Of all the clichés that could have fallen upon them, it just had to be the most notorious one of the Christmas season – the mistletoe. And really, whose bright idea was it to hang a mistletoe in the house in the first place? See, if everyone celebrated Derekus like him, this would have never happened – there are no mistletoes or other girly crap like that used with his holiday.

Anyway, currently, Derek and Casey were both staring at each other stupidly, wondering just what to do with this predicament. Because one minute they were fighting for the last chocolate-chip cookie and the next they realized they were under the mistletoe; the cookie on the kitchen counter long forgotten.

The thing is, though, there's no one around. So honestly they could have both awkwardly laughed it off and walked away like nothing happened. But they didn't. They weren't. Derek was confused, at least on her part.

See, it's not like Derek was against kissing Casey. Actually, he would be completely for it. For one: she was hot, whether Derek publicly admitted it or not. Two: he might have…sorta…started…liking her, in a way that he would definitely enjoy any physical contact, especially involving the lips. Three: he was a teenage guy. Four: did he mention that she was hot? But despite the reasons, Derek was pretty sure that if he even moved a fraction closer, she's slap his face hard enough to make it sound like thunder.

Now, Derek could take the road less traveled during these things and just kiss her cheek. It was never stated anywhere that the kiss had to be on the lips, right? But Derek couldn't even make that move, frightened of what could happen once his lips met any part of Casey's skin.

Or he could take the easy way out and just walk (run) away, but that felt like he was letting Casey win whatever game they were playing here (the who-can-stand-under-the-mistletoe-the-longest-before-taking-some-type-of-action game) and he obviously couldn't let Casey win anything, even if It was stupid and maybe completely nonexistent.

Yup, Derek was stumped. Kiss the girl and get slapped or don't kiss the girl and lose this weird-maybe-probably-nonexistent-mistletoe game with Casey, wimp style. He wasn't finding any scenario very flattering. Actually –

Derek's inner-monologue was interrupted, however, by Casey putting her lips delicately against his own. He didn't even get to close his eyes or really partake as she broke the kiss and stepped back.

"Wh-" was all Derek could get out of his mouth. His mouth was left agar in shock. He was so not planning on Casey making the first move. Maybe he lost this weird little game of theirs anyway.

Casey shrugged, blushing feverously under his stunned gaze. "You were taking too long," she voiced, quietly, yet playfully.

Derek chocked out a laugh. Relief flooded him and his shock dissipated. "If I promise not to take so long, can we…?" his sentence trailed off as he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

Casey squinted her eyes in mock thought, tapping her fingers teasingly along her lips. "Hmm, maybe next year?" she answered with a wicked grin, and then tauntingly swayed out of the kitchen.

Derek kept still, confusingly watching her leave the kitchen and up the stairs.

When she was no longer in sight, Derek was brought out of his stupor. Shaking his head, he looked up at the mistletoe and quickly snatched it from its place.

"Oh, Casey!" he yelled enthusiastically, all the while smirking and bounding up the stairs with the mistletoe firmly in hand. He was so not going to wait until next year.