"Back home so soon?"
The Venturi and McDonald blended family was back together again for the Christmas/Derekus holiday.
"Don't act like you didn't miss me, Edwin." Derek tossed his bag into Edwin's hands like he was a bellhop.
This time before the trip, Casey zipped her own luggage to make sure her sleep clothes wouldn't mysteriously, or not-so mysteriously, be thrown out. And unlike her stepbrother, she carried her own bags from the car.
"Yeah, I really missed being your lapdog," Edwin mumbled.
"Did you say something?" Derek turned around momentarily.
"No. No, sir." Edwin was weak, poor thing.
Walking past the nativity, Derek grimaced at the sight of the Prince sitting lonely in the driveway, broken and unused in months. Why couldn't his father ask for help from a professional? He was stubborn, just like Derek, that's why.
Upon opening the red front door, Derek got a whiff of pinecones and peppermint in the air. The entire house was decorated in garland with pretty twinkling lights on top of the molding. The tree, however, wasn't up yet because Marti wanted to wait for Derek and Casey.
Derek, as was expected, started for the recliner, but George stopped him in his tracks and stood in his way.
"Don't sit down just yet, Derek. Nora needs your help grabbing the last bit of decorations from the attic."
"Ed can get it; it's his room," he fought.
"Derek, Edwin's busy carrying your luggage. Go get the decorations."
"Fine. I'm gonna grab a drink first."
Casey was already heading that way, so Derek squirmed to get past her, but she fought back, pushing him against the shoulder.
"Hey, looks like you two are under the mistletoe!" Lizzie smiled, eating a snack on the kitchen island.
"Wha-?" Derek looked above his head, and sure enough, Nora added a mistletoe this year! For what reason?! Nora and George already made out enough in public; they didn't need a mistletoe.
George chuckled from the living room, enjoying his son's freakout.
"You know the rules, Derek. Everyone's been inflicted by Nora's mistletoe. I had to kiss Nora. Lizzie had to kiss Simon on the nose. Marti had to kiss Edwin on the cheek. It's Nora's way of keeping us nice to each other around the holidays."
Thanksgiving was a success, so Derek didn't understand the need to implement a mistletoe, and neither did Casey.
"If she wanted to keep us nice, she should have bought us tickets to Hawaii instead. There is no way these lips are going anywhere near Casey's face, alright?" Derek nervously laughed, but inside, there was an active pinball machine in his stomach.
Casey was used to his hurdled insults, but it still hurt a little that he was this disgusted over a meaningless peck. Besides, he did kiss her once, if her drunken memory served correctly. It was on the cheek at that stupid party he threw without her permission. They were forced to kiss back then just as they were being forced now. An audience of fools praying for a kiss - how ridiculous!
"Great. We can agree on something." If Derek didn't want to kiss her on the cheek, she wasn't fighting him on it.
As the two tried to step forward away from the mistletoe, Edwin and Lizzie stood in front of them, blocking their path.
"Just because you two are the oldest and just because you don't live here anymore doesn't mean you get to break the rules," Lizzie told them, folding her arms.
"Yeah, we're tired of having to follow Nora's orders while you two get away with everything," Edwin nodded in agreement with his stepsister.
"Edwin, I will literally put my shoe in your mouth if you don't get out of my way." Derek reached for Edwin, but Lizzie stood between them as a barrier.
"Derek! Leave Edwin alone! What's one silly little kiss?" George heard the commotion and stepped into the conversation once more from the living room.
"Ugh, fine, okay! If it'll get you all to shut up! Just this once, and we never speak of it again."
Reluctantly, Derek quickly planted a light kiss on Casey's forehead.
It was a brief kiss, much more brief than at the party, but her entire body shuddered. She told herself it was out of disgust, but was it? It had to be!
Derek's face was the deepest shade of red, and the laughter from Edwin didn't help his embarrassment.
Casey and Derek looked away from one another, refusing to acknowledge what had just happened.
"I got it!" Edwin quickly reached for the camera on the kitchen island. That little punk was filming the entire thing! With Derek's video camera!
"You little - you've had my video camera the whole time I've been away?! That's it! I'm gonna kill you, Ed, and I'm gonna get it on tape to show all your little friends at the funeral."
Derek started after Edwin up the stairs, leaving Casey leaning against the wall for support.
"They are so immature," Lizzie and Casey said in sync with one another.
"So how's school been, Liz?" Casey asked, changing the subject. They could hear Edwin screaming for his life upstairs, but they ignored it.
"It's been great. But there is this one boy that keeps picking on me..."
"He probably likes you, Liz. That's how some guys are."
"Ah, like Derek picks on you?"
No. Not exactly. Not at all.
"Derek is hardly part of the male species. Sometimes, I wonder if he's even human. So let's pretend he's the exception here."
"Sure, Case."
"And Edwin? How's he doing in school?"
"You know Edwin. He secretly loves school, but he tries too hard to be like Derek, pulling pranks and skipping a few classes. Overall, he's doing okay."
"It astounds me why anyone would want to be like Derek, but to each their own."
"I forgot to mention that Edwin and I have another bet going," Lizzie smirked.
"Spill."
"I can't disclose anything further, but I'll let you know once I win."
That was odd.
Before she could question Lizzie further, Edwin rushed down the stairs with Derek behind him filming.
"Don't you have something to say to the camera, Ed?"
"I'm sorry, Derek," Edwin said.
"What was that? I couldn't hear you."
"I said, I'm sorry Master Derek!"
Casey rolled her eyes in digust.
As usual, George chose not to intervene, and Nora was still with Marti and Simon at the supermarket, so she couldn't interfere.
Luckily, the fighting ended after Derek got his apology, and the house was eerily quiet until the rest of the family got back.
That evening, Derek and Casey brought Marti tree shopping. What started off at a tree farm ended in the back of a supermarket when Marti insisted on a pink tree. It didn't go with Nora's traditional theme of red and gold, but Derek and Casey had given up on arguing.
The tree box barely fit into the back of the car, especially with Marti taking up room, but they managed as best they could.
Exhausted after assembling the tree, Casey and Derek sat on the couch while making Marti decorate, pointing at where she needed to put the ornaments. The stepsiblings clinked their hot chocolate mugs together, celebrating a job well done. The pink tree may look tacky, but at least the kid was happy. Nora would have to take her advice by being nice and accepting the tree for what it was.
When Marti was done with the ornaments, Derek lifted her up so she could reach the top of the tree to add the angel.
"No, I want Casey to do it."
Marti handed Casey the angel as Derek put his sister back on her feet.
Casey reached on her tippy toes, nearly missing the top branch. The last thing she needed to do was lose her balance and be branded Klutzilla again, so she stopped trying to do the impossible.
"Here, you do it," Casey told Derek.
This didn't fly with Marti.
"I picked the tree and decorated. Derek made the hot chocolate. Don't you want to have some part in this, too, Casey?"
Casey did feel guilty about not participating enough. All she did was order Derek around when putting the box in the car and order Marti around with adjusting the ornaments.
Casey looked around the room, but it was clear there weren't any foot stools.
"Okay, lift me up," she ordered Derek.
When Casey was sick, Derek carried her all the way down the stairs no problem, so she knew he was capable of lifting her a few inches to put up a tree topper.
"Lift her up, Smerek!"
Derek was too tired to argue and did as he was told. His hands gripped her hips as he lifted her high enough to reach the top. Her ponytail brushed the tip of his nose on the way back down, and, without much of a choice, he took in the smell of her cherry-scented shampoo. Derek made a mental note to throw all of her bottles away just so he didn't have to endure the sweet torture that was this scent ever again.
Derek set Casey back down with ease, taking in the imperfectly perfect tree.
They plugged in the lights and Marti called everyone to the living room.
"It's... nice."
Nora was not thrilled with the pink tree, but her number one rule was to maintain the holiday spirit no matter what. A pink tree wasn't the end of the world.
"Derek, that's a nice pink tree you got there. So tell me. What made you decide on the angel instead of the star?" Edwin asked, throwing a hand over his brother's shoulder.
Derek momentarily looked at Casey, who was smiling up at the tree, completely oblivious.
"Stars are overrated. Angels don't need a light to shine."
"Look who's a connoisseur of tree toppers," Casey laughed, evidently listening even though she acted as if she wasn't.
"Don't ruin the holiday buzz." He meant that literally because before the hot chocolate, he had a couple of drinks to fully relax.
"Whatever you say, Cindy Lou."
Everyone giggled.
"Okay, as heartwarming as this, it's time for supper," Lizzie announced.
Lizzie made dinner for the family to celebrate not only the holidays but Derek and Casey's return, as well.
With Nora busy with Simon, Lizzie was trying her best to step up and help out around the house. Since George obviously gave up cooking, Lizzie thought dinner was a good place for her start.
The dinnerware was placed on the table like that of a fancy restaurant, Lizzie taking advice from her culinary elective.
"I'm so impressed, Lizzie. This looks amazing," Casey smiled.
"Thanks, Case."
"This is...strange." Derek was breaking the "be nice" rule already.
"Don't listen to Derek. He knows very little about class."
"What happened to my soccer star?! This is so -"
"Lizzie can't play sports and enjoy cooking... is that what you're saying?"
"Well -"
The white linen cloth and shiny utensils were too much to bear. Derek was a paper plate and sticky counter kinda guy. And by the time Edwin would have his first bite, the tablecloth would be ruined, that was for sure.
"Derek, muzzle! The table looks great, Lizzie," George commended her, crossing his eyes at Derek.
"Don't worry, Derek. This is just for a special occasion. It's going back to normal after dinner," Lizzie insisted, walking over to set the food on the table.
"Elbows off the table, Derek," Nora warned.
All the boys needed for dinner was their hands, one fork at most, but the whole table was set with different utensils.
Edwin sat there, perplexed at the setup in front of him. There were two forks to his left, and he wasn't aware of which one to grab.
"Uh...which fork is the dinner fork?" Edwin asked out loud.
"And which fork do I use to kill myself with?" Derek added.
Casey pursed her lips at Derek.
"Lizzie went to a lot of trouble for this meal. Shut up, Derek," George said.
"Please, don't say shut up at the dinner table," Nora chimed in.
"Can we all eat and be quiet?"
Great. Marti was the voice of reason!
And so they did eat in silence as Marti requested, because stuffing their mouths was the only way to get them to (sorry Nora), shut up.
After dinner, Derek sat in the recliner, completely stuffed from Lizzie's cooking. Casey opted for the side of the couch nearest the recliner.
"Don't tell Lizzie, but her food was actually pretty good," Derek said.
"It wouldn't hurt for her to know how you feel," Casey shrugged.
"It would hurt my reputation." A reputation for being a jerk?
"Always the cool guy."
"Always the gnat in my ear."
"You're supposed to be nice to me... to all of us. So unless you want my mom to make us go underneath the mistletoe again, I suggest you fix your attitude." Casey set him straight.
Derek couldn't bear the thought of being underneath the mistletoe with her again. Absolutely not. He's kissed Casey twice already, and a third would not be a charm. Kissing her was worse punishment than making him share a shirt with Edwin when they misbehaved as kids.
"Consider me a changed man."