Author's note: This will be the last chapter I post until the weekend. I have no idea how I managed to put out three chapters so fast, but it might have something to do with the fact that this one was written around 2 in the morning. Any spelling/grammatical errors (though I don't think there are any), can be attributed to that fact. Also, I'm glad that all of us 18+ people are coming out of the closet ;) Enjoy.

Forgive, sounds good.

Forget, I'm not sure I could.

They say time heals everything,

But I'm still waiting.

I'm through with doubt,

Nothing left for me to figure out.

I've paid my price,

And I'll keep paying.

I'm not ready to make nice,

I'm not ready to back down.

I'm still mad as hell

And I don't have time to go around and round and round.

It's too late to make right,

I probably wouldn't if I could.

'cause I'm mad as hell

And I can't bring myself to do

What it is you think you should.

Not Ready to Make Nice- Dixie Chicks

Chapter Three

Lizzie watched Derek from the doorway with an amused smile, debating whether or not to announce her presence.

He was standing over the kitchen sink, staring out the window that had a perfect view of the backyard, where Casey and Derek had gone to talk over an hour ago. Lizzie was willing to bet that Derek had been standing at the window for the majority of that time.

"Filled that glass with water, yet?" Lizzie finally asked, unable to resist any longer.

Derek whirled around, glaring at her. "What do you want?"

"Why are you spying on Casey and Sam?" Lizzie countered.

"I'm not spying on them," Derek said defensively. "I was just getting a glass of water."

Lizzie raised an eyebrow, giving him a smirk. "Then why is your glass empty?"

"You and Edwin are too nosey for your own good," Derek said after a beat.

"Yeah, well," Lizzie said. "You should be glad it was me who caught you, and not mom or George."

Derek rolled his eyes. "It was just a kiss," he said forcefully.

Lizzie walked over to the sink, looking out the window to where Casey and Sam were talking. "She's breaking up with him, you know."

Derek sighed. "Yeah. I figured as much."

"Casey told me what you said to her at the mall," she told him softly. "You put a stop to it, didn't you? Just like you did when everyone called her Klutzilla and Grade Grubber. That's why she didn't find out about it until you told her."

Derek looked at her, surprised.

"If another old lady kisses my cheeks," Edwin complained from the doorway. "I'm going to take refuge up in the attic."

Derek and Lizzie turned to face Edwin, who was holding a large platter of cheese. His hair was ruffled, and sure enough, there was a distinct shade of bright red lipstick on his cheek.

"What are the two of you doing in here?" he asked, looking a little put out as he dropped the cheese platter on the kitchen table.

Before anyone could answer, however, the backdoor opened, revealing an extremely pissed off Sam.

"You've got some nerve, you know that?" Sam said angrily, walking straight towards Derek.

"I take it the talk didn't go so well," Derek said sarcastically.

"It was locker room crap," Sam said in a low, heated voice. "And you know it. I bet you didn't tell Casey all the stuff you've said about girls. Hell, I bet she doesn't know half the stuff you've done with girls."

"Casey's my step-sister," Derek told him irately. "And I'm going to tell her when her boyfriends being an asshole."

"And I should tell the team to watch what they say in the locker room," Sam said coldly.

"Do whatever the hell you want," Derek told him indifferently.

Casey stepped in between them. "The two of you are supposed to be friends," she said sadly.

"No," Sam corrected her, giving Derek a look of disdain. "We used to be friends."

He turned his back on Derek and Casey, and walked away, slamming the door on his way out.

Casey knelt down by the Christmas tree, replacing presents that had been knocked out of the way during the party. All of the guests had finally left around midnight, and the house was quiet once again. Marti, Edwin, and Lizzie were watching A Christmas Story, about to crash at any minute. Her parents had retreated to the basement, and Derek was out back shooting hoops.

Derek.

They had managed to avoid each other during the party, but she knew one of them would eventually have to break the ice. And after his fight with Sam, she knew it had to be her.

She didn't know if Derek and Sam would ever be friends again, and Sam's threat wasn't lost on her. She knew that Derek had violated some sort of boy code by ratting out Sam, and that once Sam told the rest of the team, things would not be so great for Derek. Especially considering the fact that he was captain.

If things were ever going to be normal between her and Derek again, she was going to have to make the first step.

She stepped outside, shivering as she breathed in the cold air. It had started to snow, and she habitually reached out her tongue to catch a snowflake, happy that it would be a white Christmas after all.

Derek kept his eyes intently focused on the hoop, dribbling once more before he took aim and threw the ball, making nothing but net. It bounced towards Casey, who stepped forward and caught it as she dribbled it to the middle of the driveway. She aimed for the net and threw, and the ball bounced off the board and into the hoop.

"You're getting better," Derek observed grudgingly as they began to pass the ball back and forth.

Casey rolled her eyes, grinning at him. Two years ago, she wouldn't have even been able to make the ball reach the hoop. Basketball had become somewhat of a nightly ritual for them, born out of boredom from late summer nights when the rest of the family was asleep. They were physically unable to stay in the same room for more than ten minutes without fighting, so watching television was out of the question. Eventually they discovered that for some reason, basketball provided an outlet for their unrelenting hostility towards each other. Of course, Casey was athletically challenged, but it beat sitting around all night watching G-rated movies.

"I know I should be angry with you for what you did at the mall," Casey began softly, breaking the silence at last. "But a part of me is glad that you told me."

Derek sighed, tossing the basketball onto the grass. "Yeah, well… I didn't actually plan on ever telling you, you know."

"I know," Casey said, and she looked up at him sadly. "Everything's going to be different now, isn't it?"

"Yeah," Derek said quietly. He hesitated for a moment. "What happened… underneath the mistletoe… did you…"

Casey gave him a hard, blazing look. "Yeah."

Derek suddenly understood that they had reached the point of no return. They could pretend that the kiss had only happened because of the mistletoe, they could keep things exactly the way they were… or they could make everything change.

But Derek knew, just as he knew Casey did, that things would never really be the same between them. He didn't know how it happened, but somehow they were standing inches away from one another, as though they were physically aware of the line that stood between them, the line he knew they shouldn't cross.

Then Casey took his hand, and he stopped thinking all together.