A/N: Finally moved past chapter twelve! Thirteen has been written, and 12 and 13 got their title music (this is a thing I care very much about). Thanks go out to Balyndaba and shyesplease for reviewing (and the guest reviewer, but I can't thank you by name), Sadler26 for favoriting and MoriahKatherine for following! I appreciate all the support guys!
Without further ado, chapter six.
Chapter Six: She's Alright
When they reached the eighth floor, Derek once again ushered Casey out in front of him.
She'd managed to calm her mental buzzing to a low roar, but the metaphorical dam sprung a leak as he placed a hand on the small of her back to guide her toward his apartment. She distracted herself with the very familiar emotion of righteous indignation. "I know where you live, Derek – I helped you move in, remember?" She narrowed her eyes, "Right before you ditched me when I was moving my stuff?"
"Oh yeah," he dropped his hand, seemingly unfazed by her chilly attitude, and gestured down the hall, looking smug. "Then why don't you lead the way, Princess?" She almost would've characterized his look as a leer. But that would've implied some sort of lecherousness – not that Derek wasn't lecherous on a regular basis – 'cause he was – just – well… not toward her. 'Cause that would be weird. Right? Ugh, she just didn't want to think about it. Luckily, he kept his distance the rest of the way down the hall (though Casey felt weirdly watched – and she started to wonder if his stalkers had taken up residence in a stairwell or something).
When she entered the apartment, Casey balked to find that it wasn't empty, as she'd been expecting.
"Oh, hey-" The speaker was a vaguely familiar face – another member of the QU hockey team (Derek roomed with two teammates), Casey thought his name might be Ron or Rob or something – a ginger who was slinging a bag over one shoulder. He raised his eyebrows at her ensemble, then his eyes shifted over her shoulder. "Sorry, D, I'm heading out, didn't mean to interrupt anything." The look was mildly curious, wondering – though Casey didn't realize it – just who was special enough for Derek to give up his prized jacket.
"No worries, Novak."
Casey jumped at how close Derek was – she'd somehow missed him coming up behind her, and he was close enough now that she became aware of the heat radiating off his body – and she felt (once again) a blush creeping up her neck at the surprise. A blush that only deepened as Derek's arm snaked around her waist from behind (over the jacket this time, thank God) to practically sweep her off her feet and pull her against the door – and, subsequently, against him – to make room for the ginger (Roy, Roy Novak, she remembered now) as the boy nodded a goodbye to his newly-returned roommate and brushed past them.
Okay, so maybe Casey didn't have a lot of experience in close quarters with the opposite sex. She at least had some. She wasn't, like, a virgin or anything. She'd had a boyfriend at QU. They'd lasted almost a full semester. Before she'd dumped him for being too… well, too simpering. He'd cried after their first time. Her first time, and he'd been the one crying. It had been awkward as hell. After that, she'd been more cautious about dating boys she met through the academic honors society. And she'd even gone to a couple of frat parties. Not that she'd been comfortable there, but at least she'd made an effort. And then there were cast parties after the shows…
The first time she'd met her now-roommate Alicia, it had been past 1am and the girl had been in charge of the community wine bottle, counting down to "topless o'clock." She'd fixed Casey with a steady gaze and reminded her that the whole 'everyone gets topless once I drink this bottle down to this mark' thing was optional and Casey didn't have to do anything if it made her uncomfortable. (Casey ended up taking off her sweater and wandering around the party in a cami, but she'd seen most of the girls that stayed past that point wearing only bras, and most of the guys completely topless.) Theater kids were not the dorks they were made out to be. And speaking of making out, there had been a lot at that party. She'd left before "half-past pants" – when the bottle was emptied – and didn't regret it a bit. (Well, maybe a bit. But she was relieved not to be a part of it.)
Either way, she didn't like thinking about these things while pressed against her stepbrother.
She pried his arm off of her and stumbled away, thoroughly pink. "Der-ek," her voice was whining, and she quickly straightened up and dug her hands into the pockets of the jacket – mostly so she didn't have to think of anything to do with them.
It was weird having access to Derek Venturi's pockets. She found herself fingering the items inside, trying to guess at what they were as Derek himself shrugged off her whine, shut the door, and walked toward the kitchen. There were definitely some pieces of paper – one was a post-it, the other felt like a scrap torn from the spiraled edge of a notebook (Casey suspected both were numbers) – then there was a thick plastic card she thought might be a spare student access card or maybe a student athlete ID, some coins, a tube of chapstick, and a pack of gum. Curious, she pulled out the gum. Ah, Big Red. That made sense, he did tend to smell more spicy than minty. Not that she was smelling him. Not by choice, anyway, she was sort of forced into it with the jacket situation.
"Ooh, I'll take some of that-" he plucked the pack from her hand with one of his, the other holding two glass bottles, as he brushed past her to throw himself onto one of the couches. Straightening out into a sitting position, he tossed the gum on the coffee table (surprisingly clean, for an apartment that housed three male athletes), pulled his keys from a pocket, and found a bottle opener on the keychain, popping the two beers open. He offered one to Casey. "Take a seat, Case. Relax. Unwind."
She looked at the bottle, suspiciously. "What about… Wesley…"
Derek snorted. "Case: I know Wes. I know what he likes. And I know what he doesn't like, which includes girls who take themselves too seriously." He raised his eyebrows at her in a challenge, and offered the beer again. "Pull up a chair, young grasshopper, and I will teach you the ways of Gable."
She hesitated just another second before letting out a huff and dragging a chair from the dining area toward the couch, setting it alongside the coffee table and sitting down. She snatched the bottle from her stepbrother and took a sip, a slight pout on her lips.
Derek chugged about half his drink before putting it back on the table and helping himself to a piece of gum. He glanced at her barely-sipped beer, shaking his head with a smirk, then sighed. "Right." He clapped his hands, and leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees, rubbing his palms. "Let's get down to business."
Casey took a larger swig from the bottle, steeling herself. "Business?"
He shot her a wicked grin and spread his hands before him. "Meet your new dating coach."
A/N: Well, there's the primary premise for the first act of this story (roughly). Thoughts?
This chapter's title is courtesy of the Fratellis, 'Baby Fratelli.' They were the least suggestive lyrics I could find. Figured it sounded better than "she'll be suckin' fingers all night." XD Though I was rather tempted by "everybody says she's uptight." And I like the idea of "Friday's nightmare" (lots of these songs have Friday in the lyrics, which I didn't realize at first, but love since the chapters in question are set on a Friday).
The idea of "topless o'clock" and "half past pants" are not mine. I first learned of this practice during a cast party for the Rocky Horror Picture Show, and I have wanted to use it in every story possible ever since. I will likely be using it in The Detention at some point as well, as there are a LOT of parties in that fic, and Blaise certainly seems like the type to encourage stripping. Damn hedonists. ;)
I really am curious to know if anyone, anyone at all, is looking up these songs. It may not seem like it, but I spend a lot of time curating my story playlist, and it'd be cool if I was able to spread some good music to readers. XD
Let me know if you've checked them out in a review! Or just leave a review for any other reason! I love reviews!
