When Casey wakes up, it's even darker than it had been before.

Outside the giant windows and past the balcony, she can see the Falls. Multicolored lights show them off, and she watches the hues flicker across the water. The lights illuminate the room with faint glows of red, orange, blue, green, purple… It makes her feel safe and happy, and she smiles faintly as she presses herself tighter to Derek.

Reality hits her hard then, and her eyes fly open.

Derek.

Derek had been the one to witness her breakdown.

Derek knows her dirty little secret.

Panic fills her. What had she done? Why had she let him in on her misery? This wouldn't change anything. He'll still annoy her, still hate her.

She remembers the tiny little kisses she'd left him with before she fell asleep, remembers his sharp intake of breath, and she blushes crimson. Why had she been so stupid? She'd fallen for the charms of the great Derek Venturi, and now she'll pay the price.

And she's his stepsister for crying out loud! Not only does she have bona fide feelings for him, but it's incredibly taboo, and there's no telling what it will do to their parents, the rest of their siblings, if anyone were to find out.

And that's assuming he feels the same way.

Oh, God, she is so incredibly screwed. Of course Derek won't feel the same way! He'll be freaked out and he'll yell at her and scream and throw a fit, and look at her in complete disgust. He'll probably never really talk to her again, or he might completely humiliate her and tell everyone, and then what is she going to do?

Change her name, dye her hair, and move to Russia, maybe.

She had thought, before she left for New York, that he wanted her like she wants him. That they had stopped really fighting and started teasing. She had thought that they were flirting. And in the car on the way here, he had stuttered and tried to put it into words, but what if he'd only been about to say something along the lines of I thought we were getting along more, or I thought we were cool?

She hears a tiny, deep chuckle, and she jumps, looking up at him.

Derek smiles down at her easily, a hint of his old smirk in place. Mostly though, he's just looking at her with adoration, and it creeps her out. This isn't the Derek she knows. This is the Derek that Emily and a million other girls got to know, but not her. Never her.

"What?" She asks self-consciously. She knows she must look like a mess.

"Nothing. You're just thinking too hard again."

She bites her lip. He's always been able to see right through her.

"I'm sorry," she apologizes now. Maybe she can make things right between them. Maybe he doesn't have to loathe her like she thinks he will. "Earlier… I was just so upset. You were really nice to me. Thank you."

He frowns, seeming confused, but then he gets it. Now the smirk is back. "Oh, you mean those little kisses you gave me? Of course, I use the term kisses lightly. Those weren't nearly what I would consider kisses."

She blushes and sits up carefully, scooting away from him. "Sorry." She apologizes again.

Gently, he reaches up and pushes her back down. She watches him, not entirely sure what he's doing, but then he's rolled on top of her, and is pushing hair off her cheeks.

Her eyes widen and flames roll up and down her body. The faint roaring from the Falls is nothing compared to the roaring in her ears.

"Would you like me to show you what real kisses are like, Casey?"

His voice is deeper, huskier than usual, and his body is delicious and warm against hers. He still hasn't put a shirt on, and she can feel his skin against hers where her shirt has rode up.

She shivers when she looks into his eyes. And suddenly she knows; yes, he does feel the same way about her. Yes, he is there for her, like he said he would be. He doesn't want to humiliate her. He wants to be there for her throughout this entire Dad mess. He wants to see her happy. And also, yes, he is still the same Derek. Nothing has changed.

The way he's teasing her and looking at her with a challenge on his face is proof enough of that. They are still the same Derek and Casey, but now they're Derek and Casey and Casey and Derek. They still annoy each other, but now, they also get under each other's skin in the best of ways.

She has always wanted sweet and romantic and slow and cute.

But maybe what she needs is all the things Derek is.

She grins. "What? You means these aren't real kisses?"

She leans up and runs her lips across the point where his shoulder and neck meet, bites down hard, and then sucks, running her tongue across the ache to take it away.

"Fuck, Casey, where the hell did you learn to do that?"

Truth is, she's never done that. Not with anyone. She's only allowed chaste kisses and handholding and cuddling. Safe things. But Derek has always brought out something passionate in her, and she knows that things with him will be different.

She smirks up at him. "Textbooks aren't the only things I read."

He groans, then seems to remember his initial point. "That still wasn't a real kiss, Casey."

She rolls her eyes, but keeps a smile on her face. "Then by all means, show me what a real one is, Derek."

She expects them to smash their mouths together hard, so it surprises her when he leans down and softly brushes his bottoms lip across both of hers. Her eyelashes flutter closed, and she lifts her head as he draws back, trying to keep the contact.

He lingers above her a moment, their lips barely touching, teasing her. She whines a tiny bit under her breath, and she feels his lips twitch into a smile, but then it's gone again and he's really kissing her.

Her head falls back against the mattress, and she gasps at the intensity of it all. His tongue traces her lips, and she kisses him harder, inviting him in. When the tips of their tongues touch for the first time it's as though an electric shock runs through her body. A small sound escapes her throat and she blushes, but Derek seems to be encouraged by it, because he cups her face in his hands and proceeds to drive her wild with his mouth.

Eventually, the frenzy ebbs, and he kisses her roughly several times, then pulls away, rolling off of her to lay beside her.

She's panting and can't seem to stop.

He grins. "Now that was a real kiss."

She finds her breath and her voice at the same time. "Noted."

He laughs a little, then his eyes soften and he reaches out to stroke her face; her jaw, her cheek, her lips, her eyelids, her nose. "Don't over think this, okay Princess?"

She frowns, staring at the blanket and trying not to fidget. "What does that mean?"

"It means don't go blowing this out of proportion. Nothing's changed, Space Case."

She feels as though he's slapped her. Her chest is constricting and she can't breathe and she's pretty sure she's about to hyperventilate. "You mean you don't feel anything for me at all? You just want to use me? And… And be with other girls? And pretend that we're nothing but family with….With benefits on the si-"

Derek's eyes steadily widen in horror as she rambles, and he sits up abruptly, pulling her with him. "Oh, my God, Casey, no! That is not what I meant!"

"Then what did you mean?"

"Just that we're still us. We're still going to fight and bicker and drive each other crazy. Only now, we get to have fantastic make-up sex." He winks, and she gasps in indignation.

"Derek!" She reaches out, smacks him on the arm.

"See? Like that."

Her stomach growls suddenly, and he gestures towards the table in the sitting area. "It was pizza; I was right, as usual. I saved a you a couple of slices."

She gives him a small smile, and as an after thought, leans forwards to peck him on the lips. "Thanks."

She glances at the clock when she goes to the kitchenette to heat up the pieces in the microwave. Almost five in the morning.

She sighs. The family had an early morning planned. She'd have to get in the shower soon. The shower with the glass door… And Derek will have to at least brush his teeth…

She grins. Her morning is definitely looking up.

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