A/N: Last chapter…
Oh, and a warning: there's a lot of language in this chapter. I'm sorry if that offends you or anything, but…people get mad…
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The Venturi/McDonald household was tense the evening of the hockey game against St. Peter's. Casey and Derek were quiet all through dinner. Casey kept wringing her hands in her lap and Derek barely ate any of his dinner.
"Is everything ok?" Nora asked, observing the two teenager's nervous idiosyncrasies.
"Yes," Derek and Casey said in unison.
Edwin rolled his eyes, "Derek is freaked out because of the game today, but I don't know why Casey is freaked out."
Everyone looked at Casey.
"It's a very important game," Casey said defensively as she stared at Derek's grim face.
A car horn beeped from outside.
"That's Chad, I've got to go," Casey got up from her chair.
"Aren't you coming to the game?" George asked.
"Yeah, we're just getting some coffee before," Casey pulled on her coat.
Derek stood up and walked over to her.
"Are you sure you're ok with this?" He asked in a low voice.
"Yes, I'm sticking to the plan we talked about yesterday," Casey looked up at his brown eyes.
When Derek still didn't look sure, Casey sighed, "Don't worry Derek. Chad will never make it to that game. I'll make sure of it."
She smiled and he smiled back.
"Bye, and good luck," Casey said as she walked out the door.
"You too," Derek called after her.
He shut the door and returned to the table. Everyone was staring at him.
"What?" He snapped.
Nora and George raised their eyebrows, but went back to eating their food. Edwin, Lizzie, and Marti tried not to giggle. No one could figure out why Derek and Casey were suddenly getting along.
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Casey got into the car with Chad. To appear friendly, Casey kissed him on the cheek. Chad wanted to take the kiss a little further, but Casey wasn't feeling that friendly.
"Let's just go Chad," Casey said trying to hide the annoyance she was feeling.
Chad sighed and pulled out onto the street. They drove in silence. After a few minutes Chad couldn't stand the silence anymore. He turned on the radio. A loud, obnoxious sound filled the air.
"I love this song!" Chad shouted.
"Who's it by?" Casey shouted back.
"The Pinheads!"
Casey stifled a snort. She remembered Derek talking about that band just a couple of hours before. He described them as a "sell-out, frat-ass" band, that would unfortunately, still be played on the radio because the band was, for reasons unknown, liked by a lot of people. Casey smiled. As she looked out the window, she wondered what Derek was doing.
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Derek took a deep breath. He doubled checked that he had all his equipment in his sports bag. He looked at himself in the mirror. You got this, Venturi, he thought. He opened the door and walked downstairs. Edwin and Lizzie were sitting on the couch.
"So, you and Casey have been pretty… chummy lately," Edwin smirked.
Lizzie giggled. Derek growled.
"Shut up, Edwin," he said as he smacked Edwin in the head.
"Besides," Derek smirked, while he nodded at Lizzie, "You shouldn't be talking."
Both Edwin and Lizzie turned bright red.
"Shut up, Derek," Lizzie said as she crossed her arms.
"Let's go, everyone!" Derek shouted to his parents in the kitchen. He slung his bag over his shoulder. Marti came bounding in.
"I'm so excited to see you play Smerek!" Marti squealed.
"I'm glad you're coming Smarti," Derek grinned as he picked her up.
Soon the Venturi/MacDonald family was all bundled up and ready to go to the hockey game.
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Casey sighed. She and Chad were in the Smelly Nelly coffeehouse. Chad was just now finishing his third cup of coffee, while Casey had barely touched hers. She checked the clock. Soon Chad would want to leave for the game.
"I have to go to the bathroom," Casey excused herself. She grabbed her purse and headed off in the direction of the bathroom. When Chad wasn't looking Casey slipped outside. She shivered in the cold because she had left her jacket on her chair. It was dark out and the only light came from the moon. Casey walked over to Chad's car. She turned around and made sure no one was looking. She pulled the pocketknife that Derek had given her out of her purse. She checked one more time that no one was watching and then she bent down in front of Chad's front left tire. She started stabbing at the tire, letting out all the air. She also stabbed his right front tire just in case he had one extra tire in the back. Casey felt a little guilty. She knew it was wrong to damage other people's property and she knew she could get in big trouble if she were caught. As she walked around Chad's car she noticed something in the backseat. Casey opened the car door and picked it up. When she read what it was she almost laughed. Chad Pratt would be ruined if she exposed what she had found. She shoved it into her purse and walked away.
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Casey walked back into the coffeehouse. Chad was still sitting at the table, but he was talking on his cell phone. Casey walked back to the table and sat down. Chad hung up the phone and frowned at her.
"Your nose is a little red, are you ok?" He asked.
Casey smiled, "It's just allergies."
"Whatever, just don't breathe on me," Chad looked at his watch, "Hey, we've got to get going."
He stood up.
Casey smiled, "Sure. Let's drive to the game."
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"JESUS FUCKING CHRIST! Who did this?" Chad screamed when he saw his tires.
Casey was a little shocked by his outburst, but she recovered quickly, "Oh my gosh, why would someone do this?"
"FUCK!" Chad screamed.
Casey rolled her eyes. She checked her watch. It read 7:00. Casey smiled. The game was now starting.
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"Where the hell is Pratt?" Derek's coach yelled.
The whole team shrugged. The coach had just given one of his inspiring speeches and they were all sitting in the locker room changed and ready to go.
"Man, I can't believe he'd let the team down like that," Sam whispered to Derek.
Derek snorted, "I can."
Derek called out to the coach, "Coach, he's obviously not going to show. Why don't you put Sam in his position? He played right wing last season."
"Fine. Now boys, get out there and play a helluva game!" The coach shouted.
The boys yelled and cheered as they ran to their bench. The crowd was loud and full of energy. Derek got a lot of applause and cheering when he skated onto the ice. The air was thick with intensity. Derek shoved on his helmet and got ready for the ref's whistle.
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Casey looked at her watch. It was 7:30. Chad was spitting into his cell phone, begging for rides from people. Unfortunately, everyone was either busy or not picking up because they were at the hockey game. There were five minute breaks between each of the twenty minute periods, so the teams were five minutes into the second period. Casey sighed. Chad slammed his cell phone closed.
"What a bunch of fucking morons," he muttered to himself.
Casey looked up. An old man was approaching. Chad looked up and saw him too.
"Hi there son, looks like your tires are busted, do you need a ride?" The old man asked politely.
Casey pulled Chad aside.
"We can't go with him. I don't know him," Casey said even though the man looked harmless.
"So? We need a ride and he's offering," Chad shrugged.
"Well, we shouldn't accept rides from strangers," Casey insisted but Chad ignored her.
"Sure, let's go," he said to the old man as he dragged Casey along with him.
Damn, Casey thought, the game isn't over yet. I need to stall. The whole car ride Chad kept ordering the man to go faster, while Casey kept telling him to go slower.
"I don't want to get in an accident!" Casey complained.
They finally reached the hockey rink at 4:47. The third period was about to start in three minutes. Dammit, Casey thought as she ran after Chad into the ice rink. Chad ran down the hallway to the locker room. Casey ran to find Derek. He was filling up his water bottle in another hallway.
"Derek!" Casey yelled out of breath.
Derek looked up, shocked to see Casey, "Case! What's wrong? What happened?"
"He's here!" She said catching her breath.
"What? How? Didn't it work?" Derek asked confused.
Casey sighed, "It did, but then this old man came and offered us a ride and I couldn't stop him and-"
"Where is he right now?"
"Locker room."
Derek and Casey ran to the locker room. Chad was just coming out. He saw Derek.
"Venturi, you fucking sonuvabitch!" Chad slammed Derek into the wall.
"I know you paid one of your dumb-ass friends to fuck up my car," Chad spat in Derek's face.
"Chad, stop!" Casey yelled, pulling Chad off Derek.
Derek pulled himself up and smirked at Chad, "Chad I didn't need to pay anyone to fuck up your car."
Casey crossed her arms, "Chad, you don't know that Derek was responsible for it."
"Oh, I know," Chad snarled, "That ass-fuck has had it out for me since day one!"
"Bullshit," Casey frowned.
Chad's eyes widened, "Wait, are you standing up for him?"
Chad's mouth was hanging open. Then he looked at Casey and Derek and something seemed to come together in his head. He started to laugh maliciously.
"You like him. Oh my god, you like him," Chad said between laughs.
"You two," Chad pointed at Casey and Derek as he grinned, "You both-you're brother and sister you realize that? God, you're so fucked-"
Casey's eyes flashed and she grabbed a soda that had been abandoned on a bench nearby. She poured it all on Chad's head. Then Derek punched him in the face. Chad was so surprised by the turn of events that he fell over.
"Now here's what's going to happen Mr. Pratt," Derek said calmly stepping over Chad, "You're going to go to your mommy, who's sitting in the stands, and you are going to go home and never speak a word of this to anyone-"
"And if you do tell anyone," Casey continued, "You will wish you had never been born."
Casey pulled out the papers she had found in Chad's car. Chad turned pale when he saw them.
"Where did you get those?" He gasped.
"It doesn't matter, the only thing that matters is that I've got them and if I release them you won't-"
"Ok, ok, I get it," Chad sighed. "I won't say anything."
"Good," Derek said.
Chad got up and walked away.
Casey and Derek started walking towards the ice.
"So, what were you talking about…with those papers?" Derek asked.
"Oh," Casey said and she showed them to him.
Derek's eyebrows went up.
"Wow," Derek looked at Casey.
"I know," Casey replied.
They stopped near the door that led to the benches.
"Oh hey, what's the score?" Casey asked, just remembering.
"One to one," Derek muttered, "Not our best game…"
He looked down at his feet then back up at Casey.
"Well, are you or are you not the infamous Derek Venturi?" Casey ginned playfully.
Derek grinned back.
"So, go out there and win," Casey commanded as she poked his shoulder.
"Now there's an order that I'll follow."
Casey laughed, "Good luck, Derek."
And before she could stop herself, she kissed him on the cheek. The kiss was as fast as lightning, but she could still feel his smooth skin on her lips as she ran away.
She found Nora, George, Edwin, Lizzie, and Marti in the stands and she sat down next to them. For the rest of the game her eyes stayed only on one player.
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Derek scored two goals in the third period. The family was so proud of him, especially Casey. When the game was over Casey anxiously waited outside the locker rooms for Derek.
When he came out Casey said excitedly, "That was amazing Derek!"
Derek grinned and she flung her arms around him. Derek's hands tightened around Casey's back as she rested her head under his neck. All Casey could think about was how good, and warm, and wonderful it was to be this close to Derek. She couldn't remember the last time they hugged, if they ever had. Casey's arms tightened around his back as he breathed into her hair. Her whole body felt like it had been jolted by electricity as she touched him. Fireworks were going off in her stomach and she couldn't let go…
Until, "You little whore!" A familiar voice screeched from behind Casey.
Casey and Derek jumped apart.
Mrs. Pratt was standing there with a ferocious look on her face. Her fury was no longer masked.
Mrs. Pratt snarled, "What do you think you're doing? You're going out with my son-"
"Excuse me?" Casey glared at her, "For your information, I was hugging my stepbrother! And as for your little son, we are not dating anymore!" Casey realized belatedly that she had never actually broken up with Chad, but she didn't care. Chad knew it was over between them.
"By the way, you should watch out for him. With all the lying he does, he'll be in jail for fraud on his eighteenth birthday!" Casey snapped at Mrs. Pratt, "And one more thing, never speak to me that way again!"
She grabbed Derek's arm and pulled him away from a speechless Mrs. Pratt.
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Derek had on a devilish grin as he and Casey walked back to the car. Derek looked over at Casey for the billionth time.
"What?" Casey asked when she caught him staring.
"You really know how to set people straight," Derek observed.
"I have my ways," Casey replied.
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Back at the Venturi/MacDonald household everyone was celebrating. Drinks were passed around as everyone was sitting in the family room laughing and talking. Casey smiled. She loved this. She loved how happy her family was together. Even though things could get chaotic between them, there was still an overall sense of right hanging over them. Each one of them had their flaws, but Casey realized she loved them for it. She looked over at Derek across the room. She caught his eye and smiled. He grinned and nodded at her.
The End
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A/N: Ok, so you might be wondering why Casey and Derek didn't kiss or confess their feelings for one another. When I started this story that's how I thought it would end, but when I started this chapter I realized it wasn't the right time for it. Yet. Don't worry! I'm making a sequel to this story. I'm not sure what it will be called, so just look for my username again. I know exactly how I'm starting the first chapter of it and I know you guys will like it wink, wink
I never did tell you exactly what kind of papers Casey found that would ruin Chad, but it's basically inconsequential. It was something to do with St. Peter's and Chad's dad's company.
I don't know if you noticed this, but I alternated spelling Casey's last name between MacDonald and McDonald. I don't know which it is because in the credits it's spelled MacDonald, but in the episode 'Two Timing Derek' it's spelled McDonald. Whatever.
Thank you if you reviewed and thank you if you're reading this now.
I'll be back,
Emma