Never Meant To Be

A/N: Hey there! This is my first fanfic! I'm really into Life With Derek right now, and I really like Dasey! This story just came to me a couple weeks ago, so I thought I'd write it and see how it turned out! It may not be very good, but what the heck, at least I tried! That's all for now… go read!

Disclaimer: I do not own Life With Derek. Wish I did, but wishes don't always come true do they? Cause if they did, I know Michael Seater would be sitting next to me right now… :sigh:

It was a cool, summer night at the McDonald-Venturi household. Even though the four oldest children no longer lived there, the whole family was once again under the same roof.

25 year-old Derek Venturi, a professional hockey player, was living by himself in Toronto. 25-year-old Casey McDonald was living in the same town as her mom and step dad, but she lived by herself also. 22-year-olds Edwin Venturi and Lizzie McDonald were living in the same apartment building near their college. The youngest child, 15 years-old Marti Venturi, was the only one that was still living with her parents.

George and Nora decided it had been way too long since the whole family had been together. So they decided to have a mini "family reunion" before summer ended. They wanted to do something specialso they booked a vacation home for 2 weeks.

Surprisingly, it hadn't been too difficult to persuade the kids to come (with the minor exception with Derek- but that was expected.) After some schedule changes, the whole McDonald-Venturi family was all together again.

It was one in the morning when Derek heard the noise upstairs. Tomorrow everyone headed back to his or her respective homes and Derek figured everyone would be asleep, resting up for the busy day ahead. He was surprised when he saw his stepsister, Casey sit down next to him on the couch, in front of the fire.

"Hey," she said.

"Hey," Derek responded.

"So... tomorrow vacation officially ends huh?" Casey asked.

"Actually, it ends today. It's already one," Derek replied.

"Oh. Right," Casey said with a quick glance at the clock on the wall. "So what are you doing up now anyways?"

"Couldn't sleep." Derek stated simply, "You?"
"Same. Then I heard some noise downstairs, and I came down to investigate. I saw you, and now here we are."

"Yup, here we are…"

"This was fun wasn't it?" Casey asked.

"You know, it actually was."

"There were a bunch of good memories."

"Like Edwin's face when he fell into the pool- classic!" Derek laughed.

Casey giggled, "Or when that frog ended up in my mom's purse."

Derek chuckled, "As great as those moments were, none of them can compare to when you ran into that lady at the restaurant and spilled your drink all over her, then backed up into that waiter with a full tray, causing him to drop his food all over you!"

"Hey!" Casey playfully punched Derek on the shoulder. "That was not funny! It was embarrassing! It was mortifying! It was-"

"The return of Klutzilla!" Derek laughed.

Casey joined him in laughing, "Yeah, it totally was."

"Guess some things never change huh?"

"Guess not. Like our parents being clueless-"

"Or Edwin trying to make a quick buck-"

"Or our plans never working out-"

"Or… you being beautiful." Derek said softly. Casey looked up at him and gave him a gentle smile. "But you know, some things do change. Like me."

"Like you?" Casey laughed. "How?"

"I am way more mature than I used to be. I act like a responsible adult now!"

"Please! Mature my butt! I saw you trip Edwin when he was staring at that girl by the pool..."

"Come on! That was so easy! It's would've been a sin to miss such a good opportunity!"

"And I saw you put that frog in my mom's purse when she set it down to adjust her sandals…"

"That frog was hopping by at that exact moment when she set it down! Again, it would've been wrong to miss such a good opportunity"

"And while I didn't actually see you, I'm sure you had something to do with my accident!"

"Actually, no. That was all you, Klutzilla!" Derek laughed, pointing a finger at Casey.

Casey rolled her eyes playfully. "Fine, but still! You pulled a bunch of pranks. You are not any more mature than you were in high school!"

"Guess not, but what can I say? That's part of being Derek… You wouldn't want that to change would you?"

"No." Casey sighed. "I wouldn't want you to change at all."

Derek smirked and playfully pushed her.

"So, do you regret coming here and spending 2 whole weeks with your little ol' family?" Casey asked teasingly.

Derek looked up and stared seriously into Casey's face. "Not even a little."

Derek and Casey just stared at each other for a few moments. Casey broke their gaze and looked on the ground. Derek turned to look into the fire and sighed. They sat there for a few comfortable seconds. Then, Casey started fidgeting and messing with her fingers. Derek looked over at her uncomfortable form and knew something was up.

"What is it?" he asked in a light tone.

"What?" she asked, jerking her gaze up to face her stepbrother.

"I know when something's bothering you. What is it?" he said in a firmer tone.

"It's just that… this is the first time we've all been together in almost 3 years! How long until the next one? It's really hard being away from everyone.

"Well, you live pretty close to home; you can see dad, Nora, and Marti as often as you want."

"Yeah, but what about Lizzie, Edwin," she paused. "You?"

"Hmm… well, how about we try to get together at the old house every two months?"

"That'd be better than once every two years…"

"Yeah!"

"But what if it doesn't work out?

"I promise it'll work out. Remember, what Derek wants, Derek gets." Well, almost everything, he thought.

"Thanks Derek," Casey said softly. Once again, they both sat in a comfortable silence for a couple minutes.

Neither Casey nor Derek knew the other was having a mental debate with their self, each wondering whether or not to tell the other. Just when Derek decided he had made up is mind, Casey beat him and broke the silence first.

"Noel asked me to marry him."

There was a deafening silence. Casey looked up at Derek expectantly. "Well?"

Derek swallowed hard. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Well what?"

"Well? What do you have to say?" Casey's voice was neither excited, nor mad. It was just sad.

"Um, congratulations."

Casey sighed, "That's not what I meant."

"Well, what do you want me to say, Casey?" Derek asked, his voice full of emotion.

Casey bit her lip. "I don't know."

After a moment Derek spoke.

"When did he ask?"

"Two days before mom asked me to come to this trip."

"Did you tell anyone?"

"Just you."

"Oh."

Casey stared at Derek for a second. Now she was getting frustrated.

"Aren't you even going to ask what I told him?"

"Oh. Of course. Well did you say yes?"

"I told him I had to think about it. There were some things I had to figure out first."

"Have you figured those things out yet?"

Casey looked into Derek's face. "Not yet."

"So what do you need to figure out?"

Casey took a deep breath.

"Derek, do you think I should marry Noel?"

Derek looked surprised. "You're asking me?"

Casey nodded her head.

"Well…Does he make you happy?"

Casey closed her eyes and nodded, "Yes."

"Does he make you feel safe?"

"Yes."

"Does he make you laugh?"

"Yeah."

"Do you have things in common?"

"A lot of things."

"Does he love you like you deserve to be loved?"

"Yes, he really does."

"Can you see yourself with him in the future? Leading a happy life?"

"I can."

Derek swallowed hard again.

"Do you truly love him?"

Casey opened her eyes and looked into Derek's face. Their faces shared a look of sadness.

"I really do." Casey said with a sad smile.

Derek let out a deep breath and looked into the fire.

"Yes, Casey. I think you should marry Noel."

Tears started to form in Casey's eyes. "You do?"

"Yeah. He's a decent guy. I've seen the way he looks at you. He'd never hurt you. I think… I think you two are a perfect match. You deserve each other."

"You honestly believe that, Derek?" Casey asked sadly.

Derek closed his eyes. "Yes Casey. I do."

"So… you really think I should marry Noel?" Casey's voice was obviously hurt.

"I want you to marry Noel. He's a good guy who'll treat you right. I wouldn't want you to be with anyone else."

The tears started to fall. Casey quickly brushed them away.

"Ok. Well, I guess… I know where you stand on that. I… I think I'll tell him yes."

"Good." Derek said bluntly.

"Um. Well, it's late. I uh, should go back to bed now. Busy day ahead." Derek didn't say anything; he just continued to gaze into the flames.

Casey got up and looked at Derek's still form for about a few more moment before she quietly ascended up the stairs.

A/N: Ok, this was going to be a long one shot, but I decided that I'd split it into 3 parts. Sorry if Derek or Casey were out of character, but remember, they are older now, so they are bound to have some personality changes over time!

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