2:08 a.m.

9:47 p.m.

The time when Casey's heart was broken for the third time that year.

College will make you meet new people they said. It will be fun they said.

Not.

Casey excused herself from her now ex-boyfriend and walked away from him, trying to retain the tears that were threatening to fall on her perfect cheeks. She had decided to wear a bit more makeup than usual because Scott had told her he needed to have an important talk with her. She expected him to confess his love for her, and it made her feel all giddy and corny. Although, he did the opposite in the end, so she made herself feel prettier than usual for no good reason.

She opened the doors to leave the restaurant she was at and decided to walk back to her dorm, replaying every sentence Scott told her in her head.

'I feel like you're not that into me.'

'You're always talking about him, even when I ask you to stop.'

'You say you have feelings for me, but I know you have feelings for him.'

"I can't be in a relationship with you when he has your heart, and not me.'

Casey could not understand where he was coming from. He was accusing her of having feelings for her step-brother! Not only did she loathe Derek, but he also was her step-brother which made whatever Scott was accusing her of very wrong.

Once she was far enough from the restaurant, she let the tears filling her eyes glide slowly on her cheeks. If she was being honest, she had had enough of crying, she wanted to stop crying. She was getting on her own nerves, but she did not know how to stop. She couldn't stop.

10:13 p.m.

The only time Casey acted without thinking.

She was silently crying and walking on the sidewalk when she noticed the club Derek always talked to her about. It was the best place to have a drink and dance, he had told her many times. She decided that she needed to take her mind off her terrible love life, and she let Derek drive her, even if it was just a voice in her head.

She entered the place and immediately sat down at the bar, where the barman greeted her enthusiastically, like he probably did with every client to get them to buy more.

"Welcome," he said. "May I get you anything?"

"A happy love life would be great," she said bitterly, without even realizing what she told the barman.

"Got dumped?" He asked in a nonchalant way, like he had that talk with strangers every day. When she thought about it, yes, he probably had that talk with customers every day.

"Yeah," Casey answered, looking at the counter, not feeling like elaborating more.

Seeing Casey wasn't saying anything else, he asked her once more if he could get her anything, and she opted for a plain old beer. She was not the one to drink, at all, but she had tasted beer once, and it wasn't too awful.

She quietly sipped her drink as she looked around the room. The place was not full, but she could see a couple of teenagers, clearly underage, couples, and people trying to flirt with each other, which made her laugh bitterly.

It was not helping her to forget about her awful dinner with Scott. It started out great; he had been the perfect gentleman, they ate their dinner and laughed together. They were truly having fun. Things got serious right before the server came to give them the bill. That's when he told her how he felt, and, the more she thought about it, the more she realized that what he said was making sense to her. It was true that she talked about Derek a lot, but it was only to whine and complain about another one of his pranks. She wasn't declaring her love for him, but she understood how Scott might have misinterpreted the situation.

She realized soon enough that with all her thinking, she finished drinking her beer. She felt a slight buzz, but nothing was out of control, so she decided that ordering another one would not be a bad idea, and would be a good enough distraction.

11:23 p.m.

The moment time stopped.

"Casey?" Derek asked, surprised, as he sat down next to her, and ordered a glass of rum and coke.

"Hey," she slurred slightly.

"Since when do you drink?" Derek asked surprised, actually caring about Casey's state of mind.

"Since tonight," Casey answered bitterly.

"What happened?" Her step-brother asked. "Did you get dumped?"

Casey nodded as a response.

"But that's not like you!" Derek exclaimed. "You never drink your sorrows, and you would certainly think this was a bad idea."

"I'm tired, Derek," Casey said. "I'm tired of getting heartbroken, of crying, I want to numb the pain."

"Then, don't cry," Derek said softly, hiding his smirk. He could not imagine Casey controlling the moments she let tears roll down her cheeks.

"I need to get distracted, to have fun!" She said.

Casey was a bit startled by Derek's reaction. He got up from his stool, drink in hand, and put his other hand in front of her, as if he wanted her to take it. She reached for her beer, but he stopped her.

"Enough beer for you tonight," he pretty much ordered.

She let her arm fall by her side, right before she reached for Derek's hand. He eagerly wrapped his fingers around hers, and dragged her to the dance floor.

"I don't do party dance!" She said.

"Tonight, you will," Derek said in her ear, considering the music was extremely loud.

The boy started to dance to the rhythm of the music, giving Casey no choice, but to follow him since he was holding both her hands. Things started out simply; the music was loud and energetic, and so was the dancing. Derek could not stop smiling at Casey's sight; he had never seen her so carefree before, and, if he was honest, he would say he found her attractive that way.

She might have only drunk a beer and a half, but, considering she was a lightweight, it did affect her more than most people. She was not drunk by any means, but she did lose a bit of her inhibitions. Deep down, Derek knew that the girl in front of him was the real Casey; the Casey that didn't care about what people thought of her and just did what felt right.

He had convinced her to dance, and she was dancing with him like there was no tomorrow; the two of them really enjoyed themselves. Derek never thought he would admit having fun with his keener step-sister, but he did, more than the last ten dates he had been on.

Derek was so lost in his thoughts that he did not realize the music had slowed down just a bit, and that Casey was dancing closer to him than she was before.

"Earth to Derek!" Casey said, laughing.

"What?" He asked, trying to act like he had been attentive the entire time.

"Lost in thoughts?" She asked.

"You could say that," he answered.

"Was your date tonight that bad?" She asked, oblivious to what he was really thinking.

"Let's just say I'm having more fun with you than on my date," he answered as they swayed to the sound of the music.

Her eyes widened in surprised; it wasn't everyday Derek Venturi admitted he was having fun with her.

"Don't you think you're a little close?" Derek asked uncomfortably as Casey clumsily wrapped her arms around his neck to steady herself; she was starting to feel dizzy.

"Is it making you uncomfortable?" She asked with a playful smirking. Derek could not help but wonder if she was flirting with him, because it sure as hell seemed like it.

He shook his head as he playfully pulled her closer to him by putting his hands on her hips, still gently swaying to the sound of the song that was playing in the club.

They literally danced the night away, twirling and stepping on each other's feet. If they were honest, that was the most they had had in a really long time.

1:49 a.m.

The moment Derek took her to his apartment instead of taking her back to her dorm like he normally would.

"I don't want to be a burden," Casey said as Derek unlocked the door this his one-bedroom apartment.

"It's fine, really," Derek said. "You cannot get to your dorm at this time of the night, the doors are locked."

"How would you know?" She asked. After their first year of college, Derek decided that he had had enough of the dorms and their rules, so he got a job that paid more and he was finally able to rent a small flat, a flat that fit his needs. Casey, on the other hand, enjoyed the rules and the order of the dorm, so she did like staying there. Plus, she was even farther from Derek, which made her truly happy, or so she thought.

"I've lived there before, remember?" Derek said sarcastically.

"Right," Casey answered under her breath. She walked straight to the couch and sat down with a deep sigh.

"Are you ready to tell me what happened?" Derek asked, knowing Casey had sobered up a bit, and was able to articulate complete sentences.

"He dumped me, saying he felt like I had feelings for someone else," Casey answered truthfully, leaving a part out though.

"Do you?" Derek asked, as he sat down on the couch beside her.

"I thought I didn't, but I don't know anymore," she answered, looking straight at the carpet in front of the couch. "What about you?"

"What about me?" Derek asked, confused by her sudden change of conversation subject.

"You said your date was awful," Casey reminded him.

"Wasn't my type," Derek said. "She was an airhead."

"I thought you liked that type of girls," Casey said without thinking.

"I don't," Derek said. "Not anymore at least."

The two step-siblings did not know what to say anymore; there was nothing left to say, really. None of them really wanted to explain the details of their love life to each other, but the weight of the break-up Casey had just endured was pressing on her shoulders again.

"Why?" Casey whined. "Why can't I be in a happy relationship?"

Derek stared at her for a couple of seconds before finally realizing that she was indeed asking for his opinion, his advice.

"Forcing it, maybe?" Derek suggested.

"You think I'm forcing my relationships?" She asked, surprised. "Everything goes smoothly, until that moment they accuse me of having feelings for you and break up with me."

"What?" Derek asked, definitely surprised by what she had just admitted. "I'm the guy you're not sure you have feelings for?"

"Did I really say that out loud?" Casey asked rhetorically. "They always say I talk too much about you, and that I flirt with you all the time."

"You can't be serious?" Derek mumbled under his breath. "Remember Kelly?" Casey nodded. "She broke up with me, because I supposedly flirted with you while I was dating her."

"No way," Casey said, suddenly thinking about everything they had just admitted in her head.

Derek also seemed like he was thinking some things through, like he was debating with himself.

"Could it- Could it be that w-we can't find someone special, be-because we're what we're looking for?" Casey suggested quietly, almost hoping Derek would not hear her.

"Are you admitting you have feelings for me?" Derek asked, raising an eyebrow to taunt her.

"Are you?" Casey answered.

Derek did not dare answer her, because he knew their arguments could take hours, instead, he did what his subconscious had been telling him to do for the last two years. He leaned in, in one fluid movement, and gently captured Casey's lips with his own.

He was not sure what to expect, he was hoping she would kiss him back, but he knew she would probably push him away, for obvious reason.

Casey was startled by his action, and had to resist kissing him back before she pushed him away.

"Derek, this is so messed up," Casey told him, as he stared at her. She had thought about how she felt towards Derek before, but she always stopped herself because they were family, and family members do not date each other.

"We are messed up, Case," Derek added, sounded way more dramatic than he intended.

"We're practically siblings," Casey said almost inaudibly. "We have a brother who shares both our bloods."

"So?" Derek asked. "We don't."

2:08 a.m.

The moment they realized it was inevitable, that all those years of tension and conflict needed to end somehow.

"We're adults, Casey, both over nineteen, so we can do whatever we want," Derek said more seriously than Casey ever thought he could.

"But the family—"

"Enough with the family, we did not grow up together, we met at fifteen, and I'm incredibly attracted to you," Derek said as if it was the simplest thing in the world. "I would move to Europe if it meant we'd be together without people knowing we're step-siblings!"

"What?" Casey asked, surprised. "You're serious?"

"Can't we just risk it?" Derek asked. "And don't tell me you don't feel the same, because drunk you were obviously attracted to me."

Instead of just answering Derek, she acted boldly for the second time that night and gently leaned in, until her lips were brushing against Derek, and, dare she say it, she had never felt that way while kissing another guy before.

Derek, for the first time in his life, was just enjoying kissing Casey, without any ulterior purposes. He was just enjoying her company, her touch, and that was more than enough to satisfy him.

"I think—I think I might be falling for you," Derek whispered as he rested his forehead on hers, taking in everything that had just happened.

"I fell for you a long time ago," Casey responded, right before connecting their lips in a meaningful kiss.

Hello you amazing readers, I want to thank you all so much for reading this one-shot. It really means a lot to me! I also want to thank everyone for their amazing feedback on my other three LWD one-shots! Peace out :)