A/N - So sorry for the months of long wait. I hit a major writing block and couldn't think of anything to put down. Finally, I came up with a direction for my story. Not sure if anyone will like it, but please don't curse me. :)

I do not own Life with Derek. So please, Enjoy!

Chapter 4----------

He was pushed roughly against the closed bathroom stall door before his lips were attacked by hers. He responded enthusiastically as he felt her press up against him, his hands following from the curve of her breast, down to the silkiness of her thighs under her ridiculously short dress. She moved closer and he was happy for it. With his eyes closed, she could easily be anyone as well as a sufficient distraction. Just as her hands moved lower, there was a huge knock.

"Venturi? You in here?"

Sighing, Derek moved her hands away from him and leaned his head against the door in defeat. "Yeah."

"Great! You're up."

He waited until Jared closed the door shut before turning to his companion. "We can finish this later."

She grinned, her finger making a slow pathway from his chest to his belt. "Usually, no one keeps me waiting."

He grabbed her finger with one hand, and opened the stall with the other. "Usually, I don't keep girls waiting. But I have something to do first."

"Really?" She asked dismissively as she walked towards the mirror and started straightening up. "Like what?"

"Like giving the best-man speech at your cousin's wedding." He waited until her eyes met his in the mirror.

"Oh. That." Appraising her reflection, she flipped her hair over her shoulder and turned to face him. A huge grin on her face. "Lets go then. We shouldn't keep Cousin Casey waiting, now should we?"

Emily stared incredulously at her best friend. "You're kidding me."

"I'm not."

"You can't be serious."

"I am."

She grabbed Casey's shoulders in an effort to shake some sense into her. "Ben will kill you."

Sighing, Casey shrugged her friend's hands off of her. "He won't know anything."

"This is not how you start off a marriage."

"I know that. I just..." She hugged herself, her voice falling to a secret whisper. "I just want to talk to him. Make sure that he won't say anything."

"I don't want to repeat myself but, are you crazy? Don't you remember what happened the last time you two talked?"

They paused as an elderly couple walked up and proceeded to hug and kiss the bride. They waited until they were standing alone at the alcove near the entrance of the reception. Casey tried to leave, but her best friend grabbed her arm to stop her.

"I think this is a bad idea."

"He started it."

Rolling her eyes, Emily sighed. "So what if he hugged you after the wedding? Everyone hugged you."

"Yeah but, he did it different. His hand was on my hip and my..." Casey stopped when she saw her friend's incredulous features. "What?"

"Oh my God!" Emily whispered to herself as she started moving back. "You shouldn't have gone through with this. You're not ready. I should have seen this coming. I had a chance to stop you and I.."

"Em!" Casey reached out, but Emily dropped her arms away and stepped back again.

"I should have stopped this."

"What? No. I wanted to get married."

"Really? 'Cause from right here, all I see is you trying to talk it out with the man you cheated with."

"Shhh." Panicked, Casey pulled her best friend closer under the alcove, her eyes begging. "Can we have a code name for him please? Like...I don't know... Derek?"

Emily eyed her friend, her features softening. "Why did you get married if you weren't ready?"

"I... I was ready. It's just this whole Derek thing threw me. But I did the right thing. I wanted Ben to be my husband and now... he is." She sounded like she wanted to convince herself. "Besides, it's not like I could have dumped Ben for something that's not even real. We were just.. I don't know.. "

"Look. If you talk to him now, you're going back. Not to sound like a 60's housewife, but Ben is your priority now." Casey let out a sad laugh. "I suggest you stay away from Derek. Okay?"

Nodding, Casey hugged her best friend. "Okay."

"Hey! Can I talk to you for a second?"

Derek groaned as he turned around to face the girl who had been stalking him. "There is no way I did anything this time."

Grinning slightly, Emily patted his arm lightly before taking a drink from the bar. "I know. I just want to talk."

He raised his eyebrows in question. "To talk?"

She slicked her free arm around his. "Come with me." He followed obediently as she led him to a table just outside the reception area. Derek looked on curiously when he realized that it was a little away from the rest of the wedding party. "Sit down." Emily said smoothly as she herself took a seat. Derek did just that before eyeing his companion. "So..."

"So..."

"Um..okay." He sat up straighter. "I just wanted to say that, I think we have all fallen into a very sticky situation here." She reached into a bag which had been hanging on the chair behind her. "And I think, I know how to solve it." With a flourish, she pulled out a stack of papers that looked remarkably familiar.

He stiffened immediately. "The confidentiality agreement."

Nodding, Emily held out a pen to him. "Just sign it. It'll make both of your lives so much easier."

He eyed her suspiciously. "Did Casey put you up to this?"

"No, actually. I found this today when I was helping her dress. I'm guessing that she wanted you to sign it, but you didn't because it was her who was asking." She pushed the pen towards him. "Now it's me."

He looked down at the pen for a moment before looking up at her. "Are you sure Casey didn't put you up to this?"

"Derek! Come on. We both know that you will never need to discuss what happened."

He smirked. "Do you really think a piece of paper would stop me from doing anything?"

Emily smiled softly. "We all know that a document won't stop you, but it will stop Casey. She's married now. A certified document has been signed saying that she belongs to Ben. She's not going to cheat on him again." She pushed the document forward. "And you know that."

Derek let out a low, thoughtful breath. "You have a very good argument there." He leaned forward. "But I won't sign it unless Casey asks me to sign it." He pushed his chair back and stood up.

"But she did ask you sign it." Emily sputtered.

"As a McDonald, yes. But not as a Campbell." Turning swiftly, he left. Leaving a surprised Emily behind.

She was busy tending to a fallen flower arrangement courtesy of a drunken dancing uncle when she felt a familiar hand against her hip and familiar lips against her ear. "Nice going getting your side kick to do the dirty work for you."

Her eyes quickly glanced up to make sure that no one would notice her step-brother standing intimately behind her. "What are you talking about?"

He leaned even closer, if that was possible, his warm breath tickling her just below her ear. "Emily tried to get me to sign the papers."

Surprised, she tried to turn away from him quickly, but his other hand which had snaked around her waist, held her firm. "What?" She hissed, her eyes again looking at everyone around. "How did she know about that?"

She felt him shrug. "I'm guessing she went through your stuff."

"But..."

"Aren't you going to ask me to sign them?"

She forcefully placed two other roses that had fallen askew back into the arrangement. "Will you sign it?"

She felt him nuzzle her neck, the hand on her hip moving in slow, lazy circles. "I don't know." She felt his lips lightly travel up the length of her neck slowly. "Do you want me to sign it?"

She took a deep breath in an effort to slow down her rapidly beating heart. "Yes." She whispered softly. But it didn't sound like how she wanted it to sound. Instead, her voice was low and husky, and the 'yes' seemed like she was giving him permission for something. The fact that her eyes had involuntarily closed didn't help either. Then, as quickly as his arms had surrounded her, they were gone. Her eyes flew open to look at him quizzically when her gaze fell on the reason he let her go.

"Thank God you're here." Ben breathed out breathlessly as he jogged towards them. "Your aunts Madge and Celia are kind of having an argument over the fish. Your mother sent me to get you." He turned towards Derek. "And Vicky is looking for you."

Her eyes met Derek's for a second before he shrugged casually to his best friend. "Then I better go find her." Clapping Ben on the back, he quickly left.

Ben watched him leave, then turned towards Casey, his expression confused. "What's up with him? He's been such a downer lately."

"Him? Nothing. I'm sure he's fine." She saw him as he turned around to look at them, his hands in his pockets, his features solemn. Their eyes met. She turned her attention back to her husband. "How did the great fish debate start?"

"Well... your mother said something about a dinner at your cousin's where..." Ben's voice seemed to just fade away as she saw her cousin Victoria, flirt her way around tables as she headed towards Derek. He glanced at Casey briefly before he kissed her cousin on the cheek.

"That's great." She ignored Ben's surprised glance as she interrupted him, her arms circling around his shoulders. "I'm sure we can solve the problem." Leaning up on her toes, she kissed him softly. Her eyes slowly opening without a second thought to glance over her husband's shoulder at her step-brother who stood rigid. She watched him as Victoria tried to get his attention. She continued to watch him as he kept his eyes on her, while he was being led out by Victoria who pulled him away by the hand. When he was no longer in sight, she closed her eyes and deepened the kiss. Ben didn't deserve whatever it was that was happening between her and her step-brother. If she has to do immense PDA for Derek to get the picture, then she will.

"Hey Cuz!" Vicky said breezily as she sat down on the grooms seat. "Where's Dr. Doolittle?"

Casey rolled her eyes before she glared at her cousin. "He's studying to be a doctor, not a vet. And right now, he's mingling."

"Aren't you both supposed to be doing that together?" She asked distractedly as she started poking around the centerpiece in boredom.

Fighting the urge to pull away the centerpiece, Casey sighed. "We did. But my shoes are killing me right now. I'm going to do another round in a little while."

"Right." Leaning back, Vicky crossed her arms and studied her companion. "So what's up with you and Derek?"

"What? Me and Derek?" Casey sputtered nervously. "Nothing. Why should anything be...up?"

Nodding knowingly, Vicky leaned forward. "I've seen the way he looks at you. As well as the way you look at him." She nudged her. "Go on. Spill. I know some thing's up. You can tell me."

Casey's eyes narrowed. "You're delutional."

"And you're in denial." Vicky grinned. "As a fellow female who likes to... play the field, I get it. Be-lieve me I get it." She let out a light laugh. "But of course, you know that." She ignored her cousin's death glare. "Hey! At least I didn't make out with Ben."

"Yeah. What an accomplishment." Casey mumbled dryly. "And why would you think that anything was going on between the two of us?"

Vicky shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe because every time we tried to hook up, someone would mention something to do with you, and he would go all weird and talkative." She rolled her eyes at the memory. "Bit annoying, really."

Casey tried to keep her face neutral, as her thoughts turned to her step-brother. Without a second thought, she stood up, mumbled something about having to join Ben, and left. Ignoring the curious look of her cousin. The thought of the two of them together made her sick to her stomach. She needed to get away from any reminder of such a union, and that meant both parties.

It was officially nearing the end of the wedding reception. Casey had successfully dodged Vicky and Derek the rest of the evening, and was insanely proud of herself for the accomplishment. What she didn't expect however, was Derek hunting her down where she stood a little away from the humiliating dance her husband was attempting with the rest of his med school buddies, as everyone clapped along, no doubt amused.

"Here." She looked down at the signed papers he handed her. She looked up at him in an effort to read his expression, but he kept his eyes on the seven fully grown men in the middle of the dance floor.

She didn't know what to say. The meaning of this action was very clear. And the thing is, she wasn't sure if she was happy with that meaning. But he did do something she wanted him to do, so she said the one thing she would always say under such a circumstance. "Thank you." They kept their eyes on Ben. Neither making a move.

"So..you're married." He sounded casual.

"Yeah." They stayed silent again. "I guess it's over. For good I mean." She didn't know why, but she felt the need for confirmation.

"Yeah. It's over." He said softly.

She looked at him then, at the same moment his eyes met hers. "Nothing happened."

"No. Nothing happened." He held out his hand. "For the sake of the family... and Ben."

Nodding, she shook his hand. "You know. Someone might actually confuse you for having a conscience." She said smugly, aware that her hand still hadn't left his.

He winced mockingly, his thumb lightly caressing her skin. "I doubt anyone would make that mistake."

"If I'm not mistaken, I think this is the first agreement we ever made that doesn't lead to destruction or injury."

He smirked. "With you, everything ends up with destruction or injury." Looking down, he untangled their fingers. "See you around, McDonald."

Smiling slightly, Casey ignored the heaviness in her chest. "See you around, Venturi." With a final nod, he made his way to the dance floor to hug his best friend goodbye.

She did the right thing by getting married. She did.

A/N - Okay, so technically this is the end. *dodges flying fruit and curses* Don't hate me. Epilogue coming up. So... you can hope if you're a Dasey shipper :D

Also, I was aiming to do something that I hoped very few of you guys expected, and that seemed like a logical outcome for the predicament that I put our two fave characters through, at least to me. (I know I'm evil).

Anyways, please review and tell me what you think. Thanks for reading :)