It's November 5th, otherwise known as Derek's seventeenth birthday, and Derek was hyped for his (non-surprise) birthday party tonight at the Venturi house. He'd been getting "Happy Birthday!" 's and well wishes from people in the hall all day, mainly his friends and admirers. He's beyond happy that this year no one decided to surprise him with a party or a car. Derek has found that he's not too fond of surprises, much to his surprise. Get it? Don't tell Edwin he just thought that.

Anyway, Derek had just finished a good hockey practice with the team: fast-paced, tough, and grueling. It was a nice outlet for everything he kept bottled up, because everyone knows Derek Venturi and feelings were not best friends. However, after helping Nora with her business deal things had been pretty good all-around lately. Sure, Derek's grades were still terrible and college was coming up, but Derek was dating Emily, hockey was going well, he was still team captain, and his pranking streak with Casey was right on track. He didn't have a care in the world. It was his birthday, after all!

Then Derek heard a familiar high-pitched squeal and he and Sam both stopped in the hallway and looked at each other in recognition. Derek rolled his eyes and sighed. Casey. But Sam shook his head and mouthed Emily. They slowly crept to the edge of the hall corner and looked to see who was right.

Well, they were both idiots because Casey and Emily stood not ten feet away squealing over whatever it was girls though appropriate to make high pitched shrieks at. Derek just hoped it didn't have to do with him. Did he say anything sweet to Emily recently? Derek didn't think so. It probably had to do with Truman, if Derek really thought long enough to wonder. Now that Casey and Truman were finally dating, Casey had been out of Derek's hair more often. They were even going out on a date tonight so they wouldn't be at Derek's birthday party. Another perk of the day!

Derek headed toward the two squealing ladies, calling out, "Hey Spacey. Emily."

The squealing abruptly died down. The duo automatically turned toward the Derek and Sam, who were still walking toward them.

"Hey Sam. Derek," Casey greeted wryly.

"Hey, Derek! Sam," Emily greeted much more enthusiastically.

"What're you two doing wandering the empty halls after hockey practice?" Casey asked. Her gaze going from Sam to Derek.

Derek, who was about to respond, when, upon making eye contact with Casey, Derek cried out in pain (very gruffly if anyone asked). He heard a twin shout of anguish from her general direction but he didn't have time to piece it together before the pain exploded in his head like a migraine. Suddenly it was bursting all over his body, a punch to the stomach which Derek had taken (and given) before so he knew what he was talking about here, all his bones and muscles like the worst growth pains as if his body was trying to grow closer to hers, and then a harsh tug in his gut and his chest as if all the air had been knocked from his lungs and the only way he would get it back was to get closer to her. And then it stopped and there was just soreness in three places on his body: the right side of his neck, his right wrist, and right over his heart. The soreness on his neck and wrist were just over his pulse points and when Derek turned to look there was blood flowing from all three spots (he had to reach up and gingerly touch his neck to confirm that he was bleeding there as well). It stupidly took him a few minutes to figure out was what happening, but when his head cleared and the pain ebbed he realized what was going on.

Casey, the Queen of Feelings was silent. For once in her life, something had actually shocked her speechless. It was refreshing, nice even. Then Derek remembered why she had gone speechless and his brain kicked into overdrive.

"Oh no. No no no no no. It can't be Casey. I don't even like Casey!" He yelled exasperated. This can't be happening, this can't be happening, this can't-

"Hey, it'll be okay," Sam. Right. They were in the middle of the school hallway and anyone could see walk in on them. Emily was trying to talk to Casey, make sure she was okay, keep her from hyperventilating probably. Derek realized he was having a hard time keeping from hyperventilating himself. But Sam. He had Sam. Sam who was telling him that "It'll be alright" and asking him "Are you okay?" And that was too much for Derek. Of course, soul bonding to his stepsister wouldn't push him over the edge but someone asking Derek how he felt would.

"No! I'm not okay!" This obviously startled Sam, but he put a hand on Derek's shoulder anyway trying to reassure him again that it was alright. All of a sudden, a rush of nausea fell over Derek and he suddenly felt as if the only person who should be touching him right now was Casey and that just made Derek ten times angrier.

Derek slapped away Sam's hand and stumbled trying to stand up.

"This has to be some kind of mistake." A wave a dizziness hit Derek from standing up too fast.

"There's no way we are meant to be Bonded." Another stumble.

"This is all wrong. I don't even like her. Like at all." Sam took a cautious step toward Derek.

"She's Klutzilla and a keener and-" Derek's rambling seemed to wake Casey up.

"Well, I don't want to be Bonded with you either!" Casey yelled across the hall. She then slumped against Emily and the lockers as if shouting at him had taken all her energy up. Derek half remembered that women were known to be hit harder by the effects of the marking process, but he pushed that thought away because it led to sympathy for Casey of all people and he would have none of that, especially now.

Derek opened his mouth to retort that there was no way Casey could want this any less than he did when he was cut off by a-

"Hey! What's going on here?"

Casey had gone silent again. A glare sharpening her features. It took about thirty seconds for Principal Lassiter to figure out what had happened. The pool of blood seeping from Derek and Casey's clothing was a dead giveaway, especially since they were on opposite sides of the hallway.

"Let's get you two to the hospital." The principal looked around. "Mr. Richards, Ms. Davis! Thank you for volunteering to help. If you could escort them outside to my car, we can proceed to the hospital from there."

"I can drive them in Derek and Casey's car, sir," Sam offered shyly.

"Nonsense. There's so much blood it looked like someone died in here! I'll take them myself. You two just get them in the car. I'll call their parents." Principal Lassiter literally threw his keys at Sam and walked off back into his office. Derek silently cursed whoever thought getting the principal was a good idea. Wait a minute, who got the principal?

Derek shooed the thought away during the uncomfortable walk to the parking lot. If the fact that Derek and Casey were now apparently Soul Bonded wasn't awkward enough, apparently getting one's Soul Bond mark meant not wanting to be touched by anyone else. If that fact that Casey wouldn't let Emily touch her either was any indication, it was obviously a two sided effect. The stumbling and nausea was just a bonus, like a cherry on top of an ice cream Sunday. Nope, don't think of food. Derek prayed to all the gods he could think of that this was all a dream.

For now, their luck was enough, because Derek and Sam knew which car was the principal's due to previous pranks. Derek half wondered if Principal Lassiter knew they knew which car was his or didn't care enough to keep them from figuring it out themselves.

They managed to get into the car with minimal touching (from everyone), with Derek in the passenger side and Casey in the back seat. Casey didn't even attempt to argue about the seating arrangement. In fact, she hadn't said a word since the yelling match in the hallway.

Derek opened his mouth to just get things back to normal when he realized: This is very much not normal. Derek didn't like lists nearly as much as Casey, but if he had to make one about all the things wrong with what just happened, it would go something like this-

"Alright, your parents are going to meet us at the hospital. Try not to bleed all over my leather seats." Principal Lassiter started the car without another word.

Or not. Rain check on the lists thing, kay?

Derek idly wondered what Sam and Emily would do now upon being left in the parking lot after school, finding out their two best friends were now Bonded. He hoped that Emily would keep her mouth shut and not gossip it all over town. But if Derek were being honest, he knew that come morning, everyone in school would know about his Soul Bonding to his step-sister.

Derek sighed. He had been to the hospital before because of rough-housing and hockey incidents. The waiting room alone usually took hours, then it was a matter of the whole Bonding process and Derek had vaguely heard from older friends that there was a registration process for Bonding too. Derek turned his head out the window. This was going to take forever. Worst. Birthday. Ever.

As it turned out, Derek and Casey's Bonding was so bizarre that they were taken into the doctor's office right away. All it took was for Principal Lassiter to tell the nurse at the counter that Derek and Casey were both underage and they had not one, not two, but three Soul Bonding marks. Needless to say, the nurse scoffed and came over to where Derek and Casey were sitting- three chairs apart- to see for herself if what the good Principal said was true. Derek would have laughed at the expression on Principal Lassiter's face when the nurse told him she didn't believe him, if it had been under different circumstances.

The nurse directed Derek and Casey to a secluded room in the back of the hospital where another nurse abruptly took Derek's wrist, upon sitting down, and started cleaning off the dried blood. Derek barely held in a gasp from the skin-crawling feeling he got when she touched his wrist, even if she was wearing gloves. He caught a hint of Casey's smug smirk at his pain, before the nurse got out another antiseptic wipe and started on Casey's wrist too. Casey flinched. Derek smirked.

The smirk didn't last. A second female nurse joined the first, and usually Derek would be all over that, but right now he was too busy trying to remain masculine in the face of nausea and goose-bumps that occurred when the second nurse reached over to clean Derek's neck.

"Sir, could you please remove your shirt?" The second nurse- her name tag read Anna- asked Derek politely. She was a young red-head with an excellent r-

"Only, if you do first, " Derek cheekily responded.

The nurse, smiled, again politely. She then pointedly shifted her eyes in Casey's direction and asked again.

"Please, sir. If you could just remove your shirt, we'll give you a clean one after we have cleaned your mark."

Derek opened his mouth to voice another flirty remark, but he saw the uncomfortable forced look on the nur-Anna's face and thought twice. Closing his mouth, he nodded silently, and proceeded to take off the offending garment.

A quiet gasp came when Derek was lifting his shirt over his head, but when he opened his eyes he wasn't sure if it was one of the nurses or Casey who had been surprised. They all certainly looked it, staring wide-eyed at his chest.

Derek slowly looked down at his chest and saw multiple large, thick circles around his heart, they repeated outward so that the entire left side of his chest looked like a big thick target with the bullseye directly over where his heart was beating rapidly.

Derek opened his mouth to say- what exactly, he wasn't sure. But was saved when Anna leaned in with a clean wipe and touched his chest. Derek immediately dry heaved and his head spun. Anna reacted fast, stepping back, as if she was used to teenagers puking on her every day. Derek took a minute to breathe and settle down.

From there on, Anna just gave Derek the wipe and stepped back with her polite smile.

At last, Derek was escorted to a separate doctor's room and told to wait for the doctor himself. Derek hadn't seen his dad or Nora yet, but he sincerely hoped that they would get here soon. Derek would never admit it out loud, but having all these strangers around during a huge life changing moment was not what Derek wanted. He was even tempted to phone his mom- his real mom, Abby, -to see if she would come to his aid, but a little voice in his head that stupidly sounded like Casey told him his mom was even farther away than his dad and Nora.

Thankfully, the good doctor came in before his brain could do any more thinking (or worrying).

"Hello, Mr. Venturi. My name is Dr. Gilmour; I will be the doctor assigned to your case." The doctor was a middle aged man with short brown hair and a light blue stethoscope hanging around his neck, over his white lab coat.

"My case?" Derek questioned, unable to stop himself.

"Yes. Soul Bonding is uncommon, as I'm sure you're aware. Your Soul Bonding to um-" here Dr. Gilmour checked his files, sitting down at his desk, "Ms. Casey McDonald, was very unusual, however."

Derek did not need a PhD to know that his Soul Bonding to Casey was unusual, hence the previous rain-checked list.

"You can say that again, doc. I was told people only Bond after they've turned eighteen."

"Well, yes. That is usually the case but-"

"And I was told that Bonding only happened to people who were in love."

"Well, no. That's actually a myth. You see-"

"And I was never told it was possible to get Bonded to your freaking step-sister!" Derek realized he was shouting now and shut up immediately in embarrassment. Who was he to get worked up over something like this? Everything was fine. It was all turn out just fine. Derek took a breath. Damn, he was turning into Casey.

"Mr. Venturi," Dr. Gilmour started again, "As I was saying, the usual age for Soul Bonding occurs between the ages of eighteen and thirty." The doctor took a pause, as if expecting for Derek to interrupt again.

Derek nodded his head that he was listening.

"It is rare, but not unheard of for people to Bond after or before these specified ages."

Another nod.

Dr. Gilmour took this as an assent to continue. "There are three classes of Bondings: Class D, those who have a small mark and a very breakable Bond, Class C," Derek was already zoning out. "Those who have a slightly larger, medium sized mark and a more common Bond, Class B, those who have a large mark and a strong Bond, and, finally, Class A, those who have more than one mark, ranging in size, and have the strongest Bond on the scale. You, Mr. Venturi," Derek looked up at his last name, "are in Class A."

Derek nodded again. He was pretty sure he got it. More marks, stronger Bond. This wasn't looking good.

Just then Nora and Derek's dad decided to barge into the room, sweeping up Derek in touches and questions.

Derek flinched away, not holding his discomfort in now that Casey and Sam weren't around.

"I presume you are Mr. Venturi's parents?" Dr. Gilmour interrupted.

"Yes, yes. I'm so sorry we weren't here sooner. Just traffic and meetings, you know how it is." Nora rambled.

"Yes, of course." Dr. Gilmour responded stiffly. "Nurse." He called out into the hall.

Anna came to the door and Derek didn't even have the energy to wink at her. "Could you please bring Ms. McDonald in the room so we can all have a little chat?"

Casey came in slowly, her eyes on the ground, but when she caught sight of Nora she rushed into her arms, sobbing. Nora wrapped her arms around Casey only to be pushed away by Casey seconds later when Casey's body remembered that someone else was touching her. Someone who wasn't Derek at least. Derek tried not to think about it, or the tears still streaming down Casey's face, and turned back to the good doctor.

"So doc, as you were saying."

Casey and Nora sat down silently next to George in the other two black plushy arm chairs in the office.

"Yes, as I was explaining to Derek. There are four classes of Bondings. Each one is stronger than the last. Mr. Venturi and Ms. McDonald," he gestured toward them with his left hand, "are in Class A."

"But what does that mean?" George asked confused.

"It means, Mr. Venturi," Dr. Gilmour turned to face Derek's dad, "that your son and Ms. McDonald have the strongest Soul Bond in the class system. They have three marks each." Both dad and Nora turned to look at Derek and Casey questioningly, as if they didn't believe a word the doctor said and were looking for confirmation.

"It's true," Casey spoke up, her face still tear-streaked, her eyes red and puffy. "It happened at school. We were just talking and then suddenly, there was so much pain, and we were marked." Derek noticed Casey had on a hospital night gown over her blood-stained jeans. His own night gown was too long in the front and not long enough in the back, but he had a feeling complaining wasn't really appropriate right now.

Dad and Nora shared a look, then they nodded sluggishly, off-synch, before slowly turning back to Casey and when she didn't continue to Dr. Gilmour. Derek could tell that Nora was having particular trouble looking away from Casey, who in turn wouldn't look at her mom head on.

Dr. Gilmour cleared his throat. "Yes, well. I have been informed that you both are married, making Mr. Venturi and Ms. McDonald step-siblings is this correct?"

Nora and dad nodded. It seemed that was all anyone could do in the face of this huge shock.

"Well, because they are both underage, I am obligated to have a parent for of them in the room when I talk to them about the Bonding and registration process." Another off-synch nod. "Do you mind, if I start of by asking if the two of you are Bonded? I know it is uncommon, but I have to wonder-"

"Yes." Nora interrupted Dr. Gilmour.

"We are bonded," Derek's dad finished.

"Ah, I see. Well, this is more helpful actually. Now I can be assured that you two can fully help your son and daughter through this life-changing process." Dad gulped. "Bonding on this level, with three Soul Bond marks is extremely rare. There are only three other Class A bondings in Canada, fifteen in North America, and of the fifteen in North America, only four have three marks."

Dr. Gilmour continued, his voice in awe. "It's almost unprecedented a Bonding with three marks before the age of eighteen."

"We Bonded on my fortieth birthday," Derek's dad blurted out. As if the fact that Nora and him were out of the normal Bonding age range of eighteen to thirty would change how weird it was to have his son and his step-daughter Bonded with three marks before eighteen.

Dr. Gilmour did not look impressed. Frankly, Derek wasn't either. He had seen his dad's Soul Mark and it was barely the size of a ping pong ball. Derek would hesitantly place them in Class C. See he could pay attention when he wanted to.

"-have most likely already experienced the side effects of a Class A Bonding," Dr. Gilmour was saying.

Casey nodded for the both of them and Derek got angry. She shouldn't be able to speak for him. They weren't married!

He opened his mouth to voice his complaints when Casey shot him a glare, clearly telling him to shut up.

Derek was so shocked at the rapidity of her reaction that he did.

"Nausea, uncomfortableness, and pain are all known side effects. The marks obviously bleed when they are made and-"

"Wait a minute, pain?" Nora interrupted, sounding concerned.

"Yes. It is normal for Class A patients to feel pain upon the initial Bonding and any major Bonding moments from this point on. Nothing to be alarmed about," Dr. Gilmour continued over Nora's protests, "It's a natural reaction to such a powerful Bond being formed and confirmed. Such pain should not occur as strong as it did during the initial Bonding. The marks will, however, bleed a bit when the Bonds are confirmed in major moments moving forward in the young couple's life. Now-"

"Couple?" Derek, Nora, and dad said all at once, while Casey just sat there shell-shocked.

"Well, yes. Now that Mr. Venturi and Ms. McDonald are Bonded they are marked as a couple."

"But-"

"There are some that choose to keep their Bondings platonic, however, they are either in Class D or C. You both, being in Class A, will have a very hard time with that. Breaking the Bond is entirely out of the question, in fact." Derek tried to let this sink in. Derek and Casey. As a couple. Together. With each oth-

"Now, as I was about to say, privacy is of the utmost importance during this time. Until they are registered, I am legally obligated to ensure that only the most limited number of people know about your Bonding, seeing as you are both underage."

Derek snorted. Both Nora and dad turned to glare at him. Good luck keeping Emily's mouth shut, he thought.

"Both," Dr. Gilmour checked his files again, "Mr. Richards and Ms. Davis, who were with you when the initial Bonding process happened have been reached by your principal and strictly told to keep this to themselves. Since you both have a friend to help you through this and both your parents know, I would ask that you tell no one else that you two are Bonded." Casey nodded. "I'm sure I do not have to tell you, but there are those who are against Soul Bonds. To protect you from them and to keep the school situation the safest I would recommend you keep this secret. No one else need be alerted."

Derek was silently glad that at least Sam knew. He still doubted Emily would be able to keep it a secret though.

"I will start filing the paper work for the registration process, however, the soonest that the registration will be completed is most likely close to April, which is six months away. Upon the completion of the registration process, you will receive your Bonding bracelets to let emergency staff know that you will be each other's emergency contact and have final say in any emergency decisions. The Bond cannot be denied. Of course, you will have to think about what to bequeath to each other in your wills-"

"Wills!?" Derek's dad exclaimed.

"Yes. We will talk further about that during our next meeting. The beginning of the Bonding process is usually very unsteady. Therefore, I would suggest that we start with weekly check-ups and work from there is the succeeding months."

"Okay," Nora responded. "Shall we schedule our next appointment with you or-"

"You can do all scheduling with my assistant, Ms. Critov, in the front." Dr. Gilmour informed her.

"Alright, well great." Nora looked and sounded uncomfortable.

"I guess, we'll see you next week," Derek's dad added in.

Derek was surprise people weren't asking more questions, like how this could possibly happen, but he chocked it up to shock and put it out of his head.

"Nice to meet you," Casey politely said. She raised her hand to shake when seemingly remembering the no touching rule of the Bond and slowly put her hand back down again, offering an apologetic smile to the good doctor.

They all turned toward Derek. "Um, yeah. Nice to meet you, doc." Derek clumsily got out of his chair.

Everyone else followed suit. Nora and dad giving Dr. Gilmour a hand shake and taking his card.

The walk to the car was awkward, but not without incident. Derek tripped Casey on the way out of the hospital. In all honesty, he didn't mean to trip her but upon seeing Ms. Critov in person, he high-tailed away from there and she just happened to be in his way. It did lighten the mood though, Casey letting out a "Der-rek!", and Derek could have sworn Nora and dad's shoulders slumped in relief at the normalcy.

About halfway through the drive home, Nora turned around from the passenger seat and started talking:

"So. You're Bonded. That's exciting."

"Mom," Casey drew out the word.

Obviously, the excitement wasn't a shared feeling. Nora tried again.

"You live together, so that also means no closed bed-rooms doors for the two of you."

"Mom!"

"Right. I'm sorry, Case, I just don't know what to say here."

"It's okay, Nora. I think we're all a little shocked." Derek's dad tried to reassure his wife. "I mean, Derek and Casey? Bonded?" Dad laughed, but he was the only one. He seemed to realize this and stopped, trailing off awkwardly.

Derek just continued to look out the window. Too bad he didn't have his headphones on him. He would love to just rock this conversation away.

"George, honey." Nora chastised his Dad. "I know we are all a little surprised by this, but you heard what Dr. Gilmour said in there."

"Rare occurrence."

"Absolute privacy."

"Wills."

"No," Nora said, unaffected by everyone talking at once, "Dr. Gilmour said that the Class A Bond marks cannot be denied. Which means, that we need to figure this out because this is it for now. You two are Bonded."

Derek groaned. Casey sighed.

"You're right, mom. We need to make a plan."

"What? No. We need to just forget this ever happened and move on," Derek interjected.

"Der-ek! We can't just act like this never happened!"

"Yes, we can."

"No, we can't"

"Yes, we-"

"Okay, okay. Break it up." Nora stepped in. "Look, Casey is right. We can't just ignore this."

Derek groaned. Casey smirked, smug.

"We need to make a plan. Like what are we going to tell the kids?"

Derek hadn't quite thought that far. "Just tell them I got into a big fight in school and had to go to the hospital. Casey drove me, but got bled on from helping me walk inside and the two of you showed up worried I had broken something." Boom. Immediate lying. Derek had this all under control.

"Now about my party…"

"Oh, yes! Derek's party!" Nora seemed to have forgotten it was Derek's birthday. Sadly, Derek had not. "We have to cancel!"

"What?!" Derek had not expected that.

"No, Nora, we don't need to cancel the party. It's Derek seventeenth birthday, let the kid have a little fun," Dad said.

"Not a kid!" Derek put in.

"Well, alright," Nora ignored Derek's comment. "I guess we could still have the party. We bought all the food already anyway."

"Thank God," Derek stretched out.

Casey stayed silent.

Derek was not having fun at his own birthday party. The reason Derek was not having fun at his own birthday party was the reason that everything in his life eventually wasn't fun: Casey. She was brooding in her room upstairs, date with Truman called off, and Derek could feel her frustration from down stairs. Not only was she most likely blaming him for this whole fiasco and her ruined date with Truman, she was somehow exerting all those feelings of discontent on him and it was damn well distracting.

The party was in full swing. The blinds were closed, food was out, and music was blasting. The downstairs was packed to the brim with people and every time someone touched Derek he still got a lingering feeling of wrong.

Derek tried flirting with some attractive girls at the party, but every time he did he kept getting tripped up by the fact that he couldn't touch anyone and he'd get uncomfortable when they touched him, in turn. Derek Venturi was a tactile guy. Plus, it didn't look too good for his rep. if every time a girl touched his arm he'd shake them off. People would get ideas.

All in all, it was, to say the least, pure agony. That was when he found Ralf and Amanda talking with some hockey friends on the couch.

"Hey, D, cool party." At least he could always trust Ralf to keep things happy.

"Yeah, thanks, man," Derek said. "So, what you guys talking about?"

"The Knights," Ryan, the team's goalie, responded. Ah, hockey. Derek thought appreciatively.

Seeing as the NHL season was still going on, Derek all but jumped into the conversation about who would beat who in the next game. The Knights, being London's home team, were of course the one to cheer for. Thankfully, the team was still in the running, but everyone knew they would get beat out eventually. Therefore, the teams to really cheer for were the Toronto Maple Leafs or the Montreal Canadiens. Derek silently cheered for Toronto because Nora and Lizzie were from there and they had a pretty decent team, however, if anyone asked he was for Montreal because their team was by far the best in Canada. Everyone was hoping they would win the Stanley Cup Championships this upcoming year.

And then, of course, someone had to ruin it.

"So Derek, where's Casey?" Sam came over with a red solo cup in hand, that Derek knew had no alcohol in it. Derek gave his best friend a glare. He was so close to finally having a better night when Sam had to bring her up.

"Yeah, Derek. Where's Casey?" Amanda asked, nicely. She, of course, had no idea what she was asking because she didn't know about the Soul Bonding incident- and yes, Derek was calling it an incident- but Sam had no excuse. He should know perfectly well that Derek didn't want to even think about her on his birthday night.

"She's, ah, up in her room. Probably studying or something equally lame," Derek joked. He got a few chuckles out of the hockey team guys and Amanda, but Ralf frowned and Sam shook his head, unimpressed.

"Why don't you ask her to come down?" Sam questioned.

That earned another glare from Derek. He decided he needed to set Sam straight.

"Will you excuse us," Derek asked forcing a smile, "I need to have a little chat with Sammy here."

Derek tugged Sam toward the front door, ignoring the discomfort from the contact. He needed to have a little private chat with Sam and the downstairs was too crowded for that. He was definitely not going closer to Casey, by going upstairs.

"Dude, what gives?" Sam asked before the door even closed. "You've been off all night and Casey's in her room? On a Friday night? While there's a party going on right downstairs?"

"Yes! Casey's in her room because she chose to be. No one forced her to cancel her date. And I have not been off all night!" Derek was frustrated someone noticed, even if it was just Sam.

"Look, I know Bonding to Casey-"

"Will you keep it down!" Derek shushed his friend, "I thought I had at least until tomorrow before everyone found out!"

"Tomorrow? What's going on tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow, is when Emily's gossipy nature will have spread so far it reaches the four corners of the earth."

"The earth is round, Derek"

"Not the point, Sam"

"You're right."

"Of course, I am"

"The point is, that you are now-" Sam begrudgingly quieted down to a whisper, "Bonded to Casey. And sooner or later you need to accept that."

"I choose later then"

Sam sighed. "Look, I know it's probably a little weird, but-"

"A little weird? Dude, this is beyond weird. I'm Bonded before eighteen to my-" it was Derek's turn to whisper, "Step-sister." He looked around to double check that no one had heard.

"I'm telling you, you just need to accept it."

"No, I'm telling you. I just need to ignore it."

"So, what, you're just going to never touch anyone again?" Sam looked doubtful. How dare he doubt me..

"Yeah, if I have to." Don't let anyone say Derek was never determined.

"Alright, fine, man. Have it your way. But at least ask Casey to come down, it's not fair for her to be stuck in her room while a big party's going on downstairs."

"Life isn't fair."

"You know what I mean, D," Sam chastised.

Derek hated when he did that. "If you want her to come down so bad, you ask her."

"No, man, it has to be you."

"Why?"

"Cause she'll never believe that she can come down to your party unless it comes from you. You know how she is. She pretends to hate you, but she doesn't really want to ruin your rep," Sam was making sense again. Derek hated that too.

"Fine, I'll ask her to come down. But it's not my fault if she says no." Derek conceded.

He opened the door and pushed his way past people to get to the upstairs. Once he made his way outside Casey's door, he raised his hand to knock. Then he realized he never knocked and just opened the door and pushed right inside. There was an indignant protest from Casey, to which he ignored and shut to door behind him to make sure no one overheard.

"What do you want, Derek?" Casey was sitting on her bed, an actual book in her lap, seemingly pretending not to be frustrated with her situation even though Derek somehow could tell that she was.

"Sam, actually, was wondering if you wanted to come down stairs and join the party," Derek told her.

"Well, tell Sam that I'm not interested." Always stubborn, Casey was.

"Come on, Case. I know you want to come downstairs and you're bummed that your boyfriend canceled on you, but-"

"Truman did not cancel on me. I canceled on him."

"Why?" It was just easier to act dumb sometimes.

"Because unlike you, most humans are actually affected by major changes in their lives!"

"Hey, Sam was just trying to be nice. If you don't want to come down, you don't have to," Derek was perfectly fine with that.

"No, you know what? I think I will come down and have fun!"

"No, you don't have to. Sam was just offering," Derek quickly said.

"Well, I want to. Besides, it's a Friday night and it's my brother's birthday party is right down sta-"

"Step-brother," Derek interjected. Then cursed himself for it. It was still an important distinction. Derek and Casey being bonded wasn't actually incest.

"Right," Casey paused, "step-brother." She sounded like she was trying to convince herself of the difference.

There was an awkward couple minutes where they just stood there, not looking at each other. Neither of them daring to bring up this thing that was now between them, the fact that they were apparently Bonded by fate. Derek felt as uncomfortable as she looked. Which was just one more universal irony, wasn't it? He felt uncomfortable away from her and more uncomfortable with her. There was no in between.

"So I'll just change, then come downstairs," Casey said awkwardly.

Derek nodded and left.

A whole ten minutes later, Casey descended the stairs. She was wearing the exact same outfit, so Derek guessed she had taken the time to calm herself down and rid herself of the awkwardness between them.

"Hey, there's my klutzy step-sister!" Derek greeted when she started looking around for people she knew.

Derek was back around the couch with Ralf, Amanda, and the some of the hockey team. Again, his snide remarks earned him a few chuckles. But again, Sam was there, and he greeted her much kinder. Casey simply rolled her eyes at Derek and came over to join them.

They talked, they danced, they over all had a good time. Derek wasn't about to admit it, but Casey being there helped Derek feel better. Plus, the fact that she was done with exerting her frustrations back on him was much more comforting. Derek, Casey, Sam, Ralf, and Amanda were all in the kitchen getting some snacks after a dance break when all of a sudden things went wrong.

Derek was just teasing that Amanda and Casey looked at home in the kitchen, when he made the monumental mistake of going to sling his arm around Casey to deliver his punchline. He stopped halfway through with his arm awkwardly still lifted in the air. All eyes were on Derek. Amanda looked beyond confused as to why Derek had stopped, while Ralf was blissfully oblivious, munching on something from the freezer. Derek thought, What the heck, and slung his arm fully over Casey's shoulders, trying to play it off as nothing. Unfortunately, his long sleeve shirt rode up with the action and the offending skin on his arm touched Casey's neck. Right where the third mark was.

Casey practically melted into him. Derek froze. But the only thought that he could process was, Casey. For the first time all day, his skin was buzzing with positive energy, it was as if all his discomfort had vanished, a high like none other he'd ever felt. The skin-to-skin contact with her mark just felt right. As if it was meant all along. It was like-

"Hey, Derek, you okay?" Amanda asked. Derek realized he was staring at Casey in awe. Sam was looking between Casey and Derek with a questioning look and Ralf was still munching away, but he turned around to see what his girlfriend was talking about.

Derek and Casey jumped into action, Derek yanking his arm from her shoulder, Casey standing up straight, and they both took a step away from each other, avoiding eye contact.

"Yeah, um, I'm fine," Derek barely remembered to respond.

Suddenly there was a shout from the living room. "Yo, D, where are your parents at?"

Derek sighed. This was by far going down as the worst birthday in history.