Disclaimer: Life with Derek is copyright Shaftesbury, Disney Channel, Family Channel, and Nickelodeon. This story was created for entertainment purposes only. No copyright infringement intended. It will be removed immediately and without question upon request.

My Favorite Bad Day

Derek Venturi knew that this day was going to be one of his worst the moment he opened his eyes. He pushed Casey up higher on his back when she was beginning to slip.

"Stop wriggling!" he hissed.

"I wouldn't talk if I were you," she returned, tightening her grip around his neck.

Oh how he hated this day. It all started that morning when he almost missed his hockey game.

Not only did his alarm clock resting innocently on his beside table not go off, but no one in the house bothered to come wake him up. Today was one of the biggest games of the season and here he was, lying in bed with only half an hour to spare. He grumbled to himself and flew to the door, practically ripping it off its hinges.

He had his mouth open for a fierce growl when he realized that not a soul except his step sister was in the house. It was eerily quiet and she was on her way back to her room when she caught sight of him, messy hair and all, with his head hanging outside his bedroom door.

"Something wrong?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

He wanted to snap at her and to unleash his fury on her, but he was in no mood for a bickering match when he was already so behind schedule. "Where's everyone," he demanded instead, stepping into the hallway and in front of her.

She didn't appreciate the tone he was giving her, but judging from his frazzled form and lack of insults, she decided to answer, albeit grudgingly. "Mom is visiting Aunt Fiona and took the kids with her and George said something about a big case keeping him in the office till late tonight."

He cursed under his breath, earning a look from the brunette in front of him. He was sure that he'd receive an earful and lecture about cursing for the umpteenth time, probably in a few seconds, but he knew that he couldn't waste those precious few minutes. Once she started talking there was almost no shutting her up.

"I have a game in less than half an hour and I have no ride," he ground out, running a hand through his head in irritation.

"Well, you would've had one if you didn't go dent the Prince," she commented snidely on the way to returning to her room. She obviously didn't care about his problem and judging from her tone of voice, he knew that she was trying to rub it in his face that it was his fault that he was in this predicament.

"Of all days for it to be in the body shop…" He cursed again before rounding on his stepsister. "Why didn't anyone wake me up?"

"Why would we? You never told us about your game," she returned, incredulous at his audacity to try pinning the blame on others.

Letting out an exasperated grunt, he stalked to the bathroom. "I don't have time for this!"

He amazed himself when he found himself in the locker room five minutes before the game. No doubt his team and the coach were furious with his late arrival, seeing as he was the captain and that he was supposed to set an example. He shrugged them off and hurriedly changed into his uniform after offering a brief apology. Lies be damned. He couldn't think of one when the game was only a few minutes away. He could practically feel last night's dinner start to come up, but he had no time to dart to the washroom because Sam had grabbed onto the back of his jersey and was leading him with the rest of the team out onto the ice.

Derek didn't know whether to strangle his friend or be grateful that he was not going to miss the start of the game because of his need to puke. Trying his best to hold back the feeling, he stepped into the rink.

If his coach yelled at him one more time, he was sure to snap. As if he didn't know that he wasn't playing his best today. The other team was leading by a point, but he was finding it more difficult than usual to gain the lead, let alone break even. Even Sam noticed that his game was off.

He struck the puck and watched as it sailed through the air and partially into the net before the heavy glove of the goalie obstructed its path.

Derek cursed again and skated toward his coach and the rest of his teammates for the time-out the coach had called. He caught sight of the frown on Casey's face as he skated by her and immediately felt worse. Wait, when did she get here? He didn't have time to think for the coach was already up in his face.

"What the hell, Venturi?!"

He was so close to giving a witty comeback but before he knew what was happening, the coach had turned his attention to the rest of the team and their modified strategy. He sighed to himself. It was going to be a long game.

Sam gave Derek a pat on the back, "D, stop sulking! We won the game!"

"Yeah, no thanks to me," he added bitterly as he drank his smoothie.

"Stop being a spoilsport, Derek," Casey chided as she returned to the table after discarding her empty smoothie cup.

He couldn't help but roll his eyes at her comment. He stuck out his tongue at her before moodily turning back to his drink.

This time it was her turn to roll her eyes at him. "Real mature, Derek."

Sam merely chuckled at the exchange between the two stepsiblings before pushing his chair back. "Hey, I've got to go now. My mom says that I have to be back in five minutes or she'll skin me alive."

"See ya later, Sammy," Derek offered with a small weak wave.

"See you around, Sam," said Casey, watching as the blonde left the store with a "later". After Sneaky was gone, she turned her attention to the boy in front of her, with his chin against the table, moodily sucking on the straw. "Cheer up, Derek." Why the sudden change in attitude? Earlier that morning she seemed as if she didn't care at all about his predicament, but here she was trying to cheer him up.

He shot her a small glare. "Easy for you to say. You weren't the one having your butt handed to you. Besides, I never asked you to come."

She rolled her eyes at his obvious dislike for her presence at the game. "Someone needed to go and show you some support. Besides, you can't just sulk about it forever," she said, pushing her chair back to stand up. "Come on, let's go."

Shooting her a quizzical look, he asked, "Go where?"

"You'll see," she returned with a smile, which only earned her another glare.

He didn't want to go anywhere. He wanted nothing more than to sit here in the smoothie store drinking his smoothie to block out the memories of the horrible day he was having. He liked to believe that he always got what he wanted, but he knew that when he was stuck with one stubborn Casey McDonald, life was never easy. And since Casey was trying to exhibit some control of his life at that moment, he felt the need to retaliate.

The next thing he knew, he was kneeling next to Casey as she sent him a murderous glare. Maybe tripping her wasn't such a good idea after all.

And that was how he found himself in the middle of London with one grumpy Casey McDonald latched onto his back. "Stop wriggling!" he hissed.

"I wouldn't talk if I were you," she returned, tightening her grip around his neck.

He furrowed his brows and gritted his teeth in annoyance. "Look, I'm sorry okay? I didn't mean to trip you."

"Stop lying, Derek. I know you well enough to know when you're lying or when you're telling the truth," she countered.

He snorted at her response. They had been living under the same roof for a year now and he had been spouting lies non-stop. It was only a matter of time before she learned to pick up on the skill to tell the difference between his lies and his actual truths. In all actuality, he was impressed that she was able to see through him so easily, since people usually bought whatever he said without a second thought.

"Okay, fine. Maybe I did mean to trip you, but I'm sorry, okay?" he conceded. He didn't even need to look at her face to see the glare she was sending him, he knew her that well.

"Of all the days to send the Prince to the body shop," she huffed irritably. "If you hadn't crashed into Mr. Davis's car you wouldn't have had to run across town to get to your game and we wouldn't be stuck in this predicament."

He could practically feel a headache coming from her rant, but wisely clamped his mouth shut before he infuriated her any more. As if it wasn't enough that he had tripped her and from that caused her to sprain her ankle when she landed wrongly, but now he was walking through the streets of London with Casey on his back, literally.

Nora was more than an hour's drive away and his father was unable to leave the office as well. At times like these he wished that he wasn't the only one between his friends that had a license and a car. What irritated him further was how the bus came every hour and they had missed the last bus by a few minutes. Casey refused to wait for the next bus to return home, so he ended up carrying her, much to his chagrin.

They ended up walking in silence for the next few minutes as Casey silently fumed and Derek further cursed his luck and contemplated abandoning the girl in the middle of the street. No matter how tempted he was, he couldn't be that cruel to her—especially since he was the one that caused the problem in the first place. They carried on in relative silence for a few more minutes before she spoke.

"Hey, Derek?" she called out, surprisingly calm and without a hint of irritation or anger.

"Yeah?" he returned, surprised at his own calm tone of voice.

"What do you say we watch a movie, since we're so close to the theater," she suggested in a voice barely above a whisper.

He couldn't help but wonder why she was speaking that way. Was she afraid of further aggravating him? He was still angry about the game but the truth was she should be the one angry. She was the one with the sprained ankle and with no source of transportation aside from the bus that never comes on time. She had tried calling Emily and asking Mr. Davis for a ride, but they had gone out of town for the weekend. It was as if there was some sort of conspiracy for everyone to ditch him and Casey that day. He snorted at the idea; he wouldn't be surprised if someone arranged it just to piss him off.

"You're kidding, right?" he asked, incredulous. "Weren't you complaining about going home right away and how you refuse to wait for the next bus?"

Derek could feel her shrug her shoulders from the movements of her arms against his neck. "Yeah… but I've changed my mind." She leaned forward a bit and asked directly into his ear, "Come on, what do you say?"

He felt a small shiver run down his spine for some reason and he hoped that she didn't notice anything. Not even when Sally spoke in his ear did he get this reaction. How strange. "F-fine," he choked out. Was that a stammer? Since when did he stammer?

She let out a small squeal of joy and he could've sworn that she hugged him, but then again, he couldn't be too sure. Her arms were wrapped around his neck to begin with.

They were in front of the theater a few minutes later and he couldn't remember the trip there, but he decided to shrug it off. He blamed it on the girl on his back distracting him. Speaking of which, wasn't she embarrassed about their situation like he was? He voiced his thoughts.

She laughed at his question. "My reputation is already shot. This is nothing for me, but it might do something to your rep," she answered with a grin.

He grimaced, realizing how true she was. But it was already too late now; people were already staring at them. Some of them he recognized from school, others were locals that he never paid much attention to. He could've sworn he heard a few people whisper about how cute it was for him to carry his girlfriend around. He shook his head at the thought. If he heard correctly, those people obviously did not know him at all. Any form of PDA was off limits for him and the most he did to break his rule was his kiss with Sally on stage at Smelly Nelly's. He frowned a bit at the memory. It wasn't that long since the break-up, but he found himself moving on faster than he thought. Perhaps it was because they had ended on good terms?

He shook his head again to clear his thoughts and the next thing he knew, he was leading Casey down an aisle in one of the rooms in the theater. She had gotten off his back and was hopping a bit so that getting to their seats would be easier. He wasn't even sure what movie they were watching since he had been so caught up in his thoughts. He seemed to remember Casey taking a bill out of the front pocket of his shirt and handing it to the cashier, but that was all he could remember. He really needed to stop letting his mind wander, even if it did take mind off about the game.

To his horror, she had dragged him to watch a romance film. Had he been in the right state of mind, he would've objected to the idea and demand that they watch a horror movie.

"I can't believe you made me watch that," he said in disgust as he led her out of the dark room.

"You didn't object to it," she said with a shrug before motioning for him to lean down so she could jump on his back again.

He groaned, but obeyed. "I was distracted," he groaned.

She couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at his answer. "By what?" she asked, curious.

What was he supposed to say? That he was thinking about people outside the theater thinking that they were boyfriend-girlfriend? He shuddered at the thought and ground out, "None of your business."

She huffed at his answer but didn't push it, which he was grateful for.

It was starting to get dark out, he noticed. Had they really been out that long? As he did a quick mental check of the time the game started and when they went in for the movie, he realized that most of the day was already gone. He sighed and began on the walk home when his stomach let out a massive rumble.

"Hungry?" she teased.

He was sure his face was red, but didn't dare turn to face her.

"Want to go to Pete's Pizza? It's just down the street," she suggested.

Dinner was not supposed to be awkward. The waitress was not supposed to coo at how cute he looked giving his girlfriend a piggyback ride. Casey was not his girlfriend! And he was supposed to be hitting on said waitress, not blushing like mad. And why wasn't Casey denying anything?

He surprised himself when he ordered for the both of them and had gotten Casey's order correct, down to the last detail. She was obviously surprised like he was, but he was doing his best to will away the redness in his face. Derek Venturi did not blush; but yet he had been doing that quite frequently within the past hour.

Dinner was strangely pleasant, with the lack of insults and food thrown at each other.

"Would you and your girlfriend like some dessert?" the waitress asked as she took notice of their empty plates.

Finally, Casey said something, "Um, no, we're fine… and he's not my boyfriend; he's my stepbrother."

For some reason he felt his stomach drop at her confession. Even though it was the truth, he wasn't supposed to feel that way, was he?

The waitress looked between the two teens before clucking her tongue. "Pity."

Yeah, pity. Wait, what? Did he just think that?

"Do you still want to take the bus?" he asked as they neared the bus stop.

"Derek," she said, slightly exasperated. "We're only a few blocks away from home. What's the point?"

He shrugged his shoulders as best he could in that position. "I don't know. I kind of like the freedom of walking without someone hanging off my back."

She narrowed her eyes suspiciously at him. "That better not be code for 'you're fat'."

He grinned at her. "I was hoping you wouldn't catch that."

She rolled her eyes at him and whacked him playfully in the shoulder. "For that, you're going to have to buy me ice cream for dessert!"

"Yes, ma'am!" he answered, missing the mock salute due to both of his hands being occupied. He actually surprised himself at the direction their conversation was going. It wasn't their usual witty banter or bicker and he found himself strangely enjoying their new style of conversing.

"Hey! Gimme some of that!" he said, attempting to dig his spoon into her cup of ice cream.

She wrinkled her nose at him and moved her cup as far away from him as possible without falling off the couch. "You have your own!"

"Yeah, but I want to try some of yours!" he said, initiating his second attempt to steal a spoonful of Casey's dessert.

She continued to lean away from him and used one hand to push him away. "You don't like strawberry! You said so yourself!"

He pouted at her comment. "I never said that! Now gimme some!"

She couldn't help but laugh at his failed attempts to steal her dessert. If it wasn't for her ankle, she'd jump right off the couch.

He leaned forward again, but this time instead of aiming for the cup of ice cream, he wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her to him. She had let out a squeak of surprise and he used her momentary state of shock to his advantage by shoving his spoon into the frozen treat.

"Hey!" she protested, staring at the huge whole in the middle of her dessert.

He smiled back at her around the plastic spoon. "You snooze, you lose!"

She merely rolled her eyes at him and then scooted farther away from the boy, guarding her ice cream with her slightly turned body. He seemed to have realized what she was doing and as a result, he tackled her, ripping the cup out of her hands.

"Derek!" she yelled, gripping the edge of the couch since she couldn't possibly stand up to chase him around the room.

"That's what you get for not sharing," he said with a smirk and purposely took a few steps back from her glowering form.

She huffed and then crossed her arms, refusing to look at him.

She looked strangely cute pouting like that for some strange reason. Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, he grinned and then plopped back onto the couch, returning the frozen treat back to the brunette.

Casey rolled her eyes again, for the umpteenth time. "I see you're in a better mood than this afternoon," she commented with a smile.

"Yeah well, I owe it to you," he said, returning a small smile. When he saw her face soften at his confession, he felt strangely warm for some reason. "That never leaves this house, got it?"

She shook her head slightly in amusement, smile still on her face. "Yes, sir," she mimicked him from earlier.

He surprised himself when he wrapped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her close to him. She seemed startled by his action, but instead of pulling away, she merely leaned closer to him, further surprising and startling him. It felt nice sitting here with her. It felt really comforting and warm; he was sure that he'd be asleep any minute now. When he chanced a look down at her, he wasn't sure why her peaceful contented face was making him feel funny all over. He also wasn't sure when his face had gotten so close to hers until he felt her soft skin against his lips.

She was surprised at the sudden contact of his lips against her cheek. "W-what are you doing?"

He blinked, realizing what he had just done and what she had just asked. What was he supposed to say after that awkward moment? Hey, I think you're the hottest girl I've ever met! Marry me? He scoffed. Not likely; he wasn't even sure where that thought came from to begin with. "I…I don't know. Um… thank you for today? You uh… made an extremely bad day actually tolerable?" he offered weakly with a small smile.

Once she recovered from the awkward moment, she returned the smile. "That's what I'm here for," she said, patting him lightly on the arm. "Now, help me get upstairs so I can go to bed."

"Yes, ma'am," he mock saluted. This time instead of offering her a piggyback ride, he picked her up in his arms and carried her up the stairs. After depositing her on her bed, he turned to leave, but was called back by her voice.

"Derek?"

He turned to face her, hand resting on the doorknob. "Yeah?"

"Cheer up. You can always make a bad day better, as you've seen today," she said with the same smile that was making him feel warm and funny all over.

He returned the smile. "I will. Thanks, princess," he said as he closed the door. "And don't tell anyone I said 'thank you'," he added as an afterthought as he poked his head back into the room.

She laughed at him and threw a pillow in his direction, but it merely hit the door and fell to the floor.

He was a little disappointed when things seemed to have returned to the way they were the very next day, but he knew that from the small smiles she sent him every now and then that it wasn't the same. He wasn't sure when just seeing her smile made him feel better, but he didn't question it. Whenever he had a bad day, all he needed to do was see her smile and suddenly the day didn't seem so bad anymore. He wasn't sure why that was, but he'd figure that out later.

Right now, the princess was demanding that her prince carry her and he was more than happy to oblige.

A/N: It's been a while since the last time I've posted something hasn't it? Well, here is my latest creation and I hope you enjoy, even if it may not be as good or as enjoyable as my last works. Oh, and don't forget to review! Thanks and see you next time--hopefully soon!