The One, a "Life With Derek" fanfiction

by l-NonToxic-l

08.29.2007

Discliamer: I don't own 'LWD' or the characters. Or the song.

Pairings: Dasey. Implied ex-Masey.

So, is this what you wanted?

Too bad. It's what you got.

So should this be my farewell?

Come on, you know me too well.

-- "The Ultimate Coverup" by The Audition

Derek swung the door open, only to be met with a red-faced Casey.

"DER-EK!" she shrieked, "This is the girl's washroom!"

No shit, Case. He dead-bolted the door behind him, not wanting interruptions.

"Get the hell out of here." She wasn't hysterical anymore. That's a plus.

"Not gonna happen, Case."

She slapped him, hard, across the right cheek. His hand immediately flew up to his face. Perfect, my lip is bleeding, he thought. Great start, Venturi.

"God-damnit, woman, will you just let me explain?!"

"Explain what, Derek? Why you decided to try to kill Max?"

"I did not try to kill him." Not that it wouldn't have been a nice bonus if he's happen to die while I was punching him.

"You had no reason to."

"You were making out with him, Casey. In our house. A week after he broke up with you."

She was silent.

"And he broke up with you for Kendra!"

"Oh, so you're pissed at him for hooking up with your ex-girlfriend? Who, may I add, you yourself dumped."

"Not at all, Case. I hated what he was doing to you. He was turning you into a girl I'd date!"

"And that's so horrible?" Casey asked, stung.

"Yes! They're not classy. They're not like you. I didn't want to have to watch you turn into one of those… blondes!"

"Oh, God forbid I'm the type you date, Derek. Not just make out with at random when I have a boyfriend!"

"Don't you get it?! It's a constant cycle, Case! It's such a Catch-22 and I HATE it!"

Casey raised her eyebrows at him, daring him to continue.

Never one to turn down a dare, Derek obliged. "The smart girls, the ones like you, would never date me. Because they see the way I go through the… well, the girls I go through. I know you love describing them in your Websterly way, so I'll let you fill in the blanks."

Derek took a deep breath. He was sick of insulting her.

"So I keep dating these girls hoping one of them is the type I really want. But they never are. Because the type I really want are the girls that are immune to my charm." His anger was subsiding, Casey could tell. His shoulders slumped slightly, and his eyes showed defeat. "The ones that are smart enough to see how I'm treating these girls, even if they're all okay with it."

That's it, Derek. He thought to himself. No turning back.

"The ones that challenge me, that make me work harder. The ones that are so beautiful they don't even know it. The ones that are sweet and genuine to everyone but me. The ones who don't take shit from me, that can stand up to me."

He inhaled a long, slow breath, readying himself.

"The one that smells like vanilla," he continued, the change from plural to singular not going unnoticed by Casey.

"The one that… that never lets me have her left over French fries at dinner, even if she has no plans of ever eating them. The one that would rather feed them to the garbage disposal just to spite me." She chuckled softly, tears brimming in her blue eyes.

"The one that hates being around me so much that I have to irritate the living shit out of her to get her to pay any attention to me." He took her hands in each of his, holding them up at shoulder level between them and fixing his eyes on his left intertwined with her right. "The one that furrows her brow and bites on her pen caps when she's really concentrating on schoolwork. The one that is always so willing to help me just because she's such a good person. The one who makes pancakes for her family on Saturday mornings just because she knows we're all busy. The one who dances so well to such horrible music that I can tolerate it just by watching her. The one who blasts that horrible music whenever she's mad at me because she knows her speakers overpower mine. The one who will flip through channels when a Leafs game is on just because it's her night to have control of the remote." He finally tore his gaze from their hands to look her directly in the eyes. "The one that I've been completely and irrevocably in love with since the day I met her."

Casey smiled at him and laughed softly. "And you say I'm Websterly."

Derek leaned in and kissed her. Not too hard, not full of passion. Just… sweet. Something he'd never done before. He didn't try to deepen it. He was just content with knowing she wasn't pushing him away. "I love you," he whispered against her lips.

"I have no idea why, but I love you, too," she whispered back, smiling still.