Casey hums quietly to herself as she showers. She had allowed herself an extra hour of sleep and had taken her morning run at six, so by the time she had gotten back to the house, everyone had already left. Casey guiltily feels a bit relieved that no one else is home, she needs some alone time to recuperate from the car ride with Derek. She turns the shower knob to the right, stopping the flow of water, and steps out. Casey wraps a towel around her body and returns to her room, thanking her mom and George silently in her head for letting her keep it a bit longer. The thought that one day it won't be hers anymore makes Casey sad, but life moves on. Once in her bedroom, Casey goes to get changed only to find that the bag she brought from university isn't there anymore.
"Are you freakin' kidding me, Derek?" she mutters to herself. She looks around some more, just in case she misplaced it, before sighing in resignation. Casey goes to Lizzie's room and grabs a pair of leggings and a tank top that says "Save the Whales." Grateful to find that they fit, Casey decides to grab a fuzzy pair of socks from Lizzie's dresser as well, it is absolutely freezing in the house. Knowing her bag could only be in one other place if it was indeed still in the house, Casey reluctantly goes down the hallway towards Derek's room. Squaring her shoulders, Casey takes a deep breath and pushes open the door to No Man's Land. She's surprised to find it's not that messy; the bed is unmade but the floor is clear of any rubbish. If she wants to find her bag, it's now or never, Derek could come back at any time and Casey doesn't want him to catch her in his room…even if it is his fault she had to look in his room in the first place. Casey crosses the threshold into the room and makes a beeline for his bed, checking underneath it. Nothing. She frowns and heads to his closet instead. Shuddering, Casey begins to dig through his old clothes. She doesn't find her bag, but she does find a cozy sweatshirt and promptly puts it on, still cold. Casey closes Derek's closet door in defeat and notices his guitar leaning in the corner. She smiles as she thinks about D-Rock and all the fun she had filling in as the lead singer.
Downstairs, the front door slams shut and Casey bolts out of Derek's room. Once she reaches the stairs, Casey slows herself down and puts on a, hopefully, innocent look on her face.
"You home, Derek?" she calls out as she walks into the living room.
"Of course I am," Derek answers from the kitchen, "who else would it…" Derek's voice falters as he rounds the corner, staring at Casey.
"Why are you wearing my sweatshirt?" he asks, voice strangely thick.
"Because someone decided to steal all of my clothes," Casey shrieks. "Oh, and by the way," Casey adds, putting her hands on her hips, "way to be original, you already pulled this prank on me in high school. Getting rusty?"
"Princess," Derek smirks, regaining his voice, "it's not my fault you left your bag in the Prince."
"Der-ek! I did not, I had it with me last night! You must have put it back," she accuses.
Derek shrugs, "Either way, it's in the Prince."
Casey lets out a cry of frustration and grabs the car keys off the hook, stomping outside to retrieve her items, outraged as Derek laughs loudly behind her.
xxxx
Casey gets back inside, wet hair clinging to her face. It was cold outside and she's freezing even more so than she was earlier today. She's glad she grabbed a sweater, even if it is Derek's. She walks back into the living room to see Derek sitting in front of the TV, watching a hockey game.
"Oh hell no!" Casey cries, "I was going to watch a movie!"
"First come, first served, Princess," Derek replies, not looking up from the TV.
Casey snatches the remote from off of the couch and switches it over to 'The Notebook.'
Derek shoots up from his chair, "Give the remote back, Spacey."
"Nope," Casey pops the word mischievously.
"Casey," Derek advances menacingly, "Give. It. Back."
He lunges at Casey and she shrieks, racing towards the kitchen. Derek follows, chasing her back to the living room and tackling her onto the couch, wrestling for the remote. They've done this a thousand times before but this time it's different. Because she's straddling his lap and his hands are on her hips and her chest is heaving in front of his face as she tries to keep the remote away from him and…he shoves her off abruptly.
"Ow, what the fuck, Der?" She scowls at him from the floor, still clutching the remote.
He ignores her, opting to sprawl out on the couch instead.
"Derek?" she asks.
He still doesn't answer and she sighs, getting up from the floor to sit next to him on the couch. Casey flips the channel to a movie she knows they both like, 'The Dark Knight,' and he grunts in approval.
Halfway through the movie, Derek notices that Casey is shivering and grabs the blanket from the back of the couch.
"Come here," he says, motioning for Casey to get under the blanket next to him.
Casey gives him a strange look and he rolls his eyes, "Don't read into it, Case. This isn't one of your feel-good family moments, I'm just tired of hearing your teeth chatter while I'm trying to watch the movie."
After a moment of hesitation, Casey decides she would rather take advantage of Derek's offer than continue to freeze and she scurries over to his side of the couch, tucking herself under the blanket. Casey accidentally touches Derek's hand briefly and removes her hand quickly like it's on fire. Derek frowns at her.
"How the fuck are you so cold? It's warm in here." he asks.
Casey shrugs, turning her attention back to the screen. They continue to watch the movie in silence and towards the end, Derek feels Casey's head rest on his shoulder. He starts to protest but realizes that she's asleep. Derek frowns, what is he supposed to do in this situation? He considers pushing her off, but Casey sleepily hugs his torso and burrows closer to him. Derek has no idea what to do, so he does what he does best, he ignores the problem and continues to watch the movie, trying his hardest not to think about his small step-sister cuddled close to him.
xxxx
Casey slowly wakes up, appreciating the warm surrounding her. She blearily opens her eyes to see Derek's sleeping form right next to her, head leaning back on the couch. Casey freaks out internally, listening for any other voices in the house. Gratefully, she concludes that no one else is home and starts to gently untangle herself from Derek. She takes a moment to look at him, frowning slightly. When did they fall asleep? Why didn't he push her off of him? Casey crawls off of the couch and walks back to her room. She sits down at her desk and opens her textbook, definitely absorbing the information found on the pages and definitely not thinking about how right waking up in Derek's arms felt, not at all.
Derek and Casey ignore each other for the rest of the week. The rest of the family looks on, confused, as neither of them start any fights with each other, one always leaving the room as soon as the other one enters.
Nora pulls Casey aside on the Friday before Derek and Casey will be leaving back to university and asks her daughter worriedly, "is everything ok?"
Casey blinks slowly, "of course, Mom, why?"
"Well," Nora says hesitantly, "normally I would count it as a small blessing, but you and Derek have been so quiet this past week. Is there something wrong?"
"Not at all. We just decided to give the family a break from all of our bickering." Casey smiles tightly.
"Alright, if anything is bothering you, you know you can talk to me. Right, honey?" Nora asks, searching her daughter's eyes.
"I know mom," Casey gives her mom a hug, trying to reassure her. "I'm going back up to my room to study, is that ok?"
"Sure baby, don't work yourself too hard." Nora answers.
Casey gives her mom one more smile before walking briskly up the stairs, eager to be away from the questioning look on her mom's face.
A few hours later, Casey hears a small knock on her door.
"Come in," she calls.
Edwin's head peaks around the door before he fully steps into Casey's room, closing the door behind him.
"Hey Ed, what's up?" Casey asks curiously.
He sits at her desk, twiddling his thumbs nervously, not saying anything.
"Edwin?" Casey gently prompts.
He looks up at her, "Lizzie was right, I don't have the balls to talk to Lisa."
Casey looks at him blankly before the dots connect in her head, "Oh, Lisa is the girl that you're interested in, right?
Edwin nods.
"What's holding you back from talking to her?"
"I don't know," Edwin begins, "she's just, I don't know. We fight a lot, but she challenges me in a way that is kinda, I don't know, fun? I like being around her, but I don't think she would actually want to be with me, you know?"
Casey smiles at her step-brother, "you know, if she's initiating some of the fights, she might like you too. Maybe she just doesn't know how to convey that without fighting, because it's something you two have done for so long."
Edwin looks at her strangely, "that almost sounds like…"
"Sounds like what?" Casey asks.
"Nothing," Edwin shakes his head, "so, you think she might like me?"
"Maybe," Casey shrugs, "you'll never know unless you ask her."
Edwin nods slowly, "you have a point, thanks Casey." He goes to leave the room and pauses, turning towards his step-sister. "You know, you should take your own advice."
"What?" Casey asks, perplexed.
Edwin laughs slightly, "never mind, have a good night."
After Edwin leaves, Casey lays back on her bed, staring at the ceiling. What did Edwin mean, take her own advice? He wasn't insinuating that…no, that couldn't be it. She stares at the wall that separates her and Derek, shaking the troubling thoughts out of her head, and slips into an uneasy sleep.
