Yay for the next chapter. It's not as long as I originally planned, but hopefully it'll satisfy you all. Time for some comfortime time, eh? ;)

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Life with Derek and I never will.

Casey sat there in shock, not moving or responding to Emily on the phone as her mind tried to register what she had just heard.

"Casey?" Emily asked, still wondering if her best friend was still on there.

Casey shook her head quickly and asked angrily, "What are you doing at McDonalds with Sam?"

"How'd you know that? You weren't--"

"I saw you! Emily, I saw you kiss him! How could you?"

"Look, Casey--"

"What, did you just happen to forget that he's my boyfriend?"

"I can explain--"

"No, Em. I don't think you can."

Casey hung up, not wanting to hear the excuse she figured Emily would make up. She couldn't take their lies any longer. Emily and Sam. Why couldn't she see it before? Sam had become so distant the past few months and Emily had suddenly been busy 24/7. Was it that she didn't want to notice? If Emily had feelings for Sam before Casey dated him, why did her best friend encourage her? Does this mean that Sam and Emily developed feelings for each other during Casey's relationship with him? When did Sam stop loving her completely?

Casey continued to sit on her bed, motionless and in shock. Her mind was running a million miles per hour as she wondered what to do with all of these emotions. She felt too confused to only hug the stuffed animal, hoping that this would all go away because she knew that it wouldn't. This problem would not disappear overnight. She sat there for a few more minutes before an idea came to her mind.

She had always heard Derek punch his wall whenever he was angry. It always amazed her that he managed to create holes in it every single time. Amazed in an odd, twisted way, of course. Casey stood up and locked her door, staring at an empty spot in her wall. She tilted her head and kept focused on it for a long thirty seconds. The concept of punching your wall until you felt better seemed simple enough and Casey shook her shoulders a bit before making a fist, ready to attack it.

Casey punched it once, wincing slightly after she had done so. Seeing that it made no evident mark, she punched it again with more force. Her eyes welled up with tears as she bashed the innocent wall with anger and more violent thoughts ran through her mind with each hit. It had gotten to the point where she had continued hitting the wall until her knuckles tore up and bled, but the wall had only made a slight indent.

Derek, on the other hand, was lying down on his bed and staring at the ceiling as he continued to attempt to get the sight of Casey changing in her room out of his mind. His thoughts were interrupted by thumping noises from Casey's side of the wall. At first, Derek let the racket continue until it got a bit annoying. He sat up in confusion and listened to the punches and slight noises of frustration. It was impossible for him to figure out what in the world she was doing. Out of pure curiosity, Derek got up, walked over to her door and tried opening it. It was locked. He walked over to the game closet where the family kept the spare key in an extra game of Boggle hidden under a towel. He never understood the idea of everyone getting the same doorknobs and having the same lock and key because then anyone could get into everyone else's rooms. Once Derek got the key, he unlocked Casey's door and walked in.

Casey punched the wall once more, completely out of energy. She continued to cry until the noise of her very own door caught her attention. She turned around quickly, staring at Derek who was just standing there, trying to absorb the whole situation.

"Casey?" He asked, staring at her with wide eyes.

She stayed silent, shaking her head and wiping her eyes despite the fact that the tears kept falling.

Derek walked slowly over, "Casey, what did you do to your hands? They're bleeding."

Casey sat on her bed and covered her face, not wanting him to see her at her weakest point, "Derek, its my fault. I drove him away … And … And …"

He sat next to her, "Drove who away?"

"Him. Sam," she said, scooting a bit farther from Derek out of instinct, but took her hands down.

"What are you talking about?"

"Sam…and Emily…They…They…" her eyes welled up with even more tears.

"They what? Case, they what?"

"Derek, he cheated on me. He cheated on me with her."

Derek kept his focus on Casey's splotchy face and puffy eyes as his own expression turned from confusion to anger. He shook his head, not completely understanding her statement. Had Casey just said that Sam, his best friend, cheated on her? With her own best friend? Sure, Derek had always told Sam to live a little, but he never meant for him to actually cheat on Casey. And sure, he never liked the fact that Sam and Casey were dating, but he never meant for Sam to actually break her heart like he had obviously done already.

"Don't cry, Case," Derek said for he had no other words to say to her.

"Don't cry? Don't cry! Did you just hear what I told you? Your jerk of a best friend--"

"Yeah, he got it on with your best friend. I heard you the first time," he said in a slightly annoyed tone since he was trying to be nice and received an attitude in return.

Casey considered shooting him a glare, but seeing that she was not in the mood to fight with him, she sighed instead, "What am I going to do?"

There was a long pause while Derek thought about a response. Of course, Casey had asked it in a rhetorical fashion, but he also wondered what she would do.

"Revenge," he said simply.

Casey wiped her eyes, "Revenge? But that sounds so harsh. I mean, there's always the whole 'turning your cheek' thing."

"How can you possibly say that? You did turn your cheek after he cheated on you and he struck the other one when it turned out to be Emily. You're fresh out of options."

Casey sat there in silence.

Derek sighed and broke the quietness, "Although the ideal revenge would be cheating back with his best--"

"Derek, that's you," Casey pointed out, folding her arms across her chest.

"Let me finish! Since we already established that his best friend is me, we obviously can't do that. So you do it differently."

"And how do I do that?"

"We make him want you back so badly that he'll be on his knees begging, but he won't get the privilege of touching a single hair of you. I'll make sure of that."

Derek scooted closer to her, pulling her into an attempt at a side-hug that was awkward, but turned very un-awkward after Casey leaned into him a bit. In fact, he felt almost like she was meant to fit perfectly against him. Derek patted her arm, trying to make himself look as if the moment was still very awkward for him and yet he couldn't explain why he was having these thoughts in the first place.

Well? What'd you think? It got a tad bit more fluffier than I intended, but its all gravy. I'm not sure if I'll get around to posting another chapter until after Christmas, seeing as tomorrow is already Christmas Eve. So if I do not post another chapter, Merry Christmas & God bless.

- Lina.