Hey guys! Long time no update, I know. And I really left you hanging, didn't I? I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I've been very busy. Not that you care about my excuses, you just want to get onto the next chapter (I hope!). I've actually had this one in the can for awhile, but I haven't really had the time to really go back and rework some things I didn't really love, thus why it hasn't been posted yet. I just find it difficult sometimes to not just write a story that goes "and then Derek and Casey made out again, and it was superhot.", although I'm sure you wouldn't particularly mind if this whole story was nothing but Dasey action. Damn me and my need for a substantial plot! Anywho, I didn't end up changing things, but I figured I should post it now while I had the opportunity. So let me know if anything sucks, or if there are any glaring errors. Or just let me know what you think of it!

So, when we last left Casey and Derek, Derek found himself having some veeeeery dirty thoughts about his darling stepsister. What's a boy to do?...

(PS- the ruler line separater things are just opting not to function tonight, so said divider will look a little bit like this ----- )

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Derek sat alone in 7th period study hall later that day, pondering that morning's events. Although he normally took study hall as an opportunity to line up his social calender for the coming weekend, today he sat by himself at a table in the corner, by the window. While his friends laughed and joked on the other side of the cafeteria, Derek leaned back in his chair, feet propped up on the table, twirling a pencil in his fingers and watching a squirrel scamper its way across the lawn.

He had been totally out of sorts all day. He wasn't his usual obnoxious self in the hallways. His friends noticed he seemed lost in his own world, and he was noticeably jumpy, starting at the slightest interruption to his thoughts.

There has to be a perfectly logical explanation for this.

He had been trying to rationalize his situation since he woke up from the dream, and by the time the bell rang at the end of the period, he thought he had it pretty well figured out. It only makes sense. I live with a girl who is my age, I see her everyday, it's only natural that she would slip into my unconscious. And I'm a teenage boy, dammit! It's only natural for me to have these thoughts, right? Right?

Even if Derek thought he had explained his actions to himself, it didn't make him any more comfortable around Casey. They weren't fighting, but he was barely speaking to her at all. It seemed whenever she entered a room, he would find some way to make a quick exit. He couldn't bear to face her, because every time he saw her, he could practically feel her lips on his, and taste the sweetness of her skin.

Derek's behavior had not gone unnoticed by Casey. Normally, this would've been the ideal situation for her, but she couldn't help but wonder what had caused this sudden change in Derek's behavior. There hadn't been a fight, or even any particular uncomfortable situation to turn the tables. It was like he just woke up one morning and decided to ignore her. But it was better this way, she supposed, to have him ignoring her; at least he wasn't picking fights.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Derek. Derek? Derek!"

Derek pressed pause on his controller and turned his attention away from Babe Raider and towards the progressively irritated voice behind him. Nora stood in the doorway, hands on her hips, head cocked to the side. The stance was shockingly reminiscent of her daughter, a thought which crossed Derek's mind before he could stop himself.

"Your father and I are taking the kids to see the Nutcracker." Nora started, but Derek interrupted.

"What, I'm not invited on family outings anymore?"

"Do you actually want to go?"

"No." Derek shook his head, laughing at the idea of him ever attending a ballet.

"That's what we figured." Nora continued. "We'll be out kind of late, but no guests, and no parties! And if you could do the dishes, I'd really appreciate it."

Derek rolled his eyes, but stopped when he saw Casey coming down the stairs in a tank top, flannel pajama pants, and slippers. "Will they let you into the ballet wearing that?" Casey paused in the doorway a moment, to glare at him, before continuing on to the kitchen.

"Casey will not be attending. She seems to think that ballerinas set an unhealthy body image for young girls, and she doesn't want to be subjected to that. Or something like that." The stiffness in her tone told Derek that there had been hours of opinionated lecturing from Casey on this topic, and Nora had just given in and let her daughter skip the trip altogether.

Casey listened to the conversation as she prepared herself a snack in the kitchen (The irony that she was preparing herself a snack shortly after lecturing her mother on unhealthy body images was not lost on her.) She realized that this was the first time Derek had addressed her normally after practically ignoring her existence these past few weeks. She hoped maybe this was a sign that things would be getting back to normal. Because as much as she hated to admit it, she missed having someone to argue with. It just wasn't as satisfying to win an argument against her mother or George or even Emily, because none of them put up much of a fight. Derek was just as opinionated as her, (as faulty as his opinions may be), and had never given up the fight to Casey.

George and Nora gathered the children, bundled them up in their coats, (well, bundled Marti; Edwin and Lizzie could bundle themselves. But bundling Marti was a two-person job.), and were on their way. This left Derek and his Babe Raider in the living room, and Casey and her snack back up in her bedroom.

She was in the process of cleaning her room, which actually wasn't as much of a debacle as it would be for, say, Derek. Casey's room was always pretty neat, because she took regular opportunities such as this one to clean it. These regular opportunities happened to present themselves about two or three times a week. Tonight's project was her desk. Her desk was the one place in her room where her obsessive-compulsive neatness didn't even come close. The desk was a hand-me-down, it was originally her grandfather's, then was passed down to Nora when she was in college.

Casey loved the charm and history of the old desk, but it's deep drawers seemed to hold about as much clutter as her life could handle. Casey sifted through old notes and CDs and pencils and books and papers, some of which had been there since she was in 6th grade. She had the tiniest bit of pack-rat in her, and it seemed to have found a home in these drawers. She could have gone through them before the desk was moved to their new house, but between the marriage and the move, everything happened so quickly, the messiness of her desk drawers was the least of her concerns.

But now, as she sifted through the memories of her not-so-distant past, her heart began to ache for her old life: her old friends, her old school, even her old family. Things were so much simpler when it was "just the girls".

When sifting through her bottom drawer, she came across a video tape she hadn't seen in a very long time. She smiled for a moment at the memories it contained, before coming to a decision. What other opportunity would she have to actually sit back and relax and watch this video? The only problem was, there was only one VCR in the house, and the television it was connected to was currently splashed with images of scantily-clad superheroes.

She took a deep breath. Did she really want to spend what should be a peaceful, relaxing evening, arguing with Derek? She smiled to herself. Yeah. She grabbed the tape and headed down the stairs.

She was met at the doorway to the living room with the sounds of gunfire, and the cheesy background music from Babe Raider. These sounds were interspersed with random grunts and groans as Derek sat on the edge of his seat, absorbed in his game. His brow was furrowed in concentration as his fingers twiddled with all the buttons on the controller.

He had been playing this game for the past, oh, 5 hours, so Casey figured she was well within her rights to ask to use the TV for the short amount of time it would take her to watch her home videos. Yeah, right, as if that logic would mean anything to Derek. She cleared her throat and tried to sound a polite as possible. "Derek?"

No response.

"Derek?"

Still nothing. Derek didn't even show any awareness of her presence. So she left her spot in the doorway and walked over to stand directly between Derek and the television screen. Derek snapped to attention, as the game behind her wailed in defeat.

"What the hell, Casey?"

"Now that I've gotten your attention," Casey said sweetly, "I would like to use the TV now, if you don't mind."

Derek snorted, "Yeah, well, I do mind. Get out of the way." He shifted to look past her at the screen, but she moved in front of him again.

"Sorry Derek, but it's time you learned to share. You've been in front of this TV for hours now. I just want to watch one video, and then you can go back to your video games."

Derek considered this for a moment, before responding. "You know what? That would have been a great idea, if you had just asked nicely, and I could've saved my game, and you could've watched your stupid video. But instead, you made me lose, so now I have to start over from the first level. So I'll let you use the TV, when I get back to level 27, which was where I was before I was so rudely interrupted."

"Don't be ridiculous!" Casey said, yelling now "You've played this game a thousand times! Just let me watch my video and you can get back to it."

"No," Derek smiled, "I don't think I will."

Casey growled, walked over to the videogame system, and unplugged it.

Derek jumped up from the couch, "What are you doing!"

"Overruling." Casey smiled, and grabbed the remote from the couch.

"Oh, I don't think so!" Derek tried to grab at the remote in her hand, but she jumped back out of his reach. He chased her around the couch, and over the coffee table. He caught his foot on the edge of the table as he went over it, and almost fell on his face. Casey leaned against the dining room table, doubled over in laughter. Derek paused for a moment, after he caught his balance, and watched her.

Her laughter trailed off, and their eyes locked. They were brought back to what they were doing. The corner of Derek's mouth curved into a mischievous grin, and Casey was able to move just in time as Derek once again lunged at her. She ran around through the kitchen, and into the front hall.

He finally caught up to her near the bottom of the stairs, where she was trying to make a break for her bedroom. He held her right arm, her right hand gripping tightly to the remote. He twisted the arm behind her back, so that she couldn't get away. She wriggled in his grasp, but as much as she hated to admit it, he was overpowering her.

"Aww, Casey, now it's time for a little game on my terms. It's called Mercy." He twisted Casey's arm a little more as she tried to kick back at his shins. As she struggled, he brought his mouth to her ear. "Just say 'mercy', Case," he whispered in her ear, "just say the word, and I'll let you go."

His lips brushed her ear, as he began whispering, "Mercy...mercy", taunting her.

"Mercy" His lips lingered on her earlobe.

"Mercy" He whispered the word into the skin just below her ear.

"Mercy" Something began to sizzle in the pit of Casey's stomach. Her skin felt like it was burning from Derek's hot breath. What was going on? Was this some kind of joke?

"Mercy" Derek's free hand snaked around her hip, as his lips trailed down her neck.

"Mercy" His lip's brushed over her skin, so lightly that Casey wasn't sure if she was just imagining it.

"Mercy" His breath made goosebumps rise on her skin, as his mouth made it's way across her shoulder.

"Mercy" His thumb brushed the small strip of skin between her top and the waistband of her pajama pants. The unexpected touch sent an involuntary shiver through Casey's body. Her back arched against Derek, pressing her shoulder against Derek's lingering lips.

His lips sere warm and soft against her skin, but they sent a shock of realization through her. She tore herself out of his grasp, his hand, by now, only loosely holding her wrist. She stumbled back against the banister, catching the breath she didn't realize she had been holding. She stared at Derek with a look of confusion, horror, and hurt, as her broken voice choked out "Mercy."

She turned on her heel and ran up the stairs. Derek could only stare after her, wondering what the hell he had just done.