A/N A big thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! It's nice to know you guys are still with me.

Disclaimer: I do not own Life With Derek.

Derek decided to give me the silent treatment for the rest of night. As I prepared a small bowl of left over spaghetti for myself, I saw him quickly glance over at me from the other side of the kitchen. When he noticed me looking at him, he whipped his head in a different direction and walked off towards the dinning room table, where he than sat down and began eating his own bowl of spaghetti. My gaze slowly tore away from him and back to my own food, which was now warm and steamy from being in the microwave for a good minute in a half.

When I finally took a seat, I made sure that I sat on the other side of the table. Derek never looked away from his bowl, he just sat there while he lazily wrapped the slimy noodles around his fork. I didn't eat at all, really. I all I did was stare down at my food and realize how unappealing it looked to me.

After a while, the silence started to get to me, so I decided to say something. "Uh, Derek… I'm really so--"

His head shot up and he looked at me sharply. " Forget it Casey, it doesn't matter," He interrupted in a forced tone.

I clasped my hands together tightly and tried my best not to sound rude. "Derek," I began. His expression soften slightly before I decided to continue. "I'm sorry about what I said earlier. It's my fault we're in this mess right now, not yours."

He rolled his eyes at me and scoffed. "Casey, can we please drop it," He said while forming a fist with his hand.

"No, Derek," I simply replied. "I want fix the mess that is between us." I pushed my bowl away from myself and settled my hands on the table.

Derek than looked at me seriously, making me feel even worst.

"Fix what mess?" He questioned, his temper was rising by the second. Why was he so upset?

"Derek, I--"

"We've been fighting like this since the day we first met each other," Derek explained while I silently looked at him. He then darted his eyes away from mine and ducked his head down. "What make this so much different…"

After a while, Derek held his head up and looked at me again. We just sat there staring at each other. It was sad, really. He looked so hurt, but I couldn't help him because, well…

I didn't know what was going on in his head.

I was about to open my mouth when I heard the front door being opened.

My eyes glided away from the sad face in front of me and settled on the door. A second later I saw my whole family scrambling out of it and running in all different directions. It was a very chaotic sight, if I do say so myself. It was so chaotic that it was a little bit surreal.

The way my family blended in with the look on Derek's face was really something. There was so much going on between him and I, yet nobody else could see it.

How could they not see it?

"Smerek!" Marti cried, pushing both Lizzie and Edwin out of her way. I couldn't help but smile at how excited she was to see her brother.

I looked at Derek and saw that he was now smiling widely at his little sister. He quickly abandoned his chair and spread his arms out. Marti embraced him and soon they were both hugging each other warmly.

Very tentatively, I left my own chair and walked towards the frazzled mess also known as my family. My mother was near the stairs while talking to George. Edwin and Lizzie were tiredly kicking off their shoes. And of course, Marti was still hugging Derek.

I just stood there for a little while until my mother finally noticed my nervous presence.

"Well," She began happily, "We're home!"

"Yeah, New York was awesome," Edwin commented while he passed by me. "Way better than boring old Canada."

"Hey!" George exclaimed theatrically. "Canada is great," He added weakly while crossing his arms.

Edwin, who was now walking up the stairs, waved his hand and scoffed. "Oh, you're just in a bad mood because you sprained your thumb while--"

He never did get to finish his sentence, because in a matter of seconds, George was running after him.

"Oh, George!" My mother called after him while putting her hands up in the air. "Remember what the doctor said? No physical activity until after your injury heals." She then ran after him, giving me a weary smile as she left.

Suddenly, I felt someone tap me on the shoulder. I slowly turned around to see Lizzie staring up at me. She flashed me a warm smile after a while and I gradually returned the gesture.

"Hey, Casey," Lizzie greeted me happily, "how's my favorite sister?"

"Hey!" I heard Marti cry from behind me.

Lizzie frowned and rolled her eyes playfully. "Oh, you know what I mean, Marti," She said, half-annoyed.

After a while, I decided to pull Lizzie into a tight hug. She enthusiastically hugged me back and smiled against my shoulder. "It's nice to have you back, Liz," I said softly.

"It's nice to be back, Casey," She responded, and hugged me even tighter.

Sometimes a hug can say more than a million fancy words. That's why when Lizzie finally let go of me, she gave me that look. It was a look that read, 'now tell what's really going on'.

I bit my bottom lip and frowned at her perfect observation skills. "What," I asked innocently.

She simply rested a hand on her hip and smirked. "You look terrible, that's what," She replied in a playful tone.

Oh, was I that bad of a liar? Couldn't I for once, cover up everything that I was feeling?

I guess not.

"Lizzie, I'm fine," I quickly reassured her. Maybe too quickly; I should have waited awhile before I said that.

"I don't know," She began tiredly, "you don't look fine to me."

"Well, I am fine," I said while folding my arms across my chest.

Lizzie was about to say something when the phone from in the kitchen began to ring violently.

"I'm sorry, just give me one minute, Liz." I walked into the kitchen and slowly picked up the phone that was lying on the counter near the sink. "Hello?" I casually said into it while pulling a strand of hair away from my eyes.

"Hey, beautiful."

Oh, god.

I glanced over my shoulder and sighed with relief; Lizzie was now walking up the stairs while Derek and Marti sat on the couch, discussing something I couldn't make out. Luckily no one was paying attention to me.

"Are you still there?"

I shifted the phone to the other side of my ear and rested a hand on my hip. "Why are you calling me?" I asked rudely.

"Are you alone?" The blond haired boy, who's name is actually Thane, asked me.

I didn't say anything until I walked into the laundry room; I wanted to make sure no one could hear me. "Yes," I finally answered him.

Thane laughed into the phone and said, "Good, now when do you want Jermyn and I to pick you up?"

"You promised you would leave me alone until Saturday." I said in a monotone voice.

"I know, but I want to know when we should pick you up." Thane said this as if he was doing me a gracious favor; it was like he didn't realize what he was doing was wrong.

"Why can't you just leave me alone?" I pleaded tiredly. I really didn't want to do this at all. "Look, I'll do your homework for a whole year! Yeah, how does that sound?"

"Don't be silly, I am a great student," Thane laughed. "I don't need any help with my homework."

"Okay, than I'll pay you to leave me alone!" I tried desperately. Maybe I could get through to him somehow. maybe deep down he had a conscious.

"Face it," He barked, "you can't get out of this, McDonald-- unless you want me to post that wonderful video--"

"No, please don--"

"Than do what I say," He interrupted me, his voice becoming less friendly. "Alright?"

I quickly wiped a tear away from my cheek and replied, "Alright…"

Thane laughed lightly and sighed into the phone. "Okay, now why don't we pick you up at around 8:00 and drop you off at around, say… 12:00?" He offered in a cool tone.

I thought for a long moment before I gave into him. "Fine."

"That's my girl…" Thane said warmly. "Now why don't you--"

"Who are you talking to?" I heard Derek ask from behind me.

"Oh, crap." Thane whispered hoarsely, and before I could say anything, the line went dead.

I listened that annoying beeping sound for probably two minutes before I finally took the phone away from my ear and turned it off.

"Hey, I asked you a question." Derek said after I settled the phone on top of the washing machine.

I whirled around and saw him staring at me intently. He raised an eyebrow while I merely sat up against the dryer.

"Why do you care?" I asked him, responding to what he said before.

"Casey, I saw you hide in here right after you picked up the phone," He calmly explained. "What are you hiding?"

I opened my mouth several times and smiled nervously.

God, could I be any more obvious?"

"Derek, I was talking to Emily," I lied after about three minutes of pure silence.

"Than why did you hide in here?" He asked me while raising his eyebrows.

"Look, I don't know Derek! Now will you please leave me alone?"

Suddenly his expression hardened and his jaw clenched shut. "Well, excuse me for caring, princess." He said through gritted teeth.

"Derek, you don--"

Derek merely signaled me to stop by putting his hand up. "Oh, save it." He said disgustingly.

I clasped my hands together and looked down at my feet. What in the world was I doing to this guy?

Derek took a step closer to me and sighed deeply. "You know, maybe-- just maybe, I do care, McDonald…"

And before I could say anything, he leaned his face close to mine, making me feel paralyzed from head to toe. We were so close… Why were we so close? He grabbed my arm and grasped it tightly. What was he trying to do to me? He slowly closed his eyes as I did the same. Oh, I think I could smell his cologne. I didn't know he even were cologne. After a while, he inched his face even closer to mine, so that we were only millimeters apart. I shivered when he laid his thumb on my cheek, making circling motions there…

And just when I thought he was going to kiss me, Derek pulled away.

"But... Hey, you told me that kiss meant nothing to you," He began while looking into my eyes,"Why would this one be any different."

And with that, he walked away and headed out of the kitchen, leaving me to my guilty thoughts.

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