Here she is. Okay, this chapter is filler-ish. I'm kind of unsure about it, but I'm drawing a blank, and I needed a filler betwen certain spots of the story. It's pretty fluffy. Hope you enjoy. Please review! I'm starting to be unsure if people are even liking this story...it'll get somewhere, i promise!

Chapter seven should be up before next week, i think.

Enjoy!

Just after her test on Tuesday, Casey walked down the steps from her second floor math class as carefully as she could. She hadn't been this shaky after a test in a while. The feeling was very unsettling. She wouldn't know the grade until Thursday. How on earth was she supposed to relax until then?!

When she reached the bottom step, she moved against the wall and quickly opened her notes, because she just had to be sure that that damn bonus question was the exact one from her homework. She smiled to herself, letting out a little squeal that just had to escape. She was going to be okay, she hoped. She still had that nagging feeling that she didn't do well, but if she got the bonus question right, there had to be hope!

"You totally seem sane smiling by yourself, you know?" Derek's sarcastic voice whispered in her ear. She jumped, dropping a few books in the process.

"De-rek! You can't sneak up on people like that!" she exclaimed, about to bend down to pick up her belongings. He held up a hand, and she paused. He had bent down and gathered her things, not handing them to her.

"Thanks…" she mumbled, unsure what to do now.

"Let me take you to lunch. I have an hour before I have to go to work." He said, leading her out of the crowded hallway.

"Sure." She smiled enthusiastically. Even though they lived together, she felt like there would be days when she wouldn't see enough of him. So she will take as many opportunities as she could.

"I heard you mention you wanted to check out that diner next to the coffee shop. Wanna go there?" he put the keys in the ignition of the Prince, and eyed her.

"Yeah, that sounds nice." She smiled softly at him. They were both done with classes for the day, being that most of their classes were on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Well, Fridays for Casey. Derek only had one early morning class on Fridays so he would have the rest of the day off easily.

It was a really short drive. There were a lot of small diners and shops around the campus so students in the dorms and apartments could visit for their essential needs or just a place for them to hangout.

The Diner was called Freddie's. Casey liked it because it looked a lot like a diner you would see in a movie or something. It sat on the corner of the street with windows on each side of the building that was against the street. It was two shades of green on the outside, and so beautifully decorated vintage colors on the inside. The floor was a black and white checker board print, and the walls were a pale blue that were covered in old unframed photographs of previous students, most of them couples, and a lot of them groups of friends.

Casey smiled when they walked in, and even Derek had a look of appreciation upon his face. It was the coolest diner he'd ever been to. He tried his best to ignore that recurring feeling in his gut when he saw the stars in Casey's eyes.

"This place seems pretty cool." He shrugged, trying to play it cool. She only nodded, and walked where he led her with his hand respectively on her lower back.

A waitress came by dressed a 50s styled get-up, and happily took their orders of a burger fries and shake for Derek, and a turkey sandwich and chips for Casey.

"She looked straight out of Grease!" Casey gushed. Derek grinned, and shook his head.

"Did you take your pills today, Case?" he cocked an eyebrow up at her. She only stuck her tongue out at him, and continued looking around.

"This place is just…wow…" she smiled. "I mean the authenticity of it!"

"I get it, Princess." He had to stop her, because that look in her eyes did weird things to his stomach and heart.

"Sorry!" she pouted, and took her straw out of the paper because the waitress had brought them their beverages.

"So how'd the test go?" judging by the whole laughing by herself thing, she probably did well. He can only hope.

"Uh…I think I passed. I mean I guess it could go either way." She shrugged.

"Is that a shrug?! From Casey McDonald?!" he exclaimed at her teasingly. She rolled her eyes.

"Shut up! I'm trying to be cool about this. I don't want to ruin being at this amazing diner by being a pessimist!"

"Okay, fair enough!" he put his hands up. "I have a game next Friday, I don't know if you wanted to—"

"Of course I'll go, Derek." She interrupted him, genuinely happy he wanted her to go.

"Now I know this will be your first game, so I need to warn you that it'll be pretty cold at the rink, and—"

"Der, this isn't my first hockey game." She looked away from him, suddenly unable to meet his eyes.

"Huh? Yeah it is…you never even went for Sam when you guys were dating…" he was genuinely confused, because in high school, he'd made it a point to not let Casey go to his games.

"Oh, shut up, Der. You had to have known I went anyways?" she grinned at him.

"Really?"

"Duh! Well when they didn't collide with my recital schedule, I went. I would have Emily take me and we would leave right when the game was over so that you wouldn't have to know I was there at all." She shrugged. It was her turn to try and act nonchalant about the conversation, but that was really hard considering she'd been hiding this from him since they first met.

Derek only looked at her with a shocked expression. "You went to all of my games? Even the away ones?"

"Well, yeah, Der…I didn't completely hate you in high school." She shrugged. Did he seriously not believe that she cared for him at all then?

"Have you been to any of my games here?" he had to ask.

"Yeah…Molly takes me…sometimes I go by myself. I usually sit near the door so you won't see me." She shrugged again as if it was nothing. "I would leave right away, though. I didn't want to risk you getting mad at me for going." She grinned.

"You're amazing, Casey…" it was a genuine compliment, and he was in awe with her at that moment.

They continued small talk for a while. Obviously there was the flirtatious teasing of one another. Derek really hoped that these feelings he was having for her were some that he could easily shake off. He'd only been dating her for a few days now, how was this happening? It was getting harder for him to not think about her. This was really bad.

He felt a small warm hand cover his. "Der?" he looked at her face and she was smiling that teasing smile at him, and he had the slightest urge to kiss it off her face. Stop, Derek! Get ahold of yourself!

"Yeah? Sorry, I zoned out for a while there. A lot on my mind and all." He shrugged, and dunked a fry in ketchup.

"I was just saying that I'm thinking of joining the Queen's dance team…" she looked away, a little embarrassed.

"That should be good for you. You haven't been dancing much lately." He shrugged.

"I know, I need to stay in practice just in case an opportunity comes, you know?" she smiled. Derek froze a little. What kind of opportunity was she looking for? Was she thinking of going to New York? He was pretty sure that opportunity had passed.

"What kind of opportunity?" he asked nervously.

"You know…" she took a drink of her iced tea, "like a school play or something? I'm thinking of joining drama as well."

"Casey, don't you think this is a lot to take on?" he cocked an eyebrow up at her. She just tilted her head to the side as if to say; don't you know who you're talking to?

"I think I can handle it…" she said uneasily.

"I know you just want to keep busy, but honestly, Case, just pick one." He sighed, leaning back in the booth.

"I think I can handle—"

"No, you can't. You have five classes, Case. Don't forget your insane study regiment. You're also in yoga. And now you have an amazing boyfriend you have to tend to sometimes, too." He shrugged at that last part, smirking at her.

"Oh, he's the least of my worries." She rolled her eyes, unable to hide the grin she was biting back.

He put a hand to his chest, and made a pained face, "I'm wounded! I thought I actually meant something to you!" his faux hurt made her giggle.

"Alright, maybe I'll just do dance. Something to keep me busy while you're at work or something." She shrugged.

"That sounds better. Just don't take on too much, Case. We can't have you freaking out because your schedules collide."

"True!" she looked down at her phone, and her eyebrows shot up. "Der, you're gonna be late for work!" he looked at his watch and realized he had to be there in fifteen minutes. He stood up, and pulled out his wallet, putting a few bills on the table, and heading to the register.

"Let me pitch in, Der." She mumbled, reaching in her purse for her wallet. He grabbed her hand and shoved the wallet back in her purse. He had a scowl on his face.

"Case, for future reference, I pay. Always." He turned and paid the money, grabbing her hand as they walked out of the diner. He opened her door for her and walked to his side, starting the car. She was a little shocked by what just happened, but couldn't help but smile.

"Wipe that goofy grin off your face, Spacey…" he grinned, on the short drive back to the apartment to drop her off. She only bit her lip, and looked away to hide her blush.

"Sorry, I just didn't expect you to be so gentlemanly."

"Yeah, well…try not to insult me by trying to pay. That's my job, sweet stuff."

"Noted." She giggled.

He pulled up to the parking lot, not parking and waited for her to get out. He looked at her, and she was unbuckling her seatbelt, gathering her bags. She looked up at him, and smiled. He looked very expectant.

Casey leaned over, and pressed a gentle kiss to his lips. She smiled when she opened her eyes slowly and saw that he was looking at her through half lidded eyes. She leaned in to kiss him again, and his hand found her face to keep her there a little longer. Her own hand reached behind his head and lightly scratched his scalp under his hair, which was a lot softer than she expected it to be. She pulled away with a pop of their lips and smiled.

"See you when you get home." With one more kiss for luck, she was gone.

Derek groaned, and drove to work. He wished she wasn't such a good kisser.

At the carnival the next night, Casey had that damn starry eyed look again. There were so many lights, it was impossible to look at just one attraction at once. She was like a child in a candy store.

"Oh, Der, let's go on the Ferris wheel!" she held onto his arm, and looked pleadingly up into his eyes. He bent down and brushed his lips to hers.

"Later, yeah? I wanna win you one of those oversized stuffed toys." He was grinning at a particular booth. She beamed up at him, and bounced with him as he pulled her by the hand over to the booth.

…

About fifteen minutes later, even Casey was over the whole winning her stuffed prize. Obviously the carny had rigged the hoop. Even she could see that it was off shape so you'd have to be the luckiest son of a gun to land it in. He was getting frustrated, trying his best to get the basketball through that damn hoop.

Casey rolled her eyes, and spotted two familiar faces. She grinned.

"Whitney! Molly!" she called them over. She knew they'd be there. She'd told them she was coming earlier that day and they were happy to inform her that they were also attending as well.

"Hey girl!" Molly exclaimed, giving her a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek. Whitney did the same.

"I'm glad I saw you two. I think we'll be at this booth all night." Casey rolled her eyes.

"Hey! I resent that!" Derek cried from beside her. She grinned.

"So this must be Derek, huh?" Molly grinned mischievously. He looked at her and smiled, reaching out his hand to both girls.

"Boy have I heard a lot about you." Whitney grinned.

"All bad, I bet." Derek smirked, and shot again and missed.

"Give it up, Der…I want a funnel cake." Casey groaned.

"A few more, Princess! I think I've finally got the hang of it!" he put five more dollars for ten more shots on the table. She rolled her eyes as he missed the shot again.

"That's cute! He calls you Princess!" Molly bounced. Casey only shook her head with a smile.

"Believe me, it's not a term of endearment."

"Yeah, it's more like an insult. You know…because she so stuck up and snotty…like a princess!" He smacked her bottom, and shot again. She turned and smacked his arm playfully.

"You guys act like you've known each other for years…" Whitney mused.

"We have." They said at the same time. Casey turned and smiled at him, and turned back to the girls. "Our parents have known each other for a long time. That's why we live together. I was pretty sure I told you guys..." she looked confused. She was sure she'd mentioned it a few times.

"Yeah I know you guys live together, but I guess I forgot…" Molly shook her head. Whitney just shrugged. Even she knew Molly skipped out on some information because her brain moved too fast.

"We'll leave you to enjoy your date, Casey." Whitney smiled at them, leading the red head away with her. "It was nice meeting you, Derek!" He waved at them, and turned back to the game.

Casey was very impressed with him. Not impressed with his shots at this stupid booth. She was impressed because Molly and Whitney are two very attractive girls. He didn't even take a second glance at them. She couldn't help but smile. She seriously figured he'd at least check them out. He'd done it to all his girlfriends in high school. He'd be loyal and all, but wouldn't keep from looking at other girls. I'm a guy! If it's there, I'm going to look! He would always say in his own defense.

Maybe she was changing him?

An hour later, they were on the Ferris wheel. She smiled, and hugged him close. She wondered if he knew that he was so comfortable to be around. He was so mellow all the time, and it relaxed her. He relaxed her. It was sort of dangerous being this attached to him after just a week. She felt like it was so much longer because they'd known each other for years. But they were never friendly to each other until a few weeks ago.

She looked up at him, and pressed a kiss to his cheek. He had been looking over at how small the town looked from up there. He liked being up high like this. When he'd felt her soft lips against him, he looked down at her. Now it was her looking at him through half lidded eyes.

He bent down and pushed his lips to hers. She brought a hand up to clutch his blue plaid shirt, pulling him the slightest bit closer to her. His arm that was around her shoulders slid lower, and pulled her closer so that her chest rested against his.

Derek pulled away first, and she leaned back up for one more kiss. If she was going to make a habit of going for that extra kiss after they stopped, he would have to learn how to control himself better.

Casey just sighed, and rested her head on his shoulder. He pulled her closer, and enjoyed the view as it slowly escaped them. The Ferris wheel was moving again, and they were soon off of it.

It was the perfect night. They laughed, teased, flirted, played games, got on rides, occasionally stole a kiss from one another, and to top it off, Derek got to win her an oversized stuffed toy.

She lay on her bed that night after her shower with a huge grin on her face as she used her new "Princess" pillow that took up the whole area that her pillows took up on her bed. It only cost him more than the damn pillow was worth, but to her it was now priceless.

Dating Derek was one of the best things that have happened since she got to university, she had to admit.