Title: The Soundtrack of My Summer
Spoilers from: Season 4. This chapter has a reference to the episode "How I Met Your Stepbro," so if any of you folks haven't seen it yet, you might not get the allusion. It's probably one of the best S4 eps, though, so check it out!
Summary: It's the summer before Derek and Casey are about to go off to college, so the family decides to spend it in Mexico City. While there, Casey and Derek end up sharing a room, Casey gets a stalker, and Derek figures out just who Casey sees in her dreams.
A/N: Thanks again for all of the amazing reviews! Sadly, this story only has one more chapter left after this one, but I hope you guys have been enjoying it! This chapter switches back to Casey's POV.
Disclaimer: I really, really wish I owned Mexico City, Boys Like Girls, and Life With Derek, but I'm just not that fortunate.
Chapter 9- Up Against the Wall
(Casey's POV)
I, Casey McDonald, am way too weak for my own good.
As much as I tried telling myself over the last few years that I had no feelings for Derek whatsoever, I just couldn't keep up with the charade.
Derek Venturi, my step-brother, was a force to be reckoned with.
I was actually doing pretty well over the last few days. At least, I thought I was. Even after Derek and I shared our first kiss, I held my ground and wouldn't give in.
Until he kissed me again.
After that, I just couldn't take it anymore. Derek and I were meant to be together, we loved each other, and in that moment, that was all that mattered.
Sadly, my mom and George seemed to disagree.
"Derek!"
As Derek and I leapt away from each other, George stomped across the room and grabbed his son by the shoulders.
"Derek, you lied to me! You told me nothing was going on between you two!"
"Nothing was!" Derek answered truthfully. "Well, at least not then."
"Do you realize what you've done!? Casey is your step-sister, Derek! She's family!"
"Emphasis on the step," Derek pointed out. "Casey and I are not family!"
As George and Derek continued to argue, I looked timidly at my mom. She hadn't moved an inch from her position in the doorway, and she hadn't said a word from the moment she and her husband had walked in on Derek and I.
The one thing that was worse than my mother scolding me?
The silent treatment.
"Not only have you gone against my trust, but you've pulled poor Casey in on it! And against my better judgment, Derek, I really thought you cared about her a little more than that!"
"What makes you think this was all Derek's fault!?" I asked angrily, the words sounding extremely familiar.
This was like the night Derek and I had gotten locked in the bathroom all over again.
"Casey, your mother and I both know how honest and intelligent you are," George replied solemnly. "You would never be stupid enough to pull a stunt like this, especially with Derek."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Derek shouted.
"It means that you and Casey have extremely different expectations when it comes to relationships, Derek. You need to understand that you both don't want the same thing here."
"Who says we don't?!" I asked, looking from my mother to George. "Derek may have had some pretty rotten relationships in the past, George, but he's in love with me!"
"Derek doesn't know how to love anyone, Casey," George sighed. "He's just going to hurt you."
"I would never hurt her!" Derek promised. "I know what you're thinking, Dad, and I agree with some of it. Casey deserves someone a lot better than me, but-"
"I do not!" I interrupted, looking at Derek, bewildered. "I couldn't possibly find someone that cares about me as much as you do, or someone that I care about as much as I care about you! In my opinion, there's no one else out there for me but you!"
Tears began to sting my eyes, and I looked at my mother pleadingly. She had still refused to speak, or to move.
Until now.
"Casey, where are the rest of your clothes?"
Stunned and humiliated, I remembered what Julio had tried to do to me.
Derek and I knew how I had gotten like this, but our parents didn't.
"This wasn't Derek's fault!" I shook my head, sheltering my body with my hands.
Derek suddenly appeared beside me with my shirt, which Julio had tossed on the floor, and I wrapped it around me.
"There's this guy that's been stalking me lately," I began, and my mother's eyes grew wide. "He came in here while I was sleeping and tried to assault me."
"Casey, honey, are you okay?" my mom asked me, and I nodded.
"Derek saved me," I whispered, meeting her eyes. "Without him, who knows what could have happened to me."
As my mom began to pace around the room with George, I noticed Lizzie and Edwin appear in the doorway, stunned.
"What's going on?" Liz asked, exhausted.
I immediately grabbed Derek and shoved him in front of me to hide my appearance. Lizzie looked up to me, the same way Edwin looked up to his brother, but she definitely wouldn't find anything respectful about my disheveled outfit.
"Go back to bed!" George ordered angrily, and Edwin grabbed Lizzie by the hand and towed her away.
I simply looked up at Derek, and our eyes met. We were both thinking the same thing.
Neither Lizzie nor Edwin had gone very far.
"Military school!" George declared at last, and I looked at him in shock. "We'll send Derek to military school!"
"Derek is not going into the army!" I shouted, grabbing his hand urgently. "Something could happen to him!"
"Derek has college to attend, George," my mom answered rationally.
"What about sending him to Spain for the rest of the summer?" George asked, and I shook my head again.
There was no way I was letting them separate us ever again.
"They'd still be in the same school in the fall," my mom sighed. "With zero parental supervision."
"Casey, honey, would you mind switching colleges?" George asked, and I narrowed my eyes.
"I'm going to the same college as Derek, and that's that," I declared, and Derek squeezed my hand. "No matter what you guys say, you can't keep us apart any longer."
"Casey, this cannot happen!" George ordered. "I won't allow it! It's wrong!"
"What is right and wrong anyway!?" I asked as tears began to spill down my face. "Derek and I thought that you guys getting married was wrong, and yeah! We tried to stop it! But in the end, we knew that no matter what we thought, the love you two felt for each other was the most important thing!"
Turning to my mother, I continued to speak, my voice shaking.
"Derek and I ultimately knew that we couldn't keep you guys apart, because we wanted you to be happy. Why can't you do the same for us?"
That seemed to work. My mother looked away, apparently ashamed, and even George couldn't find a thing to say.
"George, I think we should go back to our room and discuss this," my mother sighed, and George nodded.
"Casey, get dressed. Derek, stay away from her until we've made up our minds."
"I'm not going anywhere," Derek replied firmly, wrapping his arm around my shoulders. "This is where I belong."
George groaned, but finally gave up, following my mom out the door.
Was this a good thing? Could they possibly be reconsidering?
I didn't know what they were saying to each other, but there was one thing I was absolutely sure of.
No one, and nothing, could ever keep me away from Derek.
"Everything's going to be okay," he promised, kissing the top of my head.
I don't know if it was Derek's words, his gentle touch, or some sort of ESP that I had developed, but I suddenly knew that he was right.
"I know it will be," I smiled gently, pecking him on the cheek.
It seemed as if Mom and George were gone for hours, but I was pretty sure that was just my nerves talking. Still, it allowed me enough time to change into something a bit less ripped, and gave Derek and I both the chance to have a word with our very confused younger siblings.
"Casey, does this mean you and Derek are going to get married like Daddy and Nora?"
Laughing, I wiped Marti's hair out of her face as the five of us sat in Lizzie and Marti's room.
"I don't think Derek and I are planning on getting married just yet," I admitted. "But maybe someday. You never know."
"Oh, we knew," Edwin grinned, giving Lizzie a high-five. "Liz and I have been betting on how long it would take the two of you to figure it out."
"I won," Lizzie beamed, and I gaped at her.
"The two of you are okay with this?" I asked, shocked. "Even though Derek and I are step-siblings?"
"Of course," Lizzie smiled, and I shared a shocked expression with Derek. "As long as you're happy, we're happy."
"Plus, maybe you can use your girlfriend powers to make Derek a little nicer to me," Edwin replied, raising his eyebrows.
"I'll get right on it," I grinned, giving my sister and Edwin a hug. "And what about you Marti? Any special requests?"
"Yeah, actually. Now that you're dating Derek, can I start calling you Smasey?"
Laughing, I scooped Marti into my arms and ruffled her hair.
"Of course you can, Smarti."
As the five of us continued to smile at each other, Mom and George made their way into the room, stern and quiet.
"Kids, would you mind waiting in Edwin's room while we talk to your older siblings?"
"Sure, Nora," Edwin grinned, winking at Lizzie and Marti as they skipped out of the room, shutting the door behind them.
Surely, by the time it was opened again, the three of them would be crouched on the opposite side.
"After much consideration, George and I have come to an agreement," my mom spoke. "Although neither of us are very happy about this..."
"And by that, we mean furious," George interjected, and I saw Derek roll his eyes beside me.
"....We have decided that we can't keep you from dating each other."
"Oh Mom!" I squealed, jumping up to give her a hug.
My mom simply placed her hands in front of her, motioning for me to sit back down.
"There's more," she told me, and I sat back on the edge of the bed. "You are forbidden to date while under our roof, but once you go off to college, you can do whatever you want."
"By that, Nora means whatever you want regarding where you want to take each other on a date," George interrupted again. "Movies, dinner, parties, but nothing too private or romantic."
"George," my mother sighed. "They're practically adults. They have the right to choose how they want to spend their free time."
"And I am Derek's father, so I have the right to call him every twenty minutes to make sure he's using that free time wisely."
"Whatever you say," I promised, holding up my hand as if swearing an oath.
"If anything serious arises from this, we'll talk," my mom promised. "And the two of you are responsible for any bullying or harassment you may get when your friends and roommates find out about this."
"Don't care," Derek shrugged. "Everyone has their own dirty little secrets."
"That brings me to my final request," my mom began. "There will be no dirty talk, kissing, or any other form of flirting done in front of us or in front of your younger siblings. I imagine they're all just as disturbed by this new development as George and I."
"Actually, they're totally fine with it," Derek grinned, and my mother and George exchanged looks.
"Where did I go wrong as a parent?" George sighed, and I placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.
"Nowhere, George. This was a choice between Derek and I, and I'm really thankful that you guys chose to respect that."
"Not respect, tolerate," George edited, and I rolled my eyes.
"Tolerate," I agreed, giving my step-father a hug, followed by my mother. "I love you, mom."
"I love you too, sweetheart," she sighed, returning the hug. "And be careful, okay?"
"I promise you, she's in good hands," Derek smirked, and I nodded my head in agreement.
"Let's not get carried away now," George warned. "Neither of you know how long this relationship is going to last."
"Oh, I have a feeling it'll last a while," I replied, smiling. "But you're right. We'll just have to wait and see."
"You two have five minutes," my mom told us then. "After that, it's back to bickering step-brother and step-sister for the rest of the summer."
"Though a little less bickering would be nice," George spoke, smiling.
As my mom and George finally left Derek and I alone again, I turned to him in exaltation. Both of us knew that we would somehow get to be together, but we hadn't imagined convincing our parents could be so easy.
"I'm sure we'll have to deal with others like them at college," Derek sighed. "Some people think that they have a right to tell two very in love people how to live their lives."
"But we'll get through it," I pledged, lacing my fingers through his. "Heck, we've already passed the hard part."
"Now it's time for us to have some fun," Derek agreed.
"To the future?" I asked, leaning toward Derek to share our final kiss before the summer's end.
"To the future," he agreed, bending his head and gently placing his lips against mine.
As we shared that final summer's kiss, I was certain of one blissful thing.
As long as I had Derek by my side, my future would be bright, indeed.
A/N: The last chapter will be up soon, guys! And I think anyone can guess what it's going to be about. :)