Disclaimer: I do not own Life with Derek… but I think I might have an in… my plan proceeds!

Can I Help?

Alone

Derek didn't come home that night. Probably not a smart move on his part, he knew, but he couldn't get himself to go back yet. He needed to do one of two things first: either figure some things out, or forget about them. And for once in the past couple weeks, he was true to form. He opted to forget about them.

When he had walked out, he had planned on just walking and cooling down. He was angry and didn't understand why. Maybe, he thought, because stupid Casey won't listen to me when I'm just trying to look out for her! The walking to cool down? Yeah, that wasn't working.

Vaguely he remembered one of his hockey buddies talking about a party he was throwing tonight. He could go there, talk to some chicks, and forget all about Casey and her stupid stubbornness problem. With that decided, he flipped up the collar on his leather jacket and headed off in the direction of his friend's house.

When Derek had stormed off, Casey had frowned, stuck between a mix of sadness and anger. To save herself from an incredibly hard couple of hours, that's the tops she figured Derek would be out for, she consciously decided to let her anger dominate her instead of the sadness. She slammed her door with a frustrated cry and consoled herself by muttering about how stupid Derek was sometimes, trying to work up some of her old hatred for him- just to get through the time, if for nothing else.
-

Casey climbed back onto her bed, ready to attempt to get back to her schoolwork. She always buried herself in work when she could do nothing else; it used to help calm her down and get her mind off of things. She was disappointed when she had to fidget, shake her hands out, and force herself to concentrate to start working. Usually she would just dive right in. Well, she figured, maybe I just need to start and then it'll be full speed ahead. Hoping for this, she leaned in close and began reading her math problem.

"Okay… Derek-" Casey gritted her teeth. His name was in the problem. Weren't the names in math books supposed to be crazy 'cultural' ones which nobody could pronounce or know whether it was male or female?

She exhaled roughly and continued, "Derek has a newspaper route for which he collects k dollars each day… from this amount, he pays out k/3 dollars per day for the cost of the papers…"

Casey snorted. "He wouldn't pay for the papers, he'd charm them out of the company for free… and he wouldn't do the route himself, he'd probably get his whores or worshippers to do it for him. Then he could get the money without the work. Classic Derek," she ranted, her anger growing as she spoke as if this was something he truly did.

Realizing that she wasn't getting anything done, only obsessing more, she snapped her mouth, and her book, shut. Math wasn't working for her tonight; maybe some good ol' science could clear her head- or at the very least, distract her. At least in science Derek's name couldn't come up. Unless, of course, he was one of the example experiments, she joked to herself, opening her biology book.
-

By the time Derek got to the address, it looked as if the party was in full swing. He smirked, stepping into the house. Loud music, babes… hockey in the living room- everything was here to help him forget about Casey, and he was determined to do so. Not wasting a second, he glided over to a sexy little blonde and gave her one of his smoothest lines. She turned and giggled, looking him up and down with one of those 'shy' looks girls give. Inwardly, he sighed contently. Tonight would be an easy night.

"You've got to be kidding me," Casey muttered in half disbelief, half frustration as she began the short story assigned for English. She forced herself to shut up and pursed her lips tightly, as she turned the page, reading. By the near-end of the story, she couldn't take it anymore and threw the book across the room, crossing her arms with a huff.

Of all the names in the world, she just had to be plagued with this one. The main character in the lovely little story she had no choice but to read, was a man (at least that was one difference, she thought to herself) named Derek. She had been able to urge herself through it up until 'Derek' storms out of the house angrily after a fight with his girlfriend and is hit by a car. As much as she refused to admit it, reading that had sparked a little bit of worry that something might happen to Derek in real life.

Of course, she hid the thought with her temper instead of acknowledging it; to acknowledge it would leave her vulnerable to what she knew she couldn't deal with on her own. And so, the books on her bed flew to the floor as Casey promptly swept them all from the bed with one angry swing and a growl. She let out a rush of air and blew the hair from her face, right in time to see Lizzie peer through the door and glance at the mess on the floor.

"Uhh… Dinner's ready, Casey…" Lizzie informed her, slightly hesitantly, before scurrying back downstairs to the table.
-

Derek should have been having the time of his life. He was surrounded by beautiful girls, telling a story about himself, and having them hanging off every word he said… and despite it all, Casey kept popping into his head. She was scolding him for acting so shallow, and stupid, and when he wasn't hearing her saying anything about that, what she had said in the house kept playing over in his head.

"Derek, my man!" his friend Jeff who had thrown the party, half slurred, coming up and clapping him on the back. Derek greeted him with a grin.

"'Nother game starting?" Derek inquired, turning away from the girls. Girls weren't really working for him tonight, maybe hockey could distract him. His friend noticed something a little off and questioned him as to what was going on. "Nothing, nothing. I'm just a little stressed about stuff… looking to forget about it for tonight, actually."

His buddy grinned. "You've come to the right place!" he said, putting him arm around Derek's shoulders and steering him into what had been the kitchen. "What's your poison? Beer, something a little stronger?"

Derek, taken slightly aback, put a hand up. "No thanks, man. I don't actually…" he stopped, seeing Jeff waiting expectantly. If he admitted that he had never actually had anything to drink before, he'd be mocked so badly and POOF, there would go his precious influence in the school. "- like that cheap shit parties usually have," he finished weakly.

Before he knew what was happening, Jeff was agreeing and telling him that he only served the best at his parties. He felt like he hadn't even blinked before a plastic cup filled with some liquid or another was shoved into his hand.

"Taste that before you say anything bad about Jeff's stuff," Derek's slightly drunk friend winked at him.

What the hell, bottoms up, Derek thought bitterly. If it would help him to forget, he didn't care what he was drinking. With that he took a deep breath and a huge gulp.
-

Casey curled up tightly in bed that night, with the slightest shiver. Derek hadn't shown up for dinner. She had waited up for an hour after she usually went to bed, thinking that maybe he would be home. He wouldn't miss their talk, would he? Apparently, she found out when she pulled back the blankets, he would.

She almost didn't know what to do when he didn't come home. She was angry, that was for sure. He was just overreacting, being a drama queen, that was all. Who cared if Sam carried her books? It didn't mean anything; he was just being nice because she had trouble with them. And as to what she had said to him… she had just been teasing him, why did he have to get so upset about it? It was nothing!

Yeah, she was pissed as all hell…wasn't she?

If she was so mad, then why did she have this little seed of guilt and worry which kept growing and rooting itself in her conscience? Maybe she shouldn't have snapped on him like that. He was really only looking out for her, or at least he thought so. He hadn't meant any harm… And really, did she have to go off and pull the jealousy card? That would piss anybody off- she surely should have known that he wouldn't be an exception. Now because of what she said, he was off god-knows where doing god-knows what. If something happened to him…

She would check one more time, she decided, climbing out of bed. It was past midnight by now… he was probably fast asleep in his bed, having figured she was too angry with him to come in and talk. She found herself hoping that she was right, that he really was home and everything would be okay, but when she slowly pushed his door open to check, she saw that she was wrong. He wasn't asleep in his bed, he wasn't even home.

She hugged herself, standing in his doorway biting back her tears. She knew that if she didn't pull herself together, she would be a sobbing mess on the floor in a matter of seconds. She just wasn't ready to handle this, not when he was the only one she had who understood. There was no one else she could go to, and she wasn't ready to be on her own again yet.

Her nails digging into her arms, and her legs a little shaky, she walked stiffly and slowly to his bed. She couldn't go back to her own; it seemed too cold and lonely in her room. At least here, she could still feel a trace of the warm energy his presence emitted.

With that in mind, Casey crawled into his bed and nuzzled into his pillow. Her body began to relax, and her eyes fluttered shut as his scent filled her nose. She was asleep in seconds, feeling as if she was wrapped up comfortingly in his arms and not just his blankets.

-+-+-+-

a/n: Okay, I know this chapter was definitely not the best and I'm sorry. Hopefully next chapter will be better… I just started school today and it's going to be hectic and I'm just praying I'll have enough time to write. Three AP classes and… lots of other crap. Plus volleyball after school until dinner time. First day of school and I had a two page essay to finish and hand in tomorrow! Okay, enough ranting.

Thank you readers and reviewers! I live for you guys! xP haha… Skip-Its for you all!

Remember, constructive criticism, favourite lines, things that could be better… all welcome! Flames will be used to … make those who flame dance ;-) And anyway, at this point in the story, if I got a flame I'd have to take it as some sort of measurement of your intelligence level…seeing as said person would have had to read through 8 chapters to get here…

Okay this a/n is way too long. I'M OVER AND OUT! (for now)

Ta!