Well, here it is, my second Life With Derek fic. The idea came to me while driving one day and listening to this song. It's just a twoshot, this being part one and chapter two being, well part two. Sorry if you get confused when reading, it kind of switches between present and past tense not so smoothly. So to help clear some of it up, let me say this.
Regular font is the present, Casey's thoughts and actions, all in her point of view.
Italic font is all past, Casey's memories, told really from no one's point of view.
Hope that helps you understand a little bit better. Also, to give you a little background, Part One is like a prologue, explaining the past behind Casey and Derek's relationship. Part Two ends where Part One begins, in the present, if that makes sense. It will once I put it up. Part Two is also where the song comes in to play. It's basically done, just got a little proofing left, so let me know what you think and I'll get it up quickly, yes? Thanks! Please read and review
Disclaimer: I don't own Life With Derek or the song "Does He Love You?" It's by Rilo Kiley and you should really check it/them out.
Does He Love You?: Part One
As she flips the cell phone closed sadly, Casey MacDonald has a hard time stopping the tears from falling. The more she thinks about it, the more she grasps the fact that the conversation she has just finished was inevitable, for several reasons. Things just should have never been started between them, so long ago. But how could something so wrong, feel so incredibly right?
Even though it has been several years, she can remember the day very well. She remembers Marti's tears while Derek was hugging her tightly. She can also vaguely hear her mother crying, as well, standing beside her husband. Little was said in the fifteen or twenty minutes they stood on the grass outside of the University of Toronto dormitory; it was a very awkward silence. She felt annoyed that she had to share the walk back, along with the hall she was living in, with her stepbrother. And even though he was talking to her while they trudged back to their rooms, to this day she recalls deliberately blocking out everything he said – except for one thing.
"Well, Case, that's it; we're finally free." Derek said, draping an arm around her shoulder on the trek towards their building. Casey shrugged it off.
"From our parents, sure. I can't seem to be able to rid myself of you, however." She retorted, defensively crossing her arms across her chest as he proceeded to tell her how much fun they would have living down the hall from each other.
That was when she tuned him out. Now as she thinks about it, she regrets intentionally not listening to him.
When she had arrived in her dorm room, a pretty girl with tan skin and dark curly hair greeted her. She learned later the girl was Puerto Rican, which accounted for her dark tones.
"I'm Mia."She said cheerfully, holding her hand out to Casey. "I guess we're roommates."
Something about this girl intrigued Casey. Then, in the back of her mind, she knew they would become fast friends. Or, at least she had hoped they would. She had to admit, living in a house with four siblings tended to be crazy a majority of the time. She figured she would like having only one other person to have to share things with.
Now, Casey realizes that she had no idea, no warning, that this girl would unintentionally fill her life with an abnormal amount of dramatics. If only she had seen it back then. But how could she?
While they finished unpacking, the two girls chatted and quickly found they had several things in common. They were both top of their class, both dancers, both had similar taste in music, similar study habits, liked the same foods, had tons of siblings…hell, they even wore the same size. Briefly, she worried that they could possibly be too much alike and therein would lay a problem. She promptly disregarded that thought, however, concluding that two people could not be "too similar".
What could possibly go wrong? Casey remembers thinking to herself. Seconds later, there had been a knock on the door. She had spoken too soon. She can recall the exchange perfectly.
"I'll get it, you keep unpacking." Casey said to Mia. She was about to open the door when an annoyingly familiar head poked itself in.
"Hey, Casey, did Nora give you the—well, hello." Derek then entered the room fully, his eyes falling on Mia immediately.
"Derek! Haven't you heard of privacy?"
The teenager ignored her, however. He hadn't given her much privacy when they lived together, why should he now? He smoothly ran a hand through his hair, never allowing his line of sight to stray from Mia's form"You must be Casey's roommate." He smirked and held out his hand.
"I am." She replied, eyeing the hand warily before finally shaking it. "And you must be…Casey's loving boyfriend whom I'm sure is going to apologize for your intrusion, right?"
Both stepsiblings scoffed at this thought. "Don't count on it." They each said knowingly.
"I'm Derek, her stepbrother." He informed the girl after shooting a hostile look towards Casey. He raised her hand to his lips and kissed it lightly in a mockingly chivalrous gesture.
Mia pulled her hand from Derek's grasp unsurely. "Mia. Nice to meet you, I think."
"Lovely name." He replied, his smirk now a full on grin. "You're not from here."
"Good observation." Her voice was thick with sarcasm as she turned and started to put some more of her things away.
"What part of Puerto Rico are you from?"
The two girls stared at Derek, utterly surprised. Mia tried her best not to be flattered. But Casey, however, knew much better that her conniving stepbrother had more up his sleeve than simply finding out where she was from. Mia opened her mouth to answer, but Casey cut her off.
"I'm—"
"Derek, did you need something, or were you planning on staying here and hitting on my roommate all day?" she spat bitterly. The boy's eyes never left the girl in question.
"Both."
Casey picks idly at the food in front of her. She looks around her empty apartment and notices for the first time how lonely she actually is. Sighing, she attempts to eat the meal she cooked for herself, futilely trying to keep the memories from resurfacing. She does not succeed. She finds herself smiling slightly as she remembers their first date. It had taken him almost an entire semester to get her to agree to go out with him, but when she finally did, Casey believed her roommate was even more excited than he was. It was rather endearing.
"What about this skirt?"
Casey rolled her eyes, not looking away from her book. "You looked fine six outfits ago. Who would've thought you would get this high maintenance over a date, especially one with…Derek?" She couldn't help it that her voice dripped with loathing when she said his name. The thought of his charms finally winning over her best friend annoyed her to no end, despite the fact that the two of them had come to get along very nicely since they were no longer sharing a confined space.
Mia groaned. "Shut up, okay? Derek's really not a bad guy. I realize you two grew up together, but seriously, give him a break, huh?" Casey made a gagging motion with her finger. "Besides, it's just a date. It's not like we're together or something."
However, that "not being together" status had been short lived and, after their fifth official date into the second semester, Derek had asked Mia to be his girlfriend.
"Are you sure you can handle this kind of commitment, Derek?" They were at dinner a couple of days after Derek had popped the question; Casey, Derek, Mia, and Derek's roommate, Peter. Mia had both gone to the bathroom and Peter to get a to-go box, leaving the stepsiblings alone.
"Of course I can. What the hell kind of question is that?"
"It's just, well, you've never actually had a real girlfriend. You always wind up finding something better after you're with them for a few weeks. You're in college now, you have to be mature. You can't ask her to be exclusive with you if you plan to treat her like you treated all of your high school bimbos."
Derek feigned a hurt look. "I resent that. I am perfectly capable of staying faithful to Mia. Derek Venturi has never cheated on a girl, and never will."
"I'm not worried about you being faithful." She retorted, sighing. "She likes you. Don't screw this up, okay?"
"Why're you being all defensive, Spacey? Are you jealous or something?" Derek's smirk was enough to make her sick. She curled her nose in disgust.
"No, Derek! She's my best friend. I don't want her to get hurt, especially by you." He almost had a chance to respond, but when he opened his mouth, Mia slid into the booth next to him, causing him to immediately bite back any comment he was going to make.
Sullenly, Casey scrapes the full plate of food into the garbage can. She suddenly lost her appetite. In that thought filled moment, she becomes vaguely conscious of the fact that Derek had inadvertently lied to her that night they were eating dinner. True, he had never cheated on a girl. He had also never, had a girlfriend of more than a few weeks and therefore had no right to tell her that he would never commit such a traitorous act. Still, Derek was doing an incredible job at proving her wrong. Casey could never understand why, but the couple stayed together during the summer break. Derek was in London, with the family, and Mia studied abroad in Spain. The boy was true to his word, and his girl, all summer. Seeing that the only other friend he had in town was Ralph, it left plenty of hang out time for the stepsiblings. She can remember that summer perfectly; the late night conversations, the sharing of secrets, the bonding. Compared to all her others, she still considers this her favorite; even more so than the summer she spent with her father in New York. She and Derek had almost begun to forge the kind of relationship their parents had wanted all along. However, they each felt that they were much to close to consider the other a sibling.
She starts to recall the beginning of their sophomore year. Derek and Mia were incredibly excited to see each other after the break. They both went back to school two weeks early just to be together. Mia and Casey had their own apartment by then. So did Derek and Peter. Casey silently swears that even if she were to try, she could never forget the night everything changed.
"Mia!" Derek walked through the door unannounced, a plastic bag in one hand, a pair of DVDs in the other. "Babe, I got that movie you wanted." He called as he shrugged his coat from his shoulders and was heading back towards the bedrooms. Casey stopped him.
"She's at the library with some people from her psychology class."
Derek's eyes narrowed for a moment, as he pondered why she hadn't called. He unsurely pulled his cell phone from his pocket, glancing at the screen. No missed calls. Debating whether or not to call her, he slipped it back into his pants. It wasn't the first time she had got caught up on schoolwork, and it certainly wouldn't be the last, that he was sure of. He was about to dig his phone back out when Casey broke into his thoughts.
"What movie did you get?"
The boy smirked, stacking the two DVD cases so that you would only see one. "Mia has never seen the genius that is Matthew Broderick in this…" he trailed off, holding up the pair of cases.
"Ferris Bueller. Nice choice. What else is there?"
"What else? I, uh, didn't get anything else." He stammered, quickly shoving the movies into the plastic bag. "Just, you know, a couple boxes of candy and some popcorn and um…yeah."
"Uh-huh." Casey waited until he was distracted before plunging into the sack to retrieve the unmentioned film. After a bit of a struggle, she managed to pry it out of Derek's grasp, much to his dismay. "I thought you hated Keanu Reeves." She stated, although it was more of a question.
Grudgingly, Derek grabbed the DVD back from her. "I do."
"Then why the hell did you rent The Lake House?"
"I thought she might like it." He said quietly, eyes on the table. "Sandra Bullock is pretty nice to look at. Besides, didn't you tell me that he wasn't half bad in this one?" He looked ardently at her, pointing to the movie in question for emphasis.
Casey smiled and nodded her head. "All right, he's not. But what can I say? It's a sappy romance movie. I mean, the guy is willing to wait two years for her and then—"
"Hey, hey!" He swiftly covered her mouth, looking at her sternly. "I haven't seen it yet, remember? Don't spoil it for me." He tentatively removed his hand from her mouth.
"Sorry." She said, grinning sheepishly. "You want something to drink?" she called, walking into the kitchen. He tried intently to look away as she sauntered down the hall, but found that he couldn't remove his eyes from her retreating form. It wasn't as if he hadn't seen her back before. But somehow, in the bright orange Thompson High t-shirt that was three sizes too big for her, it appeared more attractive to him than before. "Hello? Earth to Venturi."
Derek shook his head, pushing some wayward thoughts to the back of his mind. "Hm? Yeah?"
"I said I'm going to get some milk. Do you want something?" she asked again, her head peeking around the corner. "We have basically everything that we normally do. I think we even have some beer that you and Pete left over her a few weeks ago."
"Water." He replied, almost not trusting himself. "Big glass." Casey's pulled her head back into the kitchen after a quick nod. Derek stood up straight to stretch. He hadn't realized he was leaning so hard on their dining room table. Suddenly, a thought occurred to him. "Hey Case, when did Mia say she was going to be back?" he asked loudly, feeling betrayed by his own voice. He traced her steps to the kitchen.
"She wasn't sure. She said not too late, but you know how her psyc. class can be. Did she not call you?" the girl yelled back, thinking he was still in the other room.
"No, she didn't." Derek said, softer, now that he was standing in the door. He caused her to jump slightly at his sudden appearance. "Sorry." He smiled guiltily.
"I bet it just slipped her mind. She called me and she knew we'd speak eventually."
He nodded as he accepted a glass of water from her. "That's the truth. I think I see you more than I do my own girlfriend."
When he said it, he hadn't meant it any other way, and Casey knew that. But over the course of the next few weeks, even the next couple of hours, the meaning behind his sentence would forever be tainted. And subconsciously, she knew that, too.
Still smiling, Derek held up the one case he had been hiding before. "So?" he looked at her expectantly.
"So what?"
"So are we going to watch this movie or stand in the kitchen all night?" he asked, his eye glinting with mirth. Casey returned his smile. Together, they sat on the couch, with every intention of simply enjoying the movie.
Casey lies in the dark, her head turned towards the back cushions of her sofa, thinking she'll probably wind up falling asleep here instead of using the energy required to get herself to bed. It's the same sofa she is currently remembering and trying ever so hard to forget. Desperately, she inhales deep, the scent of the old fabric causing her to reminisce. In a rational state of mind, she never understood why she couldn't bring herself to get rid of the aged couch. But, in times like these, when she is assaulted with so many memories of her college life, she remembers why she swore it would never leave her possession. Unfortunately, after her previous discussion, she feels compelled to rid her apartment of the treacherous thing. Still, she somehow doesn't believe that when the time comes she'll be able to force herself to do it.
"This is ridiculous! They're not even putting the letters in the mailbox anymore. What, is stuff just appearing on the paper?" Derek's voice was raised, but held a slightly joking tone. From her spot curled beside him, she hit his arm lightly.
"Don't over analyze it. They're in love, they just don't know it yet. And the house is magical." Casey sat up defiantly, pulling her blanket around her shoulders tightly. "You can't underestimate the powers of a magical house and love."
"Casey, it's stupid." He said, turning his body so he was facing her. "Not to mention that it can't happen."
"That's why it's called a movie!" she exclaimed, mirroring his body position. "It's romantic and cheesy and gooey and lovey-dovey. Everyone knows it doesn't happen in real life; if it did, the writers would be out of a job. They have to come up with interesting stories that don't happen so people will be interested in watching them. Guys don't really write letters like that."
"Oh? Didn't I tell you about my other girlfriend that lives in my apartment; only she's five years older than me? We converse by means of the bathroom mirror."
"Derek!" Casey pulled a throw pillow from behind her back and whacked him on the shoulder. "Come on, we're not even watching the movie any more."
Grouchily, they both turned back to the TV. It was a few seconds, but Derek finally spoke. "I'll have you know that I can be very romantic, much more so than Sir Alex of the lake House via 2004."
She tried hard to bite back a laugh, but found it almost impossible. Instead, she giggled loudly. "Yeah, right. I'll believe that when I see it."
"Hey, I can be!" He cried boldly, facing her again. "When Mia was in Spain, I wrote her letters all the time."
"Emails don't count."
Derek grudgingly backed down, turning away from her. That was when his eyes fell on something of interest. Suddenly, an idea struck him, and he hid a smirk. "Okay, fine, they don't count. But just for the record," he started. Casually, he reached behind him and towards the side table. On it was a bouquet of flowers he had bought for Mia the week before. He pulled a blueish-purple flower from the vase and held it out in front of Casey while she wasn't paying attention. "I am romantic." He finished, smilingly wickedly at her.
Eyes wide, she silently took the flower, instinct telling her to smell it, although she wasn't sure why. "Um, th-thanks, Derek."
"Sure thing. You can see for yourself." He whispered suggestively, leaning closer to her. "I mean, if you want to. "
Casey's mouth opened and closed a couple of times as she stared at the flower in her hands. "What?" The question was all she could muster out.
"I picked those flowers because they match your eyes." Derek admitted truthfully, snaking even closer to her. He linked their arms together and laced their fingers. The boy couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed when she tensed up and tried to squirm away from him.
"You got those for Mia."
"I know, but I was thinking of you when I bought them." He tried again, this time putting one hand on top of hers so she couldn't get out of his grip. Instead, she stared at their entwined limbs.
"What? Why?"
"Hey, I'm trying to be romantic here and you're totally killing it." His voice was stern, but his eyes were full of mischief. He smiled. "I'll prove it to you."
"Prove what?"
"Let me prove to you that I'm a sensitive, passionate guy. I know I can."
Casey's eyes went from Derek's hands to his face. She searched for some sign the he was joking and found that he held a completely serious look. So, she did the only thing she thought she could. She let him.
Casey stands up in a rage, wanting – no, needing – to get off the sofa. She paces in a circle around the living room. If only she hadn't given in, things wouldn't have become so complicated. She had always considered cheating the ultimate sin where relationships were concerned and under normal circumstances, she would have felt the same way. But they weren't normal circumstances. And the two teenagers hadn't intended to cheat. It was merely a simple agreement between them that Derek was going to show he could do something – almost like a bet. He had been right, anyway. He was a loving guy when he tried to be. She smiles when she thinks about the sweet things he did; like the time he wrote on the bathroom mirror with Rain-X.
It had been a long week for Casey. Finals were just around the corner and, much to her dismay, Mia and Derek had spent a good majority of their time studying together. She understood, Derek was Mia's boyfriend, after all and he was only Casey's stepbrother. Casey's stepbrother that she hugged, kissed, slept with, had feelings for…and who was to say that he felt anything for her? Neither of them had said those three little words, but Casey had almost let them slip a few times. But honestly, for all she knew, this was just a game to Derek. She told him before it got serious with Mia that he wasn't capable of being in a real relationship for very long, and she had been right, obviously. Here he was being unfaithful, with her. It was wrong. And she'd had enough of being second to her best friend. It was a horrible thing to think, but Casey felt as if she had to make him choose. And she was going to do it tonight. She would confess everything in front of Mia and make him pick. Of course, after hearing that her boyfriend had been cheating on her, with his stepsister no doubt, Mia probably wouldn't be willing to give Derek the chance that Casey was, and that wasn't really fair to Derek. But, why should things be fair to Derek? He's the one that got himself into this mess, Casey was just helping get him out. Oh, wow, she needed to stop thinking.
What is wrong with you Casey MacDonald? She sighed as she stepped out of the shower. She pulled her towel from the rack and went to the sink, intending to pull a bottle of moisturizer from the cabinet. However, she was greeted with a message that made her feel like a complete bitch for everything she'd thought while in the shower.
I Love You. read Derek's familiar scrawl, completely with a heart and a smiley face. And even though it was a huge risk, as Mia could have easily intercepted the message, it made Casey's heart melt. She had to resist the urge to run out in to the living room and make love to him right then. Instead, she got dressed in a tiny pair of shorts and one of Derek's old hockey t-shirts, knowing the sight would drive him crazy. It wasn't until much later, after Mia had gone to her bed and Derek had crashed on the couch, that she was able to return the sentiment.
Sneaking into the darkness of the room, she tiptoed to where she could hear Derek's rhythmic breathing. Lying carefully beside him, she planted wet kisses all over his face until he responded with his own lips.
"About your message for me…" she whispered quietly against his ear.
"Message?" Derek croaked, sounding confused.
"The one in the bathroom." He was silent, so she took that to mean that he understood. She, however, couldn't see the surprised look on his face. "I love you, too."
Derek's entire body relaxed. In all honesty, he'd written the words for Mia the day before. That morning he'd received a nice wake up call from a rather excited girl. It was simply a bonus that they stayed up there when Casey showered. He'd been meaning to tell her for a few days now, but somehow every chance he got, the words wouldn't come out or Mia would come back into the room or something equally distracting would happen.
"How about I show you how I feel?" the boy said breathily against her lips. "I'm so good at demonstrations."
Mia could have easily walked out on them. They could have been too loud, or she might've had to have a drink of water, or to go to the bathroom, or to study some more. But every time Casey felt like she couldn't hold back a moan, Derek sensed it and captured her mouth with his, muffling any sound that could have come out. And Mia never got up. As they laid together, hot, sweaty, and spent, they knew that eventually, things wouldn't be this easy. An unspoken conversation was had between them and Casey reluctantly got up, returning to her room.
She stops pacing now, staring at the couch as the fond memory plays out in her mind like a movie. It was the first time, of many, they'd told each other how they felt in hushed tones. If she tries hard enough, she can actually picture herself squirming beneath him as he whispers the words in her ear, his hands roaming her body.
That wasn't the only sweet thing he had done, either. He would always replace her bookmarks with sticky notes that had adorable messages written on them. Casey has kept every one of them; they're in a box on the top shelf of the closet in her hallway. She keeps them there so that they're just hard enough to get to, but easy enough to reach in case she really wants to see them. Another box she has is the time capsule they built together during their last year of college. He locked it and kept the key, giving the box to her.
"When we're fifty, no matter what's happened between us, or where we are in the world, I'll have this key and you'll have that box. And if we're not together—"
"But, we will be together." Casey interrupted, snuggling under his arm.
"Right." He affirmed, kissing her on the forehead. "But in case something happens, and we're not, we'll meet up on this date and open it. All right?"
It was probably the most genuine thing he'd ever done for her.
Besides that, they would always take trips "home", in reality going where ever they pleased, simply to be able to be together, openly, without Mia or any of Casey's boyfriends interrupting. He would read to her in bed on the nights they happened to be alone. He collected some of her favorite poems and combined them in a book for her. They played footsie under the table when they were out on dates with their significant others. Perhaps most notably, they wrote letters to one another. Sometimes they would pass notes, and others, they could write a novel to the other, and leave it in a special place for them to find.
There was always something; a subtle glance, a secret word, something only the two of them would understand. And except for the fact that they had to sneak around and could not be together in public, their relationship was perfect. Unfortunately, Casey never saw the biggest blow of her life coming on a fateful autumn day.
"Mia, baby? You wanna go out on Saturday night?" Derek asked his girlfriend, nuzzling her neck. Casey tried her hardest not to look up at them, but it was difficult. From her spot on the sofa – hers and Derek's beloved and tainted sofa – she could see perfectly into the kitchen through the large opening in the wall above the bar. Derek had Mia backed up against the sink, his arms around her waist while her fingers tangled in his long, dark hair.
"Sure." She replied breathily, making Casey cringe. It was tough trying not to be jealous, and most of the time she failed miserably. But she knew what Derek's lips felt like and all too well, she knew the feeling he gave you when he sucked and nipped at your neck like he was doing to Mia. "What time? I'll let Casey know so she can tell Danny."
Screw Danny, Casey thought, I want to go out with Derek. You go out with Danny.
"Well, I was thinking something more like the two of us, you know?" He kept his voice low because he knew Casey was listening in the other room. "We haven't been out alone in a long time."
Casey's grip on her pencil tightened. All of a sudden he didn't want to go out with her? That was usually his excuse for going out.
"Did I really just hear those words come out of Derek Venturi's mouth?" Mia asked mockingly, pulling away from him for a moment to look him in the eyes.
"Haha." Derek said, deadpanning. "I'm serious, though. I want to take you out like we used to. Go to dinner. See a show. When was the last time you got all dressed up for me and only me, hm? I'm getting old, honey, and this body ain't gonna look that good for much longer, so you better show it off while you can."
They both laughed at his joke. "All right." She agreed smiling, after a brief pause. "I would love to go to dinner with you, Derek."
"Great." Derek's grin was from ear to ear as he touched their foreheads together. "Pete's out of town for the weekend, you know. I can't wait to take you back to my place and ravish you."
Casey drowned out the sound of Mia's giggles by slamming her books shut and stomping off to her room. Derek had some explaining to do.
"Is Casey asleep?" she heard him ask about an hour later.
"Probably not." Came Mia's response. "I'm going to take a shower. Will you be here when I get out?" The voices were coming from almost right outside Casey's room.
"I might be. I've got some stuff to catch up on."
"All right, well if I don't see you in a few minutes," she paused and, based on the next words she heard, Casey could only assume it was to kiss him. "I love you."
"I love you, too." He said back.
Minutes later, there was a knock on the door, and Derek entered without waiting for an answer.
"Hey Case, I'm about to leave."
"Okay." Was all she said. She was lying in her bed on her stomach, her face away from the door. Derek could tell her voice was hoarse, like she had been crying.
"Casey, baby, what's wrong?" he asked, sitting on the edge of her bed and stroking her back lightly.
She sighed loudly. "I'm just so tired."
"I know, you've been working hard all week. You deserve some rest."
"No, Derek, that's not what I mean." Now she was sitting up, her body facing Derek. "I'm tired of this, of us, of lying to my best friend, my boyfriend, the world. It's wrong. It's so, so wrong."
The man stayed silent for a minute, registering what she had said. He began to rub small circles on her arm. "Are you trying to tell me that you don't want to do this any more?" he questioned, panic evident in his voice.
"Yes!" she cried, exasperated. "Well, no. I'm not. I just…ugh, I don't know!" The tears which Derek was sure had stopped began to fall again. He pulled her to him, enveloping her in his arms tightly, caressing her head. They sat like this for several minutes before he finally broke the silence.
"I love you, Casey. So, so, so much. I thought you knew that."
"How can you love me and her?" She was gazing into his eyes, frightened because she wasn't sure she wanted to hear the answer. However, there was no answer. Just another question.
"Why don't you believe me?"
Casey's eyes narrowed furiously. "What, are you trying to make this out to be my fault? Because if you are, then Derek, this is so done." She said all this while desperately trying to get away from him.
"No! Shhhhh. Casey, listen to me. I'm sorry, that's not what I meant, at all. Calm down, okay?" The harder she tried pulling away, the tighter his grip on her became and eventually he forced her back into his chest, hugging her. "I know it's hard to understand. I don't even get it, but I do. I love you both. And right now, I'm totally confused. I don't want to hurt either one of you. But you know that you and I can't actually be together freely. At least, not right now. Just give me a little time, all right, baby? I promise things will be better."
She found it hard to believe him completely, but trusted him anyway, reveling in the feeling of his arms wrapped snugly around her…until there came a knock at the door and in walked a rather surprised Mia.
"Hey, do you think I could borrow—oh, um, Derek?"
The lovers broke apart abruptly, Casey wiping the tears from her eyes.
"I, um—she was just…"
"Danny and I are having some problems. He's been talking me through them." Casey said, covering up for Derek's stammering. "Sorry if I stole him from you."
The truth was, at the time, she hadn't been sorry at all. Mia knew that Derek and Casey had become great friends and she never suspected them once. But in all honesty, even if she did think something was going on, Casey would not have felt bad. Because if Mia had found out, she would have left Derek, and then Casey could have him all to herself. Unfortunately, a few days later, the feeling that she would ever have Derek to herself faded.
It was a Saturday night and she should have been out with her boyfriend – her public boyfriend, Danny. But when he called, she politely declined going out with him, saying she felt tired and was probably going to just get to sleep early.
But here she was, 3:37 AM, and still wide-awake on that stupid sofa, watching some infomercial. Mia still hadn't come home. Not that she was surprised; Derek had been talking all week about taking her to his apartment and "ravishing" her. But still, she had hoped that, for her sake, he wouldn't actually do it. Apparently, he had.
She wasn't sure what time she had fallen asleep, but as she woke up around nine, she knew it hadn't been long when Mia walked through the front door. As if all of Casey's worst fears could come true in one moment, they did.
The girl suddenly became Casey's mortal enemy, wearing the dress from the previous night, a dress she had borrowed from Casey. What little make up she still had on was smeared and tainted, the bags under her eyes indicated that she had had one very long night. And then, Casey saw it, and it became the bane of her existence. There, on Mia's left hand, was a sparkling diamond engagement ring.
Let me know what you guys think, please! Even if you think it's crap, I'd like to know. Feedback is always helpful, no matter what kind.