DISCLAIMER: IF LWD were actually mine, Casey and Derek would still be wreaking havoc upon each other and then making up. Alas...
A/N: Much thanks to sheyesplease for the second pair of eyes and stamp of approval. Apologies if it seems a bit OOC. I'm making it up as I go.
In another Universe it might go like this:
Despite the teasing and the not-so-empty threats, Casey and Derek really do end up staying out of each other's business as much as possible at Queen's (pranks and anything family-related don't count). It's a plan that's actually works for them, mostly because college is a lot harder and more involved than high school. It's also been made abundantly clear to Derek that maintaining good marks as well as his skills on the ice are the only way to keep his scholarship, so he doesn't have time to mess with Casey too much.
So it isn't until the middle of sophomore fall semester at Queen's that Casey notices something strange about the way she's beginning to get looked at on campus.
She has a feeling this has to do with Derek, which is crazy because she barely sees him since he's always at the rink, his fraternity, or messing around with his video editing (he's actually interested in his media class). She hasn't really talked to him since the last home game a week ago, but she thought they'd been on good terms, recently. (Time and lack of a confined shared living space has done them good and Derek's been less of a jerk now that they don't vie for the same bathroom for most of the year.)
Still, as much as she hates to admit it, Casey knows if it's something at Queen's that isn't coursework, and it has to do with her, it's because of Derek. Even with her own extra-curriculars and the willful distance they've established between them, Casey's still socially known mostly in association through her step-brother.
Few know their relation. Sam does, because he's made it into Queen's too and he's been with them since high school, and Casey's RA knows, only because Casey herself had to explain why she was dragging in a very drunk Derek way past visiting hours. Casey thinks that Derek's hockey Coach knows, too, because Derek called her after his first practice and breezily explained that he was putting her down as his emergency contact on his medical, since she's closest and she knew all his medical information anyways. (Privately, she thought that was actually a very mature and intelligent move on his part-very practical-but the tone of his voice made her grit her teeth, when he made it sound like she was just supposed to go along with it. Asking, she had pointed out, would have been the polite thing to do. Derek had merely laughed and said "When have I ever done polite, Spacey?" before hanging up.)
When she finally gets sick of the appraising looks and sideways glances, Casey figures it's time to find out what's up. Derek has become impossible to track down, so she turns to Plan B. Except Sam's been avoiding her too, and that is so not like him. And she knows he's avoiding her, because he hasn't responded to the three voicemails she left him and won't look at her in their English Writing class.
She ultimately catches him walking alone from one of his other classes back to his dorm and demands an explanation.
He squirms under her harsh look, but, there are perks to have dated her step-brother's best friend and being able to bend to her will is definitely one of the them, so all she has to do is wait him out until eventually he caves "So, the guys after practice are talking, yanno? Locker room talk," he begins, looking incredibly uncomfortable.
Unsure what this has to do with the looks she's been getting, slowly Casey nods, she's familiar with the situation her ex-boyfriend is presenting at least, and spent twenty minutes chewing Derek out when she found out he engaged in that disgusting Neanderthal behaviour.
"And Cory starts going on about how he's..." Sam blushes and fidgets. "He gets kinda X-rated talking about...you."
Stunned at this revelation, she pauses, trying to process this information. "Cory Long?" she asks, just to be sure, referring to the one of the goalies on the team. At Sam's careful nod, her confusion grows. "But I barely know him! I think I've said 'hi' to him, like twice." He seemed nice enough, if a little full of himself. She kind of got the impression that he even got on Derek's nerves, but she just figured it was because he was an upperclassman, and as much as Derek lauded himself, he hated braggarts in others.
Sam shrugs. "Well...anyways...he was saying...stuff and Derek got really quiet and told him to knock it off...and Cory didn't, just to piss D off, I think. And uhh...D kindalaidintohim."
"What was that?" she asks, not sure she's hearing right.
The blond boy shies back, clearly not wanting to repeat himself.
"'Laid into him', like verbal flaying?" Casey presses, knowing the answer already with a sinking stomach.
He shifts uneasily. "Less 'verbal'," he admits.
"Where is he?" she growls.
Casey can't help the gasp that escapes her when Derek finally opens his door.
His face is a mess of various colours and he carries himself carefully, as though in lingering pain. "What?" he greets dully when he finally speaks.
"Oh my God, Derek," she breathes, moving closer, one hand covering her mouth, the other reaching for his face.
He instinctively moves back. Of course. They don't touch except when he's slinging an arm around her shoulders to annoy her, or pulling her hair as they pass each other or any of the other hundreds of times they poke one another to get attention or push each other away...but serious touching? It's not something they do. So Casey lets her hand drop as she examines his face closely.
"Are you crazy!?" she cries.
Derek rolls his eyes and turns away to lay back down on his bed, picking up an icepack and resettling it back against the shiner around his right eye.
"Derek, you could have gotten seriously hurt! And what if the coach kicked you off the team? You'd lose your scholarship."
"Thanks for the concern," he drawls sarcastically. "I'm fine, really."
She scoffs and crosses her arms. "Of course you are, you're still being ornery."
Her step-brother levels her with a glare. "Why are you here?"
Gingerly she sits down on the edge of his bed. "Sam told me what happened. Why'd you do it?"
"I'm not gonna let people go around talking about you like that."
"Derek, you could've gotten kicked off the team!"
Derek falls suspiciously silent at that and suddenly finds the floor far more interesting. Casey narrows her eyes and moves closer. "Derek...?" she prods.
"I'm benched for the next game," he admits quietly.
She sucks in a startled breath at the admission, half ready to chastise him some more, but Derek beats her to the punch, cutting her short when his gaze abruptly snap back to her. "You didn't hear what he was saying, Case," he defends harshly. His brown eyes burn with anger. "He was going on like you were some kinda masochistic whore."
Her breath catches at that.
"I'll let you ruin your own rep with Klutzilla," he continues. "But you can't expect me to just sit back and do nothing while someone's going around with malicious slander like that."
Casey very wisely does not mention his vocabulary in the little speech of his. They aren't in high school where Derek can hide his intelligence anymore and besides, that's really not the point. The fact that he admits to standing up for her is. On paper, this could very well be her perfect feel-good-family-moment, but there is way too much charge in the air at Derek's statement for it to be familial. Especially now that she can see the damage it costed him. Derek isn't vain, as such, but there's no denying he's well aware of his looks. She'd expect him to take a hit to his face for Marti, but not for her. It's strangely flattering.
After a long moment, she sighs. "Thanks, Der."
Derek only nods and Casey quietly lets herself out.
She goes to the next practice, sitting up high in the nose-bleeds, where it's easier to be unnoticed. Of course, she brings homework to distract her, because even if it is just practice, hockey is both violent and boring to her.
She waits until Derek makes his way off the ice and to the locker rooms, still visibly angry by the way his shoulders are hunched and his lack of interest in being around the team. As soon as he disappears, she makes her move, quickly descending the steps from the seats to the box where the rest of the team is picking up their things. Cory among them, joking with some of his team mates.
Taking a deep breath, Casey calls out to him. "Hi, Cory," she greets flatly in a very carrying fashion.
Cory pauses, quickly registering her, and her obvious displeasure. "Umm, Casey...hi."
"I just thought I'd come by to see how pleased you must be with yourself...you know, for spewing what has to be some of the largest oral fiction ever and nearly getting Derek kicked off the team."
"Oral?" he repeats, glancing back at several teammates that have lingered to watch the show.
"Lies, Cory. Wishful fantasies about...ugh, me and you." She glares at him frostily. "Which, thank God, will never EVER happen, because if you knew anything about me - which obviously you DON'T since we've only ever said like a total of four words to each other - then you would know that not only do I find male posturing and slander against girls to be completely Neathanderthal-like and disgusting, but I've had it up to here with boys talking about me behind my back like I was some stupid piece of meat! You're a pig and I plan to let everyone know just what a jerk you are."
She watches with satisfaction as her words drain the colour from his face before whirling around and marching out of there.
Derek does not look happy when she opens her dorm room door to his incessant knocking. "I don't need you standing up for me," are the first words out of his mouth.
Casey doesn't even try to play it off like she doesn't know what he's talking about. Instead she just favours him with a soft look. "Then why do you get to do it for me?"
Surprisingly, he seems to deflate at that, and gives no answer, so cautiously, she continues.
"I'm not trying to get into your business, Der, I'm really not. But if you've got my back, can't I have yours?"
The stare off is once again charged as they take measure of the other, before the corner of Derek's lip quirks in a shadow of his infamous smirk.
"See ya around, Spacey," is all he says before turning and sauntering away. The only concession he'll give.
Casey closes the door after watching him go, a small smile on her face.
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