Prologue:

Casey's POV:

I thought it was going to be a typical car ride with Derek. Well—as typical as it could be with him anyway. I should've known better though. It was pretty cold when we left home, don't get me wrong, but I didn't think the car would break down. Of course, Derek had assured Mom and George that we would be fine. He told them we'd check in with them when we got to the Coco La Playa Resort just about four hours from home. And again, of course we ended up in an area with no service to call for help. It's always me, what did I expect? Well—certainly not what was in front of me a few paces ahead. It was a hotel, and with barely one hundred dollars to spend I watched as Derek walked up to the entrance. I really hope he they have a phone that Derek won't break… or something that I can smack him upside the head with. Guess I'll find out…

A few hours earlier…

Casey's POV:

"Derr-ek!" I shouted from downstairs as I checked my watch. The time faded and flickered, the battery needed to be replaced. I tapped on the watch. The time read 11:57. Derek always had to be the diva of the day. I crossed my arms, rolled my eyes and scoffed.

"Of course, no answer! He is not even close to being courteous of others and their time constraints!" I move a piece of hair out of my eyes as Mom gave me a look that said "quit being so dramatic." I made a face at her as she turned the other way. My eyes made their way to George who ran a hand through his greased golden hair. He cleared his throat and prepared to yell. Lizzie and Edwin appeared from the kitchen and covered their ears to brace for the impact. As if someone lit the wick on a rocket to launch, George howled.

"Derrre—" Before George could finish yelling, Derek emerged from his cave in his pajamas, robe and all. My mouth dropped to the floor. We were supposed to leave in 3 minutes to get to the show we planned to go to on time.

"You have got to be kidding me!" I threw my arms in the air. He stretched briefly before leaning over the railing of the stairs.

Leaning on his hand he put to his face, he began to speak.

"No need to yell Dad, you all go on without me, I'll make it down to Loco la…" He thought of a minute, "Loca la Papaya or whatever later." He waited for George's reaction. George didn't look impressed, and Derek must have noticed. "Oh, didn't Casey tell you?" He acted shocked. "She's coming with me! We're leaving at uh…one! We had some university work we wanted to discuss." He put a hand to his heart, "I'm shocked you forgot—"He pondered for a moment, "then again, not really. You are Spacey Casey after all!"

Mom turned to me and gave me a confused look; another was followed by George, who seemed more suspicious. I was about to retort out of annoyance when I glanced at Derek. He shook his head and pressed a finger to his lips. For some reason, I felt like playing along. I crossed my arms again and put on my bubble gum-sugar-coated voice.

"Oh, right. I'm so sorry! I did forget. You all can go ahead without us. We'll meet you there." I said this with eyes all on me. Derek looked stunned that I agreed with him, yet he didn't argue.

"Uh—yeah, what… what she said." Derek pointed at me, waving his finger. I gave him a weird look as I watched George scratch his head.

"Well, its twelve now, so if we leave right away, we should make it to the show in time…" George spoke quickly as Mom chimed in,

"Casey, are you sure? You really seemed like you wanted to see this show! It has all of the cute little characters you liked when you were little and—"

"Mom—it's fine!" I said loudly as I watched her jump at my tone. I put on an apologetic face, she nodded to me. Marty came out of the living room holding Simon and looking irritated. She had been talking about this show all week and she did NOT want to be late. Mom apparently noticed this and hurried George out the door, yelling about making sure everyone had everything. Edwin and Lizzie came trailing behind; weird looks at me were the norm as the door came to a close.

I looked back up at the railing and sure enough, Derek was already gone, back in his cave. I clenched my jaw and dropped my luggage on the ground. I pounded up the stairs and went to his door, it was cracked open slightly, but I ignored all of his privacy and shoved it open anyway. My face immediately grew tomato red as Derek stood in mid-change, putting on pants. I was thankful he at least had his boxers on. I covered my eyes as he gave me a look that was as embarrassed as I was.

"Ever heard of knocking? You complain enough about it." Derek spat his words out at me. My eyes covered, they looked to the floor where a rainbow pile of shirts was forming, as Derek was attempting to pick out a shirt.

"Sorry—look, just tell me why you didn't just leave on time with George and Mom and everyone else?" I paused, expecting a response, but not getting one, I moved my hand, and he was out of the room. I groaned, he must have gone to the bathroom. I make my way through the hall and to the open door; he was brushing his teeth (for once).

"Is it customary in that country in that head of yours to just walk in on people? Or is that a new thing you're trying?" He spit into the sink and got out a strand of floss from a cupboard below. "Because, let me tell you," He switched to his bottom teeth, "It's not attractive."

My voice was offensive, "Since when would I care if I was attractive to you?"

He snorted and shrugged, he threw the strand of floss behind him, landing in my hair. He walked out of the bathroom and into his room. I grudgingly removed the floss from my hair and went towards his room again. I was about to walk in when I realized I didn't want to be a hypocrite. I knocked on the door briefly.

"No one's home little red riding hood, go blow down the next house."

I opened the door anyway, hiding my eyes just in case. When I found him shoving things into his duffle bag, I removed my hand.

"Ha-ha, very funny." I scrunched my nose, something smelled in here. "And that's The Three Little Pigs, not Little Red Riding Hood," I brushed myself off, just in case there was any excess floss on me somehow.

"You still didn't answer my question Derek."

He looked up from his duffle bag and met my eyes for a quick second. I looked away and pressed on. I saw a large bag fall out of his duffle bag and onto the floor. It contained a green substance that was broken up into many pieces. My eyes widened as I realized what it was. Derek was bringing marijuana to Coco la Playa?! That explained the smell when I walked in, but I shook my head, Derek smoked marijuana?! I shouldn't of been that surprised, it made so much more sense as to why he ate so much after being out late, and why he always complained of 'allergies' to stay home sick. But, that was almost two years ago.

Derek must've known I saw it, because he let out a heavy sigh. He picked up the bag and put it into a pocket of the duffle. He looked in the duffle for a long time before speaking.

"It's not what you think it is Casey," He met my eyes as they rolled at him. "It's for a friend." He sat down on his bed and fumbled with his fingers. He was staring at the ground, and was waiting for me to respond to him.

"Oh, I get it Derek," I sauntered over to him casually, "A friend." I said with air quotes. "Do you think I'm an idiot?! Oh wait, my mistake, it's you that's the idiot!" He pounded his fists on the bed, which made me jump. He looked at me angrily.

"Do you think that I want to do this? It's not like that little 'business' we had in high school Casey."

I looked away then spoke again,

"So you're using me as an excuse to make a detour to do a drug deal?"

He hesitated for a moment before speaking again, his mouth gapped a little bit, words trying to form like he was a fish out of water.

"Yeah, I don't know, is this a trick question? Because whatever I answer, you're still going to get mad."

I throw my hands in the air. Is he serious?! I go directly up to him. My heart is beating like a fast drum.

"How long have you been planning this?!" I point my finger directly into his face.

"You're seriously asking this Casey?" He moved my hand down. I made a serious face at him, which showed I meant it. Derek moved his neck in a clockwise motion and massaged it for a moment. He sighed again. "Yes, I used you for an excuse—'' this time, he held his finger up to pause me. "But I've done that plenty of times, so you should be used to it by now!" He let out a quick laugh which diminished when I went for my phone in my pocket. I had it nearly to dial before I was interrupted.

"Casey," He held my arm as I had my phone mid-air. I let out a breath of anger and annoyance. "Casey, don't rat me out." He met my eyes as I glared at him.

"Give me one reason why I shouldn't. You realize that if I go with you and go through with this, I will get in trouble too. I will go to federal jail. I will lose my scholarship." I spat out all of these reasons and yet he still had his grip on my arm.

"Casey, Casey, Casey," He repeated my name, which only meant one thing. He had blackmail up his sleeve. "You do realize, I can so easily turn this on you. And, I did plan for that!" His voice perked up as he motioned to my duffle bag downstairs. My eyes widened as I ran to the railing. He ran up behind me as I had put the phone to my ear, ready to press call.

"You didn't." I threw the words out of my mouth like they were vomit. Derek soaked up his work with pride,

"But, I did," He cleared his throat as he moved his hand into a 'gimme' motion. My eyes turned to a squint as I moved around him and pressed call. His eyes went wide as he grabbed my phone from my ear and threw it down the stairs. The shattering sound from below made both of our mouths gape.

"You are so paying for that."

About an hour and four minutes later: 1:04pm.

"I cannot believe I'm doing this." I threw my duffle bag into the bag of Derek's car. Luckily, ours were both different, so there would not be a mix up like in some crazy twisted movie.

"Yeah, neither can I…" Derek muttered as he shut the door behind him.

"But you didn't tell me why." I put on my seatbelt as Derek opened the garage door.

"Why I'm using you as an excuse? Yeah I already—"

"No. Why you're doing this."

He tightened his grip on the steering wheel and let out a deep sigh. He switched on the radio and put in one of The White Stripes cd's. I took that as a signal that meant he didn't want to explain to me right now; and for some reason, I wasn't offended by it, so I decided not to press on. The faster we got this stupid thing done, the faster I could relax at Coco la Playa Resort. I reclined the seat back slightly and I shut my eyes. I heard the volume of the music decline somewhat. Derek must have turned it down. Soon enough, the light riffs of guitar became muffled, Derek's breaths became more relaxed, and I fell asleep.

I was about to open my eyes again when I heard Derek on the phone. I could tell it was dark outside based on the lack of light being able to shine through my eyelids. I let a quick peak at the time which showed 7:30. I slept for 6 and a half hours?! Wait a second… Coco la Playa is only four hours away…We were supposed to be there by 5. I almost shot up before I realized that I wanted to hear who Derek was talking to. I could barely hear the stifled voice on the phone.

"You sure she's not going to be an issue?" The voice stated. My heart seemed to make its wait into my throat. Was the voice talking about me?

"Yeah—" I felt Derek hover over me for a moment, checking if I was asleep. I tried to keep my breaths even as he looked. He swerved past something in the road, causing me to almost hit my head on the seatbelt holder. "Just forget about her. I have it, now where am I meeting you?" The voice began speaking again, but it seemed to be cutting out.

"What? I can't—" He held the phone out and looked at it. "I can't understand you—" He looked at it again and spoke just a bit louder, "What?!" The phone then beeped, signaling no service. Derek slammed his hands on the steering wheel.

"Damnit!"

I jumped at his outburst but it was masked by a bump in the road. Then, I smelled smoke; Derek hit the steering wheel again and put his turning signal on to move to the side of the road. He shut off the engine and got out of the car. The interior lights came on, and I rose slowly, unbuckling my seatbelt. The lights of the car were on, showing Derek in front of the engine, which was indeed, smoking.

I gasped as I got out of the car quickly. I tumbled down, not realizing that he parked on an incline, as I fell into a ditch. I heard a quick laugh from Derek.

"The ogre wakes up from her slumber!" He says in a fairy-tale like voice.

Ugh. He isn't even showing signs that he's angry. How does he mask it so well? I shiver as I brush off the snow and slowly make my way up onto the road. Derek looks amused as I brush off the snow from my pants. I shiver slightly; my pants feel even colder than anything else on me. I brush off the rest of the snow. He lets out a cackle as I turn around and pick up my purse.

"What is so funny Derr-ek?"

He covers his mouth and laughs into it.

"Oh… just…just wondering when you invested in those granny panties of yours." My face became redder than the cold made it. My pants ripped. Of course they did.

I put my purse behind my pants and let out an angry noise.

"Where the hell are we Derek?!"

His smile disappeared as he sniffled and wiped his nose. He scratched his head and released a breath.

"Well… I'm not entirely sure of that." He braced himself as I began to shout. I must've shouted so many profanities at him that even the animals in the forest became offended.

"Casey—slow down," He put his hands on my shoulders as I pressed my mouth together. "I saw lights ahead. I think it's a hotel. We'll just go there, call Dad and Nora and it'll be fine."

"But what about…" I let my voice trail off as he removed his hands from my shoulders.

"I'll deal with that myself. For now, just… change your pants and get your duffle. We have some walking to do."

I didn't protest as I went to the car and changed my pants, stuffed the old ones beneath the seat and opened the car door. The light looked to be at least a mile off. And from how cold I was already from falling in the snow, this was going to be a long walk.

A mile or so later…

My toes were numb, and so was my brain. Why the hell did I agree to something so stupid?! I walked in the crunching snow, slipping, almost falling every few minutes. Derek was ahead of me, but not by much. He glanced behind me as he ushered me to move quicker. I huffed as I ran a little bit, only to slip and fall when I got to him. He laughed a little bit as I groaned at him.

"Did you know there was a patch of ice there?" I don't know why I even asked. I already knew the answer.

He brought his closed lips to an attempted to hide smile.

"Oh no… not at all." He reached his hand to help me up, which I declined, using both of my hands to get up I pushed myself to a standing position. I felt a sharp pain through my ankle. I let out a quick whimper. I must've landed on it when I fell. I was only wearing thin boots, not really enough to properly cushion a fall. Derek's smile faded as he heard me. I hope he felt bad. He already ruined part of my vacation, and now, I may have a sprained ankle that I can't even dance with when I get back to school.

"Are you okay?" Derek questioned me as he held onto my arm. I steadied myself and shoved his arm off. I nearly fell over onto the icy pavement again.

"Let's just get to the hotel up there. I'm calling Mom and George as soon as we get there. Maybe they'll have some service. A phone, something." I moved around my ankle lightly and a look of hurt covered my face. The darkness didn't mask Derek being able to see. He kicked a chunk of ice and muttered an okay. He walked ahead still, but slower.

Eventually we reached the hotel and I realized something. Derek and possibly I both had drugs in our duffle bags. We couldn't just carry them into a hotel without causing suspicion. Derek noticed my worry and stopped me before we entered.

"Just act normal," He began to walk in and then paused. I ran into him, he turned around. "Well, as normal as you can be for being Casey." I shoved him forward and we went into the hotel.

It was a strange place for a hotel, in the middle of nowhere. I forced myself to try not to limp as Derek walked up to the concierge. She noticed my limp and gave Derek a concerned look.

"I'm sorry—we don't have many rooms to check out right now. We're currently under renovation..." She typed in something onto her computer and perked up. "Oh! But we do have one suite available! I think it would suite you two just perfectly!"

"Oh, its fine we're just here to—" I began to speak when my ankle began to throb. I made my way to a small chair near the desk. The concierge looked over the desk and gasped.

"Oh, you poor thing! On your honeymoon, and you can't even enjoy it because of your ankle!" She typed another thing into her computer. "Oh, well… I'm not supposed to do this, but… I'm going to give you the room free of charge!" My mouth dropped open, Honey what?! I was about to speak when Derek put his hand over my mouth. He shushed me as he began to speak to the concierge.

"Oh… well isn't that lovely—uh… darling!"

I spat on Derek's hand, causing him to give me a disgusted look.

"No! You don't understand… I'm not married to him!" I stood up and hobbled over to the desk. The concierge looked confused for a moment, and then nodded in understanding.

"We're supposed to be going to Coco la Playa! His car broke down and then I fell and then…" I rambled on until the words became barely understandable and Derek put his hand over my mouth again.

"Oh!" The concierge exclaimed, "I get it! You're getting married at Coco la Playa and your car broke down. Then you hurt your ankle, and now you have to take a detour! Don't even stress honey. This almost happened to me thirty years ago with my husband. We were on a…" The woman droned on as I put my head into my hands and tried to make sense of what just happened.

Derek cleared his throat. "Ma'am, you said this room was," He waved his fingers in a circle, "free of charge?" The concierge nodded quickly, but put a finger to her lips. Derek did the same and gave me a look of excitement and put my finger to my lips. I shoved him off in annoyance.

"Here's the swipe-key. Take the elevator. It should still be working..."

He took the swipe-key from the concierge and shoved me up onto his shoulder before I could protest. He had his bag in one hand and I had mine in the next.

"Have a nice stay you two!" The concierge said with a wink.

He shoved me down in the elevator before I could say a word. He pressed the number four and the button lit up.

"Derek! What are you thinking?! We need to call Mom and George! They're expecting us to get to Coco la Playa any minute. They're probably worried sick. My phone is shattered into pieces and you're…" I look at him as he's just laughing at every word I'm saying. "And you're not even taking this seriously!"

"Casey, did you hear what just happened? That crazy lady gave us a free room." He looked at me as the elevator opened to floor four.

"We'll call inside the room Casey. We'll tell them my car broke down and that we'll be up sometime tomorrow. All I know is I am tired as hell and I want to sleep." He walked down the hall in search of the room. He stopped abruptly at the door and he let his head down.

"You have got to be kidding me."

I hobbled over to him. "What, what is it?" I asked, but my question was immediately answered when I looked at the door.

Room 402: The Honeymoon Suite

"Oh dear God," My face contorted into horror as I read the words. They seriously think we're married—or about to get married. I rubbed my temples, "just open the door Derek."

He opened the door with the swipe key and there it was. A heart shaped bed, a bathroom with a heart shaped tub, roses, chocolates, and the whole sha-bang.

"Kill me now." Derek muttered as we both walk into the suite. I snort quickly.

"Believe me, I'd like to."

"Is that a hot tub on the porch?! Alriiiight." Derek stripped himself of his shirt and pants as I gawked in disgust and embarrassment as he ran for it.

"So much for being tired." I said quietly. I heard a splash and watched water escape from the sides of the walls.

"Derr-ek! It's a hot tub, not a swimming pool!" I yell at him as I throw my stuff onto the bed and feel a headache coming on. It's going to be a long, long night.

Hi everyone! I've been away for a long, long time. Not sure if anyone reads Dasey anymore, but I've had this idea on repeat for a while. Chapter 2 is in the works as I type this, but I want to see if there's good feedback on this before I continue it. I'm working on the other stories that I started but never finished as well. So keep an eye out for those.

Thanks for reading guys,

much love; Lindsey