Casey was in the shower. Derek took the opportunity to think, or in his case, pace. He felt trapped, trapped in his own room, in his own house, trapped in his own life. Too many things were going on that needed his full attention, and he was drowning in this sea of madness.

Casey was a supposed to be a support system, and she was, but she was also too clingy. She needed to be with him every second of the day, and the pressures of her expectations, as well as his own, were too great to handle comfortably. He couldn't be the laid back guy he used to be, the guy who cared about no one and nothing, showing no emotion except sarcasm. Suddenly, he had to mature, and accommodating and be nice to a person he once thought he hated. Derek had to be the adult, and the responsibilities of this position were far more difficult than anticipated.

He worried constantly about the future, a major change from the guy who used to be all about "the now". He and Casey were heading off to college in a few months, what would they do with the house? Should they sell it? That seemed the only reasonable answer, but who were they to sell their family's stuff? And if they didn't, how would they afford the bills? They could only expect their parents' life insurance to pay for everything for so long. Casey and Derek weren't capable of getting jobs that paid well enough for the upkeep, and manage their own living expenses. And what about Casey and Derek's college demands? Derek fully expected his dad and Nora to help him pack and unpack for college. Not to mention, do his laundry, help with homework, and send money for spending. Casey surely was expecting something of a similar nature.

Derek was overwhelmed. The brown walls of his bedroom were closing in on him, and the world started to spin. He wasn't able to judge the distance to his bed. His breathing came out in short, quick breaths until he was hyper ventilating. His vision began to grow fuzzy and black. Spots swam in his eyes. His ears became plugged, like when he would take a ride on an airplane. His center of balance was thrown off as he began to sway. He put out his hand, but couldn't remember which way was up. Right before he passed out, he saw one perfectly clear picture of Casey's face, and then his bedroom went black, like a solar eclipse, and he fell to the floor.

When he came to, Derek found himself looking into a blue so clear; he thought he was in heaven, close enough to the cerulean sky that he could reach out and stroke the velvety depths of the atmosphere. His body was being shaken too, so he supposed the clouds beneath his feet were rumbling. That's when he heard it, that's when he knew he had died. A sopranic angel was calling his name.

"Derek….." It was spoken in a musical lilt. "Derek…?" Now she sounded confused. "Derek?" Was it worry that affected her voice? "DEREK?!"

The fog around his brain suddenly cleared out. Derek was lying on the floor of his bedroom, between his desk and his bed. Casey was kneeling beside him on the floor, in a white terrycloth bathrobe that hit her 

thighs, her chestnut hair dripping into his face. All of his reflexes kicked in at once, and his whole body jerked upright. He gasped in air, taking in big gulps, as if he really had been drowning.

"Ow." He said, touching the back of his head, feeling a bump already forming. He reached for the desk to use as a support to stand up.

"Whoa. Whoa, whoa. What are you doing?" Casey pushed his shoulders back to the ground.

"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm going to shower, seeing as how you're done." He shook of her hands, which were making him feel uncomfortable in more ways than one.

"Not at that speed! You just fainted, buddy. Let me make sure you're okay first." Derek knew she was trying to help, but he was sick of being accommodating, of just rolling over and playing dead; his family was already doing that part. He was going to shower, and she was not going to stop h-

"Wait, did you just say fainted? As in damsel in distress fainting at a big scary monster? Fainting?" All other thoughts stopped at this word. He was Derek Venturi, king of his high school, and controller of all things female. The Derek he had been for the past month was Derek MacDonald, lord of the gays and dweebs, and he was done with him. The old Derek was coming back, even if it meant alienating his step sister again…

"No! Not damsel, just, um… Well, I just meant you, uh, passed out. Not damsel in distress, you're probably, um, sick. That's why we need to check you out."

A sarcastic comment creeped right up out of his gut, letting him know Derek Venturi was back on the throne. "Baby, you can check me out all you want. Just wait till I finish showering." He made sure his usual smirk was in place, and his hand was on her knee by the time he finished.

A look of what can only be described as revulsion mixed in with heartbreak and a hint of, was that desire?, passed along Casey's face, before she conceded. "Derek…." She sighed. "Fine. Go shower. Don't come running to me when you pass out again because I'm not coming to the rescue…." He didn't hear the rest as he strode out of the room, and out of Casey's favor.

Casey fumed. Just when Derek and she were beginning to bond, just when she began to love him as part of the family, he decides to go all immature on her. What had she been thinking? Expecting Derek to grow up, just because he now had to become the 'man of the house'? That was all part of the grieving stage. Adult Derek was gone, and the truth was, Casey was going to miss him.

She sighed. "Ugh, I so need to get out of here. I need to escape from …." She looked around, her eyes catching on a photo Derek had of him and Edwin sitting together. "Everything." She left Derek's room to get dressed, only to realize she needed to grab her purple bra from the laundry room. She raced down the steps, and gathered her "lingerie", and was on her way back upstairs when the door bell rang.



"Ugh! People leave me alone. I need to get dressed!" Casey muttered to herself.

She opened the door to find a package on the porch. Casey scooped it up and brought it into the house. The package was for her and Derek, she assumed to unwrap together. She opened it anyways. In the package were a couple of plane tickets, a batch of cookies, and a portly letter. Setting aside the plane tickets and the cookies (those would be of more use later), she opened the letter. Then she raced to the bathroom.

Casey barged in, screaming, "Derek!"

His head appeared from behind the shower curtain. "What?"

"The mail just came, and – "

"Thanks for the notification. Close the door on the way out." His head disappeared again.

"Derek, it's important!" Not even bothering to look at her anymore, she heard a grunt in response. Taking that as her cue to carry on, she continued. "Do you remember Mom's great Aunt Martha?"

"That old lady from the wedding? The one who looked like she experienced the beginning and end of the dinosaur era?"

"Yeah, that one. Anyways, we got a letter saying that she just passed away and-"

"Seems to be a popular trend now a days."

Ignoring his hurtful comment, one she was sure came from grief and bitterness, she persisted. "She left her estate to us."

"Us? You and me?" The shower shut off.

"Well, not exactly. To the MacDonald's; Mom, Lizzy, and me. But since they're, um, preoccupied –"

"Dead, you mean?" He climbed out of the tub, wrapped only in a towel, damp hair flopping in his usually sweet, mahogany eyes.

Tears of anger and suffering stung her eyes. "Yes, dead. Never coming back. Gone into the light. Pushing up daisies. Up in heaven. Enclosed in a blanket of eternal blackness. Just like Mom, and Lizzie and George and Edwin and Marti! Are you done being rude, or can I continue?!" The last sentence was punctuated with a touch of hysteria, betraying to the ever ignorant Derek how she much harm he was causing her. "You know what, just forget it." She walked towards the door, tears silently streaming down her face.

"Ah, Casey. Wait! I'm sorry." He pulled her back into the bathroom, enveloping her in a hug, letting her cry into his bare shoulder.



After a few minutes, Casey calmed down, and just stood there, absorbing all the comfort her step brother offered her. When the scent of his golden skin and the warmth of his bare chest began to create certain sensations in her heart, she pulled away.

"You ok?" Derek asked gently, proving that his maturity wasn't all gone. When she nodded, he said, "Please tell me what's up with Aunt Martha. I want to know." The lying teenager even went as far as to offer Casey a small smile to make her feel better.

She smiled, though weakly, back. "Aunt Martha died, and she left all her estate to us. It's in Florida, right along the beach, and she wanted us to go down there and check it out."

Derek looked at her, disbelieving. "She wants us to go all the way down to Florida, right now? Leave everything behind?"

"We don't have to. I just thought it was a good idea, too. Give us a break from this place. We can stay here, though, if you want."

"NO! I mean, I want to go. I need to go. If this morning's panic attack taught me anything, it's that I need a break." He held out his hand. "Can I see the letter?"

Casey held out her hand, trying to pass him the letter. Derek only raised his eyebrows. Confused, Casey glanced down. She was holding out her purple bra. Her bra. To her step brother. Who kept invoking confusing and she was pretty sure, taboo feelings inside of her. Her hand stayed in the air for a few eternal seconds as Casey realized that she was still in her robe, very naked underneath, and Derek was in a towel, also very naked underneath, and that she was trying to hand him her bra. She thrust the letter on to the bathroom sink and darted out of the too small bathroom, hearing Derek chuckle when she reached the hallway.

Here you go. Derek and Casey are going to Florida. I'm considering having Sam and Emily coming along. What do you think?? R&R. Next chapter hopefully they'll all be on vacation.