I'm completely amazed at how many readers put this story on their alert. I'm so happy you guys want to see what happens until the end! I do too. :] Here's the next chapter, hope you enjoy – it's what some of you have been waiting for.
P.S. The title can be explained through the song lyrics. It's 'I Should've Been After You' by Rooney, as a reminder. :]
Casey's Shaking Hands
For all the love that Casey held for planning and strategizing, she had sorely come up short in this particular situation. She was almost positive that Derek knew about her feelings, and it was just a matter of time before the shit hit the fan. Or in this case, before Derek initiated Cold War II in order to avoid talking about dreaded feelings. The vibe in the apartment had changed somewhat, in a way that she couldn't place.
It was now the beginning of February and the added stress of upcoming midterms was wearing away at her sanity. She was shrugging on her high heeled leather boots before she felt Derek's presence behind her. She turned quickly, holding her pea coat close to her to feel more secure when her insides were positively swarming in confusion and her heart was in her knees.
He was looking at her with a small smile on his face that she would've considered innocent until she looked up at his eyes that were darker than usual; glittering with content and scheming in their glint. She could hardly stand it.
"What?" she blurted trying to sound stronger, but her voice failing her.
"Let's go down to the old joint for lunch today, maybe noon? I know you only have a couple classes princess." Derek said, shoving his hands into his pockets casually. Casey narrowed her eyes.
"You going to 'forget your wallet' or 'accidentally drop your wallet in the sewer' this time?" Casey sneered, not taking her eyes off of him. Derek laughed, but sobered quickly when her countenance didn't change.
"Yeah, my treat. I have a... proposition of sorts." Derek said slowly, his voice so smooth and deep that Casey resisted the urge to shudder.
"If this involves me doing your laundry again, then you're out of your damn mind." Casey huffed, and she looked down at her hands when she felt them shaking slightly. She knew that this lunch meeting of theirs wasn't going to be normal. She could see it in the way he looked at her like he wanted to devour her, and his nonchalant posture that reeked of arrogance more potent than normal.
Derek looked at her shaking hands for a moment, and it was then he decided he really was going to hell. She wanted him, and they both knew it.
"Oh, and Case?" he said, before she stepped out the door, her keys jingling in her hands. She turned back with a small arch of her eyebrow.
"You might want to bring your paper bag." He smirked before turning and heading to his room to prepare for his day. Casey reddened and left the apartment without another word.
-
"You are so not privy to that information and I am so not at liberty to share it." Emily stated firmly, and Derek rolled his eyes and even though she couldn't see it, she rolled her own eyes in response.
"Come on, Em! You love Casey and I uh..." that was a dangerous thing to say. Emily's ears perked up and she got her netbook ready. It seemed as if the juiciest data of the new year was ready for her.
"Look, it's just part of a female code to not share certain information, especially with people who are... er, involved?" Emily's clear voice came through a bit fuzzy on Derek's phone. He didn't want to be reminded of female or male codes, that had gotten him in enough trouble the last time.
"She's been acting all weird though! Normally I can figure her out in a fraction of a second, but lately..." Derek trailed off, thinking about how even though their relationship hadn't changed all that much, it felt like something pivotal was happening to them.
"Maybe you need more practice with your fractions." Emily drawled lamely, and Derek frowned.
"I know that Casey... that she... f-fee—ahem." Derek cleared his throat. Emily began to laugh.
"You haven't changed at all. She feels something, for who or what exactly?" she inquired, her interest very piqued at this point.
"Do I really have to spell it out for you?" Derek asked irritated. Emily was too sneaky for her own good. She wasn't named gossip queen in the Thompson High yearbook for nothing.
"Derek, you've known me what, nearly twenty years now? Spill it." Emily demanded. Derek almost smiled and realized that Emily was indeed one of his oldest friends. If she wasn't obsessed with him for like 15 of those years, then they probably would have been closer. It's interesting that she stopped her advances soon after they turned sixteen, not long after Casey had arrived.
"You know what, it's okay. I have all the information I need." Derek grinned, and went to hang up when he heard her screeching voice from the receiver.
"Wait, what did you figure out? Don't freak Casey out or I will come there personally and kick your Venturi ass." Emily sneered, and he just laughed in return.
"I have a lunch date with the princess in an hour, so if you have any objections, please speak now or forever hold your peace." Derek teased, waiting in baited silence for her response.
"I know you've wanted it to seem like you hated Casey when she first got here, and I know you pranked her and acted like you hated her over the years. But I know you care about her." Derek didn't say anything, and normally he would have, but that was in the past. They were better friends now.
"But whatever you do, please don't hurt her. You know Casey better than anyone, and with that comes a lot of responsibility." Emily admonished quietly, the tone of the phone call shifting quickly.
"I'll never hurt her. I could never stand it."
Emily just smiled knowingly.
-
They were seated in a booth in their favourite burger joint. They had run into each other for the first time since being at Queen's there, and Derek had convinced her to stay even though they didn't offer vegetarian burgers. Soon they begun to hang out there, and that led to hanging out in each other's dorms and everyone began to find out their relationship after suspecting they were going out.
He figured that this is where it all really began, this place where he stopped thinking and started feeling. They had come a long way since Operation: Disengagement, now it was time for a vastly different operation. He couldn't stop smirking.
"Venturi, if you don't stop looking at me like that, I will come over there and rearrange your face." Casey sneered, sipping at her smoothie.
"Oh, so you think that just because you stopped the fridge back in high school that you've now reserved the right." Derek drawled lazily, a smile in his eyes.
"That's exactly right." Casey said indignantly, raising her eyebrow challenging him. He hid a grin. This girl drove him crazy and kept up with him like nothing else.
"Let's get down to business Casey." He said, finishing off his coke and placing the somewhat sweaty glass on the table between them.
"Oh, this was about that proposition you had. I wondered where Ed got his scheming business ploys from, but now it's so clear." Casey said with a small smile, but she was hardly impressed.
"Clearly you forgot when and where you got your first cell or you'd have known about that a long time ago." Derek looked her over, her long hair pooling around her shoulders and flowing down her back. The crisp blue winter sky reflected in her own eyes, underneath her smoky make up that he decided she could do without and still look amazing.
He sucked in a breath when she smiled brilliantly at him. He knew in that instant that this was the right thing to do.
"I'll never forget that, D—"
"Right, so anyway." He cut in rudely, making her huff slightly but she listened on intently. "I think you and I both know what this is really about." He said casually, looking at her in the eye with a penetrating stare.
"If you're going to get all Clueless on me, then I have to object." Casey said, playing with the napkin on her lap. Derek painted a look of confusion on his face. Oh, that movie.
"You have a really bad habit of jumping to conclusions Space Case, but I'll give you this one." He smirked, and placed his hand atop hers that was on the table. She quickly swiped her hand from his, not from disgust like she had the first time they met, but because the moment he did it, her heart sped up and she was afraid she would get a heart attack.
"Derek, we really can't." She looked down, feeling completely uncertain. She had dreamt about this moment, but she still wasn't sure.
"Why can't we? It's not like we're sixteen and pretending to hate each other like back then." Derek leaned back in his seat, not feeling like he had lost yet. He found it somewhat amusing that they hadn't even uttered any words that came close to feelings or relationships, but they both knew exactly what was going on.
"Because, because... you don't even—"
"Feel that way about you? Bzzz. Try again." They were whispering slightly, even though the place was somewhat empty. Most people were in class at this time, and they were alone in the corner. It didn't stop them from garnering some attention from the select few in the restaurant, especially when Derek reached over and nonchalantly played with a lock of her hair in-between his fingers.
Casey's breath hitched. "Because of the family, because everyone here knows we're stepsiblings."
"And everyone at Queen's has been at one point in another, involved in a bet about us. The family... I don't know, but Casey, think about it." He said, his voice taking on that tone whenever he wanted to inspire her to do something. It usually worked.
She looked up at him hopefully, urging him to find a way to convince her because she wanted to be convinced.
"Whether it's been hating each other, tolerating each other, living together with or without the family, being best friends, we've always been intricately involved in each other's lives," he smoothed a hand down her face, his palm cupping her face, and he watched as her eyes closed.
"I know you feel it too, how easy it would be to slip into this, because anything we do, we do it so damn well. Whether if it's creating chaos or," he brushed a thumb on her lips. "Or making perfection." He said, his voice gentle. Casey opened her eyes then slowly, and a smile adorned her mouth.
"But I'm just, sort of..." Casey couldn't come up with the words.
"Usually I'm the inarticulate one, what's happened to you, blown away by my rugged good looks once again?" Derek smirked, and dropped his hand from her face to grab her hand in his.
Casey laughed and gave him an 'as if' look. "I don't want everyone knowing yet though, especially not our family and friends from London."
"What, you think I was going to date you in public right away? I have to prep you first, think of it like a Derek 101." He teased.
"De-rek! What exactly does that entail, dressing like a slut and melting at your feet?" she accused, her eyes narrowing.
"I like the melting part, but no Case, just stay the way you are. The irritating pain in the ass that you are. I'm a masochist apparently." He grinned, and she smacked him on the arm. "Ooh, do it again." His voice became husky and Casey blushed.
"You're insufferable."
"You're adorable."
"You flatter me. What's the catch?"
"Just pretend you like being my girlfriend." Derek stood up and took her hand, pulling her behind a pillar in the restaurant away from prying eyes.
"I think I can do that – for a price." Casey wrapped her arms around his neck timidly, never imagining that she would be doing this with Derek. Yet it felt so natural and they both revelled in the feeling.
Derek leaned down and kissed her like he had wanted to for so long, and needless to say, he had never felt like that before and it blew his mind a little. Casey felt her knees weaken, and Derek tightened his grip on her.
"Does that suffice?" he pulled her flush against him, and his chest was fluttering like crazy. Every time she looked at him or touched him, the feeling getting worse.
"Wendy like." She smiled, kissing him again.
"Oh, Tinkerbell better be out of the picture or Captain Hook won't be happy." He said, his expression somewhat serious. She laughed.
"Tinky's gone, but what makes you think you're bad enough to be Captain Hook?" Casey poked him in the chest in a cute gesture.
"Want me to show you?" he wriggled his eyebrows lamely and she in turn wiggled out of his grasp.
"Maybe later... or never, I've got class. See you around Venturi." Casey said gathering her things and turning to leave, but not without throwing him a knowing smile.
"See ya, McDonald." Derek replied, shoving his hands into his pockets and watching her walk out of the restaurant, happiness radiating off of her, much like himself.
tbc.
