This chapter was a little more rushed. Mainly because I wanted to get to Casey's part near the end. I loved writing that part. I do not own LWD. Please enjoy.

"The day Derek finally drove me completely insane, I imagined it would end up with his sanity still completely intact.

I'm…really not so sure that's how it went."

"Come on, Casey, you're overreacting!"

The door flew open just as quickly as it had closed. Casey looked furious. "Overreacting? Overreacting? Derek, you're such a creep!" She slammed the door again, this time hitting Derek in the nose.

Well, that seemed like a clear "NO" to Derek.

Nora was upstairs in record time at the booming sound. "Derek, I heard Casey yelling. What did you do this time?"

Derek glared at her as he rubbed his sore nose, gritting out a sarcastic, "Thangks Dora, I'll be fide." He stalked off to his room then, muttering.

Edwin dashed to Lizzie's, his brain racing.

With suspicion fresh from Derek's earlier visit, Lizzie raised a brow at him.

"Okay, Edwin, I'm listening. What's up?"

"You will never guess what I just heard."

Lizzie waited.

"Okay…I give up. What did you just hear?"

"Okay, get this: Derek just asked Casey out!"

Now that was an eye-opener. "What? That was the best he could come up with?"

"Huh?"

"Never mind." Lizzie shook her head. "Are you sure that's what you heard?"

Edwin nodded, looking much more excited about this than he should have. "Positive. I heard him say it myself." He got that conspiratorial look on his face that Lizzie had become so familiar with. "You know what this means, don't you?"

"No. I don't. What does it mean?"

Edwin grinned. "It means: we research."

"Oh. Right." Lizzie grinned, too. "I'll grab my notebook."

"I'll grab mine." Edwin ran off to his room. Lizzie dug around through her dresser drawers for hers.

Marti was insisting that Daphne be tucked into bed next to her.

Derek and Casey sulked themselves to sleep.

Which Casey complained about extensively to Emily the next morning.

"It was the most ridiculous and obnoxious thing he's ever said to me. As if I would be so desperate that I'd even consider dating him. Where did he get such a stupid idea anyway? Em? Emily? Are you listening?"

Emily had heard every word, of course, and her jaw was hanging because of it.

This is what Derek had come up with? She couldn't believe he had been that desperate!

"Sorry, Casey, you just kind of…put me in a bit of shock, there. Derek asked you out?"

Casey made a face. "Yes. I knew he liked messing with me, but that was going a step too far. I mean, first of all, it's Derek, and second of all, we're siblings!"

"Well…stepsiblings, anyway."

"Em! It's still wrong, and you know it!"

Emily threw up her hands in defense. "I know, I know. So, what did you say to him?"

Casey shook her head. "Nothing. I just slammed the door in his face." She took her history book out of her locker and shut the door, starting to calm down, to think straight. Now she could focus on the thing that had been bothering her even before Derek threw that unbelievable proposition on her.

"You know what really bugs me, though? It's the fact that he thought I should date him because he didn't want me to cry anymore."

"Well, Derek doesn't like tears. You know that."

Casey sighed. "I know. But…it still felt…oddly sweet to hear." She looked at Emily. Her characteristic, "am I going crazy?" look was on her face. Emily patted her shoulder.

"Casey, how many times must I tell you not to think so much?" She smiled sympathetically. "Come on. Let's get to class."

And that was that, for now. Emily had become quite good at getting Casey to laugh things off. However, this was still a very serious matter. She planned to confront Derek about it as soon as possible.

And when she did, she told him exactly what she thought of the whole thing.

"Pursue this," she told him. "Pursue this with everything you've got."

Derek stared at her incredulously. "You're actually supporting my stupid on-a-whim decision to ask Casey out?"

"Thinking about it logically, yes," Emily answered nonchalantly.

"Um, sorry, but…in what way is dating Casey logical?"

"You don't want her to cry on you anymore, right?"

Derek nodded. "Right."

"So, then it's safe to say that you'd do anything to keep her happy, right?"

Derek nodded again. But he wasn't sure where she was going with this. "Right."

"And who better for Casey to date than someone who'll do anything to keep her happy?" Emily finished confidently.

Derek cringed a little. "You…do have a point. Even if it is an incredibly…creepy point to make."

Emily cringed herself. "Yeah, it's creepy. After knowing Casey for so long, it's really hard to picture the two of you together. But, it should only be temporary, right? You can just…keep her happy until a…better match comes along."

Derek sighed. "All right. Guess I'll give it another try. What can it hurt?" He swallowed. "Besides my dignity…" he added in a mutter.

Emily rolled her eyes.

Derek spent the day agonizing over Casey's reaction to the fact that he wouldn't be giving up on this. If he kept trying to get her to date him, it might actually look like he liked her, and that was simply unacceptable. Even worse, a not-completely-untrue rumor would start to spread around school, and the ladies would back away. His reputation would die a slow, painful, permanent death, all because he didn't want Casey to cry anymore!

Unacceptable.

That night, George and Nora went out. The more tense things between Derek and Casey got, the more often they seemed to do so. Not that anyone blamed them; and truth be told, Derek was quite grateful for it. Now all he had to do was pop Marti (and Daphne, of course) in bed, make sure Lizzie and Edwin were occupied, and work a little of his Derek-y charm…on Casey.

So the last part was a bit harder. But he could manage it, right?

With Marti fast asleep and Lizzie and Edwin wrapped up in some new research thing, Derek leapt at the chance to talk to Casey. She was sitting on the couch, furiously scribbling something in a notebook. Derek suspected homework, or poetry. She always looked so intense while doing one or the other.

Derek cleared his throat. Casey looked up, and amazingly, smiled. It was not an "I'm so happy to see you!" smile or even an "I'm plotting to kill you," smile. It was very business-like, polite; the smile Casey wore the day she'd begun to "feminize" the house. It was disconcerting, to say the least.

"Derek. Good. Just the man I wanted to see." She turned her attention back to her notebook for a second, dotted an "I" and then stood up with it. Ready for a speech.

"Now, I've been considering what you said last night," she said, "and I've decided that, because of the fact that you are Derek and a selfish, egotistical playboy, I will accept your proposition in order to turn you into my personal project. I've compiled a list of—"

"Hold it." Derek threw his hands up. "Let me get this straight: you're agreeing to date me because you want to turn me into a project?"

Casey nodded, smiling as though this were the most natural thing in the world. "Yes. You do have some capacity for sweetness—which you've proven on a few occasions—so I thought it would be worthwhile to, let's say, bring that sweetness to its full potential."

"You're psychotic."

Casey wagged her finger in his face. "No, no, Derek. Number four on the list: be sure to compliment whenever possible."

Derek snatched the notebook from Casey's hands and looked it over incredulously. "You made a list?" Casey frowned in disapproval and quickly snatched it back.

"Of course. If you and I are going to date, then I have to set a few ground rules."

"I'll say it again: you're psychotic!"

"Derek, you should feel privileged to have this list," Casey snapped at him, waving the notebook around for emphasis. "It's like a cheat sheet into a woman's heart! And it's a sure-fire way to keep me happy. You don't do tears, right?"

Derek's lips set into a thin line. He spoke slowly, lest he lose his temper. "Fine. Read me the list." That, to him, sounded a whole lot like, "read me my rights."

"Glad to see you're on board," Casey chirped; and she started to read the list. "Rule number one is a little unconventional for normal couples, but it's very necessary for us: Don't let the family find out."

"No problem. The less they know, the better."

"Exactly. Now, rule number two is also a little unconventional, but also quite necessary: We must each have one person to let in on the secret. I've already chosen Emily, since she already knows. I suggest Sam for you."

Derek shook his head urgently. "Not a chance. I can't let any of my friends know about this. Why don't you just pick one more friend to tell?"

"Der-rek!" Casey sighed in exasperation. "That completely ruins the whole point!"

"The point of what?"

"The point of rules five and six! Augh! Now you're making me go out of order! Okay, listen; rule number five: We must each pay special attention to birthdays and Christmas, and have private gift exchanges for these occasions." Casey glanced up once to make sure Derek was paying attention. "Rule number six: We will celebrate even the most trivial-sounding occasions such as the one-month anniversary with a special date and a private gift exchange."

Casey looked up again. Derek was raising a brow. "I'm sorry, what?"

"Don't you get it? If you don't pick a friend to tell, who am I supposed to ask about gifts?"

Derek shrugged. "Just ask me."

"Der-REK!"

"Oh, Casey, come on!"

"Look, mister, if you want to keep me happy, I suggest you pick a friend." She paused. Derek waited. "Or maybe I'll just have to let one of your ex-girlfriends in on the secret instead."

Derek paled. "Sam it is!"

Triumphant, Casey smiled again, sighing her tension away. "Good. Okay, rule number three…" She stopped. Derek watched her face turn red. Normally, this would amuse him. In this case, he was wondering whether he should be feeling as embarrassed as she was.

Against his better judgment, he asked, "What's rule number three?"

"Um…n-never mind, actually. I just…thought about it and…it doesn't seem like such a good idea after all. I'll just move on—"

"Hold it. I want to know what it is."

Casey turned even redder, if possible, and she swallowed. "U-um…rule number three: At school only, we will greet each other and part from each other with a kiss on the cheek." She swallowed again.

Derek shifted uncomfortably.

"Yeah. Maybe we'll skip that one."

Casey nodded. "Right…now, rule number seven…"

Upstairs, peering through the railings, Edwin and Lizzie excitedly took notes.

By the way, what age would all of you infer that I am, simply from reading my writing?