Just a short note, I re-watched the episode where they both get hired at Smelly Nellie's the other day and I have to say, if I was their boss I would have sacked them both. Neither of them worked while the other was working, they both just stood around watching each other. Totally inappropriate and he may as well have only had one waiter. If he couldn't see what was going on then he was an idiot :P

Anyway, I'll get on with it now.

Disclaimer: LWD still not mine

Chapter Fifteen

After a few days I was getting... Concerned that Derek hadn't made any more attempts at breaking me. It wasn't like him to give up, and although you wouldn't think it to look at him, he had a very long attention span when it came to it.

I nearly paid him a visit just to see if he was still alive and hadn't died in some freak hockey accident, but a phone conversation with Liz assured me he was fine. Either he'd met someone even more distracting than Sally (even she couldn't stop him playing pranks on me or make him forget about tormenting me) or he was planning something big. I found either idea worrying.

I found out some of what he'd been doing when I next saw Laurel. At first I assumed he'd been dating her, but in between the over the top Derek worship and the bragging about her own skill with boys, I discovered that so far all they'd done was hang out with some friends they discovered to be mutual. Although according to Laurel it was just a matter of time.

During the conversation it was revealed that Derek knew she was my friend. A definite past tense in my mind seeing as we'd only spoken twice during winter break and this was the first I'd seen her since getting back.

"He said you were step-siblings, how come you never told me you had a step-brother?" She asked, a slightly offended note creeping into her voice.

"I did! I told you before, I have two step-brothers and a step-sister." I reminded her.

"Well, you certainly never told me you had a gorgeous, hockey playing step-brother." She brushed my reminder aside and carried on. "We were all talking about having a movie night sometime soon; we were saying you should come. The others are all couples, and it gets a little boring when they all make out and stuff. Be good to have another singleton there."

"I don't know..." I started to shake my head.

"Derek said you'd say no, but he also said you'd come in the end and that if you didn't he'd just call you all night 'till you agreed." She laughed, "He's so funny!"

"Believe me, he wasn't joking." I informed her. I considered it. I'd met the friends they were talking about, and actually Derek had only spoken to them in the first place due to his fishing trips to whatever group I was sitting with at lunch. It was one of the reasons Laurel had been my only friend; she hadn't met him yet. I didn't know if he would call me all night or not, but I figured I could just unplug the phone anyway, which was by far preferable to sitting and watching him and Laurel flirt.

"Then you should come!"

"No, I don't think so. I'll probably be studying anyway, and Derek's taste in films is... A lot different from mine." I watched her fake disapointment and decided it was more than likely Derek who'd talked about inviting me; she was probably hoping for a clear shot at him while the others 'make out and stuff'. I hadn't seen this side of her before; when we'd met she'd seemed more like me, studious and sensible. But it made sense, with the exception of Cher all my friends had to have a thing for Derek at some point. Cher probably only remained immune due to the fact she was already engaged.

We talked for a while longer, but as I watched her join Emily, Kendra, Lucy and virtually every other girl I'd ever known in the Derek Venturi appreciation club, I grew bored and excused myself.

The second part came when my English Professor pulled me aside after class. At first I was worried it was to do with an assignment or something, but it turned out to be so much worse.

"Miss McDonald-"

"Ms, I prefere Ms." I corrected with what I hoped was an endearing smile. "It's not a big deal, it's just I always think of 'Miss' as a little girl like 'Miss Anne, it's time to do your french work', or a married guy's girlfriend because it's short for mistress, whereas 'Ms' has more of a grownup, respectable sound to it, don't you think?"

My Professor just stood there with the slightly dazed expression people often got when I spoke. I always tried not to read too much into it, but it was a little disconcerting.

"Anyway, what was it you wanted to talk to me about?" I took a deep breath to keep myself from talking.

"I had an interesting talk with your step-brother yesterday-"

"Oh, no." So here was the big prank he'd been plotting. "What did he say? Did he say anything bad? What did he say? Did he blackmail you into anything? Because I can deal with him, I can..." I looked again at that dazed expression and took another deep breath. "Sorry, go on."

"He raised some concerns-"

"Concerns? What concerns?" I cut myself off and smiled apologetically. "Sorry, it won't happen again."

"He told me about your... Difficulty with change." He started speaking again after a pause.

I opened my mouth to tell him I didn't have a difficulty with change, but stopped myself just in time.

"He said you saw a counsellor at your high school?"

I nodded, not trusting myself to speak.

"He also mentioned he was a little worried that you had a lot on your plate right now. He reccommended that I stop giving you extra assignments and asked that I let you off some of the homework for this semester."

By now I was giving myself a stress ulcer from not speaking.

"I just thought I should talk to you first; though I happen to agree that extra assignments may not be what you need right now. However I don't think being excused from the normal work load is appropriet." He paused to put a reassuring hand on my shoulder, "But if at any point you find yourself struggling, feel free to come to me and I'll see what I can do."

I forced a smile. "Thank you, but-"

"And if you just wait for a second then I'll dig out the number of the campus counsellor." He turned to his desk and started moving the various papers, books, pens and who knows what else in his quest for the number.

"I don't think-"

"Here you go, give her a call and see if she can fit you in." He passed me a business card and ushered me from the room before I could explain that Derek was just a dirty little liar.

I quickly discovered that all of my professors had had a little chat with Derek; and that my boss had been asked to reduce my hours. Something he readily agreed to do when Derek had told him about my 'history of mental break downs'.

After speaking to my boss, something inside me cracked and I could no longer stop myself from stomping my way to Derek's dorm. I hammered on the door so hard I thought I might break it. My hand or the door; it doesn't much signify which.

After two and a half minutes of knocking, he finally answered the door. "Oh, hi. Laurel and I were just talking about you." He smiled triumphantly; knowing he'd broken me and I would have to reveal that to my so called friend.

I looked past him to confirm that she was there and clenched my hands, forcing the angry yells back down my throat. The brisk walk had helped vent just enough of my fury that I could postpone murdering Derek. For now.

"Hi Derek. My Professors mentioned that you said you were worried about me, so I thought I'd stop by and we could talk about those worries." I forced a smile onto my face, but I couldn't keep the acid from my tone or stop myself from glaring at him. "But, I can see you're busy, so I'll just come back later." I turned to leave and then turned back to face him. "Just to let you know; I'll be telling Mom and George about your heart warming concern for my well being."

"Hey, we're all friends here. If you wanna talk then I'm sure Laurel won't mind." Derek pulled me back.

Instead of snapping about how I hate being manhandled I widened my fake smile. "Sure." I squeezed by where he was blocking the doorway and sat down next to Laurel. "So, a problem I'm having is that sometimes it seems like somebody out there is going out of their way to infuriate me and make my life more difficult."

"See, to me that just screams paranoia. Maybe you should get some help with that." Derek tried his hardest to look concerned and understanding for Laurel's benefit.

"I also find myself without as many working hours as I was hoping for. See, my boss is under the impression that I suffer from an anxiety disorder that leads to frequent mental breakdowns, and doesn't want to 'overwhelm' me."

By this time Laurel was beginning to look bored and uncomfortable.

"He sounds like a very sympathetic and understanding employer." Even though his tone still played the game, his ever present smirk had revealed its self once more.

"Look, I'm going to give you guys some family time. I'll see you later."

"Yeah, bye." We both chorused absently.

"As much as it touches me deeply that you would go to the trouble of trying to lessen my workload by talking to my boss and lecturers, I would appreciate it if you voiced you concerns to me directly." I folded my arms and crossed my legs, giving him a firm look.

"All right then. When were you planning on joining a dance club or class or whatever?" He folded his arms right back and raised his eyebrows.

"I... I wasn't going to. At least not this semester." I replied, a little fazed that he actually had a concern to raise.

"Why not?"

"Because. I have my classes and my job and if I want any time to myself or time to spend with my friends and family then I can't afford to take on an extra responsibility." In truth, if I wanted to I could sort something out, but since turning down a career in it, I felt a little reluctant to dance. Like it was a dead end and I should be doing more productive things with my time. Like I'd turned my back on it

"Well, now your hours have been cut and you don't have any of those pesky extra assignments to do you'll have plenty of time, won't you."

"Derek, you can't just organise my life the way you want it. If I wanted to do dance then I would. But I already made that decision this summer, and now I have to focus on the path I did choose." I tried to explain, though I knew I was wasting my breath.

"You gave up one opportunity; you didn't give up dance." He corrected. "It doesn't mean you have to cut it out completely. What happened to the Casey who likened her dancing to me playing hockey?"

I had no real answer for that. In fact the mere fact of Derek not only paying attention to me, but also trying to help me without being asked, having an actual heart to heart without being under extreme torture, would have rendered me speechless even if I did have something to say.

"What's up? You look like you just got given a C in something." He asked.

It was definitely not that look. The look on my face was pure shock; when I get a C (which isn't often at all) there's an equal mix of outrage. After a few moments of him looking at me like I was an alien, I finally found my tongue again. "Why are you pushing this?"

He shrugged and looked uncomfortable. "When you don't dance you go crazy and I'm always the one you take it out on so I just thought I'd save us both a lot of trouble and get you to dance."

"Really?" My tone was sceptical. If not dancing drove me crazy, it would just make his goal of making me snap easier; why would he want to mess with that?

"Well, someone's got to keep you as close to sane as you get and Lizzie and Nora are back in London." He scratched the back of his head and sat down opposite me.

"Aww, Derek." I couldn't believe this; I was actually starting to tear up.

"What?" He asked as his now panicked face took in my watery eyes.

"You actually care about me." It came out half sob.

"Okay, I think you should go find Cher or Laurel or someone, anyone, else to cry at." He'd stood up again, but before he could make it to the door I'd jumped up and hugged him. "Casey?" His arms were stiff and wooden by his sides, and his voice was a little strained. "Casey, you can stop now."

I ignored his pleading tone. "Oh, shut up you big baby. I'm hugging you, not torturing you."

As he stood there unable to escape, I wondered why I never did this before. With his unwillingness to move in any way that could be construed as him liking it, it was easy to keep him in the hug, and even with it being one sided it was nice.

"Case, seriously. Stop." He started to wriggle a little, a precursor to an escape attempt.

"Fine. I'll let you go." I raised my head and gave him a smug, slightly evil smile. "If you hug me back."

"I don't do hugs." He reminded me.

"Then I guess you're stuck."

Slowly his arms came up, went around me, then dropped as fast as lightning.

"That wasn't a hug."

"It's the closest you're going to get." He argued.

"Der-ek!" I whined.

"Fine!" His arms came up around me again, and this time stayed there. "Good enough?"

"Nope. Just a little while longer." This was the first real hug I'd ever got from him, I wasn't letting it end that quickly. Besides, I was enjoying it. I sighed in satisfaction as he did as he was told and kept his arms around me, breathing in his scent as I did so. Only then did I realise something; I was enjoying this far too much. "Okay, you can stop now if you want." I said reluctantly.

"Thank God!"

I started to let my arms down, but was pleasantly surprised when he squeezed me gently before releasing me.

"I should get going." I said awkwardly, and I could feel the blood creeping up to my face. I stepped forward just as he opened the door for me (I mean, how was I supposed to know he'd open it?) and bumped into the corner. "Ow."

Derek choked back a laugh, "You okay, Klutzilla?"

And the balance was restored. Nice, sweet Derek dissolved back into mean, annoying Derek.

I shot him a death glare and left.

An hour later I was at a coffee shop waiting for Cher while I drummed my fingers on the table and checked my phone for the time every few minutes.

When she finally arrived, I wasted no time.

"You want to know what the 'love of my life' did?" I made sure to use a sarcastic tone and quote marks when I said the love of my life part so she didn't think I was being serious. Not that even she was likely to think I'd ever say that about him.

Her eyes went wide with interest.

I didn't wait for her answer. "He led my boss and all of my lecturers to believe that I'm crazy. Like mentally ill crazy."

"He what?" She asked, in a get-out-of-here tone.

"I was looking for something a bit more sympathetic, or outraged! Maybe horrified?" I sulked. And quite frankly, why wouldn't I sulk? It was a pretty big deal.

"So, what happened?" She said, completely ignoring my sulk.

"No more extra assignments, my work hours have been cut and my English Professor is pressing me to see a counsellor." I narrowed my eyes a little, daring her to make light of it.

"Well, maybe you should. Emily said that Paul guy really helped you."

"I've outgrown that!"

"Really? Because Emily said you even called him during summer break to help you decide about the dancing thing." She said doubtfully.

My mouth dropped open. I knew she and Emily had become friends but come on! Discussing my need for counselling? "That... That was a major decision, and nobody was being any help! My family just told me to do what I wanted, and Derek was being... well, Derek, and I just needed to talk to somebody sane!"

"So why didn't you call Emily?"

I paused uncomfortably, unwilling to tell her that I hadn't called Emily because she'd just broken up with Derek a couple of weeks before. It wasn't a big deal, we were still good friends, I just felt awkward for a while. But I was never going to tell Emily that, and with their new friendship that meant I couldn't tell Cher either. "Because... Because..." I searched my mind for a reason I could give that would be even vaguely plausible. "I figured she'd just say the same as my family?"

Cher looked unconvinced.

"Fine, fine. So if Paul was here I'd go see him. But he's not, he's not even a full time counsellor! He isn't even qualified!" I stressed, "And there is no way I'm walking into the office of a complete stranger to talk about my problems!"

"Okay, okay." She held up her hands in surrender.

Silence reigned for a few moments.

I leaned back in my chair, deep in thought. "He says I should take up dancing again." The words slipped out without me even knowing they would.

"Who? Paul?"

"No." I looked at her funny, "Derek."

"Oh."

"He says now I have the time free from extra assignments and work, so I have no excuse." I didn't see the point in stopping once I'd already started.

"Are you going to?" She asked, making no comment on Derek's seeming concern. For that I was grateful.

"I don't know." I reached for my drink and just let my hands warm on it. Someone had left the door open an cold air was blowing into the small coffee shop. I hadn't actually thought about it much since my conversation with Derek, only the conversation, the hug and what Cher would say about it all had entered my mind at all since leaving.

"Is there somewhere you could dance on campus? A club or a class or something?" She prompted.

"Yes." I didn't elaborate, it wasn't what I wanted to talk to her about right now. "I hugged him." I blurted out. "And he hugged me back."

"That's... Nice?" She seemed confused at the weight I'd given the words.

"We don't hug. Derek doesn't hug. We have never hugged." I looked at her still calm face. "Ever!" I tried to impress on her the hugeness of this event, but she remained unconcerned.

"Sure you do, he hugs you all the time." She brushed it off just like that.

"What? When?" My turn to be confused.

"Every time I've seen you together he had his arm around you at some point." She waved her hand dismissively.

"Those aren't hugs, those are him trying to annoy me. It only counts as a hug if both arms go around." I explained.

"And sometimes both do."

"But it's from the side."

"So?"

"Is it a hug if it's from the side?"

"Of course. Personally I think it's a hug even when there's one arm if there's a squeeze."

This was a new perspective for me. I'd seen Derek sling his arm around people before, but come to think of it, I didn't remember him squeezing anyone else, or using both arms unless there was a good reason. The revelation made me strangely pleased. He may have been hiding it by approaching from the side, but he hugged me all the time, others only got special occasions. Apart from Marti obviously.

"Why..." I trailed off, not brave enough to continue the question.

"Why what?" Cher asked, unaware of the size of the question I wanted to pose.

"Why... I mean, what makes you think Derek is interested in me?" I managed to choke out while staring down at my fingers.

She looked at me like I was being stupid. "Well, for a start all the stuff he's done for you-"

"But that could be a brotherly thing; you know, looking out for his sister." I interrupted.

"Brothers, as far as I'm aware, don't get that involved with their sister's love lives." She said doubtfully.

"He's very protective of Lizzie as well." I reminded her.

"Maybe about this new guy, but has he ever shown any interest in knowing about her boyfriends before?"

"No, I guess not."

"Then there's all the cute stuff, like the way he's always looking at you or teasing you and knows everything about you-"

"Okay, he does not know everything about me!" I protested.

"Casey-"

"He knows me very well, but that's just because he wanted to know how best to wreck my life." I took a breath. "So, what else?"

"The nicknames. It's so cute how he has all those nicknames for you."

"You know who else has nicknames for people? Bullies." I counteracted.

"Bullies call people Princess?" She asked.

"It's meant to be like snob, or snotty." I explained.

"And when he calls you Spacey!" Cher warmed to her theme. "So adorable!"

"Again, insult."

"And the way he flirts with all your friends." She actually giggled.

"Firstly; he flirts with anything in a skirt. He's actually known for it. And secondly; how on earth is that indicative of him liking me? Surely if he did he'd flirt with me and not my friends." I reasoned.

"Are you kidding? Not only does he flirt with all the time, but flirting with a girl's friends is a classic way to get her attention. You know, make her jealous." She sipped her drink through a straw. "And he didn't flirt with me."

I gave her a that's-what-you-think look before answering. "He does not flirt with me."

"He totally does! He's constantly checking you out, and always touching you and the voice he uses when he talks to you sometimes," She paused for effect, "Definitely a 'come to bed' tone, gives me shivers! But don't tell Josh that." Another giggle.

I rolled my eyes and changed the subject.

I had to admit, though I thought she was imagining things and I remained sceptical, she made an interesting point.