11/12/2007 12:43:00

Thanks you all so much for all the reviews. You guys always brighten my day!

So who's ready for a confession?!

Disclaimer: LWD is still not in my possession, but…

Ob la de, ob la da, life goes on yaaaa! La la la la, life goes on!

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Still Wednesday Night

Derek yanked open the front door, throwing his jacket on to the rack as he ran up the stairs, mildly acknowledging his father's greeting with a wave. He rushed past his room to Casey's door, knocking before walking in, not waiting for a reply.

"Must I remind you yet again of a thing called common courtesy?" She said looking at him annoyed from her spot on her bed.

"I knocked," he stated, looking at her like that was obviously supposed to be enough.

"Whatever," Casey said returning to her book. "What's up?"

He turned around and closed the door before facing her and rubbing his hands together, a grin on his face. "I know why I'm nicer to you when we're alone than when we're with other people."

She put her book down swinging her legs over the edge of the bed, suddenly feeling interested. "I'm listening."

Derek began pacing slowly in front of her as he spoke. "Okay so when we're alone, I'm just being normal, as you said. I act without thinking. I say what I feel like saying to you and do what I feel like doing."

"And how is that different from any other day of the week?" Casey interrupted.

"Shh!" He said pausing his movements to look at her crossly.

She held up her hands, "Sorry! Please continue."

He began his slow pacing again. "When we're in public, I sometimes feel like I have to pretend to still not like you, like you said I did. The first time I noticed myself doing it was at the movies last weekend with Sam and Emily. When you went to the bathroom, Sam said something to me about paying for you. I knew what I was doing, but I didn't really realize why I did it until tonight. Subconsciously, I've been changing anything that would normally be considered a casual exchange, into what was normal behavior for me towards you when we were 15. I say and do obnoxious things to you because, subconsciously, I've been trying to hide the fact that… I like you."

"Although I'm astonished that you know the meaning of the word subconsciously, I will ignore that in order to remind you that we've established that you like me now. Now could you please get to the part where I'm amazed?"

Derek stopped his pacing, staring at her as though contemplating whether or not he should continue. He took another moment before finally sitting down next to her. He looked down at her hand resting on the comforter before taking it into his own. She glanced down at their hands before looking wide eyed at his face.

"No Casey," He said lifting his head to look at her directly, his eyes filled with a nervous confidence. "I like you. As in 'Can't stop thinking about you, laying awake at night, my God is she amazing, like you."

Casey gulped and closed and opened her eyes as though she was trying to wake herself from a dream. It wasn't until she noticed how hard her heart was pounding that she realized that it wasn't.

"I don't know when it happened. I think it was more of a gradual thing that came with us being forced to get along in order to not go crazy. The being rude to you in public thing happened cause the more we were forced together, the more I realized I liked having you around. I like to spend time with you and to talk to you. I like seeing you every night before I go to sleep and I like waking up and knowing your waking up in the next room. I like seeing the fire in your eyes and hearing the passion in your voice when you're doing something you believe in. I like that I can never quite figure you out. Just when I think I can predict your every move you come out of left field and surprise the shit out of me. But then at the same time I feel like I know you better than I know myself.

"Casey I like that you never, ever let me get what I want just because I smile at you while I'm taking it. You challenge me in a way that no one ever really has before." Derek stopped to take a breath and smiled at an overwhelmed looking Casey. "But don't think I've turned completely chick movie on you cause you still really annoy the crap out of me a majority of the time."

Casey's face relaxed a little as she smiled, enjoying the slight break from his emotionally charged speech. Derek smiled back at her turning his body to face her more directly as he grabbed her other hand in his.

"I realized tonight that when we're with other people, I'm the old Derek. I've been afraid that if I don't act the way I used to, they would see how much I actually like you. I wasn't ready to admit that to myself yet, let alone explain it to other people. Being unnecessarily mean was a cover up. One that's never necessary when we're alone, cause when we're alone it's just us doing our thing, in our special, weird, freaky, undefinable relationship. We've never felt like siblings. We're not friends. Not lovers. Just… Derek and Casey."

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath in an attempt to calm his heart, which had been beating wildly for the last 10 minutes. He meant every word he said but he still couldn't believe he just freely gave all of that information to Casey. He opened his eyes again to see her staring at him with an unreadable expression.

"Okay." Derek stated slowly, biting his lip. "I think that's the most amount of words I've said without anyone else talking. And since I'm overwhelmed by what I just said (and, uh, more than a little embarrassed), I'm gonna leave now and let that pretty little head of yours do what it does best and go over every word until you're blue in the face."

Derek stood up, hesitating before he leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on the back of her right hand. He pulled away, putting his hands in his pockets, and left the room, the door closing after him.

Casey sat frozen in place, her hands laying numbly on her lap from when they fell out of his grasp. He said he was giving her time alone. To think. To process.

A smile broke out on Casey face when she realized that for once, she wasn't analyzing every word.

As she flopped back onto her bed she tried to think over everything he said. She tried to think about how complicated things could get with them if they weren't careful. She tried to think rationally and carefully. Strategically.

But the only thing she could bring herself to care about was Derek.

Him admitting to his feelings for her didn't make her feel like it was necessary to figure anything out. She didn't feel it required any thinking at all because it was all so painfully right that she had to wonder why it took them both so long to realize it.