Author's Note: Hello everyone, I'm back with another angst fanfic. Surprise, surprise. My next story will be happier… I promise.
This is a Flash Fic written for Mac-alicious. I hope you like it. It is also my first oneshot so if it's horrible, you know why. I think I rewrote this about 7 times and it still doesn't seem to flow…oh well.
The Flash Fic form said to include some kind of pictures/pictures being taken and I had total freedom for the rest. If some of you have read my stories before, you must know by now that I love song lyrics and I love incorporating them into my writing. So when I read the word 'picture', the lyrics of the song "Pictures Of You" by The Cure popped into my head. I began to write while listening to the song and didn't stop for an hour…this was the result.
Disclaimer: I do not own the song "Pictures Of You" by The Cure or Life With Derek.
-The writing in bold are lyrics and the writing in italics are memories.
-The story switches back and forth between the past and present so it may become confusing. If anyone is confused, feel free to PM me ;)
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The wind blew in through Casey's window shaking her thin curtains violently and filling her room with ice-cold air. The breeze hit her face causing the warm tears in her eyes to overflow and quickly drip down her face. Looking at her album labeled '2007' on her bed, Casey placed her trembling fingers on a picture of Derek.
"I've been looking so long at these pictures of you
That I almost believe that they're real"
In the photograph, Derek was holding his hand out trying to block the camera. As Casey traced the outline of his face with her finger, the picture seemed to come to life reminding her of the day it was taken.
"I've been living so long with my pictures of you
That I almost believe that the pictures are
All I can feel"
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"Derek!" Casey yelled from where she was standing in the kitchen. "Stay still! I just need one picture!"
"Nope" Derek said while jumping onto his old chair and covering his face with his left hand.
"I'm doing a project on the 'life of my family' and you're unfortunately a part of it!" Casey explained as she made her way to the living room. "So act natural and I'll just take a picture of you being…well…yourself."
"Look, I don't do pictures, so why don't you go take your little camera elsewhere so I can watch this hockey game in peace."
"You don't do pictures?" Casey asked sarcastically.
"Nope." Derek said, concentrating on his hockey game through his fingers.
"Well, you know what?"
"What?" he asked, finally taking his hand off of his face.
"I. don't. care! I'm going to take a picture if you like it or not."
Casey then shoved the digital camera into Derek's face and pressed the 'capture' button making a bright flash appear nearly blinding him.
"Casey…" Derek warned
Casey ignored him and took more pictures as she ran backwards to the staircase.
"Give me that camera!" Derek demanded as he ran after her.
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Casey smiled at the memory and lifted a tissue up to her pale face to wipe her tears. Flipping the page in her album, she focused on the first picture on the left. It was an image of both her and Derek that Nora had taken before the prom. Casey and Derek stood side-by-side all dressed up in their outfits. His hand was on her waist and hers was on his shoulder. Both of them looked happy even through they were forced to smile for that picture.
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"Don't you look handsome?!" Nora exclaimed as spotted Derek on her way down the stairs.
"It's the Venturi charm…" Derek said coolly putting his hand through his hair and fixing his tux.
Nora chuckled and picked up the camera from the kitchen. When she came back, Casey was coming down the stairs looking absolutely stunning in her pink halter dress. Her hair was up in a curly bun and her makeup made her face sparkle.
"Casey!" Nora said covering her mouth "Honey, you look beautiful!"
Casey blushed and then looked at Derek who was staring at her with large eyes.
"Ummm…is it too much?" Casey asked pointing at her makeup while standing on the last step of the staircase.
"No Case," Derek began "You look good…really."
Casey looked at Derek in shock. Usually he would tell her how "awful" she looked.
"uh, thanks Derek… What do you think mom?"
Nora wasn't beside Derek anymore "Mom?"
Casey turned around to find mother behind her in tears.
"Uh, Nora?" Derek gulped "Please don't…d-don't cry!"
Nora opened her arms and hugged Casey and Derek tightly.
"I'm sorry," She sniffed, "you both just look so grown up and-….Wait!…don't move! I have to take a picture before you leave!"
"Mom, Max is going to be here any minute!"
"And I still need to pick up Sandra" Derek added, "So can we just skip the whole picture thing?"
Nora wasn't listening. Turning on the camera, she pointed it at Derek and Casey.
"Come on you two, squish in together."
Derek and Casey gave up and took a big step towards each other.
"A little bit more…"
Derek put his hand on Casey's waist and she shuffled closer.
"1, 2, 3, Cheese!"
Both teenagers let out an unenthusiastic "cheese" as the bright flash of the camera went off.
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Casey analyzed the picture closely. She and Derek actually had a fun night at the prom this year… If only they could experience good times like that again.
Casey wished she could turn back time so she could see Derek once more or at least say goodbye. She would give anything to hear him play his guitar on the other side of her wall once again, but there was nothing she could do to bring him back. All of a sudden, the memory of what happened three days ago played like a movie in her head.
"Remembering
You fallen deep in my arms
Crying for the death of your heart"
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Casey stormed out of Sir John Sparrow Thompson High just as the lunch bell rang and began to angrily march off of the school grounds.
"Casey come back!" Derek screamed down the sidewalk, "I'm sorry okay?"
"No Derek!" Casey sobbed as she stopped walking and wiped the tears off her red face, "This time you went too far!"
The two teenagers were no longer moving; they stood meters apart on the sidewalk. Concentrating on Casey's hurt expression, a sharp pain of guilt ran through Derek.
"You made me look like a fool in front of everyone in the school Derek!" She yelled breaking the short silence.
Derek began to walk toward her feeling regretful for what he had done. He never thought that the outcome of a simple prank would be this bad.
"Casey, I truly am sorry!" he said as soon as he reached where she was standing.
"No…no you're not." Casey whispered bitterly into the wind as she began to cross the street.
Derek watched while she stepped onto the wet road and noticed a blue Honda civic headed her way. Casey was in the middle of the street now and it was obvious that she didn't see or hear the car.
"Casey!" Derek screamed.
He started to sprint toward her and just as he came close, everything went pitch black.
"You were stone white
So delicate
Lost in the cold
You were always so lost in the dark"
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Casey covered her face and fell back onto her bed. Clutching her pillow, she brought it close and placed it on top of her face. She then wept, breathing heavily as she remembered the rest of what happened that day.
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Slowly opening her eyes, Casey blinked a few times to clear her vision. She attempted to move but realized she was tied down. Looking around the unusual atmosphere, Casey noticed she was being moved in a stretcher. Her arms and legs were bruised and covered in scratches but yet she couldn't feel a thing. Her wounds reminded her of what happened… the fighting, the car and Derek running towards her.
"Derek?" she called out, suddenly panicking.
Where was he? Was he okay?
"I have to find my stepbrother" Casey told the paramedics in a scratchy voice as they entered the emergency ward, but nobody seemed to listen. The stretcher was pushed into a bright room where nurses and doctors quickly surrounded every side of her. Casey couldn't take this any longer she had to find Derek. Untying herself, she pushed through the crowd and got up. She didn't care that she felt light headed, she just began to run down the long white hallway. Strangely, nobody bothered to chase after her.
Running through the hospital, Casey peaked into every room she passed in hopes of finding Derek. At the end of the hallway, she found Nora and George instead, sitting side by side…both a total mess. Derek must have been in the room they were waiting outside of.
"Casey…" Nora whispered in between her sobs.
Casey sat down beside her mother and began to cry. "I know mom..."
"Everything's going to be okay," Nora said softly as she rocked nervously back and forth on the chair. She repeated it while she wept into her hands. It was almost like she was not only trying to reassure Casey but also herself.
"I hope so." Casey replied faintly. She then looked over at George. It looked like he was in shock; his face was expressionless and pale. One single tear ran down his cheek.
Suddenly, a doctor opened the door and entered the hallway taking George, Casey and Nora out of their trance. Casey's heart was beating so fast, she thought it was going to jump out of her chest. All three of them stood up and focused on the doctor, waiting for him to say something.
Taking off his mask, he shook his head side to side "I'm sorry, we've done everything we can."
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"Remembering
You how you used to be
Slow drowned
You were angels
So much more than everything"
Three days ago, those words had turned Casey's world upside down. She had run home in tears and stayed in her darker then usual room ever since. Inside, she felt like everything was her fault. If Derek didn't try to save her, he would have been alive today and she would've died instead.
Casey replayed the scenario again and again in her head. How could she not see the car? She thought about it so much that sometimes she would hear Derek's voice coming from around the house. She figured either the lack of sleep was finally getting to her or the traumatic experience had completely messed with her brain.
"Hold for the last time then slip away quietly
Open my eyes
But I never see anything"
Although Casey was in a horrible state, the rest of the family was a hundred times worse. She could hear them downstairs crying and yelling, but she never went down and said anything. What if they blamed her for what had happened? It seemed like they already did because nobody had spoken to her since the tragedy. Occasionally Nora, George, Lizzie or Edwin would pass by her door but wouldn't say anything. They would just stare blankly into her room and cry.
If it were up to Casey, she would never leave her room again but today she had to. Today was Derek's memorial. Wiping her face one last time on a Kleenex and putting Derek's picture in her pocket, Casey took a deep breath, came down the stairs and watched as Nora and George got ready.
"If only I'd thought of the right words
I could have held on to your heart"
Looking out of the car window, Casey watched houses go by one by one. Every corner of the neighborhood reminded her of Derek. Pulling out his picture from her pocket, tears once again streamed down her cheeks. All of the visions of Derek that currently flashed though her mind made the drive to the memorial seem like an eternity.
"If only I'd thought of the right words
I wouldn't be breaking apart
All my pictures of you."
Casey thought back to when she had first met the Venturi's. Back then it seemed like Derek only cared about himself, but as time passed Casey realized that wasn't true. Derek surprised her everyday during the two years they lived together. Deep down, he really was a good guy who cared about her, and that's why Casey loved him. She just never realized how much, until he was gone…and now, it was too late.
"Looking so long at these pictures of you
But I never hold on to your heart"
As they arrived, she got out of the car before Nora or George and started to walk into where the memorial was being held. A huge crowd all dressed in black was standing in the distance. The closer she got, the clearer the crowd became. Casey spotted Sam and Emily in tears, standing beside Edwin and Lizzie on the left side of the room. Sam had Marti in his arms, stroking her hair softly to comfort the little girl.
As Casey continued to look around the room, her heart stopped. On the other side of the crowd stood a gloomy Derek. He was staring at something in the middle of the room.
"Looking so long for the words to be true
But always just breaking apart
My pictures of you"
"Derek?" Casey whispered. She must have been hallucinating again. Casey closed her eyes and rubbed her temples. When she opened her eyes again, Derek was still standing there. Teardrops were starting to form in her eyes.
"There was nothing in the world
That I ever wanted more
Than to feel you deep in my heart"
As she slowly stepped closer, she was sure the person standing there was indeed Derek and not an illusion.
"There was nothing in the world
That I ever wanted more
Than to never feel the breaking apart"
"Derek?" she cried out between her sobs, but he didn't seem to hear her. Beginning to push through the crowd, Casey yelled out his name again, this time making sure she was louder. He still didn't hear her.
She was standing right beside him now looking up at his face through her tears. 'It really was Derek. How could this be?'
Casey reached out her quivering hand to touch him…the closer her hand got to his body the louder her heart beat became….right before her hand met the fabric of his jacket, Derek mumbled something gently.
"If only I'd gotten there in time, I could've saved her…" he said softly, his brown eyes still focused.
A confused Casey followed his line of vision to where he was looking. She then covered her mouth in shock. A cold feeling washed over Casey's face leaving her body numb.
She finally realized what Derek's eyes were focused on. "No…" she whispered as teardrops continued to flow rapidly down her face. What he was staring into was a casket at the front of the room, which held her very own dead body inside.
"Of all my pictures of you"
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