Author's Note: …because I really can't deprive anyone of the following any longer.

It wasn't that she was waiting up for him. It was just that she couldn't sleep until she knew he was home. And it had absolutely nothing to do with the change in their relationship, because Casey had never been able to sleep properly until Derek was home; not even when they were fifteen. It was one of the reasons why she had hated him going to parties and on dates. Waiting up for a drunk step-brother, just so that you know he's safe, sucks. Waiting up for said sober step-brother when he's on the red-eye from Melbourne working for you…that hurts too.

Especially when you had an epiphany about your relationship while he was away.

She was in bed reading, or trying to at least, when she heard the front door close. Casey had sent everyone home for the weekend because it had been a busy week and she was planning on kicking back for two days. She had even given Ellen the night off.

It was tempting to stay in her room and wait to see if he came to her. But she didn't. Firstly, because she didn't know how she would handle it if he didn't come to her and secondly because she had sent Ellen home, and if Casey knew Derek, he would be hungry. She pulled on a bathrobe over her night gown and padded out onto the landing. Derek was halfway up the stairs.

"You look like shit." She said, relishing the chance to tease.

"Thanks." He said still climbing the stairs.

"You hungry?" she asked, wondering why she was wasting her breath.

He gave her a pointed look.

"Stupid question. I'll go make you a sandwich."

"Great. I smell disgusting. I think my suit can walk itself to the cleaners. I'm going to go grab a shower."

Thirty minutes later, they were sitting on Casey's bed. Derek had propped himself up with several pillows and had just finished munching his way through a large sandwich.

"So how was Melbourne?" Casey asked.

"Australian." He said, grinning. His humour had returned with the first mouthful of food. "It was fine, pretty good in fact. Long business days for me though and the journey's a killer." His hair was still slightly damp from the shower. Casey wanted to put a hand up to brush it from his eyes but stopped herself, unsure of the status of whatever it was they had apparently started before he left.

"How about you?" he asked "How's Diva-ville?"

"We've finished in the studio. Jaz seems happy with it all."

"How many tracks did you go with in the end?"
"Twelve. Seven of my own and five written for me."

"Did you get the message I left today about them releasing three additional singles after Nah Nah? They picked three of your own songs."

"I know. It's amazing!" She knelt up in her enthusiasm. "I was jumping around so much Jaz told me that if I didn't calm down he'd sedate me."

Derek laughed. "You'd think after all these years he'd be used to Casey freak-outs by now." He said putting a hand up to play with a strand of her hair.

"I missed you." He murmured quietly. His eyes questioning hers.

"I missed you too." Casey answered, hoping he could see the extent to which that statement was true.

"Good." He said smirking, and she knew his next comment was going to be a smart Alec one. "Because I'd h…"

Casey interrupted him by pressing her lips to his, just once, briefly.

"Shut up Derek." She whispered as she let him go, and then moved back towards him.

This time Derek met her halfway.

Kissing Derek was a prime example of how you should never judge a book by its cover; or even the jacket summary.

Casey, on the (many) occasions when she had thought about kissing Derek, had always assumed that his lips would be hard and forceful and determined, pushing the recipient towards the Derek goal. (She always blushed when she thought of the Derek goal.) And she had thought that the kisses would be accompanied by straying hands, groping, probing.

It wasn't like that at all.

His lips were soft, gentle and welcoming. Eyes closed, he let Casey push him back against the pillows, and deepen the kiss. When his hands did touch her, it was her hair they caught and he was just matching Casey's own movement, her fingers were finally tangled in his damp hair.

"Welcome home." She smiled softly when the kissing moved away from her lips. He chuckled against her neck.

"Can I have that sort of welcome every time I come home?" He asked and glanced up at her, a new warmth in his eyes. "What brought this on?"

"Not knowing was driving me crazy." She said, kissing him again.

"Not knowing what?" he frowned when she let him breathe again.

"Whether you felt the same way I did." Casey said, resting their foreheads together.

Derek ran a finger down her back, feeling her bathrobe moving against something smooth and sleek underneath. "Surely the sleeping in the same bed thing is a big hint. I don't sleep with just anyone, you know." He smirked. "Despite the rumours. And you of all people should know how little you can go by rumours."

They were quiet for a moment.

"I bought you a present. Do you want to see it?" he asked, kissing her mouth lightly. Casey smiled and nodded. Derek grinned, kissed her soundly and climbed off the bed. He crossed the room and entered his own, returning a moment later with a small, wrapped box. He resumed his previous position on the bed but turned to her.

"I want you to understand about this present, okay?"

Casey nodded.

"This is a present from me to my girlfriend because that's what you are, first and foremost, above any other…erm…relationship." She giggled.

"You mean the s word?"

"Yeah. Do me a favour and don't say it." They grinned at each other. "But," he resumed. "Obviously, we can't just announce it to 'Ok' or 'Hello' or some cheap tabloid, because…well, then the Fam will hear, and things will get complicated."
"Understatement." Casey said.

"So, for now at least you're my little secret, and I'm yours."

Casey smiled. "I quite like the idea of that."

"Yeah. Me too. Clandestine. Lots of scope for sneaking around." He smirked. "That's rather hot. Anyway, since I can't tell anyone I'm dating you I wanted something to show that you were dating someone. A way of marking you as taken, I suppose, if your feminist side will excuse the implication. I got you this, because it is so clearly something a boyfriend would give. And yes, I bought it with the word 'girlfriend' and 'dating' in mind."

Derek combed her hair with his fingers again. "I thought about you a lot while I was away."
Casey took the present from him and slipped the paper from it. Inside was a box with the name and address of a Melbourne jeweller on it. She smiled at Derek and opened the box.

Inside, nestling on blue velvet was a silver coloured pendant on a chain. It was a stylised 'C' in a modern form with a single diamond in its swirl.

"It's platinum. I thought about having a C and D joined, but I thought that would be too obvious to all those eagle-eyed gossip columnists. So the stone is a diamond instead."
"A diamond to represent you?"

"Delusions of grandeur." He quipped.

"It's beautiful." She said in awe. Then she smirked. "And significantly more sappy than I had you down for."

"I had help. The guy in the shop started going on about the meanings of stones because he wanted me to buy this expensive ring that had these hideously coloured stones because they spelled out 'dearest'. I've never called anyone 'dearest' in my life. Well except maybe you, but in jest. Then I saw the design for the C and the diamond. It suited."

"I'm impressed, Derek. Thank you."

He smirked. "Do I get a reward?"

Casey looked at him, sensing a return to form. She raised an eyebrow.

"Had you anything particular in mind?"

"No. Although a peek at whatever slinky item you are wearing under that robe would be nice, but I'll settle for some more kisses."

"Der-ek!" she complained. He smirked even more. Casey leant towards him.

"You can't just expect me to strip off because you ask, Derek."
"No. I know that." He said, kissing her.

"It takes a lot more work than that." She said, letting him kiss her again.

"I'm sure it does." He said, sitting up and sliding a hand under her robe, by her collarbone. He started to plant little kisses along her neck to her mouth. "Better?" he asked.

"Much." She said against his lips.

The kissing was getting serious, and Casey was gradually losing her mind. She was also losing her robe, but she didn't care.

Derek fingered the pale rose satin of her night gown. It clung in all the right places, and turned him on more tonight than anything in black would have done. It was perfectly Casey. Perfectly hot.

"Did you get that on your shopping trip?" he asked, kissing her shoulder.

"Hmm." Casey confirmed sliding her hands under his t-shirt.

"Remind me to give Dawn a raise." He said, moving south.