That night Edwin and Lizzie met in the game closet.
"Derek actually admitted to you that he's in love with Casey?" Lizzie asked.
"Yeah. It was a real brotherly bonding moment since he promised to kill me if I told anyone," Edwin replied, rolling his eyes. Lizzie pulled him into a hug.
"This is great!"
"What!? How exactly is my demise a good thing?" Edwin asked dryly.
"Now all we need is for Casey to admit her feelings," Lizzie said excitedly, ignoring Edwin's sarcasm.
"And how are we supposed to do that? She has a boyfriend, remember?" Edwin asked in all seriousness. Lizzie's smile faded.
"I don't…don't know…" They grew silent, each lost in thought about how to help their uncooperative siblings. They suddenly heard Derek's raised voice coming from his bedroom. Edwin smirked, throwing open the game closet door, Lizzie at his heels. As the two of them neared Derek's room they heard him on the phone talking to Sam while simultaneously talking with Marti.
"I understand the embarrassment factor. But trust me I need to do this. Hang on a sec, Sam. Smarti, I can't right now. Go bother, I mean, go play with Lizzie and Edwin."
"But Smerek! You promised you'd play with me!" Marti whined, tugging on Derek's shirtsleeve. Derek returned to his phone conversation, leaving Marti to her own devices. She left his room running into Edwin and Lizzie in the hallway.
"What're we playing?" she asked.
"We're not playing. Now be quiet or you'll need to find Dad and Nora," Edwin whispered fiercely, straining to hear Derek's end of his conversation with Sam.
"Uh, yeah, I'm doing this for the mystery girl. She'll be at the party Friday night. I'll see you tomorrow, Sam. Sure I'll fill you in on the details later," Derek said, hanging up the phone and flopping back onto his bed. Just then Casey arrived home from her date with Max. Staring at each other in horror, Edwin and Lizzie grabbed a hold of Marti and quickly headed to Edwin's room, making sure to leave the door open a crack so they could hear what was going on out in the hallway.
"What game are we playing now?" Marti asked, yelling in Edwin's ear.
"Marti! Don't do that!" Edwin yelped, clapping a hand over his ear. Marti glared at him, crossing her arms over her chest.
"You're mean, Edwin. I'm gonna go find Daddy and Nora," she said, hopping off of Edwin's bed and heading into the hallway. She passed a dazed Casey who nodded at her before heading into her own room. She hadn't been alone more than two minutes when Derek sauntered in, uninvited as per usual.
"So, you have a good time tonight?" he asked, making himself comfortable in her computer chair.
"Yeah," Casey replied softly, smiling to herself, leaning into the pillows on her bed. "Max is really looking forward to the party."
Of course he is. What kind of jock would he be if he didn't want to show off his latest arm-candy? Uh, girlfriend? Derek thought, trying his best to control his facial expressions. He couldn't risk Casey knowing what he thought of her boyfriend attending the latest McDonald-Venturi home invasion. Or social gathering, as Casey liked to call it.
"I'll bet. He'd have to be crazy to miss D-Rock in action," he said with a smirk, winking at her. Casey laughed.
"Don't worry. We wouldn't miss it, Derek."
Derek nodded, his stomach tightening uncomfortably at Casey's use of the word 'we'. He desperately wanted to know when in the hell he'd become such a girl about his feelings. It was disturbing, yet so painful.
"Night, Case," he mumbled, heading to his own room.
"Good night, Derek," Casey said, smiling to herself once again as she climbed under her covers drifting off to sleep.
Half-an-hour later, Edwin awoke from a sound sleep with a jolt.
"Huh!? Where's the monkey-eating squid? I can take 'em! Let me at 'em!" he insisted, his brow knitted in concentration as he took jabs at the air.
"Edwin!" Lizzie yelled, trying to rouse her still half-asleep step-brother, shaking his shoulder.
"No need to yell, Liz, I'm right here. So what'd I miss?"
Lizzie rolled her eyes. "I don't know. I fell asleep too."
"Well, some private investigators we are, falling asleep on the job. Regardless, I still think we should raise our rates," Edwin muttered. Lizzie rolled her eyes again, shaking her head. "Edwin, go back to bed. I'll see you in the morning," she said, putting her palm onto his forehead and pushing him backward onto his bed. Edwin chuckled.
"Night, Lizzie."
tbc...