Another one-shot.

I might have a problem.

So bite me.

They arrived home, and Derek, after slamming the front door shut, threw his prized leather jacket on the ground – out of his recent character since he had started hanging it up – and stormed up the steps.

The next thing the family heard was his bedroom door slamming, and his music blaring.

George and Nora sighed, exchanging a look.

"I guess I should go talk to him…" George mumbled, taking a deep breath.

Nora was about to say something when Lizzie beat her to it. "No, George, I will."

Quickly shrugging her own jacket off, and picking up Derek's jacket, she ran up the stairs after her eldest step-brother.

Behind Lizzie's back, everyone glanced at each other…sharing small knowing smirks.

Lizzie knocked loudly, hoping he would hear, but if he did, he didn't acknowledge.

So, instead, like she had heard him do to Casey so many times before, she opened his door, walked in quickly, and slammed the door behind her.

He looked up from where he sat on his bed, but said nothing as she walked over and turned his stereo down.

She then sat next to him on his bed.

He didn't look at her again after that first time.

Lizzie let out a pointed sigh, but once again, he didn't even acknowledge her.

He hadn't even yelled at her to get out; or, not to touch his stuff.

A depressed Derek was really messing with the norm.

Lizzie rolled her eyes, looking away from him, "I know, okay? I know."

His gaze instantly snapped to her now and his eyes were narrowed.

Lizzie gulped and nodded, slowly.

"What do you mean you know?"

She shrugged, "I know how you feel about Casey."

She still couldn't meet his eyes, though she knew his were on her…and still narrowed.

"I don't know what you're talking about." He gruffly replied, standing up and turning his stereo back up, "Now, if you'll please get out of my room. I would be appreciative."

Lizzie stood now too, and crossed her arms over her chest, "And leave you here to sulk in your misery? I don't think so. Casey wouldn't have wanted me to. She wouldn't want you to be doing this either."

He quirked an eyebrow at her, but stayed where he was, his own arms crossed over his chest.

"In fact," Lizzie huffed, "I wasn't going to say anything because I was hoping you would figure it out on your own, but obviously that's not the case…"

"Oh god, I can see you got the rambling from her." Derek snarked.

Lizzie's eyes narrowed at that, "I don't know why I'm telling you this at all, but you know what, Derek? Do you know what she wanted you to do? What she wanted you to say? Why in the hell she asked for your opinion in the first place?"

Derek just glared at her now, but the narrowed eyes were gone.

Lizzie took in a deep breath before she continued, "She wanted you to tell her not to go! She wanted you to tell her that you love her! Oh, but what did you do instead? You helped her pack her stuff?! You tell her to have a good trip?! You tell her it's a good idea?! You're an even bigger moron than she let on!"

When she was done giving her little speech, her arms were no longer crossed and her face was beat red – from yelling and frustration.

"Hold on," Derek said, somehow calm, "It was a good idea, and still is. I liked to ruin her day, her week, and even her life when she was here; but I refuse to ruin her dream – and that's what dancing is to her, her dream. And…I don't love her."

Lizzie breathed, closing her eyes for a short period of time and opening them again, "No, Derek, dancing was a dream. You are her dream. I don't know how, or why, but it's the truth. And, what you're trying to masquerade to me and yourself as truth is really bullshit. And you know it. You didn't see her staring at you, and the longing and pain in her eyes as you walked away from that waiting area. And, she didn't see the short-lived tears in yours as you kept walking. You two are freakin' unbelievable." Lizzie had thrown her hands out to her side and was rubbing her temples.

"Lizzie, I don't love her."

"Please, you may have the family fooled into thinking this is jealousy of her 'making it big going to New York,' but I am not an adult, Edwin, or a ten-year-old with suspicions. I also happen to be her blood sister – whom she talked to…about you, more specifically."

Derek's eyebrows rose, now, and he couldn't believe the question he was about to let come off his lips, "Wha-what did she say?"

"I'm supposed to be sworn to secrecy, but obviously, you need help. She loves you, you big idiot. She wanted you to tell her not to go. She wanted you to tell her that you want her. She wanted you to tell her that this 'dream' isn't for her, and that she should stay and go to school because really, being a 'keener' is what she's used to, and good at. It's where she feels safe. At school, with you, and in freaking love. She was scared to death in that waiting area, but you couldn't see that behind your own damn pain. Hell," Lizzie looked at her cell phone, "she's probably having a Casey freak-out right now."

Derek stared at her.

She was right, and he knew it.

And he really hated to admit it.

"Well, what do you want me to do, Liz?!" he threw his arms out to his sides, "Call her? It's a little late for that, don't ya think?"

And, he flopped back down onto his bed.

Lizzie looked away sheepishly before muttering, "Maybe the plane hasn't left yet…"

And, when she looked at him, he was wide-eyed and gaping at her.

He frantically looked at his watch, which read eleven-thirty.

"Liz, it's eleven-thirty. Her plane was due to take off at eleven. Of course it's gone."

Lizzie shook her head, "Try again, Derek. You grabbed a brochure of travel times, why don't you read it?"

He looked at her quizzically before standing up and going over to his desk, where he had unceremoniously thrown that stupid little tri-folded piece of paper that reminded him Casey was leaving him for New York and Jesse.

When it was in his hands, he looked at her, as though he wasn't sure if he would continue or not.

She nodded.

So, he opened it and looked for the flight he knew she would be on to New York.

Immediately, his gaze shot straight over to her, and he was wide-eyed and open-mouthed.

Lizzie smirked as she nodded, "George got the times mixed up. Casey's flight isn't supposed to leave until one in the morning, not eleven."

"But how did you…" Derek started, but Lizzie cut him off.

Lizzie shook her head, holding her hand up, "It doesn't matter. Go fight for her. And yourself, because honestly, Derek, when you mope the whole damn house is off its' rocker."

To both of their surprise, he swooped down, and wrapped her in a hug; ultimately picking her up off the bed. "You know, Liz, I used to think you were cool because you played sports. And, you were really annoying giving me that Casey-speech. But, you redeemed yourself."

Lizzie rolled her eyes, "I'm that bad, huh?"

Pulling back, Derek smirked at her, "Oh, yeah, Ed's in a lot of trouble, and I have no idea who's going to help you out with him."

Lizzie rolled her eyes again, a small smile playing on her lips, "Don't I know it."

Derek chuckled and grabbed a bag, throwing some clothes in. Before Lizzie knew it, he was done and he approached her, "Bye, Liz," he said, and he even quickly kissed her on the forehead, "and thanks. Nobody pushes me like you McDonald girls!"

"Yeah, and nobody else better!" Lizzie called to him, as he ran out his door.

She heard the parents calling to him as he got downstairs, but soon she also heard the front door slamming.

She smirked, and looked down at her own intertwined hands in her lap.

At least her sister would get a fairytale ending.

She wondered if Derek was going to tell Casey that she had come to talk to him.

She hoped kinda for his sake that he didn't. Though, some credit would be nice.

"I guess I owe you three-hundred bucks, huh?" she suddenly heard from Derek's doorway.

Lizzie, wide-eyed and open-mouthed, stood abruptly, "Edwin? How…how much of that did you hear?"

He put his index finger to his chin, eyes looking up, and his elbow resting on his other arm before his eyes snapped back to her quickly, "At least most of it."

Lizzie gulped, "Including that last part…?"

Edwin nodded fervently, moving closer to her, "And, can I just say that I'm not as much of a moron as my brother? That is one role I am definitely not trying to live up to."

Lizzie smiled, "Noted."

"Oh, and also…I'm a lot quicker to catch on when it comes to…erm…girls. Though, I have to warn you, that's probably because I don't act like a man-whore…"

Lizzie laughed as she understood, putting an index finger to his lips in their close proximity, "Then kiss me already."

And kiss, they did.

When they finally pulled away, Edwin said, "I'm glad you didn't have to move to New York for me to figure it out."

Lizzie blushed lightly, "Ed-win!" and smacked him on the chest.

In return, he chuckled.

"So, how did you know?" he asked when they pulled away again.

"Know what?" Lizzie asked him, dazed.

Edwin laughed lightly, "Know that Casey's plane didn't take off for another two hours."

"Oh, I read the board while you guys were moping. I was trying to distract myself because I wanted to be happy for her, and as I kept staring at it, I started noticing the times were off. I looked at the little brochure thing and sure enough, George got his times mixed up."

"I'm sure Derek's never been so happy with one of dad's screw-ups."

"I don't think so either." Lizzie smiled back at him before leaning in for yet another kiss.

"Edwin! Lizzie!" Nora and George called from downstairs and they sprang apart, blushing furiously.

"Coming!" Lizzie called, and after a moment, Edwin called the same and quietly, they walked out of Derek's room, leaving his door slightly open, and to their own respective rooms – slamming their own doors and running down the stairs.

For even better effect, they pretended like they were fighting about who was going to get there first.

Unbeknownst to them in the kitchen, Nora and George glanced at each other knowingly.

By the time Derek had arrived at the airport, it was 12:30 in the morning. Parking his car on the side of the road about three blocks from where he would have to pay to park, he got out, jammed the keys into his pocket, and took off running.

He had never been happier over one of his dad's screw-ups in his life…or the fact that he played hockey because this would certainly take a lot of damn running.

Of course, security stopped him on his way in, and made him wait in line to go through the metal detectors. He threw his keys and phone into the little tray and walked through – almost caving to the urge to just leave the two damn items there.

He had to get to Casey before she boarded that damn plane.

Once he had retrieved his stuff, he looked up and realized that he was at boarding station B.

He needed to be at G.

"Damnit." He swore under his breath, and quickly took off in a run in the way the directions said G was.

"Attention passengers, we are now boarding flight 4912 for New York leaving from station G. Again, we are now boarding flight 4912 for New York leaving from station G. Thank you."

If possible, Derek started running faster.

Casey was allowing the slow tears to fall from her eyes.

She couldn't believe he had just let her go like this, and she supposed that since he had, he really didn't love her.

"If you love something, let it go…" sang that little voice in her head that she was getting more and more irritated at by the minute.

Casey rolled her eyes and looked at her luggage as she heard them page her flight to board. She then looked over and saw the attendant at the little podium where they check tickets.

She bent down to pick up her luggage, but for some reason, the strap to her smaller bag was tied around the metal bar that connected the chairs.

"Der-ek." She muttered, remembering that he had been sitting there when the family was here to wait with her.

She bent down to untie her strap and, unfortunately, her carryon was sitting on top of the edge of her coat – so, as she bent down to fix the strap, she ended up knocking the carryon over as well. It was also open, so most of the contents spilled onto the floor of the waiting area.

Casey gasped, and was on the verge of more serious tears. It only made sense that this was how her trip would start.

When she looked at the watch on her wrist, it read 12:47.

"Crap!" Casey muttered, as she threw all of her stuff back into her carryon. She would have to rearrange it later.

Then, she quickly bent down to try to untie the luggage strap from her chair, and wondered how exactly Derek had done this.

Or why…

She shook her head again and continued working on it. When she looked back at her watch again, it read 12:50.

"Come on!" she yelled quietly, pulling on it, and tears had started to slowly fall down her cheeks again in frustration and anger.

Suddenly, she saw the shadow of someone behind her and they were bending down.

"Need help with that, Case?" and when she looked at him, he smirked at her.

Her eyes widened slightly, "Derek? What are you doing here?"

"I came to stop you from going, but, if I had known how successful my knot was going to be, I would've stopped for some damn coffee."

She huffed, purposefully ignoring the joke, and he untied her luggage swiftly. "What do you mean you came to stop me?"

He exhaled, not meeting her eyes at first, but once he started talking, they were on her, "Casey, dancing was a dream of yours, but…it's not your current dream."

Casey quirked an eyebrow at him, and he ran a hand through his hair.

Why was this so difficult? It had never been this hard before!

"Lizzie?" Casey asked, and she wasn't surprised that what he had just said literally took her breath away since her sister's name came out in a whisper.

"How did you…"

Casey shrugged, though her voice still wasn't much above a whisper, "She said pretty much the same thing to me when she tried to talk me out of going."

"Oh…why didn't you listen to her?" Derek asked, smiling lightly.

"Because you told me I should go."

"Since when do you listen to me?!" he yelped, then, and his voice may or may not have been a coupe octaves higher than normal.

"Last call for passengers boarding flight 4912 to New York. Last call for passengers boarding flight 4912 to New York, thank you."

Casey turned and watched as the attendant was replacing the red sash across the entrance of the tunnel to the plane.

"Well, considering I just let you talk me out of going, how about we just say, since now?"

Derek smirked at her.

"So, why did you change your mind all of a sudden?" Casey asked him as they walked back to his car.

He took a deep breath, "I shouldn't have told you to go in the first place. I never wanted you to go to New York…with Jesse…and tights. God! You wearing tights!"

Casey looked away sheepishly, "I don't look that horrible in them, do I?"

Derek stopped walking and stared at her, and in turn, after a few more steps, she stopped walking and faced him.

Was she serious?

"Case…you're not…that's not…oh, to hell with this." And he threw the luggage he was carrying down, crossed the distance between them in about two steps, grabbed her cheeks with both of his palms, and crashed their lips together.

It took her a minute – a minute that he presumed was shock – but she reacted by dropping the bags that she had been carrying and placing her hands over his on her face.

When they finally broke the kiss – and they couldn't tell you who pulled away first – they were both breathless.

Casey was smiling like an idiot, and in turn, Derek smiled too as he removed his hands and stepped back from her.

"Remind me to properly thank Lizzie after I kill and revive her for telling you when we get home."

Derek smirked, "Well, I think Edwin already took care of the 'properly thanking' her part." And they both picked up the bags that they had been carrying to continue walking, but as they started walking, Derek slung his arm over Casey's shoulders.

Casey's jaw dropped and she gaped at him, "No…way…"

Derek nodded, and Casey laughed. "Wow."

"Yeah, I'm glad we leave for University in a few days. I don't want to be here for that fallout."

"Speaking of fallouts…" Casey started.

Derek groaned.

"Don't tell me you didn't see this coming." Casey said, smirking at him.

"No, you're right. I did, and I actually have plan."

"Oh god!" Casey yelled, side-stepping Derek's grip and throwing her arms up, "The sky is falling! Derek Venturi has a plan."

Derek chuckled, she was being entirely too overdramatic, "Will you shut up. The whole damn airport is going to hear you."

"Good, then they can witness this historic miracle with me." She snarked, smirking at him still.

He narrowed his eyes and mumbled something incoherent before shaking his head quickly and clearing his throat, "Anyway, I say we drop the bombshell on the 'rents and run."

Casey shook her head rapidly and stared at him, "What?"

Derek rolled his eyes, "You're such a keener."

Casey smiled, "Yeah, but that's one of the things you adore about me."

Derek's jaw dropped as he gaped at her yet again, and he held an index finger up, "Okay, first of all, I don't adore you." He said the word as though he were pulling something out of the garbage, but recovered himself, smirked, and crossed his arms, "I love you. There's a difference."

Casey gaped at him for a second before recovering quickly herself. She dropped her bags and held her hands out to her sides, closing her eyes and facing the sky.

Derek looked around the both of them before saying, "Erm, Case, what are you doing?"

"Waiting for the sky to start falling. Should be any time now…"

Derek ran his tongue along his bottom lip before grabbing her arm, and pulling her flush against him. "People were staring at you, you overdramatic princess."

Casey snorted, "What people? This place is like a ghost-town."

"Me." He then countered.

She snorted again, "Oh, that's nothing new."

Derek's jaw slacked as he let her go and continued to stare at her while she picked up her bags and started walking again.

When she got far enough away for him to regain his senses, he shook his head, a small smile playing on his lips, and picked up her bags.

"Anyway," he said, catching up to her, "I say we tell the parents what's going on right before we leave for college and when they start yelling, we'll make a mad-dash for the door and the car. You know, kinda like that time we snuck out and had to keep away from George and Marti."

Casey laughed, "Okay…that actually sounds like a good plan. Seriously, when is the sky going to start falling?!"

"Why do you keep expecting the sky to start falling?"

"Simple," she said, shrugging, as though she had explained this before, "you had a plan and it was actually a good one, and it could work, no less. And you just admitted that you not only like me, but you said the four-letter word that comes with feelings. Love! You said you love me! I'm just surprised it hasn't started rapidly declining the force of the gravitational system and moved in to squish us."

Derek shook his head, "Of all the scientific and fancy words you used in that sentence, how did squish come out?"

Casey did a half-shrug, "That would be the only word you caught."

Derek smirked, "What do you expect? You went all keener on me again. I had to zone out for my own coolness."

"You act like it's a chore, like you hate having to do it."

"Sometimes, I do. Sometimes, I really, really wish I could pay attention and listen to you long enough…"

"And the other times?"

"The other times I want to kiss you until even you forget what the hell your thought process was. Especially because then I won't be quizzed on it after you know damn well I zoned out."

Casey laughed, "Okay, so I'll just have to train my brain to keep my thought process while you're kissing me."

The look he gave her was purely predatory as he smirked, "Okay, princess, challenge accepted." And, as he said that, he was flush against her side, an arm around her waist, and huskily breathing in her ear.

She was surprised she still had a thought process going this time, but she turned to face him, smirked, and in her own "sex voice," she whispered into his ear, "Even Neanderthals have to breathe at some point, Der."

Then she pointedly turned and started walking briskly.

And, since he was now holding her bags again, he couldn't reach out to grab her to pull her back against him; so instead, he stared as his tongue ran along his bottom jaw again.

This girl really was going to be the death of him.

Usually, these types of scenes ended in a heated and passionate kiss.

So far, they had shared one of those…and were still bantering with each other afterwards! He only watches those princess movies with Marti; and okay, maybe he was caught in one chick flick with Casey…but he knew enough. They weren't supposed to end like this!

However, as she got a little farther ahead of him, turned around and yelled, "You coming?" he realized that he was alright with that.

Because in fact, this, however you define it, wouldn't end at all.

And that was yet another challenge and bet that he was willing to make.

He looked around quickly, throwing the bags as comfortable as he could over his shoulder and gripping them as well as he could before taking off in a sprint toward her.

She quirked an eyebrow at him, but didn't move as he approached her, took her bags from her and continued running to the car.

"What are you doing?!" Casey squealed as she just stood and watched him.

He was aware he was about to do something extremely cheesy.

But that was also okay; no one here recognized him anyway.

Once he got the luggage back into the car, he turned back around, and ran up to Casey.

Keeping his momentum going, when he got to her, he grabbed her around the waist, lifted her and spun her around.

Then, he pulled her into a long, passionate kiss.

When he finally put her on the ground, and they pulled away from each other, Casey's eyes were narrowed as she stared into his.

"What…was that…for?"

He shrugged, nonchalantly, "We needed a cheesy ending, or you'd nag me about it for the rest of our lives."

She snorted, but quickly smiled, "Okay; so I was wrong."

His eyebrows shot up, his smart-ass smile on his lips, as he grabbed her hand and they started walking to the car. "About?"

She looked at him, pointedly, "The sky isn't going to start falling. Derek Venturi already has."

He smiled at her, whatever quip was on his lips disappeared as they had made it to the car and he unlocked and opened her door for her.

He pulled her in close before whispering into her neck, "You should probably stop saying that before you wear it out," and before the shocked look had left her face, he shoved her into her seat.

"Der-ek!" came through his car door as he closed it and he smiled.

He realized then, at this point, that this was definitely the ending he liked the best.

Me too! Haha.

Hoped you enjoyed.

And again, Happy #LWD10 everyone! Gosh, I miss this show.