The Reunion
Disclaimer: I don't own LWD.
AN: Enjoy
Chapter 2:
Casey tried to get out of the office as soon as possible that night…meaning she managed to get out by 10pm. By no means is that normal but Casey had a huge case coming up in the next week and she had to get everything taken care of.
She managed to make it to Derek's apartment by about 10:30pm. She slipped her copy of his key into the door quietly, trying her best to sneak in. She knew he had wanted her there earlier, but there wasn't anything she could do about it.
The living room was dark, aside from the glow that was coming off of the TV. She found him asleep while lounging across the length of his black sectional leather couch that took up most of the living room. An old Friends rerun was playing on his 50-inch flat screen, but he wasn't watching it. His eyes were closed and his breathing was slow and steady. She couldn't help but smile. He was adorable when he was asleep, which meant she had to go wake him, obviously.
She toed off her shoes and stripped out of her jacket before dropping her stuff quietly on the empty side of the couch. She tip toed closer to him before crouching down in front of his sleeping form. She ran a hand through his messy hair gently, which earned her a content hum from him.
"Honey, I'm home," she teased before pulling a handful of his hair roughly. She quickly stood up after that.
His eyes snapped open, before they closed instantly. He threw an arm over his face. The light emitting from the nearby kitchen seemed to momentarily blind his sensitive eyes. He pouted, clearly upset by his rude awakening.
She enjoyed his reaction and yet she walked over to dim the lights in the kitchen. Casey sighed in awe as she usually did when she stepped into Derek's kitchen. She ran her fingertips over the cool marble countertops while letting herself soak in his kitchen for a second. She had always envied it. It was huge with a giant center table top that was perfect for cooking big meals on. Everything was stainless steel, it practically shined. It was beautiful and mostly untouched. The things she could do in that kitchen…but she never did have the time to do any of that anymore.
"And what kind of time do you call this?!" He groaned in reply yet his sleepy voice made his voice sound deeper than normal.
The sound made shivers go down Casey's spine. "Perfect timing," she answered while laughing it off.
She stepped out of the kitchen and headed up the hallway towards his bedroom to change. After spending the day at the office, she wanted nothing more than to lounge around in yoga pants and a tank top. But she was at Derek's so her options were limited to one of his tanks tops (which was huge on her, but that didn't really matter, she wasn't trying to impress anyone), and a pair of his basketball shorts.
Derek managed to stumble off the couch after waking up completely. He strolled into the now dim kitchen and popped her cold food into the microwave. It had just finished heating up when she walked back into the kitchen…wearing his clothes. It wasn't the first time he had seen her like that, but it always affected him in the same way. He cleared his throat and looked away. He opened up the fridge to distract himself from her. He had always liked the idea of her wearing his clothes. It was a kind of branding he enjoyed more than he should.
Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw her eyes light up when she realized what he had ordered for her. A number eleven: general Tso sweet and sour chicken with vegetables.
"My favorite? You're an angel, Venturi!" She grinned at him before taking the plate full of food and returning to the living room to eat.
"Two compliments in 24 hours? You must be sick," he replied while following her into the living room with two open beers in hand.
She had already settled down, sitting cross-legged on her corner of the couch when he joined her. She balanced the plate on her lap and worked the chopsticks around with her fingers. He watched her for just a second; watching the way she used the chop sticks perfectly, unlike him.
He placed her beer on the coffee table in front of her and took a sip of his own before laying across the same spot where he had been when she found him. He flipped through the channels and tried his best to ignore Casey next to him. Casey…in his clothes…with left over sauce on her lips, and her hair sticking out all over the place. He was one of the few people that got to see her like this, out of her element. And he enjoyed it all too much.
He landed on one of the crappy reality shows: The Real House Wives of wherever. He knows how much she enjoys watching pointless stuff like that, whenever she allows herself the pleasure of relaxing that is. He figured she'd enjoy it now and he would somehow stomach it.
After practically inhaling half of her plate of food she spoke again. "I am not sick," she replied to his prior comment in the kitchen.
"No. Just completely out of synch of reality, clearly." He countered dryly.
"Derek," she warned while giving him a pointed look.
"What's going on at work?" He asked; his tone suddenly serious.
"Client confidentiality," she replied with a half-smile before licking her lips clean.
He tried to ignore what the simple movement did to him. He readjusted himself, bending his knees up and watching her through the space between his legs. He tucked an arm behind his head and balanced his beer on his stomach with his free hand. He was comfortable to say the least. "Come on. Long story short, no names," he offered with an easy smile.
Secretly he loved hearing about her job. It seemed so…exciting.
She sighed before leaning over to place the now empty plate on the coffee table and exchanging it for the beer. She sat back again before rolling her neck and shoulders in hopes of trying to get herself as comfortable as he seemed to be. "My client is being sued by her ex-husband. He's claiming she abused their son, and stole from his trust-fund and some other really nasty stuff. It's one hell of a custody battle. And I won't rest until she's reunited with her son." Casey finished before taking a long pull from her beer, not realizing that she had needed it so bad. The malt drink bubbled on her tongue, the alcohol aftertaste seeming almost refreshing to her.
Derek nodded, understanding it all. Casey put her heart and soul into every case. But when children were involved, she turned into something else.
"So!" She started, suddenly more enthused. "Why were you asleep? Its barely 11pm on a Friday night!" She teased, changing subjects quickly.
"Hey! I had a hard day. I did laundry. Got you coffee like the god that I am, don't forget that part," he smirked while extending his leg straight out to nudging her thigh with his foot. "Then I had practice all day," he groaned before throwing his head back deeper into his couch cushion. "We've got a big game tomorrow. Coach had us in the gym for three hours. Then we ran about a thousand laps. Then two back to back scrimmage games."
Coach had a rep for being a hard ass but Derek didn't complain about it too bad. That was mostly because he knew how lucky he was to be in his position. He was kind of a big shot now. He played center for the Toronto Maple Leafs; he got drafted right out of Queens. Casey often forgot about how big of a deal Derek was because his ego had always been huge; she hardly felt a change.
"Then, I came home and had to order food for some preppy princess who stood me up anyways!" He teased before pretending to be hurt with a hand over his heart and a dramatic look of despair across his features.
"Oh shut it!" She laughed wholeheartedly before shoving his closest leg off the couch.
"Wanna come tomorrow? The kids are coming." He asked before sitting up a bit to get a better look at her.
"Der, I'm tired." She whined with a pained expression across her face.
"Come on, we both know you'll just spend all weekend working, and I think everyone knows you need a break Casey. The parentals are concerned."
She rolled her eyes before throwing her head back, closing her eyes tight. "Well, if you just lied to them and told them I was fine they wouldn't be!" She argued, getting defensive as usual when they talk about her overworking tendencies.
"Come on. When's the last time you saw the kiddies?" He asked, referring to Ed, Liz and Marti who probably wouldn't agree to being called 'the kiddies' but Derek knew how to get to Casey.
She sighed, not being able to find an answer which made her feel beyond guilty about the whole thing. "Okay. Fine. I'll go to your stupid game!" She gave in, far too quickly for his liking, but he managed to get his way, so that was good.
"Well jeez princess, don't sound too excited."
"Shhh," she shushed him while getting comfortable by tucking her legs underneath her. She continued to sip her beer as her mind wandered a bit while she watched the pointless TV show.
He let the silence fall over them for the rest of the show until he remembered their conversation earlier that morning which reminded him…
"So what did you want to talk to me about?" He asked on a commercial break.
"Oh… that," she mumbled with a frown. She sighed before pulling her purse closer to her. She rummaged through it until she found a white envelope addressed to her. She threw it at Derek's chest and waited for his reaction.
He easily pulled out its contents and read it out loud. "Fletcher Academy for Girls invites you to its 10 year reunion... Is this for real?" He asked while looking up at her with a confused expression.
"Yeah." She breathed out after running a hand through her hair.
"You didn't even graduate at Fletcher!" He replied before throwing the invitation onto the cluttered coffee table.
"Hey!" She yelled before turning towards him while looking offended. "I made history while I was there. Freshmen year I helped my school win dozens of science competitions. Trophies with my name on it use to line the hallways! I was in the top five percentile of my entire school my whole time there, the dean's list both semester. Plus, I went to prom with Angela -remember her- when she wanted to make that feminist statement." Casey fired back proudly.
"Angela," Derek repeated with a hazy smile. Flashbacks flooded his mind for a second. "Oh, I remember." And he did. Angela was Casey's insanely gorgeous best friend from Fletcher. Casey also went up to see Angela graduate a few days before their own graduation from SJST High.
Casey eyes narrowed in response before instinctively whacking the closest part of him she could reach which was the remaining leg that was on the couch. "She's one of the few people organizing this whole thing. So yeah…I'm invited." She shrugged while not knowing how else to end that semi-rant.
"So...you're going?" He asked, genuinely curious. She ended up blowing off their SJST High reunion a few months ago due to work, as usual. So he didn't think she'd actually attended this one.
"Uh...depends." She blushed before looking away from him and back at the TV.
"On?"
"You." She admitted before rubbing her tired eyes to distract herself from what she had just said.
"Me?" He asked while shooting up into a full sitting position which left them to be a lot closer than before. What did he have to do with her reunion?
She nodded. "Wanna come with?" Casey asked with a weak smile.
His heart did some kind of fluttering like a flip thing in response. "Like... a date?" He managed to ask while playing it cool. As if he wouldn't literally jump at the thought of having anything to do with it.
"A little more than that actually…" She replied vaguely with a nervous chuckle.
More than a date? What more could there be?! "More? ...Like what?" He asked cautiously.
"Like...as my husband?" She replied quickly before finishing her beer in a few gulps.
Husband. Imagine Derek…as Casey's husband. Wow.
"You're asking me to marry you?" He asked after a while with a laugh. "Well aren't you forward McDonald. But I don't think I can accept." He scoffed before crossing his arms over his chest. "Who's gonna warm my lonely bed when you're out at 'work' all night?" He teased before relaxing back into his lounging position. Because that's what he did when they had an awkward moment. He joked about it. There was no way she was actually serious about this!
"Come on Der. Just for the night." She tried while looking at him with the big puppy dog eyes; she'd blink real slow so her eyelashes fluttered against her skin as such while her bottom lip pushed out slightly as her chin quivered just enough to look like she was near tears. The entire thing pushed him over the edge. She knew exactly what to do to get to him.
"Why?"
"Because."
"Because?"
She crossed her arms over her chest uncomfortable. "Because all those girls will be there parading around pictures of their kids and happy relationships, and I'll be there single with no kids and no stories to tell." She finally admitted.
Now that took a second for him to process. Casey was usually so confident about herself; it was insane to think that she wasn't happy with her life and her accomplishments. And yeah, maybe he didn't praise her about her choices but he was really proud of how far she had come.
"Seriously?" It was all he managed to replay.
"I don't want to talk about it. Just... tell me, okay? Yes or no. If not I'll ask Gary." She shrugged while trying to end the conversation and make it seem like it was really no big deal.
"Gary?" Derek laughed at the thought of it. "Casey..." He trailed off as a smile started to tug at his lips.
"Hey! He's masculine." She shrugged. "He could totally be my husband!" She argued because Gary was….everything Derek wasn't. But he dressed to perfection, and was beyond gorgeous in an entirely different sort of way.
Derek shook his head. "If you're bringing anyone over there as your husband… it would have to be me." He decided.
"Well aren't you confident," she smirked.
"You want them to be impressed, don't you? Jealous of how hot your husband is?" He teased before licking his lips slowly. He was trying to be seductive and make her laugh.
"Ugh!" She groaned. "Never mind!"
He laughed; he missed the feeling of riling her up. "I just gotta make sure I don't have an away game. If I'm home, then yeah." He decided, finally getting serious about the situation.
"So, you'll marry me, huh?" She replied after a while.
"Don't get too excited. I haven't said yes yet," he shrugged in a nonchalant manner. But hey, if she ever really asked then the answer would definitely be yes.
Casey ended up spending the night. Which wasn't as weird as it sounds because Derek's got a spare bedroom in that huge apartment of his. It was mostly for when the kids came over, but Casey used it more than anyone else. It was her home away from home.
The next day when she woke up, she was actually well-rested for the first time in a long time. She heard the sounds of the kids and Derek making -or trying to make- breakfast in the kitchen.
Suddenly she was glad she had agreed to spend the day with them. She got dressed up in Derek's smallest yet oldest clothes before putting on his jersey over a giant Queens' hoodie.
Soon after she was ready, they all went to the game together. They sat in the front row, right next to the ice and cheered him on the whole time. And after the Leafs won, they all went out for ice cream to celebrate. It was the happiest Casey had been in weeks.
AN: I'm trying to be a better writer, and add more description as to how the characters are visually, and the setting. Hope it's getting better!
Review?(Pretty Please.)
