A/N-Alright, another challenge! I know, not smart with me being so busy that I can't update my other stories or finish the other challenge, but eh, I'm not a thinker. Whatever.

Disclaimer-I don't own Life with Derek, nor was any copyright infringement intended.

Morning Sickness

"Ugh," she said, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand and flushing the toilet. She leaned back on her heels, and sighed. Every damn morning, she thought. Don't I get a break?

"Good morning, princess," Derek said as he sauntered into the bathroom.

"The door was closed for a reason," Casey replied. "Get out. I was here first."

He shrugged his shoulders and picked up his toothbrush. "Not my problem. You didn't mind sharing space last night," he said suggestively, raising his eyebrows at her.

"Yeah, and it's thanks to my lack of standards that I'm in here puking," she replied angrily, standing up.

He shrugged again and didn't comment. "You're so infuriating!" she yelled, storming out of the bathroom.

She stood in front of her closet, pulling out clothes then throwing them on her bed. Everything she pulled out made her think of encounters with Derek. Not that skirt, I wore that the day at the park. Not that shirt, that was the first time in his car. And those pants were the second time. Before long, all she was left with was a plain white t-shirt and a denim skirt that she hadn't worn in a year, maybe longer. Well, if that's all I have, I guess it'll have to do. She walked downstairs to join the rest of her family at the table.

"Are you feeling okay, Casey?" Nora asked.

"Yeah, why?"

"Because Liz said that she heard you throwing up this morning."

She shot a look at Derek, who kept his eyes on his cereal. "Just nerves. We have a math test today and I don't feel prepared at all."

"I'm sure you'll do fine, you always do," Nora replied.

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"Okay, so what's really going on?" Lizzie asked after school, in the few precious hours before George and Nora arrived home.

"What do you mean?" Casey answered nervously.

"Today wasn't the first time I've heard you throwing up in the morning, it was just the first time I said something to mom. Are you okay? You're not pregnant are you?"

Casey forced a laugh out. "Of course not. I don't even have a boyfriend, remember? Max and I broke up."

"You don't need a boyfriend to get pregnant," Lizzie said, eyeing her sister suspiciously.

"Maybe some girls don't, but I'm not like that. Now will you please leave, I have homework to do."

"Sure." Lizzie got up and walked out, looking at Casey over her shoulder the whole way out.

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"So how'd your test go?" Nora asked at dinner.

"What test?" Casey asked, confused.

"The math test you were worried about this morning," Nora clarified, giving her daughter an odd look.

"Oh right. It was alright. I'm sure I did fine," Casey quickly covered.

"What about you Derek?"

He shrugged. "Probably good enough to pass. As long as it keeps me on the team."

"You know, Derek, you should be putting more effort into your schoolwork. College is right around the corner," George admonished.

"Maybe I don't want to go to college," he said, tracing his fork through his mashed potatoes, drawing little designs.

"Why not?"

"Why should I? I'm not exactly the academic type. That's Casey's gig," he said, looking up at her with a smirk. He reached a foot over to rub circles on the top of hers. She kicked it away and glared at him.

"So then what do you plan to do with the rest of your life?"

"I wanna rock!" he said, jokingly.

George glared at him. "Be serious, Derek, for once in your life!"

"Maybe I'll move to New York. I'm sure there's plenty of shit down there for me to do."

"Why New York?"

"Why not New York?"

"Why do you keep avoiding the questions?"

"Why do you keep asking them?"

George sighed. "You'll be 18 in a couple of months, there's nothing I can do about it, I know. But do you have to move out of the country, just to piss me off?"

"Why do you think I'm doing it to piss you off? Maybe I just want to go there, regardless of your feelings?" He reached his foot over to Casey's again. This time she let it stay, glancing up briefly with a look of "Oh, hell, there's no stopping him."

"Because everything you do is to piss someone off, or at least to annoy them in some small way."

"That's not true."

"Name one thing you did that didn't piss someone off."

Derek thought for a second; his foot stopped moving on Casey's. "Going out with Sally!" he said, the light bulb clicking on above his head. Casey kicked him. Oh, right, she got pretty pissy about that, didn't she?

"Casey was annoyed by that towards the end of your relationship. God knows why, because she won't tell anyone, but still."

"Can I be excused?" Casey said, not enjoying being the topic of this particular conversation.

"Sure," Nora said, surprised at Casey's sudden request.

She got out of her seat quickly and fled upstairs. Before too long she heard a knock at her door. "Go away," she said, knowing that he wouldn't.

"Did you really think that would work?" Derek asked as he walked in, closing the door behind him and then stretching out across her bed. "I never go away."

"Unfortunately, I know," she replied. She hated the fact that he made himself so comfortable on her bed. The sight made the bile rise up in the back of her throat again. "Would you please leave? I'm really not in the mood to deal with you tonight."

"Sure, that's what you say now, but what'll happen later on, when everyone else is asleep? Probably the same exact thing that has happened every night for the last six months, right? You'll come knocking on my door," he got up and stepped over to where she sat at her desk, "you'll crawl into my bed," he leaned down to whisper in her ear, "and then you'll let me fuck you, simply because you can't think of anything better to do." He stayed where he was, breathing softly into her ear.

She shoved him away. "Not tonight, not ever again. I'm done, Derek. You always make me feel so worthless after. I don't know what I saw in you that first time. I thought that you might actually have changed, that maybe you were going to be nice, but then you just kicked me out of your bed, like I was one of the many airheads that you were used to. I can't take it Derek. I won't be treated like that."

"Sure you won't," he said with a smirk as he walked out her door.

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Casey lay in bed, tossing and turning. She couldn't get to sleep, no matter how hard she tried. She glanced over at the clock. 1:15 a.m. She was acutely aware of Derek lying on the opposite side of the wall, waiting for her. She always slept better afterwards. It was like it was some sort of sick sleeping pill, just as addictive and yet just as effective as anything sold in a pharmacy. She sat up in bed, weighing the pros and cons. If I don't get any sleep, I won't be any good in school tomorrow. If I go over to his room, I'll feel like shit, and I'll probably be sick again in the morning. She contemplated, then decided on the lesser of two evils. She climbed out of bed and walked out of her room and tapped gently on Derek's door. She heard him snicker, then opened it.

"Told you so," he said triumphantly.

"Shut up," she said wearily. She crawled into his bed and let him touch her, let him kiss her. She responded with the bare minimum of movements, not wanting to let him know how much she was actually enjoying it.

Derek came, then lay down next to her, stroking her hair. She knew the sweet side would disappear in a couple of minutes and enjoyed it while she could. She closed her eyes and leaned in to him. She was almost asleep when he elbowed her. "Okay, you can leave now."

She sighed sadly and gathered her clothes, taking as long as possible to put them on, trying to hold on to the small moment before he turned into a dick again. "Why do you do this?" she asked.

He opened his eyes and regarded her. "Why not? Can you think of a better way for us to get out our frustrations?"

"No, I understand why you like the sex part, I mean why are you such a jerk to me after?"

"Because that's who I am Case. Did you expect that one night with you would magically transform me into someone that cared, someone that was capable of loving you? You heard my dad at dinner, I don't do anything unless it'll piss someone off. And I can see exactly how much this pisses you off. It tears you up inside to realize that you need me, and that I don't need you. You keep coming back here, night after night, hoping that maybe, just maybe, this time will be different. And I keep leading you on, letting you believe that, because every morning, when you're kneeling over that toilet, I get to see how much you hate yourself. How much you hate what you have become."

Casey just shook her head at him and left the room.

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The next morning she was kneeling over the toilet, throwing up again. Why do I let him do this to me? she thought.

Derek walked into the bathroom. "Good morning. How are you feeling on this lovely day?"

She flushed the toilet. "Don't make me kill you."

He just laughed at her.

"What would you do if this was real morning sickness? What if it's not just you that nauseates me, but your child in there?" she asked, coming to stand next to him at the sink. She saw him pale. Good, now maybe he'll think twice before next time.

He recovered. "Like you'd let Mommy know how badly you've been misbehaving. You'd probably get rid of it before she had the chance to find out. And if I, by some odd chance, actually wanted it, you'd get rid of it just to spite me."

She slapped him. "I'm so sick of this game that we're playing."

"So stop playing," he said seriously, looking at her straight on.

"I-I-" she stopped, not sure how to respond. Sure, that sounds easy, but could she do it? She didn't want to be his toy anymore, she didn't want to be repulsed by herself, but actually leave him alone? She wasn't sure she could handle it.

"Well?" he asked, knowing full well she wouldn't.

She spun around. Derek thought she was leaving, so he picked up his toothbrush. He was spun around before he had the chance to use it, Casey's lips pressed against his. He realized she had just shut and locked the door, advancing their game further.

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Casey came down to the kitchen for breakfast. She saw Derek sitting there with his eggs, looking like the cat that ate the canary. She rushed over to the garbage can and threw up, knowing she wouldn't make it to the bathroom.

"Okay, you're staying home today," Nora said, smoothing back her hair. "I wonder what you have? It's probably just the flu, right?"

"Probably. I must've caught something."

"Hopefully you'll be able to get rid of it soon," Derek said, smirking.

"I hope so, but maybe not," she replied, looking at him miserably.

He just laughed.

A/N-Okay, so I'm not entirely sure I like how this came out. It wasn't as dark as I would've liked. I'm just too lazy to try to rewrite it. So, I guess this is what you get. Maybe if I get enough motivation, I'll try again and rewrite it. Until then, this is what you get for this prompt. Tell me what you think!