A/N: Basically this is a Two-Shot, a two chapter story, of Derek and Casey's college life. It's basically a 'What If?' fic. Casey never decided to go with Jesse to New York because she didn't want to leave Derek. He was her 'Home away from home'. But one little fight and she calls Jesse for his statement of 'The offer still stands'.

I hope you like it.

"You're insane!" he wants to scream at her, to at least knock some sense into her before she does anything incredibly stupid and un-Casey like.

She rolls her perfect blue eyes, as if his reasoning is the most idiotic thing she's ever heard.

"Derek; in all the time I've known you, you've been telling me that I need to live a little. Well, I'm trying." She stresses her voice while she stuffs her favorite light blue shirt into her bag and closes it tightly. He looks to the other bag she has lying on the floor by her foot along with her suitcase, and god he hopes she's not serious.

"Case, this isn't anything like that; you can't just get up and walk away. I mean- did you even tell Nora?"

He tries not to sound paranoid, he knows he shouldn't care- but she lived with him, half the rent was hers; who was going to wake him up in the morning with the smell of smoke from terrible cooking, or annoy him to no end with loud chick music for dance practice while he's watching TV?

"I'm almost twenty, I don't need permission. Besides, I've got Jesse, I'll be fine." He winces at her remark. "Just think of it this way; I'm living out my dream, and you can finally get rid of me. Then you can go back to how it used to be before I showed up." Casey knows she let the bitterness in her tone slip, but she shrugs her shoulders and grabs her luggage as if she hadn't, dragging it to the door.

He nervously scratches the back of his neck and runs his hand through his hair, watching her from the corner of his eyes as she waits by the open-curtained window without another word. He wasn't sure what she was waiting for exactly, Jesse, or for him to open his big mouth to retort.

He couldn't, though. What the hell was he supposed to say to that? His lips were dry and chalky again, everything she had said was wrong. She had no idea what she was talking about, but he couldn't find his voice to correct her.

He knew he was at a dead end.

The only options were to tell her the truth and practically ruin his life, or to let her leave. He was so screwed either way.

A/N: Review, please?