AN: Casey, Derek, then Casey again. Sorry, I think I'm bad at writing Derek, so I tend to write more from Casey's POV. Please enjoy the last chapter!!!!!!!!

Derek was holding my hand. It was so abrupt but so wonderful. I felt butterflies in my stomach, and I seemed to shiver a little, a strange feeling welling up inside of me.

"Are you cold?" Derek asked, stealing a glance at me.

All I could do was nod a little, and suddenly Derek's hand had untwined with mine, and he was steering the car to the side of the road. And then I heard rustling beside me, and then unexpectedly something warm and heavy was on my shoulders. His leather jacket.

"Better?" he inquired. I nodded dumbly. All I could think about was the item of clothing resting on my shoulders. I pulled it closer to me, even daring to put my arms in the sleeves, smelling the rich scent of everything Derek. Had he really done what I just thought he did? This was perhaps the most chivalrous thing Derek had ever done for me, let alone any girl.

Then I realized we were still sitting on the side of the road. Derek had not driven off yet. His fingers were drumming on the dashboard, one finger in his mouth aimlessly biting his fingernails.

"Why are you being so nice to me lately?" I asked, finally finding my voice. His hands automatically snapped back to the steering wheel, a grim look on his face.

"Isn't that what good brothers are supposed to do?" He didn't look at me when he said it and I sensed something more in his voice. Was it… resentment?

"Step-brother." I corrected automatically. It was just a habit, even though we had already gone over this before. I didn't want to go through it again.

"Isn't that what good brothers are supposed to do?" I asked bitterly. Why did I need a reason for being nice to her? Couldn't I just be nice for once?

"Step-brother." I heard her say. Did I just hear correctly?

I turned to face her, angrily. "That's not what you said a few nights ago."

She looked down at the car floor. "Derek- I…" she trailed off, looking desperately out the window as if she would find an answer there.

"You what?" I asked. "You only said that to get me off your back? You only wanted a "feel good family moment" so I would stop pranking you? Or did you say that because you really want to be my sister? It sure never seemed you wanted to be that before!"

Tears started to form in her eyes. Man, I felt like a jerk for yelling at her. But I needed her to tell me. I needed to hear her say she loved me as a brother, because I could never get over her otherwise. I needed to hear her say it out loud, plain and simple. I couldn't go on second guessing every move she made to see if she loved me back.

There I said it. I loved Casey McDonald. As much as I hated expressing my stupid emotions, she was not like other people. She made every emotion inside of me come out. She made me angry. She made me sad. She made me happier than anyone ever could. I loathed her; I loved her; I wanted everything for her.

"Derek, if you love me the way you love Marti, then I'm fine with it." She said, tears now streaming down her face.

"I never have and never will love you the way I love Marti!" I yelled, automatically regretful of my words.

"Derek, if you love me the way you love Marti, then I'm fine with it." I lied through my teeth, not bothering to wipe away my tears. I couldn't think of any other response.

"I never have and never will love you the way I love Marti!" he shouted. I looked at him, shocked and confused.

"What do you me-" I started.

"When you were unconscious, I kept asking myself, what if Marti was the one lying on that hospital bed? How would I feel?" He paused to look at the setting sun, his hands gripping the arm rests on either side of his chair. "I would be scared. Yeah. Scared that my little sister wouldn't make it. Scared that there would be no more bed time stories or Smerek moments. I would need Smarti to survive so I could see her grow up and be happy, no matter what happened to me. But I knew that if she didn't make it, I wouldn't regret anything I did with her. I loved her and I did everything I could to make her happy."

I looked at him, the tears now blinding my sight. When did Derek ever talk about how he was feeling? I wanted to reach out and touch his arm, but I didn't want him to reject my gesture.

"When I looked at you on that hospital bed, lying there, pale and helpless, I was scared." he continued. "But I wasn't just thinking about you. I was thinking about me. Every thought that involved you involved me. What if you died? God, Casey. If you would have died, I don't know what I would have done. All I could think about was how I would regret how much I put you through, how I never told you anything, how I never told you…" His voice faltered and he sighed, staring intently at the ground.

"Derek." I said, touching his arm, and then unbuckling my seatbelt with the other hand. I moved closer to him, placing my hand on his face. He turned his face towards mine, and I could see actual tears in Derek's eyes. And suddenly his lips crashed onto mine and I gasped, tensing up.

After I realized what was going on, I let myself relax and I wrapped my arms around his shoulders, deepening the kiss. This is what I wanted for so long. It felt so right. He was warm and sweet and so… not Truman, or Max, or Sam, or even Noel. And then I thought about how this would have never happened if I hadn't have rode with Truman and gotten stuck in the middle of nowhere. I never thought I'd say it, but thank God for Truman. I half giggled against Derek's lips.

He pulled back, looking at me. "What?" he asked, looking rather annoyed that I interrupted our… moment.

"Oh, nothing." I said. "I just never pictured us getting together this way."

"Yeah, it was way too cheesy for me." said Derek, back to his normal self, as if my kiss had electric shocked him or something.

I playfully slapped him on the shoulder. "I hate you." I said, smiling.

"I hate you too." he said, sending me an exaggerated glare.

"Der-ek!" I whined, even more obnoxiously than normal. My response was met with another kiss upon the lips, this one even more forceful and longing. We finally stopped, only for air.

"Much better." Derek said.

THE END

AN: Man, I suck at this… I hope you liked it though! I dunno when my next Dasey fanfic will be because I've been working on some other ships, so I'm sorry. Thanks to everyone who reviewed and stuck with me through these two stories. I really, sincerely appreciate you guys sooo much!