A/N: Sorry for the long delay folks. Things around my place have been crazy lately, with some family issues and trying to study for an insurance agent's course. Also, I wanted to get "Whose Line Is It Anyway: Life With Derek Edition" completed before I returned back to this story. Hopefully, I'll be able to devote time to a few more chapters or actually complete this before I start writing the sequel to "WLIIA: LWD Edition". Anyway, hope you enjoy the chapter.

Disclaimer: Don't own LWD. Nope. Nothing.

Now, on with the show!

Derek paced back and forth furious, trying to put the words together. This had gone on for several minutes. He was trying to force himself to come up with a logical way to explain his current predicament to Sam and Ralph. All it was getting him right now was a headache. His two friends, meanwhile, just sat on the edge of Sam's bed and watched the display of their best friend freaking out like they had never seen him do ever before.

"Dude, you're going to pace a hole in my floor" Sam said, finally breaking the silence.

"Well, excuse me" Derek replied sarcastically as he stopped pacing and stared at his friends.

"We don't care about watching you pace around the room. We want to know exactly how all of this started" Ralph said.

"That's what I'm trying to get to. I just don't know how to say it in a way that will make sense" Derek snapped back. The frustration in his voice was very noticeable.

"Just start from the beginning" Sam said. "How did this all start?"

Derek took in a deep breath. "It started when I first saw Casey." Sam and Ralph both stared at him wide-eyed and slacked-jawed. "Look, it wasn't anything that bad. I mean, she definitely stood out the first time I met her."

"How?" Sam asked, nervously.

"Because she was wearing her freakin' school uniform from Toronto – that's how." To say that Derek was on edge was an understatement. "I mean, I thought she looked cute it in." Sam and Ralph just continued to stare at Derek in light of this revelation.

"But dude, remember in the cafeteria, when you had me pretend to be you when we first met her …" Ralph said.

"Yes, I remember. That's what I told myself so that I wouldn't do what I usually do." Derek said with a hint of annoyance. 'Why does Ralph have to remember that?' he thought.

"Doing what?" Ralph asked. Derek shook his head at his friend's stupidity. Sam just glanced over at Ralph and gave him a "you know" glance. Finally, Ralph figured out what Derek meant. "Oh."

"If that's the case, then what happened?"

"I don't know!" Derek exclaimed, holding his head in his hands. "That defense worked for a good while. All I know, it started about a year after the McDonalds had moved in! I started having dreams about Casey, then I started having thoughts about her!"

"Thoughts?" Sam questioned.

"Dreams?" Ralph added.

"Yeah." Derek replied in a more subdued tone. "I would end up having some dream, thought, or fantasy about her that would either end or would end with the two of us fucking like rabbits."

"How often do they happen?" Ralph asked, showing a hint of interest that was just a little too obvious.

"When they first started happening, they were very, very rare. Unfortunately, for me, they're starting to occur more often and at very bad times."

Sam and Ralph sat there and processed this newfound information for a minute. Sam happened to be the first one to realize something. "So yesterday in class, when you zoned out during the test, were you…?"

Derek nodded his head before Sam could even finish the question.

"And, when you asked out Tanya yesterday at lunch, it was to provide you with some sexual relief?" Ralph added.

Derek nodded again. He figured it was best to leave out that it didn't quite work and that he imagined he was having sex with Casey during it.

"And when you zoned out staring at Bade Raider…" Sam didn't even have to finish the question.

Derek still nodded.

"Dude, you've got to tell her." Sam said.

Derek's head immediately shot up, eyes wide in fear. "No! I can't do that!"

"Why not?" Sam asked.

"If I were to tell Casey that, everything in my life would be headed for a disaster of biblical proportions!"

"What do you mean, 'biblical'?" Sam asked.

"What I mean is Old Testament, real wrath-of-God type stuff. Fire and brimstone coming down from the sky! Rivers and seas boiling! Forty years of darkness! Earthquakes! Volcanoes! The dead rising from the grave! Human sacrifice! Dogs and cats living together! Mass hysteria!" Derek exclaimed.

"Okay, okay, we got it" Ralph said.

"Dude, you're just being overdramatic" Sam added.

"I'm not being overdramatic. I'm just thinking about the consequences of what would happen if I told people. Dad would probably disown me, Nora and the kids would think I'm either a sick pervert or just flat out insane, everyone at school would probably think the same thing Nora and the kids think. I'll lose my social status, wind up on the streets …"

"Derek, stop with the dramatics. You're acting worse than a girl" Sam said.

"Keep going. I rather enjoy it." Ralph states with a huge grin.

"Shut up Ralph!" Derek and Sam said simultaneously.

"Look, if it's the people at school you're worried about – screw 'em. Their opinions aren't going to matter if you're in love with…" Sam's last sentence was cut off by Derek.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa…back it up. Did you just say love?"

"Yeah, if you love her, why should it matter what people at school think?"

"First of all, I don't love her. The dreams and stuff aren't romantic professions of feelings, they're just straight up fucking in them. Second of all, she's my stepsister. We're family! People are going to view me as an incestuous freak! Even Ralph would agree with me on that!"

"No I wouldn't."

Derek stared at Ralph in disbelief. "But that day in the cafeteria, when I said that stuff to you…!"

"Yeah, I was a little freaked at first. But it's you and Casey. In a way, the grossness doesn't seem to apply to that."

Derek then stared at Sam. "And you – you're Casey's ex! Shouldn't you want to kick my ass on top of the disgust of the situation?!"

"Dude, Casey and I are just friends now. And I agree with Ralph about the grossness factor not applying. And you've been my best friend since kindergarten. If going after Casey is what will make you happy, I'm all for it."

Derek stared at his friends in disbelief. They were fine with this revelation? They were encouraging him to act on his thoughts? 'Christopher Titus was right. The people that truly love you can truly be a pain in the ass.' He took a deep breath to regain this composure. "Okay, we're forgetting one key thing to all of this…"

"What?" Ralph asked, again showing way too much interest in the subject.

"It's Casey! I give her hell on a daily basis! She thinks I hate her guts, and she probably hates me just as much, if not more! I can't tell her that – 'Hey Case, I think you're very pretty and I want to fuck your brains out!' Hell, she might snap – eyes turn yellow, speaking Latin backwards, and shove a kitchen knife up my ass!"

"Dude…" Sam tried to interject.

"Look, all I'm saying is there is no way this can happen."

"Man, this isn't going to be good for you. If you love her…"

Derek cut Ralph off. "Look, it's all just my mind playing some sick trick on me. I don't love her."

"You can try to convince us all you want, but you're going to have to face this sooner or later." Sam said.

Derek shook his head at Sam's statement. "Well, I've got to get going. I promised Marti I would spend some time with her" he said as he grabbed his coat and headed for the bedroom door.

"Hey man, you know where here for you." Ralph said as Derek walked out the door. Derek looked back and gave a half-grin before closing the door behind him.

Sam shook his head. "God, why couldn't I have normal friends?" he muttered under his breath.

(9:30 P.M. - M/V house)

After Derek got home, Casey was more than glad to give Marti to him. Although she loved Marti like a little sister, having to play and keep up with her all day long was just a little too much for Casey. Derek later discovered that Casey had been invited to a party by Max, who she was currently smitten with at the moment, and was waiting desperately for Derek to get home so that she could get ready. 'Probably some lame ass party with a bunch of dumb football jocks. Besides, not really in a partying mood tonight' he thought as Marti had grabbed his hand and rattled off all the things that she wanted to play. After a game of Twister that also involved Lizzie and Edwin, watching "Beauty and the Beast", followed by a family dinner of pizza, a game of princess dress-up, and a couple of games of Candy Land and Sorry, Marti was physically done for the night.

"Okay, Smarti, time for bed." Derek said while putting up the last of the games as his little sister tried to stifle a yawn.

"But I'm not tired yet." Marti said before letting out another yawn.

"Nice try, kiddo. I'm going to have to teach you the fine art of lying one day." Derek said as he scooped Marti up and took her to her room. "Good night, Smarti" he says as he places her on the bed.

"Good night, Smerek" she replies. She then notices Derek rubbing his temples. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just got some things on my mind."

"What kind of things."

"Well, there's this girl that I keep thinking about a lot lately..." Mentally, Derek wanted to kick himself. Unfortunately for him, Marti was one of the very few people that he couldn't lie to.

"Do you like her?"

Derek was caught off-guard by Marti's question. "I don't like her, but for some reason, I can't stop thinking about her."

"If you don't like her, then why are you thinking about her so much?"

"Well, that's what I'm trying to figure out. I'm also trying to figure out why you're not asleep yet" he said before he started to tickle her. After a few moments, Derek stopped his tickling assault and Marti's eyes started to droop. Derek took this as his sign to leave, cutting off the light on his way out the door. Walking back downstairs, he went to the kitchen. He grabbed a soda and some slices of pizza left over from dinner and headed back into the living room. Taking a seat in his recliner, he grabbed the remote and turned on the TV, quickly flipping it to a hockey game between the Toronto Maple Leafs and New York Rangers. As he consumed his food and watched the game in silence, the only thing he could focus on was Marti's question replaying in his head. 'If you don't like her, then why are you thinking about her so much?"

A/N: Again, hope you guys enjoy the chapter. Don't forget to review.
- the OD