A/N: I went into the final episode expecting to be disappointed. After what had happened with Emily and Derek (grumblegoodforthemgrumble) and George and Nora's 'little announcement' in Surprise! Imagine my shock. Wow, LWD writers, wow. I might not always have the nicest things to say about you…but…have you been reading fanfiction? THEY ARE GOING TO THE SAME UNIVERSITY! [Derek got into Queen's?!?] Anyway, witness my joy in the form of this story ^_^
Oh yeah, I don't own Life With Derek. Or anything else. Not even the computer I'm writing this on…I rent.
He was used to her wrath by now – after all he'd spent the last 3 years using his very best material in high hopes of first gaining and then holding her attention.
The thing was that after all that time she still kept him guessing, her reactions, always unexpected, usually in a good wrestle-over-something-unimportant kind of way, were perpetually over the top. She didn't disappoint this time. After all, he had pulled out all the stops.
It was their second day at Queen's – and they had barely survived the drive, considering Casey's reaction to rush hour traffic in Toronto and Derek's insistence that they would be listening to his music on the five-hour drive. That fight had lasted an unnecessary 15 minutes and ended with Casey pulling off the 401 and attempting to throw Derek's music player out the window to make her point.
There was no music after that, only about 5 minutes of very tense silence followed by 4 more hours of arguing.
The dorms wouldn't be opening until the next day and George and Nora, short on cash with a sixth child on the way, had asked (sheepishly) if Derek and Casey would mind terribly sharing a hotel suite. They had made the mistake of asking each separately, and, though each had agreed it had been with the condition that the other be required to sleep on the couch in the living-room area of the suite. When they realized their mistake George and Nora decided to let the kids fight it out for the bed once they arrived at the hotel.
So, when they did get into the room, both 18 year-olds attempted to set their respective overnight bags on the bed.
"Der-ek!" Gosh, has it only been 5 minutes since he's heard that tone?
"Yes, Case?" He's smirking, knowing very well that she wants the bed and hoping she'll be willing to fight a while for it.
"What are you doing with your bag on my bed?" She must know too, they're just following the pattern now.
"Well, ya see, sis," he stresses the word, a jibe thrown, like so many times before "I was made to understand by my wise and….by my father, that my reward for tolerating five hours in my car was this big, comfortable bed." He nudges her suitcase with his elbow, knocking it off the bed and onto the floor with a clunk.
"That's funny, 'D', because my mom promised me the bed, if only I'd agree to lower myself to one night in your company." She was already reaching for her cell phone.
"Be my guest, call your pregnant, grumpy mother and attempt to scold her." Derek suggested toeing off his shoes and getting comfortable one the queen-size bed, he started searching for the remote.
Casey hesitated, he made a good point. Nora was now 7 months pregnant with the soon-to-be youngest Venturi boy. He was already causing trouble, keeping Nora up nights kicking and she hadn't been in the best mood lately. It was honestly a bit of a relief to be getting out of the house, Casey refused to think of it as escaping, but didn't mind pitying Lizzie and the younger steps, not to mention George.
Deciding semisilent couch-sleeping martyrdom was the less of two evils, Casey sighed, and making sure to get in Derek's way as much as possible, picked up her suitcase and moved into the living-room.
She set her bag down ,retrieved her laptop, and decided to use the next few hours to take advantage of the hotel's free wireless, and check for replies to the pre-emptive emails she had sent all of her professors, introducing herself and asking about course content. Flipping on the television, and silently rejoicing that she would not have to deal with Derek after tomorrow, except in 2 classes they had in common which she was refusing to ruin her day thinking about, she settled in for some college-keenerness.
It had taken almost all summer for Derek to hack Queen's records system and change Casey's gender on every documentation they had for her. After a little research he had learned that no one met their roommate until move-in day, which was perfect for what he was planning.
With hall Casey's records affirmation that she was an 18 year old boy it had been amazingly easy , only a few letters to choice individuals, to request a roommate. They were, after all "stepbrothers and best friends, and Casey would surely be devastated without his best friend and housemate of 3 years close-by for moral support." The RA had been very accommodating, and Derek couldn't wait to see Casey's face when she realized what he'd done.
It was a win-win situation for Derek. If the school realized what was going on they would probably move one or the other out and they would both have their own rooms. And if no one caught on….either way it was going to be an interesting semester.
END CHAPTER 1
A/N: Can you 'guess that sin'? This 'sin' is TBC in the next chapter. The rest may or may not be multiple chapters long.