Author's Note: Thanks for the feedback, I'm glad that people are reading this! Hopefully you're all enjoying it and will like this chapter :-)
"He was gonna kiss her!" Lizzie exclaimed once she and Edwin were safe inside the game room.
"What?" Edwin practically barked. Had he missed that?
"Didn't you see Derek's face?" Lizzie threw her hands up in the air. "And the way he was staring at Casey's mouth? He was going to kiss her!" she exclaimed again, not sure if she was shocked, repulsed, or excited about the prospect of her stepbrother and sister getting together.
"He was?" Edwin asked dumbly.
Lizzie rolled her eyes at him. Boys.
"Do you think Casey would have kissed him back?" Edwin then asked, his thick eyebrows furrowing.
Lizzie blinked at the question, taking a moment to pause and think about it. Would her sister have kissed him back? Hmm… "I don't know," she said slowly. "Maybe. They seem to be getting close…"
"Well, they had….you know…" Edwin blushed at his implication.
Lizzie sighed. "True, but they're fighting it for some reason. One of them is going to cave soon. And it was almost Derek just a few minutes ago." She tapped her fingers against a game of Yahtzee in thought. If Casey and Derek were to get together, how would everyone react to it? Their mother and George would probably die of shock.
"Don't you think they'd keep it a secret if they got together?" Edwin said as if he had been reading her mind. Derek was smart. He wouldn't ruin his reputation for one girl. Especially Casey.
Lizzie shrugged. "I don't know," she replied honestly. This whole Derek/Casey thing was really throwing her. It was just so crazy… and yet it oddly made some strange kind of warped sense. "Let's just keep spying," she told Edwin. "We'll see what happens."
Edwin nodded and they quietly left the game room unnoticed.
Casey went to school the next day a little later than usual. She had hoped to avoid any awkward homeroom chatter and stares from everyone Molly had gotten to. Which was probably all of Ontario by now, she scoffed to herself. She walked into the high school just as the bell rang for homeroom. Hurriedly, she walked in, keeping her eyes downcast, and took a seat in the back of the room.
She finally looked up after a few moments to see that absolutely nobody was looking at her.
"What?" she murmured, eyeing everybody in the classroom. Some were goofing of with friends, others were finishing up homework, and a few were taking the fifteen minute homeroom period as part of their extended night's sleep.
Confused, Casey had to wait until homeroom for the true test: the hallway. Where gossip dominated most conversations and nasty rumours flew wildly. She bit her lip and walked out of the classroom, ready to face her peers.
Again, there were no stares or anything. But she did feel one set of eyes on her. She turned around to see Derek staring at her from his locker. Her feet automatically took her over to him.
"Derek… they're not…"
"Talking, I know," he gave his smug trademark Derek-smirk.
Casey felt herself smile slowly. "And… I'm guessing you had something to do with this?"
"Maybe," Derek shrugged.
Casey's smile widened. He really did what he said he was going to do. That was a first. So she quickly threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly. Derek was taken off-guard, and his smirk faded as his hands instinctively pressed against her spine, hugging her back.
"Thank you," she leaned up and kissed his cheek before scattering off to her first period class.
Derek allowed a small smile to come over his face as he lifted his hand, his fingertips lightly touching his cheek, which was now tingling.
He was falling for his stepsister.
Casey met up with Emily during third period Canadian History.
"Where were you this morning?" Emily asked her when Casey sat down next to her.
Casey crossed her legs under her desk and pulled out her textbook. "I… just didn't feel like coming in too early," she said, hoping that her best-friend would leave it at that.
"Derek told everyone that you and him sleeping together was just a nasty rumour," Emily said bluntly.
"Does everyone believe it?"
"Everyone believes Derek," Emily waved her hand in emphasis. "He pretty much rules the school. So yeah, everyone believes it to be a rumour."
Casey let out a breath of relief. "Good."
"I'm sorry again for telling Molly," Emily said, clearly looking upset with herself for doing that. "I wasn't thinking."
"I know, Em," Casey nodded. "I'm just glad it's all over with."
"Is it?" Emily eyed her best-friend.
"What?" Casey snapped her head around. What did that even mean?
"Well, I mean... why did Derek say that?"
"He offered to."
"Why?"
"Because… uh…" Casey couldn't tell her that she sort of had blackmail on Derek. Not that she would ever use it. She kind of felt special in a way to be the only one to know that Derek is—or, well, was—a virgin.
Plus, deep down Casey knew that was not the real reason he had told everyone it was a rumour.
Casey trailed off and grew flustered at the question, not really having a good answer for Emily. Emily just smirked in satisfaction and let it be.
Even Casey couldn't see it, Emily knew. That's why she had never gone after Derek. Because she could tell that he only had eyes for Casey ever since she moved in. Sure, he had random dates with the girls, but Emily knew that he was in denial.
In fact, several girls had commented before on Casey and Derek being more than just step-siblings. When Emily had told Molly, she didn't seem as surprised as one would suspect. Molly was a gossiper, yes, but she was also a very good observer. That's why she had so much dirt on the kids of their high school.
Casey had always seemed so oblivious. But maybe now she was finally beginning to see what others saw…
That Derek was totally crushing on his stepsister.
Derek waited for Casey after school. They always walked home separately, but he thought it might be nice to surprise her by walking with her that afternoon.
…Who was he kidding? He really just wanted to spend some time with her.
He saw her approaching, finally, her books under her arm as she smiled up at… Sam. Yes, Sam was there, walking with her, making her laugh. Derek instantly narrowed his eyes at his best friend.
"Oh, hey, Derek," Casey said casually, a smile meant for Sam still lingering on her lips. Derek could only nod at her.
"Well, I gotta get going. I'll see you tonight, Casey?" Sam looked directly at her.
Derek's head snapped over at his best-friend. Tonight?
"Yup," Casey gave a flirty giggle. "Bye."
"Bye," Sam gave her a grin and then looked over at Derek, who was scowling at him. His smile fading, he gave a look of confusion at his best-friend, and then left.
As soon as Sam was gone, Casey cocked her head to the side, looking at her step-brother curiously. "What are you still doing here?"
But Derek ignored that. "Where are you going with Sam tonight?" he practically demanded.
Casey raised her eyebrows. "Oh… if you must know, on a date," she said matter-of-factly.
Derek instantly felt jealousy well inside of him. How dare his best-friend ask out his step-sister! "And you're gonna go!" he asked incredulously.
Casey looked at him as if he had lost it. "Of course, why wouldn't I?"
Derek snapped his mouth shut. He didn't want to say it… couldn't she see?
Casey looked perplexed as her step-brother stopped the conversation altogether and continued walking home silently. There was a thick tension around him that Casey could feel. She didn't get it. Was he mad that she was going out with his best-friend? It WAS a free country… she didn't have to get PERMISSION to go out with a guy she liked.
Suddenly Casey got angry. "Derek, I like Sam, Sam likes me, and I can go out with WHOEVER I WANT to go out with!" she shouted, halting on the sidewalk only a few meters from their house.
Derek stopped and turned to face her.
"WHAT is your PROBLEM, Derek!" she went on when he didn't say anything. "Sometimes you're this really nice guy and sometimes… sometimes you're just an ass!"
"Can't you see it!" he blurted harshly.
Casey glared at him. "See what?"
Derek scolded himself instantly. He had already said too much.
"If you're still blaming yourself about the whole 'we had sex' thing, you can just stop it. It's over with. I'm over it," Casey said, planting her hands firmly on her hips.
"That's not it," Derek said calmly.
"Then what is it, Derek!" she commanded. "Why can't I go out with Sam, huh? WHY?"
"This is why," Derek said roughly before grabbing her and planting his lips on her just as he had been dying to do since the party. Casey tried to fight him at first, but she couldn't.
Well, she probably could have… but she didn't want to.
Before Casey even had the chance to respond, Derek pulled away from her, his eyes wide. He couldn't believe that he had actually just kissed Casey.
"Shit," was all he could manage to say, and hurried into their house, leaving Casey to stand there in shock.
As soon as Derek ran up to his bedroom, he shut the door and flopped himself down on his bed.
"What the hell did I do?" he asked himself as he stared up at the ceiling above him. He had gone against everything he had been telling himself since the party and kissed his stepsister. Who was going out with his best-friend tonight.
… His lips still tingled.
He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to rid the tingling sensation. He had to get over this silly infatuation he had with Casey. And soon, before his lust for her became something else.
Grabbing his cell phone, he searched through his numbers and chose one randomly.
"Hey Vicky," he said into the phone when the person picked up. "Got any plans for tonight?"
