Summary: Marti's bored and decides to play "Matchmaker" with her older siblings. (Dasey/Lizwin)

Rating: PG

Disclaimer: I don't own Life With Derek. 'Nuff said.

Author's Note: This is my second LWD fanfic, so please be nice! No flames, but constructive criticism is always welcome.

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Marti the Matchmaker
The Idea

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Marti Venturi was bored.

It seemed that there was absolutely nothing to do lately. At least, nothing she hadn't already done once… twice… three times that day. She'd done everything from finger painting to playing "House" to playing "Hide and Seek" with Daphne. She'd even gone next door to play with Dimi, only to find out that the silly boy had come down with the Chicken Pox and wasn't allowed to play. This left Marti rather bored and grouchy.

Now, normally if she was feeling like this, she would beg her siblings to make her, well, un-bored. It usually worked - after all, no one could resist the power of her super cuteness, least of all her eldest brother Derek. At the moment, however, her Smerek was currently engaged in a heated argument with her older step-sister, Casey, over the remote. In fact, they were so engrossed in their argument that they didn't even notice that she was sitting on the stairs watching them.

As for Edwin and Lizzie…

Marti's head perked up.

Where were the other two members of the Venturi-McDonald clan?

She glanced around a few times but couldn't spot them anywhere, and eventually just gave up. They were probably hiding in the games closet, as usual, though she really couldn't understand why they did that. Sighing, Marti stood up and made her way into the kitchen, where her dad and step-mom were currently getting ready to go out.

Before she could say anything, however, Derek and Casey emerged from the living room, followed closely by Lizzie and Edwin.

"Oh good, you're all here," Nora began as she slipped on her coat and snatched the phone off the receiver, before turning back to face them, "George and I are going out for a bit - we'll be back around 11:00."

She tossed the phone to Derek, who caught it with expert reflexes.

"We left you enough money to order a pizza if you guys get hungry. Two pizzas - one for Derek and one for the rest of you," George added.

"And Casey," Nora continued, "You're in charge while we're gone."

George nodded in agreement before his eyes landed on his eldest son.

"No parties and no girls, Derek."

Derek responded by rolling his eyes as his dad's stern gaze shifted from him and moved to the two middle children.

"No charts, graphs, spying, plotting, underage gambling -"

The two partners in crime couldn't help but snicker at the recent memory.

"- strip poker, conspiracy theories or mischievous activities of any kind."

Finally, George's eyes settled on the youngest member of the Venturi-McDonald family.

"No…" he paused, trying to think up something to say, "No… no coloring on the walls."

Marti scoffed and folded her arms across her chest. Really, how old did her father think she was? She hadn't colored on the walls since she was three!

"Well, I think we've covered just about everything we needed to cover. We'll see you guys later, okay?" With that, Nora proceeded to kiss each of them on the cheek - to which Derek successfully dodged and Edwin attempted but didn't quite succeed.

Marti couldn't help but giggle at her brothers and their ridiculous male pride.

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Later that evening, Marti found herself sitting at the dining room table nibbling at her slice of pizza. Derek and Casey were sitting where George and Nora usually sat, glaring heatedly at one another, while Edwin and Lizzie sat on the couch and pretended to watch TV.

Key word: Pretended.

Marti wasn't blind, nor was she born yesterday. She saw the shy glances the two shared when they thought the other wasn't looking. Derek and Casey on the other hand… didn't seem to notice. They were far too busy bickering over… whatever it was they were bickering over. She wasn't quite sure, though she did catch a few words like: "chauvinistic pig", "slut", "manwhore", "Max", and "bastard".

Marti sighed. She really didn't know why her Smerek liked to get on Casey's nerves so much. Wasn't it just the previous night when he had told her that he loved Casey?

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::FLASHBACK::

-

"Smerek… can I ask you something?" Marti asked, as her oldest brother finished tucking her into bed.

"Sure you can, Smarti! Ask away." Derek replied, ruffling her hair.

Marti smiled weakly before hugging one of her stuffed toys to her chest.

"Well… I was wondering…" She hesitated for a split second, before looking back up at him, "Why do you and Casey fight all the time? Do you hate each other? Is that why?"

Derek's eyes widened momentarily - he clearly hadn't seen that coming - before he sighed.

"Nah, that's not it. I don't hate Space-Case. I could never hate her. It's just…" He trailed off, sitting on the edge of her bed and trying to think of something to say. Finally, he continued, "It's just… people do weird things when they love someone. It's different for everyone. For me and Casey… we fight."

There was a few minutes of silence before Marti spoke.

"So… you love Casey?" She asked softly, "Like how daddy and Nora love each other?"

Derek nodded.

"Yeah," he said, "I think I do."

"But… if you love her… then why are you always so mean to her?" asked Marti, "Why do you always bug her and make fun of her?"

"Like I said… people do weird things when they love someone." Derek replied. "I guess I annoy her because I want to get her attention - I like getting a reaction out of her. It's the only way she'll pay attention to me."

"Oh…" Marti paused for a few seconds before glancing back up at her brother, "Does Casey know you love her?"

Derek shook his head.

"No, and I'd like it if it stayed that way. You can't breathe a word of this to anyone, okay Smarti? It'll be our little secret." He told her, holding out his hand. "Pinky swear?"

Marti giggled and nodded before hooking her pinky with his.

-

::END FLASHBACK::

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The youngest Venturi sighed. Really, Smerek could probably get Casey's attention if he was nicer to her too. After all, if he could all those girls at his school just by looking at them… why not Casey? She was a girl, after all.

Suddenly, a light bulb went off in her head and an idea struck her.

What if… all Derek and Casey needed was a little push? She knew Derek loved Casey, and she also knew that Casey didn't really "hate" Derek as much as she led on… so perhaps there was a possibility that Casey felt for Derek as Derek felt for her?

A smile crept across Marti's face.

She would make sure that Derek and Casey admitted their feelings by the end of the week if it was the last thing she did.

Even if she had to stay up past 8:30 trying to do it.

With that thought confirmed in her mind, Marti stood up and skipped her way up the stairs and towards her room to begin planning "Operation: Dasey". And if need be… she'd give Edwin and Lizzie a little nudge too. Perhaps locking them in the games closet for an entire day might make some progress.

Marti giggled.

They didn't call her "Marti the Matchmaker" for nothing.

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I really don't like how I ended this chapter. I'm really tired - but I felt I had to finish this chapter and get it posted so I can get started on the next one. I'm so impatient. Grr. Anyways, I'll probably go back and fix a few things in a bit… in the meantime though, I'm going to bed.

G'night!

-Lady Azura-