AN: I wanted to thank all of you who are following/reviewing this story. Your words mean so much to me, and really motivate me to keep going. I hope you like this next chapter and my attempt to explain their behaviours from a Dasey point of view. Please, please review if you have the time! I appreciate everything you have to say!


Chapter 7: "Hatred is the madness of the heart." - Lord Byron

It's like they become best friends after she has that fight with Max. They spend countless hours in each other's rooms, just talking and joking around, just like he promised her. He regrets not getting good marks during the school year because summer school is rapidly approaching, and this means less time to spend with her.

She seems to like the 'avoid Max' method, and completely ignores her boyfriend rather than confronting issues with him head-on. He doesn't care. As long as she's getting along with him, he couldn't care less who else might be getting hurt in the process.

He continues a friendly relationship with Sally, but doesn't pursue her anymore. He doesn't want to mess up… whatever this is with Casey.

She helps him pass summer school, and he helps her control the little rugrats at her summer camp. Though they still argue and banter back and forth, they can't deny their ever-growing friendship. He's never done the whole 'friends first, then date' thing, but it seems to be working well with Casey. He just wishes there was some way the whole 'stepsister' label could magically disappear and she could just be his best friend.


KingofBabes91 is signed on.

AustenLvr is signed on.

AustenLvr: Hi, Der.

KingofBabes91: Hey, Case. :) What are you doing up?

AustenLvr: I couldn't sleep so I got on my computer to write, and then I saw you were on, so I figured I'd talk to you.

KingofBabes91: Oh, cool. I take it you were writing something about yours truly. ;)

AustenLvr: Very funny, Der. I didn't even get started, actually. I just have a lot of things on my mind.

KingofBabes91: Like what? Feel free to unload on me. PS: You didn't deny that you weren't going to write about me!

AustenLvr: I just don't know what to do about this whole Max situation. I'm worried about next year… And what if I was going to write about you?

He is so very conceited

His ego needs to be defeated

He shouldn't get too cocky

One day he'll be bald and stocky

KingofBabes91: What the hell? Do you just come up with this stuff off the top of your head? And that's never going to happen. Haven't you seen my dad? The hair gene is excellent in the Venturi line.

And about the Max thing… Why don't you just break up with him already?

AustenLvr: Haha, and what about the stocky part? ;) Sure, George is pretty fit, but at the rate you're eating, you're going to end up growing more horizontally than vertically, if you know what I mean.

Um… The thing is, he hasn't broken it off with me yet, so that has to mean something, right? That he actually cares at least a little and is willing to have some patience and work things out?

KingofBabes91: Was that an insinuation that I'm going to grow fat or a dirty joke? ;)

Hmm. Well, he's probably off scouring the globe for other women, but, realizing he's not going to do much better than you, he is waiting to crawl back to you with his tail between his legs and ask for a second chance. Just my opinion.

AustenLvr: Um… Ew! Definitely the first one!

Derek, be serious for once. If he actually cares about me and promises me not to screw up again, should I give him a second chance?

KingofBabes91: If you're so worried that I'm going to get chunky, why don't we go on a jog tomorrow morning? We'll see who's faster. ;)

No.

AustenLvr: Oh, you're so on Venturi! I'm going to smoke you.

Why is that?

KingofBabes91: Yeah, prepare to eat my dust.

Because I didn't want you to go out with him in the first place. Why would I want you to take him back?

AustenLvr: Ugh, whatever. I'll figure something out eventually, I guess. 8 AM tomorrow?

KingofBabes91: Oh god. So early…

AustenLvr: Don't be a wimp! We have to beat the heat!

KingofBabes91: Fine. Then we both better go to sleep.

AustenLvr: Alright. Goodnight, Der. :) ❤ ❥ xoxo

KingofBabes91: Night, Case. Girly goodbye not appreciated.

AustenLvr: You know you love it. ;)

AustenLvr has signed out.

KingofBabes91: Sadly, I really do. Also,

JUST BREAK UP WITH HIM!


They're out on one of their early morning jogs, (because they have become routine now), when they round the corner and bump right into the last person he wants to see.

"Max?" Casey asks incredulously, trying to catch her breath.

"Casey." Max says, and then turns his attention to her right. "Derek." His name comes out with less zest.

"What… what are you doing here?" Casey is still obviously trying to find the right words for this awkward situation.

"Uh, I was out for a run. It kind of seems a bit like fate, doesn't it?" Max chuckles, but neither him nor Casey are amused, so his laughter trails off. "Casey, can I talk to you in private for a minute?"

"Whatever you say to me, you can say in front of Derek." She crosses her arms and stands her ground. He is actually kind of proud.

Max sighs. "See, here's where the problem is."

"What problem? Oh, you being a lying, cheating-" Casey starts, but Max interrupts her.

"No, Casey! I admit what I did was wrong, and I'm really sorry for it. I made a huge mistake. Two huge mistakes. And I hope you can forgive me for them."

"Okay… I can accept that." Casey says slowly. Oh great. He does not need her making up with her boyfriend right now. This is supposed to be their time! "And I will forgive you in good time… But what are you saying the problem is?"

"You. And Derek." Max announces.

"Excuse me?" His stomach twists in knots and he glares at Max.

"Der, it's okay. I'll take care of this." Casey takes a small step in front of him. She then turns to her boyfriend. "What exactly do you mean by that?"

"I'm your boyfriend, Casey. Not Derek." Max states. Now he really feels sick to his stomach. "Yeah, we're in the middle of a fight right now, but we're still dating. Somehow Derek always ends up being the reason for our fights, and you always pick Derek's side."

"Oh, that is so not true!" Casey throws her hands up in the air in disbelief. He almost laughs at her dramatics. "Name one other incident besides now! Which is totally justified, by the way, considering Derek was the one scammed at prom."

"Um, how about when he was going to get beat up by Ryan? You totally blew up in my face about not going to help him." Max suggests.

She opens her mouth to protest, but he cuts her off.

"And you spend more time with him than me. You spend more time with him than anybody!"

Max pauses to give her time to state her rebuttal, but instead she just opens her mouth slightly, looking kind of like a goldfish out of water, and then crosses her arms over her chest again.

"You do half your school projects together. Even if we're in the same class, you don't pick me as your partner. He's always driving you to parties and events. You taught each other how to drive. You were in the school play together…"

"It's convenient." he interjects, feeling rather like the third wheel in this conversation even though the topic of conversation is him. "She's my stepsister and we live in the same house, so she's always around. What's the big deal, dude?"

"The big deal is that she spends every waking moment with you when she's not with me." Max turns to him, and he realizes this is his fight now. "It's not normal. No guy willingly spends all their time with their sister when they're out of school… or in school."

"Stepsister." he mumbles under his breath.

"Whatever, Derek." Max rolls his eyes. "For two people who claim to hate each other, you sure do spend an awful lot of time together. Way too much time, if you ask me."

"Are you jealous, or something?" He raises his eyebrows, smirking as he does so. "Because Casey spends more time with me? Did you ever think that maybe she would rather hang out with her stepbrother who treats her better than her jerk of a boyfriend?" His fist instinctively curls into a ball. He's never wanted to punch someone as much as he wants to punch Max right now.

"Derek…" Casey places a hand on his arm and looks at him pleadingly. His breathing slows, but then Max starts back up again.

"Oh, because you treat her so well, Derek! You're such a gentleman! So chivalrous! Always opening doors for her and not making a mockery out of her in school!"

"Max!" Casey yells, glaring at her boyfriend.

"Hey, I may meddle with Casey's dignity and cause her some embarrassment every once in a while, but I don't hurt her feelings like you do!" he yells, taking a step closer to Max.

"Derek, please!" Casey grabs his arm and tries her hardest to pull him back.

"Wow, and that makes you so much better than me?" Max asks sarcastically. "I don't intentionally hurt Casey's feelings! Every couple has their problems, and I'm trying to fix them, but you always seem to get in my way!"

"Max, let's just-" Casey tries to intervene, but he stops her before she can get anywhere.

"You don't seem to be very conscious of how your actions might affect her in the long run. Use your brain, Maxxy!"

"DEREK!"

"Why don't you try using yours sometime, Venturi? Do you know how many times my girlfriend has come to me asking me to help her defend herself against you?"

"MAX!"

He's fuming now, his nostrils flaring and his blood boiling. The only thing holding him back from physically fighting is Casey's persistent grip on his arm, her nails digging into his skin. "There's a difference! I'm only Casey's stepbrother. If I was Casey's boyfriend I would never treat her the way you treat her. She deserves better!"

Casey gasps and her arm slips from his to shoot up to her mouth. He swipes a bead of sweat off of his forehead and attempts to calm himself down, but now that he let that last sentiment slip from his mouth, he doesn't know if he'll ever be calm again. The only sound is his and Max's breathing, his words having shocked them into silence.

It's Max that finally breaks the silence, his voice low. "You guys are practically siblings. It would just be wrong if you went out."

It doesn't sound like an accusation, but more of an ultimatum. 'Casey, you can't go out with Derek because you're practically stepsiblings, but you can still go out with me!' He hears Casey sniff and realizes she must be crying. He kicks at a rock on the ground, his eyes cast downward.

"Casey, I'm sorry. I really am." Max says softly when no one responds to his prior statement. "I still want to be your boyfriend. I promise I'll try my best never to hurt you again."

"Trying your best isn't good enough." he mutters, squashing an ant underneath his sneaker. He looks up at Casey in anticipation. She hastily wipes a tear from her eye, not making eye contact with him.

Instead she looks at Max and gives a small nod, another tear falling down her face. "Okay, yeah. I forgive you." she says with very little gusto in her voice, and his heart sinks in his chest. "I still want to be your girlfriend, but one more stunt and we're over. For good."

Max smiles. "I won't try anymore stunts. Trust me. I want you on my good side." Max winks at her, and she gives a small giggle. He feels like he might puke. "Do you want to go grab a bite to eat?" Max asks her.

"Um, yeah, sure." she says hesitantly, glancing over at him. He huffs out, now more hurt than he is pissed. "Can you give me just one second with Derek?"

"Sure." Max says uncertainly. "Just send me a text when you're ready." The football player jogs around the corner, and she approaches him.

"Der-"

She tries to place a hand on his back, but he swats it away. "Forget it. I don't want to hear some bullshit about how you planned on taking back Max this whole time."

"Derek!"

"You guys are going to break up eventually. Even if you last through all of his senior year, there's no way in hell he's going to stay with you when he has all those university girls to choose from!"

"Oh, now you're just being ridiculous!" she yells, taking a tone of voice that he never wanted to hear directed at him.

"Am I? Because I think you're being the ridiculous one here! Have you ever noticed that we get along best when we're both not going out with anyone? Have you?"

"Of course I've noticed, Derek! But how are we supposed to keep going on like this? Max is right. It's not normal, and it never will be!"

"Yeah, because you always have mess it up, you callous bitch!"

Casey just stares at him, tears welling up in her eyes. Her bottom lip starts trembling, and, shit, he's done it now. "'I don't hurt her feelings' my ass! You hurt my feelings more than anyone ever has!" Casey storms off, and he's left standing there alone, the summer heat beating down on his face.

"Damn it."


When she was younger she was taught to never use the word 'hate,' especially when referring to a person. But she finds no other word to describe her feelings towards him, which should be okay, considering he is the 'exception to all rules.'

She hates him. She hates him so much that it physically hurts. The way he makes her feel when she takes Max back… like she's the most horrible person in the world… She doesn't understand how someone can go from being her best friend one week to her worst enemy the next. What other choice did she have?

She couldn't keep pretending that what Derek and she were doing was normal! They were basically dating without all the physicality of a real couple… Well, the romantic physicality anyway. And would it ever result in more than that? No. Even if it did, there would be huge consequences to pay. Max would accuse her of cheating on him. Their parents would be uptight about the whole thing. Marti, Lizzie, and Edwin would be confused. Not to mention the majority of society would shun them due to blatant ignorance.

Would it be worth it… for Derek? Yes. But would Derek think so?

When her junior year starts up, she decides to try out for the cheerleading squad to show her support for her boyfriend and keep her mind off of another boy. It doesn't quite work when Derek decides to go for Amy, the head cheerleader. Oh, of all the girls he could go for… This one irks her the most.

Ever since their whole incident during the summer, Derek has been pretending to be all buddy-buddy with Max and getting on his good side. Max doesn't seem to mind, considering she rarely talks to Derek anymore and this keeps the peace between the hockey and football teams. Seeing her boyfriend and stepbrother chilling in the hallway together and laughing over some dumb boy joke they both found funny just seems to get under her skin. She doesn't get how they can pretend like nothing went down, like they didn't verbally attack each other in a fight over her.

Much to her pleasure, Amy breaks up with Derek because he 'talks about his stepsister too much.' She can't help but smile when Amy tells her that Derek is 'basically obsessed with her,' but she hides her amusement quickly, not wanting to reveal that this makes her happy.

It's when Derek starts dating Sally that she really freaks. Sally is perfect. There's no way she can stand up to someone so beautiful and smart and funny. She has to change her tactic in order to stop herself from going insane, so she reverts to being encouraging of his relationship with Sally.

Truthfully, she really does like Sally. She thinks they could be friends… if she wasn't going out with Derek, that is. She feigns friendliness and supportiveness in hopes that either - a) reverse psychology will come into play and Derek will want to stop dating Sally, or b) she'll trick herself into believing this is actually a good thing.

She starts losing herself to all the things Max loves in order to distract herself from the burning feeling of jealousy in her chest. She quits poetry club because the only thing she can write about anymore is her stupid stepbrother. She concentrates on cheerleading and being a good girlfriend, but it backfires on her, and she realizes how Max has affected her life… for the worse.

She can't take all the pressure and stress of being with him anymore. She suggests that they go on break, but Max thinks their 'break' during the summer was long enough. His patience for her runs thin, and they break up after one of the biggest games of the season. Derek and Sally officially become boyfriend and girlfriend a few days later.


AustenLvr is signed on.

KingofBabes91 is signed on.

KingofBabes91: Yo, what up, relationship advisor?

AustenLvr: So that's my alias now, is it?

KingofBabes91: Well, yeah. Ever since you broke up with Max, your mind has been cleared and I can seek solace in you.

AustenLvr: First of all, I thought you liked Max. Second of all, why have you decided to start coming to me for all of your Sally needs?

KingofBabes91: First of all, I did like Max. Doesn't mean that I liked you when you were with him. Second of all, that sounds wrong. Don't ever say that again. Also, despite evidence that would suggest otherwise, you are a girl, and therefore you give better advice about girls than say… Sam and Ralph.

AustenLvr: If you want my help, you're going to have to be a little bit nicer to me.

KingofBabes91: Yeah, sure, Princess. You have a compassionate conscience. You help me no matter what. Uh… Take Open Mic Night, for example. I stole your song, and yet you helped me write a new one. Why have you been all "Team Sally" lately, anyway?

AustenLvr: I just think she's a really good girl… for you. For once.

KingofBabes91: Uh huh.

AustenLvr: What do you need help with this time, Derek?

KingofBabes91: Well, I'm thinking about taking her on a nice date, but I'm not very romantical. So spill. What do you think she would like to do?

AustenLvr: I don't know! I'm not Sally! I don't know what she likes…

KingofBabes91: You practically are her… I mean - the less attractive, more keenerish, brunette version of her. But still.

AustenLvr: Oh, thank you so much. You make me feel so good about myself.

KingofBabes91: No, seriously. I need your help. I'm no good at this. If you were going on a date with me, where would you want to go?

AustenLvr: Back home, because you're a Class A jerk.

KingofBabes91: Casey…

AustenLvr: Ugh, I don't know. Take her ice skating or something. You like it. She'll probably like it. It's cute, and if she falls you can catch her.

KingofBabes91: Good one, Case! Thanks. Now, you want to tell me how your little talk with Noel went after he found out you just wanted to be his friend? Maybe I can give you some advice. ;)

AustenLvr: Goodbye, Derek.

KingofBabes91: Oh, come on!

AustenLvr has signed out.

KingofBabes91: What a butt…


Playlist D

Song Gravity Artist Sara Bareilles Plays 23

Something always brings me back to you
It never takes too long
No matter what I say or do
I still feel you here 'til the moment I'm gone

You hold me without touch
You keep me without chains
I never wanted anything so much
Than to drown in your love and not feel your rain

Set me free, leave me be
I don't wanna fall another moment into your gravity
Here I am and I stand so tall
I'm just the way I'm supposed to be
But you're on to me and all over me

You loved me 'cause I'm fragile
When I thought that I was strong
But you touch me for a little while
And all my fragile strength is gone

Set me free, leave me be
I don't wanna fall another moment into your gravity
Here I am and I stand so tall
I'm just the way I'm supposed to be
But you're on to me and all over me

I live here on my knees
As I try to make you see
That you're everything I think I need
Here on the ground

But you're neither friend nor foe
Though I can't seem to let you go
The one thing that I still know
Is that you're keeping me down
You're keeping me down

You're on to me, on to me and all over
Something always brings me back to you
It never takes too long