I might have gone a little crazy with this one but at least it's up and school is out(has been since the fourth)!! I do not own the book mentioned in this chapter although I own a copy of the book but it's still not mine.

Chapter 9: There's Us: Perfect Chemistry

Casey's eyes fluttered open halfway as her hand searched the snooze button on her alarm. Slinging her arm over to the alarm, she closed her eyes trying to get a few more minutes of sleep. She thought about the previous night or rather morning, spent with Derek. 'Why did I have to suggest that we could be friends?' Casey thought. She was hoping that Derek would say that he wanted to be more than friends. It hurt when he agreed with her stupid suggestion. Hearing her alarm go off again, she opened he eyes and turned her body so it was facing the clock. Her eyes widened as she looked at the time. She jumped off the be muttering things like, "Stupid Derek," and, "Why did I trust him?" Casey raced down stairs, passing a dazed and confused Derek.

"Umm…hi?" Derek said causing Casey, who was halfway down the stairs to look up at him.

"You!" Casey exclaimed advancing towards him. "You set my alarm, didn't you," She accused poking her finger at his chest.

"Yeah, what's the big deal?" Derek asked throwing his hands up in the air like he was a criminal who got caught.

"The big deal is it's ten forty-two and I haven't even eaten breakfast yet. I thought we were through with all of the pranks. I thought we were friends."

"Chillax, Case. It wasn't a prank, your alarm kept waking me up at eight and you weren't awake to turn it off so I set it back a couple of hours, I was just trying to help."

"Sorry," Casey said as her shoulders relaxed and she dropped her gaze to her shoes and her arms fell back to her sides. She knew she was overacting and also knew it had to deal with a certain somebody.

Her chin was lifted back up gently by Derek's hands. Looking into his eyes she found herself lost by the emotions swirling in them. They stood there captivated by each other until Derek looked away, clearing his throat

"Not a problem," he said walking around her, down the stairs, and into the kitchen.

"Casey!" She heard Derek yell a moment later.

Worried that something happened to Derek, Casey hurried down stairs to see Derek holding a paper. He looked up when she entered in and handed her the paper.

"Derek and Casey,

We went out to breakfast. Sorry, we tried to wake you but you wouldn't budge. Try not to kill each other while we're gone.

Love,

Nora." Casey read out loud.

"So, I guess it's just you and me," she said awkwardly while looking at Derek who was suddenly really close to her.

"Yeah," Derek replied back his eyes on her lips, thinking about kissing her. 'Come on Derek, just a couple of inches and the whole friends theory will be out of the door.'

"Well, this has been fun but I'm going to go watch T.V.," He said stepping back.

"Okay," Casey said, watching him retreat back into the living room. When he was gone, she sighed. 'That was close. Just a few more inches and-bad Casey. No more thinking about Derek Just what am I going to do, though.' After a few moments of contemplating things to do that don't involve Derek, Casey settled on reading since reading usual helps her escape the reality of her life. Picking up one of her favorite books, Casey settled in the couch and tried to read.

"What'cha doing?" Derek asked interrupting her

"Reading."

"Reading what?"

"A book."

"What kind of book?"

"A hardback book."

"What's it about?"

"A love story. I thought you were watching hockey," Casey said starting to get annoyed with the conversation.

"I was I just found something better to watch," Derek replied smiling.

Casey blushed at this but managed to maintain her cool. "Oh really, and what might that be?" Casey asked and before Casey could blink Derek was in front of her, taking her book. Casey stood up in front of him with a cry of "Hey."

"Perfect Chemistry," Derek read out loud. "Sounds familiar," he said looking at her.

"You recognize a book?" Casey said shocked.

"Hey, I've read a couple of times," he said sounding offended as he put the book down. "But I wasn't talking about the book."

Casey stared back captivated once again by his eyes. What is it with him and those eyes? Casey thought as she felt herself move closer to his lips.

Derek gave Casey plenty of time to protest before his lips settled on her. Their lips met in passion both of them finally getting what they will always want. Derek pulled away from Casey for a second. "See, Perfect Chemistry," he whispered making Casey laugh a little.

"It really is perfect," Casey said before their lips met again.

Half an hour after Casey and Derek's make-out session they were sitting on the couch together with Casey leaned close into Derek and neither of them paying attention to the T.V. screen. Suddenly they heard a car pull up and Casey and Derek looked at each other before they both separated. Derek scurried over to his chair while Casey fumbled for her book. The front door opened followed by Marti's excited talking.

"Hey, guys. Did you eat breakfast?" Nora asked.

"Um, no, we,uh, forgot," Casey admitted

"Why?"

"We were a bit preoccupied," Derek explained.

"Not fighting, I hope."

"Nope, there was actually no fighting at all. We were perfect, right Derek?" Casey smiled at Derek.

"Yeah, perfect," Derek replied smirking back which caused Lizzie and Edwin to look at the pair and then at each other before shaking their heads.

The part where Derek keeps asking about the book comes from my life, sorta. When my little brother asks what I'm watching or reading, I do the same thing that Casey did. Anyways, the book is Perfect Chemistry, it's by Simone Elkeles and it's a really good book, I recommend that you read it.