Compass

A/N: 20 One-shot Challenge issued by mayapapaya500. This is just the first of 20 oneshots/drabbles, so I hope you enjoy it!

Disclaimer: I do not own LWD :)

Scavenger hunts are the pits.

Especially family-oriented scavenger hunts.

It was the first ever family reunion with the Macdonald-Venturi relatives all in one area. Except, it couldn't even be called a reunion, because most of the relatives had never met the others. If there was one thing Casey and Derek could ever agree on, it was that this was a bad idea.

"Mo-om! George!" Casey whined, back in their cozy home in Canada. Derek by her side, his arms were crossed and he was giving him typical "I-so-don't-want-to-do-this" face. But the parents stood their ground; stern looks planted firmly on their faces. The teenagers didn't have a hope in the world.

They decided on a nice location in Vermont, where the Macdonald family always used to have their reunions. Except, this time there would definitely be enough room for everyone. Every room was occupied with at least four people, and it was extremely uncomfortable most of the time. People were always struggling to get through narrow hallways, or having to wait in line to get up the wooden stairs of the large cabin, careful not to break a hole straight through. For the only two teenagers of the family, it was pure hell.

And now here they were, standing almost ankle-deep in mud, in a mess of pine trees that could barely pass for a forest. It was traditional to have scavenger hunts at the Macdonald family reunions, and they figured they could keep it alive, even with double the head count. Usually the hunts were done solo, but this time, they were all in groups of three or four. Derek, unfortunately, clung to Casey's arm, afraid of being chosen by Casey's six-year-old triplet cousins, who all happened to have mad crushes on him. Reluctantly, she agreed. The other person in the group was Derek's young cousin, Randy, and eight-year-old that had an obsession with hockey. Who could have guessed that Derek was his favorite cousin?

"What are we even supposed to be finding?" Derek whined, picking up a large stick from the forest floor and using it as a walking stick.

"The paper says we need to find a yellow bandana tied to one of these trees," Casey read, before peering from behind the rules and guidelines at the surrounding scenery. There were millions of trees.

"How the hell-" Derek stopped, looking over at Randy, "I mean, heck, are we supposed to find one yellow bandana?"

"We have this compass here," Casey pulled out the small, gold-rimmed compass with a black interior and a bright red needle.

"And these directions," She showed him the paper.

"A compass? That's it?"

Casey nodded. The needle wildly jerked about in the little compass. And Derek groaned.

"This is ridiculous!"

"Yeah, this is ridiculous!" Randy reiterated. Derek pretended not to notice.

Just has Casey had predicted, Derek whined with every last breath. He complained about the humidity, about Randy, about Casey, about the compass, about the dirt, about the musky smell, about the whole trip all together.

"Wait!" Casey exclaimed, interrupting him in mid-whine. She watched the compass intently with her big, cerulean eyes. She walked a few steps, halted, turned in a different direction, and walked a few steps that way.

"Yes!" She exclaimed. Derek and Randy both looked at her, puzzled. She pointed past them. In the distance there was a small, but evidently yellow bandana tied to a tree. Randy was the first to bolt towards the tree. Derek followed after grabbing Casey's hand and pulling her towards it. They stopped a few feet in front of the tree to watch Randy untangle it off with great struggle. Finally, it was free, and he waved it above his head like a flag.

Casey felt a light peck on her cheek.

"That compass wasn't such a bad idea after all."