Author's NoteThis is the proposal one-shot for a story that I made called Only You. If you haven't read that fic and would like to…maybe read that first. But if you aren't interested in reading that, just read this. No matter. Enjoy, and review! I love all reviews. They make me uber happy! I would just like to point out a few things. Derek and Casey decided to keep their family hidden so no one would find out they were steps, and the MacDonald-Venturi family was alright with that. They didn't need any interviews or what-not about their son or the relationship between Derek and Casey.

DisclaimerDye-my-hands-yellow is working on her first story! I'm so happy for my sister! But she didn't name herself Dye-my-hands-yellow because she's boring. Lolz. Nah, she's cool. While she was busy writing the story I stole the rights to Life with Derek. JK!

Derek raced on the ice. He had the puck, and he wanted to make the winning shot and show these punks who really rules the ice. The skates against the surface drummed in his ears as his heart rate quickened. Closing in on the goal, he reached back with his hockey stick and slammed it against the puck with as much force as he could muster. Almost in slow motion the puck made its way towards the goalie that reached out and leaned over, but lost balance and fell as the shot completed itself.

The crowd boomed in his ears and his team mates swarmed around him. Derek searched for Casey in the stands by the bench. She was standing up, jumping, shouting and clapping. He filled with pride and honor. Casey pushed him to do more in the tough times, and she was here for the end result. She'll always be there won't she? There's no getting rid of her. Derek smirked as he was set down in the bench area. Casey ran around and entered past the coach, who was reveling in Derek's shot.

Casey reached over the crowd and found Derek at the center, smiling at her. She wrapped her arms tight around him and they were both hoisted in the air. Casey stumbled and got frightened but Derek kept her close so she wouldn't fall. He kissed her.

They set them down and the coach sent them to the showers. Derek kissed her cheek and walked into the showers. He took off his uniform with ease and got into the shower. Team mates followed seconds later, chanting about the great game they played and their hopes for next season.

"Hey Derek!" Derek turned toward Mike. "How long have you been with Casey?" He leaned back in thought, trying to add up the years. Being twenty-five now and getting with her when he was seventeen…Would be…eight years.

"Eight years, why?" Mike's eyes got huge.

"Eight?! Damn. That's a while. Why haven't you sealed the deal?"

"You mean propose?" Derek hadn't really thought about it, but now that it was out there, the thought sounded nice.

"Yeah. I mean, you just won the game of your life, have the woman of your dreams, which you have said to us so many times, and you could propose to her and make it memorable." Derek smirked.

"I didn't know you were so sensitive Mike."

"Psh. I'm not sensitive." He walked away from Derek, leaving him with the most pleasant thought.

Casey flowed to him in a snug white top and trailing bottom. A veil lay lazily over her face. Through the small mystery a smile shone through and he could not mistake her blue eyes for another's. She walked hazily toward him, down a red carpeted aisle of a church, with tall windows of Jesus and Mary stained onto them, leaving marks of blues, pinks, red, and violets, over her pale skin. No one was in clear view besides Casey, all the blurred faces melted away into the pews as Casey cupped a hand around his cheek and said,

"I do."

Derek got out of the shower and dressed himself. He was on a mission to get her the most beautiful ring. Being a professional hockey player the price was irrelevant.

He stepped out of the locker and saw Casey leaning patiently against the wall across from the door as she usually did after his games. She ran up and jumped into her arms, a smile pricked across her face the moment she saw him.

"Hey baby." He leaned down and gave her a long kiss on the lips. "I'm going out with the guys for a bit, but I'll be home tonight okay!" Casey frowned and broke away from him.

"For once, please, could you just spend after-game with me instead of the guys?" He gave her a sympathetic look, not wanting to anger her. Derek wanted her to fill the empty space of the most important role in his life. If she was angry, then he wouldn't do it tonight, but if he didn't do it tonight then he wouldn't look on it with even more remembrance.

"I won't be out too long. I promise." Derek smirked at her, and she knew that he wasn't lying. They walked to their car and he gave her a loving kiss goodnight.

"See you. Love you." Casey smiled weakly.

"I love you too Case." He grinned and leaned down for another kiss. Casey got into the car after casting him a longing and confused look. This disturbed him slightly, but he had grown used to it over the years and knew that whatever it was would present itself in due time. In the mean time he headed back to the locker to tell the guys what he was really going to do.

Casey drove with weak arms. She was flooded with a strange pain. A longing had come over her. That longing was for Derek, but considering she already had him, she couldn't fathom what the emotion could mean. Contemplating it as she parked in the driveway of their house they bought together a few years back, she brushed it off like many times before.

Slowly she got out of the car and walked the curved path lined with a short wooden fence to her porch. The swing drifted back and forth in the slow release of the wind, and the flowers beamed up at her. Casey scoffed and entered through the front door.

"I'm not staying for the after-game, sorry guys." They let out a small groan. Sure, he was new, but they had all grown close rather quickly because he was fun, and made even the saddest moments fun in a way that wasn't offensive. It was incredibly hard not to like Derek Venturi.

"Going to have fun with your woman?" They all started giving him playful nudges and he smirked, shaking his head no. The entire team stopped.

"You have another woman?" Jared said in the background. The team was solemn and you could tell they didn't advocate cheating.

"No guys. I'm going to get an engagement ring, and propose to her tonight." A few of the guys looked confused, and the rest smiled a signature smile. The only married guy on the team, Marcus, separated the crowd that formed around Derek and pulled him into a man-hug, with two hard pats on the back and being pushed away from each other.

"Good luck bro'." The rest of the team sounded and moved with the same gesture, and all Derek wanted was to get away from it, but glad to finally see that he was accepted into the team. Usually new players were envied, mistrusted, and not accepted quickly, but he had become a true member of the team. It became evident to him through these gestures of all the players.

After Derek finally broke away from the 'good lucks' and 'goodbyes-goodnights', he called a cab to take him to the jewelers.

Casey flipped impatiently through the channels. She pictured Derek in a fancy restaurant with the team, talking about their great game and hot girls, or girlfriends, with an attractive waitress just asking to be screwed. Jealousy swam in her blood stream, even though she had a feeling he wouldn't ever cheat. Just the thought of all the girls flinging themselves over him was frustrating.

Deciding to sleep till he got home she went to their bedroom down the hall from the kitchen, letting her hand glide across the wall.

Derek frowned in disgust at nearly every ring. The jeweler was becoming a tad frustrated but let the plastered false smile remain eager on his face. He kind of enjoyed the fact it was nearly torturing him. He had been there for an hour now, with the same jeweler, and he still hadn't found the right ring. When he saw it, he would know.

"AHHH! IT'S DEREK!" A group of girls squealed in utter delight, rushing toward him, breaking him from his concentration. The jewelers face turned to that of realization, and he adjusted himself. All the workers visible in the store began to usher all of the girls out with difficulty and asked them to not come back for a while.

The jeweler, who Derek had now realized had a name tag reading 'Andre', pulled out a hidden compartment containing extremely elaborate jewelry.

"I take it you are interested in fine rings and necklaces?" Derek gave him a confused look.

"Um. No. I'm here for an engagement ring." A female worker let out a romantic sigh.

"An engagement ring? Why didn't you say so?"

"I thought the only kinds of rings you sell are engagement rings and wedding rings." The jeweler flushed and led him to the glass case containing an extensive amount of engagement rings.

And then Derek saw it. The perfect ring for Casey. It was a gold ring with three diamonds on the top. It glinted upwards at him, practically begging for him to buy it. Before saying a word to the jeweler he eyed it more carefully. The cut of the diamonds were almost rounded, and see through. At a squint he noticed a rainbow, and thought to paint her world in colors, or diamonds.

"That's the one." Derek stood up stiffly, shoving an arrogant finger at it. His face was unusually kind in that moment, but his body was tense.

"Yes sir." Andre pulled out the holder and took out the ring. He held out the ring to Derek, for Derek to inspect it's size. It was small, but so were Casey's fingers.

"I'm proposing to her tonight with this ring, but I would like to know what I should do if it doesn't fit her."

"Simply buy a warranty today, and come back later to size it for free." Derek nodded, not turning away from the ring.

"Can you engrave the inside?"

"If that's what you want, we can if you come back to size it. It will cost a little more." Derek nodded his head absentmindedly.

He was at the crossroads. Saying it before meant nothing. It meant nothing until this point. He was either going to go through with it, or chicken out and leave it all behind.

"How much is it?" He questioned softly, not really caring about the price.

"Eight-hundred and twenty-three dollars, not including the warranty or tax."

"How much is a warranty?"

"Roughly three-hundred."

"And tax." Andre suppressed a sigh of aggravation.

"About twenty or thirty dollars." Derek smiled up at him.

"I want this and the warranty then." The jeweler smiled and led him to the register.

Casey was drifting in and out of sleep as Derek pulled up in the driveway by the cab. He tipped the cab driver generously, due to his eagerness and general jovialness of his anticipation to see Casey.

Quietly he opened the door, hoping to find her somewhere in the house and sneak up on her. He checked the upstairs and then looked in their bedroom. She was lying curled up hugging a pillow, her skirt had fallen, exposing her panties. It only made him anticipate the night even more.

He walked up to her, the ring box in his pocket, and the ring in his hand. Casey stirred and slowly opened her eyes, realizing dreamily that he was home.

"Hey Der." She managed to yawn out.

"Protect your eyes." Casey put two hands over her eyes and he flicked the light switch on, turned the ring over in his palm to conceal it from her.

"What time is it?" Casey said softly, coming awake now that the light was on.

"I don't know." Derek couldn't stop smiling.

"I take it you had a good time with the team?" Casey said half-suspiciously, half-laughing because he was too cute.

"Oh yeah, definitely, but now that I am home it's going to be even better." He said almost sarcastically, dying to get to the most important part. Casey sat up completely looking sweetly at him. Such a sweet thing to say! She thought to herself. It was so tempting to stand up and tackle him down on the bed, but for a change she wanted everything to be romantic. Derek started mumbling and stuttering incomprehensibly, a smirk spread across his face and he turned silent.

Instead of speaking, he would just do it, actions can sometimes speak louder than words, and he hoped that Casey would know he was screaming 'I LOVE YOU'.

His knee bent down and their eyes didn't falter from each other. Casey's smile turned to pure delight and love, Derek felt all of her spill into him in that moment. Taking her left hand softly, and agonizingly slow, Derek begged himself to make it sweet.

Instinctively Casey's ring finger stuck out, and as he slipped it perfectly around her finger she bit her lip. Their eyes locked and for a moment they didn't breathe.

Without a word, without care, without inhibitions, or restraint, their lips crashed passionately. Their arms held each other tightly with the absolute knowledge it would be them, together, always and forever.

Vive le Dasey! Please review! This, I repeat, is the proposal one-shot to a fanfic that I have written and completed. I love all reviews!