I don't own Life With Derek :(

She had her third cup of coffee in her hand as she slowly walked up the steps in front of Derek. "Skip that step." She whispered as they hit the top of the stairs. She took a deep breath and smiled when he wasn't looking, she hoped he was proud.

"I know." He whispered back, gently stepping over the 3rd step to the top.

"And don't step here," He said, slowly moving her against the wall. "I know." She whispered back to him.

They both quietly laughed as they parted into their rooms.

As she shut the door behind her, she wished that the stupid, thick wall wasn't standing between them. If she had it her way, she would run into the basement, get a giant hammer, and knock it down right now.

But, that would wake up her family, and probably freak Derek out a little. Just a little.

She leaned against her door and sighed, letting out a small smile. Sure, nothing really happened between them, but, at least they weren't fighting, and he was actually really funny, and sweet when 'his head isn't on right'.

The small alarm clock read 4:14 AM in red lights that hurt Casey's eyes. This told her that no matter what time it was, how many coffees she had, or how excited she was, she was getting some sleep tonight. Or, today.

She rested the coffee cup down, next to the clock and crawled into the same bed that she normally hated. But, right now, it seemed so love-able and so nice. Maybe it was because she knew she was going to have good dreams of him tonight, instead of the normal nightmares.

-- -- -- --

And that's how found herself, laying next to the man she was so deeply in love with for years. Sure, he was asleep, and his hair was worse than hers, but she still saw him as the most amazing person in this crazy and unfair world.

He made a small moan and smirked, yes, he even did it in his sleep. "Stop staring at me." He mumbled into his pillow. "I'm not staring at you." She teased, brushing the hair out of his eyes.

He gently reached up and grabbed her hand gently, pulling it down to his lips, and kissing her fingertips. The small smile grew bigger and bigger as she felt the warmth of his lips touching her hand. Such a simple action caused her blood to rush so fast and her heart to skip a few beats.

He had her heart in the palm of his hand, and he knew it. He could twist it and break it in any possible way he wanted to. But he chose not to.

Was it cheesy? Absolutely. Did she care? Absolutely not.

"YO, SPACE CASE, WAKE UP!"

Aaannnddd, back into the harsh reality -of living life under the same roof as the person you're pretty sure you will love until the day you die- sets back in.

She moaned and pulled the covers up over her head, for the first time in years she actually wanted to sleep, why did he have to ruin it now?

"I need you to come shopping with me." He said from the doorway.

Okay, maybe getting up wasn't to bad.

"Why?" She asked, rubbing her eyes and sitting up. Had she actually made his fall for her last night? Why else would he want her to go shopping with him, he never has before.

"Sally's birthday is in two days, and I have no clue what chicks like." He said, shoving his hands into his pockets, and letting his head fall back against the door frame.

Of course, Sally, his girlfriend. How could she forget? She was too caught up in her stupid dream to even think about stupid reality, and his stupid girlfriend. This was so stupid!

As much as she didn't want to think about Sally, at all, it was one of those rare times she gets to hang out with him. One of those times she wouldn't pass up for the world.

'Ugh' One last scuff and she was getting out of bed. She sent him an annoyed look and crossed her arms. "Okay, I'm getting dressed," She said, awaiting him to move, and take himself back down stairs.

"I'll enjoy the show." He said in his same old cocky, Derek voice.

Okay, her heart has just officially stopped. It fell out of the normal place, and landed in her stomach. She was trying so hard not to smile or blush. She was holding her lips shut tight, and even had to resort to biting them to keep them down, and as for her cheeks, she started to play with her hair, trying to hide her face.

She feared that he could see how incredibly bad her hands were shaking and her anything-but-normal breathing. "Just go down stairs." She managed to force out of her as she spun around and pretended to be making her bed. She heard him chuckle, and listened as his footsteps got farther.

She walked over to the door and slammed it shut, as soon as she let go of the door knob, the smile that was actually hurting her lips jumped onto her face. She took a deep breath and ran her fingers through her hair. Something was definitely going on. Something she was really liking.

She pulled a pink tank top over her head, and pulled the small, denim shorts around her waist as she buttoned them. She put her hair up into a loose pony tail, and decided she would go make-up free today.

She was the only girl who could actually get away with doing it. She was a natural beauty, and everybody knew it. The other girls envied her, and talked behind her back. But, she was the better person, and let them say what they wanted. She knew it was just out of pure jealousy that most girls hated her.

Of course she had Emily, her best friend through-out basically everything. She held her hand when the going got tough, and promised to be around when nobody else wanted to be. What Casey and Emily had was the best type of friendship.

It was late August, so they got a small break from the mean girls that drove her crazy in the hallways. But, there was no escaping the girls on the block. When Emily and Casey would sit on the step, they would walk by and make rude comments to their friends, loud enough for Casey to hear, but, that's what they wanted.

They knew Casey would never say anything back, and that's what pissed them off more than anything.

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

"What about this?" Derek asked, holding up a skirt that was cute, but, it looked like it was made to fit a 5 year old. "Derek, that's like, an inch long!? Sally wouldn't ware that!" Casey exclaimed, putting it back on the shelf. "I wish she would." Derek said shallowly, causing Casey to roll her eyes. "You really want other guys hitting on your girlfriend, and hollering at her as you two walk down the street?" Casey asked, folding her arms and raising an eyebrow at him.

"No." He said. Realizing that Casey was right, he pushed the skirt back some more. "How do you know all this stuff?" Derek asked, surprised as they walked to the back of the store.

"I'm a girl...?" Casey said, looking at him as if he was stupid. Which, most of the time, he was.

"Well, thanks captain obvious?" Derek said sarcastically. "I know that. But like, you're not, a hotgirl." Derek said, not meaning to sound so rude, but that's normally how he sounded anyway.

Casey rolled her eyes and stopped in her tracks to turn around and look at him. "Please, I look better than all of your ex girlfriends." Casey said, sticking up for herself, but still pointing out the obvious. Derek only saw hotness in his ex girlfriends and girlfriend. Not real beauty, which Casey had.

Derek chuckled and rolled his eyes. "Are you crazy?" He asked, hurting her more than he'll ever know.

"No, but you are. Being sexy doesn't mean that your beautiful, it means that you re a slut." Casey said as she started to walk again.

"And how you know?" He asked, pissing her off even more.