Title: Crash Course in Emergency Matchmaking

Rating: T

Pairing: Dasey

Summary: Emily hears something she shouldn't, and it all ends up snowballing from there. Dasey. In-progress.

Disclaimer: I don't own a thing.

Prologue:

A lot of people end up hearing about the huge blowup between Derek and Sally in the parking lot of Smellie Nellie's, but Emily Davis is the only one to actually witness it.

It pretty much snowballs from there.

Part One: Emily

"I just don't know what's going on with Derek," Casey laments as she uses her fork to spear her broccoli. "I really think this breakup with Sally's hit him hard, you know?"

"Mhm," Emily agrees around her large mouthful of food. Emily is currently shoveling her lunch into her mouth like she hasn't eaten for three days, but she's got a good reason for that.

If she's eating, she can't be talking. And if Emily can't talk, then she can't spill out anything that is best left a secret.

Thankfully, Casey's too busy chattering about Derek—which, under the circumstances, is the definition of irony—to really notice.

Emily swallows quickly, wincing, and then quickly takes a gulp of her milk as Casey continues to muse.

"—and I knew they were having problems, but still…and he's been just so quiet lately, and none of us know what to think…I've been trying to get him to open up, but you know what Derek's like—"

Actually, Emily hadn't known. She thought she had, just like everyone else here, but apparently none of them had a clue, because Derek—

Okay, so not going there. Otherwise she really will spill out everything, food in her mouth be damned, and then—well, the fallout will just be enormous. It won't just be a single disaster; it'll be a chain-reaction of disasters, each one bigger than the last.

"Em? Are you listening?"

Emily quickly takes another bite of her sandwich and nods fervently. "Mmhm," she assures Casey.

With relief, Emily looks up and notices Sam and Ralph making their way over, lunch trays in hand. Even better, Derek's nowhere in sight, which is excellent, because if he did show up and Emily had to look at him, there would be no way that she could keep her composure.

But no, it's just Ralph and Sam, setting down their lunch trays with a thump on the table and looking at Casey urgently as Sam asks, "Okay, what's the deal with Derek?"

Emily almost chokes on her sandwich.

Casey doesn't even look surprised, she just gestures at Emily and says, "See, Em, I told you there was something wrong with Derek." Turning back to the guys, who are now sitting down at the table, Casey explains, "I think he's still feeling depressed from the breakup with Sally—"

"Depressed enough to suck at hockey?" Ralph asks skeptically. "Because that's what happening."

Emily lets out a mental groan, and continues to ever-so-slowly chew.

"Really?" Casey asks, and both Sam and Ralph nod.

"Casey, I've never seen Derek play this badly," Sam says, earnest. "We have a huge game coming up in a week and a half, and if Derek's off his game—"

"And that's all you're worried about?" Casey chides. "Clearly, Derek is in a lot of pain—"

Sam waves a hand, impatient. "Look, we know. And we'd want to help anyway. But I'm just saying—if Derek plays badly at the game and we end up losing, just how is that supposed to help him feel better?"

As Casey ponders that, Emily looks down, horrified at her empty tray. She has now officially run out of things to eat. (She knew she should have grabbed that second cupcake.)

But really, who knew keeping your mouth shut about how your best friend's stepbrother is apparently madly in love with said best friend would be so difficult?

"Well, what do you expect me to do about it?" Casey's asking the guys now. "You guys don't understand, Derek is absolutely refusing to talk—"

"We know that," Sam says. "Which is why we were hoping you could come up with one of your plans, but this one would be to help Derek feel better."

It takes a heroic effort, but Emily does in fact not blurt out that she knows a way that Casey can make Derek feel better, and all she'd have to do is—

Right, okay, it's officially time for a strategic retreat.

"Well, this was fun," Emily says quickly, grabbing her tray and shooting a smile she hopes is relaxed and friendly, instead of strained and freaked-out, "—but I've got a meeting with the guidance counselor, and I'm running late. Talk to you guys later, okay?"

And with that, Emily flees the cafeteria, before she spills a secret that isn't hers to tell.

God, who knew keeping a secret would be so difficult? And really, it's not like Emily is proud of the fact that she wants to tell so badly. It's true she's always had a thing for gossip, but that feels different from this in a really important way. Most of the stuff Emily chatters about is stuff that most people already know about, or is used in Emily's plans to ensure that she and Casey's reps stay solid.

But this doesn't count as gossip, because nobody knows—well, except for Derek and Sally, and now her. And Emily can't help but think back to that night when she'd stumbled on Derek and Sally, and the look on Derek's face when he'd said—

He'd meant it too, anyone could see that he meant it, and Emily's never seen Derek like that, so intense, but…almost pained too, like it was costing him so much to finally say the words out loud.

Emily's walking the halls in a daze, still caught up in the memory of that night, when she turns a corner and nearly slams into the very guy who started all of this to begin with.

"Derek," Emily half-gasps. "Hey, I…didn't see you there."

"Hey, Em," Derek says, and at first glance, Emily doesn't even know what Casey's talking about. Derek looks the same as he always does, messy hair, leather jacket—

Until she gets a closer look at his eyes, and realizes that no, Casey is right, because there's something…a certain spark, that's missing from Derek's face.

"Are you okay?" Emily asks, hesitant, because clearly he's not, and unlike everyone else, Emily's got a pretty good idea of why.

A corner of his mouth lifts up. "Yeah, I'm fine. Look, I've got to get going, I'll see you later, okay?" He skirts around her, walking down the hall, and—

And Emily, not even realizing she's doing it at first, turns around and calls after him, "I'm asking because…I know what happened. Between you and Sally."

Derek stops, but doesn't turn around. Emily is probably even more shocked than he is, because seriously—did she really just say that?

Derek turns around at last, and his expression is carefully guarded. "Oh, yeah?" he asks in a voice that could maybe pass for casual to an bystander—thankfully, they don't have those to worry about, since it's lunchtime and everyone's in the cafeteria—but doesn't fool Emily for a moment. "And what exactly do you think happened?"

The smart thing would probably be to apologize and walk away.

But apparently, Emily's been possessed by some crazy talkative spirit, because instead of doing the smart thing, she admits, "Look, that night—I came back to Smelly Nellie's because I'd left my cell phone there, and I saw you and Sally in the parking lot, and I'm sorry, I didn't mean to eavesdrop…but I kind of did anyway, and I heard…I heard what you said."

Oh, God. She really can't keep her mouth shut. Emily's torn between a desire to melt into the floor and an equally strong need to just run, because this is so not a conversation she's prepared to have. Derek's looking at her, completely stunned and Emily's about to apologize again, because really, the guy is having an awful week already, and she has to go and put this on him—

But Derek's response, when it finally comes, isn't at all what she expects. "Are you going to tell Casey?"

The lack of a denial almost throws Emily as off as the question itself does. "What? No, Derek—I'd never do that, this is yours—I mean, it's yours to tell, I just thought—I thought you deserved to know that I knew. And…I mean, if you want to talk—"

"I don't," Derek says quickly, shutting her down. "No offense, Emily, but if I wanted to talk to someone about it, it wouldn't be you."

That stings. Emily stares down at her shoes. "Oh."

She hears a sigh, and the shuffling of feet, like Derek's taken a step closer. "I—look, that came out wrong, okay? I'm sorry, it's just…you're Casey's best friend. I can't talk to you about this. I can't talk to anyone about it."

Emily looks up at that, and asks, honestly confused, "Why not? Derek, it's obviously a big deal, and you'd feel so much better if you just—"

"What is talking going to accomplish?" Derek asks impatiently. "Talking isn't going to get me what I want. It's not going to bring Sally back, and it definitely won't bring Casey—" He stops talking suddenly, and resumes with an effort, "Talking is not going to do any good. I can handle this, okay?"

It's not okay, but Emily can't think of anything to convince him. "Look, the offer stands, okay?" is her best response, and at least Derek looks somewhat comforted by that.

"Thanks," he says. "And...thanks for not telling Casey."

"No problem," Emily says, and watches Derek leave.

Well...that didn't accomplish much.

Sighing, Emily turns back around to continue making her way to her locker, and she jumps, staring in dismay at an obviously shocked Ralph, who has clearly heard everything.

"Dude," he says. "Dude, what was that?"

"Ralph? What are you doing lurking around like this?"

He blinks twice and holds up her bookbag. "You left this at the table and I promised Casey I'd give it to you. She wanted to do it, but she was too busy talking about Derek with Sam and—and did I just hear with I think I heard?"

"No!" Emily says too quickly, and then messes everything up with asking, "Why, what do you think you heard?"

Ralph's eyebrows are currently in danger of disappearing into his hairline, they're raised so high. "Uh, I'm pretty sure I heard Derek say that the reason he and Sally broke up was because of Derek's feelings for Casey."

"...Oh," Emily replies, her voice faint. "Well, that's not what you heard."

He stares at her for a moment longer, then shakes his head and starts to walk off. "Okay, I need to think about this. This is huge."

Emily watches him leave for a moment, and then chases him down. "Wait, wait, Ralph—you can't say anything. To anyone."

Ralph stares at her like she's grown a third eye. "But if I can't talk about it with anyone, then how am I supposed to come up with a plan to help Derek?"

Interlude: The Breakup

Emily knows that Smelly Nellie's is supposed to be closed by now, but she's hoping that either Derek or Sally or somebody is still there, because she's pretty sure she left her new cell phone at her table earlier tonight, and she can't be expected to survive without her cell phone. Just can't be done.

She bikes all the way there, and skids into the parking lot to see Derek and Sally standing in front of the door. Emily breathes a side of relief and hops off her bike, setting it on its kickstand, and takes a step forward--

"We're seriously going to fight about this?" Derek snaps out loudly, and Emily stops dead.

Oh boy.

"We wouldn't need to fight if you would just admit the truth," Sally snaps right back, and Emily takes a step back towards her bike. "Just admit it! Admit that it's her you really want, just so I know I'm not going crazy—"

Emily can't really see Sally's face from this angle, but she can see Derek's—and right now, he looks like he's about to lose it.

"Oh, you're definitely crazy," Derek says, in a harsh tone she's never heard him use, not even on Casey or Edwin or anyone. "But you really want to hear me say it? Fine." He holds out his arms, and drops the bomb.

"I want Casey. I'm crazy about her—I've been crazy about her ever since our parents got married."

Emily's frozen to the spot.

Derek drops his arms, and the expression on his face isn't anger or frustration anymore—it's despair. "There. I said it. Do you feel better now? Because I sure as hell don't."

There's a long pause, which gives Emily time to wonder if she shouldn't just get out of there, except she's afraid that if she moves, they'll spot her—except she's already out in the open, it's just that they've been so caught up they haven't looked over and seen her—

And then Sally speaks. "Yeah. At least now I know the truth."

She walks away, and Emily watches as Derek doesn't chase after her, just rubs his face with his hands and lets out a long sigh as he goes back into the restaurant.

Leaving Emily alone to silently hyperventilate about what she's just heard.

TBC...