The holidays officially came to an end, and Casey and Derek returned to college rejuvenated and ready to finish the year.

George called on Derek's off-day, suggesting he get a job instead of sitting at the apartment complaining about Casey. The only reason Derek complained about his stepsister to George was to make his father think everything was status-quo, but honestly, they were getting along very well. Regardless of the situation, Derek searched (not very hard) for a kitchen staff position so he could report back to his dad that he tried but ultimately came up short. Derek had enough cash saved up from his jobs in the past, including his D-tunes sales, to need a job. Plus, hockey took up most of his free time.

Upon returning to the apartment that evening, Casey was, of course, on the couch studying.

"Sup," he greeted, tossing his leather jacket on the coat rack.

"Hey, guess what!?" She smiled, eager to give him the good news.

"You painted your nails blue instead of pink?" Derek knocked some of her study cards away so he could sit down.

"I'm on the dean's list!" She exclaimed.

"Who the hell is Dean?" Derek shot her a look.

"It's not a guy, Derek. It's a list for those doing exceptionally well academically."

"Oh, so it's a nerd thing? Why would I care about a list you knew you were going to be on?" He asked.

Casey's smiled faded, and she turned back to look at her notes.

"No reason. I just thought you'd be happy for me. My mistake."

Oh, damn. She appeared to be really hurt by his callous dismissal, and Derek kicked himself for being such a jerk. Personally, he was struggling with school, and hockey practice was kicking his butt, but that didn't give him the right to be unsupportive.

He wanted to tell Casey he was sorry and that he wanted to hear more about her success, but he didn't. Why? Because he's an idiot.

Instead, Derek attempted to change the topic altogether.

"I've got some free time. Do you want to watch a movie?" He offered.

"No, I need to get ready for my date."

"A date? With?"

Oh, so that peaked his interest.

"I don't know. Gabbi set me up with one of her friends. I guess you could call it a blind date. All I know is his name is Jimmy."

Jimmy. Jimmy. Jimmy. Derek didn't know any Jimmys other than Jimmy Dean. Wait.. dean's list... Jimmy Dean... was she messing with him?! Apparently not, considering she capped her highlighter and left the room to get ready for this stupid date.

"A blind date? Don't you think that's a little dangerous?" He asked, hoping she would freak out and decide not to go.

Casey was trying to be more spontaneous, as this was Derek's advice to her. To go with the flow.

"We'll be out in public. George met Nora on a blind date, so who knows?"

Derek knows! He knows this is a bad idea. The thought of Casey falling in love with someone on a blind date made his blood boil.

Derek bit down on his tongue so hard, he swore it must have been bleeding. There was no use fighting her on this date because she was going regardless of his opinion. She wasn't the type of person to cancel a date at the last minute, even if it was a potentially dangerous blind date.

Of course, Casey wore her pretty pink lipgloss and blue eyeshadow, her hair in curls cascading down her neck. Derek sat holding onto the arm rest of the couch as she walked out of the door to meet her date. He must have sat in that same position for hours until he saw headlights appear from the window again that night.

She was back. Finally.

Casey and Jimmy had a nice time at a fancy restaurant. He was a true gentleman, holding doors and such, but seemed to be distracted by his phone due to calls from his fraternity brothers.

Jimmy reminded her of Derek, in the sense they were both very confident and sure of themselves. Wait. Why was she thinking about Derek?

Thinking about Derek and comparing Jimmy to Derek happened a lot on their date, and she was unsure of why it kept happening. She didn't want to think about her stepbrother!

As Casey's date walked her up to the apartment, she told him she had a great time.

"Maybe I'll call you for a second date," Jimmy said.

"Maybe I'll say yes," she smiled.

So maybe it wasn't exactly love at first blind date, but she really did like Jimmy. She hoped a kiss could spark up some mutual feelings, but before Jimmy could even try to kiss her, the door swung open.

"Casey! Home so soon?"

Derek stood in the doorway wearing only a pair of boxers, a bag of chips in hand.

"I'm sorry. Who is this?" Jimmy asked.

Casey opened her mouth to speak, but Derek beat her to it.

"I'm Casey's stepbrother."

"This is Derek," Casey added.

"I didn't know Casey had a stepbrother. Hey, I'm Jimmy." Jimmy extended his hand, but Derek stuffed his hand in the bag of chips, leaning against the door frame as he started to burp.

"You'll have to excuse him, Jimmy; he was raised in a barn."

Jimmy took his hand back, situating it into his pocket.

"That's alright. I really should be going, anyway."

"Okay, yeah." Casey and Jimmy awkwardly reached for a hug.

I guess she wasn't getting a goodnight kiss after all.

"I'll call you?" Jimmy looked from Casey to Derek, smirking.

"Yeah, sure," she smiled.

Casey quickly rushed inside, pulling Derek with her, and slammed the door shut.

"Shouldn't you be in bed?!" She yelled.

"I don't have a bed."

"Shouldn't you be on the couch, then?" She asked.

"Why are you so angry? Did the date not meet your expectations?" He asked.

"The date was fine. You're the reason I'm angry! You ruined our first kiss!" She scolded, placing her hands on her hips.

"You should be thanking me. There was zero chemistry between you two. I mean, that hug was weird enough," Derek said, tossing the chip bag on the floor so he could dust his hands off.

"Of course, it was weird! You were standing right there!"

"And since when has that stopped you? You and Sam had no problem holding hands right in front of me. Face it: you can't manufacture chemistry, and there was none with you and him."

He had a point about Sam, but that didn't mean chemistry couldn't build over time.

"But this was supposed to be our first kiss." A kiss that was meant to be a distraction. (A distraction from her thoughts about Derek, she knew that deep down, but it failed.)

Derek found himself getting as angry as Casey. He had no reason to be angry because Casey was allowed to date and kiss any guy she wanted, but still, he couldn't help it.

Derek took a step forward, hovering over her.

"Well, I'm sorry you didn't get your lipgloss ruined tonight, Princess. Here, I'll help take it off," Derek ran his thumb across both of her lips, smearing her lipgloss to her cheek. It was meant to be an act of revenge for making him feel so horrible this evening, but instead, his fingers lingered too long on her jaw, and he lost himself for a second.

Not once had he ever touched her lips before, especially with his fingers. It was too intimate, and even though Casey appeared to be oblivious, Derek knew he crossed a line. A line he knew he had to back away from immediately.

"Pick up your bag of chips, Derek. And throw the trash away; it's a pigsty in here." Casey rubbed at her stained cheeks with the back of her hand, settling onto the couch.

"Oink. Oink." He quickly recovered himself for the sake of standing behind that invisible line.

Derek reluctantly picked up his trash and started for the door. Once outside, he couldn't believe Jimmy was still in the driveway, shining the headlights in his face.

What the hell was Jimmy's problem? Was he intending to make Derek suffer for as long as possible?

"Lost?" Derek called out.

"No, my GPS is slow. I hope Casey doesn't think I'm weird by sitting here in her driveway," Jimmy nervously laughed.

"Casey? She was born weird."

"Oh? I think Casey is a great girl," Jimmy grinned.

"Yeah, she is. And you seem like a great guy, but I should be honest with you. I don't think Casey is interested in you." Derek was intervening where he shouldn't have been.

"Did she say something?"

"Yeah, something about lack of chemistry," Derek shrugged, tossing his wrinkled bag of trash into the dumpster, all the while holding his breath.

"That's okay. Hopefully, another date can change her mind."

And... his plan backfired.

"You're going out with her again?"

"I don't see why not. Like I said, I think she's a great girl." God, Jimmy was not giving up! Derek couldn't blame the guy; Casey was annoyingly attractive.

The power of the lipgloss, Derek cursed to himself.

"I know she's great; she my stepsister and -"

"And I'll see you when I pick her up again," Jimmy smiled, reversing his vehicle out of the driveway.

Derek smiled and waved goodbye while biting down extremely hard on his tongue.

Oh, Jimmy was testing him on purpose. Hell was coming in hot tonight.

Jimmy could take her on another date, on another ten dates...it didn't matter. Derek spent his nights with her, knew her better than anyone, and this guy wasn't competition. Derek wasn't exaggerating when he said there wasn't chemistry there, and Casey would see that eventually.

Speaking of Casey, she was still sitting on the couch when Derek went back inside. She was cuddled up with a blanket, her date night outfit still on, and makeup still smeared.

Now that Jimmy was gone, the guilt started to settle in.

"Here." Derek handed Casey a tissue for her mouth, his little way of apologizing without words.

Casey reluctantly took the tissue and started to wipe her makeup off.

"You can have the couch back; I'm going to bed."

Before she could get up, he stopped her.

"Wait."

"What do you want, Derek?" She asked, irritated.

"Tell me about that list of yours."

"What?" Casey turned to look at him, confused.

"The list of Dean or whatever."

"It's the dean's list, and you don't want to hear about it; you made that very clear," she said.

"I changed my mind. Tell me about it," he said.

"I did. In layman's terms..."

"What did you just call me?"

Casey rolled her eyes.

"It's a list for the overachiever," she continued before Derek could interrupt again.

"You nerds and your lists. Is there at least a party thrown for those on the list?"

Just like Derek to want a party.

"No, Derek, there's not," Casey laughed.

It's good to hear her laugh again, Derek thought.

"The party wouldn't have alcohol, anyway," he assumed.

"Or girls that wanted to hook up with you," she added.

"That's offensive. I'm deeply hurt." Derek placed a hand over his heart, pretending to be upset.

"Says the king of offensive comments," she rolled her eyes again.

"Oh, I'm the king?" He smirked.

"Unfortunately."

"But seriously, Case, you deserve recognition for your grades. I know when I get a trophy for winning a game, there's nothing better. It makes killing myself at practice worth it."

"It's nice to be recognized."

With her courseload, Casey chose not to join a sorority or try out for extracurriculars, so yes, it was nice to see her schoolwork paying off.

That being said, she was grateful to have Derek there to get her out of the rubble of books sometimes. If it hadn't been for Derek, Casey's head would constantly be buried in her studies, unhealthily so.

Derek understood Casey's problem all-too well, as he chose hockey over everything - fraternity and otherwise. But Casey was there to focus him on other things that were important, like grades.

They made a great team.

The shackles they put around themselves came loose in each others' presence, reminding them that they're only human - humans that needed each other.

And humans that made mistakes.