Here ya go, bit more Dasey this time. Hope you like it :)

Disclaimer: I don't own Life With Derek, Cheaters or The All American Rejects I Wanna Touch You. Please don't make me say anything else I don't own or I may cry.

Chapter Three

I woke up with my open book crumpled beneath my face and I desperately tried to straighten out the pages. I couldn't take it back to the library in that state.

I pushed my hair off my face and breathed out. I decided to worry about it later. A thought that didn't last very long.

I was still trying to get the page perfect again when Derek walked into my room.

"You have drool on your face." Were the first words out of his mouth.

Horrified I wiped at my face, then turned on him. "What do you want?" I gave him my best withering look, which only made his smirk bigger.

"Nora asked if you were ok to take Simon yet? They're going to have an early night." He leaned against the door frame, clearly amused by my rumpled state as he didn't take his eyes off me.

I jumped up, cleaned myself up and brushed my hair, before pushing past him to go downstairs. Book left forgotten on the bed.

Mom handed me Simon almost as soon as I entered the room, listing off instructions that I barely followed. Something about bottles in the refrigerator his changing stuff and to try and sleep when he did. She then muttered that he should be sleeping through by now with a pained look on her face, then said goodnight and practically ran to the basement.

Wow, and I thought college was stressful.

George thoughtfully took Simon's Moses basket up to my room, but I decided to stay downstairs for now with the TV for background noise while I did some work. Which was harder to do one handed than I thought it would be.

I did half an hour's work before deciding to make a drink. A move that filled me with nervousness seeing as I would have to be holding Simon as all his rockers and stuff had been put away downstairs. Everyone else was upstairs which meant I couldn't ask Lizzie or Marti to make it, and I was really thirsty so I wasn't about to go without. This was going to be a long night.

"Ok, Si, want to help Casey make a drink?" I asked the baby, hearing Derek's mocking voice in my head even as I did so.

I wondered if I had been imagining his voice when the real one flooded the room. Funny how even when he's quiet (which is virtually never) he still dominates the room. "Get me a can of coke while you're at it would ya."

"Get it yourself." I said automatically, but knowing he wouldn't I made him do the next best thing and shoved Simon at him as I went into the kitchen.

"Hey!" He complained.

"You want me to get you a drink? Then you have to hold Simon, or I won't have enough hands to carry yours and mine."

"I wasn't the one who offered to take him for the night." He grumbled, giving in for once. "Get me a bag of chips while you're there!" He called after me.

I complied with a sigh of irritation. He just couldn't have offered to get me my drink 'cause I was busy with my work and Simon. Typical Derek, does whatever's easiest for him, never mind anyone else. I had half a mind to leave him with Simon all night, he'd probably be up all night anyway.

When I came back in the channel had been changed from a late night chat show to a horror movie.

"Der-ek!" I grabbed his remote and the normal one before he could move (babies have their uses it seems) and changed back the channel.

"Oh, Pleeeeaassse not that crap again!" He moaned, reaching across for me to pass him the remote. As if.

I just fidgeted back into the couch, picking up my work again. I didn't make a move to relieve him of Simon.

"You aren't even watching it!"

"Well, I think Simon's a little young for horror movies. Besides, I can't concentrate with all that screaming." I pulled my lip up a little in distaste.

"Fine, compromise." He held out his hand again, and against my better judgement I handed him back his remote, keeping the family one just in case. He flicked through before landing on 'Cheaters' and looking at me. "May as well be a chat show, but with girls attacking other half-naked girls. Good for both of us, right?"

I narrowed my eyes at him but left it on. I was a little surprised he'd offered a compromise at all, I didn't want to discourage him. I watched him a moment, waiting to see if he'd pass Simon back over.

"What?" He frowned without looking away from the TV.

"Nothing." I quickly looked back down at my work. I don't know why, but him knowing I was watching him made me uncomfortable.

It wasn't long before I got side-tracked by the show and Derek's running commentary. I left what I was doing mid sentence and joined him in laughing as a man jumped out of bed, ran outside and tried to climb over a wall, all with no clothes on and his girlfriend's husband chasing him.

I felt bad for laughing, after all, this was someone's life and I knew how I'd felt when I caught Truman with Vicky. I wouldn't want people laughing. But then I didn't sign up to have it put on TV.

Derek's laugh filled the room again as the cheating girl started trying to shove her husband with her rather sizeable torso. "She should be a sumo wrestler!" He said to me.

I laughed back, enjoying a few precious minutes with him without fighting. Sometimes I just couldn't understand it; sure he's a jerk, but when we're not fighting we really get along. Just before we left for college we were getting on great, then he started bugging me again for no reason. If had lunch with new friends he was sure to come over and flirt with them, and make typical Derek comments, then when I ate alone he just smirked at me from across the room. Probably gloating. I even tried eating with him a couple of times, but he accused me a coming on to his friends and basically told me to get lost. I just couldn't win. But we could get along. If we just stopped fighting.

I shook my head sadly.

"It's just a show, Case. If he was really upset he sure wouldn't be talking to them about it." Derek said, misunderstanding my expression.

I nodded, smiling a little to show I was ok.

Simon hadn't stirred up to this point and I was beginning to wonder why my Mom made it sound so hard. Then the screaming started.

Of course, Derek immediately passed Simon back to me, well more like shoved him at me. I took him with an eye roll and tried jiggling and shushing him. When that didn't work I checked his nappy and changed it. He stopped for a second then started again, so I went into the kitchen to warm up a bottle for him, leaving Derek holding him at arms length, a look of pure fear on his face as I did so.

When I came back, the screaming had stopped but he was still crying so I fed him anyway. An act rendered nearly pointless when he threw most of it back up all over me when I burped him. A fact considered boundlessly amusing by Derek, until Simon projectiled again, this time splashing Derek's shoulder.

"Eewww!" He wiped it with his hand, wiped his hand on me, then got up to wash his hand and change his shirt.

I cleaned myself up with tissue as best I could, then cleaned the couch off, yet another task that wasn't meant to be done with one hand I might add. My neat instincts were screaming at me to go and have a shower, but I couldn't just leave Simon on his own. Luckily years of Derek putting disgusting things on me, in my clothes and in my toiletries had hardened me a little against this kind of thing but I still felt completely mortified.

Until Derek popped back into my head; not that he was ever really far from it. I smiled evilly and took Simon upstairs.

Without knocking, I walked straight into Derek's room and passed Simon to a totally bewildered Derek. I shot his own smirk at him and crossed my arms so he couldn't pass him back.

"I'm gonna go take a shower, you're on baby watch until I come back." My eyes glanced down over him, taking in the small piece of his hip that showed where he hadn't pulled his shirt down properly. Why did I notice these things? I shook myself out of it and left for my shower.

As the water ran over me, I let out a sigh of contentment. The first proper shower I'd had since we left; the ones in my dorm had terrible pressure, they could barely penetrate my hair. I started singing a song my room mate was always playing.

I never thought that I was so blind,

I can finally see the truth,

It's me for you

I skipped the next part that I can't remember than launched straight into the chorus.

I wanna, I wanna, I wanna touch you,

You wanna touch me too,

Everyday, but all I have is time,

Our love's the perfect crime

Derek chose this exact moment to burst through the door, which I thought I had locked, with a crying Simon, saying my name in a panicked tone. Then stopped, probably realising what he'd just done.

"Der-ek!" I yelled at him, clutching the shower curtain around myself.

He broke out of his open mouthed reverie. "He's screaming again, what do I do?"

"I don't know, sing to him?"

Derek just looked at me like I'm stupid.

"Oh, right. Um, play him something on your guitar?" I said, desperately willing him to leave.

"It's an electric guitar, Case. I'd wake up the whole street!"

"And it doesn't have a volume control?" I asked, frustrated. "Fine, fine, I'll be right out." I gave in.

He just stood their looking relieved.

"Out!" My exasperated tone teamed with my shooing motions to make him turn around and leave, smirking as he went.

I finished up in the shower, blushing the whole time, then ran to my room to get dressed into my night clothes as I'd forgotten to bring them into the bathroom in my desperation to get out of the sicky ones.

I let out a noise of frustration as I saw Derek asleep on my bed with Simon.

Derek looked so worn out from the day that I almost decided to let him sleep. Then I thought of my options; sleep next to Derek, or in his bed, and I decided against it.

"Derek, wake up." I nudged his knee with mine. Nothing. "Derek." I nudged harder this time and he stirred.

"Wha-?" He sleepily turned his eyes on me, then looked around himself.

"Get up and go to your own room." I ordered him, and he must have been tired because he obeyed. I took a sleeping Simon and gently transferred him to his Moses basket, noting that he'd soon be too big for it.

I smiled as I heard Derek fall down on his bed and got ready to go to my own.