A/N: It's not really a story, but a lot of moments (one-shots) that help fill in the time between chapters 30 & 31 of “Either This Or.” I hope you all enjoy them as much as I’ve enjoyed writing them.

Oh, all information on University of Toronto dorms and Sports Teams was taken right from their website. Go Varsity Blues!

Disclaimer: Still don’t own squat—unfortunately!

Derek really shouldn’t have been surprised that Casey read every inch of the information their housing complexes had sent them on moving in and that she had created a plan of action to help coincide with what they said to do. As Derek’s hall was a little less anal on the move-in procedure than Casey’s (another non-surprise), the McDonald-Venturi family decided to move Casey in first.

“Okay,” Casey said as they pulled up to the loading and unloading area. “I’m going to go in and get started on the registration procedures…”

“It’s going to take her awhile. There are six checkpoints of fun,” Derek interrupted with a smirk.

“Der-ek! Not today!” Casey growled. “I need you to check out a moving cart for my luggage while I’m in there.”

“I know,” Derek interrupted once again. They’d been going over Casey’s plan of action for almost week now. “I know your room number and I’ve got my ID on me.”

“Okay.”

“Do you have your ID and your ‘Residence acceptance documentation’?”

After a panicked look through her purse, Casey nodded. Giving her a quick kiss, Derek shoved her out of the car.

“Hurry, before the lines get too long. We can only check out the cart for half an hour.”

“Right!” Casey agreed before scurrying away.

As they drove around to the back of the building to check out the moving cart, Edwin said, “I don’t get it. Casey dragged you to all those orientation meetings your dorms had this summer, but you just walk in and get a key and she has to go through six checkpoints of registration.”

“Casey’s has the best security,” Lizzie replied for Derek. “Dad insisted on it.”

“Yeah, and it’s too bad because we could have shared a building.”

“Men and women are on different floors,” Lizzie argued.

“It would still make it easier for me to drop in. I have to sign in every time I want to visit her here,” Derek replied.

“Smerek,” Marti finally said, “Are you sure you and Casey have to go to college?”

“I’m sure, Smarti. But, we’ll only be a phone call away. And we’ll be back for Thanksgiving in October.”

“Don’t forget that every two or three weekends, Derek will come home with his dirty laundry,” Lizzie teased with a smirk.

Parking the Prince, Derek turned around to face the backseat with an answering smirk. “Keep it up, Liz, and people will think you were born a Venturi.”

“Where’s Casey?” Nora asked as she and George parked next to their waiting children.

With the amount of luggage and people going to Toronto, they took two separate cars. Most of the luggage, however, was packed into George and Nora’s car as all the younger kids wanted to spend as much time with their older siblings as they could before they had to return home—despite the fact that Casey spent most of their trip panicking.

“Probably at checkpoint three,” Derek smirked. “Let’s get Casey’s stuff on the moving cart. The chick that checked this out to me…”

“She threatened to hunt Smerek down if he didn’t bring the cart back by the thirty minute mark,” Marti happily informed the parents.

Edwin, wide-eyed, added, “She sure was cranky for nine o’clock in the morning. I’d hate to see her later today.”

Casey was surprised to reach the hall outside her assigned suite and not find her family waiting for her as this was their previously agreed upon rendezvous. Deciding that while she was waiting for them she would pick which room she wanted to stay in, Casey entered the suite to find Edwin and Lizzie lounging on the couch, Nora and Marti putting up her cookware, and Derek and George nowhere to be seen.

“Oh, hi, Casey,” Lizzie said. “Your roommate, Angela, she let us in. George is taking the moving cart back and Derek’s setting up your computer.”

“Down the hall and to your left,” Nora said, answering Casey’s unasked question.

Nodding Casey turned and followed her mother’s instructions to find Derek lying on the floor under her desk plugging in cords to her computer’s tower.

“Hey, Case,” Derek said as she entered the room. “All checked in?”

“Yeah,” she replied, sitting down on the bed. “How do you know that I want this room?”

“Angela was here first and had already picked her room. That left four rooms to choose from. This one is the most symmetrical, largest window, and no weird stains or smells. And, it's at the end of the hall and only shares one wall with a roommate so the noise factor automatically goes down.”

“Thanks,” Casey replied with a grin.

Pulling himself out from under the desk, Derek looked up at her with a smirk. “I just know you.”

“Yes, you do,” she agreed. “Do you need to go check in at your place?”

“Are you trying to get rid of me?” he asked, pulling her into his arms.

“No,” she said with a grin as she looped her arms around his neck. “It’s just that there’s a welcoming BBQ over here tonight around six and I was hoping you would be coming as my date. But, if you’re too busy…”

“Free food, Case,” Derek interrupted with a smirk. “I will so be there.”

“Then get out of here,” Casey teased back.

“Awe man,” Edwin groaned as he and the rest of the family filed into Casey’s room. “They’re at it again.”

“At least this time they weren’t kissing,” Lizzie consoled.

“Alright,” Nora interrupted. “Casey, what do you want us to do?”

“Derek’s going to go check into his place,” Casey started.

“George, you and I are going to help Derek,” Nora quickly said.

George grinned and nodded while the three younger children turned white hot glares upon the parents. Neither George nor Nora seemed to be affected by that in the least.

Smirking, Derek reluctantly let go of Casey and told his siblings, “It won’t be so bad. She’ll only change her mind a couple hundred times before you're done.”

“Der-ek,” Casey exclaimed, slapping his shoulder. “I won’t do that!”

“Whatever you say, babe,” he smirked before giving her a quick peck and jumping out of her line of fire.

After George, Nora, and Derek left, Casey turned to her siblings and said, “I’m not that bad.”

None of them bothered to respond.

It hadn’t taken long for Derek to check in and for he and his parents to haul his things up to his room. Being as he was sharing a dorm room and didn’t have a kitchen, like Casey, he automatically had less stuff and they were done that much quicker.

After making his bed and helping him put away his clothes, Derek was pretty much moved in so George and Nora decided to take off spend some time alone together before they had to pick up the younger kids and drive back to London. Derek was absolutely fine with this and was happily putting up his posters and pictures when his new roommate drug his stuff into the room.

“Hi, I’m Walter Stewart,” the short, skinny guy said with a wide smile as he held out his hand.

Shaking the other guy’s hand, Derek replied, “Derek Venturi.”

“I’m on the badminton team,” Walter happily informed his new roommate. “Are you into sports?”

“Hockey,” Derek said, eyeing the squirrelly, little guy.

“The badminton team is co-ed.”

“That's great. Very forward thinking of you guys.”

“Thanks. Wow, she’s pretty,” Walter said, pointing the picture Annie took of Derek and Casey on the last day of the retreat. “Who’s that?”

Smiling, Derek replied, “That’s Casey McDonald. My girlfriend.”

Turning his attention to the family photo Marti made sure her Smerek took with him, Walter said, “Your family must really like her. Or is that her family and they really like you?”

“It’s our family. That’s her mom and little sister,” Derek answered, pointing them out. Smirking, he added, “We’re all just really close.”

“That’s cool!” Turning back to his luggage, Walter asked, “Do you like Reggae music?”

“Not particularly.”

“Oh. Too bad, you’re really missing out! I’m a Caribbean studies major, so I’ve got to like the stuff.”

Derek leaned back on his bed and decide his new roommate reminded him of one of those perky little purse dogs with the way he was constantly moving and constantly talking. Luckily, Derek decided, he would be over at Casey’s most of the time.

Deciding to wind the little dog up, Derek said, “I’m sure they listen to more than just Reggae music in the Caribbean.”

“Oh,” Walter answered, cocking his head to the side as he looked at Derek. “I hadn’t thought of that. Oh, well.”

“Why are you taking Caribbean studies?”

“Well, I’m hoping we get to visit there as part of the program. It gets so cold here that I thought that might be nice. And, I heard that a lot of the women down there wander around half naked so I thought that might make the classes more interesting.”

Laughing, Derek replied, “I cannot wait until Casey meets you.”

“Oh? Why? You think we’ll have a lot in common?” Walter asked curiously.

Smirking, Derek said, “Let’s not ruin the surprise. Okay?”

“Okay!”

Angela, Kate, Monica, and Charlotte, weren’t exactly sure what happened. One minute, they were all moving in, unpacking, and getting themselves situated, and the next they were all sitting in the living room being led in a getting to know you exercise by Casey McDonald.

Smiling brightly while holding a set of index cards, Casey said, “The university's website has some communication ideas that I thought it would be beneficial to us as first time roommates.”

“Do you just want us to tell you our names and majors?” Monica asked in her completely lacking intonation voice. “Because I’m still deciding.”

“On your name or on your major?” Angela drawled.

“Both,” Monica seriously answered. “I’m think of changing my name. Right now it comes with some serious interpersonal drawbacks. I’m thinking of Jezebel.”

“Didn’t she have the prophets slaughtered in the Old Testament?” Charlotte asked.

“I don’t know. I just like the sound of it.”

“Okay,” Casey said, trying to get them all back on track. “I was actually thinking more along the lines of pet peeves, who keeps their food where, do we share dishes, and a schedule for the bathroom.”

“I don’t believe in schedules,” Kate snottily informed the group. “Schedules hamper my qi. Just a warning, I will later feng shui our apartment.”

“Touch my things and die,” Angela warned. “I watch CSI and I know how to hide the blood.”

“What about my qi?” Kate demanded. “You cannot expect me to have my qi dampened because your room has not been arranged correctly.”

Charlotte, trying to be a peacemaker, said, “But, wouldn’t all of our qi’s be considered when the apartment is feng shui-ed?”

“Unless you are interested in you qi, I don’t see how it matters that it was only my qi that was being followed,” Kate superiorly answered.

“Yeah, well, your qi will be bleeding all over the carpet unless you worry about mine! Understand,” Angela growled.

“I wouldn’t get uptight if I were you,” Monica interrupted. “Feng shui only works if it’s done by someone who knows what they’re doing.”

“Who says I don’t know what I’m doing?” Kate asked, clearly offended.

Snorting, Angela answered, “Isn’t obvious. You’re just some little, rich girl following the latest trend. Next week you’ll probably be getting your biorhythms checked and will only do homework when your mental cycle is up or trying out urine therapy.”

“What’s that?” Monica asked, no one could tell if she was actually curious or not.

“It’s when you drink your own urine and massaging your urine into your skin.”

Scowling, Charlotte said, “Eww! You better stay away from me and my things once you start that!”

“I never said I was an uropath!” Kate screamed.

“But you seem to know what it is,” Angela countered.

“So do you!”

“Yeah, but I’m not planning on doing some feng shui to the apartment!”

“Agg!” Kate bellowed, before crossing her arms and glaring at all her roommates with cold distain.

Casey was just trying to decide if she should continue with trying to get her roommates to answer the questions or not, when a knock on the door drew her attention. Tossing the note cards on a nearby table, Casey opened the door to find Derek standing on the other side.

“The dinner’s about to start. Ready to go?”

“Let me grab my purse,” Casey replied before hurrying off.

Feeling the tension coming from the living room, Derek gave the gathered women a tight smile, but made no effort to say anything. In his defense, however, none of them tried to say anything either.

Casey didn’t take long, and much to his relief, they were out the door, leaving the remaining roommates to themselves.

Breaking the tense silence, Monica asked, “Who was that hotty?”

“Casey’s brother,” Angela filled in.

“I wonder if they’re twins,” Charlotte mused.

“They’d have to be. They’re both freshmen this year,” Kate said. “I heard Casey say something about that.”

“And now you listen in on other people’s conversations?” Angela yelled.

Grabbing Monica’s wrist, Charlotte hauled her out of the line of fire, saying, “The welcome BBQ is starting. We don’t want to miss that.”

Walter opened the door to his and Derek’s room with a smile. Seeing who was on the other side, his smile widened. “Hey Casey! It’s good to see you! How are you doing? Are you enjoying your classes? I’m doing great! I can’t believe the semester is half over, can you?”

“Fine, yes, and no, I can’t,” she answered, pushing her way past the perky young man. Casey knew from experience that if she didn’t push her way in, Walter would hold her hostage in conversation for some time.

“Derek’s not here yet. He must be running late.”

“That’s fine,” Casey replied, collapsing onto Derek’s bed. Grabbing his pillow, she cuddled it to her chest and breathed in his lingering scent.

Not noticing that Casey was weary and just wanted Derek, Walter dropped down into a chair and sat across from her, ready to do his duties as host and keep her entertained until Derek returned.

“So, guess what I just figured out? You and Derek are stepsiblings!”

“That’s right,” she agreed, closing her eyes.

“I never would have guessed. You look nothing alike!”

“That’s because we are not related!”

“Oh, I know,” Walter assured her. “But you don’t have a sibling vibe either.”

“Yeah, well, tell that to my roommate. She seems to have to hots for Derek.”

“Do you want me to date her? Take her mind off Derek. I’m totally good with the ladies.”

“Yeah,” Derek said, entering the room to hear Walter’s last comment. “Which is evident by the fact that you can’t tell that Casey needs some quiet.”

“Oh, I didn’t know!” Walter hurried to apologize. “I’ll just shut-up.”

“Good man,” Derek agreed as he crawled onto his bed and lifted Casey’s head onto his lap. “Walter, textbooks,” he added, holding out his hand.

Cuddling against him, Casey said, “Derek, say please.”

Taking the book from Walter, he said, “Thank you,” instead. Combing his fingers through her hair, Derek asked, “Want to talk about it?”

“Angela is still trying to kill Kate, Kate’s trying to give her more motive, Charlotte’s too nice for her own good—her peacemaker attempts only seem to make things worse, and Monica has a shrine to you in her room.”

“Morticia?” Derek asked incredulously.

Ever since he’d met the pale faced, all black wearing, no emotion emitting female, Derek had been calling her Morticia after the wife on The Addams Family. Casey had tried to get him to stop, but as Monica didn’t seem to mind—and there was the odd chance that she was proud of the moniker, Casey gave up reminding her boyfriend that he was being rude.

“Yes, Morticia,” Casey agreed with a weary smile.

“But she calls me Dirk.”

“I know. But, I’ve seen her room. There’s an entire wall that’s she’s covered with newspaper articles and pictures all about you. Even from high school.”

“That’s creepy.”

“Stalking is illegal,” Walter added. “Maybe you should report her to the campus police.”

“Maybe I should just tell her that I’m dating Casey.”

“She might try to kill her,” Walter worried.

“Dude…”

“What? That’s always how it happens in the movies.”

Derek considered this for much too long for Casey’s peace of mind. Sitting up, she looked him in the eyes, saying, “Monica isn’t going to kill me.”

“How do you know?” Derek questioned. “Wally’s right. That’s always what happens in the movies.”

“Because, despite her obsession with you, Monica’s the normal one,” Casey explained.

“That’s really scary,” Derek finally said.

“So…do you still want me to date her?” Walter asked.

“Dirk, are you sure you two aren’t twins?” Monica asked after listening to Derek and Casey give her the history of them.

“Very sure,” Derek replied, sheer willpower kept him from rolling his eyes. “You’ve seen us kiss.”

Shrugging, she said, “My family kisses each other on the lips.”

“Hopefully in a completely different way,” Angela said from the kitchen where she was making a sandwich. For the time ever, Kate, who was getting a glass of water, nodded her head in agreement with Angela.

The rest of Casey’s roommates had soon figured out their mistake not long after seeing Derek and Casey together—and after Charlotte got Casey to explain how the stepsibling thing might have created the mistake in the first place.

“Our birthdays are six months apart,” Casey added for further proof.

“That is too far apart for twins. And too close together for Irish twins,” Monica said, seeming to consider this information.

“We do not share blood relatives,” Derek reiterated.

Shrugging, Monica said, “Oh, well. I never really understood what was going on during a hockey game anyway.”

“That’s it?” Derek asked, naturally suspicious.

“Yeah. Do you want the clippings? I’m going to take them down now.”

“Nah. Case keeps track of all that for me.”

“Okay,” she agreed, getting up to leave the room.

“Hey, Morticia,” Derek called after her, a playful smirk upon his face. “What do you think of badminton and Reggae music?”

“Der-ek!” Casey exclaimed, much to Derek’s amusement.