The last guest left at 2am and by general consensus they left the clearing up until the morning. Casey had already disappeared by the time Derek went up to bed. He was rather relieved he was the only person who wasn't sharing a room because he knew he was going to find it hard to sleep. The girls were all paired up so that Marti's friends could stay over, and Robbie had given up his room and was sleeping on Edwin's floor. By 3am, the house was silent – and Derek was still awake.

He was lying in bed staring at the wall when his bedroom door opened. Casey's head popped round the door. "Are you decent?"

"No. Never have been."

She grinned, shut the door and came all the way into the room.

"What's up?" She asked.

"Can't sleep."

"Any particular reason?" She climbed into bed beside him.

He ignored her question. "Are you seriously planning on sleeping in my bed tonight? What if Dad or Nora comes in?"

"Highly unlikely, D. Besides, you're my brother." She grinned at him.

"Thanks Casey." He threw her a dirty look.

She propped herself up on her hand and watched him, sensing his discomfort. She put a hand up to touch the side of his face.

"Just so you understand, Derek. There is nothing that you could ever say to me that would stop me wanting to work with you and very little that would ever stop me wanting to live with you. We're a team."

"It just sort of slipped out." He meant the blurt.

She giggled. "…as the actress said to the bishop."

He pulled a face, but it was an amused face.

"Tease me again, McDonald and I will tickle you into submission."

"Submission to what?" She grinned. He sat up and grabbed her feet. Casey squealed.

"Oh that's good. Wake the whole house." He said and tickled her again.

The game continued for a few moments and then Casey sat up.

"Derek?"

"Hmm." He didn't like how serious she looked.

"You have 500 photos of me on your PC. You haven't had a serious girlfriend in the whole time I've been living with you. We spend most of our waking hours together, and just recently some of our sleeping hours together too. Plus, you just told me, you'd break your no-kids rule for me." She put a hand on his arm. "Is there something I should know?"

He looked up at her. "Go figure."

"You should have told me."

Then she climbed out of bed, and she was gone.

Derek sighed. Great! Way to go idiot. Screw your whole life up!

His bedroom door opened again and she was back with a very old shoe box, tied up with ribbon. She handed it to him and climbed back on to the bed.

"What's this?"

"Birthday and Christmas Cards for about seven years worth of events."

He opened the box and looked inside. They were all still sealed, faded ink on the envelopes. They were all addressed to him.

"Pick one, any one."

So he did.

The ink inside the card was fresher than that on the envelope because it had been hidden from the light.

"To Derek, my step-brother, who will never be my brother, because I will always want you to be so much more. All my love, always. Casey."

He glanced up at her.

"I never managed to give you these ones. I didn't have the courage."

Derek linked their hands and then brushed her cheek. "We've wasted rather a lot of time."

She grinned her agreement, leaned forward and pressed her lips to his.

Never let it be said that Derek couldn't react quickly under pressure. As soon as he felt her lips against his, he responded. His hands moved to her waist and he turned and pressed her against the bed.

They broke for air and he rested his forehead against hers.

"This is a big deal. Isn't it?" He whispered.

"Oh yeah."

"The forever kind?"

"I hope so."

He smiled. "Yeah. So do I." He bent towards her and the kissing began in earnest again. His hands were exploring and Casey pushed the thought that this was happening in their parents' house to the back of her mind and concentrated on Derek.