Ritual


It's a stupid thing the hockey team does. Derek's been unlucky enough to get chosen a handful of times, but his captain generally doesn't pick on him anymore. He's never lost. Most of the other guys haven't lost either, but it happens occasionally.

It's one kiss. Most girls are fine with it. And the players do have to ask permission first. They're not barbarians.

"Venturi," Josh, the team captain, bellows as the team file out of the gym following practice. "You're up."

Derek laughs lightly, shaking his head.

The team walk across the courtyard, waiting with bated breath for Josh to choose the girl Derek will have to kiss.

"Her," Josh points out a brunette sitting across the courtyard with her nose buried in a book.

Derek opens his mouth to protest, but he knows it'd be no use. Once the captain chooses, that's it, that's the girl. It doesn't matter who she is.

"Brunette with the pigtails," Josh clarifies, making sure Derek knows to whom he's referring.

"Yeah, I got it," Derek sighs.

Well, this ought to be interesting.

Derek scrubs his hands down his face, exhaling heavily, before striding over to her, his hockey bag slung over his shoulder.

Once he reaches the bench she's sitting on, he drops down next to her, draping his arm over her shoulders, letting his hockey bag fall to the ground.

"Hiya, Princess," Derek smiles, bringing her attention away from her book.

Casey rolls her eyes at her step-brother, but closes her book and puts it away anyway.

"Derek," Casey says, turning to him and crossing her arms over her chest.

Derek sighs, glancing back over at the team before explaining his situation to Casey.

"Listen, Princess, there's this thing that the team does. It's like a ritual or something, I don't know," Derek laughs, admittedly a little nervous.

Casey raises an eyebrow, questioning.

"I need to kiss you," Derek blurts out, mentally rolling his eyes at this whole ordeal.

"You need to what?" Casey gasps, her eyes widening.

"Technically, I need your explicit permission first, but you're the girl my captain picked for me today. It's one kiss, Case. And I'll have you know, I've never gotten a 'no' before. You'd be the first."

Casey shakes her head in disbelief.

"They're watching, aren't they?" Casey asks, her voice softening.

Derek nods, quirking that half-smile that Casey knows so well.

"They have to see the kiss for it to count."

Casey nods, understanding.

"Fine. You have my permission. But you owe me."

Derek chuckles lightly, already leaning into her.

"Princess, I already owe you for every other time you've helped me out in our lives. I'll just add this to my tab."

And with that, Derek dips his head down, tentatively pressing his lips against hers.

Casey's breath hitches, and her fingers twitch, her hand mindlessly reaching out to rest on his knee.

Derek tilts his head slightly to the side, his hand lifting up to cup the side of Casey's neck, holding her in place.

This is the first time they've kissed. They've been dancing around each other since Derek was fifteen, and he's wondered for about that long what kissing Casey McDonald might be like. But he's never done it.

If Derek is being honest, he's been too scared to. Kissing Casey— really kissing her, not just for some stupid team ritual— would change the dynamic of their relationship forever. And by extension, their family. Derek isn't sure he's ready to do that just yet.

But even so, he leans into the kiss, enjoying the feeling of her lips moving with his. He'll have to savor this, because it'll probably never happen again.

Casey's lips are pillowy soft and she tastes like cherries and both of those points are making Derek's mind go a little fuzzy.

It's Casey that pulls back, slowly coming back to reality.

"See you at home?" she whispers, biting her lip, looking up at him through her lashes.

Derek smirks, nodding in response, watching as Casey gathers up her book and backpack, and saunters off toward her next class.

Derek admires the way her hips sway as she walks away from him, and he touches the tips of his fingers to his lips, noting the way they're tingling just slightly.


"Dude, you know who she is, right?" Scott, one of the other hockey players, asks, elbowing Josh.

Josh laughs, crossing his arms over his chest, nodding, a huge grin taking root on his face.

"I don't, who is she?" Hank, another player, asks, raising his eyebrows at Scott and Josh.

Scott laughs alongside Josh, the two boys sharing a knowing look.

"Casey McDonald. She's Derek's roommate."

Hank's eyes widen, slightly confused.

"Why would you send him over to kiss his roommate? They live together, they've probably done way more than just one kiss."

Scott shakes his head.

"Nah, Derek says they're just friends. He said he's known her for years and that their parents wanted them to share an apartment off campus to save money on housing," Scott states, relaying the information his friend had explained earlier in the semester.

"And he's not sleeping with her?" Hank wonders, his eyebrows scrunching together like he's trying to put together a complicated puzzle.

"Not according to him. He claims he doesn't even like her like that," Josh says, shrugging his shoulders.

"No shot," Hank observes. "Look at him. She's walking away and he's just staring after her. Either he's looking at her ass, or he's contemplating running after her. Neither indicate not liking her."

Hank notices Derek shake his head, as if to clear his mind, before jogging off back towards the team.

Derek meets up with the team, pointing a finger at his captain.

"Don't ever make me kiss her again," Derek's voice is stern and his jaw is tense.

Josh raises his hands, as if to note surrender, waving the invisible white flag.

"What's the problem, D?" Scott laughs. "You seemed to enjoy it."

Derek sighs, averting his eyes from his teammates.

"Yeah, that's kind of the problem. Her mother would kill me. And I don't mean that hypothetically," he groans, dropping his hockey bag down on the ground. "I mean, actual, painful death."

"That seems a little dramatic, D," Hank laughs, crossing his arms over his chest.

"And don't even get me started on Casey's little sister, Lizzie. If Nora doesn't kill me, Lizzie would. And I might be even more scared of her than her mother."

"Well, what about Casey? Doesn't it matter what she thinks?" Josh asks, but it's more of a statement.

"I guess I'll find out when I get home tonight."


Hello friends. I'm still alive. It's been a hell of a month. I've had a very rough go of it these last few months, so I'm sorry I haven't been keeping up with uploading. I'm going to try to do better.

Thanks for reading.