A/N Hey guys! This is my sequel to "Never Meant To Be". It's recommended to read that first, to get the gist of this story.
And I'd like to give a LARGE thanks to everyone who reviewed. Seriously guys, you made me all warm and fuzzy. Thank-you sooo much! I hope this lives up to your expectations!
Oh, and anything in italics is usually Casey's thoughts, at least in this chapter.
On with the story!
Oh yeah…
Disclaimer: I don't own Life with Derek (sadly).
As Casey sluggishly walked down the stairs, the aroma of the freshly made breakfast called to her. It was nearly noon and she was starving.
As she peeked into the kitchen, she saw Nora and George making some pancakes, while Lizzie and Marti were sitting at the counter, already eating. Casey noted that Derek wasn't there. She felt her stomach twist.
"Oh hey there sleepy head!" Nora called out. "You're finally up!"
"Mhmm…" Casey mumbled as she sat herself down on a chair next to Lizzie.
"I think this is the longest you've ever slept in!" George laughed.
"Oh, yeah, I guess so."
"Don't want the day to end do you? I know, I know, the last day of vacation is always upsetting."
Casey forced a laugh.
"Actually, I don't think that was it," Lizzie said slowly. "Casey, did you get up late last night? I think I woke up around 1:30, and you weren't in bed."
Everyone turned and looked at Casey. Casey, not liking that everyone's attention was on her, picked at her fingernails.
"Um, yeah, I got up, got some water, and had a midnight snack, you know…"
"Oh," everyone turned back to do what they had been doing before, except Lizzie.
"Casey, are you alright? I could've sworn you were crying last night."
Casey's eyes widened. Before she could say anything, Edwin came sauntering down the stairs.
"Is that wonderfully delicious food I smell?" He walked up to the stove and poked his finger into the pancake batter and then stuck his finger into his mouth.
"Edwin! Gross!" Lizzie cried, "You can't go sticking your finger into the food we're all sharing! We don't know where that hand's been!"
Edwin just smirked a smirk that had an eerie resemblance to his brother's.
"Regular pancakes? I thought that since this was our last morning here, you'd go all out and have something like… chocolate chip pancakes or banana nut, or something!"
"Edwin, where would we get all those ingredients? We bought supplies that would last us for 2 weeks, not 2 months." George replied.
Edwin just shrugged before he grabbed a plate.
"Casey, you want a plate sweetie?" Nora asked.
"Oh, yeah, I guess." Nora handed Casey a plate. Casey sat quietly eating, listening to her siblings chatter on. Whoever said that everything is always better in the morning was a big fat liar. If anything, it was worse this morning for Casey because she had to act as if nothing was wrong in front of her family. She had to pretend that nothing was bothering her but the fact that the vacation was ending, not the fact that her heart was aching.
George turned to his son, "Edwin, can you go call Derek?" Casey's stomach did another flip, "we have to leave the house by 2, and if he wants to eat, he better get down here fast."
"Uh, he's not upstairs. "
"What?" George asked.
"Er… yeah. He's not in the bedroom. Is he not down here?"
"No…" Nora said.
"Oh. Well, that's weird. Actually, I don't even know if he ever came up last night…"
"WHAT?" George, Nora, and Lizzie cried. Casey just looked down at her plate. She thought back to the noises she had heard last night right before she fell asleep. "Guess that wasn't a dream…" she thought.
"Why didn't you say anything before?" George demanded.
Edwin gulped, "I didn't think anything of it… I thought he was downstairs."
"And when you saw that he wasn't down here...?" Lizzie started.
"Thought he was in the bathroom or something…why is everyone blaming me? Is it my job to look after Derek 24/7 or something?"
Nora sighed, "Of course not Edwin. We're just trying to get some answers."
"I'll call his cell phone." George said. George got his own cell phone out and called his eldest son. There was no answer.
Once he hung up, he turned to his family, "His phone's turned off. It's going straight to voicemail. Where could he have gone?"
"Ok, who was the last person to talk to him?" Nora asked.
"I think it was when we got home from the beach. We were all tired and went up to bed. He said he wanted to hang out downstairs a bit." Edwin said.
"No one saw him after that?" Nora questioned.
Everyone shook his or her head with the exception of Casey and Marti. Casey contemplated for a few seconds before she looked up. "I saw him around 2 last night. We were talking for a while."
Everyone gave Casey an odd look.
"You guys were talking?" Lizzie asked.
"Well, yeah. Neither of us could sleep so… yeah." Casey ended lamely.
"Did he say anything about leaving?" Edwin asked.
Casey shook her head.
"Ok, I'll call again." He went to the front door and looked out the window. " We need to leave soon. He better be back by then. Where could he have gone? The rented car is still here…"
"He went back home."
Everyone looked toward the direction of the voice.
Marti was sitting in her seat, eating, and not even looking up from her seat.
"What? How do you know?" Lizzie asked.
"Um, it was in his note. Duh." She said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. She looked up from the first time and pointed to the TV. On the screen was a note taped on. Apparently, nobody had noticed it. Everyone walked over to the TV with the mysterious note attached.
George took the note off and read out loud, "Hey guys, sorry I had to leave suddenly. Late last night I got realized that I had to go home right away because something had come up. Didn't want to wake anyone, so I decided it was best to just leave. Hope this doesn't ruin the last couple hours of this vacation for you guys. I actually didn't find it totally boring. We should do this again sometime. Hope you guys have fun." – Derek.
"At least he wrote a letter telling us where he went. That's actually an uncharacteristic sign of maturity…" George laughed.
Nora frowned, "That's too bad about him leaving though. I think he actually had a good time. Wish we could've said bye to him..."
"Me too." Lizzie and Edwin said simultaneously.
Casey, once again, was quiet. He had gone. Without even saying a goodbye. She took the note from George and stared at it.
"Hey Marti, good job on pointing out the note. Don't know if we would've ever found it…" Edwin said.
Marti had joined the group by the TV. "See? I can be helpful! And everyone thinks I'm still a weird little kid who makes no sense most of the time… come on family, people grow up and change you know! Maybe you should start treating me like the young adult that I am. Now if you'd excuse me, I have a tea party slash brunch with Sir Monks-A-Lot and Daphne that I must attend to." With that, Marti bounded up the stairs.
George, Nora, Lizzie, and Edwin all laughed before sitting down on the couch.
"I can't believe the vacation is already over," Nora sighed. "Casey, what's so fascinating on the letter? What can you see that we can't?" she laughed.
Casey jumped, "What? Oh, sorry." She quickly set it down. "I guess I just started to zone out."
Nora face was serious, "Are you ok sweetie? You seem down today. You seem a bit out of it, too. Something wrong?"
Casey began to panic. She was a terrible liar. Even after living with the "Lord of the Lies" for 3 years, she still was a disgrace to liars everywhere. She knew she couldn't lie and tell them nothing was wrong. They'd see right through her. So she had to distract them with something else.
"Actually, Mom, George, Lizzie, Edwin… I can an announcement to make. Um, you know Noel? Well, of course you know Noel, you've met him," Casey could hear herself babbling, but her mouth seemed to have a mind of its own. She just couldn't stop talking! "Actually, you've met him plenty of times. So yeah, you all should know Noel. If you don't, then I don't know where you've been! Ha. So, yeah, Noel, is my um, boyfriend. But you should already know that! Ahem, anyways, he well… 2 days before I left for this vacation, Noel, um… asked me to marry him."
There was moment of silence before there was a scream. Nora jumped up and wrapped her arms around her daughter.
"Oh, baby! Noel asked you to marry him? This is so-"
"Mom, calm down. I haven't given him an answer yet."
"Oh." Nora's arms fell to her sides.
"But," Casey started, "I have decided that I will say… yes."
Another scream. Nora embraced Casey into a fierce hug.
"Sweetie! You're engaged! My baby is engaged! I can't believe this!"
George got up and awkwardly put his arm around Casey.
"Congratulations, Case."
"Thanks George, but, I haven't even told him yet! He could've changed his mind, or found someone else, or was so angry that it took so long for me to answer that he took the question back-"
"That's crazy. Noel and you have been together for nearly 8 years! I don't think anything can keep you two apart! He loves you too much to ever let you go. Oh, I can't get over this! Engaged! You're going to get married!" Nora nearly squealed.
Casey forced a smile. It was almost ironic. Her family was celebrating because she was going to marry Noel, and here she was, nearly dying inside, because of the same reason.
With Nora's joy overpowering the room, no one noticed Edwin and Lizzie sharing a look of horror and pure shock. After a moment, they regrouped and got up to join George and Nora in congratulating Casey.
"Hey, Case," Lizzie hugged Casey. "I'm so happy for you."
"Thanks Liz."
"Yeah, congratulations, Casey."
"Thank-you Edwin."
"So, you're marrying Noel huh?" Edwin asked.
Casey forced a smile, " Um, I guess that's the plan. Yeah. I'm going to get married. To Noel. I'm going to marry Noel." As it finally sunk in, Casey's eyes once again filled with tears. "I'm marrying Noel. Not Derek. Derek and I will never be. He doesn't love me," she had to suppress a sob.
Thankfully, Nora and George mistook the tears of pain for tears of joy.
"Oh honey," Nora cried, as her eyes started to brim with tears also. "This is so great. I can't believe how quickly you've grown up!"
"Get it together Case! You can do this! You should be happy! You're marrying a wonderful man who loves you! Get.A.Grip!" Casey scolded herself.
" It seems like just yesterday you were born," Nora continued, "and learning how to walk and talk, then it was your first day of school, and your first day of high school, and-"
"Um, all of that happened yesterday? That was some day- OW!" Edwin yelped as Lizzie smacked his arm.
"What's all the noise?" Marti walked back down the stairs and stood at the bottom of the landing. "I can hardly hear Sir-Monks-A-Lot's story pf how he found the- what's wrong?" Marti noticed that Nora and Casey were crying.
"Nothing's wrong sweetie, something's right!" Nora exclaimed.
"What?"
"Casey's engaged to Noel!" George announced happily.
A long silence followed. Marti's face completely fell. Her eyes widened and her mouth hung open. Her eyes darted to Casey, then to her dad, stepmom, brother, and other stepsister, before finally landing back on Casey. Then without a word, she spun around and raced back up the steps.
Everyone just looked at each other for a moment.
"Well that was pretty awkward…" Edwin stated.
"I- what- she-" Nora started.
"It's ok mom, I got it." Casey took a deep breath, gave her mom a smile, and walked up the stairs.
Casey softly knocked on the door that was currently occupied by Marti.
"Hey, Marti, can I come in?" Casey asked through the door.
"This isn't really my room, so I can't really stop you."
Casey hesitantly walked in. Marti was sitting on a bed, clutching her stuffed monkey that she had lovingly dubbed "Sir-Monks-A-Lot. She didn't look up as her older stepsister walked in.
""Marti," Casey started slowly as she sat down on the bed, "are you mad at me?"
Marti looked up. Her eyebrows were furrowed. She looked troubled for a moment before her face softened, "I suppose not."
"Then what's up? You don't seem happy."
"That's because I'm not."
"So what's the problem?"
No response came.
"Does it have something to do with…" Casey inwardly cringed, "me being engaged?"
Marti took a deep breath. She mumbled something incoherent.
"Sorry, I didn't catch that."
Marti mumbled yet again.
"Marti, I still have no idea what you're saying."
Marti mumbled yet again, but this time, Casey distinctly heard her say "Smerek".
Casey gasped. "What?"
Marti sighed. "Ok, I'm not very happy about you getting married to Noel."
Casey closed her eyes. "Why not?" she whispered.
"I just- I don't think it's the right thing, you know?"
Casey opened her eyes and swallowed. "No. I don't know." "I know exactly what you mean! I feel the same way!"
"I mean, are you sure this is the right thing? The right time? The right… guy?"
Casey's lower lip started to tremble. This was killing her. How she yearned to start screaming "NO! It's NOT the right guy!"
But instead she merely said, "Marti, Noel and I love each other very much. We've been together for so long now. So, why not now? He's…my soul mate. We're meant to be together. Marrying Noel is the right thing!" at this point, Casey was talking more to herself than to Marti. It was ironic how she was comforting Marti, yet she was feeling the same doubts that Marti was voicing.
"Casey, are you sure? Because I- I just want you to be happy."
"Well Marti, sweetie, you don't need to worry about that. Being engaged to Noel makes me happy." She's going to see right through me. She's going to know I'm not telling the truth. She's going to know that right now, I'm at the lowest point of my entire life…
But Marti seemed to have bought it. She smiled sadly and said, " As long as you're happy sis." Marti wrapped her arms around Casey's waist.
"I am." Casey whispered. Please, please forgive me for lying to you…
A/n: Alrighty peeps! The first chapter. Hope you liked it. I just wanted to post this, so once again, I kind of flew through it. You know the drill, if there's some mistake, please let me know.
I have a rough outline for this, and I want to start typing up a certain scene, but it's won't be for a few more chapters.
I don't have a lot of patience when I write- I like to jump into the meaty stuff. So that's why there won't be too many chapters for this. But you never know, my writing could get carried away, as it usually does.
Ok, review, review, review! You have no idea how happy they make me! It's kinda pathetic actually… lol
P.S.: I am having a hell of a hard time figuring out a title for this story. For my last one, it just kinda came to me as I thought up the plot. With this, I wasn't as fortunate. So if you have any suggestions, please let me know! I'd appreciate it! Thanks!
