Title: Present Day Happiness
Author: Katie
Story Summary: The story of Casey and Derek, told through flashbacks.
Ratings: PG 13, tilts towards R in final chapters
Spoilers: Full series
Pairing: Casey and Derek (Dasey)
Authors Note: So I wrote this as a one shot but it was way to long to post as such so I broke it up but it can defiantly still be read as a one shot. I will update regularly until all the chapters are up (the whole this is written so any time between updates is just me doing a final proof read).
This is my first time writing a LWD fic and this is a new style for me, so please be kind.
I have not seen every episode so if something isn't accurate please let me know.
Unbeta'ed so al mistakes are mine.
Distribution: Please! Just let me know.
Feedback: I worked quite hard on this, so please review!
Disclaimer: I own nothing, disclaimer applies to all chapters.
-- Present Day --
She walks into the apartment; her key won't quite turn so she has to pull at the door while she pushes the key (of course he gave her a key that sticks – she suspects that he might have added gum or adhesive himself before handing the key over). He usually forgets to lock the door anyway, so she's a little surprised that she has to go through this. She finally gets the door open and tells herself for the thousandth time that she's going to get a new key (she always forgets).
She drops her jacket over a chair in the common room and lets her backpack and purse fall to the floor with a soft thump. She rubs her cheeks with the heels of her hands and takes a few deep breaths. She glances in the reflective surface of the microwave (he broke the mirror in this room a few days ago and she hasn't had the time to pick up a new one yet). She looks okay (ish) so she wipes the back of her hand against her eyes and squares her shoulders before walking into his room.
She stops in the doorway and leans against the frame. He's sitting on the bed, facing away from the door with huge headphones sitting awkwardly on his ears. His guitar is balanced precariously on his lap and he alternates between strumming the instrument and pulling a pen from his teeth jotting things in the open notebook sitting next to him, before placing the pen back and repeating. She smiles a little before easing his door closed behind herself and walking forward.
He's so absorbed in what he's doing that he hasn't noticed her yet. She watches him for another moment before slowly walking to the bed. She sits down and he feels the bed dip so he turns to smile at her. She crawls over to where he's sitting (facing the sheet music taped to his wall).
He glances back at her at the feeling of the bed dipping then pulls his head phones off his ears when she crawls over to sit next to him. She doesn't speak for a long moment; he places his headphones, guitar, notebook, and pen on the floor next to his bed, "What's wrong, Case?" He finally asks, his voice barley above a whisper, turning to face her fully.
Even after all this time she's still a little shocked that he knows her this well. She shouldn't be, she knows that. She smiles a little, sadly and doesn't say anything, just drops her head to his shoulder and shakes her head just barley, just once.
It's such a Casey thing to do and after everything he occasionally still gets surprised that he's who she goes to. He doesn't know what's wrong with her, but he knows something's up. She's tried hard to cover it up; tear tracks carefully wiped away, hair in loose waves around her face, he's not sure how but he knows something's up just like he knows she's not ready to talk about it. He wraps his arm around her shoulders and presses a kiss to the top of her head.
-- One Year Ten Months Nineteen Days Ago --
They've been at school for less than a week, but she's all ready homesick. She doesn't really get along with her roommate (a pretty blonde girl from the States that she's sure Derek will eventually date) but she's not okay with that so every time she sees Amber she smiles and says hello.
Classes don't even start for another couple of weeks, she's all ready bought all her books and (she'll never admit it but) she's thinking of going home. She physically shakes the thought out of her head – she'd have to ask Derek for the Prince and he'd never let her live down being home sick this early in the game (even though the night before when she talked to Lizzie on the telephone they'd heard Marti saying goodnight to Smrek on the other phone).
She actually hadn't talked to Derek since the day before they left for Queens. She knew that he and Emily hand broken up (friendly– neither wanted to do the whole long distance thing) and she tried to call him the night Emily told her, but he didn't answer; probably screening his calls.
The day before they left for school her and Derek decided not to tell people they were step-siblings ('I do not need Klutzilla interfering with my rep in college too' were Derek's exact words). The next morning, her, Lizzie and Mom had loaded all her belongings and driven to Queens in the new (er) car. They helped her unload all her things before driving the short distance to Derek's apartment to pick up George, Edwin, and Marti who'd ridden down with Derek in the Prince and driving back to London.
-- One Year Nine Months Seventeen Days Ago --
Derek's pretty sure he's never been this nervous. Yeah, he sometimes (always) freaks out a little (lot) before a hockey game, but this is so much more than that. He knows that his scholarship (future) depends on the next few hours and he tries to focus on the coach and not the fear as that thought floats through his mind. He knows that these try outs should be a breeze, but if he can't make the cut then they'll yank his scholarship and he can't ask his dad and Nora to pay for more of his education (he and Casey both got scholarships – his athletic and hers academic – but neither are full scholarships) especially not now. He pushes thoughts of the new baby out of his head because for some reason it really freaks him out to think about.
Everyone skates out and Derek takes a deep breath and lets instinct take over when his blade hit ice. There are few people in the stands; friends and girlfriends of hockey team hopefuls and few random parents who clearly don't understand that college means letting go. Derek doesn't pay much attention – he's stressed enough as it is and maybe it's (defiantly) lame but he sort of wishes he could look out and see Marti cheering for him.
The group comes together around the coach and Derek grips his hockey stick tight so his hands won't shake. The coach gives them the play and as he's skating out to position when his eyes catch Casey's from the top of the bleachers (he's so surprised that he all most trips) but after the initial shock wears off he feels himself relax.
He makes the team, and lets Casey take him out for lunch the next Saturday after the first official practice.
-- Present Day.--
Derek runs his hand up and down her spine lightly a few times and looks at her out of the corner of his eye before sighing softly and moving so he's laying on his back with his arm around Casey who he's pulled with him so she's now lying next to him with her head on his chest (she settles easily next to him – he'd moved like this because he knows she likes to lay like this).
His splayed fingers play through her hair and when he hears her sniffle and feels her shake a little he kisses the top of her head, "Its okay, Case. It'll be okay." his voice is barley above a whisper but apparently it breaks something in her because the floodgates open and he feels her tears soak onto his chest through his shirt in a matter of seconds. It causes him actual, physical pain that she's this upset, this sad, but he doesn't know what to do so he tightens his arms around her and rubs her back and runs his fingers through her hair and whispers nonsensical and (he hopes) soothing things in her ear, dropping an occasional kiss to the top of her head.
In the beginning of their relationship (or whatever this is) he'd tried to play by the normal rules – no tears, no commitments, nothing serious over a month, etcetera. But she knows him way to well for that, and had years of practice on calling him on his shit so that hadn't lasted all that long.
-- One Year Eight Months Seventeen Days Ago --
Casey had just spent a little over two hours getting ready (she didn't like the idea that she was one of those girls but she justified it with the fact that her boyfriend was coming to visit her in college for the very first time). She glanced at herself in the mirror – make up perfect, hair straight, she smiles at her reflection, tugs at her skirt a little and says a smiley "See you later" to her roommate (Amber rolls her eyes and throws a hostile "whatever" back, but Casey doesn't even notice).
Casey's sitting at a booth in the restaurant for ten minutes before she sends Truman a text message (hey – all most here?). Another ten minutes pass with nothing and she starts making excuses for him; maybe he got lost, or traffic is bad, and it's not responsible to text and drive. She when the waitress gives her a sympathetic look she just orders a diet coke and tries not to stare at the clock on the wall.
Another twenty minutes pass and she calls him. It rings four times before his voice mail picks up (Hey Truman, it's me. Did I screw up the times or something? Call me back.)
One hour and twenty-seven minutes pass (not that she been obsessively watching the seconds tick by on her cell phone or anything) when her phone beeps twice – notifying her of a text message. She jumps a little before she picks it up because she's been staring at it so long she'd kind of forgotten it made noise. (4got we had plans. Sry long distance isn't gonna work 4 me. By Case) She doesn't even know how to respond to that, so she doesn't. She drops her phone into her bag and throws some cash on the table for her soda (and a little extra because her waitress didn't make fun of her once – even when it was probably obvious to everyone but her that she was being stood up) and walks out.
She walks outside and the cool air hits her face and she can feel tears pricking at her eyes. It's only at that moment that she realizes she has no where to go. It's not like she can go home and ask her mom and Lizzie to make her feel better. And even though she was sure she'd go off to college and have a fantastic sister like relationship with her roommate, that just hadn't panned out and she did not want to go back to the dorm and listen to Amber tell her that it was stupid to think her high school boyfriend would still want her.
She walks to the fountain in the center of the shopping center about half a block away and sits on one of the benches, far enough away that she won't be bothered. When it starts to rain lightly, she doesn't even look up, because yeah…of course that's how this day ends.
Derek is walking his date, Alissa, back to her dorm building when he sees a girl sitting at a bench on the opposite side of the fountain. He has to do a double take because it's raining and she's kind of far away but he knows without really even having to think about it that it's Casey (he lived with her for far to long, clearly, he's lucky they moved out when they did).
He goes back and forth about what to do internally while Alissa talks about her English Lit class. He finally decides that if he left Casey out here all night to catch pneumonia, Nora would probably be pissed.
He turns to face Alissa, "I am so sorry but…" he starts and explains that he totally forgot something and has to take care of it. He lies like it's breathing so she believes him. He hails a cab and holds the umbrella over her while she steps in, he gives to her for her walk to the building from the car pool and she smiles nervously before kissing his cheek and she blushes when he gives the taxi driver money for her fare.
He watches the taxi fade before he walks over to Casey. He sits down, silent for a moment and she doesn't even react to him. She must have been out here for a while because she is soaked. "I know this is probably normal behavior where you're from, but here on Earth we take cover when it rains". (always open with a joke).
He knows something is really wrong when she doesn't respond, just nods her head a little and stares straight ahead. "Spacey -" he starts but she cuts him off.
"I think I'm an idiot" she says and when he just looks at her (too easy) she pulls her cell phone out of her bag, pulls up a text and hand it to him.
He holds his hand over the phone to protect it from the increasing rain and reads Truman's text. At that moment he'd like nothing more than to hit Truman. "He's the idiot, case" he says handing her phone back to her. She takes it and drops it back in her bag, but says nothing.
"You should get back to the dorms" he says as he stands. She just shakes her head. He rolls his eyes, "you've got to get out of the rain, Case…" she shrugs, "just come to the apartment then." She finally looks up at him, surprise and skepticism etched into her features. "You can sleep on the couch…I think Andy's staying at his girlfriend's tonight anyway"
She finally stands and starts to walk with him. She tries to pull her skirt down a little and her shirt up (she won't be that girl, not ever again). They're about half way to Derek's apartment when he wordlessly takes off his leather jacket and drapes it over her shoulders (they're both all ready drenched, but for some reason it makes her feel a lot better).
-- One Year Eight Months Eight Days Ago --
Derek's in the building and down the hall when he realizes that Casey's dorm is the only one left in this hallway. He wonders if some one is playing a joke on him and he pulls the torn off piece of notebook paper from his pocket and looks at the address scrawled on it. It's then that he realizes that Amber must be Casey's roommate Amber.
He rolls his eyes at himself a little. He hadn't really seen much of Casey (outside of the algebra class they share) since her break up with Truman. She'd brought his jacket to algebra the next day (after wearing it home before he woke up in the morning) and asked him not to talk about it. He had nodded and three days a week they sit at their desks (hers in front of his – and he's only pulled her hair a few times) and don't talk about it about (as loudly as you can).
He walks to the door and shakes himself out of his thoughts before knocking. Amber swings the door open (she's pretty, blonde and in a short skirt. They met in the cafeteria so he doesn't know much about her) and while she's talking and grabbing her jacket and impossibly tiny purse he catches sight of Casey. She's in the corner of the room, legs tucked under her, an algebra book he recognizes balanced on her lap (and that's weird, because he's sure they didn't have home work and nothing was said about tests or quizzes Monday) she doesn't even look up and he wonders idly if she knows he's there.
Amber stops talking and Derek's not sure what she said but he's great at this so winging it is a non-issue. He slides his arm around her shoulders and leads her out.
When he walks Amber home after dinner, she's talking and he's understanding why she doesn't like Casey. Amber is like the anti-Casey and that sort of appeals to him (except she's just moved to Queens from Ohio and she giggles at the way he says 'about' and she's hot, but that's going to get annoying).
When they get to her door she opens it and invites him inside. He tells her he has hockey practice in the morning (which is true, but also dosen't want to do anything with Casey a few yards away) and should get home. As he's saying this he sees Casey in the same chair she was in when he picked Amber up. Her legs are still tucked under her and her book is still balanced on her lap, but now her eyes are closed and her head is leaned back awkwardly against the chair. He's torn between wanting to move her (her legs and going to hurt tomorrow and her neck will be stiff) and wanting to pour freezing cold ice water over her (it is Casey, and the shriek would be hilarious). But in this world (college) they hardly even know each other, so he does neither. Instead, he kisses Amber lightly about says something non-committal about hanging out again soon before walking back to his apartment.
-- One Year Eight Months Two Days Ago --
They get paired together for a project in algebra (they have no idea why the universe keeps doing this to them). The professor puts the list up after class and they both check it twice before making plans to meet up and work out the equations.
She knocks on his apartment door (she's still a little bitter Derek got a two bedroom apartment and a roommate while she shares a eight by ten cell with a girl who hates her, but her scholarship included housing in the dorms and his didn't and an apartment was less expensive than the dorms) and hears two voices from inside; "It's open"
"You shouldn't leave you door unlocked, it's dangerous" she snaps as Derek by way of greeting (he just rolls his eyes and dramatically locks it behind her). "Hey, Andy" She smiles at Derek's roommate.
"Hey Case" he kisses her cheek, "I'm heading out" he says looking around for his keys.
"I hope I'm not kicking you out" she says placing her backpack on the table which wavers a little under its weight.
"Plans with Jennifer" he answers with a smile and Derek makes some crack about how much time Andy spend with his girlfriend and Andy returns with a joke about how Derek doesn't have one.
"Later Case" he smiles, "Derek" Andy flips him the bird as he's walking out (and of course Derek gets along famously with his roommate).
"Shall we?" Derek asks, grabbing his algebra book and notebook off the table and falling back onto the couch. She rolls her eyes but grabs her book bag and sits on the opposite end of the couch and tells him the plan she's made for getting this done (she'd made a list of how to best accomplish the tasks but he'd crumpled that up and thrown it the second it left her backpack).
Twenty minutes later Derek's up and going through everything he owns looking for his cell phone. It's driving her crazy, "Der-rek, could you please take this seriously?!"
"Oh, it's very serious. I'm starving and I can't find my phone" he doesn't even look up when he says it so she goes back to work and kicks his phone under the couch (he doesn't find it for another fifteen minutes when it rings).
A few minutes after that Derek walks back from his room (after ordering pizza) and sees Casey still bent over her book, working in the living room (his mind flashes back to seeing her when he dropped Amber off and he smiles a little). He can tell she's struggling with the problem she's (their) on so he sits next to her and looks over her shoulder at the equation. He sees the issue immediately - one of the variables has been solved incorrectly – so he pulls the pencil out of her hand, ignoring her protests, and changes the variable. After that the solution is obvious.
She turns to look at him (he's a lot closer than she thought), "How did you do that?" she breaths out (it's not that he's better than her at math, he's not better than her at anything).
He shrugs, "fresh eyes I guess" he answers voice oddly low. They're closer than they maybe should be and when he reaches out to tuck a lock of hair behind her ear he's pretty sure he's not even in control, (he swears he feels) Casey's leaning into the touch and for some reason he can't quite breath.
The sound of the doorbell is deafening and they jump apart. He runs a hand through his hair as he stands and walks over to the door. When he pulls out his wallet he turns so Casey can't see his shaking hands.
He sets the pizza box down on the couch next to Casey and walks to the kitchen, pulling two sodas out of the refrigerator.
Casey flips open the pizza box and smiles, half meat lovers (Derek) and half veggie (defiantly her). She jumps when something cold hits her shoulder and Derek's laughing at her as she pulls the soda from his hand.
This was okay. They could just pretend that whatever just happened between them didn't (because, really, nothing did) and they could go back to life. Everything could back to normal, and things would be…fine.
-- Present Day –
Her breathing slows down, and her tears start to dry and she rubs her eyes until it starts to hurt. Then, she feels Derek's fingers lightly circle her wrist, "Case" her name is a sigh and she nods a little.
After a few moments, she shifts so she's on her stomach, propped up with a hand on Derek's opposite side and her other hand resting lightly on his closer shoulder, her hip resting against his. She slowly opens her eyes to look into his and similes a little when both his hands come up and tuck her hair behind her ears then lightly rest on her cheeks. "I love you" she whispers her voice breaking a little as it rids its self of left-over tears.
His thumbs move in a slow back and forth rhythm over her cheeks and he smiles softly, "I love you too, Case" he whispers.
She smiles before leaning down to kiss him, She giggles lightly when her hair falls from behind her ears and around their faces. Derek pulls his hand through her hair and when she pulls away from the kiss he trail his thumb lightly under her red-rimmed eyes.
She turns her head slightly and kisses him palm, "thanks…" she mumbles into his hand and when his eyebrows crease together in confusion she adds "for letting me cry"
He opens his mouth to say something but instead just nods. "Do you want to talk about it?" he asks and when she shakes her head and a stray tear falls he runs the back of his finger across her cheek to pull it away.
-- One Year Seven Months Fourteen Days Ago --
Derek hits the puck and it flies into the net and everyone cheers. She claps, even though she (still) doesn't totally understand hockey.
She's been to every one of his games since they arrived at Queens. If they're fighting she slips in the back and sits by the door so she can run out as soon as the games over. And if things are (relatively) docile she sits in the front (sometimes Andy comes and tries to explain the game to her) and occasionally Derek invites her out to eat with the team after (it's always chaotic and fun and Derek tells her random stories about his team mates between bites).
-- One Year Six Months Twenty Nine Days Ago --
It's been a long day; Casey and Derek have been helping Andy pack boxes. He's decided to move in with his girlfriend, Jennifer next term. They've got a new apartment (more centered between school and where Jennifer works) so Derek's been left with this one without even having to fight for it. He knows he'll have to get a roommate (he won't ask George and Nora to pay the full rent on the apartment even if life without a roommate would seriously rock).
After six hours, several trips between Derek's apartment and (what's now) Andy and Jennifer's, and a toast Casey and Derek are headed back to Derek's apartment having told Andy to enjoy his new place, they could finish cleaning up.
They walk in and there is stuff everywhere, but at the same time it's a little empty (the coffee table, lamp, chair and kitchen table were all Andy's and went with him, along with some of the kitchen appliance and obviously everything from his room). There is, however, bubble wrap and packing peanuts littering the room in place of the belongings that have been taken.
They spend a couple of hours cleaning before they decide it looks good (enough) and when Derek comes back from dropping the bags of trash in the dumpsters Casey's sitting in his chair (the only thing left in the common room other than the couch) looking at papers.
He doesn't say anything but when he walks in she rolls her eyes and starts to get up anyway, he puts his hand out in a stay there gesture and she looks surprised but she sits back down and Derek throws himself on the couch (dad and Nora gave him the couch from the house and bought a new one when he moved into the apartment).
"What are you doing?" he asks moving into a sitting position. Finals are over, there aren't many people left on campus, even they'll be leaving for break tomorrow, they only stayed to help Andy.
She holds up the paper so he can see and it's the course selection form everyone is supposed to fill out for next term and turn into the office before they leave for break. He nods and stands to try to find his, he finally finds it and turns his search into one for a pen. He can't find one so he finally goes over to his chair and gestures for Casey to move (she rolls her eyes and sits on the couch) he pulls the cushion up and pulls out a pen and three quarters.
"There are probably things living in there" Casey mumbles and blushes a little when Derek holds up her pro/con lists for all the courses she's considering for next term.
"Seriously?" he asks handing the papers to her and flopping onto the couch next to her.
"I want to make the right decisions" she says.
"So, what are you taking next term?" he asks looking at her blank course selection form.
She takes a long beat before she answers, "I don't know" she takes a deep breath "you?"
He shrugs. Honestly, he hadn't really planned on filling his out. He figured he could just take whatever classes they put him in. "Whatever" he says.
"You have to plan for your future, Derek…" she starts but she knows better than to lecture him, but she can't help it. "Here" she picks up his form from the couch and puts it in his lap "You should take pre-calculus, it's the next step from algebra and you're good at math and you should take a history class, you didn't take any this term"
He rolls his eyes, he sucks at history; it's a lot of remembering dates about crap he doesn't care about but he knows Casey loves the subject. He does like math though so he places an x in the box next to pre-calculus, "You should take that too, and get your math out of the way, since you suck at it and all" She looks really upset at that so he sighs a little, "we should both take history and pre-calc that way one of us is good at both of them" he says and ends the statement by marking an x by history 114.
She doesn't say anything but she does mark both subjects with a small x and they both request the same time slot for the classes. They pick the reminder of their classes separately and Casey takes both of their request forms, "I'll drop them off on my way back to the dorms."
Derek nods before noticing the time, "You can take the Prince back to the dorm, and just bring it back tomorrow and we'll leave for home then" he says.
"I can walk, it's fine" she answers.
"You can barley walk in daylight, Klutzilla, and its dark now" he answers, looking for his keys. He walks back towards his room and passes in front of what used to be Andy's room and is now just empty. It sucks that he found a roommate he actually liked and now has to hope he has that same good fortune twice.
"I'm sorry Andy had to move" Casey's voice breaks him from his thoughts and he says nothing, just walks into his room and grabs his keys off his dresser. He tosses them to her and doesn't say anything when she misses them and has to grab them off the floor.
He nods at her once and she gathers her things and the class sign up forms before walking out.
-- One Year Six Months Twenty Eight Days Ago --
Casey wakes up early and gathers her things for the trip and subsequent three weeks back home. Amber has already left so she blasts her radio and wonders idly if it will be weird being back home as she folds her clothes and carefully places them in her suite case.
She finishes her last minute packing and half carries half pushes her suite case to the Prince. It takes her three tries to lift it into the car. She stops by a coffee shop on the way to Derek's apartment and gets coffee and doughnuts for them both.
When she gets to Derek's she's balancing the drinks and pastries in her hands and kicking Derek's door in place of knocking. She does that for a full two minutes before she remembers that she has Derek's keys and just lets herself in.
"Derek" she calls as she closes the door behind herself. "Derek" she yells again, this time more annoyed at his lack of response. She puts the coffees and doughnuts down on the kitchen counter and walks back toward his room.
"Derek" she's yelling as she rounds the corner to his open room. He barley even moves. She stands on his bed and jumps a few times yelling "Earthquake" (he did it to her once).
He sits straight up and she falls to her knees in his been before sitting down next to him with a smile. "You're hilarious" he deadpans. He looks around for a moment before grabbing her wrist and looking at her watch.
He inadvertently pulls her toward him slightly to make out the time displayed on her watch and its then that she notices that he'd been sleeping shirtless and for a brief moment she's captivated by his chest until she hears him whining, "It's eight thirty, Casey" She looks up at him and it brings their faces way closer together that either one of them is comfortable with.
"Yeah" they're caught in a stare and her voice sounds small even to her. Neither of them blinks and when his hand drops from her wrist and settles lightly on her hip she knows that this can't end well. She swallows and her hand drops from where he'd been holding it to rest on his arm.
Derek holds eye contact and mumbles her name and she could swear that he's leaning forward (like she is) and when her phone rings Derek closes his eyes tightly (trying to bring himself back to reality) and she jumps. She feels like crying so she takes a few deep breaths and stands trying to control her shaking hands as she pulls her phone from her pocket and walks out of Derek's room.
Derek changes clothes and walks out of his room in time to hear her finishing up a conversation with her mom. He sees the coffee and doughnuts on the counter and grabs the glazed one and puts it in the microwave for 15 seconds while he eats the other. He starts to drink his coffee and leans against the counter while Casey finishes up her call.
Casey walks into the kitchen, "You ate my doughnut?" she asked, annoyance evident in her voice.
He rolls his eyes as the microwave beeps and he pulls out the glazed doughnut and hands it to her.
She smiles as she takes it. "Are you ready to go?" she asks, ignoring what happened (or didn't) a few minutes ago.
"All most" he answers and washes his hands before turning to face Casey. "Look, Case, about…" he trails off but points back toward his room and both of them know what he's talking about. He knows she's freaking out right now (Casey freaks out over everything) and he's a little concerned about this one himself so he shakes his head a little before continuing, "It was nothing, you know. We're just tired"
Casey nods, "we should head home" she says instead of an actually answering so he nods and gathers his things.
The car ride home is pretty normal. They're back to fighting over radio stations and where to stop for lunch by the "Now Leaving Kingston, Come Back Soon" sign ten minutes from campus.
-- One Year Six Months Twenty Seven Days Ago --
She's lying in her old bed in her old room and its weird feeling but at the same time it's oddly comforting. When she and Derek arrived home yesterday it was to an empty house.
"Our families suck" Derek said upon the realization the house was empty. She had an urge to correct him, say that it's just one family now, but that takes her mind back to his bedroom and she can't deal with that (and maybe the idea of it still being to separate families is nice) so she just laughed.
He took his bags up to his room and watched her struggle with hers for almost twenty minutes before sighing theatrically and pulling her bags to the top of the stairs and dropping everything unceremoniously. "It would have killed you to take them the extra twenty yards to my room?"
He just shrugged and walked into his old room. His bed is in his apartment no so there is an old futon in its place. So many of his things are in Kingston now…it barley even feels like his room. Casey's room is much more intact, her bed and most of her bigger things still there as she'd had much less space to work with in the dorm.
Their families (family?) had come home not too much later and apologized for not greeting them, they hadn't thought they'd be home until later. Nora made a nice dinner and it was easy to fill conversation.
Nora had wanted to talk to Casey after dinner, but she was tired so they'd postponed until today. Now Nora was in the kitchen, pulling things out of the cupboards to make eggs and french toast for the kids, occasionally pausing to rub her expanding stomach. Off to the side, on the counter under her purse is an envelope with the words "To the parents/guardians of Casey McDonald". She didn't think in all of Casey's years of existence she'd ever gotten a letter addressed like that.
In all honesty, Nora was a little relived when Casey asked if they could postpone their conversation last night. She's hoping that in the next few minutes, before the kids start waking up, she'll think of a way to talk about this with Casey that won't make her crazy but so far she's been unsuccessful.
About ten minutes later Casey comes down the stairs wearing her bunny slippers and wrapped in a blue robe, and Nora is so thankful for these small moments when she can look at Casey and still see the little girl she once was.
"Morning mom, George" Casey says as George rounds the corner to come upstairs.
"Morning sweetie" Nora hands her a glass and the orange juice.
It's about fifteen minutes of talk about college before Derek comes down the stairs "That futon is horrible" he says in place of a greeting grabbing a glass and the orange juice off the counter.
Nora takes a moment to gather her thoughts and takes a deep breath before walking to her purse and pulling the letter from underneath. "I'm glad the two of you are down here first" she starts and both Casey and Derek turn to look at her, "we really need to talk to you" George stands just behind her and she wants to call him a wuss but she knows that will lead them too far off topic.
"Case, I don't really know how to say this, but the scholarship you got was reduced" Casey's eyes get huge and Derek looks over at her, "The funding for the scholarship was reduced so they had to modify all the scholarships so no one would have to loose theirs"
Even Derek's smart enough to keep his mouth shut and Casey looks around the room frantically for a moment before, "What does this mean, how much did I loose?"
"Room and board, and I know you're going to hate this, but…you're going to have to move into Derek's apartment" Casey's mouth opens immediately to protest but Nora just keeps talking "Case, we've done the math a hundred ways and the dorms are just too expensive and with Andrew moving out of the apartment the timing is perfect"
Casey and Derek both put up a fight but in the end they can't ask for money that isn't there, especially not now. So they agree to leave a week before breaks actually over so Casey can move in.
-- One Year Six Months Twenty One Days Ago --
They fall back into their old routines pretty easily. Derek hangs out with Sam and Ralph and Casey hangs out with Emily and sometimes it feels like they never even left.
There are conversations at the dinner table and Lizzie and Edwin are growing up so fast it's all most scary. Casey likes that she can see some of herself in Liz, but that she's also different enough to not make the same mistakes that she did. Marti is loving the idea of being the big sister for once and she rubs Nora's stomach all the time, talking to little baby inside.
When Casey goes up to her room, however, she starts to feel different. Before her room hadn't looked much different (the bed, desk and dresser were all still there those things having been standard in the dorms). Now all those things were gone, George having had some business all most half way to Kingston dropped them off at the apartment when he was done (with the help of some students stranded there over break and willing to help for twenty bucks).
It's starting to sink it that this isn't really her home anymore, but the apartment isn't either – that's Derek's. She's starting to feel how she did when her family first moved in with the Venturi's from Toronto and the thought of going through all that again has her feeling helpless.
-- One Year Six Months Sixteen Days Ago --
The drive back to Kingston takes almost seven hours with all the stops that Derek makes them take. They do finally make it though and they go to Casey's (old) dorm room first to gather what's left of her things there. It takes a hour for her to collect all her things (Derek lying on the now bare bed and watching doesn't help).
After a little over a hour and several laps around the tiny room, Casey is finally satisfied that all her belongings are safely in the Prince. She pulls the dorm key off her key ring and lays it on her old mattress (even though she knows the locks will change before everyone comes back from break – and all residents will receive new keys).
They're in the car driving to the apartment and Casey pulls her feet on the seat, circling her arms around her legs and drops her head to her knees. She looks out her window (away from Derek) and watches the buildings pass in silence. She never particularly liked her room mate and since the dorms are tiny and uncomfortable so she was never partial to that either. But this feels way to much like being ripped from Toronto so she closes her eyes tightly and tries not to think about it.
Chapter two coming soon, please review!!