Summary: Derek starts having confusion over things with Sara and his confusing emotions over Casey.
Rating: K
Disclaimer: Don't own LWD
Chapter Six: Icky Vicki
"So, D..." Sam looked uncomfortable as Derek felt. They were sitting around by themselves at a table at Smelly Nelly's while the girls were in the bathroom.
"I'm sorry man," Derek said.
"I getcha," Sam nodded. "You were just..."
"Totally," Derek nodded vigorously. "And I'm seeing a Paul and all now, so it's..."
"Definitely," Sam said. "You know, we should hang out this weekend." And just like that, Derek Venturi and Sam Richards were back to being friends.
"Hey guys," Casey came back with Sara and sat next to Sam, giving him a peck on the cheek. "Did we interrupt anything?"
"Nah," Sam shrugged. "Derek and I were thinking about getting the band back together though," he grinned and Derek grinned back.
"Even me?" Casey asked warily. She was usually excluded when Derek talked about D-Rock. Sam glanced over at Derek who shrugged.
"Why not?" Derek said quickly. "You usually end up part of the band anyway. Might as well make you officially the lead singer."
"You have a band?" Sara asked. "That's so cool! What kind of music do you guys play? Have you played any coffee houses or bars?"
"Well, we're a little young for the bar scene," Casey said, interrupting Derek who had just opened his mouth to speak. "But we played a school talent show and an open mic night here at Smelly's. Oh, and we did this show at a retirement home for Ralph's grandma and her friends."
"Which we still do not speak of," Derek glared at Casey who blushed. "It never happened and we promised never to speak of it again, right?"
"Right," Casey said sheepishly. "Anyway, so what were you guys thinking?"
"Just having band rehearsal this weekend," Sam said casually. "Probably just for fun, really."
"Wow. Well, if you were interested in like, playing at a gig, I have a cousin looking for a band to play at her wedding," Sara said eagerly. "I bet she'd love some cute musicians like you guys."
"Oh hmm," Sam said.
"We'd love to do it!" Derek and Casey said at the same time. Derek glared at Casey who remembered her conversation with Paul and backed down.
"I'll give you guys her number," Sara said brightly. "Anyway so like, what kind of food do you guys have here?" she asked, glancing at the menu. "I have specific tastes. Like, I don't really like hot dogs or tater tots, I mean, who eats balled up hash browns anyway?"
"They have pie," Sam offered. "Blueberry and Boston Cream. And some others."
"I love Boston Cream Pie!" Sara exclaimed.
"Me too!" Sam said brightly.
"I like Apple," Casey said with a sniff, eyeing Sara.
"Well I like hamburgers and I like getting some service around here," he said the last part loud enough for Marco, the new waiter, to hear. Marco hurried over as soon as he finished at a table across from theirs and stood in front of Derek.
"Hi," Marco looked nervous and Derek crossed his arms. "What can I get you guys to drink?"
"Root beer."
"Water with lemon."
"Splash."
"Same for me," Sara added.
"Alright," Marco jotted the orders down diligently and scurried off.
"So, what's new with everyone?" Sara asked. "I mean, I hardly know you guys and I only know Derek because I married him when I was seven and you kinda don't forget something like that," she said in a joking voice.
Casey wrinkled her nose at that comment. "You married Derek? I always thought he'd be the last McDonald-Venturi to get married, not the first."
"Well it only lasted three days," Sara said. "I found out my family was moving to Saskatchewan and we got a divorce."
"Yup, sound like Derek." Casey smirked and Derek rolled his eyes and casually slung his shoulder around Sara. Marco came back at that moment with their drinks and Derek was forced to move his arm back.
"So, what would you all like to eat?" Marco asked, flipping his order pad open to a new page.
"Hamburger, steak fries and a piece of oreo cake."
"A house salad with balsamic vinagarette and a slice of Boston Cream Pie."
"Mushroom swiss burger, poutine and a piece of Boston Cream Pie."
"I'll have a grilled cheese sandwich but could you make it with whole wheat bread instead of white and I'd like a slice of pepper-jack, a slice of mozzerella, some tomato and a slice of sharp cheddar in that order. And I would like my poutine without the curds. I'd also like a piece of Apple pie with low-fat whipped cream and a maraschino cherry on top."
Marco wrote furiously, nodding along with each specific order for the last one. Derek looked annoyed at Casey who just ignored him and handed over her menu.
"What's the best thing to do on a Friday night around here?" Sara asked, looking around at the other high schoolers who were also hanging out at Smelly's.
"Hockey games," Derek and Sam said in unison. They smirked and Casey rolled her eyes.
"If you're into that sort of thing," she said with a sniff of disdain. "Not that it's not...oodles of fun," she glanced at Sam with a tinge of red on her cheeks. "It's just not really...my thing very much."
"Well I love hockey," Sara said, shrugging. "I watched it all the time in Saskatchewan. It's not like there's a whole lot to do in the middle of the country." she giggled. "Actually, I can play a bit myself. My boyfriend taught me. Do you guys play?" she asked curiously.
"Yup," Derek said. "We're both on the school team."
"D is pretty awesome," Sam added with a nod. "Definitely come watch us sometime."
"I'll be there," Sara said quickly. Their food arrived and the group continued chatting as they ate. Finally, when the food was cleared and the checks paid, Derek drove Sam and Sara to their houses before heading home with Casey.
"Sara seems nice," Casey said stiffly. Derek kept his eyes on the road, shrugging.
"Yeah, she is nice," he said.
"She's very...friendly."
"Yep." Casey didn't respond to him after that and they both sat in silence for the remainder of the short drive to their house. At home, Casey bounded off to her room and Derek headed to his, figuring he needed to get started on his homework or he'd be up late trying to finish.
As he worked though, his mind kept drifting back to his time with Sara. She was really cute with long blonde hair and emerald green eyes...he had forgotten those cute green eyes in the long time since they last saw each other. Plus, she played hockey. He didn't know any other girl who could play hockey except maybe Lizzie who didn't count since she was his sister.
Not only did she play hockey but she was offering D-Rock a proper gig, something that could take them places. Besides that one time with Ralph's grandma (which they still don't speak of and he only thinks about because of the circumstances of this situation), they haven't done any real work. Their band was mostly for fun but he figured they should at least give one last good effort before they all left for university.
Derek's mind continued to wander as he did his homework and he found it hard to focus on anything but Sara's pretty green eyes. Eventually he stopped, figuring a break would clear his head.
He logged onto his livejournal account and started a new entry.
Two steps forward, one step back
So I decided to put the brakes on dating for now. I mean, my head is all messed up with confusion over C and I don't think it would be fair to date some girl while I don't know if I like another. But the thing is, someone I knew a long time ago has reentered my life today. Someone who doesn't make me confused. Someone who might make me want to stop thinking about C.
Ever since I've known her, C has made my life nothing but chaos. Sometimes I think I like the chaos that she brings. Today though, this other person made me feel a sort of inner peace and maybe peace would be better for me since my life is heading in a new direction right now.
But...every move I make blurs the lines and every step I take gets harder. My heart says one thing, my head says another and ne'er the two shall meet.
Mood: Romantically challenged
Location: The In-Between Place
Music: Rope of Glass "Breathe in and Out"
Derek stopped writing, feeling a sense of relief wash over him as he pressed the 'publish entry' button. It always felt so good to get his words out of himself, to be able to give voice to the constant confusion of thoughts inside his head. He leaned back and reread the entry, smiling for the first time in a few hours.
He finished his homework before dinner and spent the rest of the evening zoned out watching hockey and reruns of "Fat Chance", a VTV dating show. He managed not to think about either Casey or Sara, even during one rerun where a guy had to pick between a girl who danced ballet and a girl who played hockey.
Finally, exhausted from his day, his head hit the pillow and he went to sleep.
"Hey, Derek," Derek glanced up from his desk and saw that Sara was walking towards him. Something was off about her though, something looked strange.
"Hi," Derek said. "What are you doing in my French class? You're in Advanced French."
"Oui," Sara said with a giggle. "But I wanted to see you." Derek smirked and Sara jumped on his desk and sat in front of him.
"It's so lonely without you," she cooed. "I miss seeing you everywhere."
"I'm right here," Derek said, his voice suddenly low and hoarse.
"I see that," she said, reaching out to brush a strand of hair out of his eyes. She leaned down, closer and closer and he could see her green eyes but they changed, they were blue and she didn't have blond hair anymore, it was brown...she wasn't Sara...
"Casey!" Derek jerked back, leaping out of his seat.
He sat up with a jolt, breathing heavily. It was bizarre and Derek suddenly felt agitated. He got up and went downstairs to get a glass of water, too keyed up to go back to sleep.
The next day, Derek avoided both girls as much as he could. It worked until he woke up the next night in a cold sweat, having had another dream. This time he was on a ship at sea when Sara appeared out of nowhere. He began to dance with her, spinning her all around the deck. When she twirled around, she flew back into his arms as Casey and he had almost kissed her but woke up again.
***** *** *****
"Hi," Derek said, running a hand through his hair for the fifteenth time that morning.
"Hi," Paul looked up from some papers and Derek slumped into his seat. "You don't look so good," he commented.
"I didn't sleep so well," Derek said, hesitant to tell Paul about his misstep ever since Paul had praised him for taking a step back from girls.
"What's going on?" Paul leaned forward, and took a sip of his coffee.
"Well..." Derek thought how to phrase things. "You may have noticed there's a new student around school."
"I did," Paul smiled. "She transferred from Saskatchewan."
"Yep," Derek nodded. "Do you remember where I told you that my first girlfriend moved away to?"
"Wait...Sara Wilcox is your Sara?" Paul looked flabbergasted. "Whoa. I thought that kind of thing only happened in movies..."
"Yeah," Derek shrugged. "So she's everything I remember and more, and she's amazing. She plays hockey, she likes to eat and she's cute and interesting and..."
"Hmm. Sounds to me like you might like this girl," Paul smirked. Derek looked down at his hands, fiddling with his wrist cuff.
"Maybe. I don't know," Derek admitted. "Can we just talk about the list right now? I don't really want to talk about the Sara situation."
"If that's what you want," Paul said. "But I'm here if you need an unbiased ear to figure things out."
"Thanks," Derek smiled a genuine smile. "So...the next girlfriend." He opened the paper that was just a formality at this point and cleared his throat. A giggle bubbled up in the back of his throat and he tried not to laugh.
"Ahh...Victoria Pollick," he couldn't hold it back anymore and started laughing. "Icky Vicki."
"No." Paul tried not to smile as well. "You mean...Cousin Vicki?"
"Cousin Vicki," Derek nodded. "Well Nora's sister Fiona was getting married. And even though Nora's sister is a total basket-case, Nora decided to do the nice thing and hold the wedding at her house..."
Then everything fell apart and Casey stepped in to help, to get everything organized. Back then, I remember that Casey was really uptight, moreso than she is now and had no clue what it meant to have fun or take a chill. She was even more stressed out because Cousin Vicki was going to be there.
When Vicki got there, I didn't see it then, at least not until Edwin pointed it out. She was gorgeous, to me. She was hot, relaxed, fun...we made out after the wedding and then we dated for a couple weeks. But then Edwin pointed it out to me. I was dating Casey's clone. She looked -exactly- like Casey. I realized the reason I was dating her was because she was somehow this...alternate version of Casey.
It was sort of horrifying. I guess maybe I wanted to be friends with Casey but she was way too uptight and not the kind of person I'd hang around. All into school and being a super keener and stuff like that...so I settled for the next best thing.
And I won't say dating Vicki was awful. I mean, she was fun, spontaneous, a real bad-girl. Everything Casey wasn't. Even better, she was as casual about dating as I was. We dated for less than two weeks but it was the funnest two weeks of my life. I was finally with a girl who didn't care if I called and even went out with other guys and told me about it.
But eventually I guess the combination of getting bored easily and ironically, having nothing real in common with her made me stray and she didn't seem to care too much so it just...ended.
Derek finished, sighing deeply. The Vicki story wore him out. He felt like he was tired of talking, that's all he felt like he did lately was talk about his feelings.
"So why did you put her on the list then?" Paul asked. He raised his eyebrows, waiting for Derek's answer.
"I don't know," Derek shrugged. "I guess...it was the first major thing I had after the wedding and it was with someone Casey was related to, maybe?"
"Hmm," Paul murmured, tapping his chin with his finger. "You mentioned having no feelings for Casey at that point in time, do you think you do now?"
"That's the thing," Derek said. "I don't know. That's why I've been having these weird dreams, that's why I'm avoiding dating anyone else, I don't know how I feel."
"At least you recognize that there may be something there," Paul said. "What are your dreams about?"
"Well, it's been the same the last couple of nights," Derek said. "I start off alone and then Sara appears, usually out of nowhere and then turns into Casey, who I almost kiss but then I wake up at the last minute." he shook his head. "I just don't know who I actually like, not for sure at least."
"You should explore your dreams. I believe dreams tell us important things about ourselves that our subconscious already knows," Paul said. "Think about it for the next week and let me know if you notice any patterns in your dreams, something will make it significant enough to tell you which girl it is that you prefer."
"Okay," Derek nodded. "I just wish I could figure it out and get some sleep!"
"And maybe still keep your ban on dating," Paul added.
"Yeah," Derek said. "Definitely no dating till my head gets itself cleared up."
"Good luck with that," Paul said. "Our time is up though, so remember to keep a dream diary and to report back what happens next time, let me know what you discover."
"Sure thing," Derek stood up. "Thanks Paul, see you later."
"See you later Derek," Paul said and Derek slipped out the door and headed to his class.
A/N: A little early but here it is! What a plot twist, Derek and Sara? Here on out, all the girlfriends will be familiar! You should recognize them all as actual characters on the show. As always, enjoy and let me know if you like it!