Disclaimer: I have no owning of Life with Derek; however I own the plot, Tyler, any other characters &…my sock.

A/N: Sorry it's taken me so long to update! I really haven't been doing so great with the writing process. But I promise I'll have some pre-written chapters! So you review and I post!! Again, I'm really sorry and my holiday story isn't going so great I've been rewriting it constantly. Anyway here it is:

Chapter 8: Drama King

Casey lay tiredly in her hospital bed, awaiting her family's arrival. Derek repeatedly told her to just do to sleep, her eyes kept fluttering shut only to have her shoot them open in an attempt to stay awake.

"I'm not tired, Derek." Casey said, trying to keep her eyes opened wide enough to seem she could stay awake with out any problems.

"Case, you're forcing your eyes to go so wide you look like you shocked. They'll walk through that door and say 'wow, not only has Casey cut her abdomen and had some severe blood loss, but she also looks like she's got a surprise party going on right before her eyes!'"

Casey rolled her already tired eyes and nodded faintly.

"Fine. But I'm happy about this, not at all. And don't you go thinking you won, Venturi!" She said tiredly before allowing her eyes to shut peacefully. He looked and smirked, but groaned instantly when her eyes shot open.

"What?!" Derek said exasperated, Casey blushed and looked at her hands which she had been wringing faintly.

"Can you wake me up when they come in?" Her big blue eyes looked up and locked with his. He immediately felt a hit of pain wash over him as the young look that reminded him of Marti when their mother left crept back into Casey's eyes.

He nodded slowly, "yeah, of course." He said before she smiled slightly and allowed her eyes to close once more.

She drifted to sleep quickly and Derek just sat there and watched her sleeping form and wondered…

How could she be so…relaxed? Her family was tearing before her eyes and she seemed to be like a prevalent little girl.

How was it possible that, while she lay in a hospital bed, she only thinks about putting her mother and my father back together?

I just don't understand how unhappy she's willing to be for the sake of other's happiness… his thoughts were cut-off by the site of a worried Lizzie running into the room.

"What …happened?" she panted.

"Not sure." Derek lied quickly, his gaze averting back to the love of his life.

"Derek, it's only me here; the rest of 'em are like…ten minutes behind." Lizzie said, taking a seat beside him on a chair. He sighed and nodded.

"She threw a tantrum." Lizzie looked at him in shock as he continued. "She threw a vase at a wall, it shattered and a piece hit her abdomen. She suffered from a few deep gashes and severe blood loss." Derek explained quickly and quietly.

She looked at her older sister laying in a hospital gown and silently sleeping. "Did she wake up yet?" Lizzie asked sheepishly. Her gaze never left Casey's face.

"Yeah, I'm supposed to wake her up when the family gets here. But…she just fell asleep. I'll wait 'till everyone gets here." Lizzie nodded then turned her head away from her sister.

"Why did she throw a tantrum? Casey's usually so…controlled." Lizzie asked, looking at Derek intently.

"Um…y-you don't know?" Lizzie shook her head 'no' and Derek sighed. "Nora's taking you and Case and leaving." Lizzie's eyes widened as she opened and closed her mouth again and again.

"Sh-she…what?! She can't do that!" Lizzie's brows scrunched together in confusion.

"Yeah…um, she sort of saw you…and Ed, uh…you know…together. I mean like…together." Her mouth made a small 'o' shape before she bit her bottom lip and lowered her head in embarrassment.

"So…what's going on?" Derek asked, genuinely curious. He and Casey had been wondering since that morning when they pondered the chance of a 'Lizwin'.

"We…well…we kissed." She blushed tremendously and bowed her head further more.

"Yeah, I got that." Derek remarked rolling his eyes.

"Oh…well…see, there was this kid, Jason, right? And he's always bugging me, or at least he did, then Edwin stepped in, beat the living crap out of him and then I thanked him and then I kissed him and then he kissed me again, and, yeah." Lizzie explained a rush; as though if she stopped it would never come out.

"Whoa." Derek blinked a couple of times, trying to wrap his mind around Lizzie's lightning fast explanation.

"Yeah…"

"You know…Casey's kind of freaking out here. Today she broke down like…five times…maybe more. She's got a lot of stress, y'know? I mean, with Dad and Nora…and you and Ed…and Smarti…"

"And you." Lizzie finished and Derek immediately whipped his head to look at her.

"Me? What do I have to do with this?"

"Derek…she loves you. She may never see you again. I only found out now and I'm freaking inside. But Case…she's known this whole time and…well it's a lot to deal with. I don't understand how she does it though. It's like…"

"She'll be incredibly miserable for the ones she loves to be happy; even if it's only the tiniest bit of happiness." Lizzie nodded frantically.

"That's it, exactly." Just then, Nora, George, Marti and Edwin walked into the room.

"My poor baby…" sulked Nora. Lizzie and Derek simultaneously rolled their eyes.

"I'm supposed to wake her up when you got here." Derek said as he stood up and walked to the hospital bed. He lightly placed a hand on her shoulder and gently shook it. "Case…Casey wake up, everyone's here." He said just above a whisper.

She opened her eyes and sat up slowly. Blinking a few times, she smiled. Marti looked at her with big brown sad eyes. "Smasey?" She approached Casey slowly, unsure of what she could and couldn't do.

"Yeah, Smarti." Casey's mouth turned up into the tiniest hint of a smile as little girl's face washed over in relief.

"What happened? Are you okay?" Marti asked frantically with wide eyes. Casey only nodded slowly as an answer to Marti's second question. Her gaze averted to Nora, now standing behind Marti with a worried look.

"Casey…what did you do?" Nora's eye brows scrunched together in confusion as she watched her daughter lay tiredly in a hospital bed.

"Nothing Mom, it was…an accident." Casey stated, not wanting to let out the whole story without lying. It really had been an accident; she didn't mean to wind up in a hospital bed.

"Are you sure…are you just covering up for…someone." Nora spat out the word 'someone' with bitterness and distain laced through every breath. She glared at Derek briefly before softening up tremendously and turning to her daughter.

"No, Mom; Derek's a jackass, not violent. Not even he would do this to me. It was an accident I swear." Derek smirked as she said he was a 'jackass'; knowing very well he would get Casey to find some way to apologize to him. Casey noticed this look on his face and it took all she had in her to not scoff.

"O-okay…um, are you hungry?" Casey shook her head, but Edwin claimed he was "starved" and Lizzie rolled her eyes but agreed that she as well was hungry. Marti nodded and George said he too was hungry. They all left Derek and Casey alone once more.

"Jackass, eh?" Casey raised an eyebrow.

"Eh? What are you? A stereotypical Canadian? Whatever…I was thinking of her and since I couldn't call you a bitch I said jackass." Casey replied confidently. Derek's eyebrows shot up in shock.

"You call your mother a bitch and jackass? Nice." She shook her at him and he smiled.

"I'm really going to miss all of you. Especially you and Smarti…" She trailed off, thinking of the little girl.

"Yeah…but now you're a par of the 'Sm' family! She really cares about you."

"Yeah, I love the little girl to death…she's the only one I really do love." AS she spoke the last words she forced her smile to go away at Derek's mock hurt.

"And here I was, thinking that maybe the girl I love loved me back…what a dreadful world it is, after all." Casey rolled her eyes at him.

"Drama queen."

"Ah-ah-ah! King; drama king! I'm no woman!" Casey laughed heartedly.

"I love the way you make my troubles go away…it's just so refreshing. All I really need in my life is you, Smarti and…Liz." Sadness overwhelmed her eyes as she spoke of her sister. They barely spoke to each other lately; almost as if there was static and a communication breakdown.

Casey's smile melted away and was replaced by a look that told Derek she was now thinking…hard.

"Case…what's wrong?"

"It's just that…I don't know. I don't understand why this is happening. I don't want to leave…leave you and Marti or even Ed! I love it here…and I love to be with you and Marti…and I love you guys." A lone tear slid down Casey's cheek as she stared into space.

"Casey…I told you, I don't care if I have to take a plane in the middle of the night with Marti in my arms…I'm going to see you. I don't care what it costs me, money, freedom, whatever. I don't care, it doesn't matter. I'll see you again. I promise."

"I know, Derek, I know you promise but…when are you going to do that? Hm? When is the first time I'm going to see you? A month? And then from there, three?"

"Case…I love you, and as soon as I miss you, I'm coming to see you. And I guarantee that it'll be far sooner than a month…or three."

"I love you." She gently took his hand in hers and squeezed it slightly…

…little did they know, they weren't alone…

A/N: OOH Cliffy! Okay, okay…please don't kill me! I know it's been awhile since I last updated but I'll have some prewritten chapters so all you need to do is review!! R&R and the cliffy will be solved soon!!