Disclaimer: Life with Derek is copyright Shaftesbury, Disney Channel, Family Channel, and Nickelodeon. This story was created for entertainment purposes only. No copyright infringement intended. It will be removed immediately and without question upon request.

Destiny is a Funny Thing

"Hey, why are you crying?" the little boy around five years old in front of her asked.

She sniffled and wiped away some of tears in her eyes before looking up. "I'm not crying," she answered stubbornly to the stranger.

The boy tilted his head slightly to his side. "Yes, you are."

"No, I'm not!" cried the girl, rising from the ground.

He backed away, afraid of the angry girl in pigtails. "Why are you lying?"

She blinked in confusion, not expecting the question. She turned her gaze elsewhere when she realized that she didn't really have an answer.

The boy stood calmly waiting for her answer. "Why are you crying?" he tried again.

She sighed and glanced up into his brown eyes. "My daddy forgot about me. Someone from work found him and started talking to him. Then they walked that way and forgot all about me," she said sadly, pointing at a spot somewhere behind her. "That was two hours ago."

She felt the tears prickling behind her eyes again and was about to let them spill when she saw something come into her field of vision. A lollipop. She blinked in confusion and looked at the boy's outstretched hand.

He offered her a smile and said, "You can have it. Your daddy will come back for sure so eat this until he does."

She didn't know what prompted her to accept the gift but she did. No more than a few seconds later a man came running up to her and scooped her in a tight hug. "I'm so sorry, honey. I shouldn't have left you alone! I was so worried that I lost you!"

She could barely breathe with how tight he was hugging her. "I'm okay, daddy…"

Her father breathed out a sigh of relief and stood up, walking in the opposite direction. The little girl looked over her father's shoulder and waved at the little boy, smiling appreciatively at him.

He returned the wave and smiled back at her.

-ooo-

"Ow!" she exclaimed, falling on her hands.

A boy her age, eight years old, knelt down beside her. "I'm so sorry! Are you okay?"

She glared back at him. "No, I'm not," she snapped, holding up her bleeding palms for him to see.

His eyes widened in panic and he frantically looked around him for something. "Look, I'm really sorry…" He looked behind him again and shoved two crumpled band-aids from his pockets into her hands. Then before she knew what was happening he took off on his skateboard as fast as he could.

"Hey! Come back here!"

-ooo-

"This is so lame," she mumbled under her breath.

"Tell me about it," a boy beside her muttered.

She glared at him and scooted further away. She was standing in the corner by herself and she preferred it that way. Why did some stupid boy have to invade her personal space?

"I can't believe my aunt forced my cousin to invite me to his party," he continued, ignoring how she continued to inch away from him. He turned to face her and asked, "Why are you here?"

She rolled her eyes and pointed to the big "Happy 11th Birthday" banner somewhere at the other side of the room. "Your cousin invited everyone in class to come. People stopped doing that last year."

He snickered. "So I wasn't the only one forced to come. You could have said no, you know."

She shook her head and crossed her arms. "Can't. His mom handed out the invitation directly to my mom and she forced me to come."

He grimaced at her response. "Ouch."

"Tell me about it."

"Hey," he said, looking at the arcade somewhere down the hall. "Want to ditch and go to the arcade?"

She beamed at the idea and was about to accept when she saw her mother and little sister walk up to her.

"Sorry to pull you away so soon, honey, but your Aunt Fiona's waiting for us," her mother told her.

She sent an apologetic look at the boy and said, "Sorry about the arcade thing. I have to go. I hope you can still have fun though."

He gave her a small smile and waved weakly. "I'll be fine… have fun at your aunt's."

As they left the room, she looked over her shoulder to see the boy's sad face before he shook his head and headed toward the buffet table for some chips.

-ooo-

"Hey, I think that cute boy over there likes you," said her friend, pointing at a shaggy brown haired boy.

She wrinkled her nose when she saw the boy winking in her direction. "He looks like a player."

Her friend rolled her eyes. "How would you know? You're only thirteen."

"I may be thirteen, but I know a player when I see one!" she exclaimed in defense, when in all actuality she had no idea what she was saying.

"Yeah, keep telling yourself that, hon."

She glared at her friend.

"Hey, look! He's coming over here!"

She looked over her shoulder and groaned when she saw that he was indeed coming toward them. "Quick, let's leave!"

Her friend shot her an 'are you crazy?' look and stayed glued to her spot. "No way!"

She glared at her friend when the boy approached them and said casually, "Hello, ladies."

"Hey there," her friend answered, earning another glare from her.

The boy turned to her and flashed a grin, "I'm…"

"Outta here," she concluded, picking up her stuff and leaving the table, leaving her friend and the boy in stunned silence.

-ooo-

"I can't believe you!" she shouted in outrage.

"Casey, honey, please try to understand," her mother tried to reason.

She shook her head. "How could I understand when his jerk of a son spilled his entire glass of soda on me!"

"I'm sure it was an accident," her mother tried again.

"Yes, it was an accident," he said smoothly, coming up beside her and placing an arm casually around her shoulders.

She glared at him and shoved his arm away. "You held the cup over my head and poured," she deadpanned.

"A slip of the hand. See, it was an accident," he concluded with a casual shrug again.

"Argh!" she exclaimed, frustrated. So much for first meetings and first impressions…

-ooo-

She knocked tentatively on his door and when he called out she opened the door and walked in.

He was surprised at her entrance and could only stare at her in confusion before averting his gaze onto the floor. "What do you want?"

She wasn't sure of what to say and shifted her weight from foot to foot uneasily. "I guess I wanted to… thank you."

He shifted uneasily and crossed his arms, eyes trained on the floor. "For what? I didn't do anything."

She mustered up a smile and said, "For tonight."

"Tonight was a disaster if case you forgot." He knew what she meant but refused to admit it.

She shook her head at his obvious act of denial. "You saved me from Snot the other time and now you called back my Dad for me. I'm really touched and am beginning to think that you are starting to feel compassion for me."

His eyes widened at her accusation. "I don't feel anything for you, let alone compassion!"

She shook her head in amusement and smiled. "Contrary to what you think, you're a really sweet and sensitive guy, Derek Venturi."

He huffed but returned the smile as she stepped out of his room.

-ooo-

"That's the last of the dishes," she said from beside him, handing him the wet plate.

"Finally," he moaned, wiping the water off the plate. "I hate dishes."

"But you never do them," she pointed out.

"Exactly," he returned with a grin.

She rolled her eyes at him and whacked his arm with the dish towel.

He grabbed the mini sink hose and sprayed her.

Before they knew it, they were fighting for control over the hose. Eventually the fun died down and they were left laughing on the kitchen floor, soaked from their earlier fight.

"We should probably clean this up before Mom and George get back," she told him.

He shrugged, lying on the floor a bit longer. "I'll move when they get here."

-ooo-

"Listen," he said uneasily from his spot at her bedroom door. "Thanks for… today."

She looked at him quizzically. "You've already thanked me."

He shrugged. "I wanted to thank you without Edweirdo flying out of nowhere."

She smiled at him, tears starting to appear at the corner of her eyes.

"Hey! No crying!" he demanded, backing away from her door.

She merely laughed at her now empty doorway.

-ooo-

"Derek, thanks for all you've done for me," she told him out of nowhere.

He eyed her warily out of the corner of his eye, keeping his concentration on the road. He'd get lectured by her if he didn't. "What are you talking about?"

She turned to face him and said, "For everything. You've saved me from two, well four timing boyfriends, crazy bosses, sociology projects, given me my disastrous Sweet 16, and took me to prom."

"That's all you have to say?" he asked, turning at the corner of the next street.

She nodded.

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair briefly, ruffling it even further. "As long as we're getting sappy, I might as well thank you for saving me from failing physics and from having my face rearranged, throwing me my awesome 16th birthday party, and for helping me and Sally hook up." He parked the car onto the driveway and shut the engine off.

She smiled sadly at him and said, "I'm really going to miss you when we leave for college."

He didn't know what to say and did not expect the hug she finally managed to give to him. He sat in the car for an hour after she went into the house.

-ooo-

"Are you okay?" she asked him tentatively.

He gave her a wry smile and shook his head. This was the first time seeing each other after going off to college and the first thing she saw was him wallowing in his self-pity. "Sally and I broke up."

She covered her mouth to prevent her gasp from sounding. "How did that happen?"

He shrugged his shoulders casually and moved over for her sit on the empty space on his bed. "I don't know… I guess we just drifted apart and next thing I knew, we broke up."

"I'm sorry," she told him sincerely.

He shrugged his shoulders again. "Doesn't matter. I'll live."

And she hugged him for the second time. This time he returned the hug.

-ooo-

He blinked in confusion at the girl standing outside his apartment at two in the morning. "Casey? What are you doing here?"

She burst into tears and rushed forward to hold onto him.

He stumbled back in surprise but ushered her into the apartment and closed the front door. "Shh… it's okay," he whispered soothingly into her ear.

She shook her head. "No… it's not."

He looked at her questioningly and detached himself long enough to bring her a steaming hot cup of tea. "What happened?"

She stared into the steaming liquid and closed her eyes. "I caught him with another woman."

He remained silent, clenching his fists in anger. He wanted to beat that jerk into a bloody pulp but knew that she was extremely against violence and so he kept those thoughts to himself. He merely wrapped his arms comfortingly around her.

She surprised him by leaning into his hug and whispered into his ear, "It's okay, you can beat him up if you want."

He was sure that he had an evil smirk plastered on his face.

-ooo-

"Who would've thought that we'd eventually become best friends?" she questioned him one day as they lied on his living room floor.

He raised an eyebrow at her and poked her in the ribs. "Are you saying that you want to go back to fighting?"

She shook her head, a smile gracing her lips. "Not at all. I like things the way they are."

He smiled at her and reached a hand out to hold onto hers. "Me too."

-ooo-

"So that's my life history," he concluded with a dramatic sigh and a fake tear. "Now you know about all the suffering I had to go through. I mean, I was nagged at, blamed for everything that went wrong in the universe, and was even ranked second to tofu. How sad is that?"

She sent a glare his way. "Yes, I'm the source of all your life suffering," she returned, crossing her arms across her chest.

He laughed at her reaction and reached forward to embrace her. "Oh come on! Give your best friend some sympathy and some compassion!"

She rolled her eyes at him. "I still can't believe that you're that little boy I keep meeting. He actually wasn't bad. You on the other hand…"

"Oh come on, Case! I'm still the same person!" he exclaimed.

She stuck out her tongue at him and returned the hug. "It seems so because you're still a softie."

"Hey!"

-ooo--

"Why don't you tell her?" Sam asked him one day.

He shook his head as he watched her from across the room. She offered to get the drinks as both he and Sam waited at a table. "I can't."

"Why not?"

He shot his friend a glare. "She doesn't feel the same."

"How would you know?" Sam countered.

"I know her and she doesn't feel that way about me," he returned, then added bitterly under his breath, "She'll never think of me that way."

"Think of you what way?" she asked from behind him, scaring him nearly into oblivion.

He placed a hand on his racing heart and chastised her, "Don't do that! I nearly had a heart attack!"

She shrugged and patted him on the shoulder. "You'll live. So, who will never think of you what way?"

He fidgeted uneasily in his chair and racked his brain for possible answers but was thankfully saved when Sam answered for him. "Some new girl he met."

She gave him a look that said "Ah" and then went into a whole lecture of how to win a girl's heart. As if he needed it. Then again, they were still best friends and nothing more. He sulked.

-ooo-

She was jealous. Extremely jealous, but there was nothing she could do about it. She was his stepsister and best friend, nothing more. She sulked as she sipped absent mindedly on her smoothie as she watched him pick up a girl. Life wasn't fair.

"Why the glum face?" he asked as he sat down in front of her. He pointed to the box of food on the tray with a smile, "I got the new girl to give me extra fries."

She heaved a sigh and reached forward for the food. "Why doesn't that surprise me?" she muttered bitterly under her breath.

He looked questioningly at her. "Something wrong?"

She shook her head when she realized her slip-up. "No, just a lot of stuff on my mind."

"Oh?" he said around a mouthful of burger. Surprisingly she didn't reprimand him; probably used to the sight. "Care to share?"

She sighed and offered him a weak smile. "The usual stuff only times three," she answered, offering the excuse of work.

"Ouch."

-ooo-

It was strange. Since when did she value his opinion on how she looked? To him she looked beautiful in everything she wore, which was why he was no real help in actually helping her decide on her wardrobe.

"How about this top?" she asked, bringing the shirt up to her body.

He groaned from his position on the bed. "Same as the last one," he mumbled.

She narrowed her eyes at him and brought her hands to her hips. "Derek, that's what you've been saying about all my clothes."

He shrugged. "I can't help it. You're asking a guy on fashion."

"Why do I even bother," she mumbled under her breath, "I try to look nice for you and this is what I get."

Even though the comment was meant only for herself, he heard her and before he knew what he was doing, he had her pressed up against his walls and his lips planted firmly on hers. She returned the kiss happily and wrapped her arms around his neck.

-ooo-

"You guys are making me sick," Emily teased with a smile.

Sam chuckled beside her as the happy couple blushed.

"So, when's the wedding?" Sam asked, reaching for Emily's box of fries, which earned him a glare.

They didn't think that they could get any redder, but they did.

-ooo-

"If I knew how high maintenance you are I don't think I would've married you," he commented beside her, a load of boxes in his hands as he moved them into their new house.

She poked him in the ribs. "You knew, after all you lived with me since we were fifteen. But you married me anyway."

He laughed at her comment and dropped the boxes to catch her from running away, wrapping his arms around her waist. "You're lucky I love you."

"Or what?" she teased, grinning up at him.

He grinned devilishly at her before the tickle war began. And so began their life happily ever after, or as crazily ever after in their case. Who would've ever thought that destiny played such a funny hand in getting these two together? Certainly not them.

A/N: Well, I'm back with another one-shot. I'm sure some of you are probably a little sick of me and my one-shots, so I'll keep this short. This idea came out of nowhere and I hope you liked reading it as much as I like writing it.

Oh, and I'm also curious about whether you guys would like it if I started on a multi-chapter story. I've had this idea brewing in my head for a while, but I never gotten around to writing it down. I warn you guys though, I'm rather slow at updating, which is why I've been churning out one-shots lately. So please drop your comments here and head on over to the poll on my profile to cast your vote/opinion. Thanks and see you next time!