A/N - Yeah, so... The excuse for getting late this week...My comp was busted.. :(... But now it's fixed.. :) Thanks for the reviews :D. Wrote this pretty quick, so guess there must be mistakes. Sorry about that.

I do not own Life With Derek.

Enjoy!

...

Her first call, was to Keith. And it went something like...

"What the hell were you thinking?"

"Um...Casey? Hello to you too."

She stopped pacing as she realized she just might have greeted him politely in her head. "Hi Keith." She said embarrassed. One thing she always prided herself in, was manners.

"Hi..." He said cautiously. "What did I do?"

She sighed dramatically. What a loaded question. She decided to take the calm approach. "What did you tell Derek?"

"Who?"

"Derek." Honestly, his very name makes perfect sense to her. "My step-brother?"

A moment of silence passed. "That was Derek?"

She sighed again. His tone, not at all surprising to her. "Yes, that was Derek." She never understood the guarded tone people adopted when it came to him. Male people that is. The female people generally adopt a high pitched mating call directed right at her step-brother, who usually bites.

"Oh."

"Yeah. Oh." Tired from her pacing, she slumped onto the bed. "What did you tell him?"

"Uh..Nothing." He said nervously. "Just that I was proud that your paper was shortlisted."

"What?" Fine. She was excited. Derek should give her that. "That's amazing." It truly is. "Wait. Was Amber chosen?" The shiver of disgust that went through her spine was imminent whenever she said that name.

His chuckle was light. "Yeah, she was. It's between you two, Aidan and Sandra."

This was amazing. She was so close to being published as a serious contender. True, it's not like she was about to be published in anything grand, but having her research thesis shortlisted to be considered for a grant is big in the Psychology circles. "Wow."

He waited silently for a moment. "So...that was Derek huh?"

She rolled her eyes at returning to the annoying topic at hand. "Yes, that was Derek. And Derek was very upset about something you said."

She could practically hear his wince from the other side. "I...might have specified the paper a bit."

A deep breath of patience was needed. "Define specify." She said slowly, preparing for the worst.

"Um.. something alongside...'the paper on emotionally stunted behaviour that's based on her step-brother'...?"

"Keith." Her tone was an all out whine. She couldn't help it. How could he be so stupid?

"How was I supposed to know that he was your step-brother?"

"Who did you think it was?"

"I don't know...One of the kids you tutor?"

She sighed again. "You know I tutor them on weekends."

"Oh.. I forgot."

She barely stopped herself from whining his name a second time.

"Wait a second. Are you seriously out of town with Derek right now?"

Hm..how should she answer this? "Susan told you?"

"I thought she was joking." He said incredulously. "I thought you two hated each other."

"We do." She said casually. Somehow, the definition of the relationship she shares with her step-brother has been repeated so many times, her tone automatically oozes boredom. "But it's a deep seated need to best each other, while pulling the other down. Me being dragged across state lines against my will is what he lives for."

"Sorry I told him."

She paused, a thought that maybe she had been over-reacting forming in her brain. "It's alright. It's...Derek. He'll get over it." Too bad she didn't sound that convinced.

"On a good note..You're shortlisted."

She grinned, even though it was evident that Keith was simply trying to change the subject. "Yes, I am."

"What's the first thing you're going to do if you win?"

She barely took time to think up an answer. "Shove it in Amber's face."

Her first stop was to the receptionist. "Hi there."

The blonde sent a dazzling smile her way. "Hi, how may I help you?"

"I'm looking for someone. Derek Venturi. Kind of tall, lanky, hockey team?"

"Yes, Mr. Venturi." The receptionist nodded in recognition as she glanced down to inspect the record book. "I'm sorry, but we can't give out room numbers." Her smile didn't waver. "But I can put a call through if you would like to speak to him."

"Um..yeah. You see... I'm actually staying at this hotel. In his room actually." She ignored the carefully raised eyebrow. "And I know how ridiculous this sounds but...I lost him." She finished with a sheepish, and she hoped, sincere smile.

"I'm sorry, but there's nothing I can do about that." Was it just her, or was her smile fake? "You could try his cell phone."

Casey decided to ignore that quip. "There must be something you can do. An announcement? Search party?" She looked at the receptionist hopefully, who kept giving her the 'I'm-sorry-but-there's-nothing-I-can-do' look. She sighed in defeat. "Thanks anyway." Turning around in a huff, she stopped dead still as her eyes fell on familiar blue ones.

"Casey?" She looked around quickly, hoping to see something to duck behind. "Casey McDonald?"

Nope. No outrageously big plant, or a pile of suitcases. Commence high squeak greeting and wide grin. "Dan! Hi! What are you doing here?"

The sandy haired blonde moved towards her, his arms open in greeting. "What am I doing here? What are you doing here?" He gave her a tight bear hug before pulling away.

"Who? Me? A holiday." She shrugged, hoping that she was convincing. "I just needed a break so... here I am." She grinned, her arms gesturing widely.

He cocked his head to the side as he regarded her. "In the middle of the semester?"

Her jaw opened several times before the words came out. "Yeah. You know how it is. Stress and... all that stuff." She finished with a squeak. "But enough about me. How about you? What are you doing here?"

He kept regarding her carefully. "Hockey game." He said flippantly before hitting her again with a suspicious look. "So.. Derek doesn't know that you're here?"

She stayed speechless for a second, just for effect. "Derek's here? Wow! That is...weird." He was about to say something, but she interrupted him. "But, where is Derek? I mean, so I would know what places to avoid." She said quickly.

He shrugged. "At this time of night? Beats me." His eyes hardened slightly. "If the gym is open, he'll probably be there. We all know how the guy loves to work out." He finished bitterly. After a moment of solo contemplation, he snapped out of it with a quick shake of his head, and a wide grin adorned. "Listen, since you're here, we should finish that date we got rudely interrupted with."

"Date?" That's not how she remembered it.

"Yeah. You. Me. Dinner. Interrupted by your favourite step-brother in the world?"

She couldn't help but scowl at the memory. "You mean the one where he brought his current 'girlfriend' to join us? How can I forget?" She stated in a bitter tone.

"She was unusually dumb, wasn't she?" He chuckled.

She shrugged. "What can I say? Derek has high standards."

"So, how about it then? Lunch tomorrow?"

Her smile fell as she remembered the other guy she is currently dating. "The thing is... I'm sort of dating someone right now."

"Oh." He said, taken aback. "Sorry, I didn't know."

"No. It's okay. We've only been on three dates anyway."

He frowned. "So then, technically, you're not 'exclusively dating' as such. Which means that technically we can go out to get something to eat. Together. Just a friendly meal between friends." He said with a grin.

"Well..." She looked around, wondering how she was going to get out of this one. "You do have a point there." And he is a great conversationalist. Lord knows, she would need the company.

He grin widened. "Then it's settled. Tomorrow lunch?"

"Um...yeah. Sure." What else was there to say? "I think I better..." She gestured somewhere, hoping he'll get the hint.

"Oh. Yeah. Sure." He started backing away. "I'll call you."

"Can't wait." She smiled as naturally as possible, waving him away. She could sit through one lunch. It's not that hard. With a wink, Daniel Cooper turned the corner and left, giving Casey enough of a breather to sigh despondently. She turned to head towards her room, when she was again stopped in her tracks by the disapproving gaze of the receptionist. "What? It's not like Derek's going to find out." Leaving the receptionist's eyebrows rising to the high heavens, she headed towards the lobby exit.

Honestly, even if she hadn't done a research paper on Derek, it's not like she wouldn't be able to predict his next move. Forget that Dan might have helped.

"Where did you get a basketball at this hour?"

He ignored her as he flawlessly dribbled the ball, aimed, shot, and scored.

She decided to try another tactic. "How can you see to make these shots anyway? There's barely any moonlight."

He shot another basket, catching the ball easily as it fell through the hoop, and bounced on the hard surface towards him.

Sighing, she moved closer to the edge of the basketball court, careful to keep a bit of distance between herself and the obviously agitated player. She hated all these contact sports. "You know Derek..." She made a show of looking around. "...between you and me..." She leaned forward and said in a loud whisper. "...I don't think you're allowed to play here right now."

He didn't spare her a glance as he continued to make shot, after shot, after shot. Casey stayed on the sidelines in silence, waiting for him to crack. Which looked like it wouldn't happen.

She was close to giving up, when she spotted his jacket on the opposite side of the court, sitting idly on a bench. With a look of pure determination, she waited until he lifted the ball, ready to aim, before she dashed across the court to grab the leather item. As she thought, Derek paused.

"What are you doing?"

Turning around with a smug expression on her face, she picked up his jacket. "What does it look like I'm doing? I'm putting on your jacket." And to put weight behind her threat, she slipped one arm in, slowly.

Even in the limited light, she saw his jaw twitch. "Casey. Put my jacket down."

She couldn't help but smirk at his reaction. "But it's so cold." Having slipped her arm completely into the leather, she moved her other arm behind her, ready to see this threat fully through.

"Casey." His voice was stern as he threw the ball to the side and advanced towards her. By the time he reached her, both arms were in, and she looked up at him with a self-satisfied smirk.

"Talking to me now?"

"Take. Off. My. Jacket." His tone was deep, foreboding, and she would be lying if she said it didn't send a shiver down her spine.

Knowing that this was the only way to get a reaction out of him and keep him talking to her, she did the dangerous thing. She goaded him. Moving so close, that their noses nearly touched, she smirked. "Make me."

He finally snapped. "Oh, that's it." He growled, before making a move to grab her. With a squeal, she retracted managing to get away with only a few measly steps before he caught her around the waist. They struggled against each other. He trying to get his jacket back, and she trying to hold onto it like her life depended on it. After a few seconds of grunts, moans and whines, especially from her, he let her go abruptly. "You know what? Keep it."

She staggered, the force of his slight shove surprising her. "What?" She sounded meek. And she didn't like it.

Shaking his head, he headed towards the basket ball that had fallen to the side and picked it up, only to return to the middle of the court. "Do whatever you want." With a shrug, he dribbled, aimed and made the shot. Going back easily to his previous position of 'ignoring-the-perfectly-apologetic-McDonald-to-his-left'.

Casey stood there in shock. What was going on here? Had she missed something? Wasn't there supposed to be insults hurled, rude things yelled, or even the random point and laugh routine? A barely recognizable thought sprung to mind. Had she, in some alternate universe sort of way- that is otherwise not possible in a million years, hurt...Derek? With a sudden bout of panic, she stepped forward. "Are you really that upset about this whole thing?"

He shrugged again as continued to move about the court in silence, which had the added effect of making her want to scream in frustration.

"I can't believe this. You can't be mad at me. And do you know why you can't be mad at me? Because I didn't do anything wrong. I'm sorry that I was a bit harsh on the paper. And I'm sorry you had to find out about it the way you did. But do you know what I'm not sorry about? Writing it." He finally stopped his stupid self played game to look at her incredulously. "That's right. I'm happy that I've put exactly what a self-centered, arrogant ass you are on paper. Because lets face it, Derek, people need to know."

He scoffed. "I'm the ass?" She nodded, her anger giving her confidence. "I'm the ass? Sorry princess, but looks like you forgot your exit to town Loony-bin. I might do some questionable moral things..." He ignored her snort. "...but I have never done something this humiliating to you in public."

"Humiliating? How is this humiliating? You love the attention. Besides, nobody knows it's about you."

"Really?" He asked, his eyes narrowed.

"Really." She lied easily.

"Great." He smirked humorlessly. "Then you won't mind me reading the paper."

She faltered. "What?" Meek again. Damn it.

Knowing he had her right where he wanted her, he stepped forward. "If there is really no hint that it's me, I'm sure you won't mind letting me read this future award winning paper of yours."

She felt the familiar fluttering of panic within her chest. "It's not like...I'm definitely going to win...there are...others..."

"Keith seemed convinced." He said, unrelenting.

She looked into his hardened gaze for a minute before sighing in defeat. She knew he knew. Why fight it? "What do you want, Derek?"

He leaned forward in all seriousness. "I want it retracted."

She gasped. "I can't. A lot's riding on this."

"My reputation will be ruined by this, Case."

"No one reads this stuff." Not that true. But still...

"Are you kidding me? I thought the winner gets published. And don't you tell anyone who would listen how I'm the step-brother you love to hate? The way I see it, if you get the grant, I'll be the laughing stock."

"That won't happen." He showed her exactly how much he trusted her with a single look. "I won't let it happen."

His laugh was bitter. "Sure you won't."

He started to move away, but she grabbed his arm. "Okay. Wait. I will..." She took a deep breath. "...I will try to alter the paper. Even though I'm pretty sure I can't since the rules are really strict. But maybe I could contact my professor and she could help in some way. I heard that she dated the Dean once. Even though technically, she never told me and I heard it from this lady in her office who might have been gossiping at the time. But-"

"Fine."

She stopped her rant to look at him in disbelief. "Fine?"

Derek rolled his eyes before fixing her with a stern look. "Fine. You can...keep the stupid paper... as it is written." He saw lips start to split in a brilliant smile, and just had to stop her. "But.. you need to do something for me."

"What?" She asked, skeptically.

He shrugged again. "Five things."

"Five things?" She asked slowly. "What five things?"

"I haven't decided yet."

"What?" This didn't make any sense.

"I'll ask you to do five things. You can't question me, or say no. You just have to do it."

She shook her head, determined not to fall into one of his humiliating traps. "Derek..."

"That or... let me read your paper."

He raised his eyebrow at her expectantly, knowing full well that either option made her the loser. "Why read the paper?"

"I have my reasons." He kept his eyes trained on hers intently. "Well?"

Maybe in her mind, she saw him not reading the paper and her imminent humiliation, the lesser of two evils. Something they can come back from and revert back to the old Derek-and-Casey 'I hate you - no, I hate you more' mode. At least it made her state a very important rule. "The five things have to have a deadline. You can only ask me to do the five things here. The minute we leave on Sunday, you forfeit that right. Agreed?" She held out her hand.

Derek eyed her carefully for a few seconds, her choice obvious. With a sly smirk, he took her hand in his firm grip. "Agreed."

Casey couldn't help but wince. Didn't modern day TV shows teach her nothing about making agreements with those hell bent on bringing forth her downfall?

TBC

A/N 2 - As you can see, the story is no longer a comedy. I have no idea where the drama element came from. It sort of happened. But this doesn't mean that funny moments won't be coming up in the following chapters ;)