious it was to the casual female observer...
Casey practically glowered from her seat in the courtyard as Derek sauntered past surrounded by a flock of his fellow hockey teammates. She knew he didn't have to walk this way. In fact, it was kind of out of his way. He did it out of spite, he just refused to leave her be. All she asked for was a few minutes with her new fast-becoming friends, Tish and Piper, girls that she met in her English Lit class. Just one half an hour of straight "girl time" away from class once in a while. But no. Way too much to ask for when Derek knew that was what she wanted.
Derek was the first to break the gaze with a playful shake of his head and picked up a conversation with one of his teammates as they continued past the courtyard and into the crowd. Casey rolled her eyes, fighting a quirk of her own lips, and turned to face Tish. She started slightly at the deep, inquisition-like look directed at her.
"What?" Casey said defensively, frowning and taking a bite of her lunch. A chill gust of air blew wisps of her ponytail over her shoulder, causing her to shiver.
"What's going on with you and Derek?" Tish asked shortly, narrowing her eyes.
"Nothing..." Casey trailed off, confused with the question. She pulled an extra hairtie from her pocket and wound her hair up into a bun to avoid their gazes.
"It's a simple question." Piper interjected, backing up Tish. "Are you and Derek, like, together, or something? Because, to be honest, he's already hit on me twice this week. I want to know before I accept."
"And what you're doing with him out in public...wow. It's way inappropriate." Tish admonished before Casey could say anything.
"Are you kidding? Of course not!" Casey said indignantly, attempting to rise from her seat, only to be held down at the shoulder by both Piper and Tish. "That's preposterous. And we don't do anything "inappropriate" in public! I don't know what you're talking about. Go ahead and date him, I couldn't care less what he does." Casey vented irritably, crossing her arms over her chest. "And we haven't verbally fought out in public in months."
"Don't lie to us about it, Casey. We're better at it than you." Tish stated matter-of-factly in a challenging tone.
"Better at what?" Casey asked impatiently, staring in the direction Derek had just disappeared into. She'd almost prefer his snarky personality shadowing her at that moment.
"You were having eye sex with him." Piper stated informatively, resting her chin on her hand and staring at Casey sagely. Tish nodded in agreement. Casey's jaw fell open in shock.
"What!" Casey shrieked, attempting to stand again only to have the previous shoulder action repeated. "I didn't...I'm not..." Casey trailed off, muttering to herself incoherently in a befuddled tone.
"Ooh...denial. That's never a fun stage." Piper said sympathetically, patting Casey on the shoulder as she stood and collected her things. "Well...it's been fun. See you back at the dorm later for our study group, girls. Tish, be sure she makes it to her next class, would you? She still looks a little shell-shocked."
"I've got it covered." Tish said with a wry smile.
Ever since then, she couldn't stop the Derek-centric thoughts from bubbling to the surface. Every now and again, she'd catch herself muttering out loud to the empty apartment about something Derek-related that irritated her. Like how he left all his dirty clothes, from socks and dirty hockey gear to jeans and...girl's undergarments that were most definitely not hers, littered all across the apartment. It was usually her that was forced to relent and skulk around the apartment to collect everything and throw it in with her wash.
Or leaving dishes cluttered on the sink and counter in their already cramped kitchen until she couldn't even see the countertop. Again, it usually fell to her to wash and return everything to its proper place.
But then there were times that she caught herself sighing wistfully and humming about something he did that was so sweet it sent a warm shock wave throughout her body.
Like when he stood up for her after one of her first college dates had tried to force her into going further than she wanted...
She'd smashed the heel of her palm into his nose and broke away, just as Lizzie had instructed her to do, sobbing and clutching her purse and her heels to her chest as she jogged out of the building. She hadn't even made it a quarter of the way to their apartment before she almost ran head-long into Derek on his way to visit a friend that resided in the same dorm building she'd just fled from.
One look at her and he crushed her in a tight embrace, somehow sensing that that was exactly what she needed from him. Something familiar. Someone that would never hurt her like that.
Waiting until she figuratively got her feet back under her, he let her pull back when she was ready. His hands still clasping her biceps loosely, she could almost say his tone was gentle when he asked for details. And gentle was one of those terms that didn't appear often in the Casey and Derek guide to survival. Given the waterworks were still leaking down her face, she gave him the hitching and tear-clogged version of what had happened.
The words "forced" and "me" barely passed her lips before his hands tightened minutely on her arms and a scowl marred his usual carefree expression.
Unclenching his hands from her arms, he forced the frown into something more typical of Derek, reassuring her with a light brush of his fingertips on her face, brushing a loose strand behind her ear.
"Why don't you walk back with me to the dorms? You can stop by Tish and Piper's and let them fret over you like girls do for a few minutes." Derek said in an encouraging tone, pulling her around into the direction he'd suggested so they could start walking. A dark threat had glimmered in his eyes as he stared straight ahead of them. "There's something I need to take care of that just can't wait."
He'd shown up at Tish and Piper's dorm room ten minutes later to pick her up. When she'd answered the door, his hair was sticking out at odd angles and there were tell-tale red marks on his knuckles. But she'd said nothing as he held his hand out for her, instead reaching out and twining her fingers around his as he led them away.
One of the worst revelations hit her the same night as Tish and Piper's intervention.
Did Derek know about "eye sex", as Tish and Piper had referred to it as? It was Derek they were considering here. He could have possibly invented the term. And was he willingly having it with her if he did know about it? Did she want him to?
College was becoming a dangerous environment for their barely tolerate/hate relationship.
ooowoooroo*ooouoooo*ooocooomoo
She noticed the undefined emotion was getting worse when she snapped at a girl that was trying to get to Derek through her. It hadn't even been that serious. The girl had been right up Derek's alley: blond, lithe, and about as intelligent as the name that reminded her of a car. It had been at a party, a party that was being conveniently thrown right next door to their apartment in celebration of a recent big hockey win and a four day weekend. That had already left her feeling edgy and short-tempered, especially when Derek accepted the invitation and dragged her along without even asking if she had better things to do.
Which she did. Her life wasn't just about parties and hockey, like his was. She liked having time to herself to just curl up and get lost in a good book. Nights like that were few and far in-between when one took their college GPA as seriously as Casey did.
So there she was, sitting on a couch while Derek ambled off somewhere for drinks, probably looking as out of place as she felt. Time passed and she could see Derek talking with their neighbor, who was also the same hockey player she'd mentioned earlier. So there she was, forgotten by the person that had brought her, no Emily-esque backup to turn to and no chance to call because her cell charger was malfunctioning and her cell phone was dead.
Then Cam sat down next to her. She didn't even warm up to the conversation that was going to be Derek-centered.
"That guy you came with, that's Derek Venturi, right?" Cam asked, crossing her legs and angling herself towards Casey, her intentions clear in her eyes.
"Yes." Casey answered shortly, angling her head slightly to check on Derek's progress away from the kitchen. He hadn't budged.
"He's some kind of hockey player, right? Really great and everything?" Cam questioned, following Casey's searching gaze and stretching her neck to get a better look.
"Yeah, I guess he's decent enough. I'm not an expert or anything." Casey returned curtly, not being helpful in any way.
"Are you here together?" Cam asked, a stereotypical piece of gum snapping as she waited for Casey's response. Casey's eyebrow twitched upward before she turned her glacial expression towards the other girl.
"Yes, we're here together. Now back off." Casey said in a frigid tone, surprising herself as well as the relatively harmless girl.
"Right. Okay." Cam said slowly after a long pause, standing and quickly vacating Casey's penetrating gaze.
"Wow Case. How do you expect to pick up a decent boyfriend when you can't even be nice to your own half of the species?" Derek asked in a teasing tone, plopping down beside her on the couch. He'd kept her in his corner-of-the-eye vision the whole time and turned to see the whole cold shoulder treatment Casey had given the only person that talked to her the whole night. Throwing an arm around her shoulders, he asked in a tired tone, "What'd that one say to set you off?"
"I just don't appreciate being the go-to girl when it comes to getting the 411 on you." Casey replied, picking up his arm and pulling it away from her shoulders. She then pushed herself up from the couch and looked down at him after she stood. "I actually feel kind of sick, so I'm just going to go home, alright?"
"Are you gonna be okay? Do you want me to come with?" Derek asked, showing a rare ounce of concern. No one was around, so it wouldn't damage his rep anyway.
Casey shook her head negatively.
"I'll be fine. It's probably just that psychology test coming up. You know how I stress before a test." Casey answered, shrugging her shoulders in a 'what are you going to do with me' way.
"That test isn't until next Wednesday, Case." Derek stated with a knowing smirk. He then shooed her away. "Go and make some flash cards to make yourself feel better."
"Don't stay too late. Remember we're going home tomorrow." Casey reminded him, smiling slightly as she backed away from him.
"Of course." Derek said with fake cheerfulness, waving her away again. "Don't wait up for me."
She waggled her fingers at him over her shoulder as she walked through the door and across the hall to their apartment.
He ended up following her through the door twenty minutes later.
"Party wasn't the same without you." Derek remarked with a shrug at her questioning gaze.
She threw a wadded up index card at him.
oooaooosoo*ooomoooo*oooeooowoo*
She still couldn't decide on whether or not she wanted him to lose control and do something. So she'd daydreamed about him once or twice...alright, so it was quickly becoming a routine habit. How could she not when he was strutting about the apartment all the time in nothing but a towel? And maybe, maybe, she may have peeked through the crack in the door once and got a view most girls would give their left kidney to see. She didn't do it on purpose. Well...the quadruple take she may have taken before she could finally pull herself away for good was definitely of her own free will.
And that's when she realized something.
It was getting to be more than just eye sex and subtle caring.
They had each been subconsciously - Well, on her part, anyway. He'd probably deny it - competing with each other to see how much the other could take. She'd been teasing Derek, and not just in a sisterly, "I want to annoy and embarrass you" kind of way. She was treating him in a way that a woman does with a man that she wants to be intimate with.
She was almost 100 percent certain she wanted to have sex. With Derek.
There was definitely something wrong in her head. Regardless, she'd relaxed her "no sex until marriage" goal significantly to "no sex until the right guy comes along" when her thoughts were so overrun by Derek that she had trouble sleeping.
Sure, she kept to her usual nagging ways just to keep things familiar, but what she really wanted was a little change. A change from all the tension that was practically crackling between them every time they came near each other.
Changes were about to be made, regardless of her being ready for them or not.
Or him.
ooowoooooo*oooonooooo*ooooeoooxooo
I'm working on the other half presently and I'll probably have it up within the next couple of days since it's mostly all written. No, for real! When I say until next time, I actually mean in this lifetime, lol! How'd it feel? Did it match up well with the other chapters? And this is what I meant when I first mentioned that I wanted to explore Derek and Casey's college life.
