Quick A/N to say thank you to everyone who's reading and reviewing this story. It has exceeded a bit past my 3 to 4 chapter expectations, but been a ton of fun to write. Hope you enjoy this latest enstallment, I literally let out a sigh of relief when I finished writing it!


An hour and a half later I arrived back at Derek's. Tim opened the door before I had even knocked and ushered me into the hallway. "Hey, D's resting upstairs. Did you really attack him with a metal bat because you were upset about losing a bet?"

"No, but if he keeps telling people that I just may."

Tim grinned down at me and turned to lead the way up to Derek's room. "So what really happened then?"

I told him the real story and he laughed. "I'll have to remember to call in advance before visiting you from now on."

"Ha-ha." I mocked an annoyed expression as we stopped outside Derek's door.

"Just a heads up, I don't know what they gave him, but he's uh- well you'll see." He patted me on the back and walked away, leaving me curious as to what strange new Derek form laid on the other side of the door.

I knocked and poked my head inside. "Delivery."

Sure enough Derek was spread out across his bed, arms and legs fully extended just staring at the ceiling. Acoustic music was loudly flowing from the speaker on his desk.

"Casey?" He didn't take his eyes off the ceiling and I cautiously walked over to the bed, placing the takeout bag on his nearby desk.

"Yeah it's me. You okay?"

"You have to see this!" He said grabbing at the air near my hand without looking at me.

"Umm actually I think I'm going to go… your burger is on the desk."

"No Casey stay, lay here." He patted the bed, and I swallowed looking between the door and the obviously inebriated boy inviting me to lie in his bed. This could be a dangerous place for my mental state.

I decided to leave.

"Please?" His voice was a tone low and vulnerable, and he was finally looking at me with deep brown puppy dog eyes. I closed the door and caved.

With a deep sigh I laid down beside him pushing his arm and leg out of the way. He smiled looking back at the ceiling tossing his leg back into its original position, now atop of my leg. I should have moved it, or argued it, but I didn't.

"So what's so important that I need to see?" I looked up to the ceiling overhead and just saw flat white with a small crack.

"Everything, it's all up there." I tilted my head towards him thinking he must be hallucinating.

"How many pills did you take?"

He glanced at me out of the corner of his eyes. "I'm not high."

I raised my eyebrows.

"Okay, maybe a bit, but that has nothing to do with this. Just look, really look." He grabbed my hand in his and held it over our heads pointing his finger. "Our future is out there Case, and it's closing in on us."

"I think that's just your ceiling Derek."

"No life, real life. We'll be starting our real life soon. It's so close I can see it."

Somehow this had taken a very serious, very un-Derek-like turn and I found that I was the one feeling uncomfortable with how honest we were being. This sort of honest between us could lead to letting too much out on my part.

His hand had dropped back to the side, but was still holding mine in a steady grasp. Warm fingers began moving in slow hypnotizing motions over my skin. Did he realize he was doing that? I didn't dare ask for fear he'd stop.

I knew this was unhealthy, but in the moment around me I could almost pretend we weren't Derek and Casey, step-sibs who couldn't stand each other. That maybe we could be something else, something better. Even though there was still that nagging voice in the back of my head telling me to get real, but just for now I pretended it wasn't screaming at me to stop while I could. Instead I answered him.

"What does it look like?"

"Like things are just beginning Case, like we can be brand new." I felt a lump filling up in my throat. How I wished we could be brand new together, even though I knew that wasn't what he meant.

"Can't you see it?" I kept my eyes on the crack on the ceiling to keep the tears that began to form from falling, but I could still see he had turned his head sideways to look at me.

"Hey, you okay?" For once it sounded like he actually wanted to know. I nodded my head and forced a smile on my face while swallowing back the lump.

"Looks like someone's getting futurities again…" He lightly teased and I had to laugh a bit.

"Yeah, I guess I am." Though it wasn't the future itself that scared me, it was the idea of us going our own separate ways that had brought the tears to my eyes.

He was still staring at me, and I needed to change the subject fast before I broke into tears. "I ran into Angela today."

His gaze immediately looked back upwards and he let go of my hand.

I pressed on, internally kicking myself for using her as a subject change. "She asked me why you've been ignoring her lately. That she thought you were really interested."

"Huh." He mumbled.

"She wants you to ask her to the Senior Formal." I mentioned looking to see what his reaction would be out of the corner of my eye. Though his slightly glossed over eyes and blank expression didn't change much.

"I'm already going with someone."

"About that…" NO! I was screaming inside, but that nagging voice telling me to get a grip was winning out and I knew it was time to do what I should do, instead of selfishly doing what I wanted.

I sat up and looked down at him.

"I know that you threatened to hurt Shawn's… well something, if he asked me. And I know that the only reason you wanted me to go with you, was so that I couldn't go with him."

He didn't say anything. If his eyes hadn't been open I would have thought he fell asleep. I continued on, getting out what I had to say while I still could. "So anyways I wanted to tell you that I get it about Shawn. I have no interest in going with him anymore, so… you're off the hook. You can ask Angela, like I know you wanted to."

Derek still didn't look at me or speak, though I heard him take a deep breath.

"Derek?" My voice was starting to fade a bit.

His eyes looked up at mine in surprise. "I want to sleep."

I didn't expect that.

I gingerly stood from the bed. He had looked away from me. "Can you put the burger in my fridge?"

I nodded putting it inside the small black mini-fridge beside his desk. "Okay, I guess I'll go then. Oh and Derek, thanks for looking out for me. It was very brotherly."

The word brotherly ripped a bit of my heart to say.

Derek let out a hard laugh looking straight at me standing next to the door. I paused before leaving, waiting for him to say something. He closed his eyes. "Yeah… brotherly."

I bit the inside of my cheek hard and slipped out the room, not able to stand it anymore. I don't know what I had hoped he would say, but having him agree so easily hurt, drugged or not.

I quickly made my way out of the house and into the Prince, careful to avoid anyone who may want to talk.

I held it all together till I made it through my front door and saw Derek's mess I had hastily left behind several hours ago. I made my way over to the couch and picked up the pillow that still smelled like him and held it close to me, taking in his scent. The first tear fell hot on my cool cheeks, followed by many more till my cheeks were red and my eyes puffy.