Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters in this story. I'll tell you if I add any new ones.

The constant ringing of his cell phone woke Derek from his deep sleep

The constant ringing of his cell phone woke Derek from his deep sleep. He snatched it up and flipped it open.

"This better be good." He growled into the phone.

"Is that anyway to talk to the man who signs your pay checks?"

"Jack?" Derek yawned and sat up stretching.

"Where else you gettin' paid, boy?"

"Sorry just woke up. Not thinking clearly yet. What can I do you for?"

"Well I was just looking over this letter you gave me about your leave and I just realized you didn't tell me when my best photographer would be back on the job. Hopefully not too long because I already had to pass two magazine shots off on Lance. The clients asked for you and weren't too happy with the change."

"I haven't decided yet how long my leave is. But you told me to take all the time I needed if I recall correctly."

"You know I meant get your shit together fast and get your ass back out on the job."

"This is what I'm trying to do. I wasn't the one who wanted to take a leave in the first place if I recall it was something like 'Derek the company psychologist thinks that your repressing your emotions and stressed out and that it will start to affect your job therefore I want you to take off and don't come back until your head is screwed on right. Write up the letter of leave and then take all the time you need.' I seem to recall something along those lines, Jack."

"Smart ass, why haven't I fired you yet?"

"I'm the best you got. I know it and so do you."

"Yeah, yeah. If that head of yours gets any bigger I'm auditioning you for Ripley's Believe it or Not."

Derek smiled into the phone. "I'll call you soon. Tell you when I'm headed back. That's all I can tell you right now."

"Fine, fine, leave me high and dry while you take your brain break. But I better hear from you soon or your ass is grass Venturi."

"I know Jack. Talk to you soon."

Derek flipped the phone closed and looked at the clock: 11:15 am. Despite the fact that he wanted to do nothing more sleep for another few days he got up.

He slipped on the first shirt he came across when a smell hit him. Oh yeah the milk.

It had been 3 days since the incident in the kitchen. He had successfully avoided being alone with Casey for that long.

Even in crowds he barely said more then hi. He couldn't even get in any insults not that that's what he wanted to do with her but maybe it would bring some order back to his universe.

He was suppose to be here relaxing and instead he was wound so tight he was always on edge.

Slipping out of the dirty t-shirt he pulled on another. At least today everyone was gone out. He would watch some tv and maybe do some laundry. He was quickly running out of clean clothes.

Derek grabbed the clothes that were handy and headed downstairs to any empty house. Tossing the clothes into the machine he started it and headed for the kitchen for food.

He had avoided the kitchen for the most part over the last couple of days, which was no small feet in itself. Luckily he still had some power of Edwin after all this time. When he did go in there he made sure that there were a few more people in there with him.

Basically he had officially gone insane. He grabbed the left over Chinese from the fridge and headed for the living room.

When he left he took this chair with him but it was replaced by a less comfortable recliner. It wasn't the same but it would do for the time being.

He started to sift thought the channels to find out that nothing was on tv Friday afternoons, just great.

Therefore he was forced to go to plan B, movie. He hadn't really looked through the movie collection as of late and there didn't really seem to be anything watchable in there. But Derek was convinced that there had to be something to watch in this house.

He knew his movies weren't here but at the small apartment he had in New York that he hardly ever spent more then 2 nights in at a time. Therefore it was time to search the house.

The logical thing would be to head for Ed's room first as he tended to lean towards the horrors and that was just up his alley right now.

Derek headed for Edwin's room but what movies he did find in the mess weren't really appealing.

Next would be Lizzie, she tended to go for the sports type movies last time he asked her but the door was locked.

Marti was sure to have girly movies so that was out.

His eyes moved to Casey's closed room door. He knew it was a bad idea to even attempt to go in here room but he started walking that way without really thinking about. She was sure to own nothing he wanted to see and yet he was opening the unlocked door and entering the room.

He looked around Casey's room. He hadn't been in here since he had gotten home but for the most part it looked the same. There were a few things different however. He noticed that the room although clean didn't look Casey clean.

There was paper scattered on the desk with a variety of pens laid haphazardly on top of it. The bed while made didn't have the hospital feel about it. Then there was the fact that there were men's pants over the back of the chair and cologne and aftershave bottles on the dresser in no specific order.

He went to the dresser with the intention of seeing what kind of cologne Sammy was wearing these days but instead his hands reached out for the shampoo bottle next to it.

Derek flipped up the cover and smelled the strawberry shampoo. He was about to take another sniff with the door slammed shut.

He laid the bottle down fast and turned around.

"What are you doing in here and why are you smelling my shampoo?" Casey did not look happy.

"I…umm…I just…I wanted to know what the shampoo smelt like…I'm looking for a new brand." That had to be the lamest thing that had come out of his mouth in his life.

"Oookaay. That still doesn't explain why you were in my room in the first place."

"I was looking for a movie to watch."

"I don't have any movies; they are all in boxes in storage."

"Oh well then I'll go." He moved to the door but before he could reach the knob she grabbed his arm and turned him around.

"Derek this has to stop."

"What has to stop? I'm not doing anything."

"Yes you are. You're avoiding me."

"Maybe but I have good reason."

"I know I get that but we can't just be like this. I don't know how long we are both going to be living under one roof but for now we are and things are weird."

"I don't want to talk about this Casey."

"Well I do."

Derek took a step towards her and grabbed her upper arms. "Fine, you wanna talk about it. You wanna talk about how I almost kissed you the other day. Not once but twice. You wanna talk about the fact that just being near you is starting to drive me insane." He started to run his hand down her arm. "All I wanna do is touch you. Feel your soft skin beneath my fingers. Hear you say my name like you did the other night in the kitchen, the way that makes my knees buckle and my heart race."

His hand made is way into her hair as he looked her in the eyes for the first time.

Casey swallowed and looked at him. "You can't say those things. You can't just…you can't…you have to stop."

"Is that what you really want?"

Casey wanted a lot of things. She wanted to run and hide in a place where he couldn't find her, where she wouldn't be thinking about the fact that his hands on here skin felt like a match that was lighting a fire within her. She wanted have the strength to push him away. She wanted him to never stop touching her.

She moved her head to the side as his finger ran down her neck onto her shoulder. He eyes closed as he moved closer.

But this time she didn't duck and he didn't run way. This time when there lips finally met she felt like the world had exploded and that she was just scrambling to hold onto something, anything.

It was a light kiss. It lasted only a few seconds but it was powerful. She felt it all the way though her body to her toes which curled up in her sandals.

When he pulled away she slowly opened her eyes and looked at him.

He touched the side of her face. "That shouldn't have happened."

She knew that. Knew that with everything in her and yet she had no response. She started to chew on her bottom lip and she watched his eyes move down to them.

"Don't do that."

"Do what?"

"This." He leaned forward and sucked her bottom lip into his mouth and lightly bite it. His lips softly fit over hers as they shared whisper-light contact but soon it blossomed into a tender, lingering kiss.

Her arms went up to wrap around Derek's neck as his lips moved over hers in a tantalizing exploration. Casey heard herself moan softly.

Derek pulled her closer. So they were body to body.

Reality seemed to fade away. Casey felt like she was floating as Derek deepened the kiss, his tongue entwining with her own.

His hands moved under her shirt at the back feeling her hot skin wanting nothing more then to lay her down on that bed and make her scream his name over and over again.

But instead he pulled back. Kissing the corner of her mouth gently and then taking one step away from her.

She slowly opened her eyes, her lips where red and slightly swollen from the pressure that he had place on them with his own.

They both just stood there for a minute trying to catch their breathe.

"Wow." She finally broke the silence. "That was…" She stopped her sentence when she spotted the chair just beside Derek. Oh God Sam.

Casey moved over to the edge of the bed and sat down. She put her head in her hands for a minute and then looked up to see him still standing there with his hands in his pocket.

He too looked at the chair and saw Sam's pants. "I'm sorry." He spoke softly.

She didn't want sorry. She wanted to take it back. Well truthfully she didn't but just looking at the pants hanging on the chair she knew it was pretty much the most horrible thing she could have done.

She ran her hands over her face and then just looked at him.

"This is my fault."

"Casey how is it your fault, I kissed you?"

"Because I knew it was gonna happen. I knew it 3 days ago. I could have stopped it but I didn't."

Derek didn't really know what to say to that. He knelt down in front of her and reached out a hand and softly touched her cheek as a tear rolled down.

Derek Venturi did not do tears but this time, on this woman he just couldn't seem to look away. He wiped the tear from her cheek as another fell right behind it.

Then in the softest voice she spoke. "He asked me to marry him." To say he was shocked was an understatement. He knew they were together a long time but marriage. He nodded his head as she looked at him in acknowledgement to what she was saying.

To which she said softly. "And I said yes." She closed her eyes and more tears fell.

Derek felt like his heart had stopped for just a second. She was going to marry Sam. He asked her and she said yes. She was engaged and here he was kissing her when no one was around. Could he be more of a jerk?

"Casey I…" But he was cut off but a shout from downstairs.

"Hey Case, Nora said you came home for a nap." Sam's shouted.

Casey franticly wiped the tears from her eyes and stood up causing Derek to follow suit.

She opened the door just as he was turning the corner at the top of the stairs.

"I just came to see if you needed a nap buddy." He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. Then he saw Derek beside her and got a confused look on his face. "What's going on?"

Casey looked back at Derek with a pleading look in her eyes and then back at Sam.

"Casey here just caught me in her room. I was looking for a movie to watch. Nothing but documentaries and chick flicks in this house. I checked all the other rooms her's was last on the list."

Sam gave him a weird look but shrugged it off. "Well I can tell you even if Casey had movies here, there wouldn't be anything you'd be interested in. Just more chick flicks."

Derek smiled and moved towards his room. "That nap sounds like a good idea. Talk to you guys later."

"Sure D." They watched as Derek entered his room and shut the door behind him.

Then Sam pulled Casey into her room. "So how about that nap?"

"I'm not really that tired anymore."

"Well in that cause, sleeping isn't really a requirement." He again wiggled his eyebrows and moved her over to sit on the bed.

"As much as I would love to ravage you while Derek is on the other side of the wall, I have a headache." She looked down at the hands that he had entwined with hers.

"Oh. Well it's doctor Sam to the rescue." He lay down on the bed and pulled her up to him, laying her head on his chest. "You just relax and let the cuddling heal you. You know I can work magic."

Casey wrapped her arm around his stomach and cuddled in closing her eyes. The guilt washed over in waves. She knew that if Sam knew what happened in this very room minutes before he came home she wouldn't be here with him like this and that thought scared Casey more than almost anything.

Sam had been her rock for so long. He made her world work. He was the one that put up with her and all her little quirks. Not that she really deserved that.

"Shh…stop thinking so much. Your brain is gonna over load one of these days and then where will you be." She could hear the smile in his voice as he started to fun his hands through her hair.

A few silent tears fell onto his chest. "I try to stop thinking but you know me my brain doesn't stop just because I ask it to."

He laughed softly. "Hush up smarty pants and let the magic of Sam make you all better."

"I love the magic of Sam."

"And I love you Casey." He leaned in and kissed her head softly as she drifted off to sleep for the first time in 2 days.

This chapter was a bit longer but I hope you enjoyed it. As far as I'm concerned the story is just starting and anything can happen from here. I've been thinking about putting in some things about the other characters. At the very least I'm gonna get a little more of Sam's point of view on things. I like the way that Derek and Casey are evolving but right now Sam's character is kinda two dimensional.

Thank you everyone for your reviews. I really love the feedback on the story and the pairing suggestions.

I hope you continue to enjoy the story and reviews are great.