Back from the dead. I'm so sorry it took so long to update. The first reason was that I wasn't very inspired because I only got 4 reviews, but the second reason was that I didn't really like this chapter all that much. Casey seemed way too OOC for me. So I had to change a little scene. She might seem OOC at the beginning, but near the end, you'll see why. Thanks to all who added to their alerts, it means a lot to me. Hope you enjoy. I also want to add that there is a reason for the title is, but you won't find out till later chapters, it is a feature that I think is really cool.

Disclaimer: I don't own LWD, or even this plot.

After two hours of studying, Casey decided she had enough. Although the majority of the time she wasn't studying. She was too preoccupied with thoughts of her conversation earlier with Derek. He was willing to go out with Emily, because she had rejected him first. The scene ran over and over again. She flopped down on her bed. This wasn't normal for her to think about a guy like this. The more she thought about it, the angrier she became. Not at herself, but at him. He asked her out once, and she rejected the idea, and he gave up. A twisted smirk appeared on her lips. She had her mind made up; she was going to make Derek regret messing with her feelings.

Dressed from head to toe in pink, Casey headed downstairs.

"Casey, you look beautiful." Nora was also dressed classy.

"New date?" She asked.

"Yeah, do you think you can watch Lizzie?"

"No, I have a party to go to."

"Is that why you have the blue eye shadow?" She teased.

"Maybe." Casey paused. "So who is the lucky guy?" She tried to get the conversation off of herself.

"You know I don't introduce till after the date." The doorbell rang interrupted any further conversation. She rushed to the door to greet a man with blonde hair.

"Ready to go?" He asked flashing a smile. It would have been smooth except his hand slip and he hit his head on the door. Nora gasped and Casey tried not to laugh.

"Do you need ice, anything" She asked in concern.

"No, I'm fine." He had a man's reputation to uphold.

"Casey we'll be back around 11." With that the two left leaving Casey in charge. Lizzie usually made it a point to be scarce till the after the first date. The doorbell rang once again. Casey wasted no time answering it.

"Wow Casey, looking special for someone?" There as an edge to her voice, but Casey didn't question it. She simply shrugged.

"No, I just thought that I would look nice."

'And break a heart.' She mentally added.

There wasn't anything out of the ordinary about the party scene. A couple drunks which warned her not to drink anything open. A dew couples making out in some of the darker places. Her eyes scanned the cord looking for Kendra. Her eyes landed on Sam and Derek staring at them.

"Somebody is checking you out."" She whispered to Emily. Her face lit up when she saw Derek.

"Shall we go grace them with our presence?" They linked arms and started the walk, but before they reached them, Kendra snatched her away.

"Casey, come on. There is someone I want you to meet." Immediately Casey knew what she was doing. The same thing she always did with all the guys she met that were according to her standards for looks that she wanted. If Kendra found herself interested in a guy, she would simply introduce the girl to another guy to get hung over while she made her move. And judging how she was introducing her to other guys; she wanted Derek.

"I think he fits your personality." She gushed.

"This is Josh." Kendra introduced, and Casey had to admit, he as pretty cute.

If beauty could kill; he would have died on the spot from Casey. If glaring would kill, all the boys at the party would die a slow painful death. He swore his mouth dropped at least a little when she saw her enter. Sam even teased him about it until he told him to shut his face. He watched them whispering in the loud music. He found himself smiling when they were heading towards them. It instantly faded when the girl he had met earlier pulled her away.

"Hi Derek, hi Sam." Emily added the last part as an after thought.

"Hi, um Emily wasn't it?" She was pleased beyond belief that he had remembered her name.

"Yeah." She continued to ramble on. Derek tuned out. His eyes wandered on Casey till she disappeared from his line of vision. He couldn't believe how much one girl could infuriate and confuse him at the same time. His mind recalled when they had first met in the office. He had sensed the connection no matter how cheesy that sounded. That was what separated her from the rest of the girls, and no matter ho much she denied it, he somehow knew that she felt it too, and unlike most girls it scared her. Things seemed to be going well until yesterday happened. They hadn't talked since them, and it was bothering him to no end.

"What about you?" She asked with a smitten smile and eager eyes.

"I don't know. Excuse me." Nobody tried to stop him. He stopped at the doorway with a clear view of the next room. He didn't need to scan the room to find her. Currently Kendra was introducing her to another guy. He waved as if she would see it. He rested his head on the doorway. Somewhere along the way he had screwed up big time.

Even though Josh was very charming, he wasn't Derek. She had let her eyes wander half way through their conversation. She saw Derek leaning on a doorframe. She saw him wave before directing her attention back to Josh. So this is what Derek felt like all the time, playing with the emotions of another human being. It felt oddly good. It gave her power.

"Casey." She hadn't realized that she had been staring at him that long.

"Want to dance?" She interrupted. Josh was grinning like an idiot.

"I thought you'd never ask." He led her out on the dance floor with the change to an upbeat song. She knew he was watching. Let the games begin.

The next couple minutes felt like eternity to watch. He just wanted it to be over with. There was his Casey dancing with a guy named Josh. And frankly he found out all he needed to know about him from Sam. If it wasn't a version of him that attended the school, and if it was just a single dance with just a girl, he wouldn't have minded it at all. But it was his Casey grinding with one of the school's biggest players. He tried his best to retain himself. He felt relief flow through out him when Emily broke up their "dancing" session. Casey looked reluctant, but left with Emily off the dance floor. He took that as his opportunity to approach Josh.

"Stay away from Casey. She is my girl."

"And who might you be?" He scoffed.

"Derek Venturi." He answered.

"Never heard of you." Derek continued to stare. It didn't daunt Josh one bit.

"What? You think just because you told me to leave her alone, I will?" Derek grabbed his shirt collar.

"Let me make myself clear. You don't touch her, talk to her"- He slammed him against a near by wall attracting a little bit of attention. "Or look at her. If you do, then you'll wish you were never born." He finished the threat with a death whisper. When Derek set his feet on the floor, Josh swung at him. Josh's fist met Derek's hand.

"Are you sure you want to do that?" Clearly Derek was stronger; no girl was worth a black eye over, because Josh walked away. Derek's smug smile could be seen a mile away. He had silently threatened every guy in the room by making an example of Josh. He would like to see any guy with the courage to do anything with Casey. He had never felt so protective of a girl before, it would damage his reputation, that he had created, but right now all he cared about was finding Casey.

"Why are you acting like this?"

"Acting like what?" Casey retorted.

"This isn't you. You don't just randomly go dancing like that with some guy you hardly know!"

"Well maybe the old Casey isn't good enough for me anymore." Casey hoped that Emily didn't hear the last part, but her hops were futile.

"What?" Casey's panic started to kick in. She couldn't tell Emily about her feelings for Derek. Not after she had practically told Emily that she should go for Derek and the fact that she told her that she had no feelings for him what's-so-ever. She had two options, lie to her best friend, or avoid the subject all together. She was one of the world's worst liars in the world, so her only option was to avoid the subject like a plague.

"Excuse me Em, I hear the dance floor calling me name." She promptly ignored Emily calling out her name. When she returned to the dance floor; Josh had disappeared. She mentally cursed, and then it dawned on her that it wouldn't be hard to find a new dance partner. As the music played, she began to sing her hips. After a minutes hands glided on them. She smiled, until she turned around to her partner. It faded instantly.

"What are you doing?" She hissed. It shouldn't be him. It was supposed to be someone else. She was trying to fall out of the crush, not fall forward into it.

"Dancing with you." His hot breath in her ear didn't help her any. His scent was intoxicating, and at the moment she couldn't form any more sentences. It felt like they had the first day they had met, when they were the only two people in the room. She couldn't pull away from his tempting figure if her life defended upon it. As the song progressed, their bodies pressed further and further together. The closer they became, the more right it felt. The floor was theirs and no one denied them of it. The art of dancing does not get mastered with moves or practice but with passion. And no one, not even they could understand the passion they shared. Her arms slid around his neck, trying to close the space between them. She felt his heated breath on her neck that made her hairs stand on end but she didn't want to grant him the pleasure of enjoying watching her squirm. As soon as the music stopped, she froze; and without warning; she ran. The crowd spilt for her like the red sea. But after she passed them, they just continued on with the party, it wasn't the first time someone had run out of a party. Derek just stood there as if he needed a moment to recollect everything that just happened.

She sat down on the front steps. The only people who were around were people passed out on the ground. No one would bother her. No matter how much her mind wandered over what had just happened, she couldn't bring herself to think of anything else. What happened to standing up against guys like him? She had failed; she had showed him the side that he had wanted to see. He had seen right through her act, he knew that she didn't normally behave like that. He had manipulated her again, and she had let him.

"Hey pretty lady." A guy approached her with slurred words. She recognized him as the boy that she had met earlier; Josh.

"Josh, are you drunk?" She asked slightly repulsed. Josh just threw his arm around her.

"No." He replied, but she could smell the alcohol in his breath.

"Josh, get off me." She shrugged off his arm, but far more was needed to stop his persistence. He didn't seem so eager to give in her request. She started to have a struggle against him. He was weaker than Derek, but he was above Casey in strength wise. The music dominated over her shouting, so there was no hope drawing a crowd. She was all alone with Josh, and that's the furthest place from where she wanted to be.

By the time Derek had registered what had happened, Casey had already disappeared. He hurried and found Sam and Emily talking in the corner, Emily looked a little upset, but he had more things to worry about. He knew that the subject of conversation was about him because it became quiet as he approached them.

"Hey D, are you alright." Emily remained mute towards him.

"Do you know where Casey went?" He asked. He needed to find her.

"I think she decided to go home." A little bit of hostility was in Emily's voice. Derek nodded as he headed straight towards the door.

"All I want is a good time." Josh had firm grip of both of her arms. Casey felt fear rise up within her. All her feelings of hope had disappeared the first time she shouted and no one could hear her. Suddenly with out warning, Josh was ripped from her, it had all happened so fast. All she saw was Derek holding Josh up against the wall of the house. Something about him was darker then how he usually acted around her. She wouldn't admit it, but it kind of scared her. Derek growled something to him, but the only words that she caught were stay away from her. He let go of Josh's shirt, and he slipped to the ground. Then he turned all of his attention to her.

"Are you alright?" His tone changed in mere seconds. It was a totally different Derek than from what she saw only a moment ago.

"Yeah." It became awkward between them. What could she say to him; especially since she had mixed feelings for him right now.

"Thanks for what you did Derek." She muttered as her eyes found the ground.

"He was being a jerk, and no one acts like that to you." He said in all seriousness.

"Uh, Casey, can I walk you home?" He wasn't used to this; pinning all his emotions with something so trivial. Unlike other girls, it mattered deeply to him what she said.
"Sure." She managed to smile despite the circumstances.

The walk was rather silent as they were side by side. Conversations were mute except for a random question here and a one or two word answer. Maybe it was because both of them felt how much tension there was between them. Neither one of them brought up the dance; some things were better left unsaid. Something felt off to Casey, how exactly did Derek know exactly where he was going? She didn't have to give him directions once. They reached her house.

"Want to come inside?" She offered, after seeing him go bug eyed she added. "To call your parents or something." She glanced at her watch, 11; her mom should be home. As they entered, she noticed that Nora was home and with the guy she had earlier, they were all cozy on the couch, which made her suspect that the date went well.

"Casey." Nora's face seemed to light up at the sight of her.

"This is George Venturi"-

"Derek, what are you doing here?" The blonde man smiled at Derek. What was going on.

"Venturi?" Casey squeaked out, but no one listened to her.

"Nora, this is my oldest son that I was telling you about…" Every thing seemed to fade. Casey saw that Derek was avoiding eye contact with her. Somehow she had a feeling that he knew about his Dad, and for the third time that night, Casey McDonald felt played.

A.N.- Not so much a cliffie right? right? Spoilers will be up in my profile by Weds. Please review, and I promise to update faster.