Thank you for the reviews, pms and everything else!-) It is heart-warming to know you guys like my story and so I wrote this chapter just for you. That's the good news...
Dis~/Claimer: I own just the story, not the characters used and nothing of the song "Break my stride".
"Casey, you got the paper lanterns?"
"Yes, mum."
"And the paper streamers?"
"Yes, mum."
"And the paper cake?"
"..."
"I mean the birthday cake." Nora turned hectically to her eldest daughter.
"Yes, mum."
"What would I do without you, Casey?"
'I don't know, living without any sign of organization?' She thought while she put an electric candle in one of the paper lanterns, then got off the ladder.
"It's gonna be alright, mum. It's just Marti's birthday."
"Yeah, but..."
"No." Casey laid a hand on her mother's shoulder. "It is going to be alright, as long as..."
"I'm first!"
Edwin and Derek came pounding down the stairs.
"Nope, you're not. I said, who was the first to be in the kitchen." Derek stood on the last step with his arms crossed over his chest.
His little brother ran to the kitchen. "NOW I'm first."
"Well, you won." He smirked "And your price is the honour of making me a sandwich."
Edwin sighed, but did as he was told. What Derek wants, Derek gets.
And obeying him made life easier than fighting him.
"Boys, are you ready for Marti's party?" Nora shouted over Casey's shoulder.
"Yup." Edwin said.
"As long as I'm not starved until then..." Derek growled over his shoulder, turning the camera in his hands on.
"LIZZIE!" Nora yelled up the stairs.
Casey plugged her ears. She felt a headache coming up from her mother's hectic and shouting. Nora was as giddy as she had last been at Lizzie's tenth birthday. Way too much for Casey. She rubbed her temples to ease the stinging pain.
As soon as Casey had put a candle in every lantern (the last thing to do in the decorating process), Derek was satisfied and finished with his sandwich (it took Ed three times for that), Edwin cleaned the kitchen (under Casey's eyes) and Lizzie had lit the candles on the birthday cake (the only one left without the danger of burning herself or the house down while doing so), George carried Marti down the stairs.
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" The whole family cheered.
Marti jumped off her father's back and ran to the presents. "Mine!" She yelled happily.
"Marti, I told-" George started to say.
"Wouldn't you want the cake first, Marti?" Casey came into the living room. She carried the cake; a giant sparkler was illuminating her smiling face.
Marti froze in awe. It was the cake of her dreams: it had a light-blue icing and her name was written on it in yellow letters with little animals framing it.
Nora started singing and everybody joined in.
Except for Derek. Not that he couldn't sing, it was just...the way the sparkler lit Casey's face...she seemed almost like an angel to him.
And her smile. Not a smirk, but a genuine smile for their baby sister.
Wait...their?
No, Marti was only his and Edwin's sister, he thought sternly.
And yet Casey seemed to really care about her. The way she told Marti to hold her hair back when she blew the candles out, the way she was excited when a new present's wrapping was torn.
The way she looked at him expectantly like everyone else...
"What?" Derek snapped out of his trance.
"You're next." Lizzie said.
"Next what?"
"Next to give Marti her present." Casey rolled her eyes.
"Oh yeah, sure." he handed a little flat thing to his sister.
"For my not-a-baby-anymore baby-sister." She read a slowly. She just turned seven, so it was okay that she had to put the letters to words and then to sense-making phrases.
"Wanna listen to it?" her brother smirked.
"Yeih! Put it in, Derek!" She handed him the CD and stood up from the floor she has sat on.
George and Nora, expecting the worst Heavy-Metal Derek could have come up with, were surprised as a smooth bubblegum pop song started floating through the speakers. They started dancing. Edwin and Lizzie just rolled their eyes, but had to join them (it was not as embarrassing as it could have been, 'cause Derek had to put the camera away to dance with Marti; and the adults were taking it easy, especially Nora). Derek looked around the room. Nora and George; Lizzie and Edwin; him and Marti...one was missing. Along with the cake.
He handed his sister over to the other siblings and walked into the kitchen. Watching Casey he leaned at the door frame.
Her back was turned on him; she leant over something on the counter. One hand tucked her long brown hair behind her neck; the other was working with something. He wanted to know what, but then she would have turned and he couldn't watch her slender yet toned back anymore. His gaze wandered lower. Oh yes, she was definitely toned by dancing. The way she moved...
"You know that you shouldn't scare a woman with a knife."
Now Derek realized that she was looking at him.
"What?"
"Favourite word of the day?" She mocked. "If you already stand there, help me carry the pieces of the cake in the living room."
"Wonder that there is still any left." He smirked.
Casey looked at him over her shoulder while she got the bowl with the whipped cream out of the fridge. "I slid the cake, not you. So of course there is not one piece missing."
Derek's eyes wandered again. This time his feet followed suit. Casey closed the door and turned around, almost colliding with Derek.
"Whoa! When did you...come so...close..." Her words not only became less loud but also less fast as she looked into his piercing eyes.
Why was he so close?
Why did her heart race like mad?
Why didn't she know what to say?
Why was she asking all that questions to herself?
"Tell me, princess" he whispered, never looking anywhere else than her eyes. Her wide eyes. Her beautiful, adorable big blue eyes.
"Did you check if that cream was...sweet enough?"
He dipped his finger in the bowl and slowly brought it to his mouth. Even slower he licked it from his finger. Casey just saw it from the corner of her eyes, unable to break the eye lock with Derek.
His soft lips ever so slowly moving around his finger, his finger skilled in making her scream whenever he tickles her to get the remote, his eyes dark as a night without stars.
Last night I had the strangest dream
With a jerk of her body she turned away from him as she heard one of her favourite songs. She had to grip on the counter though, the feeling of dizziness almost overwhelming her. She didn't turn that fast, it was just...the look in his eyes...it sent a chill down her spine and back up.
She turned in order to yell at Derek or at least shoot him a glare. But as soon as she opened her mouth she noticed that he wasn't there anymore. And the whipped cream was missing too.
"Casey! Come over here! You can't miss dancing to your favourite song!" Her mother's voice came from the living room.
As if remote-controlled she walked back to her family, instantly seeing Derek dancing with Nora. After she spotted Casey, she left her step-son and went to sit next to her husband on the couch.
Marti and her brother were now the only ones on the 'dance floor', meaning on the carpet behind the couch. Lizzie and Edwin were already sitting and eating cake.
Derek reached out his hand, signalling Casey to come over. His face was emotionless, except for his eyes.
They seemed as if they were burning.
She would have drawn in a sharp breath, if she would have been able to breathe at all. She was moving towards him. It was as if there was no one else in the room. As if everything was moving in slow-motion.
Until she touched his hand.
Electric bolts were shooting her out of her trance, back into reality. But it was too late to flee. Derek had already captured her hands and held them. She didn't know that she was moving, all that she saw were his eyes trained on hers. All that she heard was the music, faded to the background.
I'm running, and I won't touch ground
No use running here.
Suddenly he let go of one of her hands, moved a step back and she thought he would let go of her completely. She has never been so grateful that she was wrong. He spun her around, holding her even closer to him afterwards.
I've got to keep on movin'
No way she would let go of him. He was so warm; his grip so thigh, yet soft; and he was smiling at her. The moment she noticed this she heard someone laugh.
It took her a few more moments to realize that it was her who was laughing. With smooth motions he pulled her body to his. Funny how she never got to feel that happy whenever he had pressed her to the floor, wringing the remote for the TV out of her hand. Maybe it was because he was never looking at her like that when he tried to get what he wanted.
'Who says he's not trying to get something he wants at this very moment?' A voice in her head chimed in.
He let go of her hand, and she was about to fall. In the blink of an eye he was snaking his arm around her waist, catching her.
"I got you" he whispered in her ear.
'Oh you so got me.'
u-_-u
The bad news is, I have a huge writer's block. I forced myself to write this chapter and I hope it didn't disappoint you. I'm going to be better, and yes, the story isn't over yet. Just give me time and (thank you that you) keep my on your alert list!-)
Review please, I need to know how to make it better...