AN: So here's the second part. Like I said, I didn't write it in chapters so it's not really a true "chapter two" but I did try to break it up where I thought there were natural pauses so it'd be easier to read. What do you guys think about it so far? I wanted them to have a playful kind of relationship where they can yell and scream at each other, but you could also easily picture them curling up on the couch and watching TV together. I also wanted to show that while they've gotten older and gotten a little more mature, in the end they haven't changed much. You can see the maturity a little more in Derek but in Casey's defense, it's her wedding, she's stressed out, she's got a BAD case of cold feet and she's looking for someone to blame. And well...Derek's not entirely innocent...which you'll find out later! Anyways, read on and don't forget to let me know what you think!

Disclaimer: Unfortunately I still don't own Life With Derek. But can you imagine what I could do with my very own Derek? (sorry, Casey...)

Chapter Two: A Simple Explanation

"'Oh, that's it?' That's all you have to say to me?" Casey screeched.

"Well, from all the hysterics I was expecting something more. Something hard. Something, I don't, maybe something dirty to have you this worked up over it."

"You're making jokes? I'm supposed to be getting married in what? Twenty minutes. I reveal to you that something you asked me has me questioning everything I knew to be true up until a few days ago. Something that has my future happiness, hell, the rest of my life, suddenly uncertain and all you have to say is, 'Oh, that's it?' Oh and as your follow up, you're making jokes!"

Casey started pacing angrily in front of him. He watched as she did the best she could with the fifteen foot train until it started to get all tangled. He assumed she'd stop and untangle it but she didn't and as expected, she tripped.

He caught her before she hit the ground and as he straightened her up and untangled the train for her he told her to relax, that she was overanalyzing it.

"Relax? You expect me to relax. I have like fifteen minutes left before I'm supposed to go up there in front of all those people and marry Stefan and spend the rest of my life with him. And I'm in here freaking out because of a stupid question."

"Case," he said grabbing hold of her shoulders to prevent her from pacing and getting her train tangled again. "It's a simple question."

"A simple question?" she demanded, removing his hands from her. "Would I be like this if it was a simple question?"

"Maybe that's your answer," he quietly.

"What?"

"The question was, 'How do you know when it's true love?' Am I right?"

"Exactly. And I don't know. I mean, how the hell are you supposed to know?"

"Maybe that's your problem."

"Okay, you lost me."

"Maybe it's not true love. Because if it was, you wouldn't be this freaked out wondering if it was." Casey rolled her eyes and snorted.

"And suddenly you're an expert?"

"I never said I was. I'm simply stating the facts."

Casey crossed her arms over her chest. "Enlighten me."

"You don't love him," Derek said matter-of-factly. Casey's eyes narrowed.

"I do too. I love Stefan. I never would have accepted his proposal if I didn't."

"Fine, I stand corrected. You do love him. Hell you might even be a little in love with him, or at least you've convinced yourself that you are." He raised a hand to stop her objection. "Let me finish."

She glared at him but stayed quiet and he continued. "The thing is, you don't want to marry him. You don't really want to spend the rest of your life with him because he's not 'The One' and deep down you know that."

"That's ridiculous," Casey finally said after a minute had passed.

"Is it?" Derek said, taking a step towards her, challenging her. "Or are you still too scared to admit it?"

"Yes, it is ridiculous," she stated, taking a step towards him, accepting his challenge. "He's smart, he's funny, he's successful, he's sweet, and caring. We have the same taste in music. He loves the theater. He cooks for me. He remembers all of my favorite foods, and movies and books. He remembers all of our anniversaries. He listens, really listens to me when I talk. He'd never cheat on me. He'd never purposely hurt me. Every woman in the world would kill to trade places with me right now. And he loves me. He really, really loves me."

She looked up into Derek's chocolate, brown eyes.

"He really loves me," she repeatedly softly.

"So you are still too scared to admit it," Derek said as he took another step towards her, closing the gap between them. He peered down into her face, locking his eyes with hers.

"Admit what?"

"That despite all those wonderful characteristics of the fabulous Stefan Walker, soccer god, you don't want to marry him. And not just because you're obsessing over some silly question I asked you. You were grateful when that little hiccup came along."

"What?" she hissed.

"You heard me. You were grateful to find something to hinder this happy union. You were looking for an excuse. An out. Anything you could find, really, that you could use as an excuse to get out of this wedding without having to deal with the real issue at stake."

"And what would that be?"

"It's the same reason you were always finding something to fight about with Sam. The same reason you always found something to be at odds with Max about. The same reason you spent four years going out with Shawn only to suddenly come to the conclusion that you just didn't have all that much in common."

"I'm still waiting." Her voice was steady but it was all bravado as she felt a tremble at the back of her knee. She was suddenly very aware of his proximity and she knew without a doubt that the tone of the conversation had changed abruptly. She was on dangerous ground now but for the life of her, she couldn't move away from him now if she wanted to.

"Are you really going to make me spell it out for you?" he asked, smiling dangerously. "The reason Stefan isn't The One, or Sam, or Max, or Shawn, or any other person who comes along is because no matter how perfect they are –" he paused and replaced both hands on her shoulders before slowly tracing them down to the backs of her elbows as he leaned down and whispered into her left ear. " – or how much you care for them…"

"…in the back of your mind, you always wonder what it would be like…" he whispered into her other ear as his hands continued on their trail down to her hands to trace small circles into her palms.

"…what it could be like…" he continued as he moved his lips to hover just a breath away from hers as his hands moved to her waist, pulling her body closer against his. "And most of all, you wonder what would happen –"

" – if we kissed," she finished as she wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him towards her as their lips finally met in a sweet, slow, lingering kiss; savoring the moment they'd both stubbornly waited so long for.

Both allowed themselves to be lost in the moment as they tasted, teased, and explored until a noise outside the door broke them out of the spell.

"I'm getting married in like, five minutes," Casey said, breaking the silence first.

"Yes, you are," Derek replied hoarsely as he stepped back and helped Casey straighten out her dress before readjusting his own tuxedo.

"What am I supposed to do?" she asked, looking up at him. He reached out and helped her tuck an errant brunette lock back in place.

"That," he replied, giving her a slow half-grin, "you have to figure out on your own."

He took a step back towards the door. "I better go. And in case I didn't say so before, which I probably didn't but meant to, you make for a beautiful bride, Case. Definitely hotter than Wedding Day Barbie."

Casey rolled her eyes, "Shut up." But she smiled despite herself.

He smirked and headed for the door but stopped once his hand reached the doorknob. "Hey, Case?"

"Yeah?"

"It really was a simple question. When it's true love, you just know. No question as to who, or how or why should be needed."

"That's beautiful, Derek. Where'd you hear that?" He turned the knob and started to open the door before he answered.

"Actually…it was from my fortune cookie…from the rehearsal dinner." Derek took a quick peek over his shoulder and when he saw the expression on Casey's face, he knew it was time to get out of there.

"You little –" Casey started but was too angry to continue. She marched over to the first thing she saw, her bridal bouquet and hurled it at Derek. But Derek was too fast and instead it bounced off the back of the door just as it closed shut and landed in a heap.

Just moments later, as Casey was picking the bouquet up and attempting to put the pieces that had fallen back in their places, there was a knock on the door.

"Casey?" the wedding coordinator asked through the door.

"Yes?" Casey replied, trying to sound as calm as possible.

"Everything's all set. The last guest has been seated and the doors have all been shut. The rest of the wedding party is in position. The orchestra is prepared to begin. Are you ready?"

"Give me three minutes," Casey blurted out in a panic. "I'm fixing my hair."

"Did you need me to grab the hair stylist?"

"No, that's not necessary."

"Are you sure? Here, just let me in and I'll do it for you."

"No!" Realizing that the 'No' had come out a little more forceful than she'd intended, Casey quickly began explaining. "Umm…a curl came loose and I'm pinning it back up. They can start playing the music and the rest of the wedding party can start walking down the aisle. Just tell them to walk slowly and I'll be right out in three minutes."

"Ummm…okay," said the wedding coordinator. "I'll go let them know we can start. If you need anything, just let me know."

"Will do," Casey called back. As soon as she heard the coordinator's footsteps walk away Casey quickly jammed three more flowers back into the bouquet before she decided it looked full enough and ran to the mirror to straighten her appearance. She was smoothing out the skirt of the gown when she heard the music begin playing and froze.

"What the hell am I doing?" she asked herself, staring at her reflection. "I can't do this. I can't marry Stefan. I am so not a Mrs. Walker. I need to get out of here."

She looked wildly around the room, hoping for a solution to her problem to magically appear before her. Her eyes landed on the window. She quickly ran to the table, grabbed her purse then ran back towards the window. She paused long enough to pull out her cell phone. At NASCAR speed she typed a test message and hit send before throwing the thing back into her purse. She then peeked out the window to make sure no one was around to catch her then shoved the curtains aside and flung the window panes open. She tossed her purse out the window first then began to situate herself (a process she swore took so long she was almost ready to just strip down to her underwear) so that she could get out without tangling herself in all the yards of dress she had on. She took one look at how far down she would have to fall before hitting the ground, thanked God the Bridal dressing room was on the first floor at least and then proceeded to hoist herself out the window.