SHOUT OUT/ANSWERS

Dean Winchesters Baby Girl: Thanks. Sorry this isn't soon enough.

Dark-Supernatural-Angel: Thanks. Yeah, I wanted a sweet moment between those two and to also show that feelings aren't always reciprocated. No ep yet, sorry. Sorry this isn't soon enough.

Seddielover1311: Thanks. Awww, I'm sorry. At least we're in the same boat, lol. Thanks. Sorry this isn't soon enough.

DISCLAIMER

Hey, look! We're finally in Season 4! Life With Derek belongs to Canadian Television and Disney. The Vampire Diaries belongs to L.J. Smith and the CW.

Derek and Casey were both in their rooms, getting ready for a big party. From her room, Casey could hear everything that was going on in Derek's room. She smiled to herself when she heard him singing. Granted, he wasn't the best singer in the world, but he certainly wasn't the worst either. Things were going pretty well and they were quiet, which is what she liked. With a happy sigh, she continued to get ready. When she was finally done, she went downstairs to wait for Derek. When the boy finally came down, Casey could see that he was wearing a green shirt with black jeans and had slicked his hair back. She made a slight face.

"Went a little overboard on the cologne, Bro," she told him.

"Sorry, Sis," he responded.

"Ah, don't worry about it. It's fine," she replied. Then, they went to the car; Derek got in the driver's seat, started the car, and drove off. Within minutes, they were at the house of one of Sam's hockey buddies. When they walked through the door, they could see that the party was in full swing.

"Wow. This is some party," Casey commented.

"You haven't seen nothing yet," Derek told her and Casey laughed as they joined their friends.

"Hey guys," Derek greeted.

"Hey!" the group exclaimed and Sam hugged Casey as Kendra hugged Derek. Emily and Ralph waited and then Emily hugged Derek and Ralph hugged Casey.

"We weren't sure if you were going to make it," Emily confessed.

"And miss a great party? No way," Derek responded. Kendra smiled and shook her head. Typical Derek. The friends continued to talk, laugh, and mingle amongst themselves. Presently, a boy with semi-tan skin walked inside the house and looked at the guests suspiciously. He and his family had tracked one of their prey here. But where were they? Only one way to find out, he determined and went over to the beverages where he discreetly poured a liquid in each container and then shook them. Then, he walked to the middle of the room where the cheerleaders were.

"Hey, Truman! You made it!" Amy cried happily.

"Hey, man, what's up?" Max questioned.

"Not much," Truman French replied. "Tell me this, if this is this a hockey player's party, what's a football player doing here?"

"Hey, a party's a party. And we decided on a truce."

"Oh." Then, Truman turned his attention to the rest of the party-goers. A little while later, Casey, Kendra, Emily, Sam, and Derek went over by the beverages while Ralph was busy talking with some of their other friends. The teens all got a cup and poured themselves a drink of Coca-Cola.

"Bottoms up," they chorused and each took a drink. As soon as the beverage was down her throat, Casey felt a burning sensation in her veins and her cup dropped as she doubled up. Seeing this, Truman excused himself from the girl he was talking to and began to make his way over to them.

"Casey, what's wrong?" Sam asked in concern, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Vervain," she rasped.

"What?" the others gasped.

"I…gotta get out of here," she told them.

"Right. Of course," Derek nodded and they all headed for the door.

"You guys can stay. I'll just go," Casey told them.

"No way. We stick together," Kendra stated and they all nodded. Seeing that his friends were heading for the door, Ralph hurried towards them.

"Hey, why are you guys leaving? We just got here," he pointed out.

"Casey's not feeling well all of a sudden," Kendra answered.

"Right. Of course," Ralph nodded. And of course his friends wouldn't stay if one of their own was ill. He let a small smile grace his lips. Sometimes he couldn't believe that the real Derek-the one who cared about others-had been brought back thanks to Casey. Then, continued towards the door. Truman continued to make his way towards the group, only to be continually stopped by people wanting to talk. When he saw the teens exit the door, he let out a groan of frustration. He had been so close! With a huff, he pushed his way through the party-goers until he was finally at the door. His chagrin mounted when he saw that they were gone. The vampire must've had an escape plan, he surmised. Then, he reached into his coat pocket, pulled out a cell phone, and dialed a number. He waited until the ringing had stopped and then spoke quickly and quietly.

"Yeah, it's me. You were right. There's a vampire here. Maybe more than one." He waited a few minutes. "She…got away." He winced as the other person began yelling at him.

"She had some other kids helping her. They were probably compelled." He listened some more. "Don't worry. I'll find her and kill her." He bit his lip. "Yeah, don't worry about a thing. Of course I'll make you proud. Right away…Dad." Then he ended the call and walked out, his eyes clouded with worry.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

This was originally supposed to be a regular episode, but it just worked better as an interlude before the next chap. I don't generally like the character of Truman French, but I felt that he'd make a good antagonist for the fic.