Disclaimer: I do not own LWD or any of the characters.
A/N: I haven't written in about three years, so any constructive criticism is appreciated. I also missed the last few seasons of LWD due to moving and joining the military, so it's not going to be accurate. This fic is based on the song Bring Me Down by Miranda Lambert.
Casey sat on her bed, staring at the photo album in her hand. Boxes were piled randomly around her room. No one in her family knew that she had it, or that she made it. It was her and Derek's last summer before starting college, and she was excited, nervous and heartbroken at the same time. Flipping through the album, she thought of the summer and all that had happened. No one in their blended family, or their friends, knew about what had happened between her and Derek.
It had all started about two weeks after school had let out for the summer. Their parents had decided to go camping. After loading up the Venturi-McDonald clan, they drove off. Derek was grumpy, he hated getting up before noon when he didn't have to. Edwin, Lizzie and Marti had claimed the middle seats, leaving Casey and Derek in the back. The three youngest all had head-phones in, listening to music. George and Nora spoke quietly in the front, talking about last minute things that needed to be done before the baby arrived.
About one hour into the drive, Casey was listening to music and quietly reading the book she had brought along. Edwin and Lizzie were both playing games while listening to music and Marti was sound asleep. Derek, having forgotten his I-Pod in his bag (which was now buried under everyone else's), sighed dramatically. He was incredibly bored. He glanced over at Casey, and noticed she wasn't paying attention to anything around her. Derek leaned towards her slightly, making sure no one else was paying attention and yanked on her hair, hard.
Much to his pleasure, it got a reaction. Casey gasped and glared, "Der-ek!"
The rest of the van groaned. George shook his head. "Derek, can you just leave Casey alone? It's a long trip and your fighting is just going to make it longer."
Nora glanced back at the two. "Any more from either of you and you will spend this entire vacation together."
Casey pouted. "Mom! Why should I have to be punished for his behavior and actions?"
Derek groaned. "It wouldn't be an issue if she could learn to have a sense of humor!" Edwin and Lizzie were busy trying not to laugh, and thankfully Marti was still sound asleep.
Nora shook her head, "No debating this. It's final!" Nora turned back towards the windshield and rubbed soothing circles on her belly. Casey sat back, arms folded and sighed. Derek just grinned triumphantly. Soon Casey drifted off to sleep and was jolted awake by yet another hair yank from Derek when they had reached their destination a few hours later.
The Venturi's and McDonald's were in a beautiful camping site, with very few other campers around them. They were near a wide lake, and you couldn't see to the other side. You could fish and go swimming there. The kids scrambled out of the back of the van, eager to stretch their cramped legs. Casey and Derek were in charge of helping Edwin and Lizzie set up three tents while George unloaded the supplies and Nora rested her baby bump visible through the maternity top she wore.
One tent was for Casey, Lizzie and Marti. Marti had gone along with George and Nora to pick out the tents, so of course this one was purple. One tent was for Derek and Edwin, which was a dark gray. The last tent would be for George and Nora, which was a pale blue. Casey was new to camping, but luckily Lizzie had gone with a few friends before. Lizzie was being very patient with teaching Casey how to set up their tent, the girls leaving the boys to their own tent before moving on to George and Nora's.
Derek put his hands on his hips dramatically, declaring, "Okay, Edwin. Get our tent set up. I'm going to scope out the rest of the campsite for some babes." When Edwin started to protest, one look from Derek shut him up.
Casey narrowed her eyes at him. "Derek, mom and George said we all had to help set up the tents. Not just us!"
Derek smirked, the smirk that annoyed Casey to no end. "Well, princess, I'm pretty sure Ed here can manage, and that Lizzie will help him." Derek crouched down to Marti's level and winked at her. "Plus I'm sure, Smarti, here can be just as much help as I would be. Right, Smarti?"
Marti grinned and nodded. "Right, Smerek! I'm a great helper!" Marti jumped up and down in excitement. This just aggravated Casey further.
"Derek, don't use your little sister to get out of a job we were given!" Casey was really upset. Derek was able to get away with everything, especially when he pulled the Marti card. Marti turned towards Casey, her big brown eyes staring up at her.
In a little voice, Marti said, "Casey… aren't I a good helper? I bet I'm better than Smerek." The hopeful look on Marti's face made her cave in and she sighed, nodding in defeat. Derek grinned and gave Marti a quick hug and a kiss on her cheek before running off.
Casey shook her head and motioned for everyone to continue what they were doing. Marti decided to help Edwin, and after messing up a few times, ended up in just handing everyone the stakes for the tents.
By the time Derek returned, smirk planted on his face, he stretched and sat down on his camping chair. He glanced around their camping site and was pleased with what he saw. All the tents were set up. It seemed like the girls were in their tent, probably organizing thanks to Casey. Edwin was nowhere to be seen, neither were Nora and his dad so he figured they were in their respective tents as well. Derek got up and sauntered over to his and Edwin's tent and unzipped it. Much to his displeasure, he saw only Edwin's stuff was in there, sleeping bag unrolled on top of his air mattress.
"Ed, what's this? Why isn't my stuff in here, too?" Derek asked, none too happy.
Edwin shrugged. "You just told us to set up the tents while you went off doing who knows what. Casey told us to leave your stuff in the van until you decided to come back and take care of it yourself."
Derek groaned. Of course, he thought, Casey. He stalked back out of the tent and marched to the van, where Casey just happened to be, getting her precious book out of the back seat. Derek glared at her. "What the hell, Case? Why didn't you put my stuff into my tent? Or at the very least have Edwin do it!"
Casey just smiled sweetly. "Well, Derek, why should we have to do everything for you? You are perfectly capable of doing it yourself, and Marti was so tired we wanted to get our stuff taken care of so she could lie down. You couldn't expect George and my mom to do it, and Edwin isn't your servant. Just be glad we even set up your chair! Maybe next time you'll stick around instead of searching for, as you so eloquently put it, babes." With that Casey sauntered off, a smile on her face, and back into her tent, zipping it firmly behind her.
Derek growled underneath his breath and grabbed his duffle bag, sleeping bag, and the bag with his air mattress in it and went back to his tent. He threw the stuff onto his ground, angrily grabbed his I-Pod from the duffle bag and barked at Edwin. "Ed, set this stuff up, now!" With that he flopped onto Edwin's side of the tent, as Edwin hastily started setting things up for Derek. As an afterthought, Derek looked up before turning on his music and instructed Edwin to go grab his pillow from the van. With that Derek drifted off to sleep until he was woken up by the smell of hot dogs roasting on the camp fire. Dinner time!
