I don't own Life With Derek :(
Shes been waiting. Waiting a long time. Days, Weeks, Months, Years. She was waiting for him.
He picked on her and fought with her day after day, but no way was she going to give up. She knew he would come around, he had to. He had to notice how perfect they would be together, sooner or later. He just had to.
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"I don't understand." She cried into the phone. She prayed that he wasn't listening from the next room, he does that a lot, and it amazed her that he never caught one of her 'crying sessions' with Emily.
"Case, hes a guy, all guys are stupid." Emily told her, for the second time this week, and the fifth time this month. She feared that she sounded like a broken record, but there wasn't much you could say when Casey became like this. There was nothing she could do.
"I can't wait forever." She whispered. Not to Emily, to herself, really.
"I know," Emily said quietly. Once again she was in the spot Casey normally put her in. The spot where she tries to take away the pain inside of her best friend that she wanted so badly to get rid of. "Why don't you just talk to him?" Emily suggested, knowing Casey will think she's lost her mind.
"He will laugh in my face, Em, and use it against me for the rest of my life." Casey cried louder. She tried to keep her sobs quiet enough so that he couldnt hear her.
"I'm sorry, Em. I'm really tired. I'm just going to sleep." Casey hung up the phone without even saying goodbye.
Casey hated goodbyes. Even if they were as simple as hanging up the phone with somebody that you will see first thing tomorrow morning. She hated everything about goodbyes. She always wondered how those stupid skanks say goodbye to Derek. She wouldn't be able to live with it.
But then again, before you say goodbye, you have to at least say 'Hello.'
It was 2:37 AM, she had no idea how long she had kept Emily on the phone for. She knew it sounded mean, but, she really didn't care. She was heartbroken. Heartbroken people should be able to get away with anything.
She unbuttoned the tight jean's that were squeezing her hips, and let them fall to the floor. She rubbed the spot that the button was digging into her skin as she walked over to her bed.
She climbed into it and prayed that one night, she would find sleep relaxing, like every other human being. But, it seemed almost impossible at the moment.
Casey found sleep to be just as hard as everything she did these days. Actually, sleep was the worst. Worst of everything. That was the place where Derek found her the most. He was there every night, bothering her, and making her heart break, over and over into the smallest pieces he can.
It was strange, she always kind of had this picture in her mind. It was a picture of pieces of her heart slipping through Derek's fingers. Of course, she would never tell anybody about this picture, not even Emily -who knew every secret she ever kept-.
As she pulled the covers over her small body, another tear fell from the deep blue, beautiful, eyes that Derek has never took the time to notice the beauty in.
She tried to close her eyes, but they just shot back open. She wanted so bad to close them, the tears were burning so bad, and it was becoming unbearable.
But she couldnt do it, she wasnt tired, and every time she closed them, pictures of him just pop up.
That was it. She was going downstairs, getting three powerful, and caffeine-filled cups of coffee, then she would go on the computer, right her summer-essay, and stay up for the rest of the night, which wasn't too much, considering it was now 3 AM, which meant in three hours she could walk down the steps, paint a fake, happy smile on her face, and nobody would think that she was heart broken.
She pushed the pink and green covers off of her and tip-toed out of the room. She had the floor pattern memorized, she knew which spots creaked when you stepped on them, and she knew which ones would get her down the steps quietly without waking any of her siblings up.
As she skipped the 3rd step, she wondered if Derek would be impressed, infact, she knew he would be impressed, but she didnt have the guts to show him.
She reached the living room carefully, and quietly. Now, she really had to be quiet. Her parents were right below her, and could hear every move she made, she didn't want to turn on any lights, so she held her eyes shut, to adjust to the darkness. Most people who trip and fall, but Casey was so used to this that she made her way perfectly to the kitchen.
She could see the light through her eye lids, and immeditly opened them.
She jumped when she saw the reason she was here, sitting at the island, eating a bowl of mashed potatoes, that were left over from dinner last night.
"Mashed potatoes at 3 AM, yum?" She said, playing it off cool -like she normally did- and walked to the fridge.
"I couldn't sleep." He said, ignoring her rude comment about his favorite food.
As soon as she opened the fridge, she stuck her head in it and took a deep breath, and a scared face that she refused to let him see. "Me ether." She said, pulling her head out of it, and painting on that smile that she thought would have to wait for another 3 hours.
"So, what was your reason for no sleep?" He asked, taking another bite of the cold left-overs.
"It doesn't concern you." Okay, so, that was a huge lie. He was the whole reason for no sleep tonight.
"Well, it concerned some guy." Derek said as his in-famous smirk ran across his lips. "I heard you on the phone."
That was all he had to say to stop her heart. She quickly spun around and faced the counter so that he couldn't see how red her cheeks were, and how hard she was trying to breathe. "What did you hear?" She asked, still facing the counter, and holding her eyes shut tight.
"Something about you cant wait forever, or what ever." He said, shoving another spoonful into his mouth. "What? Are you having problems with Max again, or something?" He asked, really not caring, but just trying to make conversation.
A sigh of relief left her cold lips. He didnt know she was talking about him. "Yea." She lied, turning back around to face him, but his back was to her now.
"I don't like him." Derek said bluntly, as if she didn't already know.
Thoughts -or fantasies- floated around inside of Casey head, about Derek being jealous of Max because Casey apparently thought so highly of him, which she really didn't, not anymore.
"I know." She said quietly, tightening her pony tail, and plopping into the chair next to him. Her shoulder gently bumped his, and her heart stopped, again. It was awful what he was doing to her, and he didn't even know he was doing it.
But, that's just the effect that Derek Venturi had on all women. Maybe not this bad, but something like this.
"Hes an ass." Derek said, pushing the empty bowl out in front of him.
Casey just nodded her head as she pulled a small glass closer to her, and poured the orange juice into it.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Derek warned as she lifted the glass to her mouth. Right away, she put it down at shot him an angry look. "Why?" She asked, still angry, but still quiet.
"I sip in it." He said with a small shrug and a guilty smile. As the smile went across his face, Casey fell even deeper in love with him. "You actually warned me." She said quietly and a little dazed. He chuckled and shrugged his shoulders again. "Its 3 'o clock in the morning, my head isn't on right." He confessed, causing her to smile, too.
"No, I think it is on right, and its on wrong every other part of the day." She teased, causing him to laugh a little.
As he laughed, and didn't tease her back, she felt something deep inside of her. Something she wasn't used to, it felt almost as if one of the small pieces that once made up her heart, jumped right back into place.