Okay so I have never done a life with Derek fic so I hope everyone likes it.

Summary: Life in the McDonald/Vinturi house is always an adventure, Marti is still curious, Edwin and Lizzie are still quirky, Derek is still the Jerk and Casey is still neurotic, but Casey has a secret that will change the course of her relationship with the one person she'd never expect to get help from. Can he save her before it's too late?

Warning: Mild Cursing, some graphic sexual content in later chapters. Several Inside Jokes.

Dedicated to: Michael (Tato)

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except the story plot.

--

Casey stumbled into her seat as she rushed away from the crazed crowed that chanted along with some song she was not interested in. She felt light headed and she could feel her legs acting up on her again. So much for having a worry free night, she looked around the room spotting Derek talking with some girl near the back; sighing, she thanked the lord he had kept Derek far away for the time being, if he so much as saw the condition she was in right now he would drag her home and never let her out of the house again.

"Casey what are you doing sitting down!" Emily shouted as she made her way towards their table, her hand reached out to her drink and she feverishly gulped the remains of it down, her once straight hair was now a puffy mess and held back with what Casey concluded was a small tooth pick.

"I'm a little hot Em." Casey explained as her friend set her drink down, her eyes narrowed a moment before winking at her.

"Okay Case, but I want you out there in three minutes or I'm dragging you out" Emily said as she danced away from Casey who was trying to catch the breath that would not fill her lungs. She reached out in attempts to grasp her own drink but her hands were out of her control and try as she might she could not get them to listen to her commands. She cried out frustrated, when her other hand began to spasm she gave up and let both hands fall to her laps. Why fight a battle she could not win.

She could hear the sounds of the club fading and her mind losing perspective, everything was just getting dark and a blank was drawn to her head. She couldn't even process her own thoughts anymore. She wasn't sure how long she had been gone, maybe a minute, maybe five. It was until Emily's hand fell on her shoulder than she managed to gain control of her thoughts and have the world steady itself around her.

"Casey, are you going to be sitting here all night?"

"No I was just catching my breath Em." Casey spoke for what felt like the first time in ages, she turned to her friend and smiled. "Fine I'll go with you now" she answered standing up but loosing her balance faster than she dared to anticipate. Emily caught her before she could hit the ground.

"Whoa, easy girl." Emily laughed "maybe you should stay seated" she said through her laughter, as far as Emily was concerned Casey had drunk way too much and could barely stand on her own two feet. "I'll go get Derek to sit with you."

"No!" Casey cried out as her friend set her down on the chair. "No, I'm fine look" Casey stood up to show effect and this time she was able to hold her own weight. "It was a dizzy spell no need to fuss, come on lets dance."

"You sure."

"Oh yeah I'm fine." Casey smiled and walked back into the dance scene with Emily close behind her.

Derek was not sure why he was even talking to this cute and adorable blonde, when he should clearly be taking care of Casey, but there was something in his playboy nature that told him to continue flirting with this amazing blue eyed angel when he clearly knew that Casey needed him.

"Alright babe I got to go." He began but her hands encircled his waist and she pulled him closer to her, she was so soft, so delicious. Her lips played at his neck and he felt his blood rush. "Cassidy" he began but she continued to tease him and he just couldn't resist.

"And you thought this was a bad idea" Casey's sarcastic voice fell on him like a bucket of cold water making him jump three stories into the air and about a mile away from the blonde that was now pouting ever so adorably.

"Casey" he said nervously arching a brow and looking away from the grinning blonde, the look on her face was that of the typical "Uh-huh" that she tended to give him, one eyebrow arched and a silly 'I knew it' grin on her lips. That look always served to make him ridiculously uncomfortable and usually caused him to fidget.

"I am to assume you were rendered powerless to her attack" her voice was dripping with amusement

"Yes" he said breathlessly, he was at a loose of words or excuses for that matter.

"And here I thought she was rendered stupid to your charms" Casey said as she looked at the girl who winked and blew a kiss at her, causing Casey's amused face to become intrigued. "Now I didn't see that one coming"

"So-uh what are you-?"

"Doing here?" Casey finished his sentence as she nodded his head. "Cock blocking."

"Excuse me"

"You know cock blocking" she made it sound like it was some amazing founding "it's when you are about to have this incredible moment with someone and I come and strike up a conversation creating an incredibly awkward situation and completely ruin that moment for you."

"I know what cock blocking is!" he snapped. "Why"

"Pay back for interrupting my moment with that ridiculously hot guy over there that is now all over that red head when he can clearly be all over me." Casey's voice dropped into an irritated and annoyed level that made Derek sweat.

"Casey he was putting the moves on you, I had to protect you"

"And I have to protect her" Casey said quickly making Derek arch a brow. "Clearly you were putting the moves on her and I had to protect her from you."

"From me?"

"Hence the meaning of the word cock blocking." She responded as a matter of fact-ly. "Do you see where I am going with this?" he scratched the side of his temple to release the frustration that was building up inside of him. Did this woman not understand that he needed release from something she could not give him?

Casey grinned as she looked down at his growing bulge and his flustered face; oh she had him right where she wanted him. "Because you can clearly do better than that blonde; getting yourself laid Derek, has never been a problem." She almost laughed out when he began to choke on his own saliva.

"I mean there are, red heads too you know, brunettes who would die to just get into your pants." She continued, when his face turned red she laughed out, his eyes narrowed at her and when she winked at him, he nearly died of suffocation.

"Very cute Casey." She laughed out yet again and patted his shoulder the most casual of ways.

"I'm just pulling your leg Derek; it truly just was payback for your rude interruption earlier." She continued. The sultry that had once been in her voice vanished.

"How are you feeling?"

"Surprisingly well" she said with amusement, he was serious with her again, she mused,

"You're not lying to me, are you?"

"No"

"Because, if you so much as cough I will drag you home." He warned, making Casey grin, she began to tease him coughing in his direction.

"Oh no! I'm coughing" she joked, as she continued to cough making him roll his eyes and turn back to the dancing scene, his back to her. Her coughing continued and he grew more and more annoyed, it became louder and by now he a little peeved.

"Knock it out!" when he turned to her again, he saw her leaning against the wall with a napkin held close to her mouth to prevent the blood from flying about. "I'm taking you home" he said, placing his arm around her waist and forcing her to walk.

He moved quickly towards their table to where Casey's purse sat unattended with Emily who was chatting away with some guy. When Derek and Casey came into her view she became worried and stood up.

"What happened!" she asked alarmed by the blood, Derek's mind quickly processed the scene.

"She hit the wall, drunk." He explained quickly and Emily surprisingly didn't seem to protest, a matter he would look into later. "I'm taking her home Emily, are you going to stay."

"Uh yeah." He nodded and headed off with Casey holding onto his shoulder, her flushed faced paled and he felt her heart quicken, she became heavy and he saw her eyes droop.

"Stay with me until we get to the car Casey." He whispered as he rushed out of the club and towards their car.

--------

By the time they got home, Casey was covered in sweat and burning up with a fever, Her pale face was impossibly whiter, her head rested against the cold glass in attempt to cool herself down but the fever burned strongly making her already weak body weaker.

Derek jumped out of the car, he looked back inside and spoke to her. "Casey I'm going to need help getting you inside, I'll be right back I'm going to go get Edwin." If Casey wanted to protest she didn't have the energy to do so, also Derek had sprinted away before she could even open her mouth. He opened the door to the house to find Nora walking down the steps rubbing her belly gently, looking up at him she smiled.

"Hey, where's Casey?" she asked, having had been told that they were going out earlier that night before she and George had left to the dinner party. Derek froze; his heart beating incredibly fast for his mind could form no possible excuse to give his step mother. He opened his mouth and closed it, no sound was made. Nora watched him, her eyebrow arched as she waited for an answer but when one did not come she became worried. "Is Casey okay?"

"She's fine" he said quickly, lying through his teeth, when he knew perfectly well that she was sick out of her mind and currently holding the record for the worlds worst fever.

"Then is she at the club?"

"Actually Nora, she's in the um…car" Derek said while pointing out the door and to the darkness of the night, sweat trickled down his forehead and his adrenaline was leaping in his body. Nora nodded and continued to descend down the steps of the stairs, having had stopped when she saw Derek rush in.

"Why hasn't she come in?" Nora asked as she reached the bottom step. "And why are you standing there with that look of frustration on your face?" Nora crossed her arms when Derek remained silent, he was clearly hiding something from her, she knew because the usually calm and witty Derek Venturi was in some kind of mind frenzy. "Derek I'm waiting."

Derek knew he wasn't going to be able to sneak Casey into the house with a pregnant Nora roaming the place for whatever reason she was up which Derek knew had to do with the little human that currently lived within her. He decided to tell Nora the truth, or at least some part of it.

"Actually Nora, Casey's sick" he watched as concern filled her eyes. "She came down with a headache at the club that evolved into a full blown fever on the drive over."

"Oh dear." Nora whispered, he watched her inhale and exhale sharply. "Go wake your father." Nora said while rubbing her stomach as if to sooth some kind of stress. Derek had little time to think, he needed to get to Casey to tell her what was going on.

"No, Nora there is really no reason to wake him up, I came in here to open the door to Casey's room so that bringing her in wouldn't be so much of a hassle." He reasoned with the now fully worried pregnant woman who looked about ready to run to the car to see what was wrong with her daughter.

"I'll go open the door and get some medicine, just…just bring her in." Nora said, her voice held agitation and Derek didn't protest he ran outside as fast as he could and opened the door to Casey's side. The moment the door opened, Casey crashed awake, her body was held by the seatbelt but her head lost its support. She felt dizzy and confused but she saw Derek and felt a little better.

"We have a problem Casey." He whispered as he unhooked her seatbelt. He moved her gently afraid that she was be hurt if he was too fast with her at the moment.

"What problem?" she whispered through half opened eyes, she sounded out of breath and tired.

"Your mom's awake and walking around the house." He whispered back, his hand at her forehead checking to see if her temperature had risen and to his dismay it had. He watched fear take a home on her face, gently stroking her hair he spoke again, his eyes looking into her's.

"I can't go in" she said with desperation in her voice, he simply shook his head.

"Casey I need you inside that house to care for you. Look I told your mom you got sick at the club." She shook her head with each word he said, he saw how distressed she was. He took hold of her face and forced her to look him in the eyes. "Trust me." he said in a firm whisper, there was such tenderness in his eyes that she melted into his arms when he lifted her off the seat bridal style and held her close to him.

Derek shut the door of the car with his foot and held onto Casey tightly who rested her head on his shoulder. To anyone looking out their windows, they seemed like a married couple coming home from a tiring party. Derek looked like the loving husband helping his exhausted wife into the house. But to Casey, Derek was her knight in shining armor, rescuing his princess from the mouth of a dragon, bringing her home and to safety. Casey never wanted to leave the comfort of Derek's arms, for they brought such warmth with them that she felt like she could live forever.

The moment Derek stepped into the house, Nora was fussing over Casey who was somewhere between consciousness and dreamland. Derek had to repeatedly tell Nora that Casey was just tired and that she didn't need to worry too much because he'd be kind enough to take care of her that night. But Nora followed them into the room and continued to fuss, badgering Derek until he placed a shivering Casey onto her bed.

"Oh Casey you're burning up" Nora whispered in horror, when she placed her hand on her daughter's forehead, Nora sat at the edge of the bed looking at her Casey, her troubled emotions clear on Nora's face and yet Casey simply pushed her mother's hand away, opening her eyes she looked at Nora with annoyance. She wasn't angry with her or anything; she just needed to act like she always did whenever her mother fussed over her. Exhaling sharply she managed to find the strength to speak.

"I'm fine mom, it'll probably be gone by tomorrow, I just…I need to sleep" she managed to say through a ragged breath. Derek walked back into her room with a cup of water in his hands, having had left to go get her a glass after Nora pushed him away the moment he put Casey down. Derek handed the cup to Casey who had managed to sit up somehow.

Nora watched her daughter, something felt so wrong about the way she looked. She wasn't just soaked with her own sweat and burning up. No she seemed incredibly pale and weak, the dark circle under her eyes were darker still and her beautiful plum and pink lips, seemed withered and sickly dry. The more Nora looked at her daughter the more she saw things that for some reason she didn't seem to see earlier.

When did Casey start loosing weight, because the Casey she was looking at now seemed sickly and tired? When did the cute red color in her cheeks fade away leaving absolutely no trace behind, When had her green eyes lost some luster making her seemed aged. Her little girl seemed so weak to her and Nora knew it had nothing to do with the fever that burned her up at the moment. She knew she was missing something, something she didn't realize was wrong until that moment.

Nora watched quietly as Casey finished drinking her water and handed the cup to Derek instead of putting it on her night table. That was another thing, When did Derek and Casey get close to the point where Derek would volunteer to stay up and watch over her, when did they stop fighting, and since when did Casey start looking at Derek with a tender gleam in her eyes.

Nora stayed quiet, listening to Derek and Casey speak softly to one another, Derek asking if she was okay while Casey reassured him that she was alright. Derek sat next to Nora who watched him lean over and touch Casey who smiled at him. Something was definitely wrong. The two continued to chatter away and Nora just stared. When Casey began to cough violently and Derek lifted Nora up and away from the bed so he could move closer; it was at that moment that Nora noticed that whatever she was missing was something very important.

"Mom" Casey said through her coughs "Go to bed" she was afraid that blood would begin to spill from her lips and that her secret would be exposed, she was afraid that her worried mother would die from stress if she found out she was dying.

"Casey I can't-" Nora began but Casey cut her off, she was desperate and frustrated so she spoke with anger in her voice.

"Get out!" She barked through her coughing. "Leave me alone!" her coughing got worse, but the stern look in her eyes had Nora stumbling back. Derek whispered something to Casey before he stood and walked over to Nora.

"It's okay Nora; if she gets worse I'll call you." Nora looked at Casey who was still coughing. Silently she nodded and walked out of the room shutting the door behind her. She leaned against the door and sighed. The sniffling to her right had her looking over to find Lizzie crying silently, her back leaning against the wall.

"Mom" she whispered, her eyes full of tears. She knew, Nora thought, Lizzie knew what was going on.

"Tell me" Nora whispered gently yet Lizzie stood silent, her head bowed down. "Liz" Nora spoke again and when her youngest daughter looked up; she saw an internal struggle.

"I can't.." Lizzie whispered, but when she mother took hold of her and embraced her she just broke. She sobbed silently and tightly held her mother.

"Lizzie you can tell me anything." Nora whispered stroking her daughter's hair gently. She stood there until Lizzie pulled away and lead her to her room where she proceeded to tell her mother everything.

Meanwhile in Casey's room, Derek had managed to calm Casey's coughing. She was now sitting on her bed leaning against the wall, her breathing was shallow and her eyes were closed. Derek was now barefoot and he was seriously debating taking his pants off, but he just opted to taking off his belt. He sat down on the bed, watching her chest rise up and slowly go down.

"You better?" he asked the urge to hold her close quickly filling his body but he resisted the urge and simply watched as she opened her eyes and smiled.

"A little" she whispered, her eyes looked tired and weak, she closed them to preserve energy. "Derek…" she whispered his name in such a way that had his heart pounding furiously in his chest. He scooted closer to hear her better.

"Yes Casey?"

"I should have listened…" her voice got quieter and he moved closer so that they were face to face. "When you said no"

"At least you got what you wanted" he reasoned, his hand at her cheek, her face was still burning, yet she smiled at him, opening her eyes she looked right into his eyes.

"No I still haven't gotten what I wanted" she said with a hint of mischief in her voice, when the confusion crossed his face she chuckled lightly.

"What is it you want?" he searched her eyes that suddenly watched him with amusement and some other emotion he was sure he was imagining.

"This…" She whispered as she pushed herself forward and let her lips gently land onto his. She had to thank him later for having had moved close enough to allow her to kiss him. Her eyes closed when he kissed her back just as gently. His hand falling to her neck, keeping her in place, her mouth opened with his in unison as they both deepened the kiss tasting freedom for the first time in their lives.

They were caught in a battle of sweet dominance for each other's mouths. Casey moved with a slow patience that had Derek whimpering from the slow sensual movements. She nipped and pulled on his lips in such a sweet manner that it was erotic. He moved closer and he felt her smile against his lips. She never once quickened the pace of the kiss; the tenderness of it let him know what she was feeling.

When she pulled away she found that all the energy she had was gone and she fell limp, asleep into his arms all Derek could do was hold her and smile. He had not expected that but boy did he welcome it. He sighed and laid her down; he watched her sleep, watched as it made her already peaceful features calmer. He traced her face gently, memorizing each little detail in his mind wishing never to forget that moment; he leaned down and place a small kiss on her lips.

He knew he couldn't have her but that kiss did tell him one thing, or more like two things. One; he loved her more now than he had a few moments earlier, and two; she had at some point began to love him back. Tears escaped his eyes, knowing that she would be the only woman he would truly love, knowing he was quickly losing her. He stood up and covered her, exhaling sharply he wiped the tears away. He was going to go change and come back; he would sleep on the floor.

When he opened the door he found Nora leaning against the wall across from Casey's room, tears falling silently from her eyes. Her hands held together under her pregnant belly. Derek sighed and looked away towards his room and found Lizzie sitting next to his room, it took him a moment to register both images, the one of Nora and Lizzie crying, he then knew that Lizzie had told Nora everything; sighing again he rubbed his face.

"I guess it's time to talk" he said while closing the door behind him. "I'll get my dad and Edwin, you two should go downstairs, so we can all talk somewhere where we won't wake Casey up." He said. Nora nodded and Lizzie was by her mother's side quickly. Derek took in a breath and proceeded to wake up his father and brother, he knew he would not sleep that night.

He awoke Edwin first and told his younger brother to go down stairs, because something had happened, Edwin obeyed without a complain. When Derek walked into his father's room he found himself crying again, he wasn't sure he was ready to face the responsibility that was suddenly thrust onto him, but his father had a right to know, they all did. He walked up to his old man and shook him gently.

"Dad" he croaked, his tears were falling faster still "Dad wake up please" When George opened his eyes and saw his oldest son crying he was up in a flash. He held Derek's shoulders, concern on his face for he had never seen his son cry with such agony in his eyes.

"What is it Derek?" he asked alarmed, Derek simply exhaled, his tears continued to fall.

"Come down stairs, we…I need to tell you something important." He quickly wiped away his tears and looked away from his dad, ashamed for having had shone weakness to his old man.

"Derek what is it?" George asked rising from the bed quickly, but Derek didn't turn to look at him he simply spoke.

"Dad please, Nora's already down stairs." He whispered. "It's very important"

"Okay" without another word, the two men walked out of the room and quietly descended down the stairs. It was like walking into the mouth of the beast for Derek, with each step his mind raced and his heart thundered furiously in his head. He wasn't sure he could breath, he wasn't sure he could think, but the truth had found it's way to the light and now the spot light was on him and he would have to sing like a canary.

---------------------------------------------------------------

_ Okay so here's my update sorry it took so long, lots has happened so I was delayed! I hope you like this chapter REVIEW please!!!!!!

Jme