Title: Queen of Tarts (Part II: Somewhere A Clock Is Ticking)
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: I Own NOTHING!
Summary: The summary and the disclaimers for the last chapter apply here as well. The characters may seem a bit OOC in this chapter, but there is a reason for everything. Once again, this in unbeated so advance at your own risk.
"I wasn't being that loud," Casey hissed, sitting up and snapping her cell-phone closed.
She had been stomach down on her bed when he'd opened the door, but unlike his own warm bed her sheets were as perfect they had been when she'd left that morning. There was a random folder and a notebook open at the foot of her bed, but he ignored this. It just didn't seem to him that she was ready to go to bed, except for the homely pajamas that she had buttoned to the collar of course.
"You want to bet on that," he said, crossing his arms as he leaned against her door frame.
She scoffed, "That's not fair. Do you know how many times I've had to sleep through that noise you call music?"
Derek could feel the headache already starting to pound behind his eyes. He really didn't feel like fighting with Casey. "And exactly why are you trying to drag me into this, I wasn't the one complaining. Iwas sleeping just fine," he said yawning.
"Yeah, right," she said, skeptically.
"Iam right," he whispered, "You're keeping Ed up, not me."
"Really?" she asked. Her eyes darted passed him to the open door and her whole face scrunched in concern.
"Really," he answered, unamused. "He's got something due for school tomorrow morning and he can't get to sleep with you bitching and moaning. So, why don't you do us all a favour and just shut-up and go to sleep."
Her eyes darted back from the door and he knew he'd said the wrong thing. He'd been so close to getting her to shut her mouth but like always he'd gone too far. Damn it. It was late. He was tired and he really wasn't in the mood for this crap.
"You can't tell me what to do,"she hissed, straightening her shoulders.
"Actually I can, but I'm way too tired for that argument. So," he said taking a step forward, "I'm just gonna take this." He snatched her cell-phone and stepped away. "And go back to my room."
She grabbed for her phone, but he easily dodged her. He could hear her climbing off her bed after him as he half-ran half-slid around the divide between their rooms.
"Derek, give me back my phone," she quietly whined stepping into his room.
"Let me think about that for a second," he said, matching her pitch and running over his bed and using it as an obstacle between them. "No."
"I mean it," she warned through clenched teeth, her hands balled fists at her sides.
"Or what?" he asked, mockingly. "You'll glare me to death."
His mattress squeaked as she climbed onto it lunging for the hand that held her phone captive. Needing to match her in height he jumped on, meeting her halfway and she nearly fell from the unexpected shift. Keeping one hand against the wall for leverage, he continued to hold the small phone high above his head and out of her reach.
"C'mon Casey are you going to jump for it or not," he asked, dangling it inches above her hand.
"You're so immature,"she stage-whispered, yanking at his elbow and causing him to falter, but pushing into the wall he held his balance. "No matter what you think, this isn't funny."
"Yeah, well neither is keeping up the entire household," he ground out between breaths, "Just because you're having boy problems," he answered, trying to keep upright on the uneven mattress.
"That's none of your business,"she squeaked, grabbing his arm and turning her back to him. The sudden move took him by surprise and he instantly let go of the phone, but it was too late his footing was already lost. Hitting the bed, a crack sounded and the back of her head collided painfully with his cheekbone and he tried not to cry out as stars burst behind his eyes. He could feel her squirming under him and trying to push both of them up, but he didn't care.
"I can't breathe," she gasped, her fingers digging into his comforter as she tried to military crawl from beneath him.
His hand still holding his injured eye, he rolled off her and onto his back. He stared at the ceiling and waited for her to find her phone and leave, but she only laid beside him trying to catch her breath. Tilting his head he watched her, watch him.
They sat quietly for a moment. If half of his face hadn't been swelling it would have almost been nice.
"You shouldn't have taken my phone," she whispered indifferently, sitting up and rubbing the back of her head.
"You shouldn't have been talking so damn loud," he answered, following her lead. He tried arching his eyebrows but it didn't help.
"Yeah, well you should've just asked me to be quiet instead of yelling at me," she countered.
"You should've just done as you were told instead of acting like such a little princess. You're not always right y'know," he answered, unable to take his hand from his eye. It needed ice.
"I know,"she answered, looking away. "But, you should've... You shouldn't..."
"I shouldn't have what?" he asked accusingly, rubbing the highest point on his cheek. It was starting to swell and would most likely bruise, becoming his latest battle wound in his war against Casey MacDonald.
She looked at him, her eyes switching from one of his to the other. She was probing. He'd done it enough to know it when he saw it. She was trying to find something there. What was it? He didn't know, but he didn't like it. He quickly looked away and she exhaled.
"Nothing," she whispered. "How bad does that hurt?"
"It doesn't," he answered, dropping his hand to his knee. It was a lie, it hurt like hell, but for some strange reason he didn't want her to know that.
"Well," she said, sighing. "I just wanted you to let go of my phone. I didn't mean to break your jaw."
He snorted. "You haven't been in too many fights, have you Case?"
"What do you think?"
"Ithink," he said, throwing his feet over the side of the bed. "That has to be the worst apology I've ever heard."
Her mouth fell open. "I wasn't trying to apologize. I didn't do anything wrong."
"Yeah, okay," he answered, leaning back on his palms.
"I didn't," she reaffirmed, causing a hollow sound when she hit him in the chest. He tried not to wince. "You're the one who came and stole my phone."
"Yeah, well I guess I'll do anything to shut you up."
"Gosh, Derek," she said, not hiding her obvious contempt. "You really know how to charm a woman."
"Well, maybe when I do see a woman I'll try and turn on the charm."
"You're such a jerk." By the tinkle in her laugh, he was confident that there was little conviction behind the insult.
"I'm the jerk?" he asked, putting a hand to his chest. "Technicallyyou're the one who fell on me and to top it off you won't even apologize for it."
"So says you," she answered, turning to face him. "You're dad's the defence attorney you know your case is completely circumstantial."
He scoffed pointing a finger at his eye. "Does this injury look circumstantial to you?"
Suddenly her eyes looked to the swollen flesh along his cheekbone. Her entire face suddenly transformed.
"It does look pretty swollen," she said, the first signs of concern lacing her voice.
"Yeah, well it doesn't feel so good either."
Without warning, she reached over and brushed his cheek. Had she been anyone else he would've thought it was an absent gesture, but with Casey MacDonald everything was calculated. When her fingertips ran across his soon-to-be bruise he clinched his teeth. Usually hockey players didn't wince at bruises, but his face hurt too damn much to care.
"Your hands are hot," he said, for lack of anything better.
"Really?" she asked, one hand moving to cup his chin. He nearly pulled away from her, but Casey MacDonald lacked bedside manner and simply jerked his head closer to her own. Her pale eyes were moving across his face and she was digging her teeth into her plump lip as she admired her damage. He set his jaw, but let her hold him still.
There was an almost hypnotic quality about her when she moved. It reminded him of a nurse who would loll you into a feeling of safety before she helped the doctor reset your arm. It was uneasy but incredibly exhilarating.
"Really," he answered, but his voice sounded distant to his own ears.
Her eyes met his. They were darker than usual, as if that black dot had eaten away almost all of the colour leaving only a sliver of pale blue. He could read the curiosity behind them and it had nothing to do with his cheekbone.
He couldn't watch her this close. Her breath was too warm against his chin. Her fingertips were too soft. Her lips too tempting. She smelled too good. It was just too much.
He merely needed to move forward and his lips would be on hers. He knew the way those lips felt, how she could make him feel. He should've broke the eye contact before he did something stupid, but Derek Venturi had never been accused of being very smart.
He leaned forward and pressed his lips against hers. However, her reaction was not what he'd expected. She pulled away and quickly slid off the bed. She was watching him as if he was a wild dog.
"Derek," she whispered, her breath coming as if she'd just run a marathon. "What are you doing?"
Derek laughed, but there was no pleasure behind it. "You've got audacity, Casey. I'll give you that."
"What does that mean?"she asked, her fear quickly replaced by anger.
"What have I been doing, how 'bout what you've been doing Case?"
She was fuming. He could see it in the way she pushed her hair behind her ear. It was a nervous habit, but it was a nervous habit that revealed the mark he'd left. The dark bite that was in such stark contrast to her pale skin.
She glared down at him. "I don't have to listen to this."
He didn't know if it was the late hour, the way his body was reacting to his step-sister or the fact that he was just generally pissed off, but he raced after her his blood coursing just a little faster. They reached their destination simultaneously, and he shut it as quickly as she tried to open it. He was trapping her between himself and his door. Most likely she would fight him like a stray cat, but he couldn't bring himself to care.
Surprisingly, she went still, her back as hard the door they stood against. Her hair was dry and hung between his lips and her ear, but he could feel in the tension between her shoulders that she heard every word he said, "Now Casey dear, what exactly didn't happen last night because for the life of me I just can't remember."
Her head snapped sideways and she glared at him.
"Fine, I did it," she answered.
The unexpected confession left him in shock. The power of her few words paralysed him for a moment, and he nearly let her go. He'd expected to feel something. He wasn't sure what, but at least something. "Did what?"
"Don't be such an ignoramus, Derek," she spat, her hair slapping him in the face as she spun around to face him.
"I'm not even sure what you just said Casey, but..." His next words were barely above a whisper. "I just want to know why in the hell you've been sneaking my into room at night."
"Since when do you care about the how and the whys Derek. Aren't you Mister Carefree? Since when does everything have to make sense for you?"
"Yeah, well, since when did you become such a..." Derek left his insinuation hanging between them.
Her lip trembled, but her eyes didn't water. "You're such a hypocritical pig, Derek."
"That's right I'm the hypocrite, Casey," he said, pointing at himself before crossing his arms.
"You're trying to say you're not," she questioned, taking a step toward him, her own arms crossed against her chest.
He wanted to take a step backward, but held his ground. "Look whatever crap you're trying to pull isn't going to work Casey, so just stop."
She smiled at him. It was one of the few expressions that made Derek want to shake her."Do you really have that low of an opinion of yourself, Derek?"
"God, Casey," he said, stepping away from her. "If there was a 'Lamest Lines Ever' award, you'd win it hands down."
"Does that scare you Derek?" she said taking a step toward him. "Does it scare you that everyone's going to eventually figure out that you're really not all that great. That they're going to figure out what a fraud you really are. They'll see right through your little scheme-"
"My scheme" he repeated, pointing at himself. " My scheme. What about your scheme, Case?" He turned his finger on her. "What about when everyone finds out what you've been doing for the last month?"
Again, she smiled at him. "And exactly who's going to believe you?"
He felt his breath catch in his throat. What in the hell had happened to Casey MacDonald? "Well, that's fair," he answered, trying not to sound as defeated as he felt.
"You've never played fair, Derek. Why should I?"
"So that's what this is about? You wanna mess with my head over pranks. That's really fucked up y'know."
She straightened her shoulders, switching her cell phone from one hand to the other. "Maybe. Maybe not."
It was her tone that made him clench his fists. It was infuriating. She was that little princess, that prissy bitch too caught up in controlling the world to see past herself. Suddenly, he couldn't catch his breath and the only sound he could hear was the blood rushing in his ears and the angry thump of his heart against his chest.
"Casey," he said, pushing the sleeves of his night shirt to his elbows. He took a step toward her and wasn't surprised that she didn't move. Casey had never been afraid of him.
"What?" she said. Her voice wasn't quite as smug, but he was beyond caring.
"I'm gonna do something that I should've done two weeks ago," he said, grabbing her by the arm. He didn't know what she expected as he backed them to the door, but what he did next had to have been in her index of outcomes. Opening his bedroom door he returned her smile smugly, "I know this might be hard for you, Casey. Well, with me being me, but try and stay the hell away from me and my room."
A sharp pain behind his eyes is what woke him up the second time that night, but it wasn't long before he heard the quiet swing of his door and suddenly he wasn't alone in his room. Had it been any other night he would've just ignored her and tried to get those few hours of sleep back, but he was too angry to really sleep anyway.
"Casey it's four o'clock in the fucking morning. What d'you want?" he asked, not caring to keep his voice down.
She had been holding something in her hands and threw it on his bed beside him. Sitting up, he looked down at the cold object lazily. It was a bag of frozen peas.
"For your eye," she explained.
He leaned his head to the side, narrowing his eyes at her. He was still too irritated to give a damn that she was trying to make amends with a lousy olive branch.
"I'm sorry," she said, her voice barely above a whisper.
"You're what?"
"I said I was sorry," she said, her tone betraying her annoyance with the admission.
His lips twitched into a smirk. "Well, that's a first."
"I said I was sorry, Derek what else do you want?"
"A new car would be nice," he said, hoping to antagonize her further.
"I'm serious," she said, tucking her hair behind her ear and letting him know his mission had been completed successfully.
"Yeah, that's new," he said, sarcastically.
"Derek."
"Casey," he repeated, knowing her annoyance gauge was quickly capping off.
"Look, Derek I'm sorry about the," she gestured to her face, "and everything else."
He stared back at her.
"Well, I suppose you don't have anything to say back to me then," she said, looking away as she crossed her arms. He recognized the difference in her mannerisms, it was a defensive posture she was just trying to protect herself.
"Not really," he answered honestly.
"That's understandable, I just..." she faltered. She looked almost as if she was trying to shrink away. He hadn't seen her look that way very often and it didn't make him feel good. "I shouldn't have expected it. It's not like you've ever apologized to me. Ever."
"Casey, wait," he called.
"I'm..." He took a deep breath. He must be crazy for what he was about to do. "I'm sorry too."
"For what?"
"Bribing Schleper."
"That's all," she asked, her expression half-expectation and half-hope.
"You can't tel me you were expecting more," he answered.
"I don't know maybe an I'm sorry for this,"she asked, rubbing her neck.
"Yeah, I wouldn't hold my breath if I were you," he answered. "Or maybe I would. You should try it. Let me know how that works out for you."
"You'll apologize for bribing a guy, but you won't apologize for this,"she said, once again displaying his handy to work to him.
"Well, I just used Schelper to get you out of your comfort zone," he explained, pushing his sleeves up as he crossed his arms. "Butthat" he pointed, "You had coming,"
"For what?"
"Really?" he asked, titling his head and raising an eyebrow.
She looked defeated. "Then I guess this means you don't accept my apology."
"Well, did you mean it?"
"I said it didn't I?"
"So did I," he admitted.
"You didn't mean that," she questioned, her voice a mixture of both defeat and pure irritation.
"Well, that depends," he drawled.
"On what!"
"Did you mean yours?"
"Of course I did," she said, exasperated.
"Really?" he questioned, skeptically.
"Really," she replied, her answer final. She was looking away again, the fire lost in her humiliation. "Look Derek I know an apology doesn't make up for making you feel so... I guess gross is the only word for it-"
"It wasn't gross, Casey."
"What would call it then?" she said, her eyes swinging back on him.
"I don't know," he answered, shrugging. "Weird maybe."
"Weird?" she echoed, curiously.
"Fine then... Different," he replied, "Hell, probably even illegal, but not gross."
She laughed despite trying not to. "You're a real smooth talker, Venturi."
"Oh, yeah you're quite the vixen yourself," he acknowledged.
"Hey," she said, feigning insult. "You didn't exactly fight me off."
"You got me there," he admitted.
"Well, I mean why didn't you?" she asked, her voice suddenly serious.
"Well, why did you decide to do it in the first place?" he asked, turning the table.
"You really don't want to know," she said looking away again.
"Try me?"
Pale eyes met his as she nibbled her thumbnail. He could see she wanted to hold his gaze and he would've been happy to oblige her but she looked away. Taking a deep breath she pulled her thumb away from her mouth, threading her fingers as they fell into her lap.
"I did it because, I knew you'd let me," she answered, her big pale eyes on his chin.
"You knew I'd let you," he echoed with a mixture of disbelief and disgrace. Did she really think that little of him? That he'd be eager to score with any chick ready and willing? Well, maybe she wasn't all wrong.
"But I mean..." she said, cutting through his sudden internal dialogue. "You don't need to worry about it. I mean it won't happen again. I promise."
"Good plan," he answered, ignoring his more instinctual reaction.
She made no rebuttal and somehow it made him feel worse.
"Derek, I know this is asking a lot, but-" she started, tugging on her ring finger.
"Let me stop you there Casey," he said, pointing the bag of frozen peas at her. "After everything you've put me through are you really going to ask me for a favour?"
"Yes," she answered.
He exhaled, letting the cold bag fall into his lap. "Let me hear it then."
"Derek, you're not going to tell anybody are you?" she asked, trying to muster a smile but her shaking chin exposed her. "I can't blame you if you do, but-"
He smiled. Her teeth were biting dangerously hard into her lip and for a moment he was sure that if she spoke she was going to spit blood. There weren't any tears in her eyes, but he suspected that they were right beneath the surface. The corners of his lips twitched, but his humourless smile never faltered. There were very few things in life that he enjoyed more than watching Casey MacDonald squirm, but tonight she just looked pathetic. He quickly lifted a hand to stop her.
"I'm not going to tell anybody, Case," he answered.
Her thin eyebrows knitted. "Well, why wouldn't you?"
He yawned, rolling his eyes. "If I have to explain that to you Casey then you're not as smart as you think you are."
"Then what do you want?"
He shrugged, crossing his arms. "To go to sleep."
"I'm serious, Derek?" she whined. "What do you want?"
"Seriously Casey, I don't want anything."
"Are you sure?" she asked, skeptically. "You don't want me to take your dish-day or-"
"No," he answered, feeling his patience running thin. "Just keep your promise and leave me alone, okay."
She nodded her head.
"Well, I guess you need to go to bed huh."
"What would've given you that idea?" he asked, closing his eyes and falling back onto his pillows.
He listened for the familiar click of his door being shut, but it never came.
"Derek," she asked, her voice soft.
"Yeah," he answered, lifting one eyelid to look at her. She looked different backlit by the hall light. She didn't look nearly as severe.
"I really am sorry," she said, her voice cracking on her last words.
He closed his eye again, getting lost in the darkness behind it. "I know."
"Case," he called, when heard the swing of his door.
"Yes," she said, pushing it back open. He didn't look at her, but he imagined she was leaning against the door knob in that completely oblivious way she did.
"If anybody asks he was twice your size," he said.
"Who was?"
"The guy who gave me the black eye," he said, reaching for the frozen peas and holding them up for her inspection. "He was twice your size."
She laughed. It wasn't much but it was a definitely a laugh.
Derek pressed the cold bag of vegetables to his eye. He should've felt better, but something was gnawing at the pit of his stomach. Something was holding him back. He couldn't do it. He couldn't shake the feeling that his step-sister was lying. He had to admit that she'd gotten better at it over the years, but she still failed to hide those classic signs. Maybe she could fool Nora or even his dad, but not him. No, Casey was going to keep her little secrets, but at the moment he just couldn't bring himself to care.
TBC...
Author Notes: I don't like stating the obvious, but that was only half of Casey's true reason.