It feels like I haven't updated in forever, but it's only been about a week. But anyways, here is chapter 7:) This chapter is shorter than the last one, and I am sad about that. I had horrible writers block with this chapter, and it was making me so mad I almost gave up on this chapter, but I pushed through it. To me this chapter seems really short, and it feels like it's not as well written as my other chapters, and I really don't want to post it. And the fact that document manager isn't wanting to cooperate, yet again, is ticking me off! Here it is anyways;) I hope you like it!

Disclaimer: I do not own LWD but Michael Seater is in my closet right now;) Bahahahaha!


I left Casey sitting on the stairs as I ran up to Ed's room. As I got up to his room, I didn't see Lizzie anywhere. Where is she? I walked back down the attic stairs and walked to her room; she wasn't there either. I stood out in the hallway trying to here a noise coming from any of the rooms, but it was dead silent. How can that be? I know she ran up here. Where could she have gone? I searched every room looking for my step-sister, even checking the games closet, but couldn't find her anywhere. I ended up back in Ed's room pacing around when I noticed something I didn't see before. The window, great. I ran over to the wide, open window and saw Ed's old tree house rope ladder, tide securely to the ceil, reaching down to the ground.

"Ugh… Lizzie, really?" I mumbled to myself as I left Ed's room and made my way down the stairs. Casey wasn't sitting where I left her. I could hear some banging coming from the kitchen and I slowly made my way to the door. Pushing it open I saw her standing there, tears still running down her face.

"Hey Case, we have a-" I paused seeing that Casey wasn't the only one standing in the kitchen, "Sam?"

What is Sam doing here? I haven't seen him around here since him and Casey last broke up. Sam and Casey had tried to get back together over the past Thanksgiving holiday, but, after yet another nasty break up, he hasn't been over that much.

"Hey D." he said waving at me. The look on his face was unsettling. He shifted his eyes to Casey and looked at her odd.

"What're you doing here?"

"Just came to see how you were doing, seeing if there was anything ya'll needed."

"Oh, ok" I said not giving it a second thought. I looked over at Casey and she looked absolutely terrified. "Umm, Case, we have a big problem."

"W-what is it?" she asked, her voice trembling.

"It seems that a certain somebody, that is supposed to be on bed rest until she recovers, has climbed out of the window."

"What! Derek we have to go find her! She can't be walking around this much!" she said as she ran out of the kitchen and ran towards the front door, stumbling a couple of times.

I looked at Sam and he gave me this weird look and then ran after her. What is going on? I thought as I ran after the two of them. Casey was already at the door putting on her coat and Sam was following right behind her.

"Ok, we need to split up and look for her. I will go to the park, Derek, you go to the soccer field, and Sam, go to the diner. We will meet back here in thirty minutes. We have to find her." She quickly gave the demands, and then was out the door, walking on foot to the park. When she tripped over the curb I turned and looked at Sam, knowing he was hiding something. Casey wasn't usually that clumsy.

"What is wrong with Casey?" I asked, staring him in the eyes.

"Man, D… I have no idea. Maybe I should go with her." and with that Sam was chasing after Casey that was still in view, stumbling around.

What is wrong with them? The soccer field was about a twenty minute walk from the house, so I grabbed my leather jacket and the keys, and made my way to my truck. I started the engine and pulled out of the driveway making my way to the soccer field. My mind drifted as I drove. Why was Sam acting so weird? Why did Casey look terrified and tripping more than usual? Are they doing something behind my back? Sam knows how I feel about them.

Then my thoughts trailed to mine and Casey's almost kiss; both of them. The first time I really wasn't paying attention to what I was doing. She looked so sad and when I realized that we were in the same position we were in before we heard about the accident my heart went out to her. She looked so beautiful with her damp, brown hair hanging down her back, her purple shirt contrasting with her skin perfectly; I couldn't help myself. Sure I had thought about Casey and me one day getting together, but I never thought it would happen. I have liked her for a long time now, heck I'm in love with the girl! She is the reason I get up in the mornings now, not that I haven't been getting any sleep since the accident. I probably have only had six hours of sleep the past four days, and she is what's keeping me together. Why did Emily have to barge in when I was going to kiss her? Why did Liz have to walk in at my second attempt? Is this the universe trying to tell us we're not meant to be together? I don't know what to think nowadays.

Then I saw a figure walking down the road, light reflecting off of it from my headlights. It was a small figure wearing blue pajamas with brown hair; Lizzie. I drove up next to her and rolled down my window, but she kept walking.

"Lizzie, come get in the car." She didn't respond.

"Liz, look, I know that how you saw me and Casey upset you, but you need to get in the car with me. The doctors wanted you to rest, not take a five mile walk. Get in please." I said begging her.

"No Derek. I don't want to talk. I don't want to talk to you, and I don't want to talk to Casey. I want to be normal again and go play soccer." She said as she kept walking, me slowly following behind her in my truck. I hadn't realized it until now, but she had a soccer ball nestled in her arms.

"Ok, let's make a deal." I said thinking on my toes. It must have worked because she stopped in her tracks.

"What?" she asked intrigued.

"If you get in the car with me I will take you to the soccer field and we can play some one-on-one, as long as you stop when you feel like you have overworked yourself. Deal?" I asked putting my hand out the window.

"Ok." She said as she shook my hand.

"Then get in."

She walked around the front of my truck and hopped in. It took about five more minutes to get to the soccer field. We got out and walked on the field. It was pitch dark outside, but the streetlights that lined the sidewalk by the field, and the light of the moon gave us just enough light to see. She put the soccer ball down by her feet as I walked over to the goal.

"Now remember our deal, the first time you feel like you are getting tired you have to stop."

"I rememeber." She said as she shuffled the ball in-between her feet.

"Ok then. Give me your best shot." Smirking at her I prepared myself for the oncoming ball. She hit the ball and it flew past my reach and went into the goal.

"That was just a warm-up." I said acting cool about it.

"Sure it was. Get ready to have your butt kicked."

Goal, after goal, after goal she got in. I tried my hardest to catch the ball that kept flying past me, but somehow I could never catch it. Every once in a while I think she would take petty on me and hit the ball to where I could catch it. I would celebrate with a victory-dance, and I could see a small smile spread across her face, and it made me want to act more of an idiot just to keep her like that. I want her to be happy, and that is why I am out here at ten-fifty-six playing soccer with her. I would play soccer all night with her if it had to, to keep her mind off of Ed. She got another goal.

"Hahaha! Take that Venturi!" she cackled, breathlessly, but soon the cackles soon turned into sobs. I was at her side in two seconds.

"Lizzie, what's wrong? Liz, talk to me." I said as I tried to get a response out of her, but all I got was more sobbing.

"Derek, he wasn't supposed to leave me," she said as she picked her head up to look at me, "He told me we would be together forever! How could he leave me!" she screamed into the night.

"I don't know Liz." I pulled her into my chest and rocked her back and forth trying to calm her.

We sat like this for an immeasurable amount of time, then my cell phone buzzed. I pulled it out of my pocket and saw that Casey had been trying to call me. I called her back and heard her hysterical voice on the other side.

"Derek! Why haven't you been answering your phone? Have you found her?" her voice coming quickly from the phone I barely understood what she was saying.

"Yes I found her; we're at the soccer field. We'll be home in about ten minutes." I said hanging up the phone.

"Derek…"

"Yeah Liz?" looking down at her I saw she had stopped crying and was now looking up at me.

"I know Edwin threw himself onto me. I am the reason he is dead. Why am I such a h-h-horrible person?" she asked more tears coming to her eyes.

"Lizzie, never think that! You are the farthest from a horrible person!"

"B-b-but Edwin is dead because of me. M-maybe if-f he didn't try to s-s-save me, he m-might still be alive."

"If he didn't try to save you then both of you would probably be dead right now. I think he saved you so you could live your life while he watches over; like a guardian angel." I said smiling a little thinking of Ed as a guardian angel.

"Really?" she asked wiping some of her tears away with the back of her hand.

"Yeah, though you may have some bad luck every now and then, being it's Ed were talking about." I laughed and she laughed a little too.

"Let's go home Der."

"At-a-girl," I said as I picked her up off the ground and gently throwing her over my shoulder, "Let's go home." I repeated

She just giggled and let me carry her to the truck. As we walked all I could think about was Marti. Is she ok? Is she scared? Cold? Is she looking for me? Where are you Marti? I sat Lizzie down in the seat and helped her buckle up, then walked over to the driver side and started the took us about ten minutes to get home; Casey and Sam were waiting outside for us. As soon as I stopped the car Casey was at Lizzie's door pulling her out of the car.

"Oh my gosh Lizzie! Don't you ever do that to me again!" she said as she hugged her sister so hard I thought that Lizzie might be losing oxygen.

"I'm… sorry… Case… can't… breath!" she gasped.

"Oh, I'm sorry Liz." Casey said as she pulled away from her sister. "Why are you all sweaty?"

"Derek played one-on-one with me" Lizzie said with a smile at me, and I smiled back.

"Lizzie, could you go inside for a little bit while I talk to Derek and Sam alone?"

"Sure. I'll go take a shower," she said as she started to walk up to me and hugged me. "Thank you Derek. I love you." She whispered as she snuggled her head into my chest.

"I love you too squirt," I whispered hugging her back, "Now go take a shower, you reek!"

She giggled and walked off into the house. I turned to see her older sister staring daggers in my direction. I'm in big, big trouble…

"Derek Carson Venturi!" Oh crap, she used my whole name… "What the hell did you think you were doing playing soccer with my sister that just got out of the hospital yesterday?" she screamed, probably waking the whole neighborhood.

"Casey, she just needed a wa-"

"I don't even want to hear it! You shouldn't have done that Derek! She could have been hurt!" she said her face growing redder and redder.

"Calm down Case. Let's go inside and discuss this rationally." Sam said trying not to wake up all of Canada.

"Ok, but don't think your off the hook" she said pointing to me.

We walked in the house and Casey stumbled over nothing, nothing at all. What the hell is wrong with her? I didn't have time to ask, because right as we got through the door she turned on to me.

"Derek, I am going to give you two seconds to tell me why you were playing soccer with my little sister at eleven o'clock at night when she should be recovering… Speak." She said glowering at me.

"Well she was really upset about… well… you know," I said trying to not put our business out there in front of Sam, "So she started to walk to the soccer field, wanting to be normal again. I begged her to get in the truck and come back home, but she just ignored me and kept walking, until I made a deal with her. I promised I would play one-on-one with her until she tired herself out as long as she came home with me right after." I said leaving out the little emotional breakdown part. When Lizzie is ready she will tell Casey herself.

"Why would you make that deal with her knowing that she shouldn't be doing any physical activity?"

"She just needed to feel normal Casey, if only for one night. Everything has been taken away from her and she just wanted to feel normal. She needed to have some fun. Don't be mad at her, if you need to be mad at anyone, it's me." I said looking down at my hands not wanting to meet her blue eyes.

"I'm not mad at anyone Derek, I was just worried and I let it get the best of me. I'm sorry." I walked up to me and gave me a big hug; kind of falling into me.

"What is wrong with you Casey?" I asked as I pulled her up to look into my eyes.

"W-what do you mean?"

"I know that you're naturally clumsy, but come on Case, you haven't walk two feet without tripping all day. What's wrong?"

"Nothing D-Derek. I'm f-f-fine!" she said stuttering, which only meant one thing; she's lying.

"Casey, stop lying, tell me wh-"

"Derek, she said she was fine." Sam interrupted.

I just stared back at Sam with a hated look. He knows what's going on with Casey. Casey confided in him instead of me? Why would she do that? I'm the one that loves her, not that she knows that, but still. We have to tell each other everything now, doesn't she know that?

"This has nothing to do with you Sam. Maybe you should go home." I said glowering at him.

Sam looked over to Casey giving her yet again another weird look. Tears glistened in her eyes and she shook her head.

"It's ok Sam, you can go."

"What? Now he needs permission from you to leave when I practically told him to?" I asked, baffled.

"Der-ek! Don't be mean; Sam just wants to make sure I'm alright. That's all." She said, more tears welling up in her eyes.

"I can act however the hell I want to! This is my house and I am kicking you out!" I yelled pointing at Sam.

"I'll see you tomorrow Case." He said backing towards the door. This made me even more enraged. Now there planning to see each other? They haven't even spoken to each other since they broke up, for the seventh time, ten months ago! I didn't even say anything as I pushed Sam out the door and slammed it in his face.

"DER-EK! What was that for?"

"He is not allowed here anymore." I said with a snarl.

"Why not? He hasn't done anything Derek!" she shrieked at me.

"I don't want him here, and that's it. No changing my mind. He is never allowed in my house ever again."

"What? Did you just say your house? Since when did it become yours? It's just as much mine and Lizzie's as it is yours!" she said barely breathing in-between words.

"I don't care whose house it is! All I know is that as long as I am living here, he is not to step foot through that door!" my voice got louder and louder.

"Whatever! I will just see him at his house then!" she said as she started walking towards the front door.

"Oh no you won't." I said as I gripped onto her forearm.

"You can't tell me what to do!"

"Yes I can! I don't want you going near him, is that understood?"

"Stop trying to be like George!" she yelled at me.

It hurt to hear his name, knowing that I would never see my own dad again. Tears welled up in my eyes and my grip loosened on Casey's arm and she pulled it away. She had tears streaming down her face that I hadn't noticed before in my fury. The tears started to roll down my face and fall onto my white shirt, leaving little grey circles where they met the fabric. I've already let myself lose it once today; I don't want to lose it again. Casey started to walk towards me with her arms open.

"Derek, I didn't mean to, I wa-"

"Get away from me." and with that, I bolted up the stairs and ran into my room.

Ugh! I slammed my door shut and started pacing around my room. When Emily came over earlier I came up here and picked up my room. I know, Derek Venturi's room actually being clean? It shocked me too. I had nothing to do to get my mind off of everything, so I tried the Casey approach to getting through things, but after I finished cleaning, I still felt terrible and lost it. I should have been a better son. I should have done everything that they asked me instead of blowing them off. I should have been a better older brother. All of these thoughts flowed through my head earlier today and I lost control of my emotions. After about crying for five minutes Casey came and knocked on my door and I cried in her arms, then we went downstairs. That felt like a million years ago. Everything was fine then, but now I don't know what to do.

"Ugh!" I banged my hands against the wall that connected mine and Casey's room. I pulled my hands up to my eyes and rubbed the angry tears away from them, and then proceeded to pull them through my hair. Why does this have to be so difficult? I want to be with Casey, but seeing the looks Sam was giving her and the way she was acting makes me think that there is something going on between them. They are keeping secrets from me, they want to see each other, and they are both acting so weird.

There was a soft pitter-patter of feet and then a tap-tap on my door. I walked over and opened the door to a sad looking Lizzie. Her hair was wet from just getting out of the shower and she had on purple pajama's, her face paled slightly.

"What's wrong Liz?" I said as I looked into her sad, light-brown eyes.

"I heard you and Casey arguing…"

"I'm sorry you had to hear that."

"M-me too." She said as tears filled her eyes and she hugged me around the waist.

I picked her up and moved her into my room so Casey wouldn't show up soon blaming me for her little sister crying. I sat down on my bed and sat her right beside me; her still hugging onto me.

"Hey… hey… It's alright, there is no need to cry Liz." I said attempting to console her.

"You and C-Casey can't f-f-fight Derek. W-we need to stick together." She said trying to wipe away at her tears.

"I know that, but she was acting so… not Casey?" I said confused.

"What d-do you mean?"

"She's been acting weird all day. She has stumbled so many times that she has exceeded her nickname, and Sam kept giving her weird looks. Then when I made him leave she was going to go after him! Can you believe that? She was going to go after the guy she has been purposefully avoiding for ten months!"

"That's not like Casey…" she said finally calming down some.

"I know. I'm worried."

"Let's go talk to her about what's going on. Maybe she just needs to sort some things out, and we can help." She said jumping up and holding out her hand for mine.

"Ok, let's go."

We walked out of my room and went downstairs to look for her first, expecting that she didn't come back upstairs after I blew up. Walking through the living room we didn't find her anywhere, and we walked to the kitchen, but she wasn't there either.

"I guess she's upstairs, come on." I said grabbing Lizzie's hand and making my way up the stairs.

We walked up the steps and made our way to her door. There were stifled sniffs and sobs coming through the door, and I knew automatically that she was crying. I hate that she's crying, and the fact that I'm the one that made her cry, makes it even worse. I'm going to fix this. We are going to be happy again. No more tears in this house because of me. I turned the door knob and pushed the door open.

"Hey Case, we wer-"

"Derek! Lizzie! This isn't what it looks like!" she shouted.

"Lizzie, go to your room" I said looking down at my little step-sister.

"But Derek!" she pouted

"NOW!"


It was awful, I know it...

In this whole chapter I ment for Casey to be drunk, so I hope that was clear. I really wanted to show that Derek has a softside when it comes to Lizzie, and not just to Marti. I wanted to show that they are becoming closer and more like real siblings instead of step-siblings. I hope those who are reading do not give up on me because of this chapter, but if you do I totally understand. It's going to get better and better! I already have the ideas for the next chapter, and I think they are pretty amazing if I do say so myself:) Thank you to everyone who has read/reviewed for this story! You guys are the reason I'm keeping this story going:)

To divine,blue: (document manager refused to let me put a period between divine and blue, so I had to use a comma. Sorry) I know you said you didn't want any of Casey's exes finding her because you thought it was being to cheesy, but I needed to use Sam. I tried having Derek find her, but it wouldn't have taken me anywhere with the way I want this story to end up. I hope you are not to upset with me... :)

Now if you would like to press the cute, little, blue review button, that would just make my day:)