Teach Me

"Derek?" a voice asks from outside my bedroom door.

It's late. Like, midnight late. I had been trying to finish a study guide for my math class, but truthfully, study guides aren't really my thing, so abandoning it now is fine by me.

And as aforementioned, it's late. On a school night. So why Casey McDonald is outside my bedroom door asking for me is piquing my interest way more than math, if I'm being honest.

I stand from my desk and head over to open my bedroom door.

Casey looks… nervous? In the two years I've known her, I don't think I've ever seen her genuinely nervous. And it's kinda making me nervous.

"What's going on, Case?" I ask, still standing in the doorway with my hand on the door handle.

Casey doesn't say anything, but she pushes past me into my room, placing her hand over mine and shutting the door quietly.

Realizing that Casey must have a purpose for this visit, I turn around to face her. She's standing in the middle of my room, fidgeting with the hem of her long-sleeved sleep shirt, and looking straight down at her pink bunny slippers.

"I need you to teach me to be a better kisser."

Wait, what?

"I have a date tomorrow night and I've been told I'm awkward and stiff and I don't want to be anymore."

Okay, so, this is not what I was expecting.

"So, I need you to teach me."

By this point, I think my brain has short-circuited. I mean, realistically, there's only one way I can actually do what Casey is asking me to do. And it's not like we're actually related, but Casey is usually a stickler for the rules, and I'm pretty sure it's an unwritten rule somewhere that you're not supposed to kiss your step-siblings.

"And I know this is an unusual request, so if you're not comfortable with it or don't want to, I understand, but you're the only person I could ask."

By now, Casey is still messing with the hem of her shirt, and if I'm going to teach her anything, it'll be to have a little more confidence in herself. So, that's where I'll start.

I take a step toward her, tilting her chin up with my thumb so she's looking directly at me.

"You are too stiff," I say quietly, untangling her hands from her shirt and bringing them up to rest on my shoulders. "Just relax."

Casey's fingers grip onto my shoulders almost too tight, but I'll let that go for now. In turn, I place one of my hands on her side and the other on her cheek, pausing before going any further.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" I ask, making sure Casey is ready to cross this line before doing anything.

"I'm sure," Casey replies, biting her lip lightly. "It's just research, that's all."

I can't help but laugh a little at that. What an entirely 'Casey' thing to say.

Well, here goes nothing.

I lean down, noticing now for the first time that she smells sweet— like vanilla or something— and it's making my head spin and I haven't even kissed her yet.

My lips touch Casey's and holy fuck. Casey asked me to teach her because I have experience in this department, but this is new. The way my toes are tingling and my head feels all fuzzy and my heart is hammering against my ribcage is new.

Casey whimpers quietly, and her fingernails dig into my shoulder, probably enough to break the skin if my shirt wasn't in the way.

I drop my hand from her cheek, down to her waist, pulling her flush against me.

I tilt my head, deepening the kiss, my lips moving with hers effortlessly.

Casey rises up on her toes, kissing me back, and I'll be honest, whoever told her she's awkward and stiff must've been thinking of someone else. Sure, she was nervous at first, but I'm betting that was simply because she was asking me to kiss her.

I sigh at the loss when Casey pulls back to breathe. She's still standing on her toes, with her arms around my neck when her eyes meet mine.

My hands are holding tight onto her waist, and I don't think I want to let her go.

"Well?" Casey breathes, biting her lip to hide a smile.

I smile a half-smile, my fingers curling into the fabric of her shirt.

Well, if I'm going to take my shot, now's the time.

"I think…," I start, leaning back toward her. "I think maybe you need more practice."

Casey smirks, her nose brushing against mine, her fingers playing with the hair on the back of my neck.

"I think you're right."

I wake up the next morning, the night previous fresh in my mind.

Casey stayed in my room for at least a couple of hours… practicing. That's all it was. In any other circumstance, I would've pushed to go further, but not with Casey. Not that I didn't want to, believe me, I wanted to, but Casey isn't just some girl.

When I'm heading downstairs for breakfast, I realize my t-shirt still smells like her. I hope Nora won't notice that I smell like vanilla, as that would probably end with a lot of questions I'm not sure I can answer.

I see Casey as soon as I come downstairs. She's pouring milk into her bowl of cereal and she smiles when she sees me.

I nod in acknowledgement to her, trying my best to be as subtle as possible. The last thing we both need is for our parents or siblings to find out about last night.

"So, Case," Nora smiles, nudging her daughter as she walks past her in the kitchen. "Tell me about your date tonight."

Casey glances over at me for a moment, before looking back to her mother.

I grab a muffin off of the counter, about to head back upstairs to avoid hearing what Casey has to say when she responds.

"Oh, actually, I canceled the date. I just don't think I'm interested in him anymore," Casey responds, and I can hear it in her voice that she's unsure of herself.

I bite into my muffin to hide my smirk, turning my back and heading towards the front door.

"Meet you in the car, Princess!"

Hello, friends. So, on my last one-shot, "Sparks Fly", the requests were pretty much split down the middle on if y'all wanted the "high school first kiss Dasey" or another song-inspired one-shot next. So, I figured a fair compromise would be to upload this one, and the next one will be another song-inspired one.

Also, THANK YOU all for your awesome response to "Sparks Fly". To-date, it's my one-shot with the most reviews, which I wasn't expecting. So, thank you! I wasn't planning on uploading this one yet but your responses made me want to upload this one earlier than planned.

AND, in case anyone is wondering, yes, this was inspired initially by Grey's Anatomy. If you know, you know.

I'm going to take another poll. The next one-shot is going to be another song-inspired one. AFTER that one, do y'all want to see "Dasey as parents" or "kinda secret Dasey" next? I still have a bunch of pre-written one-shots, so eventually I'll get them all up, but the voting is fun. :P