AUTHOR'S NOTE: This was inspired by a couple of LWD episodes. I actually forgot which ones, but if I do remember, I'll put it here straightaway. On the other hand, if you somehow recognize it, by all means, tell. I'll give you credit, definitely.

Anyway, I really missed writing Lizzie/Edwin, but all I ever read here are Daseys. As much as I love and support them, it'd be awesome to have more Lizwins, yeah?

Ha. Enough about my rambling. You should read now.

Enjoy!

All women are bossy.

Well, at least the women he lived with, anyway.

Edwin Venturi groaned in effort as he attempted to lift the laundry basket on top of the washing machine. He gradually succeeded, but not without straining his back a little bit. Curse his family and their sevenfold dirty laundry. Nora had asked him to do it earlier before she left for grocery shopping but he, being Edwin, just ignored her and went on watching TV. He didn't account for the fact that there were two more women in this house, and he still gets ordered around nonetheless.

This time, it had been Casey.

"Hey, Ed! Didn't Mom just tell you to do something in the laundry room?" she said, her hands on her hips.

"So?"

"So do it," she replied in that firm and exasperated tone of hers he knew. She always reserved that for Derek whenever he did something that irked her to her nerves, but since he was at Smelly Nelly's, Edwin was the receiving end of it today.

He blew out a sigh and turned off the TV with a remote. "Okay, I'll do it." He began to stand up from the couch when the phone rang.

Casey dove for it in such a way that would render Michael Phelps proud. From the way the conversation was going, Edwin had a pretty good guess on who was on the other line.

"Sure, Max. I'll meet you there right now." Giggle, giggle, and some more giggling. Then with a final bye, she put down the phone and hurriedly grabbed her red coat from the rack. "Tell Mom or George I'm with Max, alright?" she managed to say before dashing out of the house.

Edwin grinned from ear to ear. Ha, the chore now forgotten. The next time he sees Max, he'll be sure to thank him.

Dropping lazily on the couch, he grabbed the remote and watched a Leafs game. Yeah, having Derek as a brother had really rubbed off on him. But he won't be shooting pucks in a net any time soon, to be honest. He vowed that he'll never enter Thompson High as a Derek Venturi clone, with the girls at his beck and call and being the ruler on ice. He was still terrified with talking to the opposite sex, plus he was more content on watching from the sidelines rather than do the whole blood and sweat thing with a hockey stick. No, he'll just be Edwin. Plain, old, weird Edwin as Casey said once.

He was too engrossed in the game and his thoughts that he hadn't even noticed there was someone else in the room.

"I didn't know you like hockey," Lizzie suddenly spoke, and his heart all but stopped. She was behind Edwin and the couch, and she leaned in a little.

"Liz! You scared me!" he yelped, complete with a pillow throw at her. Athlete that she is, Lizzie dodged it expertly, no sweat.

She grinned. "Well, instead of watching a game you can't play, shouldn't you be doing something?"

Oh, no. "Like what?" he dared to ask. He didn't really notice if Lizzie knew about his chore, but if she did, he had a premonition on what will happen next: a yell from Lizzie to get a move on and do what he had to do, and a very painful feeling on his lower back.

Not the ideal Saturday in his book.

"Oh, well, since we're, like, the only ones here, could we do something fun?"

Junk food, cartoons, Maple Leafs, television! They were the words that instantly crept on his head the moment she said fun. But he felt that Lizzie could do the thinking on this one, or else he'll have an earful about girls being capable of their own decisions.

"Like what?" he said for the second time.

Lizzie's eyes lit up brighter than a Christmas tree's. "Remember that time George took home that bottle of wine?"

"Are you serious?" Edwin blurted out. Really, this was Lizzie we're talking about. Calm, occasionally violent, and sweet Lizzie. Wine? Is she crazy?

She laughed. "I'm kidding, Edwin. Do you really think we could do something like that? Well, maybe when we reach Casey's or Derek's age. Maybe then we'll manage to do something... dangerous."

Lizzie planning to do something dangerous? He thought he won't live to see the day.

"Okay, then. What do you want to do? Sneak into Derek's room? Play with Casey's stuff?"

Lizzie motioned him to come closer to her place in the couch. He had been lying on the other side comfortably, then, but he didn't want to move.

"Edwin," she said, a little edge of menace surging from her voice. "Come."

Grudgingly, he inched his way to the other end. "You're such a bossy little—"

He didn't really finished what he had to say. Lizzie had completely overtaken his mouth, along with his capability of speech.

Lizzie pulled away, and he gasped for breath.

"That... was fun," he managed to say.

Smirking, Lizzie stood up and walked away from the living room.

"Wait!" Edwin called after her, the sensation still not leaving his mouth. "What was that about?"

She shrugged in response, and continued to trudge her way upstairs.

That was this morning. Now, all the streetlights were on and almost everybody was home; Nora was a little upset that he didn't obey her straightaway; his dad went straight to bed after a hard day's work, as did Derek. Casey had picked up Marti from the Davises and they were playing some game in her room.

Here he was, still in the laundry room, pushing load after load and rinse cycle every rinse cycle. But he didn't mind now.

Yes, the McDonald women were indeed bossy. But in Lizzie's case, it was something else.

Something he really liked.

AN: How was it? Be brutal, but not too brutal. ;)
Thanks for reading! Reviews keep me very damn upbeat.