Title: Hello Beautiful
Rated T
Disclaimer: I don't own Life with Derek or the song "Hello Beautiful"
Summary: .:It's been so very long since I've felt anything this strong:. It started off as a quiet tradition, one that was kept just between them. Flashfic for carterfinley Dasey one-shot.
A/N: Okay, so I finally finished it! My first flashfic. I'm pretty happy with the way this came out, so I hope you all enjoy it. I'll post the prompt at the end of the one-shot. Thanks to Allie for letting me participate this month! Okay, I just wanted to mention this: I'm not a Noel basher. I love the guy. It's just that Max behind the drama is too expected I wanted to try something different. I'll write another one-shot and make it up to Noel later.
To Mal: I know the difference between a reference and a mention, but I've never really watched enough Gilmore Girls to make a reference of it. I did mention it though so I hope that passes as okay. Also, I included everything else you wanted in this prompt. Hope you like it!
Hello, my beautiful. It seems I just can't stay away It's been so very long since I've felt anything this strong You hold my heart the way you did an hour ago I've said all I could say but I must be sure you know: I need, need, need you I long, long, long to hold you in my arms again I'm so, so sad to Ever hurt, hurt, hurt you I'm more afraid of losing you than anything before Please can I have one more. . .hello?
I love, love, love you
"Hello Beautiful" by Vic Mignogna
It started off as a quiet tradition, one that was kept just between them. When Casey and Derek had graduated they were both accepted into different colleges. Derek would be attending the University of Western Ontario while Casey would be traveling to Julliard to forge her amazing talent of dancing into a well-paid career. Casey hadn't always intended on being a dancer, in fact dancing had been something she never predicted she would do as her career. It was funny the way some things turned out. At first, Derek and Casey were planning on attending the same college so that the cost of living would be cheaper and they wouldn't have to handle a long-distance friendship. Yes, they had become friends over the course of senior year. Casey had been there for Derek through out the Sally ordeal and ever since Max turned into a 'major jerk' as Marti bluntly put it Derek had been there for Casey and stuck up for her on several occasions. The university was closest to their family so they would be able to visit and also promised excellent programs in film for Derek and Journalism for Casey. It had all seemed so perfect, but that ended abruptly when a talent scout had pulled Casey aside after she and Noel appeared in their final Spring musical. He offered Casey a scholarship to one of the most promising schools in the states. At first, Casey almost refused it but then accepted for her family and friends weren't about to let her give up this chance. The week she had to leave there was a going away party (one that was completely expected, of course), a lot of hugs, a few sad and happy tears and a promise. As she turned to leave out the door Derek took her by her arm and pulled her into a warm hug. "Call me often." he had whispered when he finally let her go. She nodded and assured him she would, every night if she could manage. That was how it really all began. Casey had kept her promise; at 6:30 pm, after studying and just before she'd settle down to watch her much abused box set of Gilmore Girls, she would call him. The two would talk for more than an hour if they could pull it off. As the holiday break grew near the phone calls became rare for the freshmen had been preparing nonstop for semester finals. When Christmas rolled around the two found themselves under the mistletoe in the Venturi-McDonald household. They were hesitant at first but 10 year-old Marti refused to let them escape. Their first real kiss . . . Casey practically melted inside when Derek pulled her closer to him in a warm, protective hold. A secret kept from their parents, Casey had fallen asleep on Derek's bed in his arms that Christmas Eve. She awoke that morning early when his lips pressed soft against her forehead. "Hello beautiful." From then on, those two words were the only words they ever greeted each other with when the couple answered their phones. That was how the tradition really began. The two remained in a relationship for several months before drama struck. Phone calls became rare again; finally it came to a point where they were nonexistent. Their relationship had been broken, they didn't even bother keeping in touch or talking to each other at all. Three years passed, and still nothing had changed.
"Come on Casey, be reasonable." Emily pleaded as her twenty four year-old best friend turned off the television and strode over to her small kitchen. Emily sighed as Casey continued to ignore her request. "Ralph says that since you were technically apart of D-Rock in high school you should feel obligated to-"
"Hey Em, do you remember where I put those girl scout cookies?" Casey interrupted, now standing on her tip toes as she rummaged through her cabinets, moving aside her history text book which had been much ignored until now. "You know, the Thin Mints I was eating the other day."
"Casey, are you even listening?" Emily cried, crossing her arms in annoyance. Casey sighed. "So I sang for D-Rock back in Junior year, why should I have to be there for some stupid gig of theirs?"
"Not just a stupid gig," Emily informed her, beaming. "It's Ralph's reunion party. Plus D-Rock just got signed so they're all celebrating. He and Derek invited almost everyone from our 09 class. It's going to be huge and Ralph really wants you to make it . . ."
"Since when do you even speak to Ralph anyway?" Casey snapped. A wide smile appeared on her face moments later. "Yes, found them!" She cheered as she pulled out the box of cookies.
"Since he and I ran into each other at the café near my job." Emily blushed. "He's really fun to talk to, I'm starting to think he's actually helping me get over Sheldon." Casey nodded after popping another cookie into her mouth. "These things are so addicting." She commented after swallowing. Her best friend frowned at her. "What? I'm on break, I can pig out a little bit."
"Come on Case," Emily whined. "Please just come for a while. You don't have to stay for the whole party, just watch D-Rock play. They've actually gotten a lot better . . ."
"I doubt it." Casey exclaimed with a laugh. She noticed Emily's tired pout and groaned. "Okay, okay I'll go. Just quit giving me those puppy eyes please."
"Deal." Emily agreed with a squeal. "Ralph'll be excited that you're coming and you don't have to talk to Derek if you don't want to."
"Great." Casey muttered unenthusiastically, cramming another Thin Mint into her mouth. She glanced over at Emily who already whipped out her cell phone, probably calling Ralph to tell him the good news.
"I'm telling you Ralph that light is mocking me!" Ralph just shrugged. "Sorry D, I haven't had any time to really get it fixed. You know, with all this party planning and stuff."
Derek opened his mouth to say something but then closed it and growled as the light flickered again. He wasn't in the best of moods that day for some reason and the stupid light wasn't making things any better. "Well, now that the party planning is out of the picture, I'm fixing this bugger." He turned to his best friend. "Do you have a ladder or stepstool or something?" Ralph laughed and went to retrieve it. Everything was basically set and the party was going to start in a good hour or so. Ralph knew for a fact that Emily was coming over shortly to help him finish last minute details. He also knew she was bringing along a reluctant Casey, 'accidentally forgetting' to tell Derek of this. He figured if Derek knew, his best friend would try to bail long before the party even started and he couldn't have the lead singer of D-Rock back out of their celebratory gig. Plus, seeing Casey again would be good for his best friend. He knew better than anyone that Derek had been secretly yearning for his ex-girlfriend since the disastrous break up.
"Okay, this is all we have." Ralph stated, returning to Derek with a step stool. Derek shrugged. "It'll get the job done." With that, he took the stool from Ralph, climbed up on it and started to fix that irritating light bulb. Ralph preoccupied himself in watching until the door bell rang. 'Must be Em.' he thought with a smile on his face. Emily was really good company to have around, plus she was really attractive. He was real shocked with himself that he didn't get to know her well when they were both students in high school.
"Hey Ralph," Emily said happily, throwing her arms around him in an eager hug. Casey stood quietly in the background as Ralph welcomed the hug with one of his own. "Hey Em," He grinned a goofy grin. "Nice shoes."
"Thanks."
Derek tried his hardest to keep from laughing. His amused features disappeared as he heard Ralph greet Emily's guest. "Casey McDonald . . . Long time no see."
"It's good to see you too, Ralph." Casey said honestly as they shared a hug. Derek's eyes grew in shock when it finally dawned on him. His best friend had set him up! As the hug ended Casey peered over Ralph's shoulder and noticed him for the first time. She blushed and turned her eyes away.
"Derek!" Emily squealed. Still in a somewhat state of shock, Derek (forgetting that he was a couple of feet from the ground in the first place) stumbled backwards, landing in a twisted position on Ralph's hardwood floor.
'Smooth' he thought to himself with disgust. Luckily, it wasn't a bad fall, but Derek felt a tiny lump growing in the back of his head.
"Derek, you okay man?" Ralph and Emily rushed over to his side while Casey covered her mouth to keep from giggling. Derek glared at her and then winced. "Yeah, I'm fine." He lied letting Emily help him up.
"It's been a while, huh?" Emily stated with a smile. He smiled back and nodded, bringing a hand to his head.
"Here man, I'll go get you some ice." Ralph offered, heading for the kitchen without waiting for him to answer. Casey blinked for a second before saying. "Yeah, I'll come with you Ralph." Derek shook his head as she quickly dashed to the kitchen to make her getaway. Emily sighed. "Don't worry about her, she'll come around eventually." He said nothing in reply for he knew Emily was false: tonight was going to be a very long and awkward night.
"Dude, it feels like forever since I've last seen you!" Derek exclaimed enthusiastically as his best friend Sam arrived. Sam grinned and nodded. "I know, right? I mean, how long do you think it's been? Last week? The other day maybe?"
"Yeah, yeah, why can't you just pretend that this is the first time we've seen each other in a while?"
"I'll remember next time, promise."
The guests were arriving and they were all excited. Casey waved to and hugged various faces that she had remembered vaguely from her high school years. Some of the she barely recognized at all. Still, it was a nice environment, a nice setting . . .until:
"Case!" As the high-pitched voice sang over the chatter Casey cringed knowing exactly who it belonged to. She tried to look excited as Kendra bounded up to her, a huge smile plastered on her face.
"I haven't seen you since graduation!" She declared, hugging her. 'Just another hour and I'll be done with all of this.' Casey thought, awkwardly returning the hug. "Yeah, I know."
"So, how's Julliard?" Kendra pressed.
"It's good." She shrugged. "I sort of miss home, but again I've been happy with my new job and apartment."
"That's great!" Casey tried not to wince at the bubbly tone in her voice. "We need to get together sometime during vacation! You know, to catch up and stuff."
"Yeah, that'd be . . .neat."
"Well, I'm going to find my boyfriend and say hi to Ralph. I'll talk to you later tonight, okay?" Without waiting for her to answer, she turned on her heal leaving Casey behind her. She glanced around at the party; everyone had started dancing and it looked as if Sam and Ralph were setting up for their concert. 'At least it'll be done in a little while . . .'
"So, having fun?" She looked over as Emily bounced towards her, positively beaming. Casey shrugged and then eyed her best friend's attitude suspiciously.
"So, why are you in such a good mood?"
"Oh please, Case. It's a party!" Emily ignored the "Yeah, right" look Casey flashed her and smirked. "Maybe you should talk to Derek and smooth things over . . .D-Rock isn't going to play for another five minutes."
"Then that means that he's getting ready and I don't want to bother him." Casey retorted, folding her arms across her chest childishly. Emily rolled her eyes. "Case, this can't go on forever. You've got to patch things up sometime!"
"I'm not apologizing."
"I'm not saying you have to, just talk to him!"
Casey sighed. "Emily, it's not that simple. What happened between us three years ago probably still hurts him and I don't think I can face him without making things worse."
Emily smiled and put a comforting arm around her best friend. "Well, you could say that you tried."
Before Casey could reply Ralph appeared on the small wooden platform they set up as a stage. "Hey guys, testing, testing." As soon as these words were spoken into the microphone the 2009 senior class broke out into cheers and whistles. "Okay, you guys having a good time!?" More cheers and whistles were his answer. Casey smiled as Ralph waved his hand to settle the crowd. "Well, you all probably know why this stage is here but in case you don't, do you remember that small rock band my friends and I started back in Junior year? Well, guess what: We got signed!"
After the third round of applause died down, he continued. "To celebrate we're performing for you tonight, as soon as we find . . .Derek."
No applause reached this response, instead curious whispers started floating around the room. Casey exchanged a confused look with Emily before Sam took the microphone from Ralph to continue. "Don't worry everyone, it'll just be a slight delay before the concert starts so continue dancing and have fun! We'll get back to you shortly."
"What was that all about?" Emily asked as Sam and Ralph approached them. Ralph shook his head. "I think I should have told him that Casey was coming here . . ." Casey's eyes grew round. "You didn't tell him!?"
"Well, I didn't want him backing out of the gig last minute!" Ralph protested, sheepishly.
"So now what?" Sam asked; all eyes turned to Casey. After a silent argument she sighed a defeated sigh. "Okay fine! I'll go find him and talk to him."
"His car is still here so he should be some where in the apartment." Ralph informed her; she nodded, pleased that she didn't have to go out driving to find him.
"I can't believe it, I can't even enjoy a party without worrying about him!" Casey grumbled to herself searching the bedrooms. She had no luck down stairs at all and she decided if she couldn't find him anywhere up here then it was hopeless. At least there were only two bedrooms in this apartment and since he wasn't in Ralph's bedroom . . .
"There you are!"
Derek turned his head at the sound of his ex-girlfriend's voice. He rolled his eyes and returned his look back to the ceiling. Casey shook her head at his immaturity. "Put aside whatever problems you have with me and go downstairs and help your best friend!" She demanded, pointing towards the stairs in hope it would create some type of effect. Derek ignored her and turned on his side on the guest bed.
"Derek, come on. If D-Rock doesn't play then there was no point of me coming here . . ."Casey said, with a whiny tone in her voice. She took a desk chair and sat down in it. Derek snorted. "I don't see why you came here in the first place."
"Because unlike you, I'm there when my friends need me!"
"Yeah, whatever McDonald. Just leave me alone and tell Ralph to call off the concert."
"No!" Casey declared. "I'm sick of you getting your way all the time! If you don't go downstairs I will forcefully drag you down there!"
He turned to face her, raising his eyebrow at the empty threat. "You wouldn't dare."
"Watch me."
"You can't even pick me up!"
"Who says I need to pick you up in order to drag you!?"
"You're too weak!"
"And you're pathetic!"
After catching their breath from the rapid insults, Casey sighed. "Look, just come down, okay?"
"Forget it." Derek said firmly. He didn't want to deal with this, not now at least.
"Derek, if I tell you, if I tell you what happened, will you come downstairs?"
The deal seemed promising, but Derek didn't want to show interest in it right away. "What if I don't care about that anymore?"
"You do!" Casey protested. "I know you do! I know you do because I still do!"
She was right. That whole dramatic fiasco that happened three years ago still haunted him. The very thought left him curious; he wanted the answers.
"Okay, Case. Tell me why."
"Why, what?"
"Tell me why you ended our relationship and then the next thing that happens, I see you making out with Noel."
"Derek, I, you've got to understand." Casey began, trying to keep her voice from shaking. "It's not what you've been thinking, I never cheated on you."
"Then why did you break up with me!?" She gulped as Derek sat up from his prior position on the bed; his features were angry, his eyes were burning into her own.
She took a gulp of air, steadying her nerves, before continuing. "Noel and I had been so into the spring musical, he had developed feelings for me. He told me a few days before opening night that he wanted me to be his girl. I turned him down. A month after Christmas, he called me, wanting to get in touch. We met up in New York, he was attending NYU. It's easier for me to travel to NYC than Canada so I thought why not. After lunch, he said he could be a much better boyfriend to me than you ever could-" Casey winced, noticing the threatening look on Derek's face. "-But I told him no, I told him I was in love with you. I thought that was the end of it, well until . . ."
"Until what?" Derek pressed as Casey's story trailed off. She blinked as if suddenly realizing where she was and continued. "He told me he wasn't going to give up on me. That day you came down to visit me, he manipulated my thoughts turning me against you, saying things like you're never there when I need you, long distance relationships don't work out and he's probably cheating on you right now. I tried to ignore him but I couldn't so when I confronted you and you were telling me about how you and Sally became friends again I snapped." She paused for a breath; Derek nodded for her to go on. "I broke up with you that day because of my own insecurities, not because of the way our relationship was. You honestly didn't have anything to do with it like I thought you did back then. After you left back for Ontario Noel called. He came over to "comfort me" and when I told him no for the third time, he kissed me. So, we started going out for a little while before I realized that the break up between you and I was all his fault and that I love you, Derek." She sighed and looked down at the floor. "I still love you, but I know I hurt you so I don't know if you'd forgive me. . ."
"I loved you Case. Do you have any idea how hurt I was when I tried to make everything right between us that last time I came down and I found you and him together?"
"I'm sorry," Casey tried, feeling a tear roll down her cheek. "I never meant to hurt you . . ."
"No, I know you didn't." Derek muttered, sitting up from the bed. He looked over at her. "So, what now?"
Casey blinked, wiping her tears. "Well, I just told you. Now you have to keep your end of the deal and go downstairs."
"I meant, what about us?" Derek informed her, standing up so he was right in front of her. Casey averted her eyes away from his. "I still love you, but I know you don't feel the same way anymore . . ."
"If you promise not to break up with me again, will you still take me?"
Casey wasn't sure she heard right at first. She looked back towards Derek knowing his words were completely sincere. "I thought you didn't love me." she whispered, as she realized that Derek had rested his forehead on her own, weaving his hand through her long hair.
"I could never stop loving you, Casey." And then, he pulled her into the passionate kiss he had been longing for all these years. The kiss lasted several long minutes; Casey's arms had found their way around Derek's neck while Derek's made their way towards her waist, pulling her even closer if it were possible. They were both slightly breathless when the kiss ended, and as Casey looked into her boyfriend's eyes she finally realized what it meant when people said that you never knew how much you truly needed someone, until you truly missed them, until they were gone. Fo when they made their way downstairs, (Casey was invited to sing with D-Rock like old times) she declared that she would never let him out of her life ever again.
-Fin-
A/N: Like I said earlier, I'm really pleased with the way this turned out. I absolutely adore the song this one-shot was based off of. Check it out on you tube if you don't already have it! Here's the prompt: Dasey. Include a Gilmore Girls reference, Thin Mint girl scout cookies, a history book, Ralph hitting on Emily, and Derek falling flat on his face.
Thanks for reading everyone, until next time!
"Never let go of the one you truly love"