Was going to post this yesterday, but was using my aunt's internet and had problems uploading, but now got internet back at home so should be faster posting again from now on :)

Thanks to everyone who reviewed, followed and/or favourited. Had so many new follows in the past couple of weeks and some really lovely reviews, it's really a pleasure writing for you guys. :)

Disclaimer: Still not made my move on Daphne...

Chapter Sixteen

As the days passed, more and more people got to hear the rumour that I was mentally unstable and this, though awful, at least gave me some breathing space before Derek tried anything else. In fact, nearly two weeks had passed before I heard the familiar 'Klutzilla' nickname being murmured when I stumbled or dropped my books. It didn't take a genius to know where my classmates had got that one from.

Unfortunately it didn't stop there; though for the rest of the month he was back to the old school kind of stuff. He somehow gained access to my text books (I had a theory about my room-mate's co-operation on that one) and stuck false pages in over the old ones, causing me first to make a nonsensical essay and second to almost destroy the original pages by trying to remove the false ones. He then managed to stick stupid sticky notes to me while passing me in the hallway on no less than five occasions. He also got Laurel, who found the whole thing hilarious, to distract me while he shook up my fizzy drink at lunch so that it soaked me when I opened it. The list went on and on and I developed a begrudging admiration for his resourcefulness. That didn't make me any less angry though.

By the time her party came around, I would have thought even Cher would be able to see just what a bad idea inviting Derek would be. But I would have thought wrong. It was a shame as well because I was having fun until he showed up.

Once he was there I couldn't bring myself to relax; I just kept expecting for either him to try another prank or something to rival the bathroom and Truman incidents to happen. In the end it was too much to take and I surreptitiously kept close by to keep and eye on him. This would have been a lot harder if Cher hadn't decided to join in the conversation he was having, thereby dragging me along with her.

I hadn't paid much attention to the conversation until one very drunk member of the group pronounced that he thought gay men just hadn't met the right woman yet in response to a male couple who were also in the group and had just announced their engagement. I was relieved to hear by whisper that he was a plus one and not one of Cher's friends.

I was about to debate this outrageous statement when Derek responded.

"I actually agree," He started, "If Larry here met the right woman I truly believe he could have a perfectly fulfilling relationship with her." If it wasn't for the devious look in his eye I would have interrupted, but as it was I let it go. He held up a finger before anyone could speak. "This is because all humans are fundimentally bisexual." Here he threw his arm around the drunk homophobic, "Meaning if... Sorry dude, what's your name?"

"Zane." the drunk seemingly hadn't got where this was going yet.

"If Zane here met the right man, he could also have a perfectly fulfilling relationship with him." He smirked as Zane's face went red. "There's a he and a she for everyone."

"Even you?" I hadn't meant to say it, it fell too close to the provoking him line, but it came out all the same.

"Hey, I'm the exception."

"Typical." I raised an eyebrow. "And what sets you apart from the rest of humanity?"

"There isn't a guy out there who could handle me." He said smugly. "But then again, haven't yet found a girl who could either."

I should have known it would all come back to his ego eventually. "What about Sally?" It was a cheap shot, but it had to be taken.

His smirk dropped, but he didn't look as distraught as I'd been expecting. In fact, he looked a little amused. "She couldn't handle me either. Did a fairly good job of holding out, but in the end she couldn't get all that she wanted from me." The next bit he mumbled a little into his drink. "Probably in part because I don't have breasts."

My mouth dropped open. "Sally's a lesbian?"

The smirk returned. "Emily didn't tell you?"

"Emily knew?" I returned.

"Well, yeah. The girl knows everything about everyone."

"Why didn't she tell me?"

"Probably 'cause she knew you'd go all crazy Casey on her." Derek sipped his drink again. "Especially seeing as I think Sally might have had a bit of a thing for you."

"What?!" My voice practically hit ultrasonic.

"She never said anything, at least not to me. But the way she was always coming to our house, and how she never seemed to get annoyed at me talking about you..." His eyes were gleaming and his mouth twitched in an effort not to laugh.

"You liar!" I punched him in the arm.

"Hey, it could be true for all I know. She is actually with a girl now. Though I prefer to think of it as her not being able to find another guy to match me." He laughed and rubbed his arm.

Despite myself I laughed with him. When we finally stopped and looked around, we realised that the group had dissapated, leaving only Cher and Josh who were both watching us with bemused expressions.

"So Cher, when's your dad coming to see the apartment?" I tried in the hopes of taking the attention off me and Derek.

"Not for another two weeks. Josh's mom is coming up on Tuesday and she won't leave until then." Thankfully, Cher went along with the subject change.

"Why? Don't they get along?"

Josh spoke for only the third time I'd heard him speak that night. "Not since the divorce."

"Divorce?"

"Yeah, they get on well enough as long as they don't have to see each other but I think they find it uncomfortable." He answered without actually answering my question. "They probably wouldn't talk at all if it wasn't for me."

"Daddy says you divorce wives, not children." Cher said helpfully.

"Huh?" I was more confused than ever.

"You know, wives stop being wives but step-kids don't stop being step-kids. Daddy used to say it every time Josh came to stay." She explained.

"You mean, you to are..." I trailed off not because I was all that shocked, but because I suddenly realised all three of them were watching my reaction.

"Step-siblings. Yeah." Cher grinned.

I gave her a weak smile back. "So how did your dad take it when you two got together?"

"Great. He saw it coming before we did and he was really happy for us."

Josh spoke again. "I think he was relieved she ended up with a guy he already knew and liked. Neither of us had a very good opinion of the guys Cher was attracted to."

"Oh, shush you. You're one of the guys I was attracted to so you can hardly complain." She gave him the evils but she was still smiling.

After that the conversation died. Derek went off to talk to one of his friends from hockey and Cher left to play host and mingle with her guests.

"So, guess it's just us two sensible ones left." I joked as Cher and Derek both joined a mini conga line winding tightly towards the counter with the beer on it.

"Yeah, I got mine before the conga line." Josh smiled. "Got a secret stash in my briefcase. There's chips in there too." He patted said briefcase which rested against the wall behind him. "It's funny, no one ever thinks to look in there."

I laughed. "You could have offered your fiancee some, she's right near the end of the line."

"Nah, she's enjoying herself." His eyes flicked towards her and his smile widened.

After a few moments of watching the conga line Josh spoke again. "So, Derek?" It was a short line but I knew instantly what he was referring to.

"Cher's been telling you her speculations about us, huh?" It wasn't really a question.

He laughed, "Sorry, had to ask."

"She is pretty convincing. If I wasn't one of the people in question I might believe her." I kept my eyes on the fast disappearing beer.

"Yeah, she has a flair for the whole matchmaking thing, though it doesn't always work out." He pulled a bottle out of his briefcase. "Want one?"

"No thanks. If Derek's drinking already then I better drive him back." I had no idea where that came from, we'd arrived seperately so for all I knew he could have had a designated driver with him. Though if he didn't then the number of cans I'd seen him down already was reason enough for me to volunteer.

"If you don't mind me asking, what exactly are you and Derek?" Josh asked after a moment.

My eyes snapped back to him. "Huh?" My mind was still caught up contemplating Derek's inebriation and didn't process the question right away.

"Cher said you don't think of each other as siblings, you don't get on well enough to be friends and you say there's nothing going on romantically. But you seem to be keeping a close eye on him."

I felt myself turn red, with was ridiculous because there was no reason for me to blush. "Someone has to keep an eye on him."

"Right." He just smiled.

Perhaps it was because he didn't press me that I decided in the end to try and answer his question. "To be honest, I really don't know what we are. I gave up trying to work it out a while ago."

"But if you don't know then how do you know you aren't friends or siblings or lovers?"

I didn't really have an answer for that but I tried anyway. "We both agreed we will never be siblings, but I guess we are friends. Kinda." I missed out the last one completely.

"Just think about it." He told me, "You'll want to have some better answers ready next time Cher gets hold of you or she'll never let it drop."

I nodded and smiled a little uncomfortably. "You mean she ever will?"

He grinned and his eyes went back to his fiancee. "Eventually. If you hold firm enough and don't give her anything to speculate about."

Cher came back to us a couple of minutes later and joined our conversation which by then had turned to Law.

"So you two future lawyers been talking shop the whole time?" She gave Josh a significant look and I knew she'd told him to interrogate me.

"Nope. For a while we were discussing busibodies who don't know when to leave well alone." He teased her.

I couldn't help smiling as I watched them; they were so good together. I wondered if I'd ever have what they had.

When the party ended (surprisingly without incident) I went to find my step-brother amongst the drunken rabble. I located him in the bathroom and waited for him to come out before asking him if he had a designated driver. Which of course recieved a puzzled 'no'.

I sighed, "Come on, I'll drive you." I put my arm under his swaying shoulders. "How do you get home from parties normally?"

He shrugged. "Sam."

"Of course."

The drive was silent, but luckily Derek was already looking a little more sober when we got to his dorm.

"So how are you getting back?" He asked when we stopped.

"I'm driving."

"You can't take my car!" He whined.

"Yes I can. It's either that or walk through a dark campus on my own." I said firmly.

"I'll walk you back."

"No thanks." I opened the passenger side door and gestured for him to exit.

"Why not?"

"Because you're drunk. If I let you walk back alone then you'll probably end up in a bush somewhere. And it's not that much further for you to walk to class anyway!"

"Can't you just stay here? You know Jay is never in, you could use his bed." He pleaded.

"All that just so you don't have to walk to class tomorrow? How lazy are you?" I shook my head.

"C'mon Case, it'll be just like the cabin last summer."

"I don't have any clothes with me."

"You can use some of mine. It's not like you haven't before."

"Something I'd rather forget, if you don't mind." That was a lie, his clothes actually smelled pretty good and made me feel like I was being hugged all the time. "And I'm pretty sure you aren't alowed girls in your dorm after hours."

"Please, the guys sneak girls in all the time and I never heard of any of them getting caught." He saw my doubtful look. "Besides, it'd be me who got in trouble, not you."

I sighed. "Fine. But you're driving me to back to my dorm tomorrow to get my books before class."

"You don't have class until the afternoon, right?"

"No, not until two thirty."

"Great." He grinned and attempted to exit the car, managing on the third try.

His dorm room was of course a mess, but he kicked some stuff aside so there was a clear path between the door and the beds. It was funny to watch as he nearly fell several times.

I looked at Jay's bed anxiously, images of him coming in and getting in the bed without realising I was there battling with thoughts of when the bedding was last changed and if he slept naked.

Derek noticed my hesitation. "Why don't you take my bed and I'll take Jay's?"

That sounded much better. I knew Derek always slept in boxers and it would mean no surprise bedmates in the night. "Thanks." I made my way over and looked at Derek, who was already stripping down to get into bed. I blushed and looked away, though I kept glancing back every few seconds until he got under the covers. Purely in case he fell over or something. "Um, Derek? Where should I get changed?"

He laughed drunkenly. "Like I haven't seen you in your underwear before."

"Der-ek!" I was mortified. It was true, on a couple of occasions he had barged into my room just as I was changing. He always marched straight back out again, but he probably had seen pretty much everything. Still, that was different to getting undressed in front of him.

"Fine! I'm turning over anyway." He slurred.

"No peeking." I narrowed my eyes and kept them on him as I took off my clothes and slid beneath the covers, which turned out to be no easy task. When at last I was safely covered I said goodnight and rolled over, breathing in the deep, huggy smell of Derek from his pillow. Funny how someone who didn't do hugs smelled just how a hug should smell.

I fell asleep almost immediately.