Chapter 5

This time I didn't need Derek to wake me up. As soon as my alarm clock went off I forced myself awake and jumped out of bed. Derek was still sleeping. I sighed and ran to the bathroom to take a quick shower. I wrapped a towel around me when I realized my shoes were in Derek's room. I groaned. If I went in there now there'd be a good chance he was still asleep. If I waited until after I got dressed I might run into him before school. Yuck.

I decided option one would be best. The lights were still off. A good sign. I sighed with relief and walked to the corner to grab my heels. When I stood back up and turned around, Derek was doing the same from the closet. We stood there for a minute before taking in the appearance of the other. I was only in my dark blue towel while he was in blue boxers. We both let out a gigantic scream- kind of like the one when we found out my mom and George were coming home early from their road trip over March break. We then looked down at ourselves and then screamed again.

I ran out of the room as quickly as I could and I leaned against his closed door. That was such an awkward experience. I shook my head to rid the thoughts of half naked Derek. I smirked to myself as I remembered the sight I saw. He was pretty good to look at. I mean NO! No, Derek ISN'T good to look at. I shook my head frantically before running to my room to change.

I twirled around in my outfit in the mirror which consisted of a black, pleated skirt that was mid-thigh, and a dark blue shirt. I curled my hair and put on some light make up. And as the finishing touches I put on my heels. I looked pretty good. Too bad I would look good for no one- aside from Derek I suppose. It's not like I could go on a date with a guy anymore. I was married. To Derek Venturi. Ugh. Speaking of the devil…

"You look all dolled up. What's the occasion?"

"What's it matter to you, dimwit?" I muttered making my way past him. Derek feigned hurt.

"Ouch."

"Your ego is big enough," I said with a smirk as I grabbed my bag. He laughed. "Anyway, you ready for school?"

"Who is ever ready? You ready for stage one in my master plan?"

I sighed. "Yea. Why can't you tell me the rest of your plan?" I pouted. Maybe he'll think my pout is cute as well and will give in.

"Nope. It'll ruin my fun," he smirked. Wrong again.

"Of course it will. Come on, honeybunch," I replied grabbing his arm and pulling him down the stairs. I announced our leaving to the family and continued to exit the house.

XOX

We sat in an awkward silence. He sat back in his chair looking at me expectantly. I chewed on my bottom lip. He coughed but I continued to just sit there. I had a lot on my mind…you try sorting out my brain and then we'll have a talk, ok? I had a question; I just didn't quite know how to word it. But I am here. So that's a start. This was step one of Derek's master plan. I was supposed to talk to him and see if I could get any good information as to pretending to be a happy, married couple. Of course he only mentioned step one to me yesterday. Apparently, there are other steps. Ugh.

"Casey, is there a reason you needed to see me today?" Paul asked with a chuckle.

"You're married, right?" I asked out of nowhere. Random. I know. He paused for a moment.

"Well yes but I don't see what that has to do with-"

"And it's a good marriage?" I interrupted. I felt bad for being rude but I didn't have time to sit there and chit chat about nonsense. Because the sooner I learned about this marriage stuff, the sooner we could fool mom and George, and the sooner we fool them the quicker we can get an annulment.

"Yes, it is," he answered with a confused tone.

"Can I observe you two?" I murmured. He leaned forward.

"What?" Oh. Good. He didn't hear me. It's not like I meant to be heard. So it was relieving to know he didn't.

"What makes it a good marriage?" I asked instead. The whole observing thing was just a little too creepy. Even I knew that.

"Well it's different for each marriage. But a successful one usually involves trust and communication," he explained. I nodded my head while biting my lower lip again.

"Mhhm mhhm. I see where you're going with this. Now…is there any way to fake a good marriage?" I inquired. He laughed and I stared at him quizzically. What was so funny? I pouted.

"Casey, does this have to with you and Derek?" I gasped immediately.

"Who told?! Was it Emily?!" I shouted. I then stood up completely. "Was it Ralph?!" He laughed harder and I was ready to growl at him.

"No. Your mother told me all about it. She called to give me a heads up and I think I might be able to help you," he said with a mischievous grin. Oh no.

XOX

"MARRIAGE COUNSELING?!"

"Yeah. It might be good for us. Apparently Paul is pretty good with married couples," I said while glancing down at his counseling schedule. Derek pulled me to a corner and ran his fingers through his hair in frustration.

"Ok first off, this wasn't part of my plan. And second, I don't know if you've noticed but…WE'RE NOT REALLY A COUPLE!" I placed my hands on my hips.

"No. But we are married no thanks to you," I whispered angrily. He scoffed.

"It's a two way street, honey," he responded. Ouch. He was right. It was just as much my fault as it was his. And I was the one who blabbed it all in the first place. Ugh. I hated when he had a point. It probably didn't help that he was blamed for everything that went wrong in our house. Though in all fairness, he was usually the cause of it anyway.

"I know," I said with an exasperated sigh. "Look, fighting is going to get us nowhere. And going to this marriage counseling might show my mom and your dad that we're working on our marriage." He nodded and tapped his chin. I clapped my hands excitedly. I'm getting through to him finally! It's like a dream come true.

"You're right," he stated with finality in his voice. He started to walk away but I held him back by grabbing his arm.

"Wait! What's step two in your plan?"

He smirked. Oh boy. I wasn't going to like this. "You'll find out tonight." He then winked before walking away. Oh lord, help me now.

"Casey, why are you just standing here…in the corner under the stairs?" Emily asked with a befuddled expression. I offered her a weak smile.

"I was with Derek," I replied as I stuffed the marriage counseling schedule in my backpack. When I glanced up, she was smirking at me. "What?"

"Oh nothing…just you and Derek alone, you say?" she responded while waggling her eyebrows. I rolled my eyes. Derek's mysteriousness, and Paul's smugness was enough to drive me insane. Now I have Emily implying things…just fabulous.

"Let me rephrase my answer: I was talking with Derek. Like we'd even kiss," I said with a shudder. Well, that's kind of a lie. We did, in fact, kiss on our wedding. It was sorta inevitable though. That's how you seal the deal. And yes, it was a little weird kissing him but…it felt right. Though that feeling could just be a factor that Derek was a good kisser. Boy oh boy was he good.

Debbie was right last year. AH! No! Stop thinking about that.

"Well, you could. You guys are married," she laughed. I frantically covered her mouth.

"Sssh! Someone might hear you," I whispered and she rolled her eyes.

"Like anyone will know we're talking about you-know-who. Besides, you think anyone really cares to listen to our conversations?"

"Hmm. You make a good point," I admitted, letting out a sigh of relief. We laughed as we walked to the cafeteria together.

XOX

"It's official. You have lost your mind."

Derek let out a grunt of protest. I closed my eyes and shook my head. I could not believe his pigheadedness! No matter how hard I tried I just couldn't get that new image out of my head. Ugh! I thought we were supposed to control our thoughts. I shifted uncomfortably in my pajama pants and tank top.

"Come on, Casey. You have to admit…it is a good plan," he replied while smiling from ear to ear. I groaned and hid my hands in my face before pulling away and pointing a finger at him.

"I'm not admitting anything!" He laughed at me. "What?!"

"You're entertaining when mad, that's all." I scoffed and crossed my arms while looking away from him.

"Whatever." I turned back to him. "I'm not doing it!"

"You know it's brilliant!"

"I will say that it is quite shocking for your small mind to come up with something as elaborate and genius as this but may I add that it is so totally and completely wrong!" I shouted in my whisper voice. He shook his head and laughed harder.

"Casey, it's not like we'll be doing the real thing."

"It's the principle of the matter. Besides, you think they'd actually buy it?" I pondered. He shrugged nonchalantly.

"Hey, we're married, aren't we? I'm sure nothing else could surprise them," he laughed. I rolled my eyes. He made a compelling argument. Damn him! I sighed. I can't believe I was going to do this but-

"Ugh. Fine."

He did a little "yes!" before stripping off his T-shirt and pajama pants. My eyes widened immensely.

"W-what are you doing?" I stuttered while my eyes roamed his entire body. I shifted again. Why did my stepbrother/husband have to be so damn hot?!

"Well, if we're gonna make them think we're having sex so we can have our rooms back we should strip some articles of clothing off. If we're fully clothed there's a good chance we'll only get a warning…or they won't believe us," he explained. I could only mutter an "oh". "So take off your shirt and pants." My eyes snapped up to his.

"What?!"

"We both have to be half-naked, Casey. Or else it won't be good enough. If you don't I'll just take them off for y-"

"NO! I'll take them off myself," I replied in an aggravated tone. I huffed as I stripped off my tank top and pajama pants before throwing them to where Derek's clothes were. We silently climbed into his bed but he stopped me before I could lie down.

"Bottom or top?" My jaw dropped. I couldn't believe my ears. I then narrowed my eyes at him.

"Bottom. So that way if this gets out, I can claim rape," I said before lying down beneath Derek. I drew in a deep breath. "S-so what exactly do we do?" He paused while he thought about the answer.

"Um, well you can start moaning and I'll make…thrusting motions to make the bed…creak," he said shyly while refusing to look me in the eye. Since when has Derek been shy about anything sexual related? Can't blame him though…this was new to both of us. I winced as I let out my first moan. Ugh. I was horrible at this.

"Derek…this isn't working."

"You're right. It's too forced. We have to get into the moment," he said while blowing a strand of hair out of his eyes. Both of our eyes locked and we silently made an agreement. This would mean nothing. Suddenly, Derek's lips crashed onto mine. At first the kiss was slow and sensual but soon it became passionate and desperate. Derek separated my lips with his tongue and soon our tongues were tangled in our hot, passionate kiss. I continued to explore his mouth but it was brought to an end when his lips moved from my mouth to my neck.

His lips traced down my body and it felt so good I had to let out a soft moan. And it wasn't even forced! Oh. My. Gosh. I ran my fingers through his hair and I involuntarily pressed my body against his. His skin felt so nice against mine. His hands began to explore me while his lips met mine again. But he wasn't the only one exploring. My hands ran down his chest and I grinned against his lips. After the first moan or two I started losing track…of mine and his.

He pulled away and sat up and I followed. I watched his hands' movements as they slowly made their way to behind my back. I closed my eyes. He was going to unhook my bra! But right before he could someone opened the door and turned on the lights. My eyes immediately opened and I gasped before pulling the sheets to cover myself.

"Mom! G-George! Hi," I stammered. It was difficult to wrap my brain around anything after what just happened. They both stood there glaring at us.

"What the hell is going in here?!" George bellowed. I winced and Derek scratched the back of his head.

"Well…things got a little out of hand," Derek answered. Technically he spoke the truth. Things did get out of hand. My mom rubbed her temples.

"Casey, I had more faith in you," she said in her disappointed voice. I sighed and glanced between Derek and my mom.

"I guess that's what happens when you stick two hormonal teenagers of the opposite sex in the same room…and bed," I whispered. It was hard to find my voice. My mom glared at George.

"No kidding." She smacked George on the arm. "I told you this was a bad idea!"

"Well, excuse me. How was I supposed to know we'd find them doing the dirty? It was the last thing I expected from the two of them," he explained.

"If it helps…we didn't expect this either," Derek said before looking at me and giving me a wink. George narrowed his eyes.

"Derek, if you were smart, you'd keep your mouth shut right now," George said while I waited for steam to come out of his ears. My mom decided to take over.

"Look, Casey. I think it'd be best if you went back to your room and stayed there. Obviously the sleeping arrangements aren't working out. So, we'll leave the room while you two get dressed..."

I nodded my head while they shut the door behind them. I glanced at Derek and I opened my mouth to speak but he cut me off.

"Remember: it meant nothing."

I nodded my head again and got dressed as quickly as I could. After I had a talk with my mom in the hallway, I lied down on my own bed. It was nice to have some time to myself to think over recent events. We both agreed for it to mean nothing. So why did it feel like so much more than that? And why was I wondering if Derek felt the same?

A/N: HEY EVERYONE! I updated again! Eeeepers! I have been a writing machine. I wrote some more last night and a lot in first period. As a math T.A. I have a lot of spare time. I've done one thing in the past week or so. LOL. I don't mind though. Anyways, you found out about steps one and two of Derek's master plan. Tehe. Step two gave me a good laugh. I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

P.S. To those who have recently reviewed and I haven't replied yet: THANKS SO MUCH FOR YOUR REVIEWS! Each one means a lot to me. XD