Author's Note: Hey there! I know that my last few... contributions weren't the best, ever... & this isn't really either. It's pretty generic, and purely fluff. I don't really know why I'm even bothering to post it. But whatever. Its just something I was working on during my classes, when I decided I no longer wanted to pay attention for fear of falling asleep. haha ANYWAYS. I hope you enjoy it at least a tiny bit... This is loosely based on something that happened to me when I was in High School. Rumors can really hurt your self-esteem, I must tell you. But that's QUITE over and done with, and I usually don't think about any of that anymore. Have fun! :) ONE-SHOT.

Rumor

A Life with Derek Fan-Fiction.

He was relaxing in the tranquility of his room, not doing anything in particular. Lounging was probably the best way to describe what he was doing. Quite frankly, he was happy with the way things were going since he had gotten home from hockey practice. Not for any reason specifically, he just loved to be lazy. Which would probably explain why he groaned outwardly at what happened next.

"Der-ek!" he heard the familiar cry of his step-sister and flipped himself over on his bed so his face was in the pillow. Maybe if I can't see her, she won't be able to see me! He thought in a desperate attempt at avoidance. He soon realized that this was just wishful thinking as she waltzed into his room and with a loud bang, slammed the door shut behind her.

He didn't show any signs of perception that she was even alive at the moment; or better yet, that he was alive, which probably made her even more angry than before.

"Derek" She said quietly but with a harsh tone. No response. A huff on Casey's part. Derek rolled his eyes even though Casey couldn't see him do it. "I know you're not sleeping, so stop ignoring me." This time it was Derek's turn to huff, realizing that he wasn't going to win this.(Or subconsciously wanted to see Casey more flustered, if possible.)

"May I ask why you are in my room, bothering me in my time of relaxation?" He asked, lifting his head up so she could understand him.

"Well, today I heard something at school that was... well, interesting to say the least, and thought you could tell me why this would be going around." This got Derek's attention as he turned back around to lay on his back, getting a better reaction from Casey. This could be bad... He thought.

"Well? What did you hear?" He asked, actually curious as to what happened.

"That I..." She started at a normal volume level, but realized she should probably keep her voice down before continuing. "That I'm not a virgin!" She yelled in a whisper.

Derek's eyebrows immediately shot up as his eyelids sprung open. "You're not!?" He responded a little too quickly, and loudly, with an emotion Casey couldn't decipher. She was a little caught off guard.

"Derek, I don't think that its any of your business which is why I can't believe you would spread that around!" Casey replied and Derek felt a mixture of relief and pain.

"You really think that I would do something like that?" He asked, letting his guard down unintentionally. Casey saw that he was being serious and immediately felt like an idiot for accusing him of this. No! He can't make me feel bad about this! After all the crap he's done to me... how is this different? She thought.

"Well can you blame me? I mean look at your prior offenses. You aren't exactly the most kind-hearted individual. She answered.

"Even so... you really believe I would stoop so low as to spread a rumor about your personal life?" Derek let the hurt come back once again. What is wrong with me today? He thought.

Okay, maybe he can make me feel bad about this...

"Well... when you put it that way... no." She admitted. "But if you didn't; then who did?" She wondered out loud.

Derek couldn't get past what was really plaguing his mind and before he knew it, the question popped out of his mouth.

"The important question here is: Is it true?" He gave a half-hearted smirk before she turned beet red. As soon as her discomfort was evident, Derek's smirk disappeared and he gestured for her to sit next to him on the bed.

"You really want to know?" She asked, taking the suggested seat on his bed. Good question...do I? he wasn't sure himself.

"You don't have to tell me." He said looking at her as she found great interest in her own fingers.

"No, its okay... Its not true." She said truthfully and today must be a bad luck day for Derek because for the umpteenth time, he didn't control his actions as he let out a sigh of relief. Casey quickly took notice of this and eyed him. Derek tried to regain his composure and come up with any excuse as to why he could be relieved other than the truth. He was at a loss for words, so he just stayed silent.

"So, now that the truth is out, I need to find out who would lie about me and spread it to the whole school." Casey explained, choosing to ignore the enormous, obnoxious elephant in the room. (That thing needs to die already, its been there ever since she moved into the Venturi's house.)

Derek honestly wasn't paying much attention -once again- at this point. He was kind of lost in thought.(I know, hard to believe!) Why am I so relieved that she is a virgin? It's not like she couldn't use a good lay to loosen her up a bit. No, there has to be some reason I feel at ease knowing she did not have sex with some other guy. Wait, other guy? What am I saying!? It's not like I'd want to be the guy who proves that rumor true. Do I? Oh who am I kidding, of course I do! He contemplated until finally shattering the lie he had been telling himself all this time.

"Derek!" The sound of Casey's voice getting agitated woke Derek from his thoughts. He shook his head to become more aware of his surroundings.

"Hmm?" He replied.

"I asked you who you think would spread this rumor." She answered sounding slightly broken.

"Oh... Right. Well I don't know. Is there anyone with a personal vendetta against you?" He asked and she raised one eyebrow which elicited an eye roll from Derek, "Except me."

"Not that I know of..." She started before a loud interruption of George Michael's, "Faith" started playing from her pant pocket. She jumped at the sound before retrieving her cell phone and answering the call.

"Hey, Em!" Casey said smiling. Derek sat in silence watching as Casey's face turned from excited to talk to her best friend, to an expression Derek knew as a mixture of fear and pain. After a minute or two of silence, Derek could hear Emily on the other end of the phone call, "Casey? Casey?!"

"Case?" Derek spoke and she dropped her phone on the bed. Derek put it up to his ear, "Emily?" He offered.

"Derek?" She asked.

"Yeah. Sorry, Casey umm... is a little stunned... right now. What did you say to her?" he explained, sounding a bit accusatory towards the end.

"I just thought she'd want to hear who was spreading the rumors about her at school..." Derek's hands balled into fists and his stomach twisted in hear. Did he really want to know? He decided that he did.

"Who was it?" He asked adding a hard swallow. There was a few moments of silence, which Derek knew were because Emily was probably debating to actually tell anyone other than Casey this new information.

"Max." He heard her say. His eyes went wide and he immediately felt like punching someone in the face.

"Thanks, Emily. I'll take it from here." Derek said closing the phone without a second thought.

"Casey..." Derek said softly before grabbing her hand and gently caressing it. This action broke Casey out of her horrified trance. Her eyes, still wide, traveled from the spot in oblivion that she was transfixed on to the area where Derek's skin was touching hers. Her eyebrows furrowed as she felt the subtle circles his thumb was making on the back of her hand.

As confused as she was by what made him think to do this, she was grateful because as soon as he made contact she immediately forgot about what's-his-face and whatever he did to make her upset. The only thing she could think of was taking Derek's torso in her arms and letting him comfort her some more. Not only that, but she wanted to nuzzle her head into what seemed like the perfect Casey's-face shaped nook that was his neck. Before she knew it, that was exactly what was happening.

"Shhh... It's okay, Casey. Max was always a douche bag." Derek said rubbing her back. Casey instantly froze. Max? Oh... right. That's why Derek and I are hugging...right? she thought. "I'll take care of him for you if you want." He added. Casey pulled back from him slightly to throw him a confused look.

"What do you mean, 'take care of him'?" She asked.

"I was thinking of maybe killing him; but jail doesn't sound all that fun to me. I could just rough him up a bit though." He explained playfully.

"Why would you do that?"

Derek quickly came up with a truthful but misleading answer to this question, "No one treats my step-sister like that. Not even me." He said. (& did I mention that they were still intertwined by their upper extremities?)

She wasn't entirely sure why, but her stomach twisted in discomfort at his answer. "Right." She replied, looking at the space between them.

"Casey, no one deserves their personal life plastered around school, especially when its not true. And you of all people don't deserve this." He went on. He noticed that she had a small smile forming on her face. "Oh! Oh! She's smiling!" He added, pointing to the upturned corners of her mouth, which in turn added to the smile. In no time she let out a small chuckle.

"Yes, okay; I'm smiling... happy now?" She said, trying her hardest to rid her face of the smile, but failing miserably.

"Not yet." He answered before quickly moving his hands from her back to her sides and started tickling her.

"Derek!" She yelled through laughter.

"Ah, ah, ah. No fighting. This is what will make me happy!" He said without relenting. Eventually, Derek ended up on top of Casey on his bed, using his fingers to make her crack up involuntarily. Her smile as wide as it could go and she had given up on fighting with him until she realized she couldn't hardly breath.

"Der..." She started, "Can't... Breathe..." She said, still laughing uncontrollably.

This warranted the release of Casey from Derek's grasp. (You'd think that once he stopped tickling her, he'd maybe...get off of her?)
There they were; unaware that anything or anyone was even existent at that moment. Staring into each other's eyes for what seemed like eternity, all of the problems form before vanished from their minds.

Caught up in the intensity,(and maybe some pent-up lust) Derek's Sienna-colored eyes which were intently exploring her Cerulean-colored ones, moved to her lips before he slowly made a move to close the distance between them. Casey gladly complied as Derek captured her lips with his own. Their mouths moved in perfect harmony for what seemed like forever before they broke apart, gasping for air.

"Umm... Derek, do you mind?" Casey gestured that he was sort of crushing her at the moment.

"Oh. Right." He replied sitting up and looking around the room nervously.

Casey broke the awkward silence with a cry of, "Oh, what the hell!" before she grabbed his cheeks and crashed their lips together once again. She moved on top of Derek so that she was now straddling him. Mouths still attached, hands roaming at their own accord. Casey groaned in pleasure as Derek trailed kisses down her neck and stopped at a certain spot nibbling a bit. She bit her lup and subconsciously ground her hips against his, which made him moan and let out a hoarse whisper, "Casey." She could feel his embarrassment (along with something else of his) rise.

"Maybe we should stop before I can't control my actions." Derek said closing his eyes tightly. He was practically stabbing himself in the gut for saying that and destroying his chances of having sex. (Not only that, but he was trying to think of baseball and old wrinkly hags)

Casey's face immediately lost all happiness.

"You ummm... don't want to? Is it me? Did I do something wrong? Ugh! I knew you hated me. I'll just.. go." She panicked and almost made a move to get off of him, but he held her in place by her hips.

"Casey. Calm down. I don't hate you! And no, its not you. Well actually it is you... but not the way you think." He replied quickly as she looked about ready to cry. He sighed, placing his hand on her biceps, rubbing them gently. "Listen... I just... I don't want you to think that its all I think about. I mean, don't get me wrong I think about it a lot." He started. She rolled her eyes. "But really, Case. You have no idea how much I want this... but if we were to... you know... I need you to know its not just physical." He explained, seriously.

"I never thought it was." She smiled, "Derek, this will probably sound dumb to you... but I wanted to wait for someone I knew was right for me." She started, still smiling brightly. He looked away from her to hide his disappointment. Surely he wasn't the right guy for her...was he? As soon as she saw his face turn, she grabbed his chin and made him look at her.

"'Scuze me, mister. I was talking to you!" She warned and he lost the battle against the smile that was now forming on his face. "Anyways. Recently, I have come to realize... that guy..." Her face got closer by the second and at this point her lips were just centimeters away from his, "...was right under my nose."

He just stared at her, emotions flooding his mind. Happiness, elation, relief, and not to mention he was incredibly turned on. (Screw the baseball and the old ladies!) He didn't realize that his breathing had become erratic but Casey noted this along with the fact that his eyes had darkened with what she could only assume was lust. (Silly me, I forgot to mention that she hadn't moved from the 'straddling' position that whole time!)

He reached up and grabbed the back of her head to pull her lips closer to his. Smashing together in a busing kiss, Casey moaned against his lips and he started to smirk. She pulled back from him as she felt the one side of his mouth curl upwards into that sexy but obnoxious 'Derek Venturi smirk' that made most girls melt. His eyes snapped open with the loss of contact, and his smirk quickly dissipated.

"What's going on?" He asked in a voice a bit too panicky for his own liking.

"Relax, lover-boy. I just wanted that asinine grin off of your face. You know I love it, but it was ruining the moment." She laughed.

"Ha, ha. Hilarious, now can we start where we left off?" He asked, almost desperately.

"And where was that?" She teased.

"We were in the makings to prove that rumor to be true, if I remember correctly." He smiled deviously.

"Right you are, Venturi." She replied, placing kisses along his jawline.

"Aren't I always?" He said, nonchalantly.

"Whatever you say, stud-muffin." She rolled her eyes playfully.

"Hey. I'm no one's 'stud-muffin'!" He yelled in protest.

"Just shut up and kiss me!" She argued and that is exactly what he did. (With the addition of a little sumthin' sumthin' more, if you know what I mean!)

Author's note: Alrighty then. I hope you enjoyed my lovely one-shot that is pretty much like every generic Dasey fan fiction out there. haha not that those aren't amazing. Because basically ANY Dasey makes me smile :) Anyways. Life is pretty fun. haha. Thanks for reading and review if you want!! :)