"Derek?" Casey asked later that night. She looked down at him lounging on the bed next to her.

"What?" he replied nonchalantly.

"How long do you think we'll be stuck in here?"

"I don't know. But I do blame you for locking the door in the first place."

"Excuse me? I did it so they wouldn't catch us. Besides, I unlocked it earlier. I can't understand why its not opening. Unless you wanted to be caught? Maybe you think it's sexy to be caught in the act by your family. Is it a turn on for you?"

"Case, you know perfectly well that you are the thing that turns me on, no matter what."

"I am?"

"Surely you knew that?"

"Um, no Derek I didn't."

"Never mind. Earlier, when we were in your room, you never answered my question. What are your feelings for me?"

Casey hesitated, should she tell the truth here or bluff her way out of it?

"Well, there are times when I decide that I like you, and then I really, really do. But then you do something to annoy me and then I remember that I hate you. And then you'll smile at me or something and I'll melt again. It's a fine line between the two."

"What, between hatred and liking?"

"No. Between hatred and loving."

Derek got up from his seat next to her on the bed and walked towards the window. He stood there gazing out of the window with his back to her.

"Loving?" he said quietly.

"Yes. Don't be angry, Derek, but I must confess that I… I have loved you since the moment I met you. I couldn't help it. Yes, there are times when the balance is tipped towards love, but then again, it can just as easily swap to deepest hatred. You had better watch yourself that it doesn't stay that way."

"You don't want to love me?"

"I meant that it doesn't stay at hatred, idiot. See, that's how easily it can switch."

She got up and wandered over to his guitar. He turned and watched her movements carefully as she ran a hand lovingly over the head of his Fender Strat.

Delicately she picked it up and carried it back to the bed. She began to strum out a melody that he had never heard before.

He listened quietly as he watched her.

"What is that?"

"I wrote it."

"Play something I know."

Cue. I'll Be There For You.

He sang it softly and then jumped up on the bed and did his dorky dance while the guitar solo was being played by the girl he loved, who was laughing at how ridiculous he was.

Finally they couldn't take it and Casey replaced the guitar and they both collapsed on the bed laughing.

Twenty minutes later they were still laughing.

Then they played Rock, Paper, Scissors Secrets.

Derek lost first and supplied her with how he sometimes dreamt of Lizzie and Marti chasing him with a large net.

She then lost and told him how she used to try guys clothes on in the department store, since she used to wish she was a boy.

He lost and complied with the fact that he actually liked reading kiddie books to Marti.

She looked at him then as though she were worrying for his sanity.

"What? They're funny."

She lost the next and admitted that her hair colour was actually ginger like her father's was and that she only kept it brow through continuous permanent dyes.

He said that he faked tanned sometimes.

She revealed that until recently she was terrified of the dark.

He said that his dearest ambition when he was little was to be a pirate.

She confessed that when someone had told her about ghosts, she had believed them and still believed in them.

"When I left you in that hut, were you scared?"

"Yes, of course I was, Derek. Even when you were there I was more scared than I dare to admit now."

Derek leant in and hugged her and just held her there. It was such a peaceful moment that it was several minutes before he realised that she had fallen asleep in his arms and was emitting little contented purrs.

He smiled and lay back with her still in his arms and closed his eyes.

Neither of them saw the door opening and Edwin and Lizzie sticking their heads round the door. Lizzie looked up at Edwin and he looked down at her.

They split into identical grins.

"Nice!" they whispered together.

The heads withdrew and the door closed again.

Outside the room the pair replaced the chair they had propped up against the door handle.

They gave each other a high five before scuttling off to their rooms as they heard George and Nora coming up to check on them.