Hello! The lack of LWD updates has been understandingly frustrating. However, look! Here's an update! Haha. Hope its alright for you Dasey people. There's some Edwin/Lizzie action as well. Assuming that currently Edwin is 10 and Lizzie is 9, that would mean that in this fanfiction, Edwin is 12 and Lizzie is 11. Yep! Well, enjoy the new chapter. :)

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the LWD characters whatsoever.

Lizzie walked into her room, spotting a note halfway underneath her pillow. Out of curiosity, she pulled it out. The corners of her mouth twitched into a smile as she realized it was Edwin's chicken scratch.

Lizzie,

I need to talk to you.
GC 22:30.
Can't wait until then.

- Edwin

After giggling to herself after reading his note, Lizzie placed it in her small box of notes. She wondered how important this meeting was since they hadn't had to meet in the game closet in nearly a month and a half. It wasn't hard to figure out that it had something to do with their older siblings, but it bothered her that she didn't know exactly what it was that Edwin needed to talk about since she usually knew the gist of it before their meetings. Sighing, Lizzie went downstairs to watch a movie with Marti since there was just enough time until 10:30PM and she knew Marti would fall asleep anyway.

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After the movie, Lizzie picked up her younger stepsister and brought her up the stairs slowly to Marti's room. It took her longer than she expected, considering that Marti was a growing little girl. Once she tucked her into bed, Lizzie walked over to the game closet, looking around before stepping inside.

"What the!" Edwin said and knocked over a game of Chutes and Ladders, obviously surprised by the sudden opening of the door. Once he realized it was Lizzie, he shook his head and mumbled as he picked up the game, "Sorry."

"It's fine," Lizzie giggled and closed the door, turning on the light above their heads, "It seems a lot more crowded in here, doesn't it?"

"Yeah, you're right," Edwin said and now noticed how close they were to each other, making him completely nervous.

"So, what'd you want to talk about?"

Edwin rubbed his hands together before replying, "You heard about Sam, right?"

"I was there when Casey found out. He's such a jerk!"

"I know. I found out today because he came over to talk with her or something."

"And she actually talked to him?" Lizzie asked in surprise.

Edwin laughed, "Pfft, no. But she looked awfully upset. I was thinking … should we do something?"

"I think we should."

Edwin nodded his head in agreement, "But what could we do?"

Lizzie shrugged her shoulders, "I'm not sure. I was trying to think of something earlier, but for once, no mischievous plan came to my mind."

"That's a shame," Edwin said with a laugh, "because I can't think of anything either. Except, maybe getting someone involved who actually goes to their school."

Right after Edwin spoke, they heard Derek's voice in the hallway, standing in front of Casey's door.

"Casey, will you let me in?" they heard him ask.

Unsurprisingly, they heard her response follow, "No."

"Please?" they heard him plead.

Again, her response was not far from the expected, "No!"

"Are you crying?" they heard him ask demandingly.

There was no reply from Casey to his question. The next sound they heard was a groan followed by footsteps that got louder with each step. It wasn't until the footsteps stopped at the game closet and the door swung open that they remembered that the spare key was in the Boggle game.

Derek stood there, partly in shock and partly not caring, "What are you two doing here?"

Edwin shot a look at Lizzie and then looked back at his brother and replied, "Looking for a game!"

Lizzie laughed and nodded her head, "Yeah, we were going to play…Monopoly."

"Whatever. Pass me the Boggle game under the towel," Derek said with a roll of his eyes, not believing them for a second.

"Why?" Lizzie asked, already knowing the answer, "What are you going to do to Casey?"

This was a cue for another eye roll as Derek reached over her head for the Boggle game himself and responded smoothly, "None of your business."

"Actually, technically it is her business because Casey's her sister," Edwin said quickly, not realizing that he had talked back to Derek until he finished his sentence.

"What'd you say?" Derek said, stepping closer to his little brother as if he were challenging the kid.

Edwin gulped and continued, "I was just saying that, you know, Lizzie has the right to know because--"

"Edwin, get out of here. I told you not to talk to anyone about it," Derek said, putting the Boggle game back on the shelf after he got the key.

Edwin shook his head, "But, I--"

"I was there when it happened, though," Lizzie said, pleading for her own justification and to save Edwin from saying something he'd regret in the future.

It was Derek's turn to shake his head as he responded, "Yes, but we've got it under control so there's no need for one your guys' secret plans this time."

With that, Derek left the game closet to Lizzie and Edwin. Lizzie stared at her feet, feeling slightly embarrassed because she had never had anything close to a fight with Derek. Edwin on the other hand, was ready to head out since that was what Derek told him to do. His mind was wrapped around the fact that Derek had said 'we've got it under control.' We've. Not she's, not I've. We've.

"Edwin, that was brave of you," Lizzie admitted with a smile as Edwin was about to open the closet door.

"To do what?" he turned around and asked in confusion.

"Standing up to Derek for me," Lizzie said and turned off the light above them at the second she kissed Edwin on the cheek.

Edwin smiled and kissed her back lightly on the lips before whispering, "Goodnight."

Edwin left the game closet and walked over to his room with a big smile on his face. He felt as if he was braver today than he had ever been his whole lifetime. However, his mind never went back to his initial thought of what Derek said earlier that night.

Derek, on the other hand, had gotten into Casey's room a few minutes before Edwin had left the game closet. Casey was sitting on her bed in her pajamas with her back to the headboard, her stuffed animal dog on her lap and a book in her hands.

"Get out of my room, you jerk!" Casey exclaimed, throwing a pillow at him as he walked in.

Derek threw it back at her head and responded, "What if I don't want to? Huh? What're you going to do about it?"

"This is my room, so I am the authoritative figure within the area of these confined walls."

"See? Big. Words. They need to stop starting now."

Casey rolled her eyes, "Just because you're ignorant doesn't mean that I need to change my vocabulary."

"I'm not ignorant and I'm not the only guy who can't stand big words!"

"Whatever. What do you want?"

Derek laughed and sat himself on the opposite side of the bed, "That way."

"What?"

"Nothing," he said, laughing at his own joke over the boy band formerly known as Backstreet Boys.

Casey shot him a suspicious look, "No really. What do you want from me?"

"Uh, what?" Derek asked, looking at her as if she were a freak.

"Stop looking at me like that. We hate each other and out of the blue you start acting all nice," she said, staring at the plush dog on her lap.

"Nice? You call revenge 'nice'?" he asked in amusement, pleased with himself that he completely dodged her question.

"When it's on your cheating boyfriend, yes, I do call it 'nice'. But when its your best friend, like in your case, its abnormal!"

"What a freak," Derek joked, putting up his hands, "I'm only joking."

"You better be...or else."

"Or else what?" he challenged her, smirking while he did so.

"There will be consequences," she responded, crossing her arms over her chest.

"For calling you a freak?"

"Yes, for calling me a freak."

Derek laughed and shook his head, "What are these consequences then?"

"Bad."

"You don't have consequences, do you?"

Casey only responded with a shrug while Derek laughed and left the room before she could ask him again why he was helping her. To be honest, he wasn't even sure himself. He had used the justification that she was his stepsister and her boyfriend cheated on her, therefore giving him the right to seek revenge on that stupid ex-boyfriend of hers despite the fact that the 'stupid ex-boyfriend' was his best friend. However, it wasn't helping at all that he realized how nice it was to hang out with her just simply driving around downtown or walking around the mall. It also didn't help when he realized that he might have been attracted to her physically and emotionally. Scratch that 'emotionally' part. Derek Venturi did not get emotionally invested into any relationships whatsoever and that rule did not bend for anybody. However, Derek couldn't help himself but walk back to Casey's door and stick his head in.

"Hey, Case?" Derek asked, fully stepping inside.

Casey looked up from her book, "What?"

"I'm being nice to you because…Wait, can you not look at me?" he asked, rubbing the back of his neck.

It was Casey's turn to look at him as if he were a freak and nodded her head, staring at the text on her book.

"I'm being nice to you because…" Derek started slowly again and this time continued, "No one deserves to be treated like that. Especially someone like you."

Casey's eyes darted from the page to Derek's own eyes, not able to respond to what he said.

"G'night," Derek said and dashed off to his own room before she could respond.

'Derek, what's going on with you, dude?' He thought to himself as he turned off the light and attempted to go to sleep as quickly as possible so he could forget that he had just said what he said

So, how'd you like it? Don't forget to review?
Without reviews its nearly impossible to be motivated to write.
Until the next update, take care!

- Lina.