A/N: So I think my tinfoil hat worked on this chapter. What do you think?

Thanks once again everyone for the reviews! Monopoly is totally my favorite game ever, if you couldn't tell. My husband hates it. :)

Lanter, thanks for that comment. I felt like Lizzie would be the type to freak out a little. She's usually level-headed, but she's had her share of drama queen moments and I thought this would be the moment to cause that! But I tried to make her as realistic as possible without going out of character so I'm glad you thought that!

Also, I went back through and corrected little mistakes here and there, so if you get a notice that says the earlier chapters have been updated, that's why. I was just cleaning it up a bit!

Pieces

Chapter Eleven

"Derek!" He answered Lindsey's phone call three days later. "I have to talk to you, now."

"Okay, can you come over?" he asked.

"I'll be there in ten minutes." She hung up and Derek stared at the phone.

"It's a twenty minute drive," he said to the empty room.

True to her word, Lindsey arrived ten minutes later. "This must be really important," Derek said as he let her in. She nodded.

"Extremely." They ran up the stairs and they shut themselves in his room. "It's about Amy." He came to immediate attention.

"Tell me," he commanded. She sat down in his chair and he fell onto the bed.

"Well, I couldn't get her to tell me the name of the person. She knows I'm close to you, and, well, she just wouldn't tell me. But she did tell me some things. Things she should never have known about you. She knows all about the Casey situation, Derek." He froze.

"There were a lot of people listening that day," he said. "It could have gotten back to her."

"Not this much information," she protested. "Trust me, whoever is behind this knows a LOT about you." Derek sat up.

"There's only one person on that campus that knows that much about me. Let's go."

--

Running up the front walk, Derek banged on the front door of a familiar house. A tall blonde woman answered the door.

"Derek!" She exclaimed. "I haven't seen you in weeks! Come in, come in." Derek and Lindsey followed her into the house. She led them up the stairs to the first room on the left.

"What are you doing here?" Sam demanded. His mother looked shocked.

"Sam! Derek is your friend, why would you speak to him that way?" Derek folded his arms and silently dared Sam to tell his mother what was going on.

Instead, Sam said, "Mom, can you excuse us, please?" She nodded and left the room, closing the door.

"I can leave."

Derek jumped. He hadn't noticed anyone else in the room.

"No, Crystal, you can stay," Sam said.

"Are you kidding me?" Derek demanded. "After everything that happened, you're still with her?" Crystal folded her arms.

"Sam and I happen to like each other," she shot back.

"Yeah, well Sam and I have a score to settle. You know, the matter of trying to get me kicked out of school?" Sam glared at him.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Derek laughed cynically. "Oh, I'm sure you don't. I'm sure you had nothing to do with some random girl in my psychology class setting me up to look like I cheated on the exam." Derek didn't notice Crystal edging toward the door.

"Whatever, Derek. I didn't even know you got caught cheating."

"I didn't cheat!" He snapped. "She set me up and you put her up to it."

"Who set you up?" Sam demanded, looking entirely confused. For the first time, Derek felt slightly unsure.

"You really don't know?" He asked.

"No!" Derek had known Sam long enough to know when he was telling the truth. Sam was a terrible liar.

"Then explain to me how Amy knew all about the situation with us, and with Casey? Explain to me how Amy knew every last detail?" Sam shrugged.

"Who is Amy? I don't know how she knows that stuff." Derek folded his arms.

"Sam, you are the only person besides Casey, Lindsey, and me who knows the entire story."

Suddenly, the bedroom door slammed. Derek and Sam looked up to see Crystal with her hand on the knob and Lindsey with her hand flat against the door.

"Where do you think you're going?" Lindsey demanded. Crystal glanced at Sam, who seemed to be coming to an understanding.

"I think you left one person off that list, D," he said. Crystal's eyes grew wide as Derek advanced on her.

"You did this? Why?" Finally, she dropped the innocent act and glared at him.

"I did it for Sam!" She exclaimed. Sam stared at her.

"Oh, no, do not drag me into it. I had nothing to do with this."

She rolled her eyes. "That's not what I meant. I mean, I did it because I was trying to get rid of Derek for you!" Lindsey crossed her arms.

"Puh-lease. We're not buying that," she snapped. Crystal stepped toward her aggressively.

"What makes you think I care?" She hissed. "He made Sam look like an idiot in front of everyone. And since Sam is too nice to get his own revenge, I did it for him."

"We're turning you over to the dean," Derek said. She laughed.

"Go ahead. You do that and I'll tell them exactly how that Amy girl aced her psychology test. I have the answer key to prove it." Sam stood up.

"Get out," he said. Crystal stared at him.

"But, Sammy, I did this for you," she whined. He shook his head.

"No, you didn't. You know damn well that I never would have wanted you to do something that far over the line. Get out." Narrowing her eyes, she wrenched the door open, nudged Lindsey out of the way, and slammed the door behind her.

"Dude, I am really sorry she did that," Sam said. "I swear I had no idea." Derek crossed his arms. He wasn't quite ready to forgive and forget just yet.

"Why did you tell her so much about me? Doesn't that seem a little bit stupid to you?" He expected, and kind of hoped, that Sam would fight back, but he didn't.

"Yeah, it does. But I was pissed off, Derek, and I needed someone to talk to. Ralph isn't exactly the type, and you and Casey are- were my only other friends."

"Are or were?" Derek demanded. Sam shrugged.

"Hell, I don't know. This is screwed up, Derek, all of it. I stand by that. But if it makes you and Casey happy then so be it." He looked at Lindsey and then back at Derek. "Why isn't Casey here?"

"She's not exactly speaking to me," Derek replied tightly. "At least, not the way she used to. Thanks to your – and Lizzie's – reaction, she's scared to death of coming within five feet of me. So she mostly just dances around me when she isn't avoiding me."

"I'm not going to apologize, Derek. I don't have to like it. And maybe it's just because I'm jealous. Wouldn't you be? I'm just not comfortable with this."

"Whatever. I guess I don't really understand. It was always weird for me when you and Casey were together, but I didn't let it get in the way of our friendship."

Sam stood up. "I'm not Casey's brother! That's different." Derek stood his ground.

"And neither am I. There's nothing wrong with me loving Casey, and I won't let you talk about it like it's some sort of disgusting disease. It's real, and I won't apologize for it, not to you or to anyone else." He stopped his tirade just in time to see that Sam was staring at him, open-mouthed. "What?" He demanded.

Lindsey patted his shoulder. "You just used that pesky little word again," she said him quietly. "The one that makes everyone freak out and stare at you. I can't figure out why."

"Oh, that," Derek replied. "Supposedly it has something to do with my 'track record' according to Edwin."

--

"All right, Derek, spill." Derek looked up at his younger brother. After the incident downstairs, Derek had taken refuge in Edwin's room, trying to avoid his dad, who was asking endless questions and Nora, who kept shooting him suspicious looks. "What was all that down there?"

Derek shrugged. Lizzie knew, so he figured he might as well tell Edwin. The kid was fairly good at keeping things quiet, especially when it was something this important.

"I'll tell you," he promised, "but you have to promise two things." Edwin nodded. "First you have to swear you'll keep it to yourself."

"Of course," Edwin replied.

Derek sighed. Ed was a little too eager and that worried him. But he needed an ally in the house and something told him he could count on Edwin. "Second, you have to promise you'll hear me out and you won't freak out on me."

"Uh, sure," Edwin said, looking confused. "What does this have to do with you?"

"Everything." He took a deep breath. "Ed, I'm in love." He took another deep breath. "With Casey."

Edwin sat across from Derek, his mouth slightly open. "You're kidding." He shook his head. "This has to be some kind of master prank, right?" Derek shook his head.

"This is real, Ed. All of it. And it's a huge mess." He put his head in his hands. "I don't know what to do. She's too afraid of everyone's reactions, especially since Lizzie freaked out on her."

"Lizzie did?" He looked thoughtful. "So that's why she's been so weird lately!" He stared at his brother. "I can't believe you are in love!"

"That's it?" Derek asked incredulously. "That's all you have to say?" Edwin shrugged.

"Besides the 'ohmigod ew' factor of Casey being my sister, yeah."

"Your sister?"

"Well, she's obviously not your sister. Really, Derek, do you want me to freak out or not?" Derek shook his head.

"Of course not. I'm just surprised you're taking it so well."

"It just… makes sense, I guess. It's weird, sure, but not shocking. But, does Casey feel the same way?"

"I don't know. I think so, but she's never really said it out loud."

"Have you? To Casey, I mean?" Derek thought about it.

"No, not in those exact words."

"Well, why not, bro?" Edwin asked. "Maybe she's not really sure how you feel? I mean, you don't have the best track record. Maybe she's just scared of you."

--

"You can't be serious," Sam said. "Who are you and what have you done with 'Triple-D' Derek Venturi?" Lindsey raised an eyebrow.

"'Triple-D'? Who came up with that nickname?" She scoffed. Sam glared at her.

"I did. And trust me, you don't want to know what it means."

"I thought it had to do with hockey," she said. Derek couldn't help it. He laughed.

"Everyone always thinks that."

"I'm so confused," she said, looking from Sam to Derek.

"Can we get back to the situation at hand?" Sam asked. "Look, D, if that's really how you feel, I'm not going to stand in the way. I guess I never thought I'd see the day that Derek Venturi fell in love. And I sure as hell never thought it would be over Casey McDonald."