Just a quick note and then I'll leave you to your reading! In case you haven't noticed, this story is rated differently than Pieces. I rated it T, but there is a chapter or two that I may rate M just to be safe. I honestly don't think it's a big deal, but I don't want the story to get deleted. That would suck. So I'm just warning you now that there are some slightly more adult themes in this one.

Also, while going through what I've written, I realized that it has a few more mentions from S4 than I thought. There is nothing any later than "How I Met Your Stepbro", from what I can tell.

Plusalso, this story is almost completely written, but it needs a lot of tweaking and I'm fairly busy. So updates will be fairly frequent, but not daily or anything like that! 

Picking Up

Chapter Two

Casey stepped out of the terminal and immediately scanned the area for a familiar face. Spotting one, she rushed forward and threw her arms around her mother's neck.

"Casey!" Nora Venturi seemed to be tearing up and wiped hastily at her eyes when they broke apart.

"Oh, mom!" Casey wiped at her own eyes. "My mascara is going to run."

"You should've known to wear waterproof," Lizzie teased from behind their mother. Casey hugged her sister tightly.

"We'll talk later, right?" Lizzie whispered before Casey pulled away. Casey paled slightly and glanced at her mom's confused expression before giving Lizzie a pleading look.

"Later," she promised.

"Wow, Case, your stuff is really heavy," a deep male voice said from behind her. Turning, she grinned at Edwin, who dropped her bags long enough to hug her. She was astonished at how tall he was getting; he had already surpassed her.

"Come on, Ed, a big strong guy like you?" She teased. "You can handle it, no problem." He pretended to flex his muscles.

"Casey!" Marti came running from the far end toward the terminal with George lagging behind.

"Smarti!" Casey hugged her with a grin. "Hey, George," she added to her step-father.

"Marti had to go to the bathroom," he said by way of explanation. "Glad you're home, Casey," he panted.

"Thanks. It's good to be back." Casey looked around, her expression a mixture of hope and anxiety.

"Where's-" She stopped at the look on Lizzie's face.

"Derek couldn't make it, but he'll be at the house later for dinner," George said, having finally caught his breath. Casey nodded, feeling relieved and disappointed at the same time, but she said no more.

---

Casey dumped her suitcase onto her bed and sat down next to it, taking a deep breath. Having been away from home for two and a half years, it felt good to see her bedroom again. Standing, she unzipped the suitcase and started pulling out stacks of clothing.

A knock on her door made her glance up from her methodical task of separating the clothing. Marti hesitated before entering the room.

"Come on in, Marti," Casey offered, and the younger girl smiled and sat on the bed.

"Are you home to stay?" She asked quietly. Casey didn't answer right away, avoiding her step-sister's gaze. "You're leaving again, aren't you?" Marti asked after several seconds.

Casey sighed. "I don't know yet," she said honestly. "I have some things to work out."

"Like Derek?" She asked, and Casey froze.

"I – what do you mean?" She stuttered, and Marti shrugged.

"I heard Lizzie saying Derek made you leave. I didn't think Derek would do that, even if he is mean to you sometimes. But after you left Lizzie wouldn't talk to Derek for like three months." She studied Casey's face, and Casey turned away.

"No, Marti, Derek didn't make me leave. I chose to leave for – some reasons." She turned back and tried to smile. "I actually missed Derek," she admitted. "I'll be glad to see him tonight."

--

Casey had been wrong before, but never quite that much. From the moment Derek walked in the door, she knew things were going downhill fast.

"Casey, will you help Lizzie set the table?" Nora called from the kitchen. Casey collected the silverware and followed her sister to the table.

"Nervous?" Lizzie asked out of the corner of her mouth. Casey glared at her.

"No." She set the silverware out at their usual places. Lizzie shook her head.

"You're short one set," she said. Casey stared at her.

"No I'm not. I have seven places set out." Lizzie smirked.

"Trust me, you'll want to set out one more." Confused and suddenly anxious, Casey collected one more set of silverware and placed it at the eighth chair.

They were all gathered around the table, about to sit down when the front door opened. Quelling her nausea, Casey tried to smile as Derek came into the room. Unfortunately for her, he was not alone.

"Lindsey?"

"Casey." It wasn't a question, it was a threat. Casey heard it clearly in Derek's tone. Be nice, or else.

"Casey!" Lindsey greeted her seemingly warmly, and Casey thought she might have imagined the slight edge to the blonde girl's tone. "I didn't know you were back from England!" That time, Casey knew she hadn't imagined it.

"I got back this afternoon," she replied, taking her usual seat across from Derek and next to her mother. She started to pick up her glass when she realized everyone was staring at her. "What?"

"Erm, that's Lindsey's seat," Marti piped up. Casey raised her eyebrows.

"Oh. I –uh, I always sat in this seat before I left."

"It's fine," Lindsey insisted. "I can sit over here."

"No." Derek's tone was cold and final. "You'll sit where you always sit. Casey doesn't mind, do you Case?" Giving him a defiant look that said she wouldn't be bullied, Casey started to protest, but caught the look on her mother's face. Smiling graciously, she said, "Of course I don't mind," and moved to sit next to George.

"It's really not a big deal," Lindsey began, but Derek was already pulling Casey's chair out for Lindsey. Casey glared at him before turning to her glass, which she noticed was empty.

"Excuse me, I think I'm going to go get some wine," she said, standing and carrying her glass into the kitchen. She pulled a bottle of white wine from the rack and poured a glass.

Later, she regretted not bringing the entire bottle. It was Sally all over again. Even though he was nineteen, Edwin watched Lindsey with a slight puppy-dog air. Marti was showing Lindsey her sparkly nail polish and Lizzie chatted with her about sports, which Lindsey seemed to know an awful lot about.

Probably to impress boys, she thought scathingly. Then she felt guilty, remembering how she had once done that for Max.

The one highlight seemed to be that Lindsey hadn't wowed everyone with her amazing culinary skills or belching talent. She did, however, seem to be liked by the entire family. Apparently dinner with Derek and Lindsey had become a weekly tradition in the McDonald-Venturi household ever since Derek had gotten his own apartment. Casey felt relieved when it was revealed that Lindsey had her own apartment, and did not live with Derek.

When the entire terrible ordeal was finally over, Casey offered to do dishes, but Lizzie and Marti jumped up. "No, Casey, tonight is your welcome home party. You just sit back and enjoy yourself." So she was left with nothing to do but go up to her room and read for the rest of the evening, until she fell asleep.

---

"I'm just not comfortable with it," Casey heard Lindsey say as she passed the stairs on her way to the bathroom sometime around midnight. Curious, she paused and listened.

"Neither am I," Derek replied, and his voice sounded hard. "But there's nothing we can do about it. This is her home, too. She has every right to come back here." Casey peeked carefully around the edge of the wall, over the railing. Derek and Lindsey sat at the table. Casey fumed at the sight of Lindsey still seated in her chair. What kind of injustice was that?

Using the banister for support, Casey slid into a sitting position with her back against the wall, just out of sight of the table.

"What if she's still in love with you?" Casey could barely contain herself. If? IF? Lindsey spoke as though Casey's feelings for Derek had been some sort of phase. How dare she?

Derek's words made Casey feel sick. "She isn't. If she was still in… love with me," he said, barely able to choke the word out, "she would have stayed in hiding in England. Just the fact that she's back her proves that she's over me. Besides, I heard Nora telling dad that Casey is doing an internship at her dad's law firm starting in August. So in a few months, she'll be in New York and out of my hair."

Several emotions hit Casey at once. First, she wanted to kill her mother for making the internship a done deal when it definitely wasn't. Second, she wanted to march downstairs and show Derek exactly how much she was still in love with him.

Lastly, she wanted to cry, because Derek didn't seem to care at all.

"Wow," Lindsey replied quietly. "That's… reassuring." She sounded relieved and skeptical at the same time.

Derek remained quiet for a moment, and Casey felt ready to burst with trepidation.

"You shouldn't need reassuring," he said finally, his voice soft. Casey had only ever heard that tone once before: the gentleness mixed with a firm desperation. Derek had used it with her the last time they had spoken, before she had left.

Before you ran away! She corrected herself angrily. Before you gave up on the only guy you'll ever love! Because she didn't love Josh. She knew that now more than ever. She cared for him, she liked him. But she could never love him.

She was so busy scolding herself that she missed Lindsey's next words. Her self-disgust and desperation to see Derek's face gave her the courage she needed to peer around the corner again. She knew Derek. He could say the sky was green and any girl would believe him, but Casey would know if he was telling the truth simply by his expression.

Finally she managed to poke her head out far enough to see Derek's face. Immediately, she wished she hadn't. What she saw in his eyes caused her to well up with tears again, but she couldn't look away.

Derek was holding both of Lindsey's hands and looking directly at her. "I care about you," he said. "You don't need to worry about Casey. Not even a tiny bit."

Unable to stand it any longer, Casey whipped around, her tears spilling over as she climbed to her feet. She had taken half a step when she bumped into someone.

"Casey?" Edwin whispered. "What are you doing?" The sound of chairs being pushed back echoed up the stairs and Ed gave Casey a knowing look laced with pity. Pushing past him, Casey locked herself in the bathroom just as the front door closed.

He knows, Casey thought to herself. She'd known that Lizzie was aware of the situation, but Edwin? Though she supposed it made sense. Edwin had a keen sense of observation. He didn't need to be told things; he just figured them out for himself. Staring into the mirror, trying to compose herself, she wiped the mascara from her cheeks with a tissue and tied her hair into a ponytail.

She checked the hallway to be sure it was clear before hurrying back to her room. At least no one had taken that away from her. She climbed into bed and pulled the covers to her chin.