All he wanted was to copy her notes from class earlier. Derek Venturi prided himself on procrastination, and this class was no exception. Even if Casey kept relentlessly reminding him how university was different from high school. So it was a huge shock to him when he walked in to find her, not studying, but crying. Hard.
"Case?" he asked stepping inside reluctantly.
"De-rek!" she exclaimed looking up, "Ever heard of knocking?"
"Hey, I just came to borrow your history notes," he told her holding up his hands defensively.
"On the desk," she muttered barely glancing up at him.
"Wait, that's it? You're not going to yell at me or lecture me?"
He knew something was up when all she did was shake her head in response. He sighed, closing the door behind him.
"Are you okay?" he asked finally.
"No," she answered, breaking into a new wave of tears.
"No crying. Please," he begged.
"Just go back to your dorm, Derek," she choked out.
"I would, but then I would just hear your voice in my head nagging me to do the right thing," he answered sitting down next to her.
"Fine. If you must know, Danny texted me to tell me this isn't working for him anymore," she explained, looking up at him, tears streaming down her face.
"Really? Even I wouldn't do that," he answered shaking his head.
"Yeah, well he did. You might want to go now. The tears are going to get a whole- lot- worse now," he choked out, breaking into sobs.
"Aw, come on, Case," he pleaded using his shirtsleeves to wipe under her eyes.
"That was surprisingly affectionate of you," Casey commented, looking shocked.
"Yeah, well no one makes you upset but me," he told her after a minute.
"Everything hurts," she muttered leaning into him.
Reluctantly, he wrapped an arm around her.
"Look, he's an idiot okay? Any guy that breaks up with you is mind-blowingly stupid. But you can't let it get to you. There will be other guys, right?"
"I- I guess. I just... I- I thought it was different this time!" she cried, tears welling up again.
"Case. Look at me," Derek commanded softly.
"What?" she asked looking up at him.
He reached out and wiped her eyes again, less reluctantly, but more gently.
"You're smart, and beautiful. There's always going to be a line of guys waiting for you. Some of them will be jerks, some of them won't be. And one day, you'll turn around and see the love of your life. This isn't the end."
"De-rek," Casey gasped, a shocked smile on her face.
"Yeah I can't believe I just said that either."
"Thank you," she told him resting her head on his shoulder.
"Don't mention it. Just, no more tears, alright?"
She laughed, for the first time all night.
"Alright. You're a pretty good person, you know that?" she asked looking up at him.
"On that note, I'm gonna go," he answered standing up so quickly Casey fell onto the floor.
"De-rek!" she growled standing up.
"Sorry. But aside from face planting, will you be okay?" he asked.
"Yeah, I think I will. All thanks to you," she told him, wrapping her arms around him.
"Don't tell anyone," he answered, returning the hug briefly before detangling himself from his step sister.
"I won't. Bye Derek," she said kissing him on the cheek.
"Gross," he said, but made no move to wipe it off, "Later, Case."
And with that he was gone. Casey watched him go, in one of the rare moments when she was grateful to have met Derek Venturi.
A/N: So I was unaware that I couldn't actually include the lyrics in the story, which makes it a little harder to understand, but I wouldn't want to take credit from someone else. Anyway, the song is here if you want to listen while you read: watch?v=SX66jTRegzQ
