Love to Hate You

Chapter 1

A Little Less Sixteen Candles A Little More "Touch Me"

Derek couldn't help but frown when his best friend, Sam, leaned into kiss his stepsister, Casey. He watched Casey's brown eyes light up as Sam smiled at her. He watched her brown hair blow in the breeze that was forming on the cold October day.

Derek looked like he was going to puke as they continued smiling. He ran a hand through his brown messy hair.

"You guys are making me sick," Derek finally spoke causing Casey's and Sam's eyes to break contact.

"You're just jealous because you never get to kiss anyone," he scoffed.

"Are you kidding? Remember when I kissed your cousin," this brought a glare to Casey's face. "Besides I had a date last night with June," Derek stated flatly, not the least bit excited.

"Are you trying to make me jealous?" Casey asked with a hint of a smirk forming on her face.

Sam closed his deep blue eyes and shook his sandy blonde head. "Guys, could you stop fighting for two minutes?" Sam begged more than asked.

"We wouldn't be fighting if Derek hadn't interrupted us," Casey crossed her arms over her chest.

Derek rolled his eyes. "If you two weren't shoving your tongues down each other's face I wouldn't have had anything to say."

"Come on, Derek I don't believe that," Casey rolled her eyes. "You always have something to say."

"I always have something to say?" Derek looked ready to blow his top. "It's you that always comes up with these wacky, annoying plans that always end in disaster! It's like you can't have anything a little wrong. Everything has to be perfect."

"It's better to have things perfect than messed up, Derek," she turned her face from a glare to a smirk.

Sam looked troubled. Should he side with his best friend or his girlfriend?

"What to do you think, Sam?" Casey spat out his name like a four year old eating broccoli. It was the moment Sam was dreading.

"Uh…well," he still had no idea what to say.

"That's rich," Derek snorted. "Ask Sam? You know Sam is my best friend and he would agree with me on anything. Right Sam?" Derek focused on Sam.

"Well, I," Sam looked concerned.

"Are you kidding?" Casey laughed, evilly. "Sam likes things to be in perfect order."

"Sam and perfect order don't belong in the same sentence," Derek looked from Casey to Sam. Casey had a confident look on her face, while Sam looked like he was going to throw up.

"Well, you guys are both right?" Sam smiled nervously hoping they wouldn't put up a fight with him.

"That's a cop out Sam," Casey glared from Derek to Sam. Sam checked his watch.

"Oh, look at the time. Dinner already?" Sam turned to Casey who he gave a kiss on the cheek. Then he turned to Derek, who he slapped hands with. "Later." And then there were two.

"He meant me," Derek stated like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"No, he didn't," she said.

"Yes, he did," Derek crossed his arms over his chest.

"Oh, it doesn't matter," they turned and saw Lizzie sitting on the porch swing listening to their whole conversations. "Everyone's getting sick of you two always fighting."

Casey scoffed. "You don't think I'm getting tired of all the fighting? Try talking to Derek because there is no way it's my fault," Casey stormed off leaving Derek and Lizzie alone.

Derek let his mind wander and decided that she was sexy when she was mad. How could he think that about his sister like that? No, she wasn't his sister, she was his stepsister.

"Penny for your thoughts?" He heard Nora ask him. He realized he had wondered back into the kitchen when he was thinking about Casey. He mentally slapped himself, he couldn't think about Casey.

"Uh, I was thinking about the hockey tryouts. I guess I'm a little nervous," Derek lied easily. He was so used to lying he didn't have to think about it anymore. For a time everyone thought he had stopped lying but he had just gotten better at it.

The only person who knew when he was really lying was Casey. He cursed himself for even thinking about her again.

"Oh, you'll do fine. You're one of the best hockey players I know," Nora said honestly. Derek suppressed a laugh knowing that he was the only hockey player he knew. Not that hockey tryouts mattered he was always the captain for the last two years. What mattered was getting Casey out of his head?

"What are you doing in here?" He shook his head; he was even hearing her voice. "What are you doing in here, Derek?" He realized she was talking to him. He had wondered into her room.

"I was just looking for my Fallout Boy CD, you seen it?" He asked, hoping she wouldn't get suspicious.

"From Under a Cork Tree?" she asked.

"Huh?"

"Is that that the name if the CD?" Casey asked getting impatient.

"No, Take This to Your Grave," Derek stopped. "Wait, you heard of Fallout Boy?"

"Yeah, of course," she paused. "They're my favorite band."

Derek tried to hide the shock that had come over him. "What's your favorite song?"

She didn't answer right away. She walked over to her stereo and turned it on. A Fallout Boy song started to play. Casey sung along with the lyrics and about halfway through the song Derek joined in.

I confess I messed up

Dropping I'm sorry like you're still around

And I know you dressed up

Hey kid, you'll never live this down

You're just the girl all the boys wanna dance with

And I'm just the boy who's had too many chances

I'm sleeping on your folk's front porch again, dreaming

She said, she said, she said why don't you just drop dead

I don't blame you for being you

But you can't blame me for hating it

So say, what are you waiting for kiss her, kiss her

I set my clocks early cause I know I'm always late

Write me off, give up on me

Cause darling, what did you expect

I'm just a lost cause a long shot

Don't even take this bet

You can make all the moves, aim all the spotlights

Get all the of the sighs and moans just right

I'm sleeping on your folk's front porch again, dreaming

She said, she said, she said why don't you just drop dead

I don't blame you for being you

But you can't blame me for hating it

So say, what are you waiting for kiss her, kiss her

I set my clocks early cause I know I'm always late

Always on, always on

You said you'd keep me honest

Always on, always on

But I won't call you on it

Always on, always on

I don't blame you for being you

But you can't blame me for hating it

So say, what are you waiting for kiss her, kiss her

I set my clocks early cause I know I'm always late

I set my clocks early cause I know I'm always late

Casey and Derek both looked at each other in pure shock. Derek was the one to break the silence. "I wouldn't of known you listened to Fallout Boy."

"What did you think I listened to?" Casey looked a little offended.

"I don't know some pop crap or something," he never noticed how gorgeous her voice was. Sure he had heard her sing, everyone in the house had heard her sing but this was different.

"Some pop is okay," she narrowed her eyes.

"It depends on the lyrics. Most of 'em are all about being happy because some guy asked you out," Derek said knowingly.

"Yeah, most if it is," she agreed with Derek. She never noticed how cute his boyish haircut was before now.

"Why did you sing so good?" Derek asked out of the blue.

"Excuse me?" Casey looked upset.

"It's just I heard you sing one time," he paused. "No, the whole neighborhood heard you sing one time," Casey laughed. "It just wasn't that good," he saw her glare. "No offense."

"What song was it?" Casey couldn't look at her stepbrother.

"I don't know what the hell it was called," he acted like it would be a sin if he did know what it was called.

"Sing it so me," Casey's eyes begged him. Those were the eyes the Derek couldn't resist. He began to sing.

If it's over let it go

And when you wake up

It will seem so yesterday, so yesterday

I'm just a bird that already flown away

Laugh it off, let it go and

Come tomorrow it will seem

So yesterday, so yesterday

Haven't you heard that I'm gonna be okay

Derek finished singing quietly as he could; Casey had to strain her ears to hear him. "You were listening when I was singing?" He wanted to say yes, he wanted to say that he always listened to everything she said, he wanted to say that he hung on to every word she said. He wanted her to know that he cared about her.

"It was kinda hard not to," he lied again and this time Casey could see right through him.

"You were purposely listening to me, weren't you?"

"Well, I…"

"Why?" The question that he dreaded was just thrown out in his face. He didn't know what to say.

"It sounded good," he wanted to come up with a better excuse but his mind couldn't think of one. "But it sounded why better this time. Why?"

"Because I can feel this song. I can hear more than words and instruments. It's like I can hear everything that's going on in the writer's head," Casey answered honestly.

Derek felt a pang of joy flood through his body. She had just opened up to him. Not to Sam. Not to Emily. Not to Nora. Not to George. Not to Lizzie. Not to Edwin. Not to Marty. She had opened up to Derek.

Derek just nodded. There was nothing else he could do. It wasn't like he was going to grab her, kiss her, and tell her he had feelings for her. He couldn't do it. As much as he wanted to all he could do was nod.

"I have to study," Casey nudged Derek to see if he was still alive.

"Right, study. And I have to go do something else," Derek left Casey's room with a smile on his face. And as soon as Casey closed the door and knew no one could see her, she smiled too. Not a smile like your dad just bought you a new outfit. It was a smile like the day you were getting married to the person you loved more than anything.

Casey stopped herself from thinking any further. She didn't want to think about Derek. She was sure Derek didn't want to think about her. But Casey still had a smile on her face for the rest of the night. She had a smile on her face when she crawled in bed as the day came to an end. Little did Casey know, but Derek was smiling all night too.