The Ex factor
Disclaimer: I don't own Life with Derek sadly.
AN: Enjoy

Chapter 1:
My Best Friend's Girl

He scanned the ice and spotted his target easily. As always, he was center stage; the guy with the puck racing towards the net. With a snap of his wrist, the black rubber was sent soaring into the net with ease. "Tell me you've got extra gear," Sam said as he leaned over the rink's wall, gaining this guy's attention.

Over his own cheering Derek heard the familiar voice. He looked up from the ice and scanned his surroundings. "Sam?" Derek asked quickly turning on the blades to a halting stop, ripping off his helmet. It looked like Sam…sounded like Sam. But it couldn't be. Sam was miles away…he couldn't be there. Could he?

"In the flesh," Sam replied with a smile. He missed his best friend. It had been a while. A man hug was in order.

"SAMMY!" Derek yelled running off the ice to greet his best friend. "What are you doing here, dude?" he asked excited. Not that he wasn't happy to see him, but taking a three hour bus ride to Queens wasn't exactly normal. Sure they decided to visit each other's campuses occasionally. But they hadn't made any plans…unless Derek forgot.

"Talk later. Play now." Sam suggested with a shrug.

Derek had almost forgotten how laid back his best friend was. He nodded with a smile as they headed towards the locker room to get Sam geared up. He needed to prove that he could still kick his ass on the ice. Game on.

After a hard but playful game with his buddies, they hit the locker room to change. "So, why are you here?" Derek asked again as they stripped out of their hockey gear and into his normal clothes. Battling Sam on the ice was exhausting. No one on his team was quite like Sam. He needed him around more often. But no, Sam got a full ride at Mulberry in Ontario which he quickly agreed to.

"I have a date tonight," Sam smirked pulling his shirt over his head.

"Oh? You came all the way out here for a booty call? Striking out on your campus Sammy?" Derek joked. He really couldn't keep the smile off his face. They had to do this more often!

"It's not even like that D," Sam laughed, throwing his sweaty gear at Derek in defense.

"Sure," Derek winked pulling out his phone. He noticed a text from Casey and sighed.

I'm outside, I need the car tonight.
(I told you a million times.)
I'll give you a ride home.

"What's wrong?" Sam asked confused. He could tell just by the annoyed expression Derek was giving his phone (as if it were the phone's fault) that something was wrong.

"Casey needs the car. You need a ride anywhere?" he asked. Suddenly his good mood had evaporated curtsy of the Princess. Why did she always have to go and ruin things?

"Nah. She's on wheels." Sam winked.

"Well would you look at that!" Derek yelled clapping his friend on the shoulder supportability. "Well pretty boy, you should come say hi to Casey. She'll be pissed if you don't." He shrugged, heading out the locker room.

"Yeah. You're right." Sam agreed with a faint smile on his lips as he followed Derek to the parking lot.

"Sam!" She said throwing her arms around his neck when she spotted them.

He leaned into her and wrapped his arms around her waist. He was greeted by the faint scent of her strawberry shampoo. Casey. He missed her. "Hey," he whispered into her hair softly.

"Hey yourself," she smiled pulling back to look into his eyes. He hadn't changed much since they last saw each other (the day they left for Queens.) But he looked as amazing as ever.

"OK Case, stop staring at the guy. He has a date tonight." Derek added in. He felt the overwhelming need to interrupt the scene in front of him. It felt wrong and deep down, he knew it shouldn't even phase him, but it did.

"Oh, I know." She said with a wicked smile across her lips. She pulled away from him a bit, but keep an arm around his back while Sam put an arm around her shoulder, kissing her temple softly.

"Wait…" Derek said confused as he started to piece things together. "You guys….on a date? Together?" Oh, he was going to be sick. Deja Vu much?

"Mhmm." The both agreed with faint smiles on their lips. They didn't want to tell Derek. At least not on their own. They didn't want to deal with the fury that was sure to follow.

He stared at them blankly for a second hoping one would admit that it was just a joke. But when the stupid smiles on there faces didn't fade, he realized they were serious. "Not again." He whispered throwing his bag into the back of the Prince where he sat to sulk and pout in the back seat. The pair were too shocked by his actions (and lack of words) to respond.

"Well...aren't you gonna drop me off?" He yelled clearly upset. Somehow they shook the shock off their faces and made their way into the car, the new war zone.

Surprisingly, nothing happened. He didn't say a word. Casey pulled up to their apartment and killed the engine. Before she even got a word out, he was halfway to the building door.

"Well...That went well!" She smiled sarcastically.

"As good as you could have expected it to be." Sam shrugged. He didn't want Derek to be mad at them, but somehow he knew that Derek wasn't mad at him. Oh no, he knew his best friend. All his anger was veered towards Casey at the moment. For trying to "steal his best-friend, again." At least that's what Derek was telling himself. But we all know why he was acting that way.

He thought about going out, about drinking until he was seeing double. Why? Well because...because it was wrong. They tried it before now, why were they sneaking around his back to do it again? Sure, it wouldn't be much of a difference if they were open about it. His reaction would stay the same. But really...now? When things could possibly change for the better? She simply had to go out of her way, to charm Sam to come down to see her? FOR WHAT? What could they possibly need to see each other for? Unless it really was a booty call...but no. Sam would never. Male code! Sure, he was an idiot the first time around, but Derek was sure that he was now well aware of the dangers of dating your best friend's stepsister. It didn't end well.

He thought about calling over a girl. He had numbers to spare. But in reality he had no desire to spend the evening with anymore. He wanted to stay home, sit on his recliner and sulk until she came home. Then he pounces like a lion and figure out what the hell was going on.

"So, did you tell him you're in love with him yet?" Sam asked taking a sip of his drink. They were at a decent restaurant around campus. Nothing fancy but a little bit better than the burger joint on the corner.

"I'm not in love with him!" She said, stabbing her chicken salad with her fork violently.

"I'm going to take that as a no then." He said, looking down at his plate of ribs to avoid the evil eyes she was staring at him with.

"No, I haven't told him I have feelings for him too." She said with an exhausted sigh.

"'Too'?" he questioned pointing out her (possible) slip up. He couldn't help but have a smile tug at the corners of his mouth. Finally they were getting somewhere. It had only taken them what...five years?

"Oh shut it. You know Derek has feelings for me, too. You're his best friend Sam." She said taking a gulp of her drink. It was getting personal now. Way past the "how have you been?" small talk kind of stuff. She needed the little bit of liquid confidence to even talk about this out loud. It had always remained as unspoken thoughts in her mind...she never actually told anyone about them. Expect tonight, she was telling Sam. And she wasn't going to hold back.

"Yeah I know…Maybe that's why he wanted to kill me when we dated." He joked with a hint of a wicked smile now. He knew that was the soul reason that Casey wanted to see him. He hadn't taken that many blows to the head, yet.

"That's exactly why," she smiled back. She enjoyed the fact that Derek was jealous, that he saw her as his and not to be anyone else. She liked how his actions spoke louder then his words. Even back then, even in the beginning.

"It was nice while it lasted." Sam said with a sigh. He honestly cared about Casey a lot, but he knew his feelings about her were nothing close to what Derek felt. And he wasn't one to let a girl ruin his friendship. Even a girl as amazing as Casey.

"It was, wasn't it? I remember having the biggest crush on you. Em was so sick of me talking about you. She just wanted me to jump your bones already." She beamed with a shy blush coloring her checks.

"Hey! That was always an option." He joked.

"Shut up." She laughed, playfully kicking him under the table. "You were so cute and innocent when you asked me to go to your hockey playoffs."

"Yeah...But you said no." He said with a small visible pout. It was easy to play around with Casey, she usually played along with him.

She smiled laying her hand across the table to hold his. "I was 'bad luck.'" She said using air quotes around the words paired with an eye roll.

"I wanted you there." He said looking into her blue eyes. Suddenly he wasn't joking anymore. He really did. It was their damn play offs after all.

"Hey, at least we got together that night." She smiled at the memory.

"How do you remember these things?" He asked running the pad of his thumb over her knuckles gently.

"I remember everything, which annoys Derek very, very much." She laughed softly.

"Then came the male code." He breathed out heavily. As if it were a literal weight on his shoulders. It was the one thing they were both thinking but hadn't spoken of yet.

"And then you went and broke my heart." She sighed dramatically. She closed her eyes and let he head roll onto the back of her seat in an attempt to show her heart break.

"And that's when I got my first sneak peak of crazy Casey." he joked squeezing her hand.

"I'm not crazy!" She yelled popping her head back into an upright position.

"Yes, you are. Man, I can't believe we actually wrestled..." he shook his head. They needed to talk about this, she couldn't keep avoiding it like she was trying to. He would never make that mistake ever, least not over a girl. Bros before hoes! Even though he really didn't believe that, but this was Casey, Derek's Casey, we're talking about. So yeah, he'd pull the corny line.

"Yet somewhere in there, he had a moment of weakness and changed his mind." She mumbled chewing on her bottom lip.

"Yeah? More like he realized how obvious he was being...until your jealousy kicked in that is." Sam smirked going back to playing around with Casey. To a certain extent because, after all, it was quite true.

"My jealousy?" She asked purely shocked, as if he had accused her of murder.

"Him and Emily? Remember, you ruined our 'month-aversary' to stalk their date." He said, offended.

"Yeah... I was a horrible girlfriend wasn't I?" She said looking up at him with those pouty blue eyes. How could anyone say something to upset her?

"Nah." He spoke, genuinely. "You were just dating the wrong guy." He simply told her, because it was obvious, even back then.

She pulled out of his embrace just enough to tilt her head up to look into his eyes. She acted on impulse and lightly pressed her lips onto his for only a split second. The second their lips touched she knew she had messed up.

"Casey," he hissed her name as if it physically hurt him. He instantly unwrapped his arms from her body and took a step back, as if the physical space between them could somehow erase what she had just done.

She closed her eyes tight and knew what was coming. Her defense system kicked in as she built up her walls, crossing her arms over her chest, pulling her jacket tighter around her. It was suddenly so cold out.

"Why'd you do that Case?" He asked running a hand through his hair with a soft sigh. It's not that he didn't want to kiss her, she was gorgeous, that much was obvious. Of course he was attracted to her, but he broke the male code once…he wasn't about to do it again. No matter how much Casey tempted him. (And in all honesty, just one look from Casey was tempting enough.)

"You know why," She mumbled taking a seat on the empty bench near them. She didn't understand why he was making it such a big deal. It wasn't as if they hadn't kissed many times in the past. "We did it once Sam...we can do it again."

"Casey..." He started, rubbing his temples.

Why did she have to go and start something like that? No, they couldn't do it again. The first time was enough. Correction: the first time was wrong enough. Not that he didn't enjoy the time with her...its just that in the back of his mind, Derek words burned.

"No...You can't run away from this." He said taking a seat next to her. He put his arm around her shoulder pulling her into his warmth. He didn't mean to react like that, to push her away as if he was repulsed by her. He just knew that if he didn't move away from her, he'd do something they both would regret. But he calmed himself down enough to return to their normality. He wanted to comfort her.

"Why not?" She asked, looking up at him with these sad doe eyes. She made his heart melt.

He winced "Because, you finally admitted you have feeling for Derek. Don't go messing that up." He offered her a few words of wisdom and he hoped she would take it. He knew she was stubborn, just as stubborn as his best friend, but they deserved to be happy, together. Hopefully they would work against thee odds and not with them, and make it happen.

"Why do I have to do everything?" She pouted like a little girl.

He laughed softly. "Because you're the brains," he whispered kissing her on the forehead sweetly. "And he doesn't believe that a girl like you would fall for a guy like him. Obviously he's blind." Sam smiled.

She thought about it. It was true, that was what Derek thought. She knew that much. But she was surprised. I mean, with the size of his ego, you'd expect him to think he could get any girl that walked by. But it seemed that his ego wasn't that big; might have to stop and give him a bit of credit for that. "Thanks Sammy," she said returning the smile.

"For what?" He asked a bit confused.

"For putting up with me?" She asked, laughing pulling away from his embrace. It was time to head home and face the great Venturi who was probably at home fuming.

"Anytime Casey," he said following her to the car. "So, when are you going to make your move?" He couldn't help but ask.

"After I get all the closure I need." She smiled knowing exactly what closure meant to her...and what it would do to Derek. "You were part one."

She dropped him off at the bus station. He refused to go back home with her. He said that she had to deal with the wrath of Derek and he was not getting more involved than he already was. He wished her good luck and sent her packing. She sighed, taking the long way home. She was dreading the argument, which was weird, she usually craved for them. But tonight, she was in the line of fire and nothing could save her from the burn. So she figured if she was going to go down...might as well go down kicking.

She entered the house with a dramatic sigh. Locking the door and leaning against it quickly as if she was trying to keep someone out. She put a hand over her heart and she let out an extravagantly produced squeal.

He stepped out of the kitchen with an oversize sub in his hand and his cheeks visibly full like a chipmunk's as he stuffed his face with the delicious sandwich. "What's with you?" He attempted to say with his mouth full. It resulted in chunks of meats and cheese to fly in every direction.

"I'm in love!" She said smiling, twirling around their living room to fall onto their couch with another one of her dramatic sighs.

"With Sam?" He asked disgusted. Maybe he shouldn't finish his sandwich...it may be coming right back up.

"Yes! It was perfect Der!" She said sitting up next to his recliner.

"Oh?" He asked trying to swallow (and keep down) the rest of his food. This was exactly what he was afraid of.

"Yes!" She jumped up, scaring him a bit.

"So...you guys back together?" He asked. She couldn't help but smile when she noticed the hint of a frown adorning his face. She really must be evil if his sadness made her smile. But we all know why.

"No." She rolled her eyes. "But that's what you were expecting wasn't it?" Suddenly she was back to the normal Casey, (most) of the dramatics aside.

He shrugged, suddenly aware that she wasn't in love with Sam...that he knew. "Why not?" He couldn't help but ask.

"Male code." She shrugged, as if were obvious.

He rolled his eyes. Bull shit. "You guys went against it before." He pointed out, clearly annoyed by her response.

"I'm not talking about 'Thou shall not date thy best-friends (step)sister' rule." She retorted back quickly with a pointed look.

"Then what are you talking about?" He asked, because if that wasn't it, then he was confused.

She smirked leaning into his ear. "Thou shall not date thy best friend's girl." She whispered, snapping back up with a shrug as she walked away to leave him to deal on his own.

AN:...AHHHH! NEW STORY NEW STORY NEW STORY!

I've had this chapter done for a while but i've been holding off because i wanted to finish the story (since its only 4 chapters total) first. But, I simply had to upload it already. I hope all of you have survive midterms and exams! Sadly i'm still not done with mine =/

Anyway, I really hope you guys like this one, its definitely my style similar to His Proposals, or Wake Up. So, if you liked those I think you guys would like this one as well!