RISKS

-Life with Derek fan fiction-

Boarding school AU

After moving in together, the Venturi/MacDonald families began noticing some heavy rivalry between siblings, especially between Derek and Casey. After a few months of testing the waters, and a party that destroyed the parents' trust, George and Nora finally decided to take action. Derek's erratic behaviour had always been an undercover problem, but George thought he wasn't powerful enough to correct him. But now Nora was there, and after she noticed a few changes in Casey, she felt it was time to fix things. The debates about the solution went on. Finally, they reached a verdict: Derek and Casey had to change schools, more precisely, to a boarding school in a neighbouring town, where they would be without their family for months on, forced to bond and maybe more…

Casey shifted uncomfortably on the floor, removing the last bits of shampoo from her forehead. Derek curled up, holding his knees against his chest, avoiding touching the cold tiles with his bare feet. They had sat in silence for a strange amount of time, trying to decipher the noises coming from downstairs, that had somehow gotten quieter as time went by. Derek let out a frustrated sigh, followed by a nervous lip bite. He was sure that was it. They were going to be busted by their parents, and punished for so long, their hair would grey by the time they could go outside again. Casey wanted to tell him off for continuously misbehaving when strictly told not to. She wanted to drown him in mockery and sarcasm, she wanted to hear him say he was wrong, that he regretted not following the rules. She wanted to see an apologetic glimpse in his eyes. Yet she couldn't. The words just wouldn't roll off her tongue. Her head was telling her to get even, to treat him the same way he treated her every day, but something in the back of her mind was making her feel sympathy for Derek. Maybe it was the desperation kicking in, or maybe it was something else, but no matter how hard she tried, she ended up staying quiet.

"I know you want to scold me." Derek finally spoke, breaking the silence that was just starting to feel comfortable "Don't. Leave it to George and Nora."

"I wasn't." Casey replied, her voice trembling. Derek could always see through her bullshit.

"Oh, please." he huffed, staring at his hands "I bet you already have that condescending look printed on your face."

"You're wrong." she told him, enjoying his poor judgement but momentarily considering her next move "Look at me."

It took Derek a few seconds of encouragement until he could lift his eyes from the ground beneath him. The truth was that he was scared to face her, he was scared to know what she thinking at that moment; because he always knew what she was thinking. In the last few months he studied her, observed her behaviours, made her predictable in his eyes. Yet things were changing, the patterns were evolving. Nonetheless, he was more curious than afraid. And on an impulse, his eyes travelled slowly from the slightly stained tiles, to her. Her focus was already settled on him, her stunning features captured by the ominous bathroom light. Casey felt her chest tightening, as their eye contact became stronger, but simultaneously softer. She had a serious expression, but a bright spark in her ocean-like irises. Derek tried to read her face, he tried to understand the moment, but his mind was absolutely blank.

"Stop it," she chuckled after a few seconds "I feel like you're staring right through me."

"What are you afraid I'm going to find?" he questioned, arching up his eyebrow.

"The Derek in me." Casey smirked, tapping her fingers against her knee.

"You say that like it's a bad thing." he folded his arms across his chest, hiding his sly smile.

"It's what got us into this mess."

"Sometimes messy is good." Derek stated, provoking her.

"You really don't know me at all." she playfully rolled her eyes, noticing his attempt to cover up a quite visible smile.

"I know more than you think." he immediately replied, regretting his answer "About a lot of things."

"Oh yeah?" he nodded and she continued, curious "Do tell."

"I know George and Nora are arriving in close to 3 minutes, and I know they're gonna find Edwin and Lizzie under your bed."

"3 minutes?" he nodded once more "We have 3 minutes before we're thrown into the fire pit?"

"Yes." Derek shrugged "And I also knew you'd be dramatic about it."

"As if." Casey shot him a serious glare.

"Probably shouldn't have thrown a party the first time our parents leave for the weekend, huh?" he sighed.

"Why did you?" she asked, hearing a slight sad tone in his raspy voice.

"It's like people expect me to mess up, so I do."

"It was actually kinda fun though." she grinned, tightening her pony tail.

"This was fun? For you?" Derek asked, confused.

"Yes!" Casey laughed "I guess it's official; you've driven me crazy."

"Yeah, well, it wasn't a far drive." he smiled, hearing her soft laugh echo through the bathroom walls.

At that moment, they heard heavy footsteps on the hallway, and both of them feared the worst. In one quick movement, the door slammed open and George and Nora walked in, absolutely stunned by the state of the bathroom. Stains covered the floor and there were dirty towels thrown everywhere. Nora opened her mouth to say something, but no words came out as she fully noticed both Casey and Derek covered in shaving cream and shampoo. Casey glanced over at Derek, whose eyes were wide and whose face had 'regret' written all over it.

"Living room. NOW." George angrily spit out, pointing towards the door.

Nora exited along side him, who had put his arm around her, muttering something under his breath. Derek got up quickly, taking Casey's hand and pulling her up. He gave it a soft squeeze, before letting go as they entered the living room. George was pacing around in circles, as Nora let out several frustrated sighs.

"A study group, Derek?" he huffed, rubbing his temples "As soon as we heard that, we immediately turned around. I shouldn't have trusted you, I really shouldn't. But I did. Despite my best judgement, I trusted you. And now I'm more than disappointed in you."

"What were you thinking?" Nora continued.

"It's not that bad…" Derek stuttered, rubbing his arm in a nervous movement.

"Not that bad?" his dad sarcastically chuckled "The house looks like a crime scene! God, Derek, you really let me down…"

"Both of us." Nora added, letting out another puff of air.

"Wait," Casey courageously stepped in "Why do you assume it's all Derek's fault? Maybe I had something to do with the party too."

"What?" the three of them turned to her, surprised by her words.

"Did you have something to do with this?" her mother asked, her eyes widened.

"Yes." Casey sadly confessed.

"Well, if you both did this, then you can both clean this up." George immediately replied.

"We'll talk about this later." Nora narrowed her eyes at her daughter, quickly heading to the kitchen.

"Casey…" Derek called, his chest full and tight.

"You don't have to say anything." she assured, watching his worried expression.

"But I do…" he insisted, resting his hand on her thigh. "I can't believe… You fell for that!"

"What?" she asked, as he burst into a sadistic laugh.

"Have fun cleaning this up, Case." Derek winked, getting up and racing upstairs, leaving Casey speechless.

"Dickhead." she huffed, her blood boiling inside her veins.

—

THE NEXT MORNING

"George, we really need to talk." Nora said, leaning over the kitchen counter.

"What's wrong?" he questioned, taking a sip of his coffee.

"You really need to ask? This Derek/Casey situation is completely out of control. They fight everyday. And Derek's reckless behaviour is starting to corrupt Casey."

"I know Derek can be a handful, but don't you think you're exaggerating a bit?"

"No, I'm not. I think it's time we take some real action. You guys aren't alone in this house anymore, you know that, right? We're responsible for them. And it doesn't seem like some healthy rivalry anymore. Things are getting out of hand. We moved in together in the beginning of summer, and it's now mid September, and I see no changes." she spoke, taking in a deep breath.

"I agree honey, but maybe we should wait just a little bit more. Maybe after this whole party fiasco, they'll learn something." he tried to console her, chewing a strip of bacon.

"Does that really sound like Derek?" Nora arched up her eyebrow, trying to talk some sense into her husband "George, I just don't want this to affect our marriage. It was already a struggle to get where we are, and I feel like this will really affect us in the long run. And I love you. This can't be the reason we're not happy."

"I love you too, Nora." George smiled, giving her a quick peck "But how can we fix this? Derek is too self absorbed to listen to us, and Casey is too consumed into taking Derek's power away to care."

"Derek needs something he has never had before: discipline. And Casey needs to go back to her roots. Maybe we should change their school." she shrugged.

"Well, Derek isn't doing well in that area, that's for sure. Do you really think that if they went to a more exigent school, they could change their behaviour?"

"Maybe. I don't know, George. Maybe it's a risk we should be willing to take."

"But most of our problems are here, at home." he pointed out, taking another sip of his tasteless coffee.

"I know…" she sighed, before an idea struck her "What if we move them to a boarding school? I mean, think about it. They're really exigent, strict, but they teach them how to live on their own. And Derek definitely needs that. They're 2 years away from university, George. It's the perfect time."

"Isn't that a bit out of our reach? Financially, I mean."

"Yes, but with less work around the house, I could definitely find another job. I think this might have a shot of working out."

"Maybe, it sounds doable."

"Promise me you'll think about it." she begged "If this is something we're really considering, we need to get informed as quickly as possible."

"I promise." George nodded, stroking her cheek softly.

—-

1 WEEK LATER

"Hey, Case…" Derek called, squeezing his fork to stop himself from laughing "Sam told me something really interesting today."

"Derek, don't start." George warned, when the whole table realised their daily dinner fight was right on schedule.

"No, dad, it's quite interesting." he chuckled, as Casey shot him a deadly glare "You see, apparently our great pride Casey, fell at school; again. That's right everyone: Klutz is back, stronger than ever!"

"DE-REK!" Casey burst with rage, kicking him under the table, as Edwin and Marti giggled loudly "How can you be so insensitive?"

"How can you be so clumsy?" he mocked her, imitating her squeaky tone.

"Derek, I swear to God, I'll kill you!" she harshly spat out, throwing a piece of bread at his head.

"Good aim…" he admitted, a smirk drawn on his face "For a Klutz."

"You jerk!" Casey barked, getting up and running to her room.

"It's the third time this happened this week." Nora sighed, shaking her head "After dinner we're gonna have a serious talk."

"This can't go on." George nodded, with a stern voice.

"Come on dad, where's your sense of humour?" Derek laughed, tilting his head back and taking a bite of the piece of bread that had fallen on his lap.

"It left when you threw that party. And just like my trust in you, after that, it's not coming back." he said, immediately shutting Derek down, along with the rest of the family.

—-

"Casey?" Nora softly knocked on her door "We need to talk."

"I'm doing my french homework." Casey answered, leaning over her book, highlighting a few sentences.

"It's important." she tried to be assertive, something that never seemed to work around Casey. "Living room, please."

"Okay, fine." she sighed, closing her book and alining her pencil perfectly parallel to her notebook.

"What's this about?" the two kids asked, already sat side by side on the sofa.

"You." George pointed, standing in front of the tv "Both of you."

"What did we do?" Casey questioned, glancing over at Derek in disgust.

"I don't know. What didn't you do?" George sarcastically replied.

"Kids, we're done with your rivalries." Nora slowly explained "We gave you time to adjust, close to four months actually, but now it's time to take action."

"What… What kind of action?" Derek stuttered. He was beginning to feel something he didn't feel often: threatened and powerless.

"We're gonna change your school." George stated, crossing his arms across his chest.

"What?" his son nearly screamed, shifting in his seat. "You- you can't do that!"

"Oh, Derek, that's where you're mistaken! Not only could we do it, but we're also doing it."

"But I just moved schools!" Casey complained, looking at her mother "You're not gonna make me be the new girl for the second time in just two months!"

"It's for the best." Nora said, as George gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze.

"I can't believe this." she replied, attentively observing Derek, who had his head between his hands.

"Dad, Nora, this is crazy." he shook his head, scratching his chin "What school would you even put us in? I mean… Ours is the best one around."

"Well, Derek… Casey…" George took a deep breath "We're actually moving you to a boarding school."

"This is not happening." Derek fell back on his chair "This can't be happening."

Casey sat in silence, digesting the conversation. The initial shock was obvious, none of them were expecting their parents to make such a huge, defining decision like that. And while she could definitely see Derek freaking out from the corner of her eye, it didn't really feel all that awful to her. For a goal-oriented, meticulous, ambitious person like Casey, the thought of living in her school and having full responsibility over every aspect of her life, actually sounded rather appealing. All kinds of thoughts drifted through her mind, from how she would decorate her room, how she could organise her weekends, and especially how much she would avoid Derek on a daily basis. For a rushed moment, it felt like a flawless plan.

"I'm sorry things had to come this far." Nora apologised, bringing Casey back to reality "But you guys are making it impossible to live like this."

"This is a disaster." Derek insisted, earning a look from Casey, who felt strangely powerful noticing his worried state.

"I get it." Casey explained, her attention directed back to her parents "But mom, are you sure this isn't a weight on our finances?"

"It's for your wellbeing, and ours too. There's no price on that." Nora replied, knowing that if she told Casey she'd have to work two jobs, her daughter would carry that guilt forever.

"Dad…" the upset Derek tried to say, but George interrupted him.

"I know what you're going to say. It's not up for discussion; not with you guys anyway."

Derek fell back on the sofa, letting himself sink into his seat. Sure, not living with his parents sounded great, but at the same time, it would mean being at school all the time, which Derek wasn't a particular fan of. And plus, even though Derek hated himself for even allowing his brain to think it, it kind of felt like his parents were trying to get rid of him. Of course, he was never an easy child, or an easy anything, but surely he couldn't be bad enough to be sent away to a boarding school… It wasn't a certainty, but it definitely soothed his guilty mind. He glanced over at Casey, irritated by her obnoxious behaviour. Why did everything that upset him, seem to never be an issue for her? She was never satisfied with anything, but the moment she knows about something that'll be potentially great for her and shitty for him, a smile appears on her face. It was utterly annoying. There she was, leaning back on the cushions, biting her lip to stop a giggle from escaping her mouth, probably mentally planning out her new room, alphabetically organising all her books in her new white stands… All whilst he was struggling to even relax his muscles, ferociously breathing in and out, clenching his fists.

"I have to go call Emily!" Casey interrupted Derek's thoughts, quickly getting up and racing to her room.

"Dad, Nora, you can't do this." Derek tried to say, still attempting to change their mind. "Any other punishment is better than this! I'll do anything."

"You should've thought of that before you threw that party." George replied, stern like never before "Or before you decided to mock Casey constantly and throw the good house environment we were trying to keep, out the window. Go to your room now please, we'll discuss this tomorrow."

George left slowly, followed by Nora, who was avoiding eye contact with her sorry step-son. The living room emptied, leaving him ready to be consumed by his fatal thoughts. After the shock wave passed, he gathered the strength and courage to get up and return to his room. This unusual feeling was taking over him. He had never truly been familiar with such sensation, he couldn't even name it. As soon as he lied down in his unmade bed again, the thought struck him: defeat. That's what it was.

Oh, and how bitter it tasted…