Casey McDonald sat in her back yard in shorts and a bikini. She was fanning herself with an impromptu fan made of paper. It was

an unbelievable 94 degrees outside, but compared to inside the house, it was heaven. A severe storm had hit the surrounding area the night

before, leaving everyone's power out. At least everyone who didn't have a generator, i.e. the Venturi-McDonald household. With no working

air-conditioning, the already cramped house felt like a sauna. Casey felt like her only means of escape was to lounge in the backyard with her

feet in Marti's inflatable pool. Sliding down her sun-glasses, Casey shifted in her chair to get more comfortable. Grabbing the book that was

resting on her lap, she opened it up to her bookmark. She had managed to read a total of six sentences before she felt something ice cold hit

her square in the chest. Screaming, she threw her book to the ground and sat up off the chair. And there, standing right in front of her with the

biggest water gun she's ever seen, was Derek Venturi, the devil himself. Who was also not wearing a shirt. Hmm, the devil has a nice

six-pack. Shaking her head, Casey managed to get out a, "Der-ek!!" Still cackling like the witch in Snow White, Derek said, "Awww, are you

afraid to get a little wet, Case?" Glaring back at him, Casey knew she didn't have to take this. And she wouldn't. The one thing she learned

after moving in with the Venturi men, is to always be prepared. Always. And Casey was definitely prepared. Reaching down into the

inflatable pool, Casey asked Derek, "Why? Are you?" Derek looked confused, until he saw that Casey had pulled out an equally as big water

gun from inside the pool. "Oh shi--" Derek started to say, but was cut off as cold water hit him in the face. He took off running, but not

without pointing the water gun directly behind him to try and hit Casey.

"Oh, come back here you big baby!" Casey yelled, giggling at how Derek reacted. After about a minute and no sign of Derek, Casey sat back down to her book.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Three chapters later and still no interruptions from Derek. Casey began to worry that he was up to no good...again. She placed her book

back on the chair and walked into the laundry room. It was quiet in the house...too quiet. Her Mom and George had taken the younger kids to

the water park to cool off, but still, Derek usually made more noise than the whole family put together. "Derek?" Casey called out. There was

no answer so she slowly made her way upstairs. She knocked on Derek's door. After a moment he finally opened the door, Casey sadly

noticed he was no longer shirtless. Trying not to pout, Casey asked, "What's going on?"

Raising an eyebrow, Derek said, "What do you mean?"

Sighing, Casey explained. "I mean, I beat you at your own game, and you haven't even tried getting back at me yet. What's the deal?"

"Oh, you didn't beat me." Derek said, grinning.

"Uhh, yeah, I'm pretty sure I did. Are you delusional or something? Maybe the heat is finally getting to you," Casey reached up and felt his forehead, "Hmm, feels ok to me."

"Are you done talking yet?" Derek asked, sounding annoyed.

"Have you accepted defeat?"

"No."

"Then I'm not done." Casey said, smiling. She loved getting on his nerves.

"Fine then." Derek said, stepping closer to her.

"Yeah, fine th--" Casey stopped talking for two reasons. One, Derek was waaay to close to her, and two, his lips just happened to be on her

lips. Derek was a better kisser than Sam and Max combined. It was amazing. Right when Casey started roaming her hands across his still not

shirtless chest, Derek pulled away. Casey stood there, breathless. She noted Derek's somewhat shocked expression, which he quickly covered

with his trademark smirk.

"I told you that you didn't beat me." He said calmly.

"Wait, what are you talking about---AHH!!!!!!!" Freezing, ice cold water had just poured all over Casey. Looking up, she noticed that Derek

had somehow put a bucket attached to a string above his door. Apparently that bucket was filled with the water that had just drenched Casey.

She could hear Derek laughing in the background. Ohh, he was going down.

Poor Derek didn't see it coming, but Casey had ran full speed at him and tackled him to the ground. Lying on top of him, she took her hair

and twisted most of the water out, right onto his no longer dry shirt. "Take that, Venturi!" Casey yelled, "Now, I'm pretty sure I won."

"Lets just call it even, alright?" Derek asked, still under Casey.

Casey leaned down and kissed Derek full on the lips, her wet hair draping over them.

"Now we're even," Casey said, smirk resembling Derek's. "Oh no, wait. Take your shirt off, then we're even."

--------------------------------------------------------------

Okay, I'm not sure if I really like this one. It drags a little too long. Thanks for reading it though, I really appreciate it!! Love you all!