First for those of you waiting for an update for The Reunion, it's still a work in progress. However, I thought of this idea when I was at work today and decided to write it before it was gone. I've seen a lot of Dasey stories in which they are adults and Casey helps Derek get back on his feet but not too much of the reverse. I thought it would be interesting if the roles of Derek and Casey swap in which Derek is the successful, hard-worker, while Casey is the slacker and Derek has to pick Casey up. Enjoy this one-shot...
Derek and Casey are now 30 and have led very different and surprising lives. First, Derek became a big-time lawyer. He followed his father's footsteps in slacking up to high school and working his butt off once college came around. Derek always liked to argue, smooth-talk, and had a real good insight of people, so being a lawyer came natural to him.
Casey on the other hand was never the same since the incident. She got into an Ivy League university and was beginning her sophomore year. However, when she found her boyfriend cheating on her she snapped; she became infuriated, more so than all of Derek's antics put together. She attacked them with a thick stick, broken off from a nearby tree. Luckily no one was seriously injured as she was pinned to the ground quickly; she was also lucky that charges weren't pressed. She, however, was expelled and was left with thousands of dollars of debt with no degree. She had no money, no job, and seemingly no future. She moved back in with her family and worked dead-end jobs for a few years. In that time, she grew to be very apathetic about everything in life. After a while she lost any desire to go back to school or to move out of her parent's home. It soon got so bad that she didn't have the desire to go to work. She got fired and some after got kicked out.
She went around from place to place for the next couple years, but always ended up back on the street. First, it was Lizzie, then Edwin, and then Emily; until finally the only person left was the step-brother she hadn't seen since her twenty-first birthday. They saw each other occasionally after Casey's expulsion, but after a while Casey always found herself somewhere else when Derek came to visit his parents. She really had no interest to contact Derek at first because she felt that she deserved all his success and that he should have been the one looking for a place to stay. She decided, however, to swallow her pride and knock on Derek's door.
"Casey is that you? I haven't seen you in years. What are you doing here?" asked Derek.
"Well, I got sick of flipping burgers and stocking shelves so I quit my jobs and refused to get another one. Then mom and George kicked me out. I stayed with Lizzie for a while but she followed our parent's example and kicked me out too. Then I stayed with Ed, and Marti, and Emily, but the end result was the same. So now I'm here, can I stay with you?" asked Casey.
"Why should I? You've been avoiding me for the past 8-9 years. Don't think I haven't noticed. You were always away when I visited our parents, you never returned my calls, and never wrote back to me. I know things have been rough but you pushed me out of your life, until I'm the only one left on your help-me list" answered Derek.
"Yeah but Derek I have no where else to go. Everyone that I know has kicked me out. Derek, I'm desperate" said Casey.
"Fine, but this is only temporary. I don't want Derek jr. to pick up your bad habits" said Derek.
"Wait a minute Derek, you have a son. When did that happen?" asked Casey.
"About 6 years ago. I just got recently divorced though. My ex-wife is now in America pursuing a doctorate degree" said Derek.
"Oh, I'm sorry about that. But don't worry, I won't cause any trouble; you'll barely notice I'm here" said Casey.
"Fine, but here are the rules. No corrupting Derek jr. with your habits. Two, you're going to earn your keep as long as you're here. I have a secretary job open. It's better than flipping burgers. Third, keep your room clean and pick up after yourself" said Derek.
"That's pretty brave coming from the king-slob. Don't forget that lived together before and I was the neat one and you were the slob. You were the slacker and you were the trouble maker" snapped Casey.
"That was over 10 years ago. I've changed, you've changed. I'm now the responsible one and you're the slob and slacker. Now do you want a place to sleep or not" asked Derek.
"Fine your highness! I will obey the king's rules" answered Casey.
The next week was hell for Derek and that's putting it mildly. Casey showed up to work once. Her room resembled Derek's when he was a teenager and she was rude to Derek. She only showed a soft side when dealing with Derek jr. She loved playing games with him. In fact, she treated him like Derek sr. used to treat Marti.
After that week, Derek had had enough and decided to have a talk with his step-sister.
"Casey, you're not doing anything I asked. Your room is a toxic dump, you spend the whole day on the couch when you should be at work, and you fight me over everything" said Derek.
"So? We used to fight all the time. Never bothered you before" answered Casey.
"We were teenagers back than Casey. That was an eternity ago. Remember how you used to always tell me to grow up? Well I did. And the once mature Casey is now acting like an immature child" snapped Derek.
"Fine just kick me out. Abondon me! Everyone else did" said Casey.
"Wait a minute. You're still my step-sister. I'll give you one more shot but I can't put up with much more" said Derek.
"Easy for you to say, Mr. Successful Lawyer. You grew up to be the best lawyer in Canada and I grew up to be a loser. It wasn't my fault, it was my no good ex-boyfriend's fault" said Casey.
"Casey the incident happened when we were 19. We're 30 now! Grow up! It's not too late to get your life back, the life you were destined before it happened" said Derek
"I can't. I just can't turn back the clocks. What's done is done" said Casey.
"No! You're just using the incident as an excuse to be a slacker and not have a purpose in life. It's over, move on. I miss the Casey that was an overachieving, grade-grubbing, klutzilla! That was the girl I lov…" said Derek as he trailed off hoping she didn't catch that last half-statement.
"Derek, were you about to say loved. You loved me? As what? A friend? A sister? More?" asked Casey.
"I was in love with you before Casey. You were so different from every girl I had ever met before. You were totally different from me, but at the same time complemented me. My weaknesses were your strengths and my strengths were your weaknesses" said Derek.
"Wow, why didn't you ever say so before?" asked Casey.
"The truth is… I was going to tell you, but I chickened out. I was afraid of what people would think but mostly what you would think" answered Derek.
"I love you too Derek" said Casey. "I think I always did. But I was afraid too so I kept it inside and denied it until I was no longer aware of it. So what should we do now? Should we go out on a date?" asked Casey.
"Wait Casey. I said that I loved you not I love you. You are no longer the girl I thought about all night. You've changed for the worse. I'm sorry Casey, but you're just my step-sister now, if that" answered Derek.
Casey's heart just shattered, worse than it shattered during the incident. She couldn't believe it. This pain, though, made her realize that she needed to get her life back on track. She thought to herself that if she brings back old responsible, goody-goody, over-achieving Casey that had been gone for so long, that Derek may love her again.
Over the next few weeks, Casey forced herself to work, to clean her room, to be nice to Derek. It killed her inside to break the habits that developed, but she knew it was necessary. The only thing that didn't change was her relationship with Derek jr. It was the only thing that Derek approved of, the only thing that old Casey would have approved of.
Derek took notice, but was skeptical. He thought that she was only doing this so he would fall in love with her again, take her as his girlfriend, and then she would go back to her slacker ways. It's something Derek would have done when he was younger.
Wow how the roles have reversed thought Derek to himself.
Casey could tell that Derek still didn't trust her. She understood why. Nearly 11 years of childish behavior isn't conquered in a few weeks. But she hoped Derek knew that she, for the first time since the incident, was trying. She had to prove it to him somehow.
Her opportunity came when Derek asked his staff for a volunteer to be his personal assistant for the upcoming case. It was the biggest, most important case of his career.
Casey immediately volunteered. Derek thought it was a bad idea; after all, her track record for the past decade spoke for itself. But at the same time, he knew Casey needed this. She needed to do something meaningful to bring back the real Casey and to prove to her that she wasn't a loser. So Derek rolled the dice and accepted Casey's offer.
Her task was long and tiring: she had to get all the witnesses together and scheduled them all in to meet with Derek. She had to review all the documents before they were sent up to Derek, she had to get the scoop on all the evidence. She also did research, reviewed Derek's opening statement and questions for witnesses.
The result was an overwhelming victory for Derek and his client. After the celebration at Smelly Nelly's, Derek and Casey went home. When they got there Derek had another talk with Casey.
"Hey Case, you really surprised me. You really pulled through for me, just like when we were teens" said Derek.
"Thanks Derek. Thanks for everything, the job, the home, the opportunity. You saw through slacker Casey and found the real Casey, the Casey I thought was dead. Thanks for not giving up on me" said Casey.
"No problem Space Case. I knew the right task would bring the real you out" said Derek.
"Hey you called me Space Case. You haven't called me that since high school" said Casey.
"Casey, I've been thinking…" said Derek.
"You never said that in high school" Casey said as she smirked.
"Funny. Anyway, I was thinking about that conversation we had a while back ago, about a week after you first moved in. Did you mean it when you said you loved me?" asked Derek.
"Of course Derek. It doesn't matter whether I'm slacker Casey or overachieving Casey. I still love you the same" said Casey.
"So… do you still want that date?" asked Derek.
"I thought you'd never ask" said Casey as she went in to kiss Derek. Their lips touched and Casey felt the pain of the incident and the apathy of slacker Casey die instantly. The real Casey was back completely and she was completely at peace with herself for the first time in a long time.
"Eww… dad you're kissing Aunt Casey" said Derek jr. giggling.
"Better watch it son… Aunt Casey might be your step mom soon" said Derek.
"Really! You mean that you, me, and Aunt Casey would be a family like the ones I see on tv?" asked Derek jr.
"Maybe son, stranger things have happened" said Derek.
"Like us" said Casey.
"Like us" agreed Derek.