Title: Cuffed into Love

Rated T

Summary: Edwin’s new magic phase ends up handcuffing Derek and Casey together until Edwin can “find” the key. .:Dasey:.

Disclaimer: I don't own Life with Derek

A/N: I know, I know, I’m horrible at updating quickly. I do bring news though (I don’t know if it’s good or bad, it’s just how it’s determined), this is the last chapter guys! Well, second to last. I’m adding an extra bonus after this so the story will end at an even ten chapters. This will probably be the longest chapter of them all, only because I don’t want to rush the conclusion. If it feels rushed after five pages I’m probably going to add it into another chapter. I want to finish this fic up though because I have another idea in mind for a LwD chapter fic as well as a bunch of LwD one-shots planned out in my spirals. So, that’s it I guess. It’s been an awesome ride, everyone, I can’t tell you enough how much I appreciate all the support and reviews you’ve given my story! Hope everyone enjoys this installment of CiL and I’m sorry again for the long update wait!

“Well, it sounds as if you guys had a very eventful and memorable day,” Nora commented with praise over her salad. “Smerek put that Max jerk in his place!” Marti cheered in agreement. Derek flashed his little sister a proud smile. At the head of the table George coughed before commenting. “So long as you remember the whole “Violence is not the answer” thing . . .” Everyone turned to look at him as a small smile played against his face. “Glad you got your revenge, Derek.”

“Thanks Dad.”

“Wish we could have been there to see it, right Edwin?” Lizzie asked happily. Her smile disappeared as soon as she noticed the ‘I’m-still-not-talking-to-you’ threat in his glare. Marti glanced at them. “Are you two having a fight?”

“Yeah, Ed, what’s the matter?” George asked. “You’ve barely touched your dinner.”
“Not hungry,” Was the monotone reply.

“But chicken is your favorite!” Marti exclaimed in shock. “Marti, I’m not hungry.” Edwin repeated, coolly.

Lizzie frowned and picked at her mashed potatoes. Ever since their conversation in the Games Closet Edwin had given her the silent treatment. By now, the whole family was aware that something was going on between the two but nothing had changed. It hurt her deeply and she hated fighting with him more than anything. Edwin wasn’t just her step-brother, he was her best friend, her-

She sighed knowing she was only kidding herself. Edwin wanted nothing to do with her now after labeling her as a “traitor.”

“By the way, Casey,” Casey looked up, startled, as Edwin addressed her with a smirk. “I want to discuss something with you after dinner.”
“What about?” She asked, frowning. Derek became tense recognizing the tone in his brother’s voice; his hand gripped the fork he was holding tighter.

“Nothing major, just a new project and I could really use your help…”

“Alright Edwin, that’s it!” Lizzie shouted, slamming her own fork against the table, an action that actually caused the drinks to tremble. Nora gasped while George nearly choked on his food. “Elizabeth McDonald, what in the world-!?”

“It’s not me you should be mad at George, it’s Edwin.” Lizzie declared, while Edwin’s casual smirk turned into a harsh expression. “He’s been lying to you and Nora all this time!”
Derek and Casey glanced at one another in shock; sure they had picked up the signals of a fight between their siblings but neither had expected Lizzie to branch out and tattletale on herself.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Edwin retorted.

“Stop playing innocent Edwin.” Lizzie snapped. Nora frowned at the two of them while Marti remained quiet and picked at her food, unsure if she should comment. “Ed, mind telling us what this is all about?” George demanded, his tone suddenly as harsh as his son‘s expression.

“Of course he minds! It’ll ruin his “master plan”!” Lizzie said. She turned to Derek and Casey. “You guys, I’m sorry. I didn’t want this whole thing to get so out of hand!” Her sister and step-brother said nothing so she continued. “We were just going to do it for a little while, and then. . .Case, can you forgive me?”
“Of course I do Lizzie,” They exchanged smiles.

“Well, isn’t this just a happy ending?” Edwin spat the words out; Casey had to hold Derek back in order to keep him from charging at his brother. “I’m not sorry! Not one bit!”

“Would someone please backtrack and tell us what’s going on!?” Nora declared.

“Edwin and I have been lying. There is a spare key to the hand cuffs.” Lizzie gulped before continuing her confession. “We thought we could pull this stunt off, you know, blackmail Casey and Derek into doing whatever we want because we have the only key; but I realized the other day that we were taking it too far! Casey and Derek may pick on us a lot, but they don’t deserve to be treated the way we’ve been treating them the past few days.”

“Yes, they do!” Edwin barked out so fiercely that Marti actually squeaked in surprise. “They deserve everything we’ve done to them!”
“Edwin, you had the key all this time!?” George asked, turning red.

“Edwin Venturi, this is the lowest thing you have ever done.” Nora supplied, just as angry as her husband.
“They deserved it!” Without another word, Edwin pushed his chair back with vigor and stormed out of the room and up the stairs. Lizzie watched him, tears running down her face. “Edwin, get back down here we aren’t done with you yet!” George yelled, rising up from his seat so he could chase after his son only being prevented by Nora, who reached out for his arm. “Let him cool off, George.” She suggested; exhaustion could be seen within her features. “We’ll deal with him later.” She turned to face her youngest daughter. “Lizard, you know we appreciate you telling us everything but. . .”
“I know,” Lizzie interrupted, wiping away a tear. “I’m going to be grounded too.”
“But maybe not as long as Edwin, right Mom?” Casey asked, looking at her mother with hopeful eyes. Lizzie flashed her a grateful smile while Derek’s stony gaze remained on the staircase Edwin had just stormed up.

“We’ll work something out.” Nora promised, smiling back.

“You know, I think I’m actually going to miss your room.” Casey declared with a small smile. Derek rolled his eyes at her before falling backwards upon his bed. “Sure you will, Space Case.”
“No really,” Casey went down to sit next to him on the bed. Yes, it had finally happened. Earlier that night George had marched into Edwin’s room and demanded the key. After a loud argument, a very loud argument, Edwin finally surrendered it over. For Casey, freedom had never felt so . . .free. She felt like squealing, giggling, like dancing. After giving George a grateful hug, she had rushed up to the bathroom, craving more than anything a hot shower with real soap! Casey had changed out of her dirty almost 6 day old clothes, making a note to burn them later for the stinky smell of fabreeze and BO was permanently soaked in. Derek had retreated up to his room while Casey had taken her shower, knowing if he even tried to go near Edwin’s room now his Dad would ground him until the next ice age.

“I mean, we had a rough start with this but you’ve got to admit, it wasn’t as bad as we thought it’d be.”

Derek laughed. “You’re making it sound as if you miss being handcuffed to me.”

“Believe me, I don’t.” Casey said softly, shuddering to prove her point. “It’s just . . .now that I look back, I really enjoyed the time we’ve spent together Derek.” When he said nothing, she continued. “Come on, you can’t say that after all this we’re going to go back to the way we were, are you? We are friends, aren’t we?”

“Yeah,” Derek muttered. “Just friends.” Casey noticed the tone of his voice but decided to shrug it off. She smiled. “The shower’s all yours, don’t worry I didn’t use up all the hot water.”
“Thanks.” He got up and left without another word. Something was bugging him, Casey knew this for a fact. He was deep in thought, troubled about something. It wasn’t like Derek to be troubled about anything. Even though they had this new friendship now, Casey knew that Derek still would have kicked her out of his room. He hadn’t said much to her since the fiasco at dinner.

Edwin was still sulking up in his room, the last time she checked while Lizzie was probably thinking in her own room. She’d talk to her younger sister later, knowing that Liz probably wanted to be alone right now.

Lizzie didn’t want to be alone. Even after all that had happened earlier that night, she wanted to be with Edwin. She knew that she was the last person he’d probably want to see right now, but she had to try. George had said nothing to her about leaving Edwin alone so she walked up to his Attic bedroom, knowing deep down Ed didn’t want to be alone either.

“Um…” She trailed off after letting herself in. Edwin’s small figure could be seen, sitting on his bed almost as stiff as a statue. He scared her when he was in this state, she had never seen him so angry before. Edwin made no motion that he had heard her speak. Hesitant, she approached him a few more tears rolling down her cheeks.

“Edwin, I-”

“Save it.” Edwin snapped. His voice was still harsh, but it seemed that he had cooled down immensely since dinner. Lizzie bit her lip. “I’m sorry.” She said, despite Edwin’s simple demand. “I don’t want you to hate me just because I didn’t agree with your plan this time-”

“Didn’t agree with it!?” He yelped. “You did agree with it, Lizzie! And then you betrayed me and fed me to the dogs. Now Derek’ll probably kill me the next chance he gets. I don’t even want to think about what Dad’s going to do to me.”

“Well, you deserved it.” She frowned, taking a seat on the bed. “You were going to far. I’m sorry, but my sister isn’t as bad as I kept thinking. Casey isn’t a horrible sister.”

“Well, that’s great for you.” Edwin muttered, beginning to tremble. “I’ve been harassed by Derek since day one, being treated as if I was a servant instead of a human, always being ordered what to do and even if I obeyed, I still got tortured anyway….”

“But Derek isn’t the worst older brother ever and you know it!” Lizzie argued. “I know you do, Edwin. He may be a jerk most of the time but he helps you out when you need help like-”

“You mean like when I wanted to try being a mascot but Derek shot down my idea at first and laughed in my face?” Edwin retorted. Lizzie paused. “No, I mean like when you have girl trouble and he’s always there to give advice. . .even if it’s never good advice, at least he tries.”

“A few good deeds can’t erase years of memory.” Edwin sighed, looking over at her for the first time. “Sure, Derek did a few things to help me but almost always it’s usually him not helping me and making things worse.”

“I’m sure if you talked to him…”

“Liz, where have you been these past few years?” Edwin laughed. “Derek never talks about his feelings.” Lizzie giggled, pleased that the awkward tension between them was gone and things were beginning to get back to normal.

“Well, maybe I can talk to him for you.” She offered. “I’m sure I’m on his good side since I helped him and Casey…” Realizing what she was saying, Lizzie trailed off, waiting for the expected outburst. Oddly enough, it didn’t come. Instead, Edwin reached over to hold her hand and looked in her eyes with shock. “You mean after all I said to you, after all the stuff I put you through, you’d still help me out?”
“Of course I will.” Lizzie smiled, squeezing his hand. “One stupid fight can’t break what we have, Edwin.” Relief overwhelmed him and Edwin found himself pulling Lizzie into a warm embrace.

“I’m sorry.” He murmured into her hair. “I’m sorry, please forgive me Liz.”

“Haven’t you been listening?” Lizzie smiled, letting him kiss her softly. “I already have.”

He had been thinking hard over …nothing.

All those thoughts spent thinking about the stupid handcuffs and the legend that followed them. Derek was almost thinking about the possibility of the legend being true. Maybe, if Lizzie hadn’t spoken at dinner and he and Casey had a few more days, maybe they would have been able to get out of the handcuffs themselves. He felt that he and Casey grew a bond closer than friendship these past few days, but he wasn’t sure if Casey had even noticed it.

It didn’t matter for it seemed like nothing was going to change.

His room seemed empty that night, Derek wasn’t sure if he’d get used to it. He had gotten used to Casey’s figure beside him as he slept, her soft breathing that steadily floated around the room, her absently scooting over towards him during sleep when her dreams were troubled…

It felt different and Derek didn’t like it. A cold shower earlier had only made him think even more and proved what he had been thinking all along: He was falling in love with Casey.

It sounded cliché, yes, but it was still true. After everything they had been through these past few days, the whole Max ordeal, everything…he couldn’t fool himself any longer.

She was probably asleep now like everyone else in the house, happy to be back in her own bed, not even aware of Derek and his thoughts.

He had to make things right between them. Derek decided then and there he didn’t want to go on with life as if these past few days didn’t exist. Sure, he and Casey would be friends but for Derek, friendship just wasn’t enough.

His decision was made, he would do the two things that no one ever expected him to do: talk about his feelings and tell Casey the truth. Maybe there was still a chance.

Not wanting to wait any longer, he quietly walked out of his room, past Marti and Lizzie’s door. If his dad caught him, the worst that would happen was that he would be blamed for trying to do something to Edwin while he slept or pulling a prank on Casey. He didn’t care, this couldn’t wait until morning. Slowly he opened the door to Casey’s room. The lights were off and just as he expected, Casey’s soft breathing could be heard.

“Case,” He muttered, sitting down on her bed while shaking her slightly to wake her up. “Casey, wake up.”

“Wha-?” Casey’s eyes fluttered opened and as soon as her vision focused itself, she turned towards Derek. “Derek, what? What’s going on, is something wrong?”

“Yeah, something’s wrong.” Derek muttered. It was now, or never. Casey sat up a bit in her bed, a concerned look on her face. “This couldn’t have waited until morning?”
“No, it couldn’t.” Derek gulped. “Casey, I haven’t been totally honest with you…”

“Woah, wait,” Casey interrupted. “Are you sure you’re awake? It sounded as if you’re….telling the truth about something.”

“Yes, I’m awake.” Derek rolled his eyes. “And yes, I’m sort of telling the truth….sort of.”

“What did you do now?” Casey asked with an impatient groan.

“It’s not what I did, it’s what I’m going to do.” Derek informed her. He sighed. “Look, I don’t know how awkward it’ll be afterwards but….I can’t just not say anything. I can’t ignore it, it’ll eat me alive….”

“What is it, some sort of disease? Are you sick? Are you okay?” Casey asked in a panicked rush. Derek shushed her. “I’m fine,” He assured. “At least, I will be fine after I tell you . . .I think I’m falling in love with you.”

“You must be sick,” Casey muttered in disbelief. “It sounded as if you just said you were falling in . . .” Her voice trailed off when she saw the sincerity in his eyes. Her own eyes grew round in shock. “You’re falling in love with me?” She whispered.

“It can’t be that hard to believe, can it?” Derek asked with a smirk.

“I….I mean you….it’s…” Casey fumbled to get the right words. “Are you sure you’re awake? Or is this some kind of sick joke?”
“I know I’m awake.” Derek told her, taking her hand. “And I would never joke about something as serious as this.”

“Am I awake then?” Casey looked at him. “This just seems so surreal, like I’ll wake up tomorrow morning and it would have just been a dream.”

“I can pinch you to prove you’re awake.”

‘Er, no thanks.”

“Casey, this is real. I know you probably hate me now, but . . .” He broke off when her lips pressed against his in a soft kiss. When the kiss ended, he looked over at her in shock. “How can I hate you when I think I’m falling in love with you too?” She asked with a small smile.

“You….you mean it?”

“Yes,” She told him. “I mean, it’s going to be weird at first of course, but I think we can make this work…”
“I know we can make this work.” Derek smiled. Casey returned the smile before stifling a yawn. “Sorry.” She muttered.

“Don’t be, you’re tired.” He kissed her forehead. “We’ll talk about it more tomorrow.”

“I really hope this wasn’t a dream.” Casey muttered, lying back down as sleep took over. Derek watched her fall into a peaceful dream, pushing a few strands of her hair out of her face gently. “Don’t worry, Case.” He muttered. “It isn’t a dream…not anymore.”

-Fin-

A/N: And so, it ends! Yay! I kind of wish you guys can see me right now. I was ecstatic when I finished the Lizwin portion of this chapter and now that Dasey is complete I’m bouncing up and down everywhere. I can’t believe it’s practically over. I know I have one more chapter to post up, but the story is basically done guys. I promise the final chapter to CiL won’t be short. Thanks so much again everyone for your awesome reviews and support through out this story. It means so much to me, I can’t thank you guys enough. If you’re interested in my work, please be on the look out for my newest LwD fic “Casey’s Code of Chivalry”. It’ll be Dasey as well. Thanks again for reading guys, until next time everyone!

“Never let go of the one you truly love”

-December’sRose