While it's good he and Casey are back to their usual squabbles, Derek felt like things weren't actually the same.

Possibly because he may or may not have had a dream about making out with his stepsister.

And possibly because he found himself thinking about it more and more now.

It was going beyond the morbid curiosity he told himself it was initially. He actually wants Casey, of all the girls in the city, he wants her.

And when he watches as Max hones in again, seeing Casey on the stairs, presumably to try to get on her good side, he can't stand it anymore.

He marches over, gets in his face, and mutters darkly, "Back off, she doesn't want anything to do with you."

Which is true. It has to be.

Max looked like he was going to start something until Casey spied them through the throng of students. She appeared beside them, lips in a thin line. "Something wrong?"

"No, no." Max said, hands up, "Nothing."

Derek watched him leave with satisfaction. Casey watched Derek, saw it on his face. She was confused. What was going on? She stepped to face him, bringing his eyes to her.

"Care to let me in on what that was about?" The girl asked with a sigh, blue eyes searching his.

"Nope." Derek muttered, parting from her by slipping past a group of students.

This was not good. Not good at all.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Derek purposefully avoids her for the rest of the day. But he can't break curfew, and she knows that. He gives in and goes home. She isn't in the family room, nor the kitchen, and he supposes she's studying.

Good, maybe it means she'll leave me alone, he thinks as he trudges up to his room, pushing his door open.

And there's Casey, studying all right, but on his bed.

Those were two things he didn't mind together, but he had to crush the scenarios his mind was bringing up.

Kissing Casey. Tasting her neck. Touching her skin.

Yeah, those, those needed to stop. He focused on the stack of books on his bed, pretending to read the spines before asking, "What are you doing here?"

She sat up, a strand of her dark hair falling into her face as she did so. Derek had the urge to tuck it behind her ear. Dammit, he was supposed to be looking at the books. He looked down, catching the outfit she wore. Great, she was wearing a tank top. It ensured his imagination was accurate.

Seemingly unaware of his thoughts, she said, "I wanted to talk to you about today. About Max."

He frowned. "Look, Space Case, if you want to get back together with him and waste your time, fine. Thanks for the update on Things Derek Doesn't Care About."

Casey was quiet for a moment. "Do you really?"

Derek was getting irritated now, which was convenient, really—it kept him from focusing too much on the fact that she was on his bed. "What? Is this really necessary right now, Case? Did you run out of people to listen to your neurotic listing of the pros and cons what you should do about your sad lack of a love life? Well, I'm not listening."

That made her angry. "Fine, here's a con, no, in fact, here's two, you ready?" She stood up and growled, "One: he's my stepbrother, and even worse, he's a complete jerk!"

A dumbfounded Derek was a rare sight, but she had managed it. The girl's patience had run out however, and she picked up her books, brushing past him. The door slammed.

The sound seemed to knock him out of his stupor. Adrenaline hit him next, and he found himself in her room, ignoring the way she said his name as he slammed her door in his haste, and put one hand roughly on her cheek, pulling her forward, his lips clashing harshly.

Drawing back didn't really occur to her. She rose to her feet to shorten the distance. It was like there was this sudden itch, this craving, was being satisfied right then and she couldn't stop herself. She put one hand on his back, fingernails curling into him, the other finding its way on his neck, into his hair.

He responded by moving his hand from her cheek, using both hands to roam along her arms. She smelled like vanilla, tasted like strawberry-flavored chapstick.

There had been other girls. But this was different. She was different. No one had made him want to touch her as much as she did. No one had made him feel this out of control.

The sound of a cell phone ringing distracted them. Casey pulled her face away from his, panting, lips red, looking like she'd just realized what they'd done.

Derek stared at her, aware of her hands on him, aware of the way his fingers gripped her arms. He wanted to say to ignore the phone, to let him kiss her again, to ignore the thoughts and panic rising within him.

But instead he released her, pulling away from her touch, mumbling, "Sorry," before bolting out the door.

The eldest Venturi couldn't stay here, he realized. Not tonight, not with her next door, not with the way every single nerve felt like it was buzzing.

Taking out his phone, he called Sam. "I'm staying at yours tonight," he said, ignoring his friend's greeting, "I…uh, Casey."

"Should I be concerned that your explanation actually made sense to me?" Sam said jokingly.

"I'll be there soon." He responded, abruptly ending the conversation.

Casey watched as he left the driveway, arms wrapped around herself, goosebumps still on her skin. The last few minutes played on repeat in her head.

"Where in the world is Derek going?" George interrupted her thoughts.

She jumped, startled by him, and hoped he couldn't see her lips, the blush on her cheeks. Laughing uncomfortably, she said, "Oh, he said he and Sam have a project. Last minute. Asked me to tell you. You know Derek."

George frowned. "He should have told me."

Casey looked at her stepfather quizzically, "Oh, I volunteered to tell you, said you wouldn't mind. He wanted my help on it but—" she stopped abruptly, realizing she was beginning to ramble.

"Right," George said hesitantly, not sure what to make of her story, "Well, thanks for encouraging him to do the work, I suppose. I'm off to bed. Good night, Casey."

"Night." She whispered, watching him leave.

Leaning her head back, she let out a long sigh. What in the hell was she going to do? Derek had kissed her.

After she implied she had feelings for him.

Which meant he did too, right?

Except he bolted the moment he realized what had happened.

Sleep would not come to either of them.