Chapter Nine

A/N: Here's chapter nine. I actually enjoyed writing the second half of it. I started it and I got to my second written page and I thought I was going to get blocked and not even make it to 1000 words. But then at 3:30 in the morning I suddenly got a spark of inspiration and I cranked out 4 consecutive pages in like 15 minutes. And I liked how it turned out. I'm sorry for the long wait, but only four chapters left. Enjoy! R&R! Thanks! –Mac

Disclaimer: I don't own LWD.

Chapter Nine

You're My…What?

It had been a couple days. I hadn't heard from Jacob—not that I expected to. So there I was following Derek around aggravated and bored. And I felt l had every right to take it out on him. So I did. We'll see who was miserable by the time the trip ended.

"Hey! Hey, Oh Great One! Yeah you," I called at Derek who was heading back up toward me from the water, where he had been playing around and having water fights with a couple girls. He didn't look like he had asked either of the girls on a "date", but for the last couple days he hadn't. Not since Felicity had hightailed it home and taken Jacob with her.

"What do you want Casey?" Derek groaned.

"Do you plan on actually asking any of these girls out? Or is there some reason why you keep failing to close the deal?" I taunted. I know it was mean, but I couldn't help myself. He got so deep under my skin sometimes, I just wanted him to feel what he made me feel.

Derek scowled, "For your information, Casey, none of these girls really interested me—I'm picky. It's really hard to stand up to the high standards of Derek Venturi."

"Please. What standards?" I scoffed. "You were desperate enough to ask out Felicity, the embodiment of the most annoying kind of nuisance."

"You're hilarious Casey, really." Derek rolled his eyes.

"So are you?" I continued.

"Am I, what?" Derek countered.

It was my turn to roll my eyes, "Going to ask another girl out?"

"I don't know," Derek said nonchalantly, stretching slightly. "Maybe I will, maybe I won't."

"You haven't lost your touch, have you?" I mock gasped. That one got to him and I did a little cheer for myself on the inside.

He promptly asked the next girl he flirted with to dinner with him. He said he finally found another girl that interested him. I said he only did it to spite me—but that was okay because that meant what I said really got under his skin.

This girl didn't have a brother to set me up with—not that I wanted to go through that again. Rather than try to explain to her why I would be awkwardly tagging along on my step brother's date, I decided to dine alone at the same restaurant they were eating at. I had hoped to be placed at a table at the opposite side of the restaurant, where I could pretend that I wasn't just there because Derek had forced me to, where I could pretend he didn't exist for an hour of my life. No such luck. The waiter led me to a table that wasn't close enough that I could hear the girl giggle, which I could tell she was doing every five second by the exaggerated way she threw her head back and her whole body shook—tsk, tsk, I didn't even know the girl and already I didn't like her, because who needs to try that hard to impress Derek? However, my table was close enough that no matter how hard I tried to concentrate on my menu or my salt and pepper shakers or unwrapping my silverware, I could still see them out of the corner of my eye and that made it really hard not to watch them.

Too hard for me to resist. I spent much of the time there watching their date progress—pausing only to order and ask for refills on my soda. The girl was trying really hard, I could tell. She had all the right moves—the hair toss, the light touch on the arm, the giggle at all of his jokes that I mentioned before, and the demure batting of the eyelashes and suggestive smile—but Derek didn't seem to be into it. I figured that meant either I was right and he was only having dinner with this girl to show me up or he really had lost interest in her. I could live with either.

It was entertaining to watch—like dinner theater. The girl was upping her game and Derek was brushing her off. I was halfway through dinner when they ordered dessert. She tried to be cute and feed him some of her cheesecake. He took it politely, but I saw him wince and it looked like he had to stop himself from spitting it out. I bet she ordered the raspberry cheesecake, Derek hated that kind. This was just too good.

And it was about to get better. Earlier that a usual date, Derek paid the bill. I was watching as he tried to get her date to put on her jacket when something blocked my view. I tilted my gaze upward to find that what was obstructing my line of sight was a guy a little older than me. He was standing beside my table, looking down at me with a smile playing across his lips. I looked back down at what I was doing at my table. I was not interested in getting involved with anyone else. The waitress had brought my bill right before the guy appeared and I was in the middle of pulling out my money to pay. I hoped if I ignored him, he would get the hint and go away.

What was I thinking? He's a male, with testosterone. Of course he couldn't take a hint.

"Hey there," he said, "My name is Cole."

"Hi Cole," I responded, my eyes still on my bill. Go away, I thought.

"My friends and I have been watching you all night," Cole explained, pointing off to a table not far from mine where there were a few guys sitting all watching us. "We think it's a shame that a girl like you is all alone, so I thought I would come over here and invite you to join us."

"That's really nice of you," I swallowed, "but as you can see, I'm about ready to head out."

"I noticed you didn't have any dessert. Let us treat you to something sweet," Cole offered.

"I'm gonna have to say no," I shook my head, trying to come up with something to get him to leave me alone. "My family is expecting me back."

"Come on, ten minutes. They'll never know the difference," Cole persisted.

"I really can't," I replied, now getting anxious. This guy would not take no for an answer.

"Sure you can," Cole corrected, "Come on, why shouldn't you come have a little fun with us?"

"Look, Cole, you seem like a nice enough guy, but I'm not interested," I said firmly.

Cole scowled, "Excuse me?"

"The girl said she's not interested, so hit the road buddy," Derek's voice answered.

I looked up and he was now standing beside my chair, his arms crossed, and staring Cole down. His battle stance—I had only seen him stand off like that to me. I don't know when he had showed up next to me, but I noticed he had ditched his date—she was no where in sight.

"What are you, her brother or something?" Cole spat.

I was about to answer in the affirmative but Derek cut me off.

"No, I'm not her brother. I'm her boyfriend, so unless you're looking for a fight, you better beat it," Derek snapped.

I was so stunned that those words had left his lips that I couldn't even muster up the strength to contradict him.

"If you're her boyfriend then how come she's having dinner alone?" Cole questioned.

"It doesn't matter. I'm here now, so I suggest you go back to your little friends because she's clearly isn't coming with you."

"Whatever man," Cole turned and walked away.

"Come on Case," Derek grabbed my jacket off the chair next to me and caught hold of my arm to guide me out of the restaurant.

Once we were out on the side walk, I finally came out of my stupor. "You're my…what?" I questioned angrily. "What were you thinking saying that?"

"You're mad at me?" Derek responded, pointing at his chest. "That guy was totally crossing the line between normal and insane pursuit. I just saved you. Who knows what that guy would have resorted to if I hadn't shown up."

"But you could have just said yes when he asked if you were my brother," I shot back.

"I'm not your brother," Derek shrugged.

My eyes widened, "You're not my boyfriend either! And, and I can take care of myself."

"I'm sure you can, Casey, but that guy was not going to leave you alone and you know it. If I hadn't confronted him, he wouldn't have let up. He was way intense," Derek's voice softened, which surprised me.

"So what? You're looking out for me now?" I responded quietly as I tried to figure out what had led to the change in Derek's demeanor.

"I'm always looking out for you. Tonight, you happened to need me. You usually don't," Derek answered.

"Well, well," I cleared my throat, "Thank you, I guess."

Derek shook his head, "It's nothing."

As we headed into our hotel room, I asked, "Hey, what happened to your date?"

"Huh? Oh, Miranda? She left right before I took on Psycho-Ward," Derek replied, "God, I thought I would never shake her loose. I wanted to since we ordered our dinner. And she fed me raspberries. Can you believe that? Eck, I can still taste them."

I laughed, "That's terrible."

"I've been on worse dates," Derek shook it off, "Goodnight Casey."

"Night Derek."

As he headed into his room and I went into mine, I wondered what happened. That afternoon I had been furious with Derek. Then only hours later, we were having a civilized conversation—one of the rare few we had since we first got thrown together. If it was possible, I felt even more confused than before. I really needed to figure out what was going on. It was driving me crazy.