A/N: So…I had a bunch of ideas floating around in my head and this one won out because of several reasons. One of those reasons is that I think it's going to be light and fun and not overly dramatic like a lot of my other ones which will really a great change for me.

Another reason is that I'm going to consider this to be an 'All-Star' fic and if you watch a lot of television, you'll get what I mean. I just got tired of coming up with a bunch of names for OCs when I realized I can just borrow real people. And when I say borrow some people, I mean I have full intentions to borrow some people. So you will be thoroughly surprised at who will show up in this story. You may know them, you may not, you never know. Like I said, if you watch a lot of television, you might find yourself going 'I know them!' quite often, hehehe.

Also, did I tell you guys? I'm getting married! I got engaged while on my little island getaway. I might've mentioned it in passing but I can't remember if I actually made an announcement or not. Not that I needed to, but I thought it would be cool to anyway.

Anyhow, enough of my mouth, onward with this fic!

Disclaimer: If you belong to NBC, ABC, FOX, CBS, TNT, USA, or any of those other things I might've missed, I most certainly do not own you, even though I wish I did.

Casey Novak huffs quietly to herself as she heaves her suitcase off of the luggage carousel. She has been awake since three a.m., she's tired, her feet her, and she would like something else to eat other than gross airline food. Honestly, the food on the plane was so bad, Casey halfway considered putting one of her own hairs in it just so she could complain to the flight attendant. And that's another thing; the flight attendant who was a complete bitch just because she didn't want to be at work.

Double checking her large suitcase and her carry-on, Casey shifts through the flowing crowd of people and makes her way over to the side that reads baggage claim. She parks her suitcase by her feet and pulls out her cell phone only to see that she's gotten several text messages and voicemails from her mother, all reading along the lines of 'have a safe trip!' and 'call me when you land!'.

Casey giggles quietly to herself as she scrolls through her contacts and finds the one labeled 'Mom'. Hitting the quick dial button, she puts the phone to her ear and isn't the least bit of surprised when she is greeted with an excited squeal after only two solid rings.

"Oh gosh, Casey, dear! I was worried that your flight had gotten delayed and you weren't able to call me!' The worried voice of Brenda Novak exclaims from the other end of the line. 'How are you feeling honey? Do you need Mommy to come and get you?"

Casey can't help but roll her eyes at this, though a half smile tugs at the corner of her lips. "Mom, for one, I just landed. I'm standing by the baggage claim waiting for my ride and two; I'm not a baby anymore Mom, I'm about to be a sophomore in college. I told you that you don't have to worry about all that stuff anymore. I can take care of myself."

"Cassandra, just because you are a 'sophomore in college' does not mean that you are no longer my daughter," Brenda chides with a click of her tongue and it's almost as if Casey can just imagine her shaking her head in disapproval. "I just wanted to make sure that you are alright. I know that you weren't handling this transfer thing well, but your father and I think it will be good for you."

"Yeah, I've kinda gotten over it. I was a little bummed at first about leaving my friends back home, but hey, it's California. How bad can it be?"

"That's the spirit, Casey! It's always good to go in with a positive attitude. Besides, it's not like you will be completely alone. Your cousin will be there to guide you and I'm sure she will help you make plenty of friends."

Casey groans quietly at the thought before she leans her head against the wall. "Mom, it's not even like that. You know how different the two of us are. Her friends are probably extremely weird just like she is."

"Oh now Casey, you don't mean that. She's a very sweet girl."

"You're right. I don't mean it and I love her to death, but Mom, you gotta admit that she's weird."

"I shall speak no such things about my own niece." Brenda states haughtily before hastily continuing on. "Mainly because I'm sure Constance has ears like a bat and she would be able to hear me all the way up here in New York."

Casey grins at this before she giggles quietly. "That's Aunt Constance for you." she giggles before her tone falls serious. "Mom, does Constance know about…me?"

Brenda is silent for a long moment on the other end of the line before her quiet sigh can be heard. "Casey, honey I…" she begins, before she pauses to sigh again. "I don't think she does and I think that it will be in your best interest to not tell her…right away."

"Great, so you're basically telling me to hide who I am? And how long am I supposed to do that Mom? Until they come up with some kind of 'cure' for me?"

"Casey, don't talk like that; you know that your father and I have absolutely no problem with it. Constance is just…well, she's very different from me and if you're going to be living with her for the rest of your college years, then you're going to have to get used to how she is. I just know right now would probably not be a good time to tell her. You know the last time she saw you-"

"I wasn't like this." Casey finishes off as she rolls her eyes again and places a hand on her hip. "Right. Well, look Mom, I should probably get going and start looking for my ride. I'll send you a text when I get to the house to let you know I got there safely, alright?"

"Alright sweetheart. I love you, Casey, please know that and I already miss you terribly."

A sincere smile spreads across Casey's face as she listens to her mother's voice. "I love you too, Mom. Give Dad a kiss for me." she responds before ending her phone call with her mother.

Sighing quietly, the redhead slips her phone back into her pocket before she crosses her arms. After about a moment or so, she glances at her watch and a small frown creases on her forehead when she sees that it's about a quarter past four. Her ride should've been there ten minutes ago.

Looking around, Casey's frown only increases when she spots a strawberry blonde standing around fifteen feet away, looking around as if she's trying to locate something; or someone. Grabbing her bag, Casey slowly makes her way over to the young woman and gives her a careful analysis before speaking up.

"Um…Maura?"

Upon hearing her name, Maura Isles blinks rapidly before she spins around and comes face to face with the voice's owner. A small look of confusion passes over her face before it is replaced with a shocked look of excitement.

"Casey? Oh my god, is that you!?" she exclaims before pulling Casey into a tight hug. "Oh my god, I swear that I didn't recognize you! You look so…different! You've gotten taller to! Oh my gosh, this is such a surprise."

"Maura,"

"Wait until Mom sees you,"

"Maura…"

"And you have no idea how excited I am that you're going to be living with us and-"

"Maura!" Casey snaps, placing both of her hands on her cousin's shoulder. "Please. One thing at a time. I'm starting to feel the consequences of jetlag."

Maura places a hand to her mouth as she giggles quietly. "Right, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to overwhelm you all at once. I'm just really excited that you're here." She explains before perking up even more. "C'mon, let's get you home. Mom will be so excited."

"Right." Casey murmurs under her breath with a sigh as she allows for her cousin to take one of her bags as they exit the airport and head towards the car park. As they make their way through the rows of cars, Casey pauses and shakes her head when Maura comes to a stop. "You've got to be kidding me."

"You can put your other suitcase in the back." Maura instructs as she carefully places the redhead's carry-on into the backseat of her Prius.

"You have an extremely girly car." Casey states with a chuckle as she places her bag in the back before she climbs into the front seat where she notices Maura waiting for her. "Extremely girly, Maura."

Maura shrugs innocently as she starts her car and pulls out of the parking lot. "I don't know what you're talking about. I think my car is cute. Besides, it's efficient for the environment considering it's biodegradable fuel and all natural-"

"I think I get the idea." Casey cuts in with a tiny smirk, moving to a new topic of conversation before she is dragged into one in which she has no idea of what the hell is going on. "So, uh, is Constance really that excited about seeing me?"

"Oh definitely. She had Greta, clean the house and make sure that your room is all set up for you. Greta's our maid. She comes Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays. Just a little heads up before you get there."

"So I'm not creeped out by a little old woman folding my underwear? Noted."

"You're so funny. My friends are gonna love you."

Casey pales briefly before she chuckles nervously. "Your friends right…" she murmurs quietly. As they come to a stoplight, she sighs quietly before turning to look at her cousin. "Listen Maura, before we get home, there's something I think you should know. Just in case you somehow find out, you won't be as surprised."

Maura's grin doesn't waver as she nods her head vigorously. "I'm sure whatever it is can't be that surprising, but it sounds pretty important. What is it?"

"Well, it's about me. Um…" Casey trails off as she nervously twiddling her thumbs. "Well, uh, I…I'm gay."

"You…you're what…?"

"I'm gay Maura. A lesbian. I like girls and not just in the platonic way."

Maura waves her hand as she shakes her head and turns her attention back to driving. "No, no, I know what it means. I was just a little surprised that you were gay…are gay."

Casey raises her eyebrows at this and tilts her head. "Is this going to be a problem with you?"

"No, absolutely not! You'll come to find yourself to be a little surprised once you meet my friends, but I don't have a problem with you being gay. I was just a little surprised." Maura exclaims before a look of some sort passes on her face. "Does mother know?"

"No, I don't think she does." Casey answers before turning the tables. "Does your mother know your friends are gay?"

"She doesn't…" the blonde responds quietly, tapping her fingers against the wheel. "But it's not going to be an issue really. Just…"

"Don't tell her right away…yeah, I got that."

Approximately twenty minutes later, Casey finds herself gazing in awe out of the passenger side window at the large mansion like house sitting on the beach coast. "You seemed to have forgotten to mention that your house is a fucking mansion." She exclaims as they pull into the garage and gets out to retrieve her things. "A fucking mansion on the fucking beach."

Maura shrugs nonchalantly as she lifts Casey's carry-on from her backseat. "I never really think about it as anything spectacular. It's just home to me." she explains before pausing up the steps to her house to look back at her cousin. "And please, try to watch your language."

Casey rolls her eyes once again before she grabs her suitcase and follows Maura up the stairs. She lets out a quiet whistle as they enter the house through one of the side doors and the inside practically makes the outside look like a tiny cardboard box. "Jesus, Maura…"

"It's home." The blonde repeats with yet another nonchalant shrug. "Mother!"

"Maura, dear." A new voice exclaims cheerfully from around a corner right before Constance Isles floats gracefully into the room with her arms out stretched towards her niece. "Oh Casey, look at you, you've grown so much since the last time I saw you."

"I was twelve the last time you saw me, Auntie…" Casey responds with a gruff chuckle as she returns the embrace but tries not to choke on the woman's perfume.

Constance simply grins as she holds Casey at arm's length to give her a better once over. "Well still. Look at you. Oh I remember when you were little and you and Maura would play outside in the mud and you'd both come in tracking mud in the house. It was just the cutest thing."

"It was also a long time ago, Mother." Maura chimes in before grabbing hold of Casey's wrist. "I'll show Casey to her room while you…do whatever it is you're doing."

"Constance always that happy to see people?" Casey wonders aloud as she flops onto her new bed with a sigh. "God, this bed is so comfortable I think I could die here." She groans pleasurably before she sits up and looks at the view just beyond her balcony. "And look at that view. Holy crap I can see the entire beach from here."

"That's usually the idea." Maura responds with a giggle before leaning against one of the many empty dressers. "Of course everything you have here is just to start you off, but you can start putting your things away. After you're done, if you're too tired then maybe I could show you around? Who knows who we'll run into."

"Yeah, one of your weird, bone digging friends." Casey thinks to herself before she sits up. "Actually, I do have a question. Do you know of any place where I can buy a pretty good surf board? I left all my boards back at home because I didn't wanna travel with them. Dad's supposed to be sending some of them later, but I just wanted to check out a new one as a housewarming gift to me I guess."

"Oh yeah! I know of a great place you can buy a surf board. I'll be sure to take you there."

"Thanks. Now get out so I can get naked and take a shower. I smell like plane."

Maura can't help but she her head and roll her eyes at her cousin's brashness. "You're so crude Casey."

"Trust me, Maur, it's one of my redeeming qualities."

Later

"Sam's Surf Emporium." Casey reads aloud as she and Maura walk through the door of the cozy little shop. "Doesn't look like much from the outside, but I guess the inside's okay."

"It'll have exactly what you need. Trust me." Maura responds as she treks over to the vacant counter. Her lips purse into a thin line of concentration as she examines behind the counter before she hums and returns to Casey's side. "Guess she stepped out for a minute. Well, anyway, feel free to look around. I hope you find what you're looking for."

Casey nods her head as she slowly begins to trek her way through the surf shop. Her eyes glaze over the several racks of board shorts, wetsuits, and bikinis as well as accessories such as board wax, snorkeling gear, and other swim related items. Not to mention the plethora of surf boards on display and advertised throughout the entire shop.

"Wow." She whispers to herself as one board catches her eyes. It has an elaborate design of what appear to be flames encircling where the rider is supposed to stand and all the way around the board. She gently runs her fingers over its smooth furnishing, loving how it feels under her fingers.

"I call that one the hell razor." A brand new voice says, startling Casey out of her stupor to where she turns to find a strange blonde smirking at her. "Mainly because of the flames but also partially because it can tear the hell out of the waves on the water."

"Right." Casey responds slowly before tilting her head. "And are you Sam?"

The blonde chuckles quietly before shaking her head in the negative. "No. Sam's my uncle. Well, was my uncle before he passed away. I usually don't work here. I'm just here watching the shop until my Dad gets back in town tomorrow." She explains before offering the pleasant stranger her hand. "I'm Alex."

"Casey." The redhead responds, slowly accepting the handshake that turns out to last a little longer than it should have on both of their parts.

"Cool to meet you Casey." Alex responds as she retracts her hand and awkwardly clears her throat. "I don't wanna sound like a complete jerk here, but I've never really seen you around here before. Are you new?"

"Yeah basically. I just transferred schools so I'm gonna be staying here with my cousin for a while." Casey exclaims before she sighs. "My cousin is a nutcase…"

"Alex!" Maura exclaims as she approaches the tall blonde and wraps her arms around her waist in a tight hug. "I was looking all over for you. I felt like you were hiding."

"Can't a girl go to the bathroom?" Alex responds humorously before turning her attention back to Casey. "This the cousin you were talking about? Because in that case, I think she's my favorite nutcase."

Maura giggles at this before stepping from Alex's embrace to beam at Casey. "Oh don't worry about it. A lot of people think I'm crazy. I've gotten quite used to it actually. Are you two getting acquainted well?"

"We are." Casey hums in response as she takes a brief moment to rake her eyes over Alex's jean short clad body. She quickly glances back up at Maura who is still looking to her for some kind of answer. "Uh, we are. She was just helping me look at boards."

"Yeah, so run along Maura. Maybe you can find Serena and the two of you can get together and annoy her sister." Alex teases, giving the shorter woman a playful nudge, earning her a swat to the shoulder. "You have no idea how fun it is to push her buttons sometimes."

"I'm pretty sure I have a good idea." Casey grins in response before turning back to the board selection. "So is it safe to assume that you surf, Alex?"

Alex snorts in complete humor before placing her hands on her hips. "Pfft, do I surf." She begins rhetorically with a proud smirk. "Practically all the time. I'm always either catching waves with friends or just riding them solo. Whatever works best for me. My friends say I'm a pretty awesome surfer."

Casey's smile widens at this. 'God, she's hot and she surfs!' she exclaims mentally, though she manages to physically keep her cool. "Is that so? Then we'll have to ride together sometime. Maybe see if you can put your money where your mouth is."

"Alright then, Red, I accept that challenge. But only after you meet my girls first." Alex explains in a serious tone. "You seem pretty solid, so you're already cool with me, but the real test is getting in with them."

"I'm up for the challenge."

"Great. My friends and I do this little thing called 'Surf 'n Turf.' It's kinda like King of Hill by elimination, in a way. We each take to the waves, and we're judged by the others who don't surf in a completely unbiased fashion."

"Oh, so it's kinda like a mini surf comp. among friends."

"Yeah, you could say that." Alex answers with a grin before tilting her head. "So, you up for it?"

Casey bites down on her bottom lip for a brief moment, letting the silence linger between the two of them before she nods her head. "Alright. I'm in. Just give me a time and a place and I'll be there."

Alex's steely blue eyes light up in excitement as her grin widens to show off her perfect teeth. "Cool. Tomorrow morning, six a.m. East Rock shore. Shouldn't be too far from where you live if you're staying with Maura." She explains before her grin turns into a smirk. "And you're probably gonna need a board."

Casey turns her attention to where the blonde is now not-so-subtly glancing at the board she was checking out earlier. "Why do I feel like you were only nice to me because you were trying to make a sale?" she inquires playfully.

"Maybe." Alex quips in response before she steps closer, "Or maybe I was just trying to be courteous to a beautiful woman who walked into my shop." She whispers seductively before throwing a nod over her shoulder. "You know your cousin is pretty hot."

"Ass." Casey mumbles, nudging the blonde on the shoulder as she begins to burst into a fit of hysterical laughter. "It's only because you're cute that I'll buy the board."

Alex quirks an eyebrow in curiosity, as she takes the board from its rack. "Cute? Just cute? Not overly sexy surf goddess? But just cute?"

Casey giggles quietly before shaking her head as she follows Alex to the counter. "Just cute, until you prove yourself on the waves. Then maybe we'll see from there."

"That'll be four fifty two." Alex states as she rings up the price for the board."

"Four fifty two? The price tag said it was seven twenty three." Casey exclaims in confusion.

"Employee discount." Alex replies with a nonchalant shrug. "You know, from the cute sales associate."

Casey rolls her eyes as she hands over her credit card. "Never nice act of kindness. But still just cute."

Alex winces in mock pain as she clutches her heart. "Ouch, damn. I was hoping I would at least get adorable out of that." she hisses before handing Casey her recent.

"Maybe next time, after I kick your ass in your own Surf 'n Turf tomorrow." Casey teases as she collects her purchase.

"You're seeming pretty confident in yourself, Red. I'm getting a little worried that you might get your feelings hurt when you meet my friends."

"Don't worry about me just make sure you bring your A game tomorrow."

Alex chuckles and shakes her head as she watches the redhead walk out of her shop. She takes a much needed deep breath to calm her suddenly racing heart and all she can do is shake her head once again.

"Damn she's hot."

And this is only the beginning. Leave your thoughts!