Title: Casey's Code of Chivalry

Rated T

Summary: After Sally breaks up with Derek Casey offers to help him win her back. The catch? If she can turn Derek into Sally's knight in shining armor, Derek has to wait on her hand and foot until she tells him otherwise. Will chaos ensue? Probably. .:Dasey:.

Disclaimer: I don't own Life with Derek

A/N: Hello everyone, I'm back again. Thanks so much for the reviews on the prologue, I'm glad a lot of readers are interested in this idea. Here's how the next 20+ chapters are going to play out. I have a list, exactly the same list that Casey has obviously, about the code of chivalry given to me by my old English teacher. He got the information from another source but most of the credit for this list goes to him. Each chapter will be a new lesson in chivalry for Derek, sometimes followed by the occasional drama and chaos most of us are familiar with. It's going to seemingly start out as Dally for a bit, but trust me, I have a few plot twists up my sleeves. Thus said, here's chapter 1. I hope everyone enjoys it! Feel free to leave any constructive criticism in your reviews to help me improve my writing. I'd appreciate it a lot.


I. Live to Serve King and Country


"So, to recap, you don't want us making breakfast?" Nora asked, taking a sip of her coffee.

"Exactly." Casey said, a small grin tugging at her mouth. Her mother exchanged a look with George.

"What's the special occasion?"

"No special occasion." She informed them as George sat down next to his wife. "This is just part of my plan to help Derek."

"Plan?"
"Since when do you use the words "help" and "Derek" in the same sentence?" George asked with a smirk.

"Since Sally broke Derek's heart and he's trying to win her back." Casey informed him. "He's desperate. Plus, I get something out of the deal also."

"That explains it." George mumbled.

"Sally and Derek broke up?" Casey turned as her little sister and step-brother entered the kitchen. "When?" Lizzie asked.

"Last night." Casey told her as Edwin made his way to the cereal cabinet. Her eyes narrowed. "Edwin, don't eat any of that cereal!"

"Why?" Edwin yelped, startled. "There's plenty left for you." To prove his point, he shook the box of cornflakes.

"What's your problem?" Lizzie asked, frowning at her sister's outburst.

"Casey doesn't want us to eat breakfast yet because it'll interfere with her plan to get Sally and Derek back together." Nora informed her, smiling.

"…and how does not eating breakfast yet get Sally and Derek back together?" Lizzie asked, skeptic as Edwin took his seat beside her.

Casey grinned. "You'll see. You can't eat until Derek wakes up."
"Well, when is he going to wake up? I'm starving!" Edwin complained.

"Good question." Casey frowned, glancing over at the clock. It was exactly thirty minutes past ten. "Everybody stay here."
As she made her way up the stairs the happy sounds emitting from Marti's cartoons grew faint. 'I told him ten o'clock sharp. He never listens!'

"Der-ek!" Casey didn't even bother knocking; as she expected the bane of her existence was currently lying on his stomach, face in a pillow. She rolled her eyes. "When I said ten, I meant ten. Not ten thirty!" Casey retorted, proceeding to yank the quilt off of him. He groaned, irritated, into his pillow.

"Get up. Everyone is waiting downstairs."
"Leave me alone." She heard him mumble. "It's Saturday."

"Oh, okay. I assume you came up with a foolproof plan to get Sally back, right? So…you don't need my help or were you just wasting my time last night-?"

"Alright, I'm up!" Derek snapped, turning over to glare at his step-sister. She smiled, thinly. "Good. Now hurry up and get downstairs. Your lessons in chivalry begin today."

"Joy." Derek muttered. Reluctantly, he got out of bed and followed Casey down the stairs. "So, what am I supposed to do?" He asked her, yawning. "Study some worksheet and take a quiz over it later today?"

"No." Casey snapped. Her frown soon turned into a smile as they neared the kitchen. "No, I have something else in mind…"

"Finally!" Edwin exclaimed as the two entered the kitchen. "Can we eat now?"

Derek looked over at Casey confused. "Uh…?"

"Don't you remember the first thing on the list last night, Derek?" Casey asked, enjoying every moment of this. Without expecting him to answer, she continued. "Number 1: Live to serve king and country…"

"You're kidding." George laughed. "Your plan to help Derek win Sally back is to teach him how to be chivalrous?"
"Casey, do you think that's such a good idea?" Nora asked, hesitantly. "I know chivalry is a good thing and all but…"

"Mom, not you too!" Casey complained. "Chivalry is not dead, and to prove it I'm going to turn Derek into Sally's knight in shining armor if it's the last thing I do."

"Yeah, good luck with that." Lizzie quipped. Casey ignored her.

"So, what am I-?" Derek began asking but stopped talking as Casey directed an amused smirk towards him. Realization suddenly hit him; his eyes grew round.
"Oh, come on!" He protested. "Please tell me you're kidding."
"Sorry, D." Casey smiled. "This is your first lesson in chivalry. For the rest of the day you have to learn how to obey any command George or the rest of us set forth without complaining."

"We get to boss Derek around?" Edwin asked, grinning. "Sweet."

"No way." Derek retorted. "I've got plans today anyway…"

"Well, just kiss those plans good bye because you're going to be busy. Unless of course, you want to use that foolproof plan of yours to get Sally back. Then by all means…"
"Okay, okay, I get it." Derek mumbled, wincing. George looked over at Casey.

"So, let me get this straight." Her step-father began with a grin, clearly enjoying each moment of this as well. "For today, we can tell Derek what to do and not hear his mouth?" Derek glared at his father.

"Yep." Casey nodded. "Starting with breakfast. Also, this'll only last for a day because we have to go through this list quickly in order to transform him." She smiled. "So, place your orders and Derek…start cooking!"

"Well, I was going to have cereal." Edwin began, ignoring the threat in Derek's glare as soon as it was directed towards him. "Now I feel like scrambled eggs." He looked over at Lizzie, who shrugged.

"I'll have what Edwin's having."

"Make it scrambled eggs for us too." George said, placing a hand on Nora's shoulder. Nora smiled, sheepishly. Derek glanced over at Casey, about to whine, but Casey beat him too it.
"No complaining, remember?" She said. Then she turned towards the living room. "Marti, do you want scrambled eggs too?"

"Not hungry!" Was the reply.

"Well, I'll have some. So, that's going to be about ten eggs or so." Casey grinned, sitting down next to Lizzie. Derek clenched his teeth: Sally was worth it…

"Guess I'd better get cooking then." He said casually, frowning. Casey sighed as she watched Derek fumble with various pots and pans.

"Well, today's going to be entertaining at least." Lizzie commented with an amused grin.

Ten hours later, Derek had completed various tasks around the house such as cleaning out the garage, doing all the laundry, driving Edwin, Lizzie and Marti to their desired locations as well as getting lunch. Casey had thought he would have cracked way before eight o'clock. In fact, she was almost sure that he would have given up that morning after breakfast. Nora convinced George and Casey to order in a pizza for dinner that evening; she was beginning to feel guilty about having her step-son do all the work in her house and she wasn't about to have him cook another meal for the family.

"Am I done yet?" He asked, careful not to make his tone whiny. Casey, who was busy lounging in his chair glanced up at him with a small smile. "For now, I guess. I'm impressed Derek. I thought you would have quit by now."
"I'm not quitting." Derek declared, firmly. "I've messed things up with Sally too many times in the past to ruin the relationship now. I want to set things right. I want Sally back."
Casey's smile faltered at the determination in his voice. He really does love her…

Derek didn't notice. "So, what now?" He asked.
"I don't know." She said honestly. "You've already proven to me you can handle obeying commands without whining…surprisingly."
"So, we're done for today?"

Casey caught the hopeful tone instantly but decided to let it pass. "I think we are." She decided. "We'll work on the second thing on the list tomorrow."
"What's that?" Derek asked, plopping down on the couch, exhausted.

"Not telling." Casey told him. "I'll tell you in the morning."

Derek was about to bother her about it, saying he wanted to get this transformation over and done with, but then stopped….as if he just realized something.

"Wait a minute." He said, slowly. Casey looked over at him. "I've been doing things for you all day."
"Yeah, I was surprised about that too." Casey smirked.

Derek shook his head. "The deal was, you teach me this chivalry garbage and I have to be your personal slave. I was technically like your personal slave all day today!"
"Technically, but not quite."

"Eh-?"

"You see, you weren't my slave today." Casey explained. "You were everyone's slave today."

"So…"
"So, you shouldn't be complaining about anything, really." Casey giggled at Derek's dumbfounded expression. Apparently, he lost the thought he was going to use against her.

"Whatever." Derek muttered, finally. He snatched up the remote. "Is it safe to assume that I should be nervous about what you have in store for me tomorrow?"

"Yep. Totally safe."

He sighed, flipping through the channels. Today had been bad enough. All day long he had been hearing orders, usually starting with:
"Derek, I need-"

"Derek, can you-?"

"Derek, drive me here and-"

He never thought he'd be tired of hearing his own name.

"This plan of yours better work, Casey." Derek muttered under his breath. Casey rolled her eyes.

"Don't worry." She assured him for what seemed like the hundredth time. "It will."

He said nothing after that, and the two fell into a simple silence. As usual, Casey paid no attention to the Hockey Game in front of her. Instead, she was immersed in her own thoughts, remembering certain scenes that had taken place earlier that day. Teaching Derek chivalry turned out more interesting than she thought it'd be:

"Wow Derek, I had no idea you cared about Sally this much." Lizzie laughed as her older step-brother gave up the remote control to his little sister. He shot her a look clearly saying 'Don't say anything else.' Casey smiled a content smile from the opposite end of the couch.

"Hey, Derek." Edwin entered the living room. Un-surprisingly he had been taking advantage of his older brother's current situation since Casey announced it that morning. So far, he had gotten Derek to make him snacks, give him the remote earlier, clean his room AND do most of his chores (despite Nora's protests about how Edwin shouldn't be using this as an excuse to get out of them in the first place). All of the family now recognized the familiar gleam that could be seen in Ed's features and Derek winced inwardly. "What now?"

Casey raised a warning eyebrow at him and Derek found himself adding "Dearest brother?" through gritted teeth.

"I just got off the phone with Michelle," Edwin began casually. "She's saying that she wants to hang out today and I thought 'Hey! Why not hang out at Smelly Nelly's?' so you can drive us there, right?" Of course this wasn't a question.

"Oh! Can I come?" Marti asked, excitedly. "I want to see Sally again!"

"Great idea Marti," Edwin said, grinning at Derek's mortified look. "In fact, why don't you take us all Derek? I'm sure you wouldn't mind paying us all lunch,"
It took Derek a full minute before he could muster up a proper yet forced response. "No, I wouldn't mind at all." He said with a thick voice. Derek glanced over at Casey. "Can I see you over there…in private?"
"Sure." Casey smirked, placing her book mark between new pages.

"I don't know if I have enough money!" Derek hissed, though he knew that he wasn't out of ear-shot for Lizzie and Marti decided to watch the two from the couch. "Can't I just get out of this one…please?"

"Sorry Derek," Casey almost sang, clearly not sorry at all. "A deal's a deal. Besides, don't you get food for free?"

"Only on days I work and even then I still have to pay fifty percent." Derek sighed. Casey just shrugged at this.

"Well, I'm sure you'll figure something out." She told him with a smirk, patting his shoulder as she made her way to get her coat and help Marti with hers.

Fifteen minutes later, Edwin, Michelle, Marti, Lizzie, Casey and Derek all entered the restaurant. For a Saturday afternoon, Derek had expected it to be pretty busy.

"Um, thanks for lunch Derek." Michelle said politely as they slipped into a booth. Derek nodded curtly before their waitress came up to them.

"Hi, welcome to Smelly Nelly's I-" Sally paused. "Oh, hey guys."
"Hi Sally!" Marti greeted. Sally darted a glare at Derek before smiling at the eight year-old. "Hey sweetie." She said. "How've you been?"

"Good." Marti responded, beaming. Marti absolutely adored Derek's ex-girlfriend. "Derek's buying us all lunch today." She informed her.

"Oh, is that so?" Derek twitched at the anger hidden in these words. "That's nice of him." Sally finished, frowning slightly.

"Well, Casey's making him pay for all of us." Marti added. "She says it's all part of her plan-"

"Hey, Sally!" Derek interrupted quickly, exchanging glances with Casey. "Can I speak to you?"
It looked as if Sally wanted to decline this request rudely but voiced a forced reply because his little sister was present. "I suppose so." She said, icily. She then turned towards the others. "I'll be back in a moment to take your drink orders guys."

"Sally," Derek began, hoping he didn't sound desperate. "I know this sounds-"

"Derek, how dare you." Sally began, disgusted. "I can't believe you actually bribed your sister and brother into coming here just so I would be forced to speak to you."

"Hey!" Derek protested, matching Sally's frown with one of his own. "I didn't bribe anyone. They wanted to come here and like a good, older brother I thought I'd treat them to lunch…" He ignored the unconvinced glare Sally gave him.
"Okay, so what about Edwin's girlfriend and Casey?" She retorted. "You don't even care about treating me to something now and again yet you still go and buy lunch for someone who I don't even know very well and someone who you complain about all the time!?"

"For the record." Derek informed her. "The only reason I haven't been able to buy YOU lunch lately is because-"

"Oh, don't even give me excuses!" Sally snapped. She lowered her voice when she looked to see that Casey and the others were looking over, probably trying to here their conversation. "You're a jerk, Derek Venturi."

"Sally." He tried. "I can't help the way I act! I-"

"So, that's supposed to be your excuse?"
"Just give me another chance?" He put on his best pout face. "I really like you Sally, I don't want to mess up our relationship."
Sally blinked, clearly not expecting this, and then paused. After a moment she smiled. "Okay." She decided, rolling her eyes as he gave her a grateful, side hug. "One more chance."
"Thanks." He said, sighing with relief. At least he wouldn't have to learn any more of this chivalry junk. Sally took him back. He didn't have to become a knight or prince or anything in order for this to happen.

"So, what are you guys hungry for?" Sally asked as the two made their way back to the table. Before anyone could even respond Derek coughed uncertainly. "Uh, yeah Sally, I know this is going to sound bad but…" He gulped. "Can you treat them all to lunch for me? I don't have enough money for them all and you know that we don't get paychecks for another-"
"Derek Venturi, you ….you…!" Sally exploded, not caring about the fact that Marti squeaked at her outburst in surprise. "I don't believe you. I don't BELIEVE you! I can't believe not only seconds after I gave you a chance you're already acting like an insensitive jerk! We're through Derek. No more chances." Sally paused and grabbed a half drunk soda from a nearby table. Without hesitating she threw it into his face.

"Sally-" Casey tried to apologize for whatever Derek did or said to upset her but was too late. Sally had already stormed off to the back room, onlookers watching her in shock. Derek's expression was unreadable as he wiped excess soda from his face with the back of his hand.

"Wow." Lizzie said softly.

"Smerek, are you and Sally mad at each other forever?" Marti asked, timidly.

"Don't worry Marti. I'm sure they'll work things out." Casey assured her. She cast a glance at Derek, unsure whether or not he was going to want Sally back after this display. Edwin whistled softly.

"Edwin, maybe eating here isn't such a good idea." Michelle said. She started getting up from her seat.

"No." Derek's voice was firm. He forced a bitter smile. "You guys sit and eat. I'll find a way to take care of it. I am the assistant manager after all."

No one bothered to argue and within the hour they had finished their meal without seeing Sally return from the back room. Casey tried to perk up a conversation between Edwin, Michelle and Lizzie but didn't get very far. Derek on the other hand remained in a stony silence through out the entire meal.

"I still can't believe after all that happened today you're still willing to try and win Sally back." Casey commented after several moments. Derek darted a "You don't know anything" look in her direction before replying. "I blew it today. I can't believe I was so stupid!"

"Really?" Casey's smile faded as soon as she noted that Derek did not seem in the mood for jokes of any kind. She sighed. "Don't worry. The code will work. Trust me, by the time you learn it you'll have your true love at your side in no time."

"Yeah." He mumbled, uncertainly. Before they lapsed into another phase of silence Casey giggled causing Derek to look at her.

"What?"

"Was that soda diet or regular?" She couldn't help but ask. Derek glared at her.

"Shut up."

-Fin-

A/N: Phew, the first chapter is done. I hope I didn't make Sally too OOC, I'm still not used to writing her character that much. Thanks for reading everyone, I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter. Until next time!

"Never let go of the one you truly love."

-December'sRose