Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Derek was… not exactly what she had expected, if she was to be truthful. Not that she thought he wasn't nice enough or anything-she guessed he was just fine-but she just didn't get what all the mystery and the fuss had been about. I mean, this guy definitely had issues, she wasn't going to deny that, but she saw nothing in him that explained the way her mom had been acting, no reason for her being all squeamish about this. So far, the worst he had done was weirdly talk in the third person about himself and act like he forgot everything and needed to look at his hands a lot.

In all fairness, the truth was Casey had dared go as far as to hope that he would give her some good, earth-shattering reason that her mother would not be able to deny called for drastic measures and Casey, her sister and her not being able to move to London. What's more, she actually thought she might even be able to get something to report when he started asking her if she had a boyfriend, but before she could explore this theory further this really cute guy she had actually been secretly watching turned around and interrupted her.

At first, she thought-given the fact that he interrupted Derek rather rudely-he might have noticed her too and that he might have gotten jealous over the fact that it seemed like Derek was trying to hit on her. This could be possible; after all, mystery-man didn't know Derek was her potential stepbrother, so, as far as he was concerned, they were just a guy and a girl having lunch in a high-school cafeteria.

Her train of thought was, however, derailed the moment mystery-man opened his big, fat mouth.

"And I'm okay with that". That was the answer he gave her when she tried to be nice. "I'm sorry we haven't met…". That was what she had tried with a smile on her face.

Oh, it was on. Who the hell did this kid think he was? Ralph, that was the name he gave her. But how dare he be so rude to her? Just like that? He didn't even know her! I mean, she knew she might not come across as the most interesting person in the planet, but come on! This kid hadn't even given her a chance! And, he was managing to even make her swear! Granted, this whole conversation with herself was happening in the privacy of her own brain, but still… She never swore! Nor did she ever feel the need to!

So, it was in this state of trance and shock that she gracefully-at least, she hoped it had been so-took the money he offered and went buy herself something while indirectly telling him through Derek to get himself some manners.

The thing was, she really didn't get this guy. First, she saw him almost everywhere Derek took her on that tour-almost like he was following them-and then he suddenly became all rude and downright impossible to stand. She would have thought that a sweet and awkward kid like Derek would have had better taste in friends but it seemed like she had been wrong. Either that, or there wasn't such a variety of people in that high school, which, come to think of it, was perfectly possible. After all, she had no idea what was considered cool or lame in that place that, as far as she could see, was so different from her own school.

On that note, Derek finished the tour and bid her goodbye, not before reminding her that they were both expected to attend a dinner with her mom and his dad that evening and giving her directions to the place just in case she didn't manage to catch her mom beforehand and she was forced to find her way from their hotel, for which she was grateful-because, let's face it, she fully expected it to happen.

If she was to be honest, she had no problem with London so far-overlooking the obvious exception of Ralph, of course-or even with Edwin and Marti (those were George's other two kids). Come to think of it, she didn't even have a problem per se with George himself, it was just the principle of the thing she couldn't get over. Even if-and that was some big if-she were to tell her mom she was completely okay with her resuming her love-life and marrying again, she still couldn't see why they were the ones expected to up and leave their lives and move to another city. After all, weren't the other four as much part of this transaction as her sister, her mother and her? Weren't they all supposed to have the same rights and obligation? Wasn't the 20th Century society above making the woman's job always seem less important than the man? Scratch that, the woman's life, even? What was her mother on, for Christ's sakes?

So, with all these useless questions in mind, she waited at the restaurant and was all-around shocked when Ralph showed up and sat at her table with that cocky smirk and acting like he owned the place. That's when he told her that he was nowhere near being Ralph, that he was actually Derek, and that the sweet guy who had showed her around the high school was the real Ralph, who was just a friend of his who he had paid in order to enlist his help in the prank.

Thus, no one could blame her for being outraged, to say the least. That's when she inadvertently came up with what she would be calling Derek for the next… who knows how many years.

"Der-ek! How could you?" And… that smirk just grew. What was wrong with this guy? I mean, she was giving him the full-on you-fooled-me-you-should-be-ashamed-of-yourself-and-feel-guilty glare and he still didn't even flinch. That glare worked on anyone! It was foolproof, it even worked on her mom however much she suspected she was being roped in by her again! How dare he make it worthless just like that?

She was getting more ticked off by the second and he just seemed to enjoy himself more the more aggravated she looked, which in turn set her off even more. So, she decided to break the vicious circle and she agreed to his idea of splitting their parents up by telling them that they just couldn't stand each other.

Come to think of it, nothing was further from the truth, since they couldn't stop fighting long enough to even be able to go through with said plan. So, just when she thought this crisis might be averted, she caught sight of the heartbroken expressions on her mom's and George's faces. What was their problem? Did they want to guilt her into retracting from everything she had just said?

'It's not gonna work, I'm strong. It's not gonna work, I'm strong.' That was the mantra she adopted for the occasion. 'It's not gonna… Oh, God… Poor mom… Casey, stop! You can do this!' She was deviating from the script, and that was just never good for her, that could only mean she was about to…

"George, will you marry my mom?" The words were out of her mouth before she could stop them. And, before she knew what was happening, the engagement was back on.

Great, now she had definitely gone and scored herself a new step-dad, a step-sister and two step-brothers in tow. Also, as if that wasn't enough, she found one of said step-brothers was a jackass-which, incidentally, didn't stop her from finding herself attracted to him.

Yeah, her life just rocked...

AN: So, this one's a bit longer… hope you liked it!=) By the way, I wanted to thank anyone who's still reading! Oh, and I would appreciate any thoughts you might have! Review?