Derek awoke to the feeling of his cell phone buzzing in his pocket. At first he ignored it and scooted himself closer to Casey, wanting to savor the fact that he was able to spend the entire night with her in his arms, but when the phone started buzzing again, he remembered their situation and reached into his pocket to pull it out.
"Hello?" he whispered.
"Hey Derek, are you home?" his dad asked on the other line.
"Yeah. Just uh…fell asleep in Marti's room," he whispered, hoping it would explain the hushed tone.
"Did Casey fill you in?" George asked.
"Yeah, she did. How's Nora doing?" Derek asked.
"She's okay. She's resting. They figured out she has something called pre-eclampsia-" Derek cut him off.
"Is she going to be okay?" he asked, glancing down at where Casey was frowning in her sleep.
"She has something called preeclampsia. But they think she and the baby will both be okay " George replied. Derek sighed in relief and wanted to get off the phone with his dad so he could wake Casey and get rid of that frown.
"They do want to keep her here though," George added. Derek's stomach flip-flopped.
"Why? For how long?" he asked.
"Until the baby is born. They want to keep an eye on her. It could be another month," his dad replied.
"But…but Casey's supposed to leave for New York in two days," Derek said.
"I know. We were hoping you could take her?" George replied, making it sound more like a question than a statement. Derek gulped and looked down at Casey. If he took her to New York he might be tempted to defer Queen's for a year too. Or worse…he might end up admitting his- ugh- feelings to her. And that wouldn't be good for anyone.
"I know that you're getting ready to leave too. But you still have a couple of weeks before you have to be at school. And I know it's a lot to ask, Derek. And I know Casey's not your favorite person in the world-" Derek stifled a laugh. If only his dad knew…"but this would really help us out. We don't need you to stay long, just get her settled and then-"
"Okay," Derek said simply.
"Okay?" George asked, his shock evident even through the phone. Derek rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, okay. I'll take her," he said. Casey stirred against him and snuggled up into his side. He tightened his arm around her and leaned his cheek against her hair.
"Thank you, son. You have no idea how relieved Nora will be to hear that," George replied, voice full of gratitude.
Derek felt a little guilty. They wouldn't be so relieved if they knew that a few weeks ago he'd been inside Casey, moaning her name and touching her in ways he'd only dreamt about. Nor would they be relieved to know he hadn't been able to stop thinking about it.
"Yeah, well…just tell Nora I hope she feels better soon. And let me know if there's anything else I can do to help," he said, clearing his throat.
"I will. And Derek?" George asked.
"Hmmm?" Derek asked. Casey had shifted against him again and draped her arm across his lap, her hand dangerously close to-
"Thank you again. I mean it, you've really stepped it up lately," his dad said. Derek swallowed hard and looked up at the ceiling. Life could be so cruel sometimes.
"Yeah well…what can I say? I'm full of surprises," he tried to joke, but his voice came out sounding strangled so he snapped his phone shut and tossed it to the foot of the couch.
He tried to fall back asleep but everything that had happened lately made that utterly impossible. It wasn't long before Casey drew a sharp intake of breath and her eyes fluttered open. At first she looked confused as to why she was on the couch, but then quickly gathered her bearings and gave him a shy smile.
"Morning, Princess," he whispered.
"Morning," she replied with a sigh. He had worried that as soon as she woke up, she'd disentangle herself from him and storm upstairs, but instead she bunched up her fist, grabbing onto his shirt as his chest and pulled herself closer to him.
"My dad called. He said your mom's going to be okay," he told her. She gasped and looked up at him, still not moving.
"She is? Did they figure out what's wrong?" she asked eagerly.
"She has pre…pre…something. She has to stay there until the baby is born but my dad says they're telling him she and the baby are going to be okay," he said, talking as softly and soothingly as he could muster. He felt her entire body relax as she let out a whimper and buried her face in his chest.
"Are you crying?" he asked. She pulled back and glared at him, eyes shining.
"I'm relieved okay?" she snapped. He didn't say anything, he just pulled her closer to him and tangled his hand in her hair.
"There's more," he said after a while. She sat up and looked at him hesitantly.
"Because she has to stay there…and my dad wants to stay with her…they asked if um…if I'd take you to New York. Help you move and all that…" he said. Her jaw dropped and he scrambled to sit up too.
"I don't have to though, if you don't want me to. I can stay here," he added quickly. Although he wasn't sure it was true, he'd already told his dad that he'd help her and he knew George and Nora wouldn't want her making the move by herself.
She just stared back at him with an expression he couldn't figure out.
"I'm a big girl, Der-ek, I can move myself," she sniffed finally, literally turning her nose up at him. He got a pit in his stomach. So this is what they were doing. They were reverting.
"I don't know, Klutzilla. You've got a lot of stuff. That's a lot of trips up and down the stairs," he shot back, trying to sound like his old self. He wondered why he was referring to himself pre sex-with-Casey as his "old self" and tried to shove whatever that was way down.
"Well luckily, I've got Jesse to help with that," she said, but looked away when she said it.
"Dancey boy? You sure he can lift boxes?" Derek asked. She glared at him and he smirked back. Jesse was actually a lot bigger than Derek, and he knew this, but when Casey mentioned his name he had been smacked in the face with a wave of jealousy and he refused to let it show.
"Dancers have to be strong, Derek," she mumbled.
"I suppose. Even still though, I don't think dad and Nora would like the idea of some random guy moving you into your new place. Things could get indecent…" he trailed off.
"If you're so worried about things getting indecent, maybe you SHOULD stay here," she said quietly. Derek gawked at her and she looked taken aback by her own words. Derek tried to recover and plastered his uniform smirk on his face.
"What's the matter, Case? Scared you won't be able to keep your hands off me?" he asked.
"Not at all. I'm just saying…" she trailed off.
"Just saying?" he asked, leaning in. He watched as her eyes fell to his lips and his fake smirk was replaced with a real one.
"That um…we…I…" she stammered over her words. Derek nodded and moved in slowly. She didn't pull away and so despite the fact that he knew it was ultimately just going to make things harder for both of them, he closed the distance between them and kissed her softly. He pulled back a little to try and gauge her reaction, but didn't get very far before she threw both of her arms around his neck and kissed him, hard.
He grabbed her by the waist and pulled her onto his lap, holding onto her as if she would disappear if he let go. And for all he knew, she might.
They were all roaming hands and tight grips, and exploring tongues when she whispered, "Let's go upstairs," into his ear, sending what felt like all the blood in his body rushing downwards.
"Okay," he breathed and she climbed up off of him and stood. He jumped up eagerly and she giggled.
"What are you laughing at?" he asked. She shrugged and he couldn't help but beam at her, pulling her into him by her waist and kissing her again. She broke the kiss, but took a hold of his hand and led him up the stairs. They rounded the corner and as they approached the top, she dropped his hand and stumbled back into him. He had to grip the bannister to keep from falling and peaked his head around her to see what the problem was, where he found Marti standing at the top of the stairs.
"What are you guys doing?" she asked, tilting her head to the side.
"Hey, Smarti! We were just…coming to wake you guys up!" Derek replied, brushing past a stunned Casey and lifting his little sister up into the air. He spun her around and placed her back on the floor, facing away from Casey who still looked like she had just gotten caught robbing a bank.
"It looked like you guys were holding hands," Marti replied. Derk made a face and Casey ran up, next to him.
"Come on Marti, I'd never hold hands with Derek," Casey said, fake shuddering. At least he hoped it was fake.
"Well that's what it looked like," Marti argued. Derek knelt down so he was eye level with her.
"Come on Smarti, like I'd ever hold hands with Casey. You're the only sister I'd hold hands with," he said. The words tasted terrible the second he said them and when he looked up at Casey she looked both horrified and sad at the use of the word "sister" and he really wished he had come up with a better way to deny what Marti had seen.
"That's true!" Marti replied with a shrug. Derek heard Casey exhale with relief and looked back up at her. She was looking toward her room and he was afraid she was going to bolt and hold up in there until she left, but just as she was about to walk away, Edwin and Lizzie came out of their rooms too.
"Hey guys…" Edwin said slowly, probably not expecting to see a family congregation this early in the morning.
"Edwin! Liz! Hey!" Derek exclaimed, sounding too cheerful to himself.
"Have you guys heard anything about mom? Did she have the baby?" Lizzie asked, the same tense frown on her face that had been on Casey's all night. Casey walked over to Lizzie and put an arm around her shoulders, giving her a squeeze.
"George called Derek this morning and said mom is going to be fine. She hasn't had the baby yet, but she's going to be okay!" she said smiling. Edwin, Lizzie, and Marti all looked relieved. Marti did a little dance.
"But, she does have to stay in the hospital until the baby is born. Which might be up to another month," Derek added. The kids' faces fell.
"A month? That's so long!" Edwin exclaimed.
"It's not so bad! And hey you have-" Casey started to say but then she stopped. Derek felt his chest tighten at the expression on her face. She looked helpless. He knew her well enough to know she was going to say that they had her and Derek…except in two days she'd be gone. And then two weeks later so would he. Suddenly he felt nauseous.
"You have George. And each other. And I won't be more than a phone call away," Casey finished, trying to sound reassuring. She wrapped her other arm around Edwin and Marti threw her arms around Casey's waist, the four of them forming a giant group hug. Derek felt a knot in his throat. It was one of the things he loved most about her…how nurturing she was and- whoa where had that come from? Loved? Fuck, this was bad. He did NOT love Casey. No. Fucking. Way. He REFUSED to let himself love Casey.
"Alright ya saps, who's hungry?" Derek asked, hating the fact that he both felt and sounded like a complete asshole.
"Der-ek! This is a serious situation, could you have a tiny bit of compassion?" Casey hissed. He wanted to tell her that he did have compassion and that all he wanted to do was throw his arms around all of them and tell them that they were all going to stay together in the house and everything would be okay. But instead and crossed his arms and leaned against the wall.
"I am compassionately offering to make everyone breakfast," was all he said.
"If Derek is cooking, I'm not eating," Edwin said, causing everyone to laugh.
"By make breakfast, I meant pour cereal," Derek quipped, pulling Edwin out from Casey's embrace and flicking his forehead. Edwin rubbed his head but began trekking downstairs, followed by Lizzie and Marti. Casey turned to follow them but Derek grabbed her wrist and pulled her back.
"I'm sorry," he whispered.
"For what?" she asked icily.
"For the sister comment," he said quietly.
"It's fine. I get it," she mumbled and started to leave. He pulled her back again and this time she looked annoyed.
"I don't think you do," he replied.
"Look, we have too much going on to be dealing with this right now anyway so just…Der-ek!" she gasped as he pinned her to the wall and smirked at her.
"So you admit there's a 'this' then?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. She looked back at him with the same breezy smile she had when she murmured those terrible words at him in the kitchen. Same difference. Right.
"I don't know," she replied quietly. He tilted her chin up and placed a chaste kiss on her lips. She sighed happily into the kiss, which caused the corners of his mouth to turn up in a smile. Casey pulled back and glared at him.
"Oh, stop!" she whisper-snapped, and smacked his chest. She brushed past him and started down the stairs. Derek watched her walk, shamelessly letting his eyes scan up and down her body. She turned over her shoulder and caught him staring. He didn't look away, he just let his gaze linger on her and crossed his arms.
"Like what you see, D?" she asked teasingly.
"As a matter of fact, I do. Would you mind making the kids breakfast? I have something I need to take care of," he replied, raising an eyebrow.
"You're disgusting," she replied, making a face (unbeknownst to Derek, she was hiding a smile). He raised his hands up in mock surrender.
"You asked," he replied. She rolled her eyes and turned to go back down the stairs. Derek sighed and walked into the bathroom to take a cold shower and try and forget the fact that he had used the word "love" in reference to Casey. Sleeping with her, he could handle. Liking her he could (kind of) handle. But anything more than that, simply was not going to work for him.
…
When he got downstairs, Edwin, Lizzie, and Marti were sitting on the couch watching TV and Casey was in the kitchen, making pancakes. He walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, resting his head on her shoulder. She jumped and turned toward him, giving him a hard shove.
"Der-ek! You can't do that!" she whispered, frantically looking over to where the kids were watching TV, backs to the kitchen.
"Relax, they can't see us," he whispered back.
"Go take a cold shower," she hissed.
"Already did," he grinned back at her. She rolled her eyes and went back to her pancakes.
"Why are you so freaked out?" he asked her.
"I'm not. This is just…it's confusing okay?" she asked. He let out a short laugh.
"Yeah, you're tellin' me," he replied. She ignored him and instead, turned around, holding a giant plate of pancakes.
"Breakfast is ready!" she called out, walking into the dining room. Everyone gathered at the table and chatted over breakfast, it felt almost normal.
"So if Nora has to be in the hospital until the baby is born, who is moving you to New York?" Lizzie asked Casey, after the last pancake had been eaten.
Casey glanced at Dererk who started drawing shapes on his plate with syrup and his fork.
"Me," Derek said, trying to sound casual. Edwin and Lizzie both looked at him wide eyed. He looked up and dropped his fork.
"What?" he asked.
"The two of you are going to move Casey? Alone?" Edwin asked. Lizzie kicked him under the table and Derek reclined in his chair.
"Yeah. Why?" he asked, throwing Edwin an intimidating look. Edwin immediately shrank back.
"No reason. Great!" he exclaimed and took a giant bite of pancake. Derek saw Casey and Lizzie exchange a look and almost fell backward in his chair. Holy shit, did Lizzie know? Had she told Edwin?
"So if you guys are in New York…who's going to be here with us?" Lizzie asked.
"George sent a text while I was making breakfast, he said he'd spend nights here for the few days that Derek's in New York with me. He just needs you guys to watch Marti during the day," Casey replied.
"What if I have plans?" Edwin asked.
"You don't," Derek shot back.
"I want to go to New York too!" Marti exclaimed. Casey smiled at her warmly.
"You would be so bored, Marti. It's just going to be me and Derek buying a bunch of boring stuff and moving furniture," she said, trying to comfort her.
"I don't care, I want to go! Please Smerek?" Marti asked, turning to Derek and giving him her best puppy dog eyes. If Derek could have afforded a plane ticket for her, he probably would have said yes at that point.
"Sorry, Smarti, not this time. But I'm sure we'll all go back to visit Casey really soon," he said, although by the end of the sentence he wasn't looking at Marti anymore. Casey caught his eye and shyly looked away.
"Ugh, fine!" Marti exclaimed and crossed her arms. But within a few minutes she had rejoined the group conversation and seemed to have forgotten she was supposed to be angry.
Derek reclined in his seat again and watched as Lizzie, Edwin, Marti, and Casey all talked animatedly together and he felt an unexpected sadness swell in his chest. For perhaps the first time in his life, it occurred to him that pretty soon their blended family dinners would be a thing of the past. He'd be at Queen's. Alone. When he'd found out that Casey was going there also, he had done his best to feign dismay but he'd secretly been happy about it. Edwin was now in the middle of one of his schemes again and he saw Casey glance over at him and give him a coy smile. And his heart broke a little.