A/n: ty for the reviews and favorite listings! That's what made me make a speedy update! Keep it up and I'll put the next chap up reallll soon[[like Saturday mayyybe. 4-1

Chapter 2

"It's true." George sighed. The three youngest children all gasped. "Nora and I have decided that we aren't meant to be together." He looked down at his hands.

"Casey, Lizzie, and I are moving out of the house tomorrow." She informed them all. Marty ran from the room to hide under the table, Lizzie and Edwin exclaimed in protest, and Casey sobbed harder into her soon-to-be ex-stepbrother's chest. He still had the same dumbfounded look on his face.

"Now kids," George attempted to calm the teens, and the girl who would be a cat. "It's for the better."

"Yeah, maybe the better for you guys, but did you guys even once think about us?" Lizzie yelled.

"No! They didn't! Just like when they threw us all in here together!" Edwin answered.

"You have to understand that this is what has to be done." Nora told them.

"Yes, and the papers were drawn up today. They will be final on June 4th." George announced to end the protests.

"I can't believe this!" Lizzie screamed and ran up to her room, shortly followed by Edwin.

Derek had had enough as well. He directed the crying girl up the stairs and into her room. He sat her down on her bed, taking a seat beside her so she could rest her head on his shoulder.

"I just c-can't… b-believe th-this!" she stuttered through sobs.

"I know. I really didn't think it would come to this." Derek said somberly speaking for the first time.

"Our p-parents are so…" she sniffed. "self-absorbed!"

He shushed the distressed girl and smoothed down her hair. "It will be ok Casey. I mean it. We'll get through this."

The next day

Casey and Lizzie stayed home from school in order to pack their things. Their mother hadn't told them yet if they were going to which schools. They both desperately hoped not.

Casey picked up a picture frame from her side table. It showed her family, all of them- Venturis and McDonalds. If she had had any tears left, they would have cascaded down her face like a river. Why couldn't her life remain normal and stable for once? Throughout Casey's whole life, all she could remember was moving here or there. Her mother tended to do things impulsively, for instance this marriage or the divorce. Casey was hoping that for once, once in 18 years, that Nora would have done something right, something worth staying for.

She tossed the frame into a large box that was already near full. She looked around her barren room, just about everything was packed. She sighed. Life at this house had never been completely normal but Casey figured that was how all households with stepfamily were. Maybe she was wrong?

A soft knock at her door startled her. She looked around to see Derek peeking in.

"Hey." He said quietly.

"Hey, you're home early." She said, more of a question than a statement.

He stepped in and stood there feeling awkward. "Yeah, I just figured that you could use some help."

"Thank you so much Derek." She smiled up at him. "There isn't much else to do though."

He laughed lightly. "Yeah, that's what I was hoping for." He winked.

"Argh! You're so lazy!" Casey laughed.

"Yeahhhh…" he said putting an arm around her shoulders, pulling her into a side hug. He picked up her box and was going to carry it downstairs for her when he noticed the photograph on top. He set the box down on her bed. "I guess I'm going to miss this." He touched the frame. Casey could've sworn that she saw a tear appear at Derek's eye but when she blinked it was gone.

She placed a hand on his shoulder. When he turned to look at her, she saw that the tear hadn't gone away… it had slid down his face. Oh my goodness! She quickly pulled Derek into an embrace. He slowly broke down in her arms, wrapping her tight in his own. Seeing, hearing, and feeling his pain brought all her tears back to the surface. The hot droplets fell from her face and she began to feel her knees go weak. Casey brought Derek over to the bed and sat down, pulling him with her.

It was a sight to see. The two stepsiblings, normally bickering and never getting along, to be in such a heartfelt embrace. They shared their sobs and pain with one another. The once so sure, so cocky Derek cried like he was young again. The girl who had screamed hatred, held the boy who had been the object of her revulsion.

Three weeks later

Casey sat in her mother's apartment, staring out the window. The past couple weeks had been so horrid. She and Lizzie rarely saw their mother anymore; she told them that she was always working. They both had to switch schools- again. And now, Lizzie wasn't talking to anyone, ever. All of these things were working together to drive Casey insane.

This lunacy began to make Casey think about things too much, or so she told herself. She missed the Venturi house something awful; she hadn't been in contact with any of them since that last day. More than that though, she missed Derek. She couldn't believe that after all of their arguments, all of his selfish ways, his hogging of the house, and such, that she desired being back there more than anything at this moment. She craved his company, whether they were quarrelling or otherwise.

Sure we had our quarrels but we're basically siblings right? That's how Casey rationalized the fact that she couldn't stop thinking about him.

She closed her eyes, trying to drive out the thoughts. As of recent, they stayed dry because of the amount of tears she expelled every night. She didn't want to cry anymore but she didn't know what to do. She felt like screaming. She had never been so depressed or so angry before. She couldn't describe the thoughts running through her head or distinguish what emotion was fueling them.

Suddenly, she couldn't take it anymore; she got up and walked out into the town. The streets of the small city were rather crowded. Casey hated crowds, but this one was calming her nerves better than the desolate apartment. She looked through the sea of faces, trying to find some trace of familiarity. She found nothing.

She was wearing mentally and physically thin. Casey craved consistency and right now, she had none. She longed for normalcy in a wave of change. Resentment was weighing in her heart. She couldn't take much more of this life, these abrupt lifestyle changes; you can only take someone out of their comfort zone for so long before they snap.

At the moment, Casey thought nothing was going right, something hit her from behind. It knocked the breath out of her and she was falling, face-first into the ground. However, something was keeping her from meeting the concrete in the most ungraceful way imaginable.

"Casey!" a very familiar, very welcomed voice yelled. She realized that it was he that was holding her up.

"Oh my goodness!" she turned around in his arms and slammed her lips into his. She kissed him with ferocity, a need to feel some sort of closeness. He was so surprised but very enthralled. His fingers wound into her hair and hers grasped the back of his neck. How he had longed for this, not only through this past month but longer, so much longer.