The only word that could sum up the last fifteen minutes was awkward.

Derek had returned from hockey with Sam and Ralph trailing behind him to find Casey and Emily sat in the living room, watching some soppy chick flick. It wasn't that he was surprised to find them there , Casey did live there after all – their parents had married making both his and Casey's lives living hell but now they kind of tolerated each other. In a round about way. It was all very dramatic.

Derek was all for making a grand entrance into the living room, but the fact Emily was there held him back a little. They had just ended a brief relationship and although Emily said she was fine with it, Derek knew the girl next door had slight obsessive tendencies in the past. So Derek quietly slipped past the doorway and crept up behind Casey. He suddenly grabbed his stepsister by the shoulders, jarring her. Popcorn from the bowl on her lap went flying every where.

"Der-ek!" She cried.

"Hiya, Case. I'm hoooooome. Now, scadaddle. C'mon in boys." He beckoned Sam ad Ralph to sit down. He was about to turn the girl's film off when Ralph laughed,

"Hey! My sister loves this film." He snorted. "The ones where the stepsiblings fuck, right?"

Casey, who had been kicking Derek's shin to try and get him to move from where he was perched on the arm of the sofa next to her, suddenly froze, her foot still in the air. Derek dropped the remote onto the floor with a loud thud. Emily, who had been taking a sip of her coke snorted some up her nose. Only Sam didn't seem affected at all.

"Clueless or Cruel Intentions?" He questioned happily.

"Clueless." Ralph bended down to the floor and picked up the remote by Derek's foot, turning up the volume and continuing to watch it with a big smile on his face.

Suddenly, Derek sprang from where he was on the couch arm, looking very red in the face. "What are you watching, Casey?!"

Casey narrowed her eyes. "I was watching a good film with Em before you buffoons came in!"

"About stepsiblings fucking?"

"About stepsiblings in love, you cad!" She blew away some hair that had fallen out of place. "It's legal, you know."

"Legal?" Derek's voice wobbled. "Just because it's legal doesn't mean it's normal. Dating stepsibs would not be accepted by society."

Casey crossed her arms over her chest. "Well, they don't have to tell society. As long as their loved ones are fine with it, it doesn't matter."

"What if they're not fine with it, huh?"

"Well, that's just sad. Like, George and Nora would be accepting of us-"

"WHAT?!"

"Oh, shush. I'm not saying we're going to date, you moron. Never in a million years. But our parents care about us. They'd probably be freaked out, yes, but they'd never kick us out or anything."

Derek's stomach was churning. "And the sibs?"

"Liz and Ed are starting puberty, they have their own issues to deal with. They wouldn't care. And Marti would probably not realise. We wouldn't kiss in front of her of course."

The thought of kissing Casey made his head spin. He was surprised how easily Casey was discussing it, as if it was every day knowledge. Maybe she knew that there was absolutely zero chance of it happening, so she didn't react strange. Maybe Derek was stressing over nothing.

"Yeah. Smarti would be scarred for life." Derek added. "And, of course, we would probably hide our relationship for the first few months. Couldn't face the shame. Sneaking around, some quality time in the Prince."

Casey's eyes sparkled. "And it doesn't hurt there's a whole floor between our bedrooms and our parents."

Derek let out a huge laugh. It was times like these, when they had laughter and banter, that he could tolerate Casey and view her as a Maybe-friend.

"Our first kiss would probably in the middle of a really intense argument."

"Oh, yeah. Definitely."

"We'd be pro's, Case. They should give us our own TV show."

"Stepsiblings Shame."

"Bizarre Brady Bunch."

They shot back and forth continues names, completely forgetting about their company. Emily waited 15 minutes before rolling her eyes and leaving, all of which was unnoticed by Casey. Sam put in his earphones after only 5 minutes and blocked them out. Only Ralph remained to listen to their oblivious flirting and it proved too much for him. He threw the nearest pillow he could find. It hit Derek's head and Casey let out a little yelp.

"FOR GOD'S SAKE, I'M TRYING TO WATCH THE FILM."