A/N : here is the second chapter. Thank you all for the amazing response. I seriously wish I could hug you all but I cant because of the constraints of cyber space. Any ways here is hoping you like this chapter. :)
Derek was dreaming—dreaming of a lot of things, of pleasant things. So, when someone tried to wake him up, he naturally resisted. However, the person was insistent. He finally cracked an eye open to see Casey standing over him, fully dressed and pulling at his sheets.
"Casey, it's six in the morning! You better have a reason for waking me up at this un-godly hour." Derek growled as he pulled his pillow over his head.
"Well, I do have one. Vicki is coming in two hours, and we are supposed to be pretend dating!" Casey pulled the pillow off his face, leaning down to say the last part into his ear.
That had the desired effect on Derek as he rolled off the bed and landed on the floor at Casey's feet.
"When did that happen?" Derek said rubbing his head and looking up at Casey horrified.
"Der-ek! Remember yesterday night? When you agreed to help me?" Casey asked as she plopped down on Derek's bed.
Slowly the events of yesterday night came flooding back to Derek, piece by piece. He groaned and got up. This was exactly why he wasn't helpful. Helping some one always meant having to go the extra mile. And for Derek, that extra mile was getting up early in order to rehearse being Casey's boyfriend. Even thinking of the word made him shudder.
"At least let me go brush my teeth and wash my face." Derek blearily made his way to the bathroom.
Casey took out a piece of paper from her pocket. In true Casey fashion, she had made a list of what Derek needed to do. The heavens could be opened and hell could be consumed in flames--wait, hell was already consumed in flames—but the point was that, Casey McDonald would never change.
Derek came back, wiping his face on a towel.
"You made a list, didn't you?" he said, not asking a question but stating a fact. Then he threw the towel at her face.
"Ew…gross, Derek," Casey said, throwing the towel back and making a disgusted face.
"Also," she continued, turning a faint pink. "So what if I made a list? It'll make this easier, and this way we won't miss any information."
"Fine, go ahead and tell me. What am I supposed to do or be?" Derek sat down next to Casey. The unusual proximity between them was a strange thing. Normally they sat as far away as they could from each other. But now there were more pressing matters at hand, like an entire relationship to fabricate.
Casey made Derek go over the list multiple times. She had, of course, already memorized the list.
One hour later, Derek was having a pop quiz on the list, with Casey rigorously grilling him.
"So, when did we start going out?"
"Two months ago."
"When is our anniversary?'"
"On the 26th."
"What are my favorite flowers?"
"Lilies."
"What is my favorite food?"
"Uh—"
"Derek! It's tofu fingers!"
The grilling went on until Casey was satisfied that Derek knew at least something about her.
"I have never studied that hard for any test of mine," Derek mused on all the work he had accomplished early on a Saturday morning.
"I am surprised you study at all," Casey said pointedly. Derek looked back at her just as pointedly, and Casey got the message to shut up.
"Now that I have memorized your life history, can I please get dressed and maybe push some food down my stomach?" Derek asked as he got up from the bed.
"Yeah, of course," Casey said as she got up to go downstairs and help her mother who would probably be fretting about all the coming visitors.
"Derek?"
"Yeah?"
"Thanks," Casey said before her head disappeared behind the door. Derek just smiled a small strange smile as he collected his towel and clothes.
Downstairs was chaotic to say the least. Nora was trying to get the whole place cleaned up, help George cook at the same time, and extricate Marti from under the dining table. When Casey came down, her mother heaved a sigh of relief.
Casey took over trying to coax Marti out from under the dining table before offering to clean the living room. Meanwhile, Edwin and Lizzie were watching all the resultant chaos interestedly, and of course, taking notes.
Derek came down and saw Casey dusting the room while George and Nora frantically worked in the kitchen, and went to sit down on his armchair.
"Maybe we should tell Lizzie and Edwin now," Casey said as she came near Derek while cleaning.
"Hey Ed, come here," Derek yelled out.
"Lizzie, could you please come to the living room for a moment?"Casey called out, much more politely than Derek—which had him rolling his eyes.
Both of them came running into the room and threw themselves onto the couch, looking expectantly at their respective siblings.
"Well, you both know that cousin Vicki is coming, right?" They both nodded.
"Well, she thinks that Derek and I are dating." The younger teens both promptly choked upon hearing this, and started laughing until a glare from Casey silenced them.
"The point is that we will let her think that. And if she asks, you will say that we are a couple." Casey struggled visibly before adding, "Who happen to like each other very much. Understand?" The looks on her and Derek's faces were worth capturing—both an unhealthy gray, like they wanted to throw up at the thought of even being together.
"Okay. But what do we get in return?" Edwin asked bluntly. Many times he had been dragged into his siblings' problems, and this time, he was going to make sure he got something in return to make it worth the trouble.
"Yeah. What do we get?" Lizzie repeated with a wary look.
"Uh— I will do all of Lizzie's chores for a week and Derek will do all of Edwin's," Casey bargained brightly.
"We agree," Lizzie and Edwin said immediately with big smiles.
"But I don't. I do not agree to do Edwin' chores, Casey," Derek said, looking at Casey pointedly. He seemed to be saying, 'this all your idea so I am not going to suffer the consequences of executing it.'
"Fine. I'll do Edwin's chores too." Casey said in a resigned fashion.
"You can go now," Derek said to Edwin and Lizzie.
Both the younger ones ran away, but not before giving Casey and Derek a weird look.
After they were out of earshot, Edwin whispered to Lizzie, "I think something is going on. We are going to have to observe them more closely. I have a feeling this is going to be an interesting week." His eyes gleamed at the thought of all the observational possibilities while Lizzie just nodded, thinking of all the fun to be got from spying on her siblings and their pretend relationship.
By eight the whole house was clean, Marti had been coaxed out from under the dining table and after a few minor mishaps, George had been able to make breakfast. The whole family sat in the living room, an uncomfortable silence in the air with Derek and Casey on tenterhooks.
The doorbell rang and Casey jumped up to open it. Two women and a man stood at the door.
"Derek. Casey." the younger female said condescendingly adding Casey's name as an afterthought.
"Vicki," Casey said through gritted teeth.
"Call me Victoria," the girl said as she came waltzing in.
Casey looked murderous, and Derek had to hold her back before she went and did something very un-Casey like.
Unknown to Cousin Vicki—or Victoria, as she preferred—battle lines were being drawn by one very annoyed Casey McDonald.
Edited as of 19th April, 2010
