Dedicated to kkbeatlesfan who has been reminding me incessantly to post this chapter, finally.
Twist and Shout, 2:37
He likes to pretend she dances for him. Of course, when there's no one else at home, and she's only wearing shorts and one of his old jerseys, it's not hard to pretend.
Derek smiles to himself, silently tossing his jacket to the floor. He leans against the pillar beside the door, arms crossed.
Casey's hair is up in a messy bun, piled on top of her head. She's cleaning the living room, dancing around to songs he thinks Nora and his dad listened to, ages ago. Of course, it's the Beatles, and heck if it doesn't make him grin like an idiot.
"Derek!" she exclaims, bottle of air freshener posed to spray him.
"Whoa, princess. Cool it."
She lowers the spray bottle. "Sorry. I thought you weren't supposed to be home until the kids got out of school."
"Dad's picking them up, so I don't have to."
She laughs. "What?"
"Huh?"
"You're staring. At me."
"Yeah." He doesn't stop.
She looks down, and blushes.
"My jersey."
"You weren't using it," she mentions, setting the spray bottle on the coffee table. "I'll go change."
"Keep it."
"What?"
"What?"
She smiles. "Don't think I didn't hear that, Venturi."
Derek shrugs. "Whatever you say."
"That'd be nice for a change," she comments, sitting down in his recliner.
He raises an eyebrow, and Casey smirks up at him. Derek sighs, and perches on the armrest. "You wish."
"Yeah, I do."