Nothing's Wrong

Author's Note: I really wanted to write some thick yummy Derek-whump, and this is what I came up with. ;) It was meant to be a lot shorter than this, but it turned out a bit longer so I decided to split it up in two chapters instead (and possibly a third one too). Slight Casey fluff too, or at least Casey caring and worrying about her stepbrother.

oOoOo

It was Sunday morning and the McDonalds and Venturis were having a calm family breakfast together. Edwin was telling everyone around the table about this girl he had met in school that was totally interested in him, but had a peculiar way of showing it by trying to bust his kneecaps during gym class. Lizzie was trying to tell Nora about a meeting for martial arts interested girls that she'd been invited to next weekend, and wanted to make sure that Nora could drive her there. Marti on the other hand was trying her very best to interrupt everyone to get some attention.

Nora, however, seemed a bit absent minded and kept looking up from her breakfast with a nervous expression. George, being the sensitive husband, was of course the first one to notice this.

"So, Nora..." George said and took a bite of his toast. "Have I done something to make you have second thoughts on our marriage? Because it looks like you're planning to run away somewhere..."

"What?" Nora said in surprise. "Oh, George. No. No, it has nothing to do with you. I'm just a bit... Well..."

"Distracted...?" George suggested.

"No, it's more like... Have you ever had the feeling that you're sitting on a ticking bomb that's about to go off any second?" Nora asked.

"... Are you threatening me?" George said uncertainly.

"No!" Nora replied. "I'm talking about Casey and Derek. I haven't heard, or seen them the whole morning, and that makes me feel... Well, it's a bit unnerving"

"Nora. It's Sunday morning." George explained simply. "And being sixteen is a lot of hard work these days. They got school work to do, parties to attend, social activities, sports... No wonder that they get tired. Let the teenagers sleep, they'll probably need it."

"Yeah, and you're probably right." Nora admitted and took a sip from her coffee.

"So, mom. Does Saturday work for you?" Lizzie asked.

"Huh?" Nora said confused. "What about what...?"

"Can someone PLEASE NOTICE ME!" Marti yelled furiously, not being used to be ignored, and didn't take it very well. "I wanna exist TOO!"

Just as Nora was about to reply to at least one of the girls, she was interrupted by a loud high pitched scream from upstairs, sounding though the house.

"DEREK!" Casey yelled, and in the next second a noise of running feet was heard in the stairs as Derek suddenly showed up, skipping the last five steps, and rushed in to the kitchen as he immediately took his seat. Grinning like someone that just had had the best day of his life. George looked at Derek, not sure if he dared to ask what his oldest son had done now.

"Derek, if this is your version of morning gymnastics, I rather prefer if you could do it in a way that didn't involve Casey." George said.

"Dad." Derek stated and grabbed some milk and cereals. "If you're seriously trying to tell me to stop pranking Casey, then I'm gonna have to disappoint you. Big time."

"I'm not telling you stop your pranks." George said defensively. "Just to... not do them so early in the morning. And especially on Sundays, that's just unholy..."

Another pair of feet was now heard in the stairs. Stomping and mad. And then Casey showed up in the kitchen, her hair still damp from the shower she apparently just had got out from. She had a simple pair of jeans on and a white t-shirt that she seemed to just have put on along the way.

"Derek!" She yelled when she saw him at the table. "I swear to you that one day, I'm gonna smash in your teeth with your own hockey stick and feed them to you though your nostrils and-!"

Edwin and Lizzie instinctively covered Marti's ears when Casey started her threatening rant, and Casey seemed to just now realize that there were more people in the room than just herself and Derek. She straightened up slightly, trying to look like her calm and compulsive self.

"Mom. Lizzie. George. Edwin. Marti." She said politely with a nod to each one of them.

"Casey..." Nora sighed. "I haven't even swallowed my eggs yet, and you two have already declared war towards each other. Can't you perhaps wait with this till after breakfast...?"

"No!" Casey retorted, back to her furious mood. "I'm not gonna wait with this! I'll sort this out while my anger is still at its peak!"

"Derek, what did you do?" George asked.

"He broke in to the bathroom while I was taking a shower!" Casey answered in Derek's place. "And that's not even what I'm upset about. He sneaked in, and then filled all my clothes with liquid soap!"

"Derek..." Nora sighed tiredly.

"Well, technically your clothes should be cleaner now than they were before." Derek pointed out with a smile. "You owe me one for doing your laundry."

"No. Technically, my clothes are ruined, and you're a big fat jerk!" Casey yelled. "And I was gonna meet Emily at 10, but now I have to choose a new outfit that isn't sticky with soap, and take a second shower."

"A second shower...?" Derek asked in disbelief.

"Yeah." Casey said in annoyance. "Unfortunately, I didn't notice what you had done until I had already put my pants on. And I'm not going anywhere with my legs all smudged with green soap!"

"Derek, that was really unnecessary." Nora said.

"Yes, Derek." George said accusingly. "Stop wasting the soap, some people here actually use it to clean themselves with it."

Casey rolled her eyes and took her seat at the table, still glaring at Derek who currently was busy happily stealing Edwin's untouched toast.

"What I don't get is how you got inside in the first place." Casey muttered. "I know that I remembered to lock the door. On the contrary to George the other day..."

"George!" Nora said and looked at her husband in pure shock.

"It was an accident!" George claimed desperately. "I had worked all night and only had three hours of sleep. My brain was so worn out that I for one moment thought that we were a household of only guys again, and where Marti is too short to reach the handle..."

"Well, to answer your question Casey..." Derek interrupted and picked something up from his pocket. "You should know that bathroom doors don't stand a chance against a screwdriver."

Derek held up a screwdriver and spun it between his fingers, but then accidentally dropped it into his bowls of cereals. Derek seemed to be considering eating the cereals anyway, but then simply switched his bowl with Edwin, who stared at his brother with a spoonful to his mouth.

"And you should know better than to violate people's privacy!" Casey scolded him.

"... or their breakfast." Edwin mumbled and got up from his chair with his bowl and went to the sink to dispose of the screwdriver and uneatable cereals.

"Hey, that counts as extra iron. You should eat that up." Derek told his little brother.

"And probably some extra germs and rust too." Nora said with a light smile. "Put that away and take a new one, Ed."

"So, Casey." George said, trying to change the subject to a nicer one. "What are you and Emily going to do today?"

"Boring...!" Derek sighed before Casey got the chance to answer. "Dad. It's breakfast. Let's try and keep the dullness to a minimum so that I won't fall asleep less than an hour after I just woke up. Ok?"

"Fine. Then perhaps this will be less "boring" for you." Casey said sarcastically. "For the first time ever, I might actually get an F on my English assignment."

"What? Casey, why?" Nora asked in surprise.

"Because I can't find my paper, and it has to be in by tomorrow!" Casey explained, looking distressed.

"Oh, honey. When do you think you lost it?" Nora asked.

"That's the thing. I have no idea." Casey told her. "I finished it four days ago and left it on my desk so that I would know where it was."

"But, if you finished it four days ago then why didn't you turn it in, like… Four days ago?" Lizzie asked.

"I can't do that. What if I realize in the last minute that I need to change something?" Casey said. "But now I wish I had... I can't believe that I'm gonna have to tell Mr Anderson that I don't have the assignment. Maybe if I buy him flowers..."

"Casey, I'm sure it won't have to come to that." George said with confidence.

"Why do you say that...?" Casey asked uncertainly.

Everyone around the table turned their eyes to Derek, who looked up from his breakfast with a pretend shocked expression.

"Wait a minute... Are you really accusing me for taking Casey's English paper?" Derek asked.

"And did you?" Casey asked threateningly, staring into the depths of her stepbrother's soul.

Derek didn't answer immediately, which was all the confirmation Casey needed.

"You stole my English paper?!" Casey yelled.

"In my defense, you really should keep your stuff in a more secluded area." Derek replied.

"Like on my desk in my room?!" Casey asked upset.

"I was thinking more of a place where no one can nick them." Derek answered with a smile.

"Derek, if you have Casey's English assignment, then how about you go and get it for her." George said. "Like NOW."

"Well, I would love to do that dad." Derek said sarcastically. "It's just that I don't have it."

"What!?" Casey yelled, looking terrified. "What did you do to it?"

"Chill, Case." Derek said with a calming gesture. "Your paper is completely safe. I'm just saying that I don't have it on me. It's in my locker. In school."

"You are unbelievable!" Casey said, looking crossed. "So you were really planning to hand in my work and claim it as your own?"

"Ha, ha. Casey. Please." Derek said in with a laugh. "The teachers would know that it isn't mine after like reading the first sentence. And probably even before that, since it's six pages long."

"I suppose that makes sense..." Casey admitted. "And I'll take that as a compliment by the way."

"You're welcome." Derek said with a nod. "Don't expect any more of them this year."

"But in that case, why did you take it in the first place!" Casey asked angrily.

"Well, do you remember that you promised to help me get at least a B on my Spanish paper last week?" Derek asked.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Casey asked in confusion.

"You see, I didn't get a B on that." Derek explained simply.

"So... What did you get?" Casey asked, still not quite following him.

"I don't remember, but I think it rhymed with "death"." Derek said.

"An F?!" Casey said in shock. "I helped you with that assignment! How could you possibly get an F?"

"Oh, Senora Sanchez told me exactly what I did wrong." Derek explained calmly. "But she was yelling most of it at me in Spanish, so of course I didn't get one word of what she was saying."

"I told you exactly what to do to pass that assignment. And my explanation was in English!" Casey pointed out. "I can't believe how you managed to fail it anyway. Not even you should have been capable of that!"

"It's not difficult at all." Derek said honestly and leaned back in his chair. "You just give a teacher a paper without writing any actual words on it."

"You handed in a blank paper? Why would you do that?" Casey asked with a raised eyebrow. "

"Maybe 'cause I thought that you were finished with it?" Derek said sarcastically.

"Derek, I promised you that I would help you with your assignment. Not do it for you." Casey said tiredly.

"Well I didn't know that...!" Derek said accusingly. "So now I have to make some kind of extra work till Friday, and it's totally messing up my schedule for the week."

"Is that's why you poured soap in my clothes this morning?" Casey asked. "As payback because I didn't write your Spanish assignment?"

"No, taking your English paper was payback. The soap, well that I mainly just did for fun." Derek said with an amused grin at the thought of his earlier prank.

"Derek, you're gonna give Casey her English paper back the first thing in the morning, you understand that?" George said sternly.

"I got Hockey practice in the morning." Derek stated.

"Then skip it!" Casey said irritated.

"Not a chance." Derek stated seriously.

"Fine. Give me the combination to your locker, and I'll get it myself." Casey said.

"Case, there's no way that I'll ever let you snoop around inside my locker." Derek said.

"George!" Casey said and turned to her stepfather for some kind of support.

"Don't get so over dramatic." Derek sighed in annoyance. "Meet me at the lockers at lunch, and I'll give you your lame English paper by myself. Does that sound good enough for ya?"

"I guess..." Casey admitted reluctantly. "But everyone will already have handed in their work by then-"

"So you'll be last one to do it. But I bet that you rather be last than not handing it in at all. Right Case?" Derek said with a smirk.

Casey answered him with a very disapproving look, but didn't say anything.

oOoOo

Monday morning.

"Derek!" Nora yelled up the stairs from the kitchen. "You drag yourself out of that bed now mister, or you'll be late for school!"

Nora quickly returned to packing the kids' lunches in a hasty manner, not entirely sure of what she put down in which bag.

"... and I don't have time to drive anyone to school right now." Nora mumbled, looking very stressed.

"Mom, why are you so stressed out?" Lizzie asked and watched her mother in slight concern of what she was getting for lunch today.

"Stressed? Oh, I'm not stressed. I'm just... Late." Nora answered and seemed to run out of options to what to pack for Derek to drink. "Very, very late... George, do you think Derek drinks coffee yet?"

"Nora, wasn't this supposed to be your day off?" George asked from his seat.

"I know, but it didn't quite work out that way..." Nora explained and simply packed a bottle of something that she hoped was apple juice, but might also have been olive oil. "I got a phone call early this morning from a client that I was gonna meet on Wednesday. But apparently, something came up and now she has to meet me today. And preferably twenty minutes ago..."

"Ouch." George said sympathetically as he calmly finished his coffee.

"And as if that wasn't enough." Nora continued. "Lizzie and Edwin got a dentist appointment at lunch. Which means that as soon as I'm done with my client, I'll have to break every speed limit to get to their school in time, pick them up, and beg to God that the lunch traffic has decided to be late today."

"I have to go to the dentist today!?" Edwin cried out in shock.

"Didn't I tell you that...?" Nora asked uncertainly.

"NO!" Both Lizzie and Edwin shouted simultaneously.

"Well... This way you will only have to worry about it for a few hours." Nora said with a small smile.

"Good Morning!" Casey greeted as she entered the kitchen.

"Casey, you didn't happen to see if your stepbrother has awaken from his coma yet?" Nora asked.

"No, but I think I heard something heavy fall to the floor when you yelled earlier." Casey mused. "Might have been him."

Casey now noticed the small chaos of lunch material on the counter and gave Nora an uncertain look.

"Are you... In a hurry or something?" Casey asked.

"As a matter of fact, yes." Nora answered. "I got a meeting with a client about now, and later I have to drive Lizzie and Edwin to the dentist. I'm fully booked, to say the least."

"So why can't George take them?" Casey suggested.

"Oh, trust me I would if I could." George said and gulped down the last drop of his coffee and left his seat. "But I'm at work by then. Speaking of which, I have to leave... Um, now."

"But Casey, perhaps you could..." Nora began but was interrupted immediately.

"Mom. There's no way I can drive Lizzie and Edwin to the dentist on a 50 minutes long lunch break." Casey pointed out.

"You just have to drop them off there by 11:40. You don't even have to stay." Nora suggested.

"Are you just gonna leave us there!" Lizzie asked in horror.

"Okay, bad idea..." Nora admitted.

"And I don't have time, remember?" Casey said. "Thanks to Derek, I have to spend most of my lunch finding my English teacher and ask him to accept my paper. And knowing Derek, he's gonna wait till after he has finished his lunch before he cares to fetch it to me."

"Speaking of the devil..." George said with a frown. "Shouldn't Derek be here by now?"

Nora, Casey and George shared a look and then turned their heads to the stairs again.

"DEREK!" They yelled together.

A noise was heard from the second floor and within a minute, Derek was walking down the stairs, looking very tired, his hair a mess, and was pretty much dragging his feet behind him like if he didn't really have the energy to properly lift them.

"No skipping down the stairs today, huh?" George pointed out when Derek entered the kitchen.

"Not... Exactly." Derek answered with a strained smile as he took his seat at the table.

"I hope you got more energy than that for your breakfast, cause you have about ten minutes left to finish it." Nora said.

"Right, about that..." Derek said after taken one uneasy look at the food. "I'm gonna go ahead and skip breakfast today... I'm not really feeling that good."

"Derek, you're not staying home from school." George said deadpan. "Again."

"Whaat...?" Derek said in a whiny voice. "Oh come on, dad."

"Not. A. Chance!" Casey said with a threatening glare. "You are going to school today, and you are gonna give me back my English paper! Don't even think about coming up with lame excuses to stay home, cause I know that you'll try to!"

"Yeah, you'd think that's something I would do." Derek said with a small laugh but then immediately turned serious. "But no. Not this time."

"Knock it off, Derek." George said tiredly. "Just eat your breakfast and get ready for school."

"Actually, forget breakfast." Casey said after one look at her watch. "We have to leave now. And you're coming with me!"

Casey quickly took one last bite of her sandwich and then got up from her seat, grabbed Derek's arm in the process as she violently dragged him with her, making her stepbrother groan in reluctance.

"But Derek, don't you at least want something to eat on the way?" Nora asked as the teenagers left the kitchen.

"Oh please." Casey answered in his place and rolled her eyes. "Derek will probably eat his lunch as breakfast the second he's at school, and then he'll get some cute girl to share hers with him. I've seen it before. It's pathetic."

"That is unless he forgets his lunch at home." George said pointedly.

Casey was just about to put on her coat but stopped immediately as she realized what George was referring to. She rushed back to the kitchen, took her and Derek's lunch from the counter, and ran back to the hallway, where Derek made a meek attempt to put on his own coat but Casey quickly pushed him out of the door before he had the chance to.

"Thank you Mom George love you see you later bye!" Casey screamed before she slammed the door shut behind her.

The rest of the McDonald Venturi families sat in deathly silence before they slowly went back to eating their breakfast in peace.

"George... You don't think he was really sick do you?" Nora asked a bit uncertain.

"No, I seriously doubt that he was." George said confidently. "I mean, I've seen that kid play sick numerous of times before, and that was probably the worst attempt ever. Once he actually faked it so good that I even ended up calling an ambulance."

"Hey, I remember that!" Edwin said cheerfully. "Boy, I've never seen Dad switch so fast from crying and praying to furious and yelling."

"Then... Isn't that a bit weird?" Lizzie asked with a look at George. "If he's that good at playing sick, then why wouldn't he be this time?"

"I think Casey dragged him out the door before he had the chance to start coughing up blood." Edwin said with an amused smile.

"Yeah, what is it with the McDonald women and stress anyway?" George asked Nora. "You always seem to be in a rush or running late to something. Like mother like daughter I guess-"

"Oh my God the meeting! I completely forgot!" Nora yelled and ran out from the kitchen.

"Exactly like mother like daughter..." George sighed and finished his cup of coffee.

oOoOo

"Dude, what was up with you on the training?" Sam asked as he and Derek was walking down the hallway.

"What are you talking about? Can't guy have one bad day from time to time?" Derek replied with a slight annoyed voice.

"Um, yeah." Sam said. "But to have a bad day, you actually have to do something. Come on man, you were barely even moving during the game. Coach thought that you had frozen to the ice."

"So? I was... Checking out the girls in the audience." Derek said.

"You mean Mike's mom and little sister?" Sam said with a frown. "Um, for you information, she's married, and her daughter is nine."

Instead of answering, Derek let out a deep sigh and leaned to the closest wall for support. He looked a bit paler than normal and his forehead was damp of sweat. Sam stopped and looked at his friend with some concern.

"Hey dude, are you really okay?" He asked.

"Not so much, no..." Derek answered in a strained voice while holding his side.

"Do you want me to call someone...?" Sam asked uncertainly.

"Nah, forget it." Derek said with a dismissing gesture. "It's no big deal, I've probably just eaten something bad."

"Like what?" Sam asked.

"There might have been something green and possibly fluffy on that sandwich I took last night..." Derek mused. "I better check it when I get home."

"You sure that you're okay, then?" Sam asked again.

"Yeah. Positive." Derek said with a stiff but confident smile. "And there's no one to call since no one is home yet anyway, so... Big waste of time."

"Well, if you say so." Sam sighed and looked at his watch. "Hey, next class starts in ten minutes, are you coming?"

"You know what? I think I'm gonna sit this one out." Derek said as he pretended to think about it.

"Figured as much." Sam said with a knowing smile. "See ya later, buddy."

"Yeah. Bye." Derek said, but didn't look up at Sam as he was too busy pretending that the pain in his side wasn't as bad as it felt...

oOoOo

Next Time: Casey starts wondering why her stepbrother hasn't showed up, and is in for a less pleasant surprise that she'll never going to forget…