Disclaimer: I don't even own a sock, how could I own Life with Derek?

A/N: I know it's taken me a long time to update, but I'm not exactly getting the feedback I hoped for, my much shorter story is past this story in reviews and it's pretty new, so please, if you read this story, review.

Chapter 12: Living My Life Without You

Derek woke up to the shrieking sound of his alarm clock. He felt around for his bedside table and alarm clock but couldn't find it.

He reluctantly opened his eyes to find himself in Casey's pretty much empty room, or what used to be her room. He was still wearing his clothes from the day before and his eyes were bloodshot. But he hadn't remembered crying…why was he looking like he had spent his whole night being an emotional wreck?

Then he remembered it…the text messages; yes, he now remembered how he spent his night. He had quietly slipped into what used to be her room and cried. Yes, cried. Not loudly, barely really, but still cried, more than he could ever remember crying before.

That last text message he sent was the last thing he remembered before falling asleep on her bare mattress. A small knock echoed through the room and Derek saw Marti standing in the doorframe.

"Smerek? Are you okay?" Her voice was small and lost.

"I'm okay, Smarti." He said nodding and taking the young girl in his arms.

"I miss Smasey, when are we going to see her again?" Derek sighed.

"Soon, Smarti, very soon." And those were the most words he spoke that morning, if he even spoke at all that is.

XOXO

"The kid's mind is seriously warped..." Derek walked down the halls of his school, apparently, Sam and Emily weren't joking…they definitely told people. Derek heard random spurts from students; this would pass though, he was Derek Venturi, he ruled overall.

"…stupid keener…little bi-otch took my man..." Derek's fist clenched as realization hit that most of this gossip was about Casey, his Casey. Surely that wasn't by accident...at that moment Emily was sure as hell lucky to be a female…or in Derek's minding, female-like.

"…her over me? I mean…seriously, the girl was a tumbling fool…" A blonde commented but Derek shook it off, he was wanted, he knew that much, but the extent girls went through was insane.

"…tap that, she's probably a good ride if he's wasting his time with her; you know the quiet ones are the ones that'll spring it on you like a pop tart." That's what got him; they thought he only "wasted his time with her" because she was…a good ride?!

A loud crash and the sickening sound of crunching metal startled the students and they all looked over to the source of the noise; Derek.

Beside Derek was the boy who made the last comment, his head was just barely out of the way from Derek's fist, etched into the locker behind the boy. No words came out of Derek's mouth, but the kid got the message.

"S-sorry man…I was just…" He lost track of his words as Derek grabbed his collar and raised him slightly off the ground, glaring at him. He gulped and looked around nervously; Derek smirked coldly and dropped him with a shove then shook his head with pity and walked away.

The rest of the day the student body knew exactly what-not-to-do, talk to or about Derek Venturi, because one breath of the situation or Casey McDonald, you could consider yourself dead. If somebody needed a reminder they went to Randy Coleman, the boy unknown to Derek, the boy who got was a millimeter away from being mangled.

Everyone seemed to get the memo, but of course there's always one who is left out…unfortunately, this one was a certain blonde haired boy who just couldn't seem to get enough trouble with Derek.

"So, do you like the gossip?" Sam went up to Derek in the cafeteria and smirked. Derek said nothing and clenched his jaw and fists.

"I'll take that as a yes; and I'm sure you'll love the fact that the hockey team thinks your little 'girlfriend' is a whore, but that's your doing; because Derek Venturi doesn't waste his time unless she puts it out. Right?" Sam raised his eyebrows. Derek remained seated and said nothing.

"Oh…I'm sorry, Casey got your tongue? You seemed to have no problem shoving it down her throat at the hospital!" He yelled and a gasp echoed through the otherwise silent cafeteria.

"Are you feeling guilty because you stabbed your best friend in the back by making out with your stepsister!?" Sam yelled, "Hell, you probably went way further than make out, I wouldn't be surprised if she only left because she's pregnant! She's a whore and you're a bastard!" Everyone was watching the scene unfold, true, but if you were to ask any of them what exactly happened, they'd all give you the same answer.

A shoulder shrug and a simple "he deserved it; it was none of his business; but it happened quickly, like a blur…but that's an understatement; the kid deserves to be in the hospital." And he did; but he would never speak of the occurrence; ever. He would never explain to people how his best friend fell in love with his stepsister, then he caught said best friend kissing said stepsister in a hospital; how he stated a war and lost; how he ended in the hospital in a coma with a concussion that had yet to be determined as severe or minor.

Derek was dismissed from school early, of course he was suspended but only for a couple of days, and at this time he had no problem with that. He wouldn't tell his father he was suspended…but Casey would find out; when he appeared at her door and told the whole story.

XOXO

"I'm going crazy; I can't take it any more!" Lizzie cried and Casey let out a small chuckle; the motel had a TV in every room…but no cable. They were watching news, little kids' shows or old people soap operas in Spanish, Italian. Portuguese and Brazilian; indeed, they were going crazy.

"Calm, Lizzie, calm…let's do something! We might as well look around since Mom's yet to enroll us in our new schools, we need to get familiar with the area, no? Plus…mom won't be back for a while, remember? She said she had to work late!" Casey exclaimed happily.

"Okay…um, Case?" Lizzie looked away.

"Yeah, Liz?"

"Do you think we could…y'know…maybe, go by London?" Lizzie bit her lip.

"Liz…I want to go back...so badly, really I do…but it's just, too early." A tear ran down Lizzie's cheek and Casey gathered her in her arms.

"I miss them, Case…I really, really miss them." Casey made comforting motions and spoke soothing words.

"I do too, Liz…but it's like I said, too early." She pulled away slightly and looked Lizzie in the eye. "I'm going to tell you something that gets no where near Mom's knowledge, okay?"

"…Okay."

"Listen," She lowered her voice, this as though Nora would be able to hear if she spoke too loudly. "Derek and Marti are going to escape the house every so often to see me…I know, it's a huge risk, but he's willing to risk that, and so am I. Understand?" Lizzie nodded.

"But how will Ed know? I'm more than willing to risk freedom and trust to see them again…but we're not allowed to call; Mom has it all figured out; she checks our call history." Casey raised an eyebrow and Lizzie caught drift.

"Text message!" They said together and raced to retreat Casey's cell phone from her room.

C: Derek?

The two of them looked at each other with hope. A few seconds later the beep sounded and they swiftly checked the text.

D: Casey?

They smiled and thanked God Derek had realized that only a few certain people would text him privately.

C: Yeah…look, we're going to use private texts from now on with you; Mom's been checking out history. We're lucky I deleted mine before she checked my cell.

D: OK, Case, I miss you so damn much.

A tear slid down Casey's cheek swiftly and Lizzie wiped it away.

D: Don't cry.

She laughed lightly, Derek knew her all too well.

C: When will I see you?

D: Sooner than you think; I'm guessing I'll be bringing Ed?

Lizzie smiled brightly at the mention of his potential coming.

C: Could you?

D: Anything for you…and Liz, but I need your address.

C: No, you show up here we'll never see you again…meet at the white pier. On the beach?

D: Yeah, of course…I love you.

Once again Lizzie wiped away a tear of Casey's and she smiled at the joyful tears that were falling; her sister hadn't been happy in a while; it killed her inside.

C: Oh God, Derek, I love you. I need to see you.

D: Tomorrow. The pier; 10:00 am.

C: Derek, you're not skipping school, and neither are Marti and Ed.

D: Geez, you're even a keener when you aren't enrolled in school!

They laughed; all three of them.

D: Don't worry, Ed and Marti have the day out and I was kinda', sorta'…suspended.

Casey's eyes went wide and Lizzie laughed.

C: Derek!

D: Bye, love you! ;-)

Casey rolled her eyes then huffed.

"Unbelievable!" Lizzie continued to laugh and not shortly after Casey joined her. For once, they laughed wholeheartedly in a while.

XOXO

Derek laughed to himself as he thought of the text message conversation with his girlfriend; he needed to see her so badly; he couldn't go much longer without her.

XOXO

"Hey, you want to bring some money? We can pick up an outfit to show off to our "men"." Casey stated, using air quotes and laughing. Lizzie chuckled and nodded.

"Sounds great." They got dressed in comfortable clothes, called their mother then left.

They first walked through this small park, following the trail led them to a small village-like street; small boutiques were everywhere, as well as little restaurants.

"It's so quaint!" Lizzie said, smiling brightly.

"It's perfect; well…we know where we're going tomorrow!" Casey pointed to a small restaurant that read "Botocelli Cuisine' in beautiful black lettering, through an elegant window that was big enough to seem like the wall itself they could see a dance floor.

"Good work…maybe we should make reservations?" Casey nodded and took out her cell phone, dialing the number on the bottom left corner of the window.

"Hello, this is Botocelli Cuisine, how may I assist you? In English o italiano?" The lady asked politely.

"English, we'd like to make reservations for tomorrow night, say around six?" Casey asked, estimating the time they'd be eating to six.

"Sure, name?"

"Venturi, Derek." The woman laughed.

"Derek Venturi; making reservations for your boyfriend?" Casey laughed.

"Yeah, he doesn't know he's paying yet." They two of them chuckled once more and confirmed the reservations before hanging up after saying goodbye.

"Why'd you put it under Derek's name?" Casey shrugged.

"Habit, I always put under his name for some reason." The two girls walked along the warm street waving to the kind people who said hello.

"Ooh…" Lizzie's eyes bugged at the small, funky boutique. "What do you say we blow their minds?" She asked practically drooling over a dress.

"Sounds great. Hold on."

C: Wear your black button up, dark jeans and black converse.

D: Why?

C: Because I told you to, make sure Ed looks good, and Marti too. Besides, that black shirt is extremely sexy. ;)

D: Okay…but only if you assure me you'll be wearing something small, tight and sexy.

C: Lol, shut up I have to go. Love ya.

"Okay…Edwin's going to look good, Marti's going to look adorable and Derek's going to look hot." Casey said with a giggle at the mention of Derek.

"Oh, somebody's giddy." Lizzie said smirking.

"Shut up; let's go get something to make them drool." Lizzie glanced at Casey's phone.

"Or in your case, something small, tight and sexy." She said laughing. Casey looked at er and stuck her tongue out.

"What? He's only human…or a teenage boy at least. What do you expect?" They laughed and stepped into the boutique eagerly.

A/N: Okay…I know this took me forever to update I'm SORRY! But people aren't reviewing! REVIEW PLEASE! I NEED TEN REVIEWS TO UPDATE!