Disclaimer: Don’t own Life With Derek. Or the game “Scrabble” for that matter. ‘Nuff said.

Author’s Note: You guys are so awesome. Thanks so much for the reviews!

It seems like my updates are becoming few and far between… I blame school. Too much homework.

X

Code Names for Puberty
Proposition

X

Either time flew by at an exceptionally fast pace or Lady Luck really had it in for him, because before Edwin knew it, it was already 11:55.

A part of him really wanted to believe it was the former, but given the fact that luck never really had been on his side, he eventually concluded that this was probably just her way of punishing him for upsetting Lizzie. Oh, and for thinking evil and unholy thoughts about how to exact revenge on the supreme ruler of the universe… AKA, Derek.

Edwin sighed and glanced down at his watch. He’d been sitting in the Games Closet for about fifteen minutes now, mostly because he didn’t want to risk losing track of time and making Lizzie even more upset than she already was. Fortunately, he didn’t have to wait too much longer.

About a minute or so later, the door opened and Edwin was momentarily blinded by a stream of light that filtered in from the hallway. Squinting, he looked up just in time to see Lizzie step into view. His eyebrows nearly threatened to disappear into his hairline as he watched with fascination as the hallway light surrounded and outlined her figure, making her look almost angelic in a way. He was almost disappointed when he didn’t hear choir music or church bells go off.

As Lizzie quickly scouted the hallway and made sure that the coast was clear before stepping inside and closing the door, it became obvious that she didn’t notice him sitting there. It wasn’t until she switched on the light that she finally spotted him and jumped back, startled.

“Edwin!” She cried. “What the heck are you trying to do? Give me a heart attack?”

Edwin just smiled cheekily at her as he slowly rose to his feet and dusted off his pajama bottoms.

“Of course not.” He said, before cocking his head to the side and looking at her curiously.

Lizzie eyed him warily.

“What?” She asked.

“I should be asking you the same thing,” replied Edwin. “I mean, you’re the one who called this emergency meeting…” He paused briefly to watch her fiddle with the hem of her oversized t-shirt before glancing back up at her face. “So? What’s the emergency? What did you want to talk to me about?”

Lizzie promptly scoffed at this.

“You know very well what I want to talk about!”

Of course he knew. Well, not really, but he had a pretty good idea of what she wanted to talk about, which was almost like actually knowing… in a way. At the very least, it was one step closer in that direction.

As Edwin stood there watching Lizzie watch him with narrowed eyes, waiting for his reply, the thought of making her angry and getting her all riled up suddenly became very appealing for some reason. He didn’t know where this thought came from or why he was thinking it in the first place - perhaps it was the tone of her voice or the way she stood with her arms folded, or maybe it was all due to the annoying migraine throbbing in his temple - but regardless of what the reason was, or where and why it had spawned in the first place, he couldn’t stop himself from opening his mouth.

“Actually… no, I don’t, Liz. So please, feel free to enlighten me.”

It was most likely the condescending way he said it that set Lizzie off. Edwin swore he saw her eyes flash crimson - like she wanted to kill someone - for about a split second before she turned away, and for a brief moment, he was worried that he’d gone and made her cry again. Then, Lizzie looked up, but not at him. Instead, she focused her attention on the Scrabble box beside his head as she opened her mouth to speak.

“I’m not blind, you know.” She said. “I know you’ve been avoiding me and don’t you dare say you haven’t, because you have!”

“Liz -” Edwin started, but she cut him off.

“I’m not finished!” She snapped, causing him to almost jump out of his skin, before she regained her composure and continued. “I just… I want to know… was it something I did? Or said? Is it because of… what happened that day? Please, Edwin! Tell me what I did so I can apologize and everything can go back to normal!” She clenched her fists as her body shook, still refusing to look at him. “I hate not talking to you… I hate fighting with you… I… I don’t know what to do… I -”

Edwin didn’t know what happened next, but before he knew what he was doing, he had his arms around her and was pulling her into a tight hug.

“Lizzie… this isn’t your fault, it’s mine.” He said, “And I am so sorry if I ever made you think that it was your fault. Everything’s so messed up… I don’t even know what’s wrong with me lately… ever since that day, I’ve been having these dreams and -”

“Dreams?” Lizzie repeated, pulling away and looking up at him, “What dreams?”

Edwin stiffened.

“D-did I say that out loud?” He stammered, letting out a nervous laugh. “What I meant to say was -”

“I’m not blind, nor am I deaf. I clearly heard you say dreams, Edwin.” Lizzie said. “What kind of dreams? What are they about?”

Edwin’s head spun and he didn’t know what was worse - the fact that Lizzie’s questions were like opening a gate to his subconscious, triggering memories of his more recent dreams and sending a bombardment of not-so-innocent images to his corrupted mind, or the fact that while this was happening, he still had her in a tight embrace. With this sudden realization, Edwin released her and jumped back like he’d just been informed that she was carrying a bomb that was ready to detonate.

“You still haven’t answered my question.” Lizzie reminded him.

“That’s because you really don’t want to know.” Edwin replied. “Trust me. If I told you, you’d think I’m some kind of creepy weirdo.”

“But I already think that you’re a creepy weirdo.” Lizzie teased.

Edwin glared at her.

“Come on, Edwin! Just tell me already!” She pleaded, clasping her hands together.

“No.”

“Please?”

“I said no!”

“Why not?”

“Because!”

“Because why?”

“Because they’re about you!” Edwin shouted. He clamped a hand over his mouth, eyes widening as soon as he realized what he’d said.

Lizzie looked just as shocked as he did. Her mouth opened and shut several times in an attempt to say something, but each time no words would come out. She eventually stopped trying and closed her mouth, allowing a deafening silence to dawn on the two would-be teenagers.

Finally, after about five minutes, she gathered the courage to speak once more.

“You’ve… been dreaming about me?” She asked softly.

Edwin nodded slowly, refusing to meet her gaze. He was far too ashamed to look her in the eye.

Lizzie felt her cheeks heat up. So many questions raced through her adolescent mind. He’d been dreaming about her? What kind of dreams? Were they anything like the ones she’d been having about him? Then, a thought struck her, making her face flush.

She knew about some of the kinds of dreams boys had when they reached about Edwin’s age. Their teacher had talked about that during their Health and Fitness class not too long ago - she’d mentioned things like “wet dreams” and “erections” and other such terms that still made Lizzie blush furiously.

Did Edwin have them? Did he have them while dreaming about her? Was that why he was acting so weird around her and avoiding her?

It would make sense. After all, who’d want to have those kinds of dreams about their step-sibling?

“How long?” She wondered out loud.

Edwin looked up.

“What?” He asked.

Lizzie bit her lip.

“I said… how long?” She repeated, “How long have you been having them?”

Edwin sighed.

“Since… that day…”

X

Flashback to 1 month ago…

“Edwin, could you go get Liz? She should be done getting ready now.”

Edwin glanced up from his cereal and looked over at his step-mother, who was double-checking the grocery list.

“Sure, Nora.” He replied, standing up and making his way out of the kitchen and up the stairs.

As he trudged down the hall towards Lizzie’s room, he couldn’t help but roll his eyes as he passed Derek’s half-opened door and overheard Casey yelling at his brother for something he’d done or said the night before. Derek’s retort was lost in the background as Edwin continued his journey down the hall and it wasn’t long before he found himself standing outside Lizzie’s door.

He knocked twice and heard what sounded like something being knocked over, before a muffled “… come in!”, reached his ears. Edwin wasted no time in opening the door and waltzing right on in.

“Hey Liz, Nora wanted me to come and… get… you…” He trailed off as soon as he spotted her. “Oh… My... God.”

Unfortunately, he wasn’t expecting to find Lizzie standing there in nothing but a towel, with wet hair draped over her shoulders while tiny beads of water trickled down her neck and arms. She was looking at him like a deer caught in the headlights and much to his own dismay, Edwin couldn’t look away. It was like his eyes were glued to her - or, more specifically, her curves.

Since when did Lizzie have curves and how hadn’t he noticed them until that second? He wondered, as his eyes lingered on her developing cleavage.

She was nowhere near Casey’s curves, of course, but still!

Curves!

On Lizzie!

Wasn’t that what one would call an oxymoron? Or, in the words of his brother, an “oxymaroon”?

Lizzie wasn’t supposed to have curves. She was Lizzie! She was… she was… she was…

Great. Now his mind was repeating itself like a broken record. Luckily, Lizzie’s shriek snapped him out of his reverie.

“Edwin! What the hell? I said don’t come in!”

Edwin forced himself to look back up at her face.

“But I heard - you said - I - oh God, I am so sorry!” He stammered, shielding his eyes with his hands.

But the damage was already done.

“GET OUT!”

Edwin didn’t think twice before complying.

End flashback…

X

“So… ever since then, you’ve been having dreams about me?” Lizzie asked slowly, once Edwin was finished recalling the memory.

“Yes… no.” He shook his head, causing Lizzie to furrow her brow in confusion.

“Well? Which one is it? Yes or no?” She asked.

“Both.” He replied. When Lizzie narrowed her eyes, he quickly elaborated. “Well… since that day… and maybe a little before that… around my birthday, I think, but I’ve been having them more frequently since… the incident.”

“How frequently?” She asked, thoroughly enjoying watching the color drain from Edwin’s face as he tore his eyes away from hers and looked down at the floor.

“Every night.” He said.

“I see.” Was Lizzie’s only reply, before she sighed and leaned back against the door, tilting her head up to stare at the ceiling. They stood in silence for about a minute or so before she sighed again and glanced at him through lidded eyes, a noticeable blush gracing her cheeks as she softly admitted her own dark secret. “Well… if it’s any consolation… I’ve had dreams about you too.”

Edwin swallowed nervously.

“You have?”

Lizzie nodded.

“Yeah,” she said, “and I’ve been thinking… maybe this is all a result of “puberty”. Isn’t this what Ms. Parker was talking about? And our parents? They mentioned that we were going to go through a bunch of changes… including our bodies and voices and… that we’d be having certain kinds of dreams and… we’d start to feel things that we didn’t feel before…” she trailed off before she embarrassed herself.

Edwin groaned.

“Well, if this is all because of puberty, what do you suppose we do? What are we going to do, Liz? Do we just stop hanging out altogether until this whole thing blows over or… what?” He asked.

“Of course not.” Lizzie assured him. “But I was thinking… maybe this doesn’t have to be so bad…”

Edwin crossed his arms and arched an eyebrow.

“Oh?” He said. “And what do you have in mind?”

Lizzie didn’t say anything at first. Instead, she fidgeted profusely and chewed nervously at her bottom lip, all the while staring intently at her slippers as if they were the most interesting and fascinating things on the face of the earth. Finally, after what seemed like forever, she looked up.

“Well… I was thinking… maybe we could use this to our advantage.” She said.

Edwin nearly choked on air.

“W-what do you mean?” He stammered.

“Don’t play dumb. You know what I mean,” said Lizzie. “All I’m saying is… this puberty thing is going to be difficult and I don’t want to have to avoid you like the plague for the next two or three or however many more years until it ends, so… why not use it to our advantage?”

Edwin could hardly think. Was the girl standing in front of him suggesting what he thought she was suggesting, really Lizzie? She sounded more like the Lizzie from his dreams as opposed to the one he’d come to know since the McDonalds first moved in, which made him wonder if he was even awake at all. Was he dreaming? Had he accidentally fallen asleep? Had the real Lizzie been abducted by aliens and replaced with an imposter that looked and sounded just like her, but was completely different in terms of personality and morals?

His mind was currently racing with so many questions that it was starting to make him feel dizzy, but he forced himself to ask,

“By… using it to our advantage… do you mean…?”

“I mean… practice stuff.” Lizzie replied. “Like kissing and getting used to things… like our bodies, for example.”

Edwin swore he probably would’ve fainted had he not been leaning against the shelf.

“So, what do you think?” Lizzie asked.

“I think you’re an alien or some kind of doppelganger posing as Lizzie McDonald.” Edwin replied.

“I’m serious, Edwin!”

“So am I! That idea is crazy! We’d only get in trouble.” He told her.

“Why?” She asked.

“Uh, we’re siblings for one.” He reminded her.

“Step-siblings.” She corrected.

“It doesn’t matter! It’s still wrong!”

“What? Would you rather we avoid each other for the next, what, five years?”

“No, but -”

“No buts! Just… hear me out, okay?” Lizzie took a few deep breaths before continuing, “We could do this all in secret. We don’t need to tell anyone, so there’s no need to worry about us getting in trouble or people finding out because we won’t let them find out, and if anyone gets suspicious and asks… we lie. It’s as simple as that. So what do you say?”

Edwin considered it for a moment before sighing.

“Okay, fine.” He said, watching Lizzie’s face brighten instantly. “But… what now? Like… when do we start?”

“You sound mighty eager for someone who was just opposed to the idea less than a minute ago.” Lizzie teased, and Edwin promptly rolled his eyes as she continued, “Well… how about now? Yeah. I think now’s good - everyone’s asleep. We don’t have to worry about anyone walking in on us. Quick, Edwin, kiss me.”

“What?”

“Are you deaf?” asked Lizzie. “I said “kiss me”.”

“I heard you!” Edwin hissed. “I just meant… what?”

Lizzie threw up her hands in frustration.

“As usual, I have to do everything myself.” She sighed, stepping closer to him until their chests were touching.

Then, she reached up, grabbed the back of his neck, and pressed her lips against his.

X

Sorry if the last part of the chapter seemed a bit rushed. I wanted to get this chapter finished before Spring Break starts, since I’ll be out of the town - the country, in fact! - and nowhere near a computer long enough to write something.

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed. Personally, I didn’t like it, but hopefully you guys did.

PLEASE REVIEW! REVIEWWWWWWWWWWWW!

-Lady Azura-