A/N: Thanks so much for your encouraging reviews! It fuels me to get chapters out quickly.
A note on grammar: I don't know if anyone has noticed, but I'm having a hard time inserting em dashes (I use them a notorious amount in my writing) into the fanfiction doc manager, so I've been using an en dash with a space on either side. It's been bugging the snot out of me, and I just had to apologize if it's confusing to anyone.
I do not own Life With Derek, nor any of the characters affiliated.
Derek spent a lot more time in front of the mirror getting ready than he usually did for other girls. He realized Casey would recognize his efforts and give him a little credit. She had once told him that she liked his hair when it was out of his eyes, so he took the time when he got out of the shower to let it dry in more of an up-and-over position, which he didn't normally do because it brought out the natural curl in his hair, which he tended to avoid showing once his Aunt Marge had told him how 'poodle-y' it made him look.
But Casey liked it, so he aimed to please.
It took him almost an hour to pick out the right shirt for the occasion. Casey knew everything he owned. She'd know if what he chose was something old or something he never wore. He didn't want to look like he tried really hard, so he put back every button-down shirt, and examined his t-shirts and polos. He didn't want her to think he didn't try, either, so he put away his graphic tees, too.
He thought the word 'polo' was kind of posh, like Casey, so he put a green one on before he changed his mind and tried on two more t-shirts, choosing a tighter-fitting long-sleeve.
Suddenly remembering the time, Derek looked at his watch. He cursed when he realized he should have left. Quickly, he raced down the stairs and flung his leather jacket on.
"Whoa, got a hot date or something?" Edwin asked when he saw Derek's appearance.
"What? Why?" Derek reacted, looking down at himself. "Don't I look okay?"
His dad chuckled beside Edwin. A hockey game was on, and all the Venturis, except for Derek, were watching it.
"Yeah, you look fine," Edwin said, rolling his eyes.
Finally, for what mattered, George looked at Derek and knit his eyebrows together. "Yeah, Derek. Where are you going looking so snazzy?"
Derek grumbled. "Okay, I wasn't really going for 'snazzy'," he sighed, but it was too late to change again. "I'm going out with a girl, so don't wait up for me."
He meant to leave right then, and leave a little mystery as to whom he was going out with, but he also wanted his dad to know it was his step-daughter. Derek took an extra moment to fumble with his car keys, and inwardly smiled when his father unknowingly took the bait.
"So which girl is it tonight? Do we know her?" George interrogated, looking at Derek.
Derek shrugged. "Yeah. You know her pretty well."
He could see the look of confusion on his dad's face when he said that. The last girl Derek had brought home had been Sally, but she was in Vancouver, and Derek was glad of it.
"Is Sally back for a visit?" George asked.
"No," Derek said. "The last I heard, Sally started dating some English major over at UBC, and quite frankly, I don't give a damn."
"Derek," George scolded, motioning to Marti, who was innocently intent on the television.
The truth was, Derek did care. A little more than he wanted to. Honestly, he didn't care for Sally in that way anymore, but it had kind of pissed him off that she had moved on from him - Derek Venturi - so quickly. He thought Sally would pine for him for a while, and he would be the one to call her and officially tell her that he had moved on.
But it was kind of difficult to explain to his ex-girlfriend that he was into his step-sister, who he had pretended to hate the entire time they had been together.
"Well, who else could it be?" Edwin chimed in.
Derek smirked. "Let's just say, she's practically family." He left the house and closed the door behind him before he could see his dad and brother look to each other in confusion until it clicked in their heads simultaneously.
"Casey!?" the two of them shouted, and Derek could hear it from the driveway. He smiled as he opened up the Prince's door and slid in.
Trying to navigate the front yard of the place the McDonalds were staying at was difficult. Derek hadn't known there were even that many gnomes in the world, but they were quickly brought to his attention, as he dodged literally dozens of the little bastards. He regretted his decision of just walking on the lawn up to the house, instead of using the driveway.
It felt like a thousand little murderous eyes were watching his as he made the biggest fool out of himself. All of a sudden, he wasn't so sure of himself anymore. Did he really want to do this? Go out with Casey? His step sister? It was all hitting him sort of strange as he stood on the stoop of this foreign house, staring at a pair of gnomes with axes, positioned to look like they were chopping up a lawn ornament turtle.
He could back out now. He could get back into the Prince and just drive away and pretend nothing had happened. It wasn't the worst thing he had done to Casey, not by a long shot. But then he imagined her sitting at the window all night, waiting for him to show up. And he instantly felt miserable. How could he do that to her? Especially at a time like this.
Getting over his nerves, (that's what he decided it was), he lifted his fist and brought it down on the door, taking one last deep breath before meeting his doom.
For the first time, he thought about Nora's reaction. She hadn't been too pleased with Derek's behaviour with other girls, and he doubted Casey would be an exception. Maybe he wouldn't even be leaving the place alive.
Ding-dong-ditch, he thought. Run away now.
But before he could move his feet to flee, the door swung open, and he was greeted by an unfamiliar face.
"Ah, you must be Casey's date," the woman asked. She wasn't quite 'elderly', but she was far from young.
"Yes ma'am," he choked, trying to smile.
"I'll go get her," the lady said. "You can wait inside."
When Derek went into the entrance, he decided the front yard was actually quite tame compared to the interior. The place was simply swarming with Hummels. The only reason he knew what all those little porcelain figurines were called was because his Aunt Marge had had a cabinet full of them when he was Marti's age, and he had managed to tip the thing over and had spent the summer sending his allowance to pay for the damn things.
He leaned in close to a table adorned with the little people and grimaced. They were just as ugly as he remembered.
"Hey," a voice said from behind him, startling him. As he jumped, he almost knocked over one of the Hummels and cursed loudly, tearing himself far away from the breakable little devils.
"Whoa!" Casey said, lunging forward, in a useless effort to steady the figurine. It tottered a moment, then stopped. "You do not want to break one," she warned.
Derek was about to ask why, but when he looked up at her, the wind knocked right out of him. She was gorgeous. Her hair, her makeup, her clothes… he wanted to compliment her, but knew she would never buy it, so he settled for a lazy smirk and said, "look who showered."
She slapped his arm and scrunched her nose. "Yeah, the sasquatch himself."
He wanted to admit that she looked good, but wasn't given the opportunity when Lizzie and Nora showed up from another room, and he could feel his face grow warmer, and his hands get sweatier, if that was even possible.
"Derek, what are you doing here?" Lizzie questioned immediately, putting her hands on her hips.
"Oh, didn't I mention I'm going out with Derek tonight?" Casey took over, picking her jacket from the closet.
Nora smiled. "That's good! I'm glad you two worked everything out. And I'm glad you're hanging out. Siblings should stick together at times like these."
Involuntarily, Derek choked on those words and coughed loudly. That was not what he was expecting. Or glad to hear. The last thing he wanted was to have Casey referred to as his sister.
"Uh, actually Mom," Casey stammered, and Derek noticed her whole body stiffen as she said, "Derek is taking me on a date." She squirmed, and Derek understood that this was killing her. Obviously, her feelings for him were far from what he felt for her.
This time, Nora coughed. "Excuse me?"
That was more like it.
Derek nodded. "Well, technically, Ms. McDonald - you don't mind me calling you that since you're not really my step mother anymore, right?" He didn't wait for her to answer. "Since you and my dad split, Casey and I figured we aren't step-siblings anymore, so we might as well give this dating thing a try," Pushing his hands in his pockets, Derek smirked as casually as he could, giving it his best.
He couldn't help but notice Lizzie's little smirk and her eyes narrowed into slits. She definitely knew something was up. Of all the family, he had to admit that she had always been the most in tune with other peoples' feelings. It was like she was burning a hole in his chest, examining his beating heart that was speaking only one word: Casey.
Nora was a little dumbfounded, but managed to say, "I don't get it. I thought you two hated each other's guts."
Derek's shoulders lifted up and then down. "You know what they say: absence makes the heart grow fonder." He gave Casey half of a wink, but she seemed a little frozen, so he put a hand on her elbow. His touch seemed to shock her back into reality, and she nodded.
"Isn't that right, mom? Don't you feel fonder for George?"
Nora's eyes narrowed, and Derek knew they had pushed it a bit. She was catching on to the ruse.
Quickly, Derek put his arm around Casey and opened the door. "Have a good night, you two," he finished in a rush, and practically pushed Casey out the door.
Hurdle number one: barely cleared. But just like track-and-field, there was a whole course full of more.
Derek didn't bother opening Casey's door for her. They both got into the Prince, slamming their door behind them.
"What was that for?" Casey raised her voice, annoyance already leaking into her whole countenance. "Why'd you rush me out like that?"
He scoffed, like it was obvious. "You were giving the entire plan away! What was I supposed to do?"
She crossed her arms. "Isn't the whole point of this to get our parents back together? I was just asking my mother if she missed your dad."
"In the most obvious way possible. The goal is to make them slowly realize they miss each other without manufacturing it. If we make them worry about us, then they'll try and work out their differences." He looked at her and finished with, "trust me, Casey."
She slumped back in her seat, aggravated, but nodded. "Fine, just take me to the library or something and drop me off. You can pick me up at eight -"
"Whoa, the library?" Derek was confused. "I thought this was a date."
Her eyebrows raised. Derek couldn't tell from her expression what Casey was thinking, which bugged him. He hadn't known that she didn't really think that they were going out together.
"Wait, you think we're going on a real date right now?" he could somewhat sense shock and discomfort in her voice, along with… was that amusement?
He swallowed, hoping she didn't notice he was dismayed. "Well, I kind of dressed the part, and so did you."
Her eyes wandered, searching for something to say. "Actually going out wasn't in the plan," she argued. "What if someone we know sees us?"
"We'll just tell them that we're friends now. It's not totally unbelievable."
She cocked an eyebrow.
"Okay, maybe it is. If it really bothers you, we can go see a movie or something, where no one will see us. But I'm not dropping you off at the library."
She sighed. "Fine."
The car roared to life, and Derek pulled away from the curb. His palms were increasingly growing more clammy as he drove. Man, she knew how to work his strings. One short conversation - argument, actually - and his heart was already pounding forcefully.
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