Author's note: This is something that's been long overdue for a resolution. I finally whipped something up. Hope it's up to snuff. Also, I was finally brave enough to list the song that inspired Casey and Derek's college storyline for this story.

Music suggestions: 'I get off' by Halestorm, 'The story of us' by Taylor Swift, 'What about now' by Daughtry.

Disclaimer: Don't own Life With Derek.

Like Wine: Chapter 5

Casey glared at the man before her as he turned and made to saunter out of her room, thinking he'd had the last word. She was wearing her best dress, a bra that lived up to its reputation of making her breasts two cup sizes larger, panties that made her feel like Wonder Woman with all the confidence they gave her, and her sexiest black "do me" heels. Her hair was behaving and totally rocking the sexy tousled look that Tish had taught her the week before. And he was just walking away?

Over a month had gone by since her manufactured zipper debacle, a plan that had actually ended with physical contact between them, and nothing from Derek since. In fact, she was almost certain that he'd been avoiding her. Her well-known patience was fraying at the seams.

After breaking down and admitting her feelings to Tish and Piper shortly following Derek defending her honor, both girls had insisted on making her over and barraging her with an endless stream of tips and advice.

Starting with a trip to Victoria's Secret.

"Have you ever been to Victoria's Secret, Casey?" Piper queried from Casey's left as they all stood in a line at the entrance to the boutique at the mall fifteen minutes from campus.

"No." Casey answered in a distracted tone, her astounded gaze gliding across the endless expanse of lingerie and beauty products. "I mean, I've looked inside countless times in passing, but it all looked so...overwhelming."

Tish and Piper shared a secret communication before stepping over the threshold, towing a reluctant Casey along behind them.

"We'll start in the heavenly-smelling beauty section and go from there." Piper stated informatively, leading Casey to a wall of various colored bottles containing lotion, scrub, and body mist. "Let's find something that works for you. Personally, I'm rather fond of Love Spell, while Tish over there swears up and down that Pure Seduction is their best creation to date."

Handing her a test tube of lotion of the two they'd just mentioned, Casey held each up to her nose and sniffed cautiously. Frowning slightly, she closed each tube and handed them back to their prospective promoters.

"Not really a big fan of either." Casey admitted with a shrug. She then placed her hands on her hips and stared at the selection with an astute eye.

"Well, hell." Piper declared in astonishment. "Who doesn't like Love Spell? Is that even American?"

"Guess it's a good thing we're in Canada." Casey tossed back in an offhand tone, not taking her eyes from the wall as she decided on Sheer Love and plucked the tester from the shelf. Sniffing it, her nose wrinkled up and she quickly reshelfed it and grabbed up Strawberries and Champagne.

Plucking up a few bottles at random, Tish held out the next one for Casey as Casey snapped the cap on her bottle and handed it off to Piper, who replaced it on its designated shelf.

"Here." Tish said, handing Moonlight Dream to her. Casey snapped the cap shut seconds later with a frown.

"Next." Casey commanded, her hand outstretched.

"Should have known this wouldn't be easy." Piper grumbled around Casey to Tish twenty minutes later, after having gone through 80 percent of the Victoria's Secret collection. Casey waved her hand in the air dismissively in response before passing off Secret Charm to the grumbling girl.

"I kind of liked that one. Sally used to wear something like that when she was dating Derek. She gave me a small bottle of lotion in that scent. It's been awhile, though, I only just remembered it." Casey mused, taking the next proffered bottle from Tish.

Casey glanced at the green bottle and passed it along to Piper without testing it. "Can't stand the smell of pears. Reminds me of Truman."

"Okay." Tish uttered with a long-suffering sigh. She then dropped an orange-hued bottle into Casey's palm. "This is the last one, and then we're taking a break to look at some bras."

Popping the cap, Casey took a cautious sniff, hummed in pleasure, and proceeded to squirt a dab of the lotion into her hand. Handing the bottle to Piper, she pointed to it as she coincided with rubbing the lotion into her hands.

"That's it. That's the one." Casey declared in a sure tone. "And not just because it's the last one. It's perfect. And subtle."

"Should have guessed you'd be an Amber Romance girl." Tish stated, procuring a bag with a flourish and loading one of each of the products offered in that scent into said bag. "Understated and no pizazz whatsoever."

"Hush, Tish. She chose one. That's all that matters." Piper admonished with a subduing glare. She then smiled ceremoniously at Casey. "Now it's time to get serious. What are you thinking, Tish? Personally, I'm thinking something from the Angel's collection, with a few from the Incredible line just to spice things up."

"I like the way you're thinking." Tish replied with a feral grin. "Perhaps the demi in pink with lace."

Snatching up Casey's hand, Piper yanked a naïve Casey deeper into the store.

"Let's get a move on! I also wanna check out their new push ups." Piper stated in a rushed excited tone.

Tish shook her head and trailed along at a more sedate pace.

Casey had left the store that day over $150 dollars in debt due to her new Victoria's Secret charge, with a handful of beauty products in a to die for scent, two bras, four pairs of panties, one garter belt, and a pair of thigh-high stockings to her name.

Before that day, her best undergarments were comfortable, cotton, and neutral colors. Mostly purchased from whichever clothing store she happened to be shopping in. Primarily American Eagle and H&M. The boldest color she'd owned was a pale pink matching bra and bikini style panty set. And seeing as how their primary function was to be supportive and functional, rather than to be couture and seen by anyone other than herself, she didn't have much of a problem with that.

After that day, it was bolder than anything she'd ever dared imagining before. She was particularly fond of the rainbow leopard pattern. It was wild, but feminine. Completely un-Casey. She also wouldn't turn her nose up at the pink animal print she'd taken to on her third visit to the store.

And lace...who'd have ever thought it could be so comfortable? Especially those lace-waist hiphuggers.

What further shocked her...she wanted to show it all off to someone. It wasn't just a ploy, an "incentive", as Tish and Piper coined it. She wanted to show it all off. To one person. Derek.

So she did.

It became second nature, leaving her door cracked open far enough for someone to watch her surreptitiously. She didn't even have to think about it. Hooking up her bra with her back to the door...smoothing body lotion into her skin from head to toe, dressed simply in her bra and panties...gently guiding silky black stockings up her legs before affixing each to a satin and lace garter belt...she started getting a serious thrill from it all, the expectation of having his eyes on her as she played it all up like a fashion show, made her feel hot and desirable.

Almost like her skin could no longer contain her. Like she was burning from the inside out.

Tish and Piper both just smiled at her and patted her on the head when she admitted to the rush she got from modeling her new looks for Derek.

She could tell there was a difference in Derek. The way he looked at her when he thought she wasn't looking, or sometimes catching her gaze and...lingering. She could see the corresponding burn in his eyes, or at least, she hoped that's what she was seeing. She really hoped it wasn't just wishful thinking.

He just wouldn't act, and that was throwing her off, making her doubt. Whenever did Derek not act when he was clearly interested in a girl?

The only evidence she had, other than the looks, was the fact that he hadn't brought home any girls in weeks. Around the same time she started shopping at Victoria's Secret.

She was making all the proverbial leaps of faith here. Why wasn't he doing his share and reaching out to catch her? Jeez, how much more obvious could she get, short of holding up a sign? Did he think she was flaunting her goods to anyone that would look?

To hell with being subtle and coy. Obviously Derek had problems picking up on such cues. She was about to shove it in his face.

"Alright, that's it! Jesus Christ, Derek! What's a girl gotta do to get you to ask her out?" Casey cried in an incensed tone, throwing her arms open wide. "Flash you?"

Pivoting around to face her in her doorway, Derek's eyes subconsciously dropped to her chest for a fraction of a second, confirming that he did, in fact, know that she possessed a pair of breasts.

A smirk twisted his features as he leaned against the door jamb. "If that sealed the deal...if I said yes, would you?" Derek queried in a tone that implied he was half-teasing her. Amusement crossed with bewilderment in his eyes as he gestured to her twins with one hand. "Show me the girls, that is. 'Cause, I'll admit, I've been kinda curious as to why they've been, like, seriously bigger the past couple weeks."

"Der-ek!" Casey exclaimed, placing her hands on her hips to glare menacingly at him.

The expression had no such quelling effect on him.

Chuckling mostly to himself, he pushed up form his relaxed pose on her door frame and sauntered over to stand directly in front of her. Looking at her with his head tilted down and his eyes hooded, an expression that had most girls swooning and searching for the nearest flat surface to recline onto, he reached up and gingerly brushed an errant lock of her tousled hair away from her face.

"And that's why you cracked first." Derek whispered in a low husky tone. He held a finger to her lips as her glower darkened and she drew a breath in to speak. His smile widened and morphed into something a little closer to affection. "Did you honestly think I always walked around this apartment mostly naked whenever you're around for no reason?" Tracing the outline of her now parted lips with a fingertip, he allowed his eyes to follow the motion. "I want you, Casey. Really bad."

It was unclear who surged forward after his confession, but Derek's lips were fused to Casey's without any intention of removing them any time in the near future.

oooocoooo*ooaoooooeooo

Five months later...

"Casey, Casey, Casey." Derek intoned blithely, pushing her back. "Why must we keep going over this? We're not having sex."

Casey growled out in frustration, sitting up and settling her legs into a cross-legged position. "Why?"

"Really?" Derek questioned incredulously, crossing his outstretched legs at the ankles and placing his hands under his head. "I never thought I'd see the day where I was the one holding out and you were the one begging for a put out."

"Yeah, well, that doesn't really compare to my debacle." Casey grumbled in a put off tone, crossing her arms over her chest. Seeing as how she was wearing just her bra from the waist up, Derek's eyes were drawn unconsciously to the enhancement the action made. He was now quite intimately acquainted with Casey's breasts, and he had enjoyed every minute of it. "Here I am, ready to make love with my boyfriend, again, the first time I've actually wanted to have sex with anyone mind you, and he, also for the first time, doesn't seem too particularly keen on doing it with me. He just keeps repeatedly turning me down. How do you think that makes me feel?" Casey finished, her voice locking up as she attempted to choke back tears. A couple of tears leaked out against her will.

"Hey, don't be like that." Derek ordered in a soft tone, sitting up and pulling her face into his hands. "It's not that I don't want to have sex with you, I do. Trust me. It's just...You've always made such a big deal out of waiting until after you were married, and I'm trying to respect that. I'm willing to wait, 'cause I know waiting until after we're married will be worth it. Any man that wants to be with you, really wants to be with you, should be willing to make the same sacrifice."

"Wait." Casey asked after a short pause, a thoughtful frown marking her forehead. "You said, "after we're married". Does that mean you want to marry me someday?"

"I..." Derek uttered, the rest of the words lost as his brain temporarily short-circuited, realizing he'd just unknowingly backed himself into a corner. Admitting to something he hadn't even realized he wanted until just that moment. "I did? Yes. I mean, no. Alright maybe. Someday. After we graduate."

Casey pounced on Derek, smothering him in a hug. "The answer's yes." She then pulled back to send him a threatening look. "But I'm expecting a much better proposal later on."

"I wouldn't have expected anything less." Derek returned with a smile.

ooooeoooo*ooorooooo*oooxooooo

Completely random, but, back when I was in high school, Love Spell was all the rage. All the girls just had to have it. My friend let me test hers out and I was like... "Meh. Not really liking it." Took a trip up to VS and went through a similar testing process that Casey went through. And yes, Amber Romance is also my go-to favorite scent. And, truth be told, that store overwhelms me every time. There's just so much pretty inside. So...that's it. For my note as well as the story. What'd you think?