The Girlfriend List

Thanks muchly to MagicAngel101 for the idea!

Prologue: The Fight

Derek watched surreptitiously as his stepsister made-out with his best friend on the family couch. It was disgusting. He wanted to punch something. He settled for smacking the wall though. "Ugh," he muttered to himself. His anger at the situation boiled up even more. Without thinking things through, he headed towards the living room. He clenched his fists by his sides, feeling the anger surging through his veins.

"Why do you have to be such a fucking asshole about this?" he screamed at the couple on the couch. He jerked Sam's collar, bringing him up and socked him in the stomach. That felt good. Too good. Casey yelped his name but Derek ignored her as he continued to pummel his ex best friend. He landed a punch on Sam's jaw and another in his stomach again. Sam tried to fight back but Derek's rage was too strong. Casey screamed, jumping on Derek to pull him away but Derek ignored her, continuing to take his anger out on his best friend. Derek pulled his fist away, ready to land another punch and noticed it was covered in blood. Sam's blood. He could see himself getting totally out of control but he couldn't stop himself; it was like watching a boxing match on TV—he watched himself land punch after punch on Sam's body, his friend almost too weak to fight back. They grappled though, a little and broke a few items in the struggle. Finally, Sam managed to wrench himself away and land a punch to Derek that made him stagger backwards into the wall. Casey reached out and slapped Derek across the face twice and he felt himself wake up.

"Oh my god," he whispered. It seemed so unreal, so unlike him to do this kind of thing. Sam was glaring at him and trying to hide Casey behind him. Casey looked spitting angry and like she wanted to deliver a few choice blows to her stepbrother herself. She cradled the broken and defeated looking Sam whose mouth was dripping with blood and Derek slumped against the wall.

"Let's go to the hospital," Derek said quietly. "Casey, here," he tossed her the keys to the Prince. "You drive." He didn't see her response, he merely followed behind them silently, wishing he could disappear for a while. The couple sat in the front seat; Casey's knuckles were white as she gripped the steering column. The ride was silent and Derek closed his eyes, trying to figure out what had made him go so completely nuts.

"You're in so much trouble," Casey said, looking at Derek in the rearview mirror. "You need help." Derek nodded weakly, which surprised Casey. He was the last person to admit needing any kind of help. They pulled into the parking lot and Casey shut off the car.

"You sign us in," Casey said, voice almost sounding accusatory. "I need to help Sam." Derek took his punishment silently, staggering towards the bright lights of the emergency room. His hand felt like it was on fire and his ribs hurt. He wiped his forehead, which was sticky with semi-dried blood. He didn't know whose blood it was. The nurse on duty seemed bored as he filled out the necessary paperwork. He took a seat in an uncomfortable plastic chair, waiting on Casey and Sam to come inside. They came in finally, Casey supporting a dazed looking Sam and sat down on the far side of the room from him. He couldn't blame them, it was so out of character, so unlike Derek to get so out of control like that. He wished he could figure out what had made him snap.

The chair was uncomfortable and Derek was tired of waiting his turn. They had all been there for hours but when the nurse called Derek's name finally, Casey had taken Sam in instead, glaring at Derek as if daring him to defy her decision. He hadn't, of course. He shifted in the too-small chair and tried to catch a few z's. Unfortunately, a mother and her small son had just come in and the son was crying a storm of tears. Derek sighed and watched as Casey and Sam finally came out.

"Sam Smith?" Derek stood up, aching all over. Casey glared at him and ushered Sam towards the door.

"I'm taking him home," she said. "I'll send Mom or George to get you." Derek winced.

"You can't tell them," he protested feebly, but Casey was shaking her head.

"You messed up big," she said. "There's no getting out of it this time." Derek glanced over at the nurse, who looked irritated at having to wait.

"Please?" he asked one last time. Casey shook her head again and Derek knew he was a dead man. He walked toward the nurse, hoping that she'd somehow change her mind.

After he was cleaned up, stitched up and bandaged up and warned not to get into any more fights again, he finally was allowed to leave. His ribs were bound up, having bruised one when the two boys rolled into a table in their fighting; Derek winced every time he took a deep breath. George was waiting for him in the waiting area when he came out of the ER. He looked furious.

"Why did you do it?" George demanded, as soon as he saw Derek come out. Casey had obviously filled him in. Derek shrugged. He didn't really even know himself.

"That's not a good enough answer," George said. He walked to the car, not looking at his son and Derek felt ashamed. "Sam's your best friend. You don't just randomly go ape and beat up your best friend unless there's a reason." He turned to Derek.

"He hasn't done something to hurt Casey, has he?" George searched Derek's eyes, the sudden thought worrying him. "Tell me if he has."

"No dad, he didn't do anything to hurt Casey," Derek's head was pounding now, a throbbing headache forming in his skull. "I don't know why I did it."

"Well Derek, there's obviously some sort of problem here. I think you should see a counselor."

"What?" Derek turned to look at his father in the car. "I don't…"

"No, there's no discussing the matter," George looked at the road ahead, keeping his voice level calm. "You obviously have a few issues that need sorting out."

"Fine," Derek said through clenched teeth. "But I refuse to let you pay some quack shrink. I want to see someone at school," his mind was on Paul, someone he had talked to before, someone he thought he could talk to again easily. At least he knew Paul, and felt comfortable with him.

"If you promise to talk to Paul and he recommends that you see someone outside the school, will you comply?" George asked.

"I don't know," Derek stared out the window at the passing darkness, willing his headache to go away. They pulled into the driveway and Derek got out, walking stiffly to the front steps, his dad following behind.

"You need to apologize to Casey and Sam," George said. "And you're paying for Sam's medical bill."

"Whatever," Derek muttered under his breath. "Fine Dad."

"No, not fine!" George snapped. "You don't beat up anyone again Derek. Understand?" Derek's head was pounding and he just wanted to forget about his mistake.

"Yes dad," Derek walked into the house. Nora was awake still, sitting at the dining table, waiting for her husband to come home. Derek ignored them both and walked up the stairs to his bedroom. He went in, sinking into the comfort of his mattress. The door squeaked open and he ignored whoever it was.

"Here," Casey's voice floated over the top of him and he felt something being pressed into his palm. He sat up again, wincing when the pain erupted in his head. "It's aspirin, for the pain," she said. Her voice had an edge to it. "Sam had a headache and I figured you probably did too." She pressed a paper cup of water into his hands too and he swallowed the pills, followed by the water.

"Thanks," his voice sounded groggy. "Casey…I'm sorry."

"Save it Derek," She snapped. "I was only brought this because I thought you were probably in as much pain as Sam and he wouldn't want you to be, no matter how I feel about you right now."

"Casey…" Derek tried to speak again but his head was still hurting.

"No, I don't want to hear it from you tonight." Casey turned and walked out of his room and Derek collapsed back on his bed. He was unconscious after a few moments.

DerekandCaseyDerekandCaseyDerekandCasey

"So…" Paul tapped his fingers together, waiting. Derek sat on the couch in silence. "I'm assuming you came to see me for a reason?" Silence. "How are you doing?"

"Fine," Derek shifted, feeling uncomfortable.

"So…" Paul repeated.

"I dunno," Derek shrugged. "I kind of beat up my best friend last night." Paul raised an eyebrow.

"Why?" Derek shrugged again.

"I dunno." Paul reached for a notepad, pulling it in front of him. He didn't want to take notes just yet though; he would have preferred to let Derek get comfortable talking to him first.

"Tell me what happened then." Derek stared at him. "Just tell me what you were doing that day right up until you started throwing punches." Derek shifted again on the couch and cleared his throat.

"Uh. Well…I guess that day I was just…I woke up around 11; it was Sunday so I wasn't in a hurry to get up anytime early. I ate some cereal and then waited forever to use the bathroom. "Casey was all hogging the bathroom all morning and then when I finally got in, it stunk of her perfume," he made a face.

Paul nodded. "Interesting. Go on."

"I got changed and played some street hockey with a few buddies. Then Sam came over later but he didn't want to hang out with me, he wanted to hang out with Casey," he spat. "They were all cuddly wuvvy duvvy on the couch and I wanted to watch a movie but they were already watching Casey's favorite movie, Pride and Prejudice. I just couldn't stand it anymore. Casey was totally brainwashing my best friend. He hated Pride and Prejudice but Casey made him watch it and he totally acts like he loves it now. It's ridiculous," Derek grumbled. "The two of them are so messed up. Plus I thought they couldn't be in a relationship or something. They kept breaking up every time they were together before. Then when Casey broke up with that dumb jock Max, the two of them decided to get back together, like they were on some stupid soap opera or something."

"Hmm…" Paul was taking notes now. He had a few suspicions about things but decided to just let Derek keep talking, for now.

"Anyway, so I just socked him in the stomach and it felt good. Really good. I just kept punching and hitting and it was weird…like I didn't even know I was doing it. I just kept hitting out and it made me feel better until I woke up sort of. I didn't mean to wail on Sam. He's my best friend." Derek bit his thumbnail. "So yeah."

"So you said it felt good to hurt Sam. Have you ever felt like you wanted to strike out before like this?"

"No," Derek said quickly. "I mean…some goofs will annoy me and stuff but I don't usually do that kind of thing. I'm no rage-maniac."

"Have you ever gotten into a physical fight with Sam before?" Paul asked. Derek looked away guiltily.

"Yeah…back when they were first together. But he broke the Guy Code!" Derek protested.

"Which is what?" Paul asked.

"Relations are off-limits." Derek said, crossing his arms. "A guy can't date his best friend's sister or stepsister or half-sister or cousin."

"That's very interesting," Paul said. "Why don't you want Casey and Sam to be together? Don't they seem happy to you?"

"They don't!" Derek spat. "They fought every time they were together last time. And this time won't be any different, trust me."

"Well, our time is up," Paul said. "I think you should see me twice a week for a while, just to kind of talk things through." When Derek grimaced, Paul smiled. "The more often you come, the faster we can work through what happened and figure out how to move on and not let it happen again and you won't have to come back." Derek looked satisfied at that. "For now though, there's some homework I'd like to give you."

"Homework?" Derek looked wary.

"Nothing complicated," Paul reassured him. "Nothing boring. I just want you to do me something. Can you make out a list of all the girls who you think were significant in your life? I mean romantically, not your mom or your sister or any female relatives, just the romantic ones."

"Why?" Derek wanted to know.

"I think maybe if you analyzed your past relationships, it might help you to understand why you interact with Casey the way you do."

"Uh…what? I don't think of Casey romantically." Derek protested.

"Just do this for me?" Paul asked. "I think it'll help. Even if you don't think of her that way."

"Whatever man. I guess if it means I can be out of here faster than sure."

"Great, thanks. Let's meet again on Wednesday during Free Period."

"Fine," Derek stood up and walked to the door. "See you then." Paul smiled after him. Oh this would definitely be an interesting case study. No pun intended.

A/N: This is promising to be a fun story! I'm having a lot of fun writing it. Mucho gracias to MagicAngel101 aka J.S. Goldberg aka Jules! Also thanks to Pink/Kat! Luff you girls! Read and review! I love reviews and I love talking to people!