1. Pretend

"Derek." Casey greeted coldly as she stepped out of her car and next to her stepbrother and ex-boyfriend, after not seeing him for five years.

The fellow twenty-nine year snorted, rubbing his hands together as he breathed out. His breath could be seen, it was so cold out. "Look, Princess, I know it didn't exactly work out between us but---"

"Derek, we should at least pretend to get along for the remainder of the week." Casey blurted out, interrupting him.

The brown-haired male smirked, a sparkle in his chocolate eyes. "So we're on the same page, for once."

"Unwillingly. I'm doing it for Lizzie."

"Well, I'm doing it for Edwin and Lizzie." Derek retorted.

Casey rolled her eyes; typical Derek had to one-up her at everything. "Come on, it's cold out here."

She walked forward and rang the doorbell and Derek questioned, "Any boyfriends since you left?"

Casey immediately felt herself stiffen at his words, "No. I've been busy with my writing. I'm getting my book published, you know." She knew she sounded smug but, quite frankly, she didn't care. She walked out on him and she wanted to prove that she made the right choice. "What about you? Any girlfriends?"

Derek was silent for a minute, "Um, no."

It was a lie. A blunt, obvious lie; he wasn't used to that. The truth was, he had one girlfriend that consisted of one-night stands, broken-hearts and absolutely no spooning. Her name was Lust and she was oh-so-sweet in his eyes.

Casey raised an eyebrow, surprised she had caught a lie from the King of Lies but said nothing of it. Finally, George opened the door with a bright smile, interrupting the awkward silence between the former lovers. "Come on out of the cold, guys!"

Casey plastered a bright smile that Derek knew was fake, "Great to see you, George! How's Ash and Mike?"

George hugged his step-daughter as soon as she set down her pair of luggage, "Ash prefers to be called Ashley, now. I swear, she can't make up her mind. Mike prefers Mikey. I hate having eleven-year-old twins at such an old age."

"Oh, come on, G. You're not that old," Derek stepped in, set his belongings on top of Casey's, and hugged his dad as soon as Casey let go.

"Oh, really? Then how come on my last birthday, I got a birthday card asking if I had keeled over from a heart-attack yet?" George pulled back and eyed his eldest of his children.

Derek started cracking up immediately, "Oh, come on! That was funny!"

Casey shook her head and smacked him over the head. They two began wrestling with each other like they did when they were teenagers. This suddenly reminded George to tell them of some unlpeasant news, "Oh, by the way, you two are going to have to share a bedroom."

This caught their attention simultaneously. Each paused with a fist prepared to punch, "What?"

"Um, I'll let Nora explain..." George decided out loud, "Nora!"

Nora emerged from the kitchen with Marti at her heals, "What's wrong this time, George?"

Casey spoke up for her step-father, "Can you explain to me why Derek and I, I mean, Derek and I, are stuck in the same bedroom together?"

"What she said." Derek added, only to be jabbed in the stomach with Casey's elbow, "Ow!"

Nora gave her daughter an apologetic look, "I'm sorry, Sweetie, but we're booked. Lizzie and Ed wanted to sleep in the same room, since it is their wedding, Abby and her husband are in your old bedroom and Marti wants to share her bedroom with the twins since she hasn't seen them since college started. You were the only two left, we had no choice. You'll get Derek's old room."

Casey rubbed her temple and glared at the girl behind her mother, "Really, Marti? Why would you do this to us? How could you do this to us?"

Marti gave a nonchalant shrug, "I figured you two would be over it by now. I mean, it's been how many years already? Besides, you're the one who walked out, Case. You obviously didn't care for him, so why should it matter?"

Casey set her jaw. She couldn't believe that sweet, sweet Marti would say that to her. "You know I had my reasons, first of all. Second of all, we've always fought. I don't want to ruin the week for Ed and Liz."

Marti flung her long black hair in a short laugh, "The only reason you left was because you were afraid and you've always fought because you were scared. Your reasons aren't as legitimate as you always thought, Case."

This left both adults feeling awkward in their shoes. Casey grabbed her baggage first, "Which room?"

"Derek's old room."

"How perfect," Casey mumbled as she dragged her feet upstairs. Derek followed with a quick wink to Marti.

Casey closed the door behind her, only to have Derek angrily swing it open and slam it. "What the hell was that all about?" He practically screamed at her, "I thought we were going to 'at least pretend' to get along for the sake of Edwin and Lizzie!"

"I know, I know!" Casey retorted, almost as angry as Derek was. "They're not here yet. I just... I really can't wait for Mom to start going on about how she's happy that at least one of her daughters is getting married. Look, Derek, I'm so sorry that I changed. I wish it was like it was right before I left but it just isn't and I can't apologize for that. Marti was right; I was scared. More than anything."

"Yeah, I guess I was, too." Derek remarked, "Remember, I'm going to have to go through all of that, too but with both of my parents. Be glad your dad passed away two years ago."

Casey's eyes widened and slapped him as she tried to blink away the tears, "That was uncalled for!"

"It's true, as much as it sucks." Derek shrugged, taking off his jacket and laying it perfectly on the ground.

Casey made no comment to that, "Do you think we'll get through it?"

Author's Note: Woot! I'm back! I really hoped you guys enjoyed this first chapter. I'll try to update as much as possible. Please review. =]

God bless!
Rose