So, please review because this story is different from what I usually write and I would like to know if it's worth it or if I should just stick to my original style.
Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy.
Casey MacDonald is a survivor. She adapts to new situations with ease, moving on from her parent's divorce because it's the logical thing to do and taking care of her little sister because her mother needs the help. She changes to fit to whatever circumstances she may be in; molding herself to fit whatever role she needs to fill.
There has only ever been one thing that she hasn't been able to adjust to, one person that she hasn't been able to takes cues from and fold seamlessly into their life.
Derek.
He's the only one that she has never been able to predict, the only one that she couldn't change to fit with. She never knew what to expect or what he was going to do and it was too much to handle.
She had spent all of her life adapting to situations as they came, changing personalities as easily as chameleons change color.
But then her mother married George Venturi and they moved in with him and his family.
And she was living with Derek.
And all of a sudden, she couldn't adapt like she used to. She wasn't sure what role she was supposed to play now. She didn't need to help her mom with Lizzie, but she did need to help mom and George with the three youngest kids. She didn't need to help Lizzie with soccer but she did need to talk to her about boy problems. She had to stay out of SmerekandSmarti time and she had to make sure that Edwin took showers.
But sometimes she didn't even need to do those things.
Sometimes, Derek would step in and he would ruin all of her balance. Every time she thought she understood what she was supposed to do, who she was supposed to be in this new life, he would come in and ruin everything.
And all of a sudden, Casey had to figure out how to be herself,no chameleon personalities included.
Derek Venturi is a survivor. He stands tall and proud through the worst situations, emotions rolling off of him like water off a rock. He doesn't get attached because it only leads to heartbreak and packed suitcases and missing mothers. He picks on Edwin because it's easy, and it has nothing to do with wanting the kid to grow a spine, and he takes care of Marti because she's his Smarti and he's her Smerek.
He's never really had difficulty being who he is, being The Derek, because acting is something that comes easily to him, like breathing.
He realizes early on in life that promises don't mean anything and love leads to nothing but disaster, so he shuts down. He stops caring what people think and he uses his overwhelming charm to skate-by in life, surviving and not really living.
But then someone threw a wrench into his carefully constructed world.
Casey.
She's the only one that refuses to play along.
She always calls him on his bullshit and she refuses to just let him be. She asks why he does what he does and her naivety and blue eyes are tearing down his walls brick by brick.
And he's beginning to feel things again.
And it is directly her fault.
Derek spent his entire life not caring about anyone or anything and liking it that way. But then she moved into his home and invaded his life and things began to change.
All of a sudden, he felt a little bad for using Edwin and not getting to know Lizzie. He wanted to stop worrying his dad and be kind of nice to his new stepmother, even though he wasn't ever going to call her mom.
It was awful.
He had his whole world planned out and just the way he liked it. But then she came out of nowhere and ruined all his plans and he really wished he could hate her for it.
Because he had to cut back on all the lies and bullshit and he was learning to value his family more and he was feeling all these emotions he thought he had gotten rid of years ago.
And all of a sudden, Derek had to figure out how to be himself, emotions and feelings included.
you think i'm pretty
without any makeup on
you think i'm funny
when i tell the punch line wrong
i know you get me
so i let my walls come down
down
before you met me i was alright but things
were kinda heavy
you brought me to life
now every february, you'll be my valentine
valentine
Things weren't supposed to go the way that they did.
Casey hated Derek and Derek hated Casey and that's just the way things were.
They fought more than was healthy because they could never agree on anything and they didn't want to learn how to get along. It was like they were oil and water, but more explosive because not only did they not mix they combusted.
She got good grades and danced and over-achieved and helped her mom and step-dad and constantly moved a thousand miles a second.
He lazed through life with an easy smile and lazy charm and played hockey and he only helped if he was offered something in return and he never went a constant speed.
They weren't supposed to get along.
And that was okay.
She would go off to an amazing college and he would get a hockey scholarship to somewhere and they wouldn't see each other except for at lame family events and everything would be fine.
But it didn't happen that way.
Because Derek Venturi seeped into Casey MacDonald's skin like butter into a hot chocolate chip pancake.
She couldn't get rid of him.
She couldn't stop thinking about him and he was in so much of her life, that she didn't even fake getting upset when it was announced they were going to the same college.
Derek had been her life since she was fifteen years old, he dated her best friend and she dated his and he came to her dance recitals in return for her going to his hockey games and their relationship was the perfect balance of give and take.
She knew him like no one else in the world did, and he knew her the same way.
Casey lived the first fifteen years of her life being exactly who other people wanted her to be. She slid into whatever role she was assigned with an ease, her life defined by other's expectations.
But then she met Derek.
And he made her think for herself, do what she wanted.
He brought her to life.
let's go all the way tonight
no regrets, just love
we can dance until we die
you and i, we'll be young forever
you make me
feel like I'm living a
teenage dream
the way you turn me on
i can't sleep
let's run away and
don't ever look back,
don't ever look back.
They start dating two weeks after getting to college.
No one there knows that they're stepsiblings and it feels like freedom.
Derek can kiss Casey and Casey can date Derek and it's not wrong and no one cares or judges or criticizes.
He majors in film and plays on the hockey team and she volunteers for the drama club and majors in writing.
And they're happy.
She writes stories for her classes about a boy who tortures her but she loves anyways and he makes videos for film classes about the brunette keener he's in love with.
Their lives are filled with one another, and they like it that way.
They have all the same friends and a few of the same classes and the family still doesn't know about that whole kissing and totally in love with each other thing so they still get to share an apartment, no questions asked.
The first semester of college ends, and she doesn't think she's ever loved anyone this way before.
So she whispers in his ear iloveyou and leads him to his bedroom, fingers interlocked with his.
She goes to his room because it's bigger than hers, and she assumes after tonight that she'll be staying there on a more permanent basis.
Because tonight, Casey MacDonald is going to make love to Derek Venturi.
She's going to sleep with her stepbrother and have no regrets.
It's going to be amazing and magical because she's in love, and it won't matter that it hurts like a bitch and it isn't his first time, only hers and his sheets haven't been washed in who knows how long.
He's been her dream for what seems like forever, and she can't imagine ever being with anyone else.
And it's more than amazing.
It's perfect.
Derek wakes up the morning after he has sex with Casey, and he doesn't remember ever being happier.
Sex has never ever felt like that before.
It has never been that incredible, because he hasn't ever loved the person that he was with.
But he loves Casey MacDonald.
He loves her even though she makes him eat tofu and clean the dishes. He doesn't care that this relationship may result in the two of them not being welcome in their own home and he doesn't care that his high school friends might freak out.
He's dreamed about being with her since she moved into the bedroom next to his at the tender age of fifteen.
And anyways, Marti totally approves.
So what else really matters?
my heart stops
when you look at me
just one touch
now, baby i believe
this is real
so take a chance and
don't ever look back,
don't ever look back.
we drove to Cali
and got drunk on the beach
got a motel and
built a fort out of sheets
i finally found you
my missing puzzle piece
i'm complete
In their third year of college, Lizzie and Edwin stop by for a surprise visit.
But when they get there, Casey and Derek aren't home. There's a note on the door reading in california, please don't find us with a heart and their initials underneath.
Edwin looks at Lizzie and rolls his eyes, both easily coming to the decision to wait until they get back because they want answers. They know that those fights were faked and this note does nothing more than prove that there is something strange going on between Derek and Casey and they want to know what it is.
So Lizzie picks the lock while Edwin times her and then they stride into an apartment they've never seen, eyes wide with not-quite-surprise. Casey and Derek had never wanted anyone over, always just coming home whenever the parentals said that they were thinking about dropping by for a visit. And now, Lizzie and Edwin knew why.
There's nothing really glaringly obvious, but still, if you know Casey and Derek, if you have lived with Casey&Derek, then you notice things. Things that are different. And oh man, do Lizzie and Edwin notice different things.
They notice that only one bedroom is being used and that there are pictures of Casey and Derek all over, pictures of them laughing and kissing and hugging. The room is the perfect compromise of the comfort Derek loves and the style Casey craves.
Letters addressed to the two of them lie open on the kitchen table and printed copies of Casey's stories are spread out everywhere, DVDs of Derek's films on top of them.
Everything is just so coupley and everything comes together and it's like a collective light bulb going off over Lizzie and Edwin's heads.
So that's why there were fake fights and they never wanted anyone to come visit them and why Marti giggled every time she saw them together.
Because Casey and Derek have become CaseyandDerek and they didn't tell anyone about it.
Lizzie and Edwin spend the next three days living in their apartment and relearning their siblings' lives. They're slightly horrified by how much they don't know, how many things they haven't observed.
At the end of the third day, a tanned Casey and a grinning Derek stumble through the front door to see their younger siblings standing there, arms crossed and expressions stern.
Then there are apologies and explanations and when the clock chimes midnight, DerekandCasey go to sleep in the same room and Lizzie and Edwin sit in a shocked stupor until the early morning.
They aren't sure that they're okay with this.
But then it's morning, and Casey is making breakfast and Derek is teasing her and really, things aren't that different.
Then Casey reaches for the drawer on the other side of Derek and he jokingly tickles her side and she jumps and collapses against him.
And then they're falling to the ground in a laughing mess, limbs tangled, eyes glowing, and lips pressed together in a kiss they refuse to break.
And it's okay.
Lizzie and Edwin are totally okay with this.
Because they're completely in love and they fit together, even if they can't mix together.
It doesn't matter that they're like the explosive form of oil and water because they fit like matching puzzle pieces, and that's all that really counts.
All that matters is that Casey MacDonald loves Derek Venturi and Derek Venturi loves Casey MacDonald.
That's all there is to it.