Disclaimer: Sad to say that I do not own LWD.

Can I Help? (Part II)

Rumours Revealed

Derek and Casey more or less ignored the fact that the kiss itself happened, or at least that it was, in fact, a kiss. It was treated more of a statement than a kiss: They would not forget about everything they had just gone through with each other. They would not forget how they had acted toward one another, or forget about the talks they had had every night. They would have a new relationship, where they fought and verbally dueled… but also gave a shoulder to cry on and a helping hand.

They had deluded themselves the afternoon that Casey had broken up with Sam. They pretended that Casey would be 100 okay now. For those next few hours they believed it, because that's what they had to do, that's what they wanted to do. It had just seemed so promising. Casey had found her voice; she had found her confidence. In a perfect world, she would be fine now.

But the world is so rarely perfect.

And so Derek, knowing this, padded softly over to Casey's room that night and knocked on the wood of the doorway, leaning against it. She looked up from the book she was reading; knowing her, it was extra credit. She knew why he was there and gave him a somewhat tight smile.

"I'm okay now, Derek," Casey tried to explain to him. He was unbudging, taking a few steps in with his arms crossed. "Really… I am."

She hoped he would leave and go back to his room and take her word for it. So, she'd be a little disappointed if he did leave- okay, a lot- but she didn't want him feeling like he was obligated to continue their nightly meetings. After her oh-so-shocking outburst today with Sam, she wouldn't be surprised if Derek really didn't feel that she needed them anymore. And anyway, maybe she didn't need them any more.

Derek smoothly pulled her desk chair out, flipped it around, and sat down, resting his arms on the top of the back. He said nothing, only sat and stared, his eyes saying: I can wait all night. Casey threw her arms up in frustration, still holding her novel in one hand.

"Seriously, I'm fine Derek!" she insisted, just as adamant as he. Derek blinked and shook his head for a second.

"Okay, look," he started, his voice gentle, "I'm not saying you're not okay. If you say you are, then you are- and god, am I happy about that."

Casey gave him a satisfied nod and a somewhat smug half-smile.

"However," he continued, "I would still like to keep talking at night… you know, for me at least?" He grinned sheepishly, giving her just what she needed. He admitted that he enjoyed them too, that if he did it, there would be at least a little bit of selfish reason in it.

Casey grinned too and put her book down, her way of saying that it was okay and she'd like to as well. Yet, not ready to go into how she felt today after realizing how she had been feeling for so long, and unsure as to whether that that even had to be said, she scooted closer to him

"So have you remembered anything from that night yet?" Casey said in a way in which Derek could know that she was meaning it in a light-hearted way. Derek practically launched himself onto the bed in excitement, only partially faked to lift that little bit of gloom left hovering in the air.

"Actually yes! Guess what long unanswered question I finally found the answer to!"

"You really are a test tube baby?" she jokingly guessed. Derek shot her a glare, but didn't respond with another insult. Grinning, Casey shook her head. "I don't know, what?"

Derek leaned in, and told her in a low voice, "I found out who started the rumour!"

Casey, forgetting the time, squealed causing Derek to quickly clap his hand over her mouth as he told her the rest, already knowing each of her questions. Apparently, he told her, sometime during the night he got to talking to some other kid who had got to drinking too much. The kid was cocky and was all too willing to talk about things that he had accomplished; he was very obviously a freshman who had wanted too much to be cool. Derek, not really having anything else to do (it was kind of nauseating trying to play hockey drunk, he found out), sat down and indulged the kid's desire for attention. It turned out that he had started the rumour, and told Derek straight out- too drunk to see that he was talking to one of the people involved in the rumour!

Casey took his hand from her mouth and gaped at him. "Did he say why he started it?" She could tell he was on the verge of laughter as he told her.

"Get this… he thought it was true!" he paused to check out the look on her face. "He heard a fraction of what we had said in the hall one day and thought that you were freaking out on me thinking that I was going to tell people that we slept together! So he figured, this is too juicy to just keep quiet about… why not exploit it for all the popularity points he could get? … anyway, so I made sure that he would stop saying it and tell the people he had told that he was wrong." Derek shrugged.

Casey wasn't sure if she was ecstatic or angry! That little…

She glanced at Derek. He looked too happy for her to get mad. She should just be glad that it would finally be put to rest, and so she put on a smile and proceeded to have a very un-depressing conversation.

Today, she decided, ended up as quite a good day… Maybe it's the beginning of a better time…

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a/n: And there ya go kiddies! The beginning of Part Two! I hope that this part can live up to the first… now that I'm so distracted, I fear that it might not! Well, I guess we'll find out, eh:-)

Don't be shy, review!