Yes, I can't believe it either. An update. Turns out I was overthinking the chapter and had finished it and kept going without realizing it. Which means there might be another one quickly following this one, but I'm going to take it a slow (not as slow as I have been) and see what happens. As always, please be polite but honest with your thoughts.
Though we lay face to face and cheek to cheek
Our voices stray from the common ground where they could meet
The walls run high, to veil a swelling tear
Oh, let the walls burn down, set your secrets free
You can break their bounds, cause you're safe with me
You can lose your doubt, cause you'll find no danger not here
At least that's what Lizzie and Edwin told him he did. The next few minutes were a blur as he only recalled Ed calling out to him, the sensation of the wind being knocked out of him, and his back hitting the wall before he slid to the floor.
The next thing he fully remembered was looking up at his brother as he called his name. "Derek! Derek! Are you okay?"
He took a sharp intake of breath and whizzed, "I will be. What hit me?"
"I did." Derek suddenly became aware of a strong pressure holding him pinned against the wall. Following it to its source, he saw it was Lizzie's outstretched leg as she loomed over him. "You back? I can hit you a few more times to be sure."
"You enjoyed that," he accused as tried to push her foot off his shoulder.
"A little," Lizzie smirked in an almost Venturi manner as she held her thumb and forefinger a few centimeters apart.
He patted her foot, "You mind? I don't know what kinky shit you and Edweirdo are in to, but I'm not joining in."
She turned and spoke to Edwin as he re-entered the room, removing her leg as she did so. "He's fine. I told you he was human."
"That's a vicious rumor started by you McDonald women because you were jealous of my godhood," he joked as he stood up. Looking around he saw what little remained of the crib, which looked as if Lizzie had been using it for Karate practice until each piece barely fit into his palm. The pain in his hands told him it hadn't been her, but he still felt the need to ask the obvious. "What happened?"
"You lost it and Lizzie had to knock some sense back into you." Edwin explained as he handed him a book of tissues.
Derek was about to ask what he needed them for when he realized that tears and snot had been running down his face. It was going to be hard to intimidate his brother after he saw that outburst then watched his spit swapping partner easily kick his big brother's ass. Unfortunately, another even worse thought occurred to him and he asked, "Marti?" as he wiped his face clean, then blew his nose.
"I told her you lost your temper on the crib. Just that, nothing else." Edwin replied.
"Thanks. We don't need her worrying about me too." Seeing that his brother had stepped behind Lizzie again and was holding her hand, he added, "But seriously, keep this shit quiet. And figure out what you want from each other, because if one of the other four people living here realize what's going on, they're going to be asking questions. Better have them," he moved passed them as he headed for the door, "or better yet, don't have anything to explain."
"Like you're one to talk." Edwin shot back.
"Yeah, maybe I know what I'm talking about." Derek replied before being stopped by the other one.
"Did you mean what you said? That you care about Casey?" Lizzie asked, eying him skeptically.
"She's my roommate, Lizzie. Of course, I care about her. Hell, I care about all of you. Even Ed." Derek teased as he left the room.
"That's not what I meant," she called after him.
Derek ignored her and went down the stairs two at a time. Edwin was probably right about their little sister being alright, but he needed to be sure.
He came down in time to hear Marti say, "Please call back," and saw her place the phone back on the receiver.
"Who were you talking to?" he asked as he tossed the spend tissues into the trash and put the rest of the box on the counter. The thought of having to buy more in bulk passed through his mind before returning to focus on his sister.
"No one," Marti replied as she went to the kitchen table, grabbed up a bunch of DVDs sitting there and said, "I picked The Princess Diaries movies, Ella Enchanted, Monsters vs. Aliens, Twilight, Up, 17 Again, and Fanboys.
"Yeah right," Derek responded as he looked at the movies and furrowed his brow at her last two choices. Why did she pick those? Taking Fanboys from her, he said, "Casey would have my head if I let you watch this." Seeing her disappointed expression, Derek smirk and handed it back to her. "So, we should watch it first. Before she gets back."
Marti smiled and ran to put the DVD into the player. While she was distracted, he walked over to fridge and pulled out a tray of ice. Putting a few cubes into a towel, he looked up in time to see Lizzie stopped halfway down the stairs. "Take a break. Me and Ed can finish clearing the room."
"Was planning to." Derek replied as he closed and tied the towel, before returning the tray to the freezer. Pressing the makeshift icepack against his hand, he pointed to the Fanboys DVD. "When did Marti get interested in Star Wars?"
Lizzie finished coming down and went to the freezer. "No idea, but she's been asking to watch it for a while. We think she might have a crush on Jay Baruchel." Pulling out the spoons Derek had placed there, she looked at Marti's other selections and asked, "Can you endure the Disney onslaught? Me and Ed can rescue you in a couple of hours."
"Don't worry about it. I went to see The Princess and the Frog with Casey a couple of weeks away. If I survive that, this can't be so bad. Anyway, we're starting with Fanboys." Derek answered as he walked into the living room and plopped down in the new recliner.
Lizzie had followed him and looked at TV as the movie started. "You're letting Marti watch Fanboys? Casey's going to kill you."
"Then she won't be thinking about where she's been." Derek replied, thinking about the call he had received from his stepsister a couple hours ago. They had traded the normal insults and she had given him an update. Nora was stable but the hospital wanted to keep her there over the weekend for observation just to be safe. The real problem had been his dad. He hadn't slept or ate and, after some gentle prodding from Casey, had admitted that he had just driven around until the hospital had let him back in. She finally gotten him to eat something and was working on getting him to come home. It was clear from the tone of her voice, if she's hadn't had George to look after, that she would have fallen back into the wreck she had been yesterday. He had wanted to reach through the phone, hold her, and renew the promise he made the previous night. He glanced at the clock on the DVD player and noted that she should have called by now.
"It's your funeral," Lizzie replied as she turned to head back upstairs. Only to stop and look at him after going up two steps. Derek had thought it was her realizing what she said, instead it had been his comment. "You went to the movies with Casey?"
Derek wasn't one for believing in divine intervention, but he got really lucky as the front door opened and the person in question walked in. Casey looked exhausted but her expression lightened up slightly at the sight of him and Lizzie. "Good, both of you are here. George is asleep in the front seat. Can you give me a hand getting him to bed?"
"I'll get Ed." Lizzie interjected as she turned a went up the stairs.
Derek shook himself out of the deep reverence he was giving his roommate. She had gone into her personal hell and pulled out his dad from his. He wanted to run up and kiss her, instead, he just walked past her to get his coat, asking, "How did you finally get him to come home?" Hoping that his question and her exhaustion would distract her from the makeshift icepack in his hand.
"I pulled a move from you." Casey explained as she led him outside and to his dad's car.
"You lied?" Derek stopped on the steps and eyed his roommate in surprise, his arm in one sleeve of his leather jacket.
Casey looked away in embarrassment, "I pranked him, okay? I put a couple sleeping pills in his drink and persuaded him to let me drive him around. Once he was out, I drove here."
"Nice, McDonald." Derek congratulated her. Finished putting on his jacket, he moved to open the passenger door and get his dad out.
"I'm not happy about doing it, Venturi." Casey spat as she pulled out her mobile and started to mess with it. "Why did you call a few minutes ago?"
"I didn't," he answered confused as he tried to open the passenger car door with hand holding the icepack. Once he had switched to his other hand and had the door partly open, did he remember Marti being on the phone. "Oh, that. It was nothing. Just checking to see what you wanted to do for dinner." He lied as he abandoned his dad and moved to take the phone from her. He didn't even turn around when he heard his dad fall out of the car as he raced over to Casey.
For the second time in two days, Casey turned away from him with a phone in her hand. Hitting a button, she glanced back at him, oblivious to her stepfather's new predicament. "You left me a message." After listening for a moment, she continued, "Wait, it's Marti." Her expression turned from confusion to worry, and she hung up. "She said you were yelling at Lizzie and Edwin then there the sound of things breaking. She said Edwin tried to lie but she could tell something was up."
Derek tossed the makeshift icepack back and forth in his hands as he scrambled for an answer. "They didn't know how to tell Marti and I had to, okay? I got a little mad and hit something. That was it."
He regretted the decision instantly as he saw Casey watch the motion for a moment before asking, "How did you hit it?"
"What?" He feigned ignorance to what she was referring to as he stalled to try and think of something she couldn't see through. He failed to catch the icepack and it slammed onto the ground, calling attention to itself.
"How did you hit whatever you hit?" Casey reiterated as she stepped closer. Grabbing one of his hands, she slowly opened it to reveal the shallow cuts and the bruises slowly forming over his palm and up his fingers. "Because this looks more like you tried rip a tree apart."
"It was the dresser in the baby's room," came a voice from the front door. The two roommates turned and saw Lizzie walking outside. "He was angry with us and smacked the dresser. It most have been made of real cheap material because it broke and cut him up a little bit."
Casey grabbed Derek's other hand and opened it, showing that it had a similar pattern of cuts and developing bruises, "I doubt that it broke twice."
Derek and Lizzie exchanged a look as they tried to wordlessly come up with an answer without Casey figuring it out. This impossible task was made even harder as Edwin chose this instance to come outside carrying a cardboard box that held the remains of his rampage. "That was crazy, Derek. I couldn't even find all the pieces to the crib. I think we're going to have to vacuum up the rest." Stopping as his brother and best friend were glaring at him, while seeing his stepsister giving the three of them a curious look. "We weren't going to tell Casey about the crib?"
"No," Lizzie replied as she yanked the box out of his hands and headed for the curb. Edwin chased after her, begging for forgiveness.
Derek watched them for a moment and tried not to notice that Casey hadn't let go of his hands yet. When she finally did, his disappointment was replaced with slight embarrassment as she asked, "Have you been crying?" and reached out to touch his cheek.
He turned his face and tried to mumble some mucho guy thing. Only to stop when he saw the concern in her eyes. Looking into them, he said, "I'm just working through a few things, Princess. It isn't a big deal."
This time, Casey was the one who tried to return them to some level of normalcy as she withdrew her hand and teased, "It proves you're human and not that hockey god you claim to be."
Derek played his expected role and loudly protested, "What is with you McDonald women and your rejections of my godhood!?"
"We have a brain and the experience of handling your stinky hockey gear." Casey countered.
"Don't forget that Emily used to think that." He replied without thinking. Only now realizing this would be the first time Casey would be seeing her best friend and his ex since she had learned about the breakup.
The mention of Emily caused a look of guilt to cross Casey's face as she glanced to the house next door. "Used to, but you had to cheat on her. That cleared the stars from her eyes." Casey shot back. All worry for him evaporating from her eyes as she moved back towards George's car.
"I. Didn't. Cheat. On. Emily," he said through gritted teeth as he moved to block her. "It's complicated." Really complicated.
"Well, whatever you did made her mad enough that she refused to talk to me for a week." Casey accused as she tried to push past him.
"Because you called at the wrong time again." Derek shouted back as he held his ground. He still isn't sure what he had hoped to gain from keeping that fight going, only that he didn't want her to walk away angry.
"What?!" She paused with her hands on his chest, mid push.
"A little help!" yelled Lizzie. The roommates turned and saw their siblings struggling to lift George off the driveway.
Grateful for the distraction, Derek moved away faster than he needed to and crouched down before his dad, instructing the young pair to put the oldest Venturi onto his back. After a moment, when he knew he had a solid grip on him, he said, "Okay, I got him. Ed, get his legs. Lizzie, get the door."
"I'll get the door," Casey interjected. "Lizzie, make sure the path to his and Mom's room is clear."
"Fine, just as long as someone gets it," Derek grunted under the weight of his father as both he and Edwin slowly made their way to the front door.
It took about ten minutes and they had to stop a few times on the stairs, but they were finally able to get him onto the bed. Along the way, Marti had joined them as they gathered around George. "Is he okay?"
"He will be, Marti. Why don't you go back to watching your movie while we talk?" Casey asked as she opened the door wider in a none subtle hint for the little girl to go.
"Why can't I talk too?" Marti bristled as she folded her arms and got ready to hold her ground.
"You could, but then I would get a chance to see what you were watching," Casey replied as she moved to leave the room. She had already shot Derek a disapproving look when she seen what was on the TV and he knew that her not doing anything about it was killing her. He was glad that at least something he had planned was going right.
All hints of resistance disappeared as the youngest Venturi said, "Never mind," and bolted from the room before Casey had even finished the sentence.
After watching her go, Casey waited another second before closing the door. "Okay, we need to talk about George."
Lizzie had taken off the oldest Venturi's coat and cap and hung them up in the closet. Closing the door, she asked, "What about Mom?"
Casey sat on the edge of bed and sighed, "Mom's okay. She just needs to sleep and heal. She promised to call later tonight so Marti could know that she was alright." Waving at George's sleeping form, she said, "He's the problem. I think he needs to be examined by a professional."
"Why?" Edwin questioned as he yanked the shoe he was working on off his dad's foot.
Derek answered as he took off his dad's other shoe. "Because she had to drug him to get him home."
"CASEY!" Lizzie and Edwin shouted in unison.
"I'm not proud of it," she answered back, looking away from the young pair. "He hadn't slept. He's barely ate. He keeps thinking it's last year." Derek could see that the weight of the day on her as her shoulders slumped for a second before rising up back up. "I'm worried that the shock of losing Robbie was too much for him."
Derek started to move towards her, only for Lizzie to get there first. The younger McDonald had her arms around her sister and hugged her deeply. "It's okay. We're going to get through this." The two of them then just sat there holding each other in silence for the next few minutes.
Instead of just standing there, Derek whispered to Edwin, "Go clean my room." When he silently glared at him but didn't move, Derek added, "Please. I'll pay you," the older sibling's face softening as he nodded to their crying friends and passed Edwin a twenty. "It's for Casey. She's sleeping in my bed tonight."
"Alone?" Edwin asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Yes, alone. I'm not going to romance the widow, Ed. There are lines I won't cross." Derek shot back. His words caused a look of confusion then minor horror to cross Edwin's face as their meaning sank in. The older sibling paid no attention to the reaction and continued on, "She needs a peaceful night of sleep and Lizzie and you need to figure your shit out. Neither of which can happen if she crashes on your girlfriend's floor."
"She's not my girlfriend." Edwin shot right back, loud enough for the McDonald sisters to turn and looked at them. Lowering his head, he mumbled, "I'll do it," as he started to go. Pausing at the door, he said to his non-girlfriend, "Can you help me with something?" Lizzie gave Derek a questioning look before joining her friend and leaving.
Watching them go, Casey wiped tears from her eyes. "What was that about?"
"They're going to clean up my room so you can go lie down." Derek answered as he crossed the room and leaned against the dresser.
"I'm not sleeping in there," Casey protested as she hopped up and went to stop the other two.
Derek kicked his foot out and blocked her way. "You need to sleep in a bed. All the other ones are taken." Holding eye contact with her, he lowered his leg and asked, "Are you really turning down a chance to be the one room I won't prank you in?"
"And where are you going to sleep?" she countered as she stared hard at him.
"On the couch," he answered as he stood up and started to walk out.
"For the next two weeks?" she called after him.
Stopping at the door he turned and said, "No. Because tomorrow Lizzie and you will get your things out of storage while Edwin and I move my things into your old room. Congrats Princess, you're kicking me out of my room again." Not waiting for a reply, Derek left and headed down stairs to join Marti in watching Fanboys.
Casey never did ask what Derek had meant by her calling at the wrong time and he never felt the need to elaborate on it. Not that it wasn't felt whenever they had one of their bigger fights. She would bring up his 'cheating' on Emily and throw it in his face, demanding answers that he would refuse to give. Then use his avoidance to prove he wasn't as great as everyone thought he was. Derek had just accepted it for eight years. It wasn't until their latest fight a couple of months ago, that he would finally throw it right back at her and threatened to break his promise if she didn't answer his questions for a change. She hadn't taken it well.