Author's note: This took a lot of work. It was fun to write this chapter, but took a lot of work. Sorry it is longer. I didn't know where to split it.
Disclaimer: I do not own Life with Derek.
Last chapter end:
"Why did you take all that beer?" Casey fastened her seatbelt.
"I hate that fucking numbers game…" Derek smirked and side glanced at Casey as he shifted a gear higher.
*In the Prince*
"I feel really warm, did you turn on the heat?" Casey tried to take off her jacket in the car.
"Derek Venturi's heat is always on."
"Whatever, weirdo. I just feel kind of hot," Casey gave up on her jacket, "What are you going to do with that alcohol? I don't want parents finding it. Why did you steal it again?"
"First of all, have parentals ever found my stash before?"
"No…" Casey sighed.
"Second, the party sucked," Derek sulked.
"But, it looked like you were having fun…petite blondie…"
"Yeah, I don't care about her. You had a shitty time, and I like beer. Jason deserved the theft for throwing such a shitty party," Derek smirked.
"Okay, that makes no sense, but just don't let Marti find your contraband. That would be just terrible…" Casey was a little tired and looked out the window. She saw that the sky was clear, and it was almost midnight. It was a perfect night to star gaze.
The rest of the ride home was silent, and the entrance to the house was silent as well. Their parents were sleeping so Derek quickly took the alcohol up to his room, and locked the door. Casey realized he didn't want her finding his secret hiding spot, but she was preoccupied with getting things ready to go stargazing again. She wasn't tired at all, and she hadn't spotted Gemini last time, and she really wanted to find it. As she changed into her warm clothes, even though she was sort of hot, she was frustrated at herself that she hadn't found Gemini the first time she went out. Derek probably caused her to loose focus last time; Derek caused most of her problems. She slowly opened her door to see that Derek's door was still closed. With her blanket over her shoulder and her boots on, she tiptoed out of the room. Slowly she walked down the hall to the steps when she heard the stairs creak even with her hat over her head. She winced at the sound.
Derek's door cracked open, "I thought you were asleep. Were you sneaking out again, Space Case?"
Casey silently nodded and watched Derek hold up a 'give me a minute' pointer finger. She didn't want to wait for him and went down the stairs. She went to the kitchen to make jasmine tea, but didn't find her thermos. She realized she had left it outside from the last time she went. Casey sighed and Derek silently entered the kitchen. He wore a big winter jacket and a beanie. He wore boots like Casey and a wide smile.
"Why are you smiling?" Casey softly spoke.
"I am allowed to smile," Derek walked past her grabbing the blanket off her shoulder and crept out the back door. Casey followed in a hurry angry that Derek stole the blanket. He walked ahead of her the whole time, and his pace was much faster than hers. She tried to keep up with him at first, but stopped after a minute because she kept tripping over random twigs and roots. Derek soon was out of sight and she was content walking slower in the woods. She looked at the dark trees compared to the nighttime sky, which was brighter than the bark. She came upon the tree that Derek had leaned against before. This time she leaned, but didn't say anything. She spied on Derek. He had sprawled out the blanket and lay on one side of it. She smiled that he had left room for her. His hands were his pillow, and he looked up at the sky. She liked this simple side of Derek, and if it weren't her step-brother she would have thought it was romantic.
She walked over gradually and smiled. Then she felt the ground was soft. "Derek, we can't lie here."
"Um, what?" Derek stopped looking at the sky.
"The ground is soft. That means we will get wet if we lay here."
Derek sat up and looked at her, "Are you kidding me? You have rules for where the blanket should lay?"
Casey looked at him upset, "Yes. Now get up, and I will find a dry spot."
"Maybe I like wet spots…" Derek smirked and complied with Casey's request. He stood up and held the blanket.
"Ew. Help me find a hard spot. Hard spots mean I won't get wet" Casey informed Derek.
"Sounds like backwards logic. Whenever any girl finds my hard spot, they get instantly wet," Derek chuckled and smirked again.
"Okay. I am totally grossed out. I thought we could be normal, but apparently you are too childish. I am leaving," Casey turned and headed back to the forest. Derek chased after, and grabbed her arm. He pulled her to turn her around.
"Casey, you have to learn to relax. I am just messing," Derek reasoned.
"Well, I don't like perversion," Casey arrogantly did not look at Derek.
"Fine no perversion, but it's your loss, perversion is funny. And you must watch what you say. I mean you set that joke up. I just ran with it," Derek smiled apologetically.
"Fine," Casey jerked her arm out of Derek's grasp and stomped the ground looking for harder spots. Derek started doing the same in the opposite direction. Casey found her way back the spot she laid down this morning. She stomped some more and spotted something out of place, "Hey, I found my thermos Derek!" Casey picked up the thermos and smiled. She started walking over to the tree and placed it down next to it when she got there, "Derek, don't let me forget my thermos."
"Fine whatever. I found a hard spot. Here come feel," Derek chuckled and placed the blanket down. He sat down on one side and left room for Casey. Casey sat down next to him, and frowned as he watched him pull out a beer from his black winter coat.
"Don't worry Case, I brought one for you too," Derek smiled and used his other hand to pull out a beer from the other pocket.
"Thanks for your generosity, but that is not what I was concerned about Derek. You hid it in a good place right?" Casey was still worried.
"Have you ever found my porn?" Have you ever found my weed? Have you ever found my secret stash of naked Casey photos?" Derek chuckled at the face Casey made.
"You don't have naked pictures of me!" Casey outraged hit Derek's shoulder. Derek didn't say anything.
"You have naked pictures of me? Did Edwin take them? You didn't show them to anyone did you? Did you take them when I was in the shower? I forgot to lock the door a couple of time…" Casey gulped and got paranoid, "Do you pleasure yourself to them?"
"You're such a gullible space-head; I don't have pictures of you. Pleasure myself? Case, it's called jerking off," Derek laughed again. Casey fumed.
"I know what it's called, Derek. I just think that the term, 'pleasure yourself' is much softer and less gross."
"Wait wait… Casey, do you 'pleasure yourself?' " Derek eyes got wide, and he took a sip of his beer. He put his can down then and grabbed Casey's and cracked it open for her. He handed it back, "I wouldn't want to hurt your fingers…" Derek burst out laughing and took another swig of beer.
"Uhm, I don't have to answer your question," Casey blushed and took a gulp of her beer. Her face grimaced with the taste.
"Oh. My. God. Casey McDonald masturbates. I would have never known. I guess you don't moan because I never heard you. Geez. Casey the Keener 'pleasuring' herself." Derek put on a silly face and pretended to rub his genitals, "Oh Math! Science is so super sexy. I love to write p- p- poetry," Derek mimicked what he thought Casey thought about while masturbating.
Casey chugged her beer and then threw the can to the side of the blanket. Derek was still mimicking her so she pushed his beer out of his hand letting it fall in the grass. She pushed him down on the blanket and straddled him. She had heat in her eyes as she starting wailing on him. Her hands were punching gloves, and he was the bag. His coat softened the blows, but her point got acrossed. Derek wasn't taking this beating anymore because he could tell she was almost crying as she was hitting him. He quickly grabbed her arms and pushed them to the side. He reversed her move and pinned her on the blanket. His back started to hurt in the spot where the doorknob hit him, but he didn't let the pain affect him.
"I won't tell anyone you pleasure yourself if you do. Okay?" Derek looked sincere and a little annoyed, "Now can we just find Gemini?"
Casey sniffled a little and looked defensively up to Derek, "Let's find Gemini, yes."
"Good, That's settled," Derek moved from on top of her and pulled another beer from a secret pocket in his pants. He sat down while he left Casey lie there to look at the sky. Changing the subject, " You should be proud. I even looked Gemini up on the internet. It looks a little different than you described though."
"Yeah," Casey sniffled again but was glad for the topic changed babbled, "It's a little different. Gemini is a constellation but also an asterism. The sky is mapped out in regions, and Gemini happens to be one of those regions, which is a constellation. So, all the stars in that region are Gemini, but stargazers like us, don't want to look at the whole region of Gemini, we just want to see the asterism, which is a smaller section of the Gemini constellation and an asterism makes the picture I described. …I know it's kind of confusing," Casey wiped her nose on her jacket sleeve and sat up next to Derek. She grabbed the beer from his hands and took a sip.
"Yeah… confusing," Derek dismissed Casey's explanation and smiled at her recovery.
"I should have said I was looking for the asterism Gemini, but then you would have been confused," Casey was rambling as she placed the beer back into Derek's hand.
"Let's just forget about it and look for the open-box thinger you mentioned earlier today," Derek drifted.
Casey relaxed and searched the sky, but found it kind of hard to focus. She figured it was the alcohol because normally she could concentrate, "I can't find it. I am getting impatient."
"Relax Space. We'll find it," Derek sipped the rest of his beer and then lay next to Casey. He looked at the stars trying to find any sort of pattern.
Casey's eyes were starting to close a little bit; she was having even more difficulty focusing. It was so peaceful lying on the grass that she closed her eyes for a second. She was cold so she scooted toward Derek and wrapped her arm in his. Derek's body jumped as he pulled his arm away.
"Derek…" Casey weakly tried to argue with Derek.
"Casey, I've found Gemini!" Derek pushed Casey a little to make her open her eyes, "Look."
Casey's eyes inched open, and she looked up and laughed, "I just see stars Derek."
"No, it's right there," Derek shook her again and pointed to show Casey.
"Huh?" Casey opened her eyes wider to wake up, but she couldn't find it.
"It's right there," Derek scooted closer to her trying to get her angle. He moved his head as close to hers as possible.
"Derek, I'm trying to look. I swear," Casey whined as she focused in on where he was pointing.
"You're impossible," Derek grabbed Casey hand, like she had done with him before, and made a pointer to point out the constellation. He traced it with her finger.
"Oh my gosh, I see it Derek," Casey was giddy, "You know the story behind Gemini right? Gemini is made up of two siblings. Apollo and Artemis. Apollo is the god of light and truth and Artemis is a huntress goddess, but also of virginity and fertility. In older times, Artemis is thought to be with the moon goddess Selene and Apollo the sun. They were also a really close family; they teased one another like we do. They would challenge one another to duels and stuff, and I think they would hunt together because they both had bows and arrows."
Derek continued to look at stars, "Tell me more about Apollo, Spacey." Although his remark was commanding and somewhat rude, he was being sincere and Casey felt like talking
"Apollo shined. His father was Zeus and his mom was Leto. His twin was Artemis, and they were very close with one another fighting on the same team. He had a lyre for composing beautiful music. He was the best musician and killed anyone better than him. Also, Apollo was beautiful, the epitome of handsome really, well besides Adonis, but Adonis was man…"
"Was Apollo a pimp? I mean if he was so good-looking and a god, he must have been a pimp."
"Well, Yes actually. He had a good time with many ladies, and if they refused him, he would do something awful to them. He also had a good time with a few men…"
"Are you kidding me?" Derek's face twisted into a frown.
"Nope," Casey chuckled and hit Derek's arm.
"Gross, tell me about Artemis now," Derek changed the subject.
"Well, she was the virgin goddess of the hunt. She would walk around the woods with her nymphs, but she would also help women who were pregnant. Apollo and Artemis were healers; they liked to help people. She chose to be a virgin too, which I think is really cool. She was a strong goddess and didn't need a man."
"Well, she did have those nymphos…" Derek chuckled.
"That's gross," Casey nudged him in the elbow, "They were just her wood nymphs to help her take care of the forest."
"Wood nymphs?" Derek laughed.
"Yes, they take care of the forest."
"I wish I had some of those nymphs to care of my wood this morning," Derek chuckled again.
"De-rek," Casey nudged him again, pushing him away. Remembering the awful 'pleasuring' incident from earlier.
Derek moved closer to Casey, "Fine, Spacey, but first I have to say that I bet that Artemis couldn't resist me. I mean I know she chose to be a virgin, but come on… I'm Derek Venturi."
"Most humans weren't even given a second glance, Derek. Especially one as ugly as you are," Casey smirked.
"Is that seriously the best comeback you have," Derek rolled his eyes, but then looked to Casey "Let's be honest, Spacey. I am hot."
Casey sighed disgust and turned her head away from Derek and toward the sky.
"You didn't even look at me Case."
"And I'm not going to. I am not one to feed your ego," Casey continued to look away.
"You just don't want to say it, you know I look like Apollo or Adenas," Derek crossed his hands over his chest and looked toward the sky.
Casey turned toward him and furrowed her brow, "His name is Adonis, and you don't look like either of them. You look like… Medusa."
"You looked at me," Derek smirked and turned his head toward Casey.
Casey looked toward the sky, "No, I didn't."
"Yeah you did."
"Nope, because if I did, I would be turned to stone. I am still moving and talking, thus I did not look at you."
"I'll make you look at me," Derek quickly sat and up and straddled Casey. Her arms were immovable at her sides underneath Derek's solid legs. She tried to turn her head away and shut her eyes, but Derek grabbed her chin and moved her head to look up at him.
She still had her eyes tightly closed, "Casey, Just look at me."
Casey tried to shake her head no in Derek's grip. She felt him lean down, closer to her face through gritted teeth he commanded, "Look at me."
"No," Casey breathed.
He moved closer and with persistence and confidence she felt his breath, "Casey, just open your eyes."
With annoyed reluctance she opened her eyes, and he loosened his grip on her chin. They were too close, the fog in between the two could not be distinguished as one or the others. Derek looked angry into her eyes determined to make her see his beauty, and Casey stared. Derek dulled his anger and was captured by Casey's gaze. Her eyes were glassy, deep and a little tender from crying earlier. His eyes weren't mysterious or malicious like before, but open, softer. As Casey tried to get a deeper look at his face, Derek impulsively moved to her lips. The kiss was hard at first, but quickly it disintegrated. He backed off in a soft touch. Neither was certain of this encounter, so Casey moved her head back a little away from Derek. He followed her craving her lips. He wanted more, and she did too. She deepened the kiss by freeing her hands from under Derek's legs and putting them around his neck. Derek was hunched over and put his hands around Casey's face, rubbing her cheek with his cold but soft fingers. She was the one to first open her mouth, and his breath left him as he moved his tongue into her mouth.
Suddenly he pulled off her and sat upright. Her eyes were closed, but she promptly opened them. He wasn't looking at her, but he was listening. Her senses sharpened as his were, and she heard it. There was a rustling coming from the wood.
"Edwin?" Derek looked at Casey and whispered.
"Lizzie?" Casey whispered back to Derek.
Derek quickly got off Casey on his stomach looked around. He stayed low to the ground and looked back into the woods. More rustling was heard, and Casey also moved on her stomach and clung to Derek's arm. Derek and Casey searched looking for the source of the rustling. Both Casey and Derek were startled by this loud honking noise and from the forest a fawn crept out. Apprehensively, Derek sighed, "It's just a deer." Two more fawns appeared out of the forest.
"Wait…" Casey looked at the fawn. "Whenever there are babies. There is a family."
"No, we'll be alright, Case. Come on," Derek started to get up, when Casey pulled him back down.
"Derek… look," Casey pointed quietly. Deer started coming out of the forest. Four, Five deer came out of the forest and saw the movement Derek had made. They started honking and making grunting noises. Derek put his arm over Casey and pulled her close. The deer were big but all of them were doe. The mothers came after the fawn making a ruckus, and Casey hid her head in Derek's jacket.
"We'll just wait for them to pass; you alright Casey?" Derek said in the smallest voice he could. He looked at Casey with sincere eyes, and smiled.
She unburied her face from his jacket and looked up at him. A smile crept onto her face. Not just smile though. She started to let her smile consume her, "They're just deer."
Derek felt her quiver with laughter in his arms. She was laughing uncontrollably but softly. "Shh," Derek caught her eye and also started to laugh. His body shook with laughter, and then they both couldn't contain it. They gasped out laughter, and Derek bellowed a loud 'hahaha.' Casey's voice went high with her chuckles. The deer scattered with Casey and Derek's loud laughter and scurried away into another part of the woods. They continued to laugh as Derek held Casey. She looked him in the eye as her laughs subsided, and she wanted to smile. Derek let out his last laughs as he held her gaze. She tried hard not smile. Derek saw the confusion in her face and realized they were still close. He tried not to lean forward. He tried not to kiss her contorted face, but he let his lips fall onto her. She smiled kissing him back. They rolled over so Derek was laying on the ground, and Casey was leaning forward and straddling Derek. One of his hands was squeezing her thigh and the other one gripped her hip.
Unfortunately, the thick jackets made kissing difficult. Casey was leaning over and Derek's jacket and her jacket kept jutting out so her hands tried to keep pushing them down and out of the way. Her jacket pushed her back, worst of all, the jacket dilemma made her think.
"Uhm," Casey sat up on top of Derek. Derek was a little startled that she stopped kissing him, so Derek sat up with her in his lap. He leaned in to kiss her again. She accepted the kiss, but this time recoiled sooner.
"Derek…" Casey sighed, "Derek? Derek." Tears started to well in her eyes again. She leaped out of Derek's lap, and did not look back at him while she ran back into the woods. He sat there for a while contemplating Casey. He looked to the stars with a sigh. Derek stood up and picked up her blanket and the beer cans. He felt that the blanket was dry and shook his head with a laugh. He slung it over his shoulder and continued to process why they had kissed as he walked slowly back to the house.