Disclaimer- I don't own anything…

Disclaimer- I don't own anything…

A/N- This is just a one-shot. If you guys want, I'll continue it. Please, please review!!

"I'll be back soon, kids. Don't wait up for me," Nora MacDonald said to her 5 kids, only 2 of which were her own.

"I can't believe her. She always does this to us," 16 year old Casey said as she slinked to her room.

Derek Venturi ran after his stepsister.

"Case, they'll get over it. It's just another stupid fight," Derek ensured to Casey.

She wiped her tears, ignoring her brother and left the room. Nora and George Venturi were having off and on fights for almost 2 months now. They kept it together for the kids. They all cared about each other too much. This was the time to end the relationship. George came out of their bedroom with red eyes.

"Um, I'll be back in a little bit. I'm going to go drop the kids off at friend's houses. Then I'm just going to go... somewhere," he replied, leaving. Marti, Lizzie, and Edwin followed behind him.

Casey and Derek were the only two left in the house.

"This is just great. Our parents ran away," Casey snickered.

"They didn't run away. They'll be back," Derek reassured himself and Casey.

The only problem was that only one of them came back.

"I've called her cell phone. S-she just won't answer," George stuttered as he paced back and forth.

"She probably just shut off her phone," Derek said.

They had been trying to call Nora for awhile now. She wasn't answering her phone.

"No! It keeps ringing. She didn't shut it off," George screamed at Derek.

"Well, she said not to wait up for her," Casey replied heartless.

"How could you say that," Derek asked her.

"Whatever she did this time, she deserved it," Casey objected as she went to her room.

Just as she got up, the phone rang. They all stared at it, silently.

"Well, answer it," Derek yelled to his father.

George answered the phone. "Hello...oh my god, we'll be right there," he dropped the phone onto the couch and ran to grab his coat.

"Where is she," Casey asked him.

"She's in the hospital. Come on, let's go," he said as they all ran to his car.

The whole car ride was silent. No one asked questions of concern or anything remotely close to that. They all got out of the car and didn't wait for each other. Casey was the first person to the hospital desk.

"Nora MacDonald," Casey said as a nurse pointed to room 13.

Casey walked in slowly and backed away once she saw her mother. She darted into Derek's arms and George walked closer. His eyes filled with tears as he saw his wife. She had so many cuts and stitches and she could barely keep her eyes open. The doctor that was sitting near her hospital bed took George aside.

"They only let you in here to say your goodbyes," he said to George.

"Goodbyes? What the hell are you talking about," he asked the doctor.

"We want you to say goodbye before she goes. A poisonous gas from the accident …," George blocked out the rest of the doctor's words. Nora, the love of his life, was going to die. He walked over to Derek and Casey, who were both sitting with Nora. He took Derek by the arm to tell him first. Then, he told Casey. She walked over to her mother and hugged her. She didn't want to let go, but she had to. She really did care about her mother. Derek walked Casey out to the car as they both cried. George stayed behind and waited. He wanted to stay with her and tell her how sorry he was. But the machine didn't beep.

DASEY

"Paul, I can't take it. It's been 7 whole days. I mean, I don't want her to die, but if she's going to, why wait it out," Casey said to her school counselor, Paul.

He studied her face. "Casey, to me you seem very… hateful towards your mother. You talk about her like she actually deserves this," he said to her.

"It's not that I hate her, but she's hurt Lizzie and me so many times," she replied.

The bell rang and their session was up.

"Well, I'll see you tomorrow. Bye," Casey said darting out.

She met up with Emily, her best friend.

"How is she," Emily asked her quietly.

"She's still alive," she replied trying to make a good situation out of a bad one.

"That's…good," Emily said. "Well, I'm going out with Sheldon. I'll see you later," Emily said walking away.

Casey was walking home when a car honked at her. It was Derek.

"You need a ride," he asked her.

She got in and sighed.

"Dad's at the hospital," Derek said trying not to cry.

"Did she…," Casey started but stopped when Derek nodded.

DASEY

The day of Nora's funeral was hell. Everyone was crying… except for Casey. Her mother had never truly loved her. She just acted like it. Casey knew she liked Lizzie better. Why should she feed in and cry? Casey's father came and sat next to her. Even he was crying.

"You okay? You're not crying," he pointed out.

"Why should I? She didn't care about me," she replied in a cold voice.

"How could you even think this? She loved you more than you know. Just because she showed more of her affection towards Liz doesn't mean she didn't care about you," he said walking away.

Casey sat and though about how she was acting. Oddly, she didn't even care. Why should she?

The funeral ended quickly, which was fortunate for Casey and Lizzie. George, Derek, Casey, Edwin, Lizzie, and Marti were all back home. Awkwardly, so was Dennis, Casey and Lizzie's dad. Derek and Casey were in her room, talking.

"He's going to want me and Liz to go live with him," Casey explained.

"Well, do you want to go live with him," Derek asked, hoping she said no.

"No, I want to stay here with George and Marti and Edwin… and you," Casey said.

"Well, we have to figure something out. I don't want you guys to go," he said holding Casey's hand.

"Let's go talk to them," Casey said getting up. Derek followed close behind.

George, Casey's dad, and Lizzie were all sitting at the kitchen table.

"Casey, we have something to discuss. Come sit down," Dennis said to her.

Casey sat down and folded her hands. She knew what was coming.

"Case, I want you and Liz to come live with me," Dennis said smiling.

"Are you kidding me? There is no chance in hell that I'm coming to live with you," Casey said laughing her father's face.

"Casey," George firmly exclaimed. "Show your father some respect."

She ignored him.

"I don't want to go and live in shitty apartment in New York. I am perfectly fine living here, and I don't see why you want to leave either, Liz," Casey said turning towards her sister.

Without saying anything, Lizzie walked away from the table and out the front door.

"Great, you made her feel bad," Dennis said running after his daughter.

Casey was getting angry. Everyone was talking to Lizzie and complaining about how hard it was on her but none of them even thought to ask Casey. How she felt about everything.

"Ok, Casey. I know you may want to live here with everyone, but what about your dad? He really wants to make this work," George said with tears in his eyes. He loved Casey and Lizzie as if they were his own children.

"Even if it means leaving all this behind," she replied.

"You won't leave it behind. You can come and visit anytime you want to," George reassured her.

"I don't want to come and visit. I like actually living here. Why do I even have to go? It's not really his decision."

"Casey…," George interrupted.

"No, you act like I really want to go live with some crappy father, who barely knows anything about me," Casey blurted out.

George was staring off behind her. Casey turned around and saw her father standing there with tears in his eyes.

"Dad, I'm so sor...," Casey said as her father slammed the door and left.

"Geesh, you guys couldn't have given me some hint that he was there," Casey complained.

"I tried," George said.

DASEY

Casey walked outside onto her front porch and saw Lizzie sitting there. She went and sat next to her.

"Hey," they both said at the same time.

"So are you going," Casey asked her little sister.

"Yeah. It'll be good to get away from it all. Are you," Lizzie asked.

"I don't really want to. I want to stay here with everyone. I just don't want to leave it all behind," Casey muttered.

Just then, Dennis and George came out of the house.

"Casey, I've made the decision myself. You're coming to live with me. We're leaving tomorrow," Dennis struggled to say. He hated disciplining his daughters, especially Casey. She was always stubborn with him.

"No, I'm not. I don't care if you're my father or not. I want to stay here so I am staying here," Casey insisted.

"Casey, it's not really your decision," George interrupted.

"Who's side are you on," Casey asked him. "You just want me to leave everything behind," Casey said as she ran inside.

When Casey got upstairs to her room, Derek was sitting on her bed. He looked like he was crying. Without saying anything, he got up and hugged her.

"So you already know," she asked him.

"Yeah. I guess it's for the best," he suggested.

"But I don't want to leave. I love you," Casey remarked.

"We love you, too. We love Liz too. If it was up to us, you would stay, but… unfortunately it's not," Derek replied.

Casey sighed. He was unbelievably oblivious that she loved him.

"Well, do you need any help packing," Derek asked her.

She shook her head no and he left to go downstairs. Casey began to pack all alone. When she was finished she threw all of her stuff down the stairs. She was in too much of a bad mood to use her strength. She ran down the stairs and saw Edwin and Lizzie together in the living room. They were talking so she stayed far away. She had already known how much they both liked each other. She wanted them to have their time alone.

If only Derek knew how much I loved him," Casey thought to herself.

Just then, Derek walked in. Next to him was Kendra. Casey hated Kendra. She liked Derek and so did Casey.

"Uh, Derek can I talk to you in the other room," Casey gestured.

Derek followed Casey into the kitchen.

"Why is she here," Casey asked him.

"What's wrong with her being here," Derek asked.

"It's not really a good or appropriate time," Casey replied rudely.

"Well, that's none of your business actually," Derek said in a matter-of-fact voice.

"It's my house too and I don't think she should be here," Casey raised her voice.

"Will you stop yelling? I can have whoever I want to have over whenever I want to. You're just gong to have to deal with it," Derek concluded.

"Gosh, you know, you are really, really stupid," Casey replied to him.

"Good but no matter how stupid I really am I can still have whoever I want over here. Last time I checked I don't need your permission," Derek commented.

"Derek you are so insensitive. Your stepmother just died and now me and Liz are moving and you bring your slutty girlfriend over here," Casey screamed at the top of her lungs.

Unfortunately, she screamed so loud that Kendra heard her.

"Um, I think I'm just going to go home," Kendra said as she walked out, slamming the front door behind her.

"Good job, you asshole. You just can't keep your big mouth shut. You always have to put other people down just to make yourself feel better. You're just a selfish, pathetic bitch," Derek screamed at Casey before heading after Kendra.

Casey sat down again and for the first time in a long time, she cried. It had finally hit her. Her mother was dead. She was leaving everyone she ever loved. All it took was for Derek to scream at her. Casey walked upstairs and into Derek's bedroom. She had to apologize. She laid on his bed and breathed in his cologne.

"How could he like her? She's cheating on him anyways," Casey said aloud.

Casey looked up from where she was sitting. Derek was standing in his doorway shaking his head.

"This is a perfect example of your big mouth. Can you just get out," Derek said as Casey blushed and left the room.

"Derek, I didn't even kno-," Casey started.

"Just…get…out," Derek said slowly.

DASEY

About 2 hours went by and Derek hadn't come out of his room. Casey felt really bad so she went to his room. She knocked twice before he answered.

"What do you want, Casey," he asked.

"Can I talk to you," she questioned.

He didn't answer so she walked in. She sat on his bed and sighed.

"I'm really sorry-, Casey started.

"Don't be sorry. I should be sorry. I shouldn't have called you all of that. The whole Kendra thing isn't a big deal either. I mean, yeah, I'm really surprised, but whatever," Derek said trying to make Casey feel better. He hated being mean to her.

"Do you still love me," Casey asked jokingly.

"Of course I do," Derek replied as he leaned in for a hug.

"So did you break up with her," she asked.

He nodded his head yes.

Casey was looking down at her hands when Derek took them in his own.

"Case, I love you," Derek said.

"I love you too Derek," Casey said leaning in for another hug.

"No, no," Derek started as he pushed Casey back, "I really love you. Not brother-sister love, like I want-to-be-with-you love."

Casey couldn't believe her ears. She pinched herself just to be sure she wasn't dreaming. She had waited forever to hear those words. 'I love you' was all he had to say for her to want him more than ever. Casey leaned in for a kiss and broke away only to say "I love you".

A/N- I really, really hope you guys liked it! I was soooo nervous to put it up but I did! Please review!