"Sam!" Sam's New Year's Eve party was so loud Derek had to shout over the music and the crowd to get his friend's attention.

"This party is wild!" Emily gleamed, taking off her coat to reveal a sapphire dress she made herself. Such an expensive looking outfit fit right into the gorgeous theme.

There were blue and silver streamers hanging from the ceiling, a disco ball, a led countdown clock next to the refreshments table, and a designated makeout zone in the basement. There was no way Sam took the time to decorate this place; it was likely his sisters' doing.

"Hey, Emily. Casey. I'm glad you two could make it," Sam greeted.

"Thanks for the invite, Sam," Emily told him.

"Yes, thank you." Casey nodded in agreement with Emily.

Derek took ahold of Sam's shoulder, interrupting their greeting.

"Are we standing here all day, or are you gonna show me where the good drinks are?"

Sam waved goodbye to the girls as Derek ushered Sam away. Ralph and Kendra came around the corner to greet them next.

"Don't you girls look ravishing?" Ralph complimented Casey and Emily, receiving a disgusted look from his fianceé. "Not as ravishing as you, honey."

"Nice save, Ralphie. Come on, I'll show you girls to the dance floor," Kendra said, letting go of Ralph's hand.

"I think I'll wait here for a bit," Casey insisted.

"Are you sure? Casey, you're not going to stand there all night, are you?" Emily sighed.

"Of course not. I'll probably join you later." Casey loved to dance, but she would feel much more comfortable after a drink or two.

Don't plan. Just enjoy. She repeated it over and over again.

As she made her way to the spiked punch, she knocked into an unfamiliar face.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she said, apologizing for her clumsy behavior.

"Don't be. When a gorgeous girl bumps into me, I don't complain," the stranger said, smiling.

Casey twirled a piece of her curled hair around her finger, shyly looking away. The guy was cute enough, in a blonde hair and blue-eyed surfer type of way. While it wasn't easy to meet new people, Casey was trying not to stick to any sort of plan. Go with the flow like Derek told her to do. Besides, this guy could be a good distraction from everything. (And yes, everything was code for Derek.)

"I'm Casey," she introduced herself, awkwardly holding out her hand.

"I'm Brock, Sam's friend from college. It's nice to meet you, Casey." He shook her hand, holding on for a fragment too long.

Derek was returning from the kitchen, having raided the good beer from Sam's fridge. He stopped short when he noticed Casey shaking hands with some strange guy. He quickly turned to his friend to ask who the guy was, but Sam was nowhere to be found. Typical.

Instead, Derek walked up to Emily on the dance floor.

"Hey, who's that guy with Casey?" He asked, pretending to dance along with her.

Emily stopped dancing and turned to look at her best friend. She squinted her eyes to see but eventually shrugged her shoulders.

"I don't know, Der, but he's cute," she smiled, happy for Casey.

"Cute? You mean strange? What kind of guy walks up to a random girl and starts chatting her up at a party?" He scoffed.

"Uh, you do." Emily made a fair point. Derek flirted with random girls all of the time. Heck, it was rare he even introduced himself before trying to make out with them. He felt sick to his stomach at his own awful behavior.

"Oh, yeah, sounds like me." Derek started toward Casey when Emily tugged at his collar, pulling him back.

"Leave Casey alone, Derek. She's having a good time. Don't spoil it for her," Emily warned.

"It's not like her to -"

"To what? To have a good time? Casey needs to have a little fun in her life. She was just saying on the way over how she needed to live in the moment."

Derek had been so engrossed in the radio on the way over that he had never heard Casey say anything. So this was clearly his fault. If he hadn't told her to abandon that resolution list, she wouldn't be living in the moment. His advice totally backfired. Living in the moment can be very dangerous!

"Did she?" He grimaced.

"Yeah. She doesn't want to plan out her relationships anymore."

Great.

Derek managed to stay away from his stepsister for most of the night. His eyes stayed heavily on the countdown clock, watching as Ralph and some of the guys played beer pong.

Derek wanted to go home early, but he wasn't going to be the first one to leave before the clock struck midnight. So he waited and waited and waited.

Finally, the countdown started.

"Ten, nine, eight, seven!"

Derek noticed everyone was getting ready to kiss their significant others, a detail he had forgotten happened on this holiday. Normally, finding someone to kiss would be first on his list on New Year's Eve, but with Casey taking over his mind, it had been the last.

If Casey was living in the moment, did that mean she would...?

Derek shuffled through the crowd to get to her.

"Three, two, one! Happy New Year!"

He was too late. When Derek found Casey, her mouth was on someone else's.

At first, he stood there like an idiot watching them, feet sinking into the floor and head spinning like the disco ball from above. He felt like the world as he knew it did end as the clock struck midnight on New Year's Eve.

Quickly recovering, because he had to, Derek snatched Casey's hand mid-kiss and pulled her to the dance floor, losing themselves into the crowd of applause, party poppers, and cheers.

"Derek, why did you do that?!" She gasped.

"What's a new year without annoying you the first chance I get?" He nervously replied, dropping her hand from his.

"You're lucky I'm not mad," she hesitated.

"That's unusual for you. Why aren't you mad? I just ruined your hot date."

"Because it wasn't a hot date. Okay, sure, I was being harmlessly flirtatious, but I told Brock I didn't want to kiss anyone at midnight. I know, I know - I was supposed to be living in the moment, per your advice, but kissing a stranger didn't feel right to me. So yeah, he kissed me, anyway." Derek's advice was biting him in the butt, so much so he was running out of ass cheeks.

"Woah, he kissed you after you told him not to? Where is he?" Derek was livid. No girl should be forced to kiss anyone. No means no, and that's without debate.

"Derek, no!" Casey didn't want to start any drama, but it was too late. Derek wasn't letting this go.

While Derek was boiling, Casey was melting at his sudden need to be chivalrous. As much as she hated drama, she enjoyed seeing him be so protective over her.

Derek found Brock and interrupted the guy's conversation with yet another innocent girl.

"Brock, right?" Derek's nostrils flared.

"Uh, yeah?"

"Why did you kiss my stepsister when she politely asked you not to?" Brock had better wipe that grin off his face because, unlike Casey, Derek was the opposite of polite.

"I assumed every girl wants to be kissed on New Year's Eve," Brock said.

"So if I assume every jackass wants a fist to their face on New Year's Eve, that would be okay with you, too?" Derek stood tall, literally praying Brock would throw the first punch so he could have his way with him.

"Look, man, I'm not looking for any trouble." Brock put his hands up, and the girl next to him fled the scene in fear of a fight.

"And there won't be any as long as you apologize and never come back here," Derek warned.

"This isn't your party, dude; it's Sam's."

"Sam is my best friend, and I've never met you, so you must not be that important. Get your shit and leave." Derek was dead serious.

"What's going on?" Sam heard the argument and rushed over to settle things down.

Derek explained what was going on, and Sam, being a stand-up guy, kicked Brock to the curb where he belonged.

Casey apologized for any inconvenience this caused Sam and told Derek to drive her and Emily home.

Once in their driveway, Derek spoke again.

"You didn't have to apologize to Sam back at the party. You didn't do anything wrong. That guy was a total loser."

"And you were... chivalrous," she admitted.

"More than Max?" That was something he didn't mean to say out loud, and his tone was unintentionally bitter, as well.

"Why do you say that?" She asked, taken aback.

"Uh, I don't know. Only that you complained about the guy not being protective enough."

"Are you trying to compare yourself to Max?" It wouldn't be the first time, but not for the reason Casey secretly hoped for.

"No. Although I do like being better than others."

Casey caught him by surprise and hugged Derek. The tension in his shoulders released itself as he grew comfortable. A mix of alcohol and perfume wafted in the air next to him.

"What are you doing?" He asked.

"Living in the moment," she smiled.

Maybe he did give great advice, after all.

"Okay, that's enough of that." Casey let go of him, reaching to unbuckle her seatbelt.

"Thanks, Derek, for sticking up for me."

"You two were out late last night," George said, chomping on his cereal with milk dribbling down his chin. Casey cringed at the sight of this.

"Yeah, Dad. That's kind of the point of New Year's Eve," Derek replied.

George was also late coming in from a side gig with his George of the Jungle oldies band.

"Did you have a good time?" George asked.

"Yeah." Derek wasn't about to give his dad a play-by-play of the night.

"Uh, yeah," Casey agreed with Derek.

"Except I slept horribly since Casey's big feet hogged the bed."

"I do not have big feet! And at least my feet don't stink like Edwin's."

Alright, so Casey didn't have large feet, but Derek did sleep horribly - that part was true.

"Well, I could use a neck rub." Derek suggested this to his father before getting the biggest laugh ever in response.

"Nice try, son."

"Casey?" Derek turned toward his stepsister.

"I don't think you want my hands that close to your neck," she rolled her eyes.

"Skip the neck rub, Derek. You two need to grab a shower before the company gets here."

George was not suggesting they shower together, but the way he said what he said caused Derek and Casey to both shift uncomfortably in their seats, avoiding eye contact with one another.

"Company? Who?" Casey asked.

"Your cousin, Victoria."

"Victoria?!" Casey repeated.

"Icky Vicky?!" Derek responded.

"Wait, I thought you liked her," Casey eyed Derek suspiciously.

"No. I thought she was hot. She's horrible, and her voice is like nails on a chalkboard."

"Derek," George shot his son a look.

"What? It's true. Casey agrees."

"It's true, George. I love her because she's family, but she's not my favorite person," Casey admitted, reaching to pour herself some cereal.

"Family? That's funny; I've never made out with my cousin's girlfriend before," Derek stated, referring to Vicki and Truman.

"Yes, she's horrible. All I know is Edwin better watch out because he could very well be the next guy on her list."

"Sweet!" Edwin came in with perfect timing.

"No one is making out with Victoria today. She's only here for lunch and heading back home," George explained.

"Good." Derek and Casey said in unison.

When lunch came around, Casey was less than thrilled to spend time with Victoria. All of those bad memories started circling. Vicki had kissed at least three of her crushes, one of her boyfriends, and Derek.

"So, what have you been up to, dear cousin?" Casey smiled ever-so politely - lips so sweet they could kill.

"I'm in beauty school."

"With a pretty face like that, I'm not surprised," Edwin remarked.

"Edwin, stop flirting." Derek slapped the back of his brother's head, trying to get him to stop doing that weird thing with his eyebrows.

"I'm sure you're at the top of your class, cuz. You were always so smart," Vicki told Casey.

"Yes, well, it's crazy how I manage to get good grades without stealing someone else's work," Casey smiled.

Derek nearly dropped his fork when Casey started throwing shots.

"You can't steal what was never someone else's," Vicki smiled back.

Nora whispered to George that she didn't think they were talking about grades anymore, if ever at all.

"I wouldn't steal because I would be too afraid the work I stole would be worthy of failure, which is usually the case."

"I didn't steal Truman, Casey!" Vicki stood up, placing her napkin on the table.

Casey was next to get up in a hurry. Lizzie tugged at Casey's shirt to get her to simmer down, but to no avail.

"Sit back down, Victoria! There's plenty of leftover mashed potatoes for you to eat, and they're a little stale, just how you like them." Catching the entire table of people off guard, Casey grabbed a handful of food and tossed it in Icky Vicki's direction, barely missing her face.

Derek was dying of laughter, choking on his own stale food. The proper girl he knew had disappeared, but luckily for him, she was hot when she was angry.

"That is enough, ladies!" Nora interrupted.

"Don't forget bland, Case," Derek added, helping out his stepsister.

"I got this, Derek. And yeah, bland!" Casey shouted.

"Everyone, quiet! This is a new year, and we are going to start out fresh. We are going to forget the past and move forward. Right, Casey?"

Nora agreed that Vicki's past was questionable, but it was important to find forgiveness in the most trying of times.

Casey's plan was to have no plan at all. The argument with her cousin was entirely unplanned, but it felt good to release some of the anger from the last time she saw Vicki.

"Fine! In the spirit of New Year's, I'll put aside my differences with my scheming, lying cousin, Vicki."

The two girls finally sat down again to appease Nora.

"I really am sorry, Case," Vicki mumbled.

"I know." Casey didn't entirely believe Vicki, but she promised she wouldn't let her cousin ever get to her again.

The rest of lunch went by peacefully, with the two cousins making light conversation.

Casey helped her mother clean the kitchen while Derek walked Vicki out to her car. I think everyone was glad lunch was over.

"I hope Casey forgives me one day," Vicki told Derek.

"Casey doesn't usually hold grudges. I think she needed to let off some steam in order to fully move on. As for me, if you do anything stupid again to hurt Casey, you'll have bigger problems on your hands." Derek was serious. He doesn't forgive and forget when it involves his family. When it involves Casey.

"Does Casey know you're this protective over her?"

"I'm protective over her because she's too nice. Someone has to look out for her," he answered.

"And that someone is you? I knew from day one that you weren't the nuisance stepbrother she made you out to be. You two had this weird bond, and naturally, I was jealous. I guess that's why I kissed you... out of spite." Derek didn't want to be reminded of the worst moment of his life.

"Yeah, I figured that one out," he chuckled.

"And you only kissed me to distract yourself from her, didn't you? I look like Casey, so you used me, right?"

"No." The king of denial.

Vicki wasn't buying the lies.

"And then you got your little brother to secretly film us so Casey would have to see it, hoping it would get a rise out of her. That's diabolical. Seriously, even I'm impressed."

"Don't you have somewhere to be?" Derek was angry. Angry because Vicki may have been right, and he didn't realize all the twisted things he's done until now. The lengths he'd go to get a rise out of Casey.

He wished he could take that stupid kiss with Vicki back. A kiss that was horrible, by the way. No feelings or emotions involved. Just bland.

Vicki opened her car door but turned around for a final word.

"Derek, don't wait until it's too late. I know what jealousy can do to a person."