five. kiss

In December, they're preparing for exams the way they have done since Grade 11: together. Derek is snacking. Casey is quizzing. They're both laughing.

They've settled into a comfortable silence for several minutes when Casey suddenly drops her pencil on her textbook.

"Derek," she says softly.

"Yeah?" He looks up and catches her eyes.

"I need coffee," Casey whines. "And food. Can we take break?"

"Heck yeah, we can take a break. Case, I've been waiting for you to want to stop for what feels like hours."

He launches himself off her bed and reaches down to help her up from the floor. But he underestimates his own strength and she practically flies into his chest. They lose their balance together and fall sideways onto her bed, laughing at themselves and each other.

Their laughter dies down after a minute or two and they both begin to catch their breath. Derek looks into Casey's eyes and sees something he's never seen there before, but he can't figure out what it is. He has to stop himself from reaching out to move her hair behind her ear, when she clears her throat and breaks the trance they seem to be in.

"Right," he says, clearing his own throat. "Coffee and food for the princess."

Casey just glares at him, but there's a hint of a smile on her lips. He throws her jacket to her and reaches for his own.

"Corner diner?"

"What else is open at this time, Derek?" She laughs softly and walks out the door ahead of him, not checking that he's behind her, because she knows he is.

Some time later, they are trudging back to her dorm through the recent snow fall, with full bellies and enough caffeine to get them through the remainder of their study session for the night. Not far from her building, Derek says something that makes Casey laugh so hard, she throws her head back and clutches at his arm. Right at that moment, she also steps on a small patch of ice and begins to flail around, trying to catch herself.

Derek's hand instantly twists out of her grasp and both his arms go around her waist, before she can hit the ground. Once she's steady again, she looks up into his eyes.

"Whoops," she smiles at him.

"Seriously, Case? I'm getting a bubble for you tomorrow!"

They stand there, staring into each other's eyes, for a long moment. Derek still has his arms around her waist and her hands are resting on his biceps. They both feel a pull, and their heads start to slowly lean in, until a car passes behind them and honks the horn.

The moment is sufficiently shattered.

Casey pushes herself away and Derek drops his arms as though he's been burned by her. They each take a tentative step in the direction of her building, then look at each other briefly. Without saying a word, Derek holds his arm out for her to grab at the same moment she reaches for him. They both know he's much less likely to slip on any ice between where they are and her building.

When they reach her dorm, they strip off their jackets and shoes and drop to the floor, sitting side by side next to her bed. Casey pulls her textbook and notes back into her lap and Derek reaches behind him to grab his off her bed. Break time is over and it's time to get back to work.

Eventually though, Derek needs a stretch break. He stands up, walks around the room a little, swings his arms around, then throws himself back to the floor, laying beside Casey. She stretched herself out a quarter of an hour ago. As Derek lands on the floor, he misjudges the distance and ends up right beside Casey, his entire right side touching her entire left side.

Casey is laying on her back, holding a stack of note cards over her face, trying to learn them backwards and forwards. When Derek bumps into her, she drops half the stack onto her face.

"Der-ek!"

You would think he'd get tired of hearing her break his name in half like that, but he's found that it's one of those sounds that never gets old.

With a smile, he mutters "sorry," and tries to help her pick up her cards. In the process, his fingers graze her hand and she gasps at his touch. Obviously, this isn't the first time they touch, but lately, they've both thought they could feel sparks that they didn't remember being there before.

Her little gasp makes him smile wider and he rolls so that he can see her face better. When she meets his eyes, there's that something again. That something from earlier that he doesn't remember seeing in her eyes, in all the years they've known each other. And then he feels the pull again, and his head is leaning in to meet hers.

The second his lips touch hers, they both begin moving against the other. Casey drops all her note cards and slides her hand into his hair. Derek places his free hand on her cheek softly, his other arm propping himself up.

When he pulls away for breath sometime later (could have been seconds, could have been an hour, he doesn't know), they both have swollen lips and heavy lidded eyes. He's half expecting her to spiral into a classic Casey freak-out, but instead, she smiles at him. She pulls him back in for a quick peck, then looks around at all their books and notes and other study materials spread out on her floor.

"Ya know, it's getting kinda late. Do you want to call it a night?"

He looks back at her, briefly rendered speechless. "Uh. Yeah, let's put the books away for tonight. I should probably get back—"

"You could stay here…if you wanted…" Suddenly, Casey looks shy. She's sitting up, packing away her study materials, refusing to look at Derek, when he stops her with his hands on hers.

"Case…"

"I mean, n-not that anything is going to happen. It's just, i-it's late, and it's not like you've never stayed over before. And you don't have to sleep with me. Wait! That came out wrong! I meant you don't have to sleep in my bed. Just sleep! But you—"

Smiling, Derek moves his hands to her face and shuts her up with another deep, lingering kiss.

When he pulls back, he's still smiling and Casey is dumbstruck.

"You were rambling," he says with a shrug. "I'll stay here, if that's what you want. And I can sleep on the couch, but I can tell you, your bed is much more comfortable, even if it's not really big enough for both of us."

A few minutes later, they've stacked their books on the floor beside her bed, they've both changed into something more comfortable to sleep in, and they crawl into her tiny little bed. Facing each other, Derek drops an arm around her waist and leans in for another short-but-sweet kiss. Casey snuggles into his chest and hums happily, smiling at the turn the night's events took.

Author's Note: Only one chapter left! Are we ready? See you soon!

-Bethany :)