"I don't think she could be any more obvious," Margo says, sipping at her drink. Her free hand is wrapped around the waist of a pretty blonde. Margo's girlfriend, Kennedy, is the polar opposite of Margo; where Axiomatic Division's drummer is shy and reserved, Kennedy has no problem making her opinion known. She's tall, and lean with long black hair, and dark eyes. She's also proven to be loud and impulsive, but she's just as kind as Margo.

She's also very enamored with her girlfriend (and for just a moment, Derek envies them for what they have).

Jackson shrugs. "She could just be honest about it."

"Obvious?" Derek asks. He ignores the sympathetic look that Kennedy gives him… as well as the exasperated glance that Margo and Jackson share.

Jackson gestures to Casey. Kennedy had dragged Margo out for karaoke night and then insisted that she bring her friends so that she could finally meet them. Casey was currently on stage giving an incredible performance of Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, I Hate Myself for Loving You.

He can't pull his eyes away from her.

"This song," he says as if it will explain everything. When Derek clearly doesn't get it, Jackson rolls his eyes and drops his head on the table.

"The song she wrote, singing this song; she's clearly trying to get a message across," Margo says gently.

Derek nods, now understanding. "This is about that guy, then." He should have guessed. Casey has always had a flair for the dramatics.

Jackson makes a strangled sound before sitting up, abruptly. "I need a refill!"

Meanwhile, Derek has finally managed to tear his eyes away from the girl on stage. Now he's glancing around the room, trying to spot anyone that would fit Casey's type, but there are no doormats in sight. "What are you looking for?"

"Trying to figure out if he's here. I mean, why else would she bother singing the song?"

Margo doesn't often take the violent route, but for a moment she looks homicidal like she might strangle him. It's gone in a flash and Derek thinks he might have imagined it. "Oh, he's here. Just as thick as ever."

His eyes cut to her. "You know who it is." It's not a question. Margo shrugs. "Well?" He waits, patiently all things considered. Since the day he met Casey, they've been overinvolved in one another's lives; the fact that he hasn't figured out who Casey's mystery man is is starting to drive him a little crazy. She's always been transparent, she's never been able to keep a secret, and he's always been able to read her.

"Where's Darla?" Margo asks.

Derek waves a dismissive hand. "Out with some friends." He rushed into hanging out with Darla. Darla's not his girlfriend, but she may as well be. He's considered ending it, to be honest (but every time the thought crosses his mind, for some reason he pictures Marti at dinner talking about all the things he and Casey do for one another, and Derek remembers his dad's face; he goes to Darla's room and re-acquaints himself with the parts of her he does like).

He wants to ask her more about Casey's crush, but then the devil herself is suddenly standing beside him. "We should do a duet, Der."

"Sure," he agrees, lazily. Casey's eyes widen with surprise, and really she should know better. "When hell freezes over." Her brows narrow, and she swats him on the shoulder. It doesn't hurt, much.

"Jerk," she mutters without much venom. She's smiling. Despite her dramatics with her choice in song, Casey's in a decent mood. She takes the seat beside his, her thigh pressing against his and focuses on getting to know Kennedy better. It turns out, Margo's girlfriend is a gymnast, so she and Casey have a lot to talk about.

Jackson drops into the seat he previously vacated. He claps Derek on the back, shakes his head, and then they go into a discussion about their last hockey game.

…

Derek slides into his stats class at the last possible second. He figures he'll be the last one to arrive, but a few minutes after class begins, the guy that Derek bums notes off of hobble through the door. He's on crutches, his face is bruised, and one eye is swollen. He ducks his head as he heads to his seat, sliding into it with some grace.

Aside from giving him a lingering glance, the professor doesn't even bat an eye.

After class, Derek helps the guy - Oliver - gather his things (he can be an ass, but he's not heartless). He can't resist asking, "What happened?"

Most of the room has cleared out, and no one is paying them any attention, so he sighs. "I may have overestimated my ability to play cards," he admits.

It takes a second, but then Derek gets it. "Fraternity poker," he guesses. Suddenly his hands feel clammy.

Oliver nods. "A subtle reminder to pay them back, and soon." He gives Derek a once over, and his gaze is sympathetic. Lowering his voice, he asks, "How much do you owe?" Derek tells him. He lets out a low whistle. "Hope you have something in place to pay them back."

Derek responds with a grimace as they separate.

He's not sure what compels him to do it, but he goes to Casey's dorm later that afternoon. He knows she'll be there, and isn't disappointed. Not until "Go away." Derek's brows shoot up, and she gives him an annoyed look. "I have a test next week; I haven't got time to fight with you today."

Her hair is frizzy, her shirt inside out, and the circles under her eyes have gotten darker. Derek's stomach twists as he recalls his promise to check in on Casey. "I'm sure you could take that test and pass today," he says breezily, muscling his way past her into her room.

She puts up a good fight, but it's a lost cause, and she gives up with an exasperated sigh.

He takes a look around the room. It's neat, but there are piles of clutter on Casey's bedside table, and the bed is unmade. In anyone else's dorm, it wouldn't be cause for concern. In Casey's case, though, the sight tugs at Derek's conscience. "You've really let yourself go, Case," he teases.

She puts a hand to her hair, raking her fingers through it. "It's a little clutter, Derek; it's hardly the pigsty I'm sure your room is."

He grins. "I don't know. I'm pretty sure you could give me a run for my money." Casey takes a look around the room with a mounting look of horror. It takes two insults and turning two of her statements into innuendo before Casey shoves him off her bed to make it, all the while berating him. The nerves about getting his ass kicked have faded. Arguing always has been good for them.

When her room is back to Casey standards, she turns on her heel with her hands on her hips. "I told you I don't have time for bickering with you." There's a hint of a smile, though, so Derek's not worried.

"Oh, come on; we were long overdue a fight." He bounces a little. "Come on, what do you want to argue about next?"

Her eyes narrow, and Derek realizes that maybe he might have bated her too much. "How about the fact that your girlfriend showed up at my dorm at three am this morning to talk about how you seem distant."

"She's not my girlfriend," he says automatically. Casey arches a brow. "Right, not the point."

"If you want to be distant or attentive, it's not really my problem. What I don't want, is your girl of the whatever-time-of-year showing up at odd hours to complain about you."

He can't resist. "But Casey, you're the World Champion of complaining about me."

Casey let's out an aggravated huff.

"What are you doing here, anyway. Did you honestly come to pick a fight?"

Derek shrugs. "Mostly."

This is why no matter how much they claim to hate one another, they'll always come back time and time again. First off, Casey gets it. Derek came here for a fight because he needed a distraction. Secondly, she can't resist butting in because the look of understanding is quickly followed by, "What happened?"

He tells her.

A lot of pacing and a lot of muttering follows, but for the most part, Casey seems unconcerned. It's insulting, actually.

"Case."

"Hm?"

"I know that you've got a test coming up, or whatever, but you'll have plenty of those in your college career. I've only got the one life, the one face; and girls love this face," he ignores her snort of laughter, "my face and the rest of my anatomy are in jeopardy right now."

"Well, then we can't lose the contest, now, can we?"

…

Two days later he's stumbling into the campus coffee shop, desperate for caffeine. His need for coffee is pushed aside when he sees Casey sitting across from Adam (He remembers Ryan, and "if you want to beat him up, you're going to have to go through me," but that can't be what's going on here).

Suddenly he's at their table, sliding into the seat beside Casey. "Adam, Spacey."

Casey rolls her eyes at him (and already he's more awake than downing a large cup of coffee would have done) but otherwise ignores him. Adam gives him a nod but focuses on the girl across from him. Derek takes a look at the table. She was studying again, but he can see bits of song lyrics on the corners of her notes. The edges of his lips quirk, but he forces his attention back to Adam. The other guy is focused on Casey. "I made a plea on your behalf, but the funds were still denied. I'm sorry." She didn't sound very sorry, but Derek still cut her a look.

Why had she been making a plea on behalf of his future abuser?

Adam looks irritated as he stands, gathering his notebook and loose pages. He grumbles on his way out. Derek is disturbed to find Casey watching him go with a small smile on her face. "Please tell me you are not crushing on Adam of all people?"

Casey blinks and turns to him. "Don't be thick, Derek." She says it with such exasperation, and he wonders at the double meaning. It's there; he can hear it, he's just not sure how to interpret it. "Anyway, as much as I'd hate to stay and chat, I have to go." She starts packing up her papers and books. She pauses to count her pages and smiles at whatever number she got. Freaking keener.

…

Two days before Halloween, Casey rushes into the garage for practice. She blinks in surprise to find everyone already there and pauses to glance at her watch. Confident once again that she's not late, she's excited once more. "Spit it out. You're starting to look like a chihuahua." Casey pauses to glare at him, but it is short-lived.

"We have a gig."

Margo's sticks stutter on the drum where she'd idly been tapping. Derek chokes, and Jackson blinks. "What?" They ask in near unison.

She's pleased by their surprise. "We have a gig." She clears her throat, shifts her feet, and Derek knows he's not going to like what comes next. Casey. "On Halloween."

"What?" Jackson yelps. "That's two days away."

Casey shrugs. "We've been practicing and preparing for the battle of the bands. We have enough song for a setlist, and it's paid." Her eyes cut to Derek before shooting back to the other two band members.

"How did you get a gig so late."

She grins. "The original band backed out last minute, and the betas were looking for live entertainment for their Halloween party. I mentioned the band, the kind of music we play, and next thing you know we're hired." She licks her lips and tugs on her ponytail. It's her tell.

After some consideration, she persuades them to do the gig. Derek pulls her aside. "What are you hiding?"

She seems frustrated. "Sure, you catch on to that." He's not sure what to make of that statement, but Casey continues in the same breath. "I may have... made it so that the original band would cancel so we'd have a shot at the gig."

Derek blinks. He's never really understood the word flabbergasted until now. "You sabotaged another band?"

"Of course not," she says, indignantly. "But a couple of the members of the band are on the swim team, who needed help with funding for the next meet..."

"You bribed another band?" He's incredulous. Casey squares her shoulders, ready to defend herself, but he cuts her off. "I'm so proud."

"Gross," she makes a face, but there's a twinkle in her eyes. She grows serious a second later. "I figure it would be a chance to earn you a little cash."

His mouth goes dry at her words. She did that for him. There's a strange swelling in his chest, and he feels a desperate need to reclaim the status quo. Casey helps him out. "Don't worry about saying thank you; I just didn't want to explain to Marti how I didn't do anything to prevent your death. Not to mention you really need to work on playing in front of an audience instead of hiding behind your instrument. It was selfish, really."

The swelling is still there, but the feeling is more manageable, and he can resist the urge to pull Casey to him and...

... mess up her hair, because that's what (step)brother's do.

…

Halloween morning Derek spends most of the morning emptying the contents of his stomach. Casey is there in his dorm with mints, a glass of water, and a few insults to distract him for a few minutes. He'd envy her ability to remain calm, but he's aware she's freaking out on the inside as well. She'll have her meltdown later.

Derek can't eat anything all day. Casey somehow manages to make all four of their dorm room spotless. Jackson spends most of the afternoon at the gym. They don't see much of Margo, but when Casey does reach her, Kennedy assures her that she's taking care of Margo's tension.

It isn't until Casey hangs up the phone that she gets the innuendo, and then her face turns beet red. Derek laughs about the expression on her face for about five minutes, which starts another round of bickering between the two.

By the time they meet up to set up for the party, they're all a little shaky but otherwise alright. Margo looks the most relaxed, and when Derek points that out her face turns the same color as her hair. "Ignore him Go," Casey says, checking her appearance one more time. "He's going to be throwing up again five minutes before we go on."

He can't deny the truth. "You've got lipstick on your teeth," Derek tells her, instead. She spends the next five minutes searching for her compact mirror until Jackson tells her Derek was messing with him.

Casey chases him around the mock stage until the sorority treasurer interrupts them. By this time, Casey's neat hair is a little mussed, and she's looking way more rock in roll (not that Derek has an opinion).

"When Claire said she hired new entertainment, I thought she meant a band; not a clown show." Casey straightens her hair, huffing but she smiles at the other girl. She starts to apologize, but it's waved off. "Don't worry about it, I'm only teasing." She offers each of them her hand. "I'm Valerie."

Casey introduces each of them, and Valerie hands Casey an envelope. "Half now, half at the end of the night. Don't play anything super lame, and there's a bonus in it. What's the band name again?"

"Axiomatic Division."

"Cool. Well, I have to finish setting up, but the party should be starting soon." She glances over at Derek and smiles. "Come find me when you guys take your first break."

Derek smirks, and Casey elbows him in the side. He waits until Valerie is gone before glaring at her. "What?"

"What about... Darla?"

Right, Darla. He really should get around to taking care of that (but then he pictures Marti at dinner talking about all the things he and Casey do for one another, and Derek remembers his dad's face, and maybe he can put it off a while longer).

…

Derek did puke once more before the show (but thankfully no one from the sorority found him). After that, though everything was easy. People showed up, they played music, and people seemed to be enjoying them.

They took a few short breaks, and on the second one, Darla appears at his elbow. "I didn't know you were going to be playing!" She shouts into his ear.

He shrugs. "It was last minute. Just found out two days ago."

"You guys are really good."

She's beaming at him, and for some reason, he thinks about that time that Casey said that anyone who uses 'good' to describe something either needs to expand their vocabulary or is just searching for something to say. He sighs, and she seems to get it. "Don't say anything," she says. "I get it; we were never serious, and maybe I got a little attached, came on a little strong." Darla chuckles. "Probably shouldn't have shown up at your sister's dorm, huh."

"Step," he says, automatically.

She closes her mouth on what she's about to say. She gives Derek the same look everyone in his life has been giving him lately and pats him on the chest. "It was fun while it lasted, Derek."

As breakups go, it's one of the easiest he's ever had (he pushes thoughts of Marti, and his dad out of his mind; it had never been fair to Darla, anyway).

Casey finds him a few minutes before they're about to go back on. "You okay?"

He doesn't ask how she knows. He shrugs. "Yeah, it was never going to last, anyway." She looks like she wants to ask him something, but Margo waves them over, and they're back to playing.

It's late when the party finally wraps up. They pack up, and Valerie gives them the rest of their payment. It ends up being a total of twelve-hundred dollars. They each get a hundred dollar bonus, "for not sucking," and the knot in Derek's shoulder blades eases slightly.

They're riding an adrenaline high, so they go out to eat at some crummy twenty-four hour joint. The burgers are good, and so is the company. Before they head home, Casey pulls him aside, handing him her cash from the gig. "Here."

"What's this?"

She gives him a look. "Money, doofus. Take it." She presses the bills into his hand.

"I'm not taking your money."

"Derek, just take it."

He shoves the money back into her hand. "Hell no."

She rolls her eyes. "I should have known your stupid pride- look, think of it as a loan. Pay me back when we win the battle of the bands, okay? I won't beat you to a pulp if you don't pay me; you need it, I have it; so take it."

"Casey, it should be fine. This will be enough to buy me some time until we see the result. I'm not taking your money."

"You're such a stubborn ass."

"And you're a stubborn princess."

They're both irritated, both breathing heavily. Derek can't resist cracking a smile. "Save it," he tells her. "If I really need it, I'll ask you for it, but for now let me do it on my own. Okay?"

Casey sighs, but eventually, she agrees, and they head home for the night.

…

November passes, and Casey gets them two more gigs for the month. They don't pay nearly as well, but it gets them practice and feedback, and a little bit of money. Derek gives most of it to the fraternity (but he keeps some of it for himself because a guy's gotta survive). As the end of the semester approaches, they call off band practice until they come back in the Spring.

Casey is too focused on finals that she's impossible to be around. Derek still sees her, and he actually studies when she forces him to. But he also takes off and attends the blow-off-steam end of semester parties that pop up.

He sees Valerie at some of these. They make out their first encounter, but he can't bring himself to make a repeat. She doesn't take offense, which Derek thinks is pretty cool.

Casey collapses in his room after her last final. He has one more the following day, so she's there to make sure he actually studies, but she's asleep within fifteen minutes. He doesn't bother her. She looks peaceful; try as he might, he can't convince Casey to drop any of her activities. She's been working too hard. Derek lets her have the rest (he also studies, but doesn't tell her that).

The next day after his final is complete, they're headed home for Christmas break.