A/N: Hello everyone! How was everyone's vacay? I was terribly busy so I couldn't finish this chapter right away. I honestly also had a hard time writing this one. I've once had to completely redo the whole chapter after finishing four pages of it already. LOL! But anyway, I'll put the rest of my notes below. Happy reading!

Disclaimer: I do not own LwD, Twitter, Michael's (on the Thames) or any of the TMs and registered TMs included here.

Chapter 11: A Date with Mr. Perfect

Derek was pacing back and forth, stopping once in a while to go into deep thought, and browsing personal belongings inside Casey's room for the last ten minutes. Fifteen minutes had already passed since she left with her date and nobody had any idea where she was exactly going – nobody, being himself, since he would never in his lifetime consider asking the rest of the family where she was heading. Not even if his life depended on it. Reputation beats breathing, apparently. If only he had gone home earlier, he would've at least stopped her from making the biggest mistake of her life – or at least stalled and distracted her until she couldn't leave anymore.

Well, that's if I knew it was tonight! Sometimes, he didn't understand if Sam was for him or against him. He did manage to at least put some sense into his head (by knocking his brain off), but then he kept him from actually stopping Casey from going on her date! Okay, so that was his fault. He didn't want to come home until night time, but damn it!

Grunting in exasperation and scratching his head, he took the pink planner that he had carelessly tossed on the bed minutes ago after scanning the pages and started going through the entries for the second time. Nothing. No clue. Not even a number, a short message, or a mini puzzle to decode. In fact, the current date was left blank – and doesn't blank mean 'no plans for the day'? Knowing Casey, she would never fail to keep her planner updated, especially when it comes to her gallivanting expeditions. That's why it always came in handy for him. To top it all off, she also hadn't put any entry in her journal for four days now. Four days. Isn't that considered as an act of felony in 'Casey Land'?

Closing the book shut and putting it back inside the upper drawer of the side table, he drew a deep breath of disappointment and let himself plop backwards on her mattress. His eyes met the ceiling where a bright yellow light came shining from the inside of a convex lamp. The entire room still held the sweet scent of Casey's body spray, most especially the bed he was currently lying on. No matter how hard he tried to keep his focus on his dilemma, he couldn't help but savor the fragrant smell that reminded him of her cascading locks. Closing his eyes and inhaling the intoxicating aroma, a small, coy smile graced the corners of his mouth. He reached his hand up and grabbed the first pillow that his palm had come into contact. Bringing it closer to his chest, he wrapped his arms around it, giving it a tight squeeze, before laying on his side and resting his head on its soft edge.

Case, why do you have to smell so good? He lay on his back once again, still keeping the pillow tightly enclosed within his arms; his face now completely buried in it. If time would ever decide to stand still, he wouldn't mind it happening at this moment. He didn't believe in all that fairytale hullabaloo, but if he were to be asked what 'magical' meant, this would probably be a moment that would inspire an answer. It was more than floating on the clouds, reaching the end of a rainbow to see the pot of gold, rubbing a lamp to find a trapped genie and asking him three wishes, or having a fairy godmother who could wipe your sorrows away and give you a 'happily ever after' – it is more enchanting, more alluring, and more mesmerizing. It is the definition of pure euphoria, it is – it is kind of like – well – a pillow?

He chucked the soft cushion away from his face and rolled his eyes in disbelief as he was bitten by reality. What's next? Lollipops and candy canes? Groaning rather loudly, he glanced upward to the right to check the time – 6:33 pm. Where in the world could they be? His face began to show signs of worry and frustration as his best friend's words started to play over and over in his mind like a broken record. "What is keeping you?" "You are losing her, man." "You're keeping her from being hurt, or you're keeping yourself from being hurt?"

Sighing heavily, he lifted himself up to a sitting position and rubbed his temples with his knuckles. He had to do something and he had to do it fast. What exactly? He didn't know. But if they really were somehow born with opposite magnetic poles and the universe couldn't pull them apart, then maybe he could use that force to bring them back together.

"Em."

Derek started as soon as the person on the other line said their courtesy greeting, biting his lower lip and inwardly cursing himself for convincing his senses that it was the only way to know anything about the couple's whereabouts. Actually, it probably was, so what else could he do? He didn't really want to speak with her anymore; in fact, they had lost direct connection right after their breakup – which didn't go so well due to his not-so-Emily-proof 'we're going to different universities, so it won't work' alibi. Who knew she could devise a full four-year phone/visit/Skype session schedule without even having to show her his first term timetable? She was worse than Casey at her organizing pinnacle!

Yeesh. He shuddered at the thought of him being strapped into one of those mind control chairs, wearing a helmet with huge flashing light bulbs, and following the orders of a sadistic, whip-holding tyrant of a girlfriend that is Emily. On any other day, he would rather be caught dead than answer a phone call from her, but he would be dead anyway if he missed this opportunity to speak with Casey. So, shovel the dirt and prepare the funeral.

"Derek?" Replied a rather bewildered but cheery-sounding Emily, failing to hide the excitement in her voice.

Oh, boy. Here we go.

"Yeah, hey," he answered as casually as he could, switching the phone to his other ear. "Uh... well, I know we're not exactly in good terms right now, but..."

"It's okay. I'm just glad you finally called," Emily interrupted. "I've thought about it long and hard, and I've realized that you and I sh-"

"I need you to do me a favor," he cut her mid-sentence, gripping his phone tightly as he leaned against the driver's side door of his car.

"Oh-kay? Anything," she replied softly.

Derek paused for a while, feeling a little hesitation welling up from within his stomach. It was unbearable. Should he really risk the suspicion for a little information? It would probably be easier if he would just knock on Lizzie's door and inquire of her sister's night plans. Or how about Nora? Casey would at least notify her mother of her location, right? Maybe? Yeah, go ahead. Ask the stepmother, she would know! Rolling his eyes and cupping his forehead to ease the headache that was beginning to invade his thinking space, he swallowed before proceeding.

"I need you to tell me where Casey and Matthew are."

"Oh," there was a little moment of silence on the other line before an audible expression of confusion was heard. "What?"

"I need you to tell me wh-" Derek began reiterating, bobbing his free hand up and down in mid-air for emphasis.

"Yeah, I know. I heard it perfectly, Derek," Emily interfered hastily.

"So?"

"So... why do you want to know?"

Derek stiffened and went once more into deep thought for a second. It really was never an easy exchanging of words when it came to her. Whatever happened to just saying what needed to be said? Yeah, whatever happened to that, Derek? Silently scoffing at his being 'getting told' by his own sarcastic conscience, he couldn't help but mouth 'shut up' inaudibly to himself. With tightly closed eyes, he blurted the only plausible alibi he could think of at the moment.

"I need to give her something."

"Seriously, can't it wait until after she comes back?" Emily replied, her tone notably raising.

"Didn't you hear? I need to give her something. If I knew it could wait until later, do you think I would waste my time going into all this trouble?" He snapped back, equaling the irritation she was exhibiting.

"I'm sure it's nothing life-threatening," she toned down slightly, noting the impatience in his voice.

Derek let out a heavy sigh, not caring if it came out audibly on the other line, and rolled his eyes in displeasure. It was already ten minutes to seven, and he was going nowhere with this interrogation.

"Okay, let's see... I was feeling really devious this afternoon, so I thought 'hey, why not grab all of Casey's oh-so precious collection of classic literature, throw them in the backyard and set them on fire?' So, I did. And as I watched the smoke of burning knowledge rise into the air, I've realized... I really want to change my ways and become a better stepbrother."

He 'explained' animatedly, making hand gestures and looking towards an empty space, pretending to watch something ascend in mid-air.

"So, see, I need to give her this fire extinguisher or she wouldn't have any Jane Austen left to read for the rest of her non-working existence," he continued, turning around and resting his elbow on top the car. "And guess whose fault it would be if that happened. Yours."

"Now, you're just being ridiculous," Emily declared.

"Just tell me where they are," he answered breathily, placing his hand on the handle and opening the side door, not wanting to further the conversation anymore.

"How do you expect me to know these things?"

"Because you're Emily! You just do," he rebounded, taking the phone off his ear and putting it near his mouth.

For a second, he thought she was going to keep mum because he hadn't heard anything from the speaker right after he held the device once again against his right ear. There were perceptible signs of heavy breathing but no spoken word or syllable. Not until a few moments of silence had passed that he actually received a reply from her.

"Fine. He said he's going to take her to Michael's."

"Michael's," Derek repeated the last word almost faintly, his eyes widened as this brand new information began to dawn on him.

"Der, about u-"

"Gotta go!"

Tapping his phone to end the call, he carelessly chucked it on the adjacent front chair, turned the ignition on, and shifted the gear into reverse.

The atmosphere was almost like something that came out of her dream – fine dining, slow dancing, venue overlooking a beautifully lit skyline beyond the Thames River. It was magical, to say the least, and definitely fairytale-scene worthy. The waters illuminated as bright lights emanating from the tall scrapers and the street lamps reflected their rays upon the gentle current. Streams of car beams looked like glistening orbs flowing from the great beyond and zooming past her sight to infinity. And as her mind wandered across the pond, her ears were being soothed with just the perfect music – nothing blaring, nothing bland. Just a good amount of soft jazz and rhythm and blues. A small, coy smile formed on the corners of her mouth, sighing as she thoughtlessly ran her fingertip around the rim of the goblet holding her drink. It was indeed the perfect night and she couldn't ask for more.

"So, I heard you're going to Queen's for post-secondary studies."

Choking slightly from being startled by a voice that seemed rather foreign to her senses, Casey turned her head to find herself gazing upon a pair of emerald eyes which were intently fixed on her own; and although they were utterly captivating, they were very much unfamiliar. Unlike the pair that reminded her of the great oak, earthy and strong. But it could not fit in her fairytale of love; aren't gems more desirable than a bark from a tree anyway? Well. She felt her heart sink hard as she forced a half smile, briefly nodding to confirm the information he had gathered.

"Planning to get my BBA and then go straight to Law school," she added, taking her eyes off of him for a bit to focus on gently scooping a portion of the garnishing ice cream from her a la mode dessert with the spoon she was now holding.

"Future lawyer," Matthew nodded, taking a quick sip from his drink. "Impressive."

"Thanks," she responded shyly, "But, I'm sure it's nothing like what you've accomplished so far."

"Oh, I'm certain we're quite even," he shrugged as his head tilted sideways for a second, a smug smirk gracing the edge of his lips. "Let's see..."

He drew himself closer to the table, positioned both elbows on top, and rested his chin on the intertwined fingers of his hands. "We've both graduated on top of our class, we're both goal-driven, we're both book lovers..."

He let his right hand glide beside her own, teasingly going past and reaching for the bouquet of roses he had given her earlier, which she had placed on top of the table, and carefully pulled out one. Staring deeply into her eyes, he huskily spoke, "... and we share the same love for poetry."

"Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate," he began reciting as he extended his hand and offered the rose for her to take, not releasing his gazing grip upon her dazzled blue eyes. A smile slowly registered on her lips as she surrounded the stem with her fingertips and took the crimson-colored flower from his loose grasp.

"Imagine what you and I could do together," he whispered in a low voice, letting his free hand now rest on top of her own. "We're like a perfect match."

Perfect match. Maybe this was it – her 'happily ever after', the silver lining of the cloud, the sunshine after the rain. It probably had been ever since, she just got side-tracked. It wasn't as if she was really completely against this whole 'date with Matthew' thing. This was her life, her destiny, in the first place before the whole ineffectual, metaphorical, pandemonium of a confession ever began. Her life was actually peaceful and simple. She had her eyes on Matthew and Matthew was mutually attracted to her – plain, simple, and positively certain. Never mind the hidden whatever for Mr. Walking Conundrum. Maybe the fact that confrontation had gone awry twice was fate's way of saying that they were a 'no-no'.

Her thoughts were shortly interrupted by a series of vibrations inside her purse. She immediately withdrew her hand from his grasp and searched the contents to find her phone. When she finally snatched it out of the bag, she found it littered with lots of text messages, missed calls, and Twitter notifications. It apparently had been sitting for too long without her noticing. Not that they contained a string of important messages, because they're really almost the same in content, along the lines of:

| DerekVenturi: You need to pick up your phone.

| DerekVenturi: Why aren't you picking up?

| DerekVenturi: Answer the call, woman!

Ugh, you. Rolling her eyes and grunting mentally, she huffed and looked out the window once more to mentally drown her re-found hurt in the glowing waters of the Thames. You.

"Well then, incoming Gael freshman, as a more experienced sophomore, I think it is only fitting that I give you a tour of the university on your first day. What do you think?" Matthew interrupted her train of thought, dismissing the fact that she did look bothered by whatever she saw when she checked her phone.

Casey's eyes widened as she faced him with much surprise, "You're attending Queen's, too? How come I never knew about these things?"

"Maybe you haven't been asking much about me."

She was taken aback by his last statement. It wasn't something that she had expected to hear. Was it some sort of accusation, casual rebound, a silly joke? But whatever it was, it definitely had a lot of truth attached to it. So, she wasn't really as interested as she thought she was before, but that doesn't mean she couldn't start being more interested now, right?

"So, your response?" Matthew reminded, waving his hand in front of her face to break her from her dazed state.

"Sorry?" She answered faintly as she tried to recall what he was asking about.

"Will you take the offer?"

"Oh, uhm, sure. I'd love that," a faint smile crept upon her features.

"Except," she quickly interjected, wiping the small sign of pleasure from her lips, "Derek will be there, too, and I'm sure he'll need all the help he can get to keep himself out of trouble on the first day."

"Who's Derek?"

But Casey went on thinking out loud without paying attention to his question, "I can't believe I would have to do this all over again. Every time he makes a mess, I'm the one who cleans it up. Like I'm this... eternal babysitter. Without pay!"

Grunting quite audibly, she blurted in frustration, "He's gonna ruin everything!"

"Your... little brother?" Matthew hesitantly inquired as he stared at her with much bewilderment.

"Step-brother."

There was silence for a while between the two as Casey continued on with her train of thoughts and Matthew took the time to finish the contents of his glass. It was then that he noticed that she hadn't really properly eaten her dessert. The ice cream had been thoroughly reduced to thick liquid and the entire dish was slowly turning into a pile of mush. He eyed her meticulously as he waited for her to mentally arrive back to their table.

"I'm sorry," she finally voiced out an apology. "He's my stepbrother. You've met him before, at the mall, remember? Unfortunately, he's going to Queen's, too."

"Oh, you mean, Mr. 'Financey'?" His eyebrows furrowed as his mouth broke into a smirk.

Her chest expanded and relaxed in one deep breath as she let her eyes roll to a full, "More like Mr. 'Infuriatingly Barbaric Neanderthal of a Stepbrother'."

"Our lives have been so unbelievably meshed and tangled up that no one, even ourselves, could pull us apart," she continued blurting in fast successions, taking her fork and waving it in front of her, unaware of the melted ice cream drippings that sprinkled on his cheek.

"I see you've bonded well," he took a napkin and wiped the sticky substance off his face, still much to Casey's oblivion as she stared out the window wearing an annoyed expression.

"No! That's not what I meant! Just..." she countered, turning her head to face him for a while before averting her eyes downward to her soggy-looking dessert. She jabbed the fork right through the cake repeatedly as she struggled to muster the words, "His existence... is... complicated."

"Well..." Matthew placed his palm over her busy hand, stopping her from murdering the food any further, "... complicated things can usually be made simple. Rid yourself of anything that makes life too hard for you. I'm sure a stepbrother of that age would be old enough to go out alone in a new environment."

He took the fork off of her grip with the other hand before bringing her palm to rest on it, "You, however, need to be taken care of."

"Not... that you're too weak to take care of yourself," he tightened his hold on her hand and smiled, consoling her when he noticed she looked quite perplexed. "I'm saying it because you're... special. Like a treasure in need of guarding."

He met her gaze with such intensity and uttered softly, "And I'm willing to do that."

"That's very cute, Indiana Jones, but I'm not that easy to get rid of."

Both of them withdrew their hands from its previous clasping like an automatic reflex after being unpleasantly surprised by a certain uninvited third wheel. It was as if the colors on Casey's face decided to go on strike when the words rung repeatedly inside her ear. It really wasn't so much about the rudeness of the words, but it was the familiarity of the sound that caught her attention. Simultaneously turning her head sideways along with her date, they were greeted by a tall, cross-armed, brows-raised, smirk-donned, leather-jacketed guy.

Casey's eyes broaden as her jaws hung low. She eyed him from head to toe, exclaiming, "Derek?" To which he responded with a casual shrug, his lips still bearing the smirk he was wearing seconds ago.

She pushed her chair back as she stood up hastily, leaving a startled and confused Matthew who was forced to watch the brewing disaster unfold before his very eyes, making his eyebrows inch closer together as he directed his stare from one half of the battleground to the other.

"What on earth are you doing here?" She exclaimed angrily.

"I'm here to do some salsa, c'mon," Derek swiftly took her by the wrist and led her away from their table.

"What did I tell you about dragging me!" She shook her captured arm and tried to wiggle away from his hold. "And they only play jazz here, you idiot," she hissed through gritted teeth as she continued pulling herself away, using her free hand to attempt to pry his grip open, looking sideways and wishing that they weren't catching too much attention.

"That'll do," he took her prying hand with his free one and dragged her closer to the dance floor and into the crowd, stepping backwards and looking over his shoulders to make sure he wasn't bumping into anybody.

When they had finally reached the middle, Derek pulled her even closer to him, their bodies now only mere inches apart. They were awkwardly standing stiff in the midst of intertwined couples swaying their hips to the slow beat. He kept his hold on Casey's wrists, in case she would decide to escape and leave him. But she didn't seem like she was going anywhere. She remained in frozen silence, head turned to the side and looking past his shoulder, carefully keeping herself from staring into his eyes. It was evident that she was uncomfortably controlling her breathing, making sure she wasn't inhaling too much of his scent. Once in a while, someone would accidentally bump into them, closing the small gap between the two as their chests pressed together. But she would immediately distance herself, although not too far because of his tight grip.

Sighing heavily, he loosen his grasp from one of her hands and slid his palm past her waist, around the side, and finally resting on the small of her back, gently tugging her even closer in proximity to his body. His thumb stroked against the ruffling on her dress, making her gasp and briefly close her eyelids. He could feel her shiver beneath his touch, but she was keen on not meeting his intense gaze.

"Case," he uttered breathily, his warm breath gently blowing on the side of her temples.

Casey bit her lower lip momentarily as she rid of the lump that was blocking her airway. His hot breath on her bare skin was beginning to melt the foundations of her feet. She desperately wanted to pull away and run to the nearest exit, but she stood glued to the spot, helpless and confused. She wanted and hated this at the same time. Her breathing met the erraticism of his own, and although her eyes were not focused on his face, she could feel his gaze piercing through her skin, boring holes into her heart, and stealing its deepest secrets. Nevertheless, she kept her safe vision stance – away and averted.

Seeing as she was stubbornly rejecting his attempt to converse with her, Derek let go of his hold on her other wrist and lifted his hand to touch her chin with the tips of his two fingers, slowly moving her head sideways until her blue eyes locked in place with his.

"We need to talk," he spoke in a low voice, his lips quivering.

Casey felt a strong fluttering sensation in her stomach and across her chest, as her eyes welded with the impassioned irises of the man currently holding her dangerously close to his body. She slowly opened her mouth as she tried to compose a string of words in her mind but nothing but air managed to escape. She was bound, not exactly by his grip since he was clasping her quite gently; yet, she was bound steadfastly by his presence. She wanted this. No! She hated this. She had to hate this. Finally closing her eyes to keep her from being distracted, she gathered enough chest power before speaking with as much confidence as she could muster.

"There is nothing else to talk about, Derek. Please let me go," she demanded, almost succeeding in fleeing from his arms.

But Derek grabbed a hold of her back with both hands, causing her to recoil and almost slam completely against his chest if not for her hands which she used to absorb the impact. Immediately restoring the little space they shared moments ago, Casey shot him a glaring look to repay his action, but he remained composed and silent, although she could see frustration in his eyes.

"Put your arms around me," he said almost inaudibly.

Casey's eyes shot wide, her lips parted slightly as she felt something akin to a drenching tide of ice cold water rushing from her head to her feet. Her heart skipped a full beat, making her unable to breathe for a second. She stared at him with the most skeptical face she could manage, yet secretly, she desperately wanted to give in and maybe do more than just putting her arms around him. Why does he have to smell so good today? Parting her lips a little more, she tried letting out syllables, but she could only come up with one – uh. Shaking her head quickly and letting out a quick gust of air, she squinted her eyes and protruded her lips.

"No," she answered aloofly, keeping her ground and her hands curled up to a fist on her sides.

"Put. Your arms. Around me," he demanded with more fierceness in his tone.

Exhaling heavily in defeat, she raised both her hands and reluctantly rested her palms on his shoulders. Thinking it was close enough to fulfill his request, she threw him a shrugging look, as if saying there you go. However, she was slightly taken aback when he reached for her left hand, removing it from its position and gently pulling it back until her arm touched the leather fabric on his shoulder. Seeing as he was handling this very seriously – she hadn't even seen him smirk or sneer at her in the last few minutes – she sighed and put her other hand behind his neck, interlocking her fingers.

Oh, her poor heart. It didn't know what pace it was supposed to keep. One moment, it would seem to cease beating altogether; the other, it would pump so fast, she'd think her ribs would fail to keep it from bursting out. It was as if her whole world was spinning and any moment now, she would not be able to resist the drag of gravity on her knees.

Derek slowly snaked his free hand behind her back to join the other once more and started leading her to a slow dance. It had been awkward enough that they were standing relatively motionlessly amidst a group of dancing people, he had to do something. He was already having a hard time keeping his mind clear so that he wouldn't forget the lines he had practiced on his way to the venue, but the difficulty was doubled (no, tripled) by the sole fact that he forgot to factor in something in his mental scenario – Casey. No, see, Casey was there and he did imagine him speaking with her, but – this is Casey. There was the imaginary Casey and then there was the real Casey. But he only practiced with Imaginary Casey, but now he had to deal with In-the-Flesh Casey. And he was sure his 'i like you-you like me-let's do this' dialogue wouldn't work with this particular Casey! Besides, maybe she didn't like him anymore. She did seem to be getting too eager in holding hands with that flaky canned good. Why does this have to be so difficult!

I can't do this. I can't do this.

Shut up! Just do it.

I can't. I don't know what to say anymore.

Just do the damn thing and get it over with!

Closing his eyes and swallowing hard to gather confidence, he slowly began, "Just listen to me. Hear me out for a few minutes."

"I-"

"Uhm, excuse me, but I believe this lady is my date."

The two immediately broke apart, surprised by the sudden appearance of someone whose presence they had almost completely forgotten until now. Seeing as this wasn't the first time he was interrupted by this person, Derek was the more irritated half of the pair. Tilting his head upward, he rolled his eyes hard and cursed under his breath.

"I will take it from here."

He could sense Casey being slowly led away by the hand from the area, making him shake his head as the last string of his control on his temper wore thin. But before they could go any further, he caught her by the wrist, stopping her on her tracks and causing her to quickly swirl around. But his attention wasn't directed at her, he was busy glaring at the person whose trespassing offenses in their complex-enough relationship were beginning to become too irksome for his taste.

"Why do you always have to butt in every time we're having a conversation?"

"Shouldn't I be the one asking that?"

Breathing out a gust of air and scowling at his statement, Derek hastily let go of Casey's hand and rushed to where Matthew was standing. Usually, he could manage to keep his cool whenever someone tried to test his temper, but this one was crossing the threshold line.

"Are you trying to mess with me?"

Alarmed at the sudden turn of events and the fact that the three of them were drawing unwanted attention from the couples on the dance floor and even those who are seated and dining, Casey drew closer behind Derek and gave him a warning tug on his arms.

"Derek, please. Don't make a scene."

"Derek, right?" Matthew spoke, a mischievous smirk forming across his lips. "Casey's stepbrother?"

Derek stood motionlessly as his spat-with-contempt words registered in his head. His eyes burned with hatred and disbelief; he knew exactly what he was insinuating. His chest heaved heavily as his lenses zoomed in on his foe. He let his tongue roll on the side of his cheek as his nostrils flared, but he couldn't get himself to utter anything. Not even a single trash talk. It was like being stabbed with a million sharp knives raining down from the sky, piercing him rapidly, again and again. He didn't realize how infuriating a smirk on a face could be, knowing that it had also been almost a daily occurrence on his face; he didn't realize it, until now. And guess what else he hadn't realized until that moment? Reality. This was reality. And it hit him hard in the face without even landing a physical blow on his skin.

"Maybe you're forgetting who you are in her life, bro."

"Enough!" Casey shrieked, clasping her forehead as she moved backward, trying to gain balance.

"You and Casey? You must be out of your mind," Matthew persisted on insulting Derek, sneering and crossing his arms, ignoring his date's outburst.

"What did you just say?" Derek tensed, curling his fingers into a tight fist, his nails almost puncturing his skin.

Two tall men suddenly showed up and came into the scene, having given orders by the manager after becoming aware of the commotion in the dining hall. They halted the two just in time – especially Derek, who almost launched his fist into the other's face. They put extra barring on the pair to avoid reaching each other by extending their hands in the middle and pushing them far apart with their arms.

"Excuse me, sir, but I'm afraid I would have to ask you to leave the premises. You are causing a public disturbance and if you don't leave immediately, we will have to inform the authority," one of the employees notified Derek sternly, keeping him from moving. But he kept his infuriated look toward the object of his boiling anger.

"You heard him. Get out of here. And stay away from my girl."

Derek grunted loudly with visibly gnashing teeth, boldly pushing his way and advancing toward him, but he was prevented from moving any further by the strong grip on his arms, now doubled due to the other man moving from Matthew's side to his, preventing him from sending a blow. Matthew rapidly stepped a foot backward to completely take himself out of his perimeter of reach.

"Der-ek!" Casey shouted from the side, pulling him hard by the hem of his shirt.

"Derek!" A second voice called out from the far right, the person quickly dashing toward the epicentre of the tumultuous situation.

All eyes turned to see a blonde-haired lady dressed in red running hastily, grabbing Derek by the arm and nervously smiling at the two men, "I'm so sorry for this."

She took him to the far side, away from the scene of crime, as the rest of the people returned to their previous activities – although still eyeing the participants of the argument once in a while, obviously making them the object of discussion and gossip. She ignored the dirty looks and stared at Derek with furrowed brows but with much concern.

Casey followed the two with her eyes. She couldn't actually make anything out of the conversation because they were too far away and the music drowned any possibly audible conversation from the rest of the tables. She knew she was someone familiar, like she had already met her somewhere before. Moments later, she felt a hand holding her arm – it was Matthew, signaling her to return with him to their seats. Letting out a heavy sigh, she obliged, but not without giving him an icy stare or glancing over her shoulders to check up on the other two. She wasn't exactly sure what or who she should be getting more annoyed at; she wasn't even sure if she should be annoyed. Heck, she was so confused, she didn't really know what she should be feeling right now.

And just before they had gotten halfway through to their reserved table, Casey saw Derek and his companion exiting through the door, leaving her even more perplexed than she was seconds ago.

A/N: So, Matthew turned out to be more evil than we thought. Looks like Marti was right again, he did look like Tru-scum (chap 8). LOL! Sorry, my brain is a little fried because of sleepless nights, so hopefully this still turned out okay and you can still see what was happening. Casey's confused, you guys are also probably confused, I am a little confused. Let's be confused together. Hahah!

I'm not actually sure about the interior or the atmosphere of 'Michael's on the Thames' restaurant, but this is a real restaurant in London, Ontario. I just made up the description to fit the story. I'm not affiliated with them (please don't sue me, yikes).

Again, many many many thanks to those who have taken the time to review the story! It means a lot to me to see you give your inputs. Also, new fave-rs and subscribers, welcome to the story and thank you so much!

Special shoutout to Dark-Supernatural-Angel, ZenNoMai, VeVe2491 (Lovin' your enthusiasm, haha!), CrystalFlowers, Kariana6, and HopelesslyInLove13.

Please review if you have the time! :)

Shoutout to DerekVenturi and LifeWithCasey on Twitter. Whatever happened to you two? Miss you!