Chapter Nine–Coming Together Against a Greater Enemy

"Wow, you're really dressed up," Casey noted as Nora and George came down the stairs and into the living room where Casey was curled up on the couch, reading a book. "Where are you going?"

"We've been invited to a party. But it's held in the next city so we won't be back until later tomorrow night," Nora responded. "Now, there are some rules I expect you all to follow. No parties. No loud music. No one comes over. You can order pizza but you can't order movies for tv. Someone has to watch Marti at all times. Um, am I forgetting anything?"

"Have fun," George suggested as he helped Nora into her coat. "Don't let Marti stay up too late."

Nora walked over to her oldest daughter, lowered her voice and asked, "And can you talk to Lizzie? She's been acting strange lately."

"Sure, mom, I'll go talk to her," Casey said as a smile came to her face. "We can have a girl's night in. A romantic movie, some makeup, and baking will cheer her up."

"If not make her throw up at all the girlyness," Derek commented as he bounded down the stairs before dropping down on his chair. He reclined it and grabbed the remote out of Casey's hand, ignoring the angry/shocked look that came to her face.

"Have fun, I have everything under control here," Casey said as she smiled at her parents. They smiled back before waving and leaving the house. Once the door closed it seemed as if all of the kids popped out of nowhere and stormed the family room. Mack came bounding down the stairs and walked over to Casey.

"Hey Case, I need the car keys," she said as she held out her hand.

"For what?" Casey asked as she looked up at her in suspicion.

"Well, you kind of can't drive a car without car keys," Mack said slowly as if she were talking to a kindergartener. She still held out her hand and Casey sighed before pulling them out. She was about to place them in Mack's hand when she yanked it back.

"Just one more question," Casey said once she noticed the look on Mack's face. "Where are you going?"

"Out," Mack replied shortly as she pulled the keys out of Casey's hands.

"Out where?" Derek asked as he flung out his arm to block her path.

"Outside, and that's two questions!" She snapped before slapping his arm away and grabbing her jacket. "I'll be back later," she said before she left the house.

"All right," Casey said as she put her book down, crossed her arms, and gave Derek a hard look. "What's going on between you two?"

"Nothing," Derek replied shortly as he turned his attention back to the screen. Casey noticed that his jaw was set and his eyes were flashing in anger as he crossed his arms. He glanced over and saw that Casey, Lizzie, Edwin, and Marti were all looking at him. "What?" He asked, without receiving an answer. He tried to watch TV a little bit more but he could still feel their eyes on him. "Will you STOP staring at me?" He shouted, causing them all to jump. He angrily got up off his chair and stomped up the stairs.

"Derek, wait! Talk to us! C'mon!" Casey called as she chased after him. Lizzie, Marti, and Edwin looked up the direction of the stairs when they heard them shouting.

"Casey! Leave me alone!"

"You can't hide from me forever, Derek Venturi!"

"I can always try!"

"They will never change," Lizzie said with a small chuckled.

"But if they did, then living here wouldn't be as fun as it is now," Edwin agreed as he casually draped his arm around her shoulders.

"Yeah, and it's fun living here," Marti agreed as she sat down where Casey was sitting and changed the channel. Lizzie and Edwin didn't say anything when she changed it to cartoons. Lizzie just scooted closer to Edwin and rested her head on his shoulder as he held her a little bit tighter. He smiled down at her before returning his attention to the TV screen as Marti giggled softly.

After a couple more minutes of their shouting match Derek came back down the stairs, pulling his leather jacket on as Casey followed behind him. "Where are you going? You can't leave!"

"Watch me," he shot back before opening the front door.

"DER-EK! You have to help me baby-sit!" She yelled into the night. She recoiled when a snowball hit her square in the face. Lizzie, Edwin, and Marti laughed as Casey angrily slammed the door shut and wiped off her face. She huffed in frustration before stomping up the stairs. The house was surprisingly quiet for the next two hours as the kids stayed glued to the couch, eyes fixed on the TV as they heard music pouring from Casey's room upstairs. It was 9:00 when the front door flew open with such force that it caused Edwin, Marti, and Lizzie to scream in terror as they jumped.

"I can't believe you, Venturi!" Mack shouted as she came through the door. She tossed her jacket on the hook and whirled around to face him. "I can't believe you at all!"

"You can't believe me!?" Derek cried out once he slammed the door shut behind himself and tossed his jacket at the hook. He didn't care that it missed the hook all together. "I can't believe you! Going out on a date with…him!"

"You're such a fucking hypocrite! You go around flirting with girls all of the time and you date them constantly and that's fine. But when I get a date it's not right? What kind of fucked up logic is that?"

"My logic," Derek shot back as he stepped closer so he was glaring down at her. "You can't date Noel."

"And why not?" Mack asked as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Earlier today you hated the guy!"

"My mind can change from school to now. And besides, you can't tell me who I can and can't date!"

"Oh yes I can."

"Oh no you can't!"

"Yes I can! I'm older."

"And your brain cells must've died the older you got." She snapped and added, "Oh yeah, I went there!"

"You're so immature," Derek muttered.

"Me!? How dare you–" Mack was stopped in midrant when they heard Casey's shrill scream. Edwin and Lizzie jumped up from the couch as Marti covered her ears. Mack whirled around to see Casey running down the stairs at top speed. "What's wrong?"

"There's…someone outside," she responded as she rushed to the front door and made sure it was locked.

"What?" Derek asked as his eyebrows knitted together. "Are you sure?" Marti whimpered before running over to Derek and clutching the hem of his shirt. Lizzie and Edwin ran over and held onto Casey as they looked around in fear. "Casey." Derek's voice cracked a little as he said her name. He cleared his throat and continued. "Casey, you take the others and go hide. I'll go see if someone's out there and then I'll call the police."

"Derek, are you crazy?" Edwin asked as he looked up at his older brother. "What if someone is out there? What if someone has a gun?"

"Smerek are you going to get shot?" Marti asked in fear as she held onto him in a tighter grip.

"I'm not going to get shot, Smarti. I'm just going to make sure no one is out there, ok?" He said as he pried his little sister's arms off of him. "Now…go upstairs. All of you. Go! Go go go go go go go!" He shoved them up the stairs before he grabbed the baseball bat that was lying close to the front door. He made his way to the back door, gripping the bat tightly in his hand. He reached a shaking hand to the knob and rested his hand on it.

"Derek?"

"AAAAAAAAH!" He screamed as he jumped. He whirled around and backed up until he was resting on the door as he held his chest. "Don't do that! Are you trying to give me a heart attack?"

"If I wanted to do that I'd flash you," Mack said dryly ignoring his gasping for air. "You can't go out there alone."

"Am I supposed to take that as you meaning you're coming with me?" Derek asked as he raised and eyebrow.

"Maybe you're not as slow as I thought," Mack said in fake wonder as she placed a finger on her chin.

"Just come on," Derek said before pulling open the door. They stepped out into the cool night air and looked around the dark backyard. Derek gripped the bat before quickly walking around the house once. He was about to comment on Casey seeing things when he went around the house once more. He froze when he saw someone slowly creeping up behind Mack as she checked the bushes that lined the house. He gripped the bat in his other hand and, without thinking, ran forward and smashed it over the persons head before grabbing Mack's arm and yanking her inside the house. He slammed the door shut and locked it before running around the house and locking the other doors and windows. "Ok, I think we're going to be safe."

"You think?" Mack repeated as she grabbed the phone. She frowned as she pulled it away from her ear. "That's weird," she muttered.

"What? What's weird?" Derek asked as he looked over at her.

"No dial tone," she responded as she put it down. "You have your cell?"

"Grounded. Got it taken away for three weeks," he responded in a bored tone. "What about you?"

"Dead," Mack responded. They both looked up as the lights started to flicker. "Oh please don't–" she stopped in the middle of her sentence when the lights flashed off. "Turn off."

"Nice going, Jynx," Derek muttered as he tried to find his way to the kitchen. He tripped over a chair in the process, landing smack dab on his face. "Shut up!" He hissed when Mack burst out laughing. He finally made it to the sink and started checking drawers before he found a flashlight. He turned it on and started making his way back towards the stairs. "All right, you stay here while I get everyone else."

"And let me get attacked by that psycho out there? I don't think so!" Mack said as she put her hands on her hips.

"You're the one who lead that psycho here in the first place!" Derek yelled as he pointed at her. Mack flipped him off before he ran up the stairs, Mack followed close behind. Derek checked Lizzie's, Edwin's, and Marti's bedrooms before walking, more like barging, his way into Casey's room, causing everyone inside to scream. "What're you guys screaming at?"

"We thought you were a big monster," Lizzie responded.

"I see the comparison," Mack commented. Derek glared at her before shining the flashlight on all of them to make sure they were all there. "Come on, we're staying downstairs in the living room. Case, bring your cell phone."

"You mean, like a sleepover?" Marti asked as she ran over to Derek.

"Exactly," he responded as Casey ushered Lizzie and Edwin out of the bedroom. Mack had a knowing smirk on her face when Lizzie and Edwin passed by, which made them glance at each other. Derek's face faultered when the light started flickering. "Oh, come on!" He shouted once the light went out. "I hate this!" He cried out in frustration. "Try to make your way downstairs!" He ordered as he held out his hands and waved them in front of him to try and find his way downstairs. "Wait, what's this?" He asked as he grasped something. He cried out in pain as a loud smack was heard.

"Don't touch me!" Mack growled through clenched teeth.

"Like I can see where I'm going!" Derek snapped.

"Will you two stop behaving like little kids!" Casey snapped once they got all the way down stairs and were sitting down on the couch. "You two have been friends for a long time, and I still can't understand why. You can't let your friendship be ruined over a stupid argument. Now, I want you two to make up." She added as she lit some candles and put them around the living room before sitting back down.

"I hate to say it…but Casey's right," Mack grumbled. "Let's just stop this stupid argument."

"All right," Derek said with a sigh. "Apologize on 3, ok?"

"All right. 1. 2. 3."

"I'm sorry."

"I accept."

Derek laughed a little as Mack smirked at him. He grabbed the pillow he was sitting on and hit her across the face with it. A shocked look came across her face as she took it and threw it back at him. But she missed and hit Casey in the face instead, which caused Derek to burst out laughing. Casey retaliated by hitting him back which, of course, started a pillow fight.

"Pillow fight! Pillow fight!" Marti shouted.

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George and Nora laughed as they opened the door to their house. They stopped abruptly when they noticed that the lights were off and the children were all on the couch asleep. Derek and Casey sat in the middle, Lizzie on Casey's right, Mack on Derek's left. Edwin was resting next to Lizzie, their fingers intertwined lightly. Marti was laying on both Derek's and Casey's laps. Derek's arms were wrapped protectively around Marti and Mack's head was on Derek's shoulder while his head was on top of hers.

"We can ask them in the morning," Nora whispered. George nodded and his gaze lingered on Derek and Mack for a moment. Nora followed his gaze and smiled.

"What a cute couple," she whispered before they went up the stairs.