Derek stood with the rest of the audience as Casey finished her song, but he did it on auto-pilot. He clapped and cheered with the rest of the large room (some 150 people), but his mind was not really focussed. He had been surprised by Casey tonight like everyone else. For the others, it was because they didn't really know Casey.

Derek was surprised because he did.

It wasn't that he thought she wasn't capable of such a performance, because he knew for certain that she was. She could stand up on stage in front of anyone and belt out anything if necessary. But he knew Casey, and he knew that for her to stand up and sing something so obviously aimed at Chloe, she must have been provoked.

Of course he didn't know what had been the trigger because the producer had decided that he couldn't risk the lawsuit which would have been inevitable if he actually screened this morning's interview with Chloe (where she accused Casey of lusting after Derek). It had been cut out of the "The week at a glance" section which always opened each week's episode of "Stars with Hearts" (on a screen in the hall for the real audience).

The omission hadn't bothered Chloe. She had already arranged for that segment to make its way to another station for one of their gossip programmes to pick up tomorrow night.

But the omission did mean that Derek was only guessing at what had led Casey to perform such a song in such a way. He did, however, know that Chloe had something to do with it.

So now, instead of his original plans, he was negotiating his way behind the scenes because he had a visit to pay.

The beefy security guard at the door blocked his way until his supervisor arrived. The supervisor was more helpful though because apparently the producer (at Chloe's insistence) had left word that Derek was to be allowed back stage if he requested it – to pay a visit to his "wife".

Which was exactly what Derek was planning to do.

Chloe was preening herself in her bedroom. She had been initially extremely pissed off at Casey's success. Chloe did not like coming second to anyone – especially Casey McDonald. However, her attitude completely changed the moment her assistant informed her that Derek was in the audience. Chloe smiled broadly, convincing herself that he had decided to visit her in person rather than phone – and that maybe he had only just found out about the competition which was why he had taken so long. She changed into something "comfortable", fussed with makeup and scent, and darted about trying to find somewhere to perch alluringly to await his arrival.

She didn't have to wait long.

Derek was never more disgusted with himself than when he entered his ex-wife's room. The thought that he had "married" this woman…

"We need to talk." He stated without preamble. "Now. At length. In full."

"Of course Darling. Do you want something to drink? I can get you some bourbon."
"You know what Chloe? I hate bourbon. I always have done, and the only reason why I ever drank it was because you asked me to because it fitted in with your idea of how I should be."

"A beer?" She said weakly, sensing that he was in a bad mood.

"No Chloe. Stop flapping. Sit."

She sat.

Derek ran his hand through his hair. "What's going on with Casey?" He asked eventually.

Chloe sighed dramatically. "I don't know. She just seems to have lost it. Really suddenly. Is she bipolar?"

Derek glared at her. "I meant, what have you been doing to her?"

His former wife looked taken aback. "What do you mean what have I been doing to her? Did you see that dance out there? She mocked me, live on TV."

Derek snorted. "Yeah. After you mocked her. Come on Chloe? The Step-sister's Lament?"

"How did you know…?"
"I have a sister who is nine years younger than me, remember? I've watched Cinderella." Besides, he'd teased Casey about that song when they were fifteen. But that was different. It had been quiet and between them – not live on TV, and she'd got him back for that by freezing his underwear. His inner mind smiled at the memory, and his heart longed to get this conversation over and done with so that he could get back on track.

"You also have a step-sister who is a complete freak."

Chloe had picked the wrong word. He snapped. "Don't call her that!" He took a deep breath before he started something he would regret. "Why are you doing this? If you want me back so badly why do you think that insulting my best friend is going to get you a foot in the door?"

"She's not your best friend, Derek. She's an irritating nuisance who hangs on your every word."

"Are we still talking about Casey?" Derek asked, bitterly. "Because from where I'm standing that's a fairly accurate description of yourself."

Chloe stood up and walked over to him, swinging her hips seductively.

"Dee-Dee. She broke into your house." She simpered. "I caught her rifling through your things. She can't let go. She's a sad lonely girl who instead of getting her own life decides to piggyback on everyone else's. On our marriage."

"Marriage? What marriage? We aren't married. You committed bigamy and you're fucking lucky you aren't in prison right now. What did you do? Bribe a judge?"

"Don't curse Derek, it makes you sound common."
"Good. Because I am. And so are you. I've read the file. None of the background you "shared" with me is true, is it?"

"Can you blame me? I'm the daughter of a pig farmer! How glamorous is that?"

Derek walked away. "I've been watching the show." He said carefully. "Casey did nothing to provoke you until today, but you've had it in for her since the start."

"I was nice to her."
"Can it, Chloe. You can't lie to me anymore. Seriously? You thought taunting Casey and putting her down was going to make me swoon at your feet? Reminding her that she's my step-sister? Singing "Look at me, I'm Sandra Dee"? Why Chloe?"
"Oh come on. Nothing I taunted her about was untrue."

"That's crap."

"She is your step-sister."

"And? What the hell difference does that make?"

"And she is a virgin…that much is plain as day."

Derek looked surprised. "Why would you think that?"

"Derek…be reasonable. Everything about her says "uptight". You look at her and immediately think what she wants is someone to give her an education."

"A what?"

"You know…explain to her what certain parts of her body are for."

"I'm done here." Derek said, making for the door. "We're finished Chloe. Get over it."

"No…don't. Come on. Please. I promise I'll be nice to her if you just give me another chance." There was a horrible wheedling quality to her voice.

"No." Derek said stopping at the door. He sighed. "Casey's not a virgin, Chloe."

"You're blind. How the hell would you know?" She pouted.
Derek said nothing. He just watched Chloe carefully. She waited for him regardless. He sighed again.

"She's not a virgin. I know that…for a fact. Leave her alone."

Chloe gasped. "Did you have sex with her?"

Derek didn't answer for a moment.

"I made love to her. Something I never did to you."

And then he passed through the door.

Chloe watched him walk away with a mix of horror, frustration and sadness. Her mind was awhirl from his revelation. They had slept together. Derek, the love of her life and Casey, the annoying bitch for whom everything went right!

Despite his words, it didn't register that all of Chloe's problems right now were of her own making, both the lack of Derek in her life and the renewed presence of his step-sister/former lover. Chloe wouldn't allow herself to hear the finality in his voice when he told her to move on or the love when he talked about Casey.

She watched him turn at the end of the corridor and she couldn't even focus enough to tell him the way out was in a different direction.

Casey made her way back to her room in a daze.

Derek had been in the audience?

Derek had been in the same room as her and she hadn't seen him?

Not that she was expecting him to be there so she wasn't looking for him but, all the same…

She hadn't heard from him tonight but that wasn't surprising. She had left her phone and purse in her room, hence why she was on her way back there now. She wanted to see if he had tried to call her.

The hotel was eerie, even whilst it was so full of people and cameras. There were shadows everywhere, and the lighting appeared to have been an afterthought: weak and inadequate.

The camera crews and their journalists weren't allowed on the upper floors, but even so the organisers had cautioned them against assuming that the press wouldn't find a way to get past the uniformed guards and up the stairs. The performance nights were the only time that the ordinary press were allowed on site and in view of the tension and drama which had unfolded so far, it was likely that they would be on the prowl for juicy gossip.

It all made for a tense and rather nervous atmosphere among the contestants.

Casey reached the top step onto her floor and started down her corridor to the end. Then she gasped as a hand grabbed her from the shadows.

"Anyone following you?" A voice hissed in her ear. Casey shook her head and when released turned to look into the brown eyes of her best friend-cum-sometime-lover.

"Overly dramatic much?" She said curving an eyebrow.

"If you're going to shout at me can we do it in your room please? I'd rather the fact I'm prowling around the bedroom corridors didn't make it into the Sunday papers."

Casey grinned and led the way to her room, swiping her card key in the lock and pushing the door open. Derek followed her inside.

And then they stood and looked at each other expectantly.

"Chloe's pissed." Derek started.

"Yes. I'm sorry about that." Casey replied. Derek looked surprised.

"Really?" He sounded amused.

"No. But I don't want you to be upset with me." She admitted reluctantly.

He chuckled. "Why would I be upset?"
"I made fun of your wife on national TV, Derek. I think, for once, that qualifies you for "seven degrees of pissed off" status."

"Well I'm not." He paused. "Actually I am…but not with you, with her. I know you wouldn't have done that lightly, so you did it because she provoked you. What did she do?"
Casey broke her eyes away from his and pottered around her room gathering her pyjamas and wash-bag, as if she was ignoring him.

"Casey?"

She stopped. "Chloe told an interviewer, on camera, that I had an unhealthy crush on you and some other stuff. It was probably screened tonight."

"Not on the section I saw. But if I know Chloe it will be later. She'll have done it deliberately. Do you?"

"Do I what?"

"Have an unhealthy crush on me."

Casey rolled her eyes. "You wish."

They grinned at each other. Derek crossed the distance between them and pulled her into a hug.

"I'm proud of you, Casey. What you did tonight took guts."

"Guts and a healthy dose of brandy." She confessed. He laughed and Casey cuddled closer to him. He looked down at her.

"Hi." She said weakly.

"Hi." He smiled back. "It's nice to see you. I guess we're friends again."

"Did we ever really stop?" Casey asked, leading him back to sit beside her on the bed.

"You were pissed with me for a while." He followed her, their hands joined and climbed up beside her.

"I was more hurt than anything." Casey said, letting their fingers link together.

"We still need to talk, don't we?" Derek suggested.

"Oh yes." She looked up at him. "I still can't…date you." She started.

Derek nodded. "I know. Actually, that's not what I'm asking for. I just want you to be around. To be my friend. If I could turn back time to…"

"…the point before we acted." Casey finished for him. "Yes. I wish that too sometimes."

"Only sometimes?" Derek queried.

She sighed. "The only thing I regret about that night is the path it took us down. I don't actually regret it."

"It?" He raised an amused eyebrow.

"I meant having sex with you."

"I know what you mean, but it implies it only happened once, princess. As my memory serves me correctly…"

"…My memory is as good as yours Derek."
"As I recall we made love more than once." He emphasised his interpretation of their intimacy deliberately.

Casey turned bright red and Derek chuckled and pulled her into his side.

"We have nothing to hide from each other anymore." Casey looked up at him as he spoke. "We might never be anything more than friends, but I'll never be as close to anyone as I am to you."

And Casey knew it was true for both of them.

Derek stayed for a long time. He lay beside her on her bed, both of them fully clothed and a distance between them – but only physically. They laughed, they joked, they teased, and they argued. Slipping back into them was as easy as breathing.

Casey wondered how she was going to be able to do this…be close to him whilst still keeping her distance. The phrase "friends with benefits" floated up briefly before she yanked it down, jumped on it repeatedly and kicked it under the bed. She wouldn't be able to do that. They couldn't do sex without emotion – because there was too much emotion there.

But she was convinced that they couldn't be a couple. Quite apart from how their family would feel about it, there was the reaction of the public – and it was important. Derek made most of his money because of his appearance and his personality. The public could handle him being married. They couldn't handle him dating someone they saw as his sister.

After a couple of hours of lying there talking, Casey was starting to look tired, and Derek was starting to feel tired too. He hadn't told Casey but he had played in the hockey game as promised earlier in the day – his first in many, many weeks. He'd played very well, and the team owed their victory to him.

When he did tell Casey, she was effusive – her pride shining on her face, and he thanked whichever omnipotent being had placed her in his life – again.

"Lizzie appears to be pulling Ed out of himself." Casey commented, remembering some of the emails that she had received over the past two weeks.

"And vice versa." Derek agreed. "She's all but moved in with him." He grinned at Casey. "She's doing his cooking and cleaning for him."

"Oh." Casey got the message.

"Yeah…oh."

"I wonder what Mom and George would think about that?"

Derek rolled onto his back. "Casey. Dad and Nora know about us." He said sliding his fingers into the hair at the back of her head.

Her eyes widened as she looked down at him and he saw the panic building.

"It's okay." He hastened to reassure her. "They understand."
"Understand? How did they find out? What did they say?"
Derek chuckled. "Apparently the family think we've been sleeping together for a while."

"A while?"
"Since college."

"But that's ridiculous." Casey objected.

"Is it? I can think of at least ten occasions where I nearly jumped the shark. How about you?"

"Jumped the what?"
"You know…took the leap of faith." He explained.

"Why didn't you?"
"Normally because you slapped me round the face with a verbal wet fish."

Casey laughed. "Yup that sounds like us."

Derek was quiet for a moment and then he sat up.

"Casey…I…" He sighed and looked at her. "I lied."
"About what?" She asked, concern crossing her face.

"I am going to push. I won't be content with "just friends". I won't be rough about it, but I won't be gentle about it either. I want you in my life for the rest of my life, but I warn you, if you are…I'm going to be pushing for us to happen and I'm probably going to be pushing for the rest of our lives. So just don't go throwing a hissy fit every time I do…okay?"

"I'll say no."

"Fine. Just so long as you don't get pissed at me for asking."

"Is this going to be our new fight? No more Keener/jerk arguments?"
He laughed. "Probably."

"Jerk!" Casey chided but she was laughing when she said it.

"I should go. It will be daylight soon and I don't want to get caught sneaking out."

"'Derek Venturi caught sneaking out of sister's bedroom.' Nice headline."

He kissed her forehead and swung himself off the bed.

"How are you getting out?" Casey asked, following him.

"Erm…the window?" he asked.

She shrugged. "There's trellising but I'm not sure it will hold your weight."

"We'll soon find out, won't we?"

"Derek. You can't. What if you fall and break your neck?"

"At least you won't get pestered by your almost-boyfriend anymore."
She smacked him on the arm.

"Don't say that."

"Hey. I told you I wouldn't be subtle."

"That I can handle. I meant joking about your own death."
"Aw! She'd miss me."

"Shut up or I'll shove you off myself." She warned.

Derek leaned back against the balustrade, arms folded.

"Night Juliet." He smirked.

"You're hardly Romeo, Jerk."

Derek stepped back to her and pulled her against him.

"I agree. The pantyhose would never fit." He said, and kissed her softly on the lips. Casey's body reacted for her and she let him part her lips and deepen the kiss.

"Go out with me." He whispered.

"No." She whispered back.

He laughed. "I'll get you one day. Call you tomorrow?" She nodded. Derek leaned towards her and kissed her briefly again.

And then he was gone, out of her arms, through the window and over the edge of the tiny balcony. Casey peered into the darkness.

"I'm not going out with you Venturi." She called softly.

"No. Of course not, sweetheart." He called back through gritted teeth and huffing as he climbed down. He jumped the last two foot and looked up at her.

"But you won't get rid of me this time." He promised. Casey rolled her eyes, but she murmured quietly – too quietly for him to hear.

"I'm counting on it."

Aloud, though still little more than a hiss, she reminded him about leaving before he was spotted.

"Okay, Okay! I'm going. Night beautiful."

"Good. Night. Derek!" She insisted.

He chuckled and then set off at a run across the frosty grass. A moment or two later, Casey heard and then saw the guard dogs following him, and Derek turn his head in surprise. He picked up his pace and sprinted for the perimeter wall, the dogs snapping at his heels.

Casey giggled.

Was it really a good idea to laugh while the love of your life was being chased by vicious dogs? Probably not, but she did it all the same.

She knew he would make it, because Derek always came out of things unscathed. But there was a sense of relief when she saw his last foot disappear over the wall leaving the dogs below.

"I love you, Moron." She whispered to the space he had left. And then she turned from the window, closing it behind her against the cold.

AN: Okay, You have a choice now. I can't decide what order to do the next two rounds. So:

MOBO or Golden Oldies?