AN: Sooooooo, I've decided (once again) to draw this story out to its full potential. I mean, I knew it was going to be more than one chapter because, let's face it... everyone wants Dasey together. We don't want to be upset by the fact that they think they can 'never be' because of their new shared sibling! No way. These two WILL be together, there's not a doubt in my mind that they are absolutely and one-hundred percent perfect for one another.

But anyways, I know I said this story would be M-Rated, but... it's technically not. Unless you count the F-Bomb M-Rated (it's used once). But do not fret, the smutty goodness will come for those of you who like that sort of thing.

And I won't lie to you. I sure do! haha. Anyways, I'll leave you with this shameless promotion:

Some of you may know… I've organized this… Wondrous Michael Seater Birthday Video Tribute… Thingy. Haha

If you DON'T know what I'm talking about… GO HERE:
*oh come on.. you know what to do with links on FF. Take out the spaces and replace the dots!*
http:// www(dot)youtube(dot)com/ watch?v=w8sYRJ6ABpQ

That's where you can find all of the information.

Basically what's happening is, we take ALL INTERESTED MICHAEL SEATER FANS and putting them into ONE (Or…two… or three.) VIDEO(S), and send them to Michael on Twitter. And for those of you who are worried about too much work… I'LL be doing the editing! No skin of your back, my dears. But please, please PLEASE do this… and tell your friends to join in. I want this to be special and awesome and I KNOW (based on all the various DISCLAIMERS on the site) that you all ADORE Michael Seater. So come ON! Let's DO THIS THING!

Disclaimer: I don't own Life with Derek, but I'd LOVE to own the -NEW-GEMENI-AWARD-WINNER- Michael Seater and all of his wonderful talent, physical appeal, and... overall adorable-ness.

Ready, Set, Confusion

Chapter Two: Save It

Sleep didn't bode very well with Casey that night. She couldn't get Derek out of her head.
No. That wasn't right. She couldn't get what Derek said out of her head.

Yeah… that's better.

She really felt the urge to sneak into Derek's room and force him to… talk to her about this; although she had no idea why, because…
Shouldn't she be happy that she and Derek weren't fighting anymore? They could all finally be one, big, happy…
Ugh. Why does she feel so sick?

Turning on her side, she fluffed her pillow before trying for the umpteenth time to fall asleep. That's when she heard it.

Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang.

She looked in the direction it was coming from: Derek's room. He was awake, too? Odd; Derek takes advantage of any chance there is, to sleep. She decided that he must've been nervous about them leaving in less than twelve hours.

Well, what better way to start their newly acquired 'truce', than to help him out when in need?
That's a good excuse… right?

So she got up from her bed, tiptoed to the hallway and peaked around the corner to see if Derek's door was closed.

It was. Dammit. She couldn't just barge in, that would be a regression, and Derek wouldn't be having that, and she didn't want to knock, because… for some odd reason, she was nervous.

Nervous? About Derek? What's wrong with her?

She concluded that it was just because she's supposed to act this certain way around him now, and she's just not used to it.

Deciding that she was way too nervous to knock on his door, she made a move to retreat back to her room. However, right as she was about to take a step, Derek's door swung open.

They stood there, looking each other up and down, for a good thirty seconds before Derek spoke, "Uh…" Well… maybe 'spoke' is an overstatement, but… you get the idea.

Casey chuckled nervously, looking at the floor. She found it hard to look at him now that she'd realized he wasn't wearing a shirt.

That shouldn't have been as much of a problem as it was. But… that's Derek and Casey for you.

Derek brought his hand to the back of his head and scratched it, like he always did when he was nervous. "What… what are you doing up?" He asked. His tone was venom-less, which was totally out of the ordinary and… not refreshing at all, Casey realized.

She chuckled, "I-uh, I couldn't sleep… you?"

"Same." He replied, and shouldn't they be looking at each other? They were having a conversation, weren't they? Why were the floor and the ceiling, and the walls, and the doorknobs, and Marti's random toys so interesting at the moment?

"Why uh… wh-why couldn't… why?" She settled on just the simple version of that question.

Derek shrugged, just because they weren't fighting anymore, didn't mean that he was going to show his vulnerability. "Dunno."

Silence.

"Oh, what about you?" Derek spoke again, after realizing he'd made the mistake of not asking the question back.

"This is weird, Derek. We can't do this." Casey ignored the question. The awkward this of their meeting finally taking its toll.

Derek let out a breath he didn't know he was holding, "Yeah… it is weird."

"Maybe we're just meant to hate each other." She glanced down at her fingers which were fidgeting with the hem of her shirt.

"Whoa, wait a second here. Hate each other? Who said anything about hate?"

Casey scoffed, her eyes welling up a bit, but her glance stayed towards the floor, "Please, like it's not obvious."

And before either of them knew what was going on, Derek pinned Casey against the space between their two rooms.

"Derek, what-" She was cut off by his finger covering her mouth to silence her, fire in his eyes.

Casey stared at him, wide-eyed, in shock. Derek spoke up, "Hate is not what's going on here, Case."

She regained herself, "O- okay, so we don't hate each other?" Her gaze slithered from his eyes to his chest.

Derek didn't notice though, as he continued, "We may have a really fucked up relationship, Casey. But hate was never the issue."

"There you go again, Derek. Thinking you can control everything that I do; and people say I'm the control freak. You can't just push me around like that, and tell me what I feel. If I want to hate you, I will."

After the words left her mouth, she immediately regretted saying them.

He pulled away from her as if she'd just burnt his skin(though it wasn't his skin that was the problem).

Derek just shook his head and turned to enter his room. Unfortunately for him, Casey grabbed his forearm before he got away.

"Derek I- I didn't mean that." She started.

He ripped his arm away from her and the grip she held on him made scratch marks appear as he did so, "Save it." He gritted his teeth, ignoring the slight pain coming from his new wound. "I've got nothing left to say to you, Case."