Sorry for the over a month long hiatus...i've been overwhelmingly busy!!

Okay, the beginning of this chapter is REALLY boring, but I promise it gets better...


"Come on kids!" George called from the front door of the house, "It's going to be a long ride!"

The kids groaned as they sleepily dragged their bags down the steps and loaded them up in the car.

"Was it really necessary to leave at 7am on the first day of Spring Break?" Derek asked with his eyes still half shut.

"We want to get an early start so that we'll have more time there...no go help Casey bring down her bags." Nora said as she grabbed the car keys.

Derek groaned on the inside and headed upstairs.

He knew Casey had been having a rough time since the incident, so he had a very sensitive approach whenever he tried to talk to her. "Case?" He said as he gently knocked on her door.

"Come in." He heard quietly.

He walked in the room and saw a distraught Casey tried to close her suitcase.

"Casey, what's wrong?" Derek asked.

Her eyes teared up, "Derek, I don't know how I'm going to be able to handle this vacation. I've been trying to avoid you, but I'm going to be stuck with you this whole time...it's just going to be really hard on me."

"Case, it's fine." He said sitting down next to her and pulling her into a hug.

She shrugged away, "No, Derek, it's not 'okay.' I'm so ashamed; I can't believe I did that...with you."

"Jeez Case, way to deflate my ego." He said with a laugh, "Come on, the family wants to hit the road."

He grabbed a suitcase and led her out to the car.

"Okay! Casey, Lizzie, Marti in the back, Derek and Edwin in the middle." Nora announced.

Well at least I'm not sitting next to him. Casey thought.

George started up the SUV and we were full speed ahead to NYC. Casey decided to just listen to her iPod for awhile as the kids watched A Series of Unfortunate Events.

A few hours later, Lizzie tried to wake up Casey, "Case, wake up! We're going to eat lunch."

Casey was disoriented for awhile, but eventually comprehended what was going on.

The family was at a Subway, and they all went into different lines to order their food.

It was finally Derek and Casey's turns to order. "Chicken and cheese on white." they said at the exact same time. Casey just looked at him with a scowl and he returned a smile. As Casey turned away, Derek saw a small smile playing at the ends of her lips.

They all sat down to eat...Liz, Ed, Case and Derek at one table, George, Nora and Marti at another.

"So Derek, who's the latest catch of yours?" Edwin said raising an eyebrow.

Derek and Casey both choked on their subs. Lizzie just sat there with out suspecting anything.

"Umm, no one Edwin...how about you?" This time Edwin and Lizzie spit out their subs.

"No one." Edwin's pride said.

Lizzie looked down and had a small pout on her face.

The rest of the meal was pretty much silent until George came over with an announcement.

"Kids, I'm sorry, but we're going to have to stay here over night."

"What?! Why?" Casey asked in desperation.

"Marti's flu has come back...we thought it was gone, but she still doesn't feel well, and the long car ride is just making it worse. We're just going to have to get a room and bunk here tonight."

The kids sighed and headed to the car to go searching for a hotel.

"Ooo! There's one!" Nora pointed out.

The sign read, "Hilton Garden Inn."

They pulled into the driveway and temporarily parked the SUV.

"Hello, I was wondering if you had three rooms available for tonight." George asked politely.

"Let me check." The receptionist responded as she clicked away on her computer.

"Hmm, it seems that we only have two rooms left for tonight, both non smoking."

George looked at Nora and shrugged, "I guess we'll take them."

The seven of them headed into the elevator to go up to their rooms.

"Okay, Derek, Edwin, Lizzie and Casey in one room, me, George and Marti in the other...fair?"

The kids didn't even bother arguing about it because they knew the parents would win the argument.

The kids entered their rooms. "Woah this is awesome! It's like the honeymoon suite!"

The explored the room with had two king beds, a mini fridge, a full bar, an in-room jacuzzi, a huge tv, and a beautiful view of the garden from the balcony.

"I could get used to this place." Lizzie said as she flopped onto her bed.

"I think we should settle sleeping arrangements now." Edwin said with a devilish smirk and a wink, "How about Derek and Casey in that bed and me and Liz in that one?"

Lizzie gave a disgusted look and said, "Or me and Case in that bed and you and Derek in that one."

"Liz, in all seriousness, I am a man, I'm not going to sleep with my kid brother...it's just not right." Derek popped in.

"How about you forget about your selfish pride for a second, Derek." Casey said as she came out of the bathroom clad in a red bikini and headed out the door.

Derek was speechless. First about her comment and second, about the way she looked.

"Umm, yeah, well, I'm going to go to the pool." Derek said as he walked out the door, "You two can figure out the sleeping arrangements."

The two middle kids sat dumbfounded and Derek left.

Derek raced to the pool where Casey was doing laps. During her butterfly, she saw him, "Go away, Derek."

"You can't make me, I want to talk to you."

She got out, wrapped a towel around herself started to dry off, "Then talk."

"Okay...I think we should try and get along, for the sake of the trip. I think that there may be a possibility that we could be friends by the end of this. I really don't like being the mean guy anymore...there comes a time in your life when you realize you just need to grow up."

Casey sat there and contemplated what he said for a moment, "Well I guess it couldn't hurt..."

"Exactly what I thought!" He said giving her a hug.

Her body became stiff. He could tell, "A little too soon for hugs?" He asked laughing.

"Yeah, maybe just a little." She responded laughing. It was the first time he saw her laugh in a few days, so it made him happy.

They started walking back to the elevator to go to the room.

"You wanna do something fun?" Derek asked cocking an eyebrow.

At first Casey was afraid remembering the last time he said that, "Umm, remember what happened last time?"

"Haha, no! Not that, I was thinking we could go to a restaurant to get some dinner."

"Hmm, give me 20 minutes." She said as soon as they got in the door of the hotel room.

Casey grabbed a cocktail dress and headed into the bathroom to shower.

Derek grabbed khakis and a polo and went to the other room to shower and get ready.

Twenty minutes later, Derek was just finishing combing his hair as Casey walked out of the bathroom.

"Case, you look wonderful."

"Thanks, you don't look too bad yourself, Fabio." She said laughing at her joke.

"Shall we?" He said as he opened the door to go.

They arrived at the restaurant and were seated right away at the bar.

"Derek, you seriously brought me to a bar? You know I can't resist a drink!" She said with a pout which turned to a laugh.

The bartender came over and Derek asked for two beers and flashed a fake ID.

As soon as the beers came, he also asked for two burgers.

A few beers later, Casey and Derek were at the karaoke machine singing "Come on Eileen."

The whole audience was loving it and singing along.

Eventually Derek and Casey decided to head back to the room.

Edwin and Lizzie were in there watching a movie...in the same bed. When they walked in the room, the kids jumped.

"Woah! What's goin on here?" Derek slurred and Casey laughed.

Lizzie jumped out of the bed and headed into the bathroom.

Edwin also got up to see Derek, "Dude, you two are totally drunk!"

"Yeah yeah yeah," Casey said waving it off with her hand, "I'm going to go pass out now."

She crawled into a bed and fell fast asleep...and soon did everyone else.

Casey woke up next to Lizzie and glanced over to see Edwin in the other bed. She was happy to see she didn't repeat her mistake, but she did have a nasty hangover. She heard a noise so she looked across the room.

"Coffee?" Derek asked, "It helps the hangover."

"Please." Casey said rubbing her head and reaching out for the mug.

Pretty soon the four kids were all up and ready to hit the road once again, so Derek and Casey went to the parents room to see if they were ready.

They walked into the room and saw them all asleep.

"DAD! NORA! Wakey wakey!" Derek yelled.

They shot up like they were being fired at, "What?!"

"Guys, it's already 10am, don't you want to leave soon?" Casey asked.

"I'm sorry, Case, we can't, Marti was sick all night...we honestly just fell asleep probably a half an hour ago."

"What about New York?!" Lizzie cried from the doorway, which startled everyone.

"I'm sorry, sweetie, we just can't."

The kids retired to their room and sat in disappointment.

"I wish we could go to New York...or at least get out of boring Syracuse." Edwin said with a frown.

They all sat there agreeing until Derek had an idea, "I've got it! Let's ask Dad and Nora if we can go to New York! We can be there in five hours tops!"

The younger kids sighed at this lame attempt.

"Actually, I think that could work, I mean, my mom totally trusts me, she knows I can handle it." Casey said in a 'matter-of-fact' tone.

The four of them ran into their parents room to pitch their idea to them.

"...so we thought we could just take Lizzie and Edwin with us to New York." Derek said.

"And you know we wouldn't do anything stupid, you trust me, right mom?" Casey chimed in.

Nora thought about this..."I don't know..."

"Come on, mom, we're all very responsible...even Derek has his moments!"

"Fine. On one condition...Casey is in charge of everyone's actions...she's the only one I trust...sorry Liz, I trust you, but you're too young."

The kids were so excited that they started loading the SUV up again.

"Okay, here's the Visa and George's Mastercard. I am allowing you to use it for food, gas, hotel, touristy things, and you all can buy one souvenir that is under 100 each." Nora said as she handed over the cards, "Oh, and we already have reservations at the Sheraton Hotel and Towers."

"Okay, thanks! Bye mom!" Casey said as she hugged her mother and climbed into the passenger's seat.

"Bye Nora!" Derek waved as he pulled out of the parking space and headed out.

The minute they were out of the parking lot Casey squealed.

Derek looked over confused, "What?"

"I cannot believe they let us go! This is going to be so much fun!" Casey said as she turned up the radio.

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