Author's Note: Well, well, well… we meet again. Over a year later, no less! My sincerest apologies in not updating this story sooner. In all honesty, I lost my spark for it. Writing hasn't inspired me for the longest and every time I sit down and open up a Word document, I find myself unwilling to finish a single chapter. But that's not what you want to hear, is it?

So, *insert terrible excuse here (something about my hands being mauled by lions or bears or something)* and without further adieu, the next chapter…

Because They Said So – Chapter 17

"Can I ask you a question?"

Derek glanced in the direction of his doorway for a mere second before his eyes rejoined with the computer screen. "Why bother answering that when we both know you're going to ask anyway?"

Casey walked further into the room, taking his sardonic reply as an invitation. "Why haven't you asked me out yet…?" When Derek made no sign of comprehension, she added, "… on a date."

He looked up at her for a beat or two, before exiting whatever tabs were open on his desktop and pushing back in his rolling chair. "I don't follow…"

"It's just…," Casey tried to collect herself, tucking a few strands of hair behind her ear and hating herself for deciding to bring this up. "You've never taken me on a – a date. You know, a candlelit dinner or a drive-in movie?" She attempted to smile, but it came off as making her seem more vulnerable than before.

"I understand that," Derek said slowly. "But why – what makes you…?" He tried to find the words, but instead rendered himself more and more confused. "Do you want me to take you on a date?"

"Well, I think if you can slather those overused lips all over mine one day and completely invade my personal space with your purposely rhetorical and uncomfortable questions, then you can surely take me out on a date, don't you?"

He narrowed his eyes, "Are you implying that you're opposed to my kissing, McDonald?"

"I'm implying," she corrected, walking over to him and planting herself on the edge of the desk in front of him. "That you should at least earn the right to these lips." She shrugged in a matter-of-factly fashion.

"Earn the right?" He asked incredulously, shooting up from his chair, sending it rolling back and colliding with the wall. He feigned innocence, resting his hand on her shoulder. "I think you're forgetting the fact that we're already 'dating', Princess."

Casey rolled her eyes and swatted his hand away. "If you don't want to take me out, God forbid because of your insecurities or doubtfulness that you can't measure up to the 'ladies man' title you've been dubbed, then just say it."

"Ha!" Derek cried, tossing his head back. "If you want me to take you out and show you the amazing time you know you'll have, God forbid because the curiosity of my mysterious, yet full proof, romantic and charming side is tearing your insides apart, then you just say it!"

"Please," she scoffed, "I don't need you to prove anything to me. We both know that that side does not exist and is merely all in that little head of yours." She tapped his forehead lightly.

"Are you testing me, McDonald? Because this is some dangerous territory you're stepping into… you don't want to start another bet in addition to the one you haven't yet won, do you?"

"No one's starting a bet," she replied, standing up straight, her body slightly turned to leave. "I just thought it might be a nice gesture of gentlemanliness."

Then, completely out of the blue, Casey stood on her tiptoes and planted a short and sweet peck on his unsuspecting lips. As she turned and made her way to the door, Derek found himself in a temporary state of confusion and annoyance with her unpredictable, multi-personality confrontations. (And he may or may not have enjoyed the fact of her initiating the kiss, not that he'd ever admit it.) Both feelings were short-lived, however, when she paused in act of shutting his door and turned to face him.

"But, you know," she said, a smirk playing across her lips. "If you find that too difficult of a challenge to face, I'm sure Cam Fisher wouldn't mind taking that off your hands."

Before he could reply, or even begin to wonder when or how the idea that using threats so easily (against him, no less!) as a tactic for getting her way ever occurred to her as a good idea (even though it was kind of working… damn it), she clicked the door shut behind her.

Derek decided that she was spending way too much time around him for her own good.

(Or his.)

"Good morning!" Casey chirped upon entering the kitchen.

Derek looked up from his cereal bowl and nodded once, "Why're you in such a good mood, Miss Mary Sunshine?"

She rolled her eyes, "Can't a girl enjoy the weekend after mid-terms? Sheesh." Grabbing an apple and taking a generous bite, she plopped down on the stool across from him contentedly. She surveyed the room then, just now noticing the emptiness. "Where is everyone?"

Derek nodded at the back door, "Outside. What started out as hockey lessons for Lizzie turned quickly into a water war."

"No kidding…"

"Yup. I could've sworn they'd busted out the water guns before I made my cunning escape."

"More power to 'em," Casey replied indifferently, taking another bite. "So, what're you up to today?"

He shrugged, slurping the excess milk from his spoon. "Dunno. I might head over to Sam's place for a few. He just picked up the new NHL 12 for the Xbox and he was bragging his face off last night over the phone, so I figured I'd stop by and give him something to–"

"Okay, let me rephrase," Casey said, cutting him off. "What are your plans for tonight?"

Derek eyed her carefully, "Is this a trick question…?"

"Have you reconsidered what we talked about last night?" She asked suggestively.

"I don't remember giving you definite answer to reconsider, Case," he challenged.

"So, you'll take me out?" Casey practically squealed.

"No."

He'll be damned if he gave into one of her threats, one he highly doubted she would even carry out. She was big talk. And if she thought she could pull one over Derek Venturi, well… she had another thing coming.

"Derek!" She cried, getting up from her seat. She pouted and crossed her arms.

"You're not serious, are you?" He raised an eyebrow. When she didn't give in, he sighed. "I don't see why this is such a big deal. I've declared my uttermost… un-total-hate for you already. Isn't that a big enough deal as it is?"

"I can't believe you. You are completely missing the point, Derek! If you think that you're going to just breeze through this bet with arms up and legs crossed, then you are sorely mistaken!"

He groaned and tipped his head back. "Kay, I'll tell you what… next weekend, when the family's out for Lizzie's game, I'll give you your little date, okay?"

Casey narrowed her eyes, unsure of his intentions. "Really…?"

"Really, really."

"Where are we going?" She asked, her tone hopeful and her guard down.

"Oh, not far," he said, getting up and putting his cereal bowl in the sink, not bothering to rinse it out. "Let's say about five steps from your room and down the stairs."

Her face fell, "Huh?"

"There's an Oilers game on Saturday. We can have a night in; order a large, meat-lover's pizza… you, me and hockey. I guess it's not typically one's definition of a 'candlelit dinner', but we can turn off the lights and the glow from the TV should suffice, right?"

If Derek didn't know any better, he could've sworn he saw puffs of smoke emanating from Casey's red ears.

"You. Are. Such. An. Ingrate!" She spat every word and dramatically turned on her heel, launched her half-eaten apple into the trash bin so hard it toppled from side to side, and stormed up the steps.

Derek rolled his eyes and made his way to the backyard. He figured getting doused with water had to be better than facing the wrath of Casey.

They didn't talk much for the rest of the weekend. The few, short encounters usually consisted of Derek trying to make conversation, Casey replying in one word or less and him giving up, retreating to his room. Casey liked it better that way. And she kind of didn't. But she tried to convince herself she did! And she convinced herself that for the rest of the weekend.

And she continued to try and convince herself that on Monday morning while she angrily shoved last period's textbooks back into her locker and snatched next period's out. She'd avoided Emily for the first two periods of the day, not wanting to give away the fact that she wanted to throw Derek into a boiling vat of lava and acid and razor blades. Sure, she was irritated with his stubbornness, but she wasn't about to risk the bet after they'd come this far.

Thirteen days. Less than two more weeks to go. And for the most part, there weren't many problems. Except for the fact that Derek currently did not want to publicize their "relationship" unless they were pretending for the benefit of the bet instead of just being themselves (because God knows how hard that is for him), everything was just peachy.

Casey sighed and slammed her locker shut, a little too hard, and turned to walk to her third period. She was met with a hard chest and she oomf'ed.

"Woah."

She looked up and into the green, sparkling eyes of Cam Fisher.

"Determined to make it to class on time?"

He smiled at her, and the smile reached his eyes. Those green, beautiful eyes. She smiled goofily when she noticed his toned arms were wrapped around her to keep her balanced. She giggled shyly and stepped back, and he retreated his arms to his sides.

"Sorry about that," she replied.

"No worries," Cam shrugged and looked behind him, toward the direction she was heading before the collision. "Can I walk you to class?"

"It's just around the corner," Casey said.

He shrugged again and smirked, "We'll walk slow."

Casey wasn't about to complain about the fact that Cameron Fisher wanted to walk her to class. She nodded and they started walking, with her determined to make the ten-minute passing period last.

"So," he said slowly, shoving his hands in his pockets. "How was your weekend?"

"Relaxing," she lied. "The weekend after mid-terms always is. Even if Derek was being a grade-A jackass," she muttered the last part, but she was sure Cam heard anyway.

"Ah." He said, nodding once. "How is that? The whole dating your brother who lives under the same roof as you? You guys must have a really… comfortable family…"

"Step-brother," she corrected automatically. "And we're not really dating."

Casey spoke the words so easily before she was suddenly hit with the realization of them.

We're not really dating.

So… what were they, exactly?

"No?" Cam asked, a hint of hopefulness in his voice.

"N-no," she replied after a beat. "No. It's just this stupid bet."

"Right." He said simply. "So, I was wondering…"

Casey breathed a discreet sigh of relief when he changed the topic. She knew that if that conversation went further, she would just be led to her typical, over-think and over-analyze everything Casey McDonald. And to be honest, her brain couldn't really handle that right now.

"I know I asked already," he said slowly, and Casey remembered that he had been talking. "But I figured if I asked a second time, maybe it'd be harder for you to turn me down."

He chuckled and she found his innocent demeanor charming.

"But I wanted to know if you were free this weekend."

Derek made his way to class in hurried strides. His last period left him staying after class trying to convince Mr. Ross that he had actually written his English essay and he would never, ever, in his right mind consider paying (or threatening) that nerd from the debate team, Dean McKnowitz, to write it for him.

(Damn that tattle-tale, McKnowitz. Now Derek had to go out of his own way to demand a refund.)

He was at war with himself, however, on whether he actually should fast-walk to class or risk a tardy, knowing that his classroom was right next to Casey's and the chances of them running into each other (with his luck at the moment) were on a higher level that normal. With the way she stormed out of the front door that morning, it was clear she hadn't yet forgiven him and he wasn't quite sure he wanted to risk an encounter, especially in public. She could rip him a new one, regardless of an audience.

His battle came to a screeching halt, however, when he turned a corner and saw Casey conversing with Fisher outside of her class. He couldn't hear them completely, but the way that she wasn't in a hurry to end the conversation made his blood boil something fierce. He asked her a question and she hesitated for a few moments, then nodded.

There's no way she could have carried out her threat from last week… no freaking way! She couldn't be that devious… or so Derek thought up until a few seconds ago.

Suddenly, he stormed over to the two, not having time to think about his next move; just knowing he had to do something.

Casey, who was facing his direction, saw him first. Her eyebrows knitted together in confusion, and she started to say, "Der—" when he finally approached them.

"Oh, hey Derek," Cam said, a bit taken aback. "I was just walking your sister to—"

"Hey, no worries, man," Derek interrupted, taking Casey by the arm, not bothering to look Cam in the eyes. "I've got it from here. Take care, buddy."

"Oh… alright," he started to say before Derek marched away, Casey in tow. "I'll call you about this weekend, Case!" He called after them.

"Derek!" Casey exclaimed, struggling out of his grasp. "What is your deal?"

He unknowingly marched them right into her classroom, where the kids were standing around desks in groups, waiting for the class to start. Once they were standing face to face, he let go and shoved his hands in his jacket pockets.

"You have some serious issues with yourself and you should seriously consider making up your mind about—"

"I'll take you on a damn date, okay?" He whisper-shouted to avoid causing a scene.

She shut up, but looked him dead in the eye. "I don't believe you."

"Well, you better start," he said. "We'll do something out of the house and I'll – I'll take you somewhere and wear man perfume and stuff, okay?"

Casey didn't respond, but she softened her eyes. He could always tell that she trusted him when she did that. It was his secret way of reading her, something he was sure only he could do.

He started walking backward slowly out the door, "Just… call Fisher and tell him you can't make it this time around."

The corners of her mouth turned up as he gave her one last fleeting look, then turned around and walked out, drumming his palm on the doorway on the way. At least now she knew just how to get Derek Venturi to succumb to her for once.

Casey sat in front of her vanity, chin in her hands.

She didn't have on much makeup and her hair wasn't crazy extravagant. She figured Derek didn't care about that stuff. Not when it came to her, anyway. She thought that her naturally wavy curls, just a smidge of eye shadow, and a clean, cotton dress would be adequate.

But now, sitting in front of her vanity, forcing herself not to apply an extra coat of mascara or rifle through her closet for a fancier dress, she wasn't sure why she being so unsure of herself. It was just Derek, right? Why should she have to put on some façade when he lived right down the hall? When he knew how she looked in the morning or after a shower or when she was sick out of her mind and temporarily "forgot" how to use eye-liner. He's seen her raw, uncut, more of her than any other guy she knew. So why was she making such a big deal out of nothing?

Casey sighed, and pushed herself upright. She took one last good look at herself in the mirror. She decided on one last layer of lip-gloss. As she reapplied and closed the tube, sticking it back in the drawer, she realized how much she looked like herself.

More of herself than when she was at school. More of herself than she'd ever been. And it was for him; that realization hit her hardest of all.

When she finally satisfied with herself, she grabbed her purse off the bed and walked out of the room, down the stairs.

She wasn't sure where they were going. The only words they spoke about the "date" that night were the ones at the beginning of the week, when he dragged her away from Cam Fisher. They didn't bring it up any time after; she just figured he had it all under control. She trusted him.

That is, until she reached the middle of the staircase and saw him grab his leather jacket off of the coat rack and shrug it on as he made his way to the front door.

"Hey," she called after him, unsure of what was happening.

He looked back for a second, doing a very subtle double take, one hand on the open door. "What's up?"

"Are – are you going to go pull the car up?"

He sent her a confused look. "Uh… yeah. I mean, yeah, I'm taking the car out," he clarified. "You didn't need it tonight, right?"

Casey's heart was beating a million times a second. She pushed all negative thoughts out of her mind. This wasn't happening, was it? It couldn't be…

"No, I didn't make any plans involving the car," she said, her voice shaky. "Because I figured you made all of the plans necessary for our date tonight."

Derek's eyebrows pulled together for a moment before his shoulders dropped suddenly, "Oh shit, Case…"

She shook her head wildly, "No, no, no… don't say that…"

He scratched the back of his head and blew out of his mouth. "I can't believe – I mean, you didn't say anything about… shit."

"You're kidding, right?" Casey asked. She meant for it to sound venomous, but instead it came out as weak, pathetic and hopeful. "You didn't actually forget about tonight, did you?"

"I didn't—" He started, then glanced around the room. He looked everywhere except at her. "It just slipped my… Ralph and Sam wanted to meet up at Smelly Nellie's for dinner. We've been meaning to plan a meeting about D-Rock for ages. I mean, there's this possibility of a gig we might get and we're meeting with this management chick, and we've already cancelled on her twice…"

Casey huffed, "I can't believe this. You make this unnecessary show in front of Cam and you… you make me believe that for once, you might be able to—"

"Look, Casey, Casey," Derek said, holding his hands up. "Look, it's no big deal." (She scoffs.) "The thing's only going to last, like, an hour. Just tag along and…"

"You must be joking…"

"… after we can, like… shit, I don't know, go see a movie. That new one you wanted to see. The… the one about those people who are crazy and stupid and love each other or whatever? And plus, you can order something at Smelly Nellie's while you wait, so that technically counts as dinner, right?"

She looked at him incredulously, her mouth hanging open slightly.

"C'mon, Case," he said, holding his arms up in a what-can-ya-do kind of way. "You're already dressed. Everyone's already out. Just cause I slipped up, doesn't mean we can't still go through with this… we'll just wing it."

She doesn't remember when she settled for this low… for, for "winging it". Had she always been this desperate? This sad and pathetic? Since when was "winging it" good enough for her? Since when were her standards deduced this low? She decided that it was on a Saturday night, while refusing to talk to Derek, chin in her hand propped up against the side door, focusing on everything whizzing past her on the ride to Smelly Nellie's.

She doesn't even know if she should be this upset. What else would you expect from Derek Venturi?

"Hey, who knows?" Derek said, staring at the open road, dark but lit with the glow of the street lamps. "Maybe this girl can sign you on for a gig or two. The school liked your version of 'Over'. Maybe that's what the band needed after all, a little estrogen to tone down the sausage-fest…"

She sighed, keeping her eyes on the trees and houses flying past her.

When they reached the restaurant, Derek pulled right in front and turned off the ignition. He unbuckled his seatbelt and his eyes fell on her. She wasn't making any effort to move or get out of the car, simply keeping the same position as the rest of the car ride. "You comin' or what?"

"I think I'll just wait in the car."

He got out of the car abruptly, shutting the door behind him. She sat, her face falling, almost regretting not taking the offer. She half-expected him to at least try a little harder to get her out, though, considering he was the reason for her bad mood. Her self-pity was interrupted when the solid surface beneath her propped up arm disappeared and Derek stood at her side, holding the passenger door open.

Casey, who didn't expect that to happen, clumsily toppled to her side. She regained composure and demanded, "What are you doing!"

"Get out of the car, Case." He said calmly. "I told you it won't take long and you're not going to settle for popcorn and a soda for dinner. At least if you eat here while you wait, I'll still be holding up part of my promise." He tried to smile.

She sighed, unbuckling her seatbelt. He stood aside, letting her hop out of the car, and closed the door once she started walking away. She didn't realize when they pulled up, but now she got a good look at the parking lot. "It's empty," she said, both to herself and Derek. "Looks like they aren't here yet."

"Then, we'll wait inside," he said obviously, brushing past her on the way to door of the restaurant. She followed silently, not bothering to hide her pure and utter disappointment in how the night she had waited for ended up a flop. When she caught up, he had the door pulled open and waited beside it, motioning for her to hurry up.

"It's seriously empty here, I mean, where is every—"

She stopped mid-sentence. Standing the doorway, she faced an empty room where all of the tables were situated in their normal place, with the exception of one in the middle that stood out prominently. It wasn't much different than the rest, but instead of the typical table menu, salt and pepper shakers and napkin holder, it was already set with plates and forks and single tea-light candle in the middle.

Casey looked at Derek, who had his smirk plastered across his face, gesturing with his head for her to go inside.

"What is this?" She asked, making her way over to the table with him in pursuit.

"I pulled a few strings with my boss and got him to reserve the place for me tonight." He shrugged. "He likes me," he added.

"But… where are Sam and Ralph?"

Derek rolled his eyes, "They're not coming, you dunce." When she innocently sent him a confused look, he added, slowly, "I was pretending. Get with the program, Space Case!"

As the thought slowly registered in her mind and everything started to click, a slow smile spread across her face and she swatted his shoulder. "You're an idiot!"

"An idiot who at least keeps his word," he reminded. "Now, sit."

She obliged. He didn't pull out a chair for her and she didn't expect him to, but this didn't faze her in the slightest.

"So," she said excitedly, refraining from bouncing in her seat. "What about our menus?"

"No need for one," Derek said. "You only get one option and it's spaghetti. Just because I reserved the place, doesn't mean I get to reserve all of the chefs, too. I practically had to beg Dewey in the back to stick around."

She rolled her eyes, playfully, "Of course."

He studied her for a second. "Looks like you're in a better mood," he said, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms. "I guess I did something right."

"I just can't believe you pulled this off," Casey said, unable to stop herself from smiling. "I'm impressed, that's all."

"Hey, I'm Derek 'Ladies Man' Venturi," he gloated, pointing to himself. "Why should you expect anything less?"

She laughed at his annoying pride. Even if she wanted to, she couldn't get mad at him. Not after this. "So," she said again. "What's really on the agenda for tonight?"

He shrugged, "We're winging it."

Casey nodded once, then reached for the cheap, tea-light candle in between them and held it up, her fingers around the aluminum sides. She raised an eyebrow and he shrugged again. "They only had raspberry candles and I know that raspberry makes you queasy. So, we're settling for the generic vanilla." She smiled and set it back down.

They were silent for a few moments. The only noise was the sound of Dewey in the kitchen, clanking pots and silverware around in the task of making their pasta special. Casey sighed with satisfaction, looking around the vacant room.

"When I was eight," Derek said suddenly, but calmly, breaking the silence. Casey looked at him, waiting. "When I was eight," he said again, "Edwin and I were at the park, just horsing around."

Casey listened, wondering what the point of this was. She waited for the punch line.

"He wanted to go on the swings, so I said I would push him since he wasn't old enough or big enough to push me." He coughed. "Then, uh, I was just pushing him. He got too high and he got scared. He told me stop but I thought it was just hilarious, so I kept pushing him harder and harder, waiting for him to just start laughing or something. Well, he didn't. He got really scared and let go of the chains to cover his face, and when I pushed him again, he fell backwards and hit the ground… hard."

Casey gasped, her eyebrows furrowing.

"I mean, he was fine… he was just bawling his eyes out and he had a bump on his head for a few days. But the thing is, he could've had a concussion. He could've been messed up, because of me. And the weird thing was that it scarred me more than it scarred him. Because after a few weeks, he was ready to go back on the swings like nothing happened. But I can't go near swings anymore." He laughed, but it sounded like he wanted to lighten the conversation rather than reflect on an embarrassing fear about himself. "And I'll never push Marti on a swing-set when we go to the park. I just don't want that to happen again… I don't trust myself."

He pursed his lips and nodded once, drumming his fingers on the table. "Annnd, if you ever tell anyone that, I'll tell everyone about your secret crush on Jack Black."

Casey tilted her head to one side and asked, genuinely, "Why did you tell me that?"

Derek exhaled, a long, drawn out breath.

"Guess I'm just trying to earn my rights."

And as a sweaty, greasy Dewey served them their spaghetti while they maintained eye contact, Casey realized that it was the perfect answer.

A/N: So, this chapter may have the longest I've ever written. I was actually planning on splitting it in two parts because 1) I didn't know if I'd be inspired enough to finish it and 2) I know that I've kept you guys waiting a year, so you guys deserve the whole day I spent on trying to perfect this chapter. I hope it was worth the wait!