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Chapter 12: The Rules

Casey and Derek were waiting anxiously in Derek's room. After about a half an hour there was a knock at the door.

"We've made a decision," Nora stated when she opened the door. "We have decided that we will allow you two to continue with your relationship. However, there will be some rules."

Casey and Derek looked at each other, identical smiles on their faces.

"Okay Mom, what are the rules?" She knew they would have rules, she just hoped they wouldn't be too extreme. Especially since she knew how well Derek followed rules.

"We just have two. One, you are not to subject the other children to any displays of affection. And two, there will be no having sex under this roof." Nora was looking at Casey when she said this, and as such, didn't see the smirk that Derek was unable to prevent from showing on his face, it did not go unnoticed by George.

"All right. Both of those are fair." Casey said. She expected this to be so much worse, she could easily deal with the rules that had been set out for them.

Derek just nodded his head to show he agreed with what Casey was saying. He wasn't a fan of PDA anyway, so that would be easy. And there was a whole floor between them and their parents, so the no sex rule would be easy enough to break.

"Now I would like to speak with Casey alone." Casey followed her as her mother left Derek's room.

Once they were gone, George turned to Derek.

"I can tell by the look on your face when Nora mentioned no sex, that you and Casey are already sexually active, so there is no point in denying it. And I know you well enough to know that You are probably going to convince Casey to break the second rule with you. I'm not stupid and neither are either of you, you both know the risks involved, so be careful."

"Don't worry Dad." Derek said. That was what he loved about his father. He knew him well enough to know how pointless it was to give him rules, and trusted him enough to be smart when he broke them. And he never got all sentimental about things. They were guys, they didn't need to talk about their feelings.

-----

"Casey, how did this happen?" Nora asked, as soon as Casey's door was closed behind them.

"We just started spending time together, and realized that we had mutual feeling for each other." Casey responded. "Isn't that how it usually happens?"

"Well, of course, but you and Derek fought for so long, it is just so hard to think of you guys in a relationship, not to mention the fact that you guys are step-siblings," Casey opened her mouth to defend her and Derek, but Nora cut her off "I understand you never viewed each other as family, its just a lot to get used to for George and I. I want to make sure you understand what you are doing. You are going to have to deal with a lot of closed-minded people."

"We know that, Mom. But we think it is worth it. And it won't be long before we will be going away to school and no one will know us or that we are family." Casey said, making air quotes for the word 'family'. "We really want to be together and we are willing to deal with whatever fallout there will be at school. Sam and Emily are okay with it, that is all we need."

"All right," Nora said with a sigh. "As long as you know what you are getting yourself into, I see no reason to protest. However, I know your view on the importance of school work differs from Derek's. The minute your grades start to drop, I am putting an end to your relationship. I won't have him ruining your future."

"Mom, you really have to give Derek more credit. And I know what I want, I am not going to let anything get in the way of that. School comes first, it always has, and it always will."

"Oh, Casey." Nora said, tears in her eyes. She reached out and pulled Casey into a hug. "You have no idea how proud of you I am."

"Thanks, Mom."

-----

Later that night, Casey and Derek were in Derek's room watching a movie on his computer. She was laying next to him in bed with her head on his chest. They had just told the other kids about their relationship and it had gone very well. Edwin now owed Lizzie ten dollars for losing the bet they had that Casey and Derek would end up together before they left home, and Marti was just so excited that Casey and Derek would not be fighting all the time. She had expressed a little concern that her Smerek now liked Casey better than he liked her, but once Derek assured her that no one could ever replace his Smarti , she was very happy for them.

"You know, I never thought, when I went to that club, that things would turn out this way. If someone had told me then that we would end up together, I would have laughed, but now, only a few short weeks later, there is no where I would rather be." Casey said, running her hand across Derek's chest.

"Yeah," Derek said, looking down at her. "I could get used to this." He pulled her closer and kissed the top of her head.

The End.

A/N: Thank you all so much for your support. Everyone who has reviewed has made this experience amazing for me. I am sorry this chapter took so long, but I ended a two year relationship a couple weeks ago, so I haven't been much in the mood for romance.

This wasn't going to be the end when I started writing the chapter, but I just have no idea where to go next with this story, so I figured I would end it before it just started writing for the sake of writing something. I didn't want the story to turn into pointless ramblings.

Again. Thank you all for reading and reviewing. You have no idea how appreciative I am.