A/N - Um.. yeah.. Sorry for the late update. Exams and all. Btw, just like in my other fic 'unavoidable voidance' Nora is so not pregnant. It's much more light hearted this way. And thanks for the reviews guys :D

I do not own Life with Derek.

Enjoy!

Since she was a child, Casey, a lover of all things pink and Disney, wanted to wake up every morning the way most eight year olds want to wake up. With a little tweet here, and a little tweet there, and a flurry of little blue birds circling her in greeting. A crown of daisies wasn't necessarily uninvited either. What she never wanted, was to hear a string of profanity bringing her to consciousness. Honestly, who needs an alarm when every word penetrating your barely conscious mind brings about a swirl of objections?

"Derek!" Yes, she was just getting out of a deep, and unfortunately, a comfortable sleep. But that didn't stop her tone from being sharp. She opened one eye in curiosity. "Do you mind?"

Derek snorted as he sat up, away from her. She immediately missed the warmth, her eyes landing on the thermostat in the room, wondering if maybe he had decreased the heat last night. "Yeah, I mind." He huffed in frustration. "We missed dinner."

Dinner? "What?" Running her fingers to straighten her no doubt messed up hair, she turned to face him. "What's the time?"

He moved to the edge of the bed and put on his shoes. "10.30." Standing up, he grabbed his jacket and looked at her. "You coming?"

She stared at him, wondering if he expected her to telepathically know what he's up to. "What?"

Rolling his eyes, he shrugged on his jacket. "I'm going to go get some food. If you want, you can starve. See you in the car in two minutes." With a quick sleepy nod, he closed the door behind him.

She stared at the door for a few seconds before snorting and turning over to go back to sleep. As if she was that hungry. But like always, even her own body had to side with Derek. With a groan, she crawled out of bed grabbed her shoes, jacket and purse and left, all the while cursing the growling hunger her stomach was wracked with. Figures she would inadvertently listen to him.

"We're not eating here." Her tone was firm, strong, and had a note of finality to it.

His smirk on the other hand was anything but persuasive. "I'm not driving anywhere else."

"Fine." She held out her hand. "Give me the keys, and I'll drive."

He snorted as he killed the ignition. "I will never let you drive this baby. Even after I die, she'll be given a proper burial. No one is allowed to drive her besides me."

"You know, little children should really learn to share."

His eyes widened in mock insult. "And you share?"

"Of course." She said quickly without missing a beat.

"Good. Then teach me to share by compromising your little standards, and lets go eat." Turning swiftly, he opened the door and stepped out of the car.

"What?" Casey sputtered as she stepped out of her own side. "That doesn't make any sense."

Shrugging, Derek winked at her. "It makes sense in my world." With a gesture of his head towards the bar on the opposite side, he started walking. Panicking at being left alone, and defenceless in the middle of the night, she moved around the car quickly, falling into a step beside him.

"You know, one of these days, I'll stop following you." She has lost count on how many times he's left her somewhere expecting to follow him, and how many times she has.

He looked at her curiously. "Don't you get it, Case? You're meant to follow me." With a slight smirk, he turned away from her and moved fast, entering the bar way before she did.

Her stomach had finally stopped growling. "You going to finish that?" Without waiting for his answer, she leaned over and stole a few fries from her step-brother's plate.

He rolled his eyes as he took another huge bite of his burger. Swallowing, he took a large gulp of water, and eyed her warily. "The way you're eating, you should have ordered what I did."

"Are you nuts? No human being can eat the amount you're eating." She said, her face scrunching up in disgust.

Smirking, he took another large bite. "And here I am, proving you wrong. Again."

"Ah! But we've already established that you're not human." She grinned as she took a bite of his stolen fry.

His grin widened as he stole two fries back. "Says the one who acts like she landed in Roswell."

"Being hygienic is not an alien trait." She said wisely as she grabbed a few more fries off his plate.

"The way you go about it, I'm pretty sure it is."

Rolling her eyes, she gestured to the complimentary beer they got with the nachos. "Aren't you drinking?"

Shrugging, he took another gulp of water that she ordered. "Game tomorrow. No way am I going to drink." He eyed her curiously. "You want it?"

"What? No!" She said scandalized.

His eyebrows rose. "You have drunk beer before, right?"

She was beyond insulted. "Of course I have. How can a person go through high school without tasting it?" She raised her eyebrow at him, sure that she had surprised him with the facts.

Derek on the other hand, put down his burger to eye her in amusement. "Tasting it? Let me guess. You've sipped beer." He said in an awful mock-British accent.

She snorted as she grabbed the glass of water and twirled the contents, finding it unusually interesting. "Sipping beer, chugging beer, what's the difference? The point is, I've tasted it, haven't I?" When she finally looked up, she wished she hadn't. The glint in his eyes was just too disturbing. "What?"

Puffing out his chest, he grabbed the glass filled with beer and slammed it on the table in front of her. She knew where he was going with this, but she refused to play along. Instead, she crossed her arms and leaned back, her whole stance radiating stubbornness. With an evil smirk curling his lip, Derek leaned forward. "We're not leaving until you chug that down. What kind of step-brother would I be if I didn't make you experience one of life's joys?"

She snorted again. "And one of life's joys is getting drunk?"

"That and sex." He said coolly. Her breath hitched, and she felt a warm tinkling settle in her stomach at the thought of him using that word. His smirk dropped as he stared at her, his eyes wide. They might have lived in the same household for years, but never have they ever discussed intimate details of their social lives. The way he looked at her made her uncomfortable. Not to mention the stupid heat made her cheeks redden. It was completely the weather's fault. Completely. They may be indoors, but she did spot the front door being kept open for more than twenty seconds. That helped out her theory. Screw the fact that it may or may not be freezing outside. He finally cleared his throat, his eyes falling away from hers. When his gaze met hers again, the familiar glint was back. "But the point is, since it's obvious that you have never gotten drunk, I think this falls on my humble shoulders."

She eyed him warily. "I survived years without getting drunk. What makes you think that you will be able to do something that many others have tried... and failed?"

"By others, I'm assuming Emily."

"Of course."

He shrugged casually as he looked around, probably assessing the crowd. "I don't know if you've noticed, while you were inhaling your food..." He looked at her, a grin adorned on his features. "...but this bar is apparently famous for a certain..." His eyes twinkled with mischief. "...challenge... involving tequila shots." Her lips parted, but no words came out due to the fear that creep-ed down her spine. She never liked that tone of his. He wouldn't. With a sleazy smirk, he slid off the bar stool slowly, his eyes holding hers challengingly. "And I'm pretty sure that if you were to take part in this challenge..." She swallowed the lump in her throat, her mouth completely dry. "...none of these fine bar folk would let you leave until you have fulfilled said challenge." Now on his feet, he shrugged nonchalantly. "And lets not forget the only ride you have, would probably join the mob." He crossed his arms and sent her a meaningful look.

Her eyes quickly looked around, her heart sinking at what she was seeing. She should have followed her first impulse not to enter the bar. They weren't exactly riffraff, but at the same time, they weren't exactly businessman relaxing with a cocktail after a compelling day at the stock exchange, either. One thing was for sure, there were a lot of lonely drunks. Building up her courage, she leaned towards him. "You wouldn't." She hissed.

His smirk widened. "I would." And the thing is, she knows he would.

She felt her resolve crumble instantly at the wake of his threat. "Fine." She hissed, putting as much contempt into the word as possible. "If I promise to drink the stupid beer, will you shut up and sit down?"

He grinned victoriously. "Ooh, channelling Judge Judy. Nice." He looked at her sincerely. "All I ever wanted was for you to drink the complementary beer that comes with the nachos. That's all." He sounded almost annoyingly sensible.

"Fine." She said darkly, heeping even more contempt. "I will drink the stupid complimentary beer. Happy?"

He finally sat back down, enabling her breath to come out in a sigh of relief. "Ecstatic." He turned to the bartender. "Can we have five more orders of nachos, please?"

She was insanely disappointed when he didn't drop dead at the look she gave him. How she hates him sometimes.

Any normal person, which involves anyone but Derek, would have noticed that she started getting slightly tipsy by the end of the second glass and allowed her to forfeit the rest of the drinks graciously. But not her step-brother. He let her to stop at three. The way she sees it, he totally deserved the burp she directed right in his face. She was drunk, she was sure of it.

"You're not drunk." He rolled his eyes for effect.

"Excuse me." She said, insulted. "But I would know when I'm drunk. And I..." She swayed slightly to prove her point. "...am drunk."

He grabbed her elbow quickly to stop her from stumbling. "Drunk people don't pretend they're drunk. They just are."

"And I am one of those drunk people."

He chuckled lightly. "I don't think I've ever met anyone who wanted to let lose so bad, they actually pretend to be drunk."

Insulted again, she shrugged her arm out of his grasp, ignoring the fact that they were in the middle of the road. "For your information, I am drunk." Spotting headlights coming their way over her step-brother's shoulder, she grabbed his sleeve and led him to the car parked a few feet away, her lecturing tone hardly dropping at all. "And I blame you for it. What kind of person tries to get their step-sister drunk anyway?"

He watched the truck whiz by before facing her. "The fun kind? And you're not drunk."

"Yes, I am." She argued back.

He let out a frustrated breath. "How can you be? The glasses were barely bigger than than your fists. Granted you have guerrilla sized hands-"

"But you made me have three." She protested, the latter part of his statement going straight over her head.

"Two and a half."

"That's besides the point. I'm telling George." She huffed before letting go of his sleeve and strutting to the other side of the car. Getting in, she crossed her arms and stared directly ahead. She ignored his light chuckle as he slid into the driver's seat. Stupid Derek! As if she wouldn't know if she was drunk. Everything buzzed, including the place he grabbed her arm. It felt kind of nice, which was hardly the point. The only reason she had a clear head through the fog is because of her own 'levelheadedness' and 'determinationess'.

That's probably a word.

Back at the hotel, Derek was very courteous. Opening doors for her, leading her carefully to the room, even going so far as to tell her to be careful. She found his behaviour absolutely gentlemanly. That is, until she realized exactly what he was doing. "You're mocking me." She deadpanned as she observed his slight bow as he gestured to the open door to their room.

"What? Me? No! Why would I mock you?"

Punching his arm, she stormed into the room.

"Ouch." He rubbed his arm after closing the door behind him. "Here I am, trying to be nice..."

"...and failing miserably." She collapsed onto the bed, suddenly very tired.

Gingerly, he touched his arm. "I doubt hockey gives me more bruises than you do."

She grinned. "And that is something I will always be proud of." Derek opened his mouth to reply, but was interrupted by a buzzing sound. Curious, he headed to the dresser and picked up her cellphone. "Oh. My phone. Give it." She held out her hands, expecting him to toss it to her.

Instead, he answered it. "Casey's phone."

"Derek." She hissed as she got off the bed and headed towards him. He blocked her by keeping her an arms length away.

"I'm sorry, but which Keith is this? She has so many, it's hard to keep track." His smirk just grew as he kept his eyes on her.

"Derek." She lunged for the phone, but only succeeding in getting blocked again as he moved about the room. She's been waiting for this call the whole day, and her idiotic step-brother was going to ruin everything.

"Yeah, sure. I'll tell her." His tone was calm and confident, expectation laced within it. He blocked both her arms effectively, as she again, tried and failed to get the phone from him. He suddenly froze, his smirk lessened considerably, while his eyes trained on her. She had the perfect opening to grab her phone, but she didn't. His gaze held her still, his eyes unfathomable. "Yeah, I'll tell her." He repeated softly, his gaze seemed to penetrate hers. She wildly wondered if Keith told him that they were dating and he was upset about that. Although, she didn't understand why he should be upset in the first place. Her arms fell away from him, which caused him to drop his free arm slowly, his eyes still holding hers. "See ya, Keith." Shutting the flap, he tossed it to her. "Keith says 'Hi'." Derek deadpanned.

She looked up at him, curious as to what Keith could have said to change his demeanour and make him seem so...unresponsive. "That's it?"

He shrugged as he made his way to the closet. She watched him as he turned his back to her and silently pulled out his duffel bag. The one without his hockey gear, she noticed.

"What else did he say?" He stayed silent as he slung the bag over his shoulder. "Where are you going?" She felt her stomach plummet in panic. Why would he be leaving at this time of the night? Where was he planning on going? "Derek!" This was crazy. There could be no possible reason for him to act like he was mad at her. He was just opening the door when she rushed towards him, determined to get something out of him. "What did he say?"

With a sigh, he faced her, his eyes unreadable. "He wanted to congratulate you on the paper." Realization dawned, as the panic in her chest increased tenfold. This was worse. Much, much worse. His eyes hardened. "Glad to be of some use to you, sis." And with that final parting shot, he left, slamming the door shut behind him. She just stared at the spot where he was. With a bit of effort, she took in a deep breath to calm her racing heart.

Oh crap! Now what?

TBC

A/N 2 - Looks like the good times have gone on hiatus. I didn't intend writing this part when I started the chapter, it just happened. Anyways, please let me know what you think :)