Author's Note: Thank you SO much for the reviews, I appreciate every single one of them. And there was one request that I post the alternate version of this story (the Mature rated one) and I may do that... is anyone else interested in it? But for now here's the next chapter of the T rated story ;-) And many of you had the question of whether or not Derek had been a virgin. This chapter will clear it up for you! Oh, one other note, there's a swear in this and I censored it but you still know what it is lol. Just thought I would mention that. Please keep the reviews coming, I really love your input! Enjoy!

I was distracted for the rest of the day. Derek had floored me once again. I mean, was he implying that he….? That I was…?

I had to know. It consumed me all through school. I didn't pay attention in class. I avoided Emily and Sam. Derek was always around, and when I actually wanted to see him, of course, he was totally MIA.

I didn't find him until the end of the day, just after the last bell rang and the hallway became quite crowded. He was at his locker, shoving books into his backpack. (Ha, Like he was actually going to do his homework!)

As I walked over to him, I became less and less confident. I was losing my nerve to ask him, and I don't know why. I mean, it was a perfectly legitimate question. And I was desperate to know. I mean, there was no way…

Right?

I stood in front of him and crossed my arms, not saying anything. Derek shut his locker and then jumped back slightly when he saw me, obviously surprised to see me standing there.

"Geez, Case, way to give me a heart attack," he joked, picking up his backpack and swinging it over his shoulder.

I kept my face steady. "I have a question."

He raised an eyebrow at me, noting my serious expression. "Okay…shoot.

My mouth went a bit dry and my eyes shifted to the floor. "Derek… was I… was the other night…" I sighed. Come on, spit it out! I practically screamed at myself. My voice became very quiet as I said what I had to say.

I looked back up at Derek, gauging his reaction. He just looked deeply puzzled.

"What?" he asked. He hadn't heard me.

I sighed heavily. A lot louder, I asked, "Was I your first?"

Derek hissed a, "Shhh!" at me and grabbed my wrist, pulling me into an empty classroom. He looked paranoid, as if the whole school had heard me.

I stood defiant, my hands now glued to my hips. "Well?"

Derek glanced at me and then looked down at his feet. His mouth moved a bit, as if he had tried to start a sentence, but no words came out. "Yes," he mumbled so quietly that I didn't trust my ears.

"What?" I asked, not believing what I heard. Maybe it just sounded like he said something else… although not too many things sound like "yes" when asked a yes-or-no question…

Derek looked up at me, his eyes displaying his embarrassment. "Yeah, it was, alright?" He was mad now. The anger in his voice didn't take me by surprise, though. He always got angry when he was embarrassed.

Besides that, my jaw was pretty much on the floor. I had never expected… I mean, Derek of all people had been a virgin?

"You're kidding," I said quietly in disbelief.

His jaw was set as he stared crossly at the floor. "I'm not kidding."

My mind took a few moments to process this new information. It was so hard for me to grasp that we had lost our virginity together. I moved swiftly across the room, barely making a noise. I stood in front of where he was hunched against the wall, looking pissed.

"Derek?" I asked gently, my hand reaching up and lightly touching his arm. He didn't look up at me.

I exhaled slowly. "Derek, you don't have to be embarrassed or anything. I promise… I'll never tell anyone." I would be true to my word. Derek slowly met my eyes, but his expression didn't change.

"So… we lost our virginity together?" I continued carefully, my hand sliding down his arm and I slipped my hand into his. He didn't push it away.

He nodded. "I guess so."

I gave him a soft smile. "I'm glad."

He looked surprised at that. "Glad?"

"Yeah. It was a special moment for both of us," I went on. "And I had no idea…" I bit my lip. "You could have told me, Derek."

He gave a short laugh. "No way, Case. I could never tell anyone that. Do you know what that would do to my reputation?"

I raised an eyebrow. "So how would your reputation be if they found out you were sleeping with your stepsister?"

His eyes became a bit more playful, a gleam in his eyes now that I loved. "You mean past or present tense?"

I gave him a coy grin. "What do you want it to be?"

The sparkle in his dark eyes brightened. Not taking his eyes off of mine, he backed up slowly, walking towards the door. He reached behind him and locked the classroom before turning off the lights, making us simply silhouettes.

"Come over here and I'll show you," he whispered to me.

When we finished and straightened ourselves out, I looked over at Derek. He was zipping up his pants, looking flushed but happy. I smiled a bit curiously.

"Derek?" I asked him as I tried to straighten my hair back out.

He looked over at me. "Yeah?"

"How long did you… you know… want me?" I asked, feeling my cheeks flush at the question. It seemed like a dumb question know that I had said it out loud.

But Derek just smirked. "Ever since I saw you, the summer before high school."

I stopped fighting with my hair. "What?" He didn't respond, shaking his head, making his hair even messier. "Derek… we didn't know each other then."

He gave me a mysterious look. "No, we didn't. But I saw you."

"When?" I interrogated.

"Sea Urchin Beach. Summer before high school. You were there tanning with some of your friends," Derek responded.

I looked unimpressed. "That could have been anyone—"

"You were wearing this tiny blue-and-white striped bikini. You were the only one of your friends who was wearing a two-piece. The four of you girls sang some Britney Spears song really loud when it came on the radio. You said she was a whore but she had a good voice. I believe you called her a 'Skank-a-saurus with nice hair,'" he even put air-quotes around the phrase.

I stood there, stunned, not making a move. "You…you really noticed me?" I felt bad I hadn't remembered him.

He nodded, eyes half-lidded with desire. "I wanted you then."

I walked over to him, my expression still absolutely awestruck. I saw the want in his eyes. Nobody had ever looked at me like that before. Not even Sam, my only real boyfriend.

"I can't believe you remember that," I murmured.

Derek nodded again. He then looked down into my eyes. "Did you… did you ever want me?"

There was a raw emotion in his eyes that surprised me. I gulped and shook my head up-and-down slowly. "At our parents' wedding. The way you looked in your tux…" I trailed off, remembering how sexy and badass he looked standing in the wedding chapel. "I remember I was upset because now we would be related and we couldn't ever…" I trailed off once again. But we had…

He smirked. "We're not related, Case."

I blushed. "I know… I just… I figured we'd be more like brother and sister."

"And less like f-ck buddies?" Derek questioned.

I looked away, slightly pained at that.

"Is that all we are?" I asked after a moment of deafening silence. My eyes filled up with angry tears. "Is that what I gave up my virginity for, Derek? To be my stepbrother's 'f-ck buddy'!" I spat out, slapping him away from me and backing up, the angry tears now falling.

Derek looked taken aback. "Case—no—"

I shook my head violently. "Derek, this is ridiculous! We've had sex three times and never used any kind of protection. I'm lying to my best friend and going behind my own boyfriend and YOUR best friend's back. Have I completely lost my mind!" I shouted the last bit to myself. I crumpled to the floor and put my head in my hands, not knowing what else to do but sob.

I felt Derek's arms around me, hugging me tightly from the side. I didn't push him away like my mind screamed for me to. He pressed a kiss against my neck as he rocked me back and forth, trying to comfort me.

"Case, it's not like that…" he whispered gently as I continued crying. "This means more than that to me. I mean… I wasn't the only virgin in the room the other night. It was important to me, too. I wanted it to be with someone special. And it was."

I looked up at him at that, my eyes blurred with tears.

"You're special to me," he continued, reaching down and gently wiping the tears off of my cheeks.

I didn't say anything, just staring up into his deadpanned expression. He was dead serious.

"And you're right… we have been stupid to not use protection. When I'm with you, I don't think of things like that. Actually, I don't think about anything around me. It's just you, Case. Just you."

My lips parted but I didn't respond. He reached over and caressed my face. I leaned into his touch. "Derek…"

"Case, you're all I think about," he admitted. "When I wake up, when I go to bed. At school, when I'm out. Hell, do you know how many dates I've ruined because I've called the girl 'Casey'?" he scoffed at himself.

I just stared, mystified at is sudden admittance.

"You're the only girl I ever really wanted," his voice lowered.

I felt a tear slide down my cheek. But this time, it wasn't a sad, angry, or hurt-filled tear. I gently pressed my hand against his cheek and pulled his lips over to mine, kissing him softly and slowly. His lips tasted so sweet against mine, and he pulled me onto his lap.

After the sweet kiss, we hugged each other close.