Epilogue

"I love you."

I love you. The words that are meant for me echo in my brain as I watch Derek stare deliberately into my eyes. My vision gets blurry, and a tear slips down my cheek.

I honestly can't tell you what the rest of the class are doing. All I can see, hear, think about is Derek. There is a ringing silence in the room, and at that moment I realize everyone must be waiting for my response, but for some reason I can't bring my lips to even open.

I'm still watching Derek, and he seems to be shaking with nervousness. He takes a deep breath and totters slightly to the side. I barely hear Mr. Riverson ask, "are you okay, Derek?" because the only noise I can really hear is buzzing and I love you echoing over and over again in my mind.

If I don't say something soon then I know Derek will probably die of shame…

But all I can squeak out is a timid "I-" before Derek's eyes roll back into his head and he falls to the ground with a loud THUMP.

This seems to jolt me out of my strange state. A few girls scream, and I hear Truman give an obnoxious laugh. I jolt out of my seat and rush to the front of the class, gently lifting Derek's head into my lap. As much as I would love to punch Truman again, this time in a place that would be far more painful and hopefully render him unable to have children, Derek's safety is my top priority at the moment.

"Someone go run and get the nurse!" Mr. Riverson yells, and Emily rushes from her seat to the door quickly. I give her a grateful look and turn back to Derek.

I brush his hair away from his eyes and will myself not to cry. It's my fault he's passed out and lying on the ground… If I would have just said something…

He stirs a little, groaning, his eyes flickering open. He tries to sit up but falls back down into my lap again. I can only imagine how dizzy he must be.

"Derek, you need to stay still. Emily ran to get Nurse Jackie." Mr. Richardson explains, crouching down so that Derek can see him. "Just relax until she gets here."

Derek blinks and looks up, seeing me for the first time. As soon as he realizes whose lap his head is currently occupying, his face turns bright red.

"Casey-"

"Shh…" I say, putting a finger to his lips. "I'm sorry I didn't say anything. It's just… wow."

I smile widely at him and grab his hand. The rest of the class has gathered around him by now. Some people have their phones out. They are no doubt taking pictures or video. Oh brother.

"You just took me by surprise." I whisper, and I hear Maria shout "speak up!"

I look up, glaring. "This is a pretty personal moment, you know!" I yell. Some kids shut their phones. A few others just shrug.

I roll my eyes and look back down at Derek, running my thumb along his hand. "But I love you too." I admit, and his face breaks out in the most genuine smile I've ever seen from him.

I lean down, and some girls sigh. Truman's cheeks bulge. Mr. Riverson averts his eyes.

Derek stops me before I can kiss him. "Case, Mr. Lassiter's rules and everyone is watching and-"

"That never stopped us before." I say, closing the gap between our lips. Even though our other kisses felt real, none of them compare to this one. For the first time there are no prior or afterthoughts about how this is a prank and how this will end in heartbreak. And, frankly, that feels amazing.

I pull back and grin, biting my lip. It's only then that I realize Nurse Jackie is in the room, and she's holding her phone out, recording the whole thing as well. Derek groans.

"This is going to be all over youtube."

"Der-ek!"

Casey chases me around our living room. It's one of those rare occasions where we have the house to ourselves, everyone else having gone to Marti's tap recital; we 'volunteer' to stay behind and do the dishes… which… Well, let's just say there is still a pile of plates waiting for us to clean.

She maneuvers around the couch, and I leap on top of it, running across it and jumping out of her way. She manages to corner me, though, but I hold what she wants above her head, just out of her reach.

"Der, give it back." she says patiently, reaching her arm up and jumping to try and get it. I just move my arm further back.

"Nuh uh. You have to work for it." I say, winking at her.

She merely smirks and presses herself flush against my chest, still reaching her hand into the air. She looks up at me, raising her eyebrows.

"Is this working?" she purrs out, making the hair on the back of my neck stand on end. Her other hand traces down my chest.

"I'd say." I think to myself, but I just shake my head. "Work harder." I somehow manage to choke out.

"Fine." She tangles her hand in my hair and pulls my head down to hers, pressing her lips against mine. All thoughts of anything besides Casey leave my mind and I instinctively wrap my arms around her waist, pulling her closer to me. She bites my lip and then slides her hand down my arm. Before I realize what she's doing, she snatches the item from my hand forcefully and breaks away from our kiss.

"Gotcha!" she says, waving her orange bra in front of my face. I look in her in shock before furrowing my eyebrows.

I try to snatch it back from her but she moves it out of the way. "No fair! You cheated!" I say, crossing my arms and pouting at her.

"Aw, poor Derek." She sticks out her bottom lip, mocking me. "But I'm pretty sure my sexual charms are not methods of cheating. I was merely using my resources."

"Uh huh." I say in disbelief. "Since when does Casey McDonald have sexual charms?"

She rolls her eyes before sauntering over to me and placing a hand on my chest. "I don't know… Why don't you tell me?"

"You are getting way too good at manipulating me, you know that?" I ask her, looping my arms around her waist. "I thought I was supposed to be the one wearing the pants in this relationship."

"Well, you were the one who unhooked my bra and took off with it." She looks at me, reprimanding, but I can see the amusement behind her reproachful glare.

"Eh, what can I say?" I shrug, and she purses her lips.

"I have to admit, that did take a certain amount of skill. How did you do that, anyway?" she asks, cocking an eyebrow.

"Well, I mean, I could show you again if you put it back on." I smirk at her, and she hits my chest playfully.

"Der!" Her bra is still in the hand she hits me with, and I can't help but laugh. "You just had to do that when things were getting really… good, didn't you?"

"I was just trying to bring back some excellent memories of the day I played that life-changing prank." I say, placing a kiss on the top of her head.

"Mmm, yes, excellent memories." She looks up at me for a moment, and I can tell that she's recalling the incident in her mind, her eyes lighting up. "Stealing my bras must just be some weird fetish of yours."

She presses a quick kiss to my lips before continuing. "But I really should put this back on, and we really should finish the dishes."

"Always the good girl." I sigh, dropping my hands to my sides.

"Oh, hush. We'll get them done quickly, and then we can resume our… prior activities." She gives me one last kiss before hurrying off to the bathroom to put her bra back on.

I smile while watching her run up the stairs before I head to the kitchen and start the dishes. It's been a month since I confessed my feelings to Casey. To say that things have been amazing since then would be an understatement. She's the best thing that's ever happened to me. All creeping doubts of me not being good enough for her left my mind when she told me she loved me back.

I start to watch the dishes, unable to wipe the stupid grin from my face, especially when I hear a pair of footsteps approaching me from behind. I look over my shoulder and Casey flashes a smile that rivals mine.

"What are you thinking about?" she asks, rubbing my back as I continue to wash one of the plates.

"You." I say, and she laughs, kissing my shoulder.

"Don't say such adorable things when we're supposed to be doing the dishes. You're distracting me from the task at hand."

"I'm just telling the truth!" I say innocently, handing her the plate so she can dry it.

"Okay, so… what about me?" she asks, cocking her head to the side to look at me as she grabs a dish towel.

I take a deep breath. "How beautiful you are. How lucky I am. How much I love you." I glance at her. "How cheesy you make me."

She lets out a small giggle. "Hey, don't blame me for that, Romeo. I didn't make you romantic. You choose to act that way on your own."

"Did you see me acting like this with any of my other girlfriends?" I ask her, and she shakes her head slightly. Her hand reaches to touch her necklace – the one I gave her. "See, it's your fault I'm a big sap and not a manly man anymore."

She sighs and leans her head against my shoulder. "Sorry I degraded your masculinity."

"I shouldn't complain. Not when I have you." I say, and I watch her smile before a comfortable silence falls between us as we continue to wash and dry dishes.

"Want to know what I'm thinking about?" Casey asks when we're finished.

"What?"

"That moment after you read your essay."

My cheeks turn red at the memory. "Not cool." I mumble.

"Aw, but, baby..." she starts, taking my face in her hands. "It was really cute."

"To you."

"To everyone but you. So stop being so embarrassed about it." She steps closer to me. "Plus, if it wasn't for that fainting spell, our first real kiss wouldn't be a documented moment in history!"

"Still…"

"I know how to make you feel better."

She presses her lips to mine and snakes her arms around my neck. I deepen the kiss and slip my hands under her shirt for the second time that day, my flesh burning against hers.

You would think that after Mr. Riverson's assignment I would swear off pranks for the rest of my life, but there are some things that never change, including my love for the rise I get out of my stepsister/girlfriend when she's the victim of my jokes. I can't help but unlatch her bra again. It's her fault for not keeping her defenses up the second time!

The rents find us wrestling on the living room floor when they get home.

They know by now not to ask questions.

AN: I really can't thank you all enough for sticking through this whole story with me! All of your reviews totally made me want to write faster and inspired me so much. I can't believe how many people liked this story. I'm truly flattered! If you want more Dasey, I have a few other stories going right now that I would love for you all to check out! Thanks again, and please let me know what you thought of the last chapter. It makes me sad that this is over, but it was such a great ride with you!