So, I love all of you! You guys make me so happy with your reviews!! Yay for chapter 4. I actually think this story is going to be short. Wow. I'm going to try to drag it out and if that makes it boring, then please tell me! It's probably going to get a bit angsty, but I didn't really plan on that happening...but, oh well, it helps me with not getting stuck. I'm going to go with the flow and try to keep the angst time short and it will end with a happy ending! I wouldn't forgive myself if I didn't do that. Well, enough of my blabbing, read on!
P.S. - I was listening to Thinking Out Loud by Lesley Roy during this whole chapter, so I was inspired by the song a little.
P.S.S. - It might get a little dramatic, but we all know Casey over-reacts to some things.
Disclaimer: I do not own Life with Derek. -sniff-
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Casey hurriedly grabbed her bags and pulled them out the front door, all the while on the verge of tears. The rest of her family had tried to convince her to stay, but it seems that their efforts would not work. Casey had made up her mind. She was going back home.
'I'm completely insane for thinking that I could just move back here and, and,' Casey thought, trailing off and thinking of the certain someone who had caused her to leave in such a hurry.
Casey thrust her bags in the trunk of the cab as Lizzie, Marti, and her mother huddled near her, sniffling. George hugged Nora reassuringly. Edwin rubbed Lizzie's arm and kept whispering, "It will be alright. She'll visit." in Lizzie's ear. Derek was not there, however.
Casey sighed, straightened up, and slammed the trunk close, causing insults to be thrown at her by the cab driver.
"Casey!" Casey turned at the familiar voice and saw Derek running out of the house and towards her. "Hold on, Casey, just think about this."
"I've already thought about it, Derek. Don't tell me to hold on. I'm not holding on any longer," Casey said and angrilly got into the cab, closed the door, and told the cab driver to take her to the airport.
Casey stared at the back of the passenger seat the whole way there, trying to figure out what she was feeling. She didn't know. She couldn't figure out if she was mad, sad, regretfull. It couldn't register in her mind.
Casey didn't realize that she was at the airport until the cab driver turned around in his seat to face her and say, "Hey, young lady. We're here. I'm not trying to be nosy or anything, but are you sure you want to leave? Those people seemed rather upset, especially the one that looked your age. He looked genuinely heartbroken. I'm just sayi-"
"Listen, it's none of your business. I'm not trying to be rude, but I'd just rather not talk about it," With that, Casey gave the cab driver the money and stepped out, got her bags from the back, and proceded and trying to haul them into the airport.
Casey's urge to cry had diminished amazingly. She stared blankly at the seat in front of her. She had already boarded the air plane and the lady at the front of the cabin was instructing on how to put on the air mask. Casey was feeling utterly nothing.
Nothing at all. She felt numb inside and out. Her face showed it, too. Her eyes drooped a little and her mouth was in a thin, tight line. She turned her head slowly and stared out the window at the ground that was moving downwards at a fast rate.
She closed the panel of the window soundlessly, but continued to stare at it. Turning towards her purse in her lap, she decided on reading. She retrieved her favorite book from her purse: Pride and Prejudice. She opened it to the beginning and tried to read it.
Her eyes scanned word after word, but none of it was processing. Time flew by and soon the plane was landing and she closed the book and put it back in her purse. She waited silently for that jolt that signals the plane has landed. The jolt came and so did one inside of Casey.
Her breathing became jagged and tears brimmed her eyes. She clutched her chest and gasped for air, blinking away the tears that threatened to pour over. She stood up, trying to keep her balance, and walked out of the plane and towards the gates. Through the gates, breathing became harder as she tried to walk to the baggage claim.
Her mind was completely blank and she didn't know what was happening. She stumbled to the baggage claim and found her bags, picking them up and attempting to haul them outside and hail a cab.
The cab pulled up and she took in sharp breaths, trying to keep her self steady. She blinked rapidly and rythmically, thrusting her bags into the trunk and closing it and hopping inside. The cab driver looked at her suspciously before shrugging it off and asking where to.
She looked at him and her mouth opened and closed several times. She closed her eyes and opened her mouth once more, telling him her address. The cab driver shot her another suspicious, yet worried, look, then drove off.
Casey turned to the window and stared at it, breathing through her nose and out her mouth. Her chest started to hurt. As if someone had ripped her open, took something out, and left her there, not bothering to return what they had took or stitch her back up.
Her shaky, clammy hand closed around the door handle and she opened the door, turning towards the cab driver, handing him money, and stepping out and staring up at her apartment. She retrieved her bags from the trunk and walked slowly towards the door.
Her hand shakily put the key into keyhole of her doorknob and turned it, opening up her door, throwing her bags inside, and closing the door behind her. She stared around her. Her familiar apartment looked like someone else's now.
She clutched her chest again as her breathing became sharp and ragged again. She sank to the floor and curled up in a ball on the floor. The tears poured out of her eyes as her phone rang echoingly through the house.
She heard the answering machine beep and her mother's voice came on, "Casey? You should be home by now, right? Well, maybe it's taking you a little longer with traffic. Well, please call me when you get home. I love you, Casey. Oh and Derek wants to talk to you. Here he is." Casey heard a scruffling noise and then Derek's voice came on.
Casey clamped her eyes shut tightly as Derek's voice echoed tauntingly to her, "Casey? Case, you didn't have to leave. Why'd you leave, Case? You didn't have to. Listen, I-I'm sor-" The answering machine cut his voice off and Casey sobbed even more.
The hole in her chest burned around the edges, threatening to rip open even more. Casey felt a jolt of pain rush through her and then nothing. Her tears stopped and she felt numb. She pulled her legs tighter towards her and drifted to sleep.
--
Derek paced his room rapidly. 'What the hell did you do, Derek? You idiot!' Derek thought, smacking the side of his head. He collapsed against his closed door and dropped his head in between his knees.
'Derek, get a hold of yourself. It's just Casey. She's left before,' Derek told himself, then spoke out loud, "So, why is this different?" Derek slammed his head against his door and gripped his hair, pulling it slightly.
He stood up suddenly and attempted to be cheerful. "Nothing is different. You're fine, Derek. You're The Derek Venturi. Go and be the guy you always have been," Derek pep-talked himself and headed out of his bedroom, putting on a fake smile.
-- 2 months later
"Shakespeare is one of the most amazing writers ever. He has coined over 100 words. Today, we are going to be reading Romeo and Juliet," Casey told her class from the front of the room, showing a copy of Romeo and Juliet to her students.
The students eyed her suspiciously. Something seemed to be off about her. She was always full of joy and had a smile planted on her face. Well, she did have a smile planted on her face now, but it seemed forced, tight, wrong.
Casey hurriedly handed out copies of the play and returned to the front of the class. She went on about the play, explaining certain aspects of it and the meaning of it.
The bell rang, making Casey jump and the students rush out of the classroom and to lunch. Casey sighed and her smile dropped, then came back to her face. She grabbed her lunch and went to the teacher's lounge.
Casey sat down at her usual table with some other teachers and stared at her Pride and Prejudice book. She brought the book to work everyday for the past two months, but was still on the first page.
Casey opened the book and her eyes fell on the words, not exactly taking them in, but just staring and trying to comprehend.
The other teachers shot glances at her, wondering when she would actually go back to talking and eating during lunch, instead of staring at her book. 'I wonder what happened to her to make her this way,' Cindy Martin, the seventh grade math teacher, thought.
Casey looked up when the bell rang, signalling her to go back to her classroom. For her, time seemed to fly by so quickly. She shoved the book in her purse and walked back to her class.
She entered the class to find her students already seated. She smiled at them. A knock sounded on the door and then the door opened, revealing the principal and a boy.
"Ms. McDonald, you have a new student here from London," Mrs. Geeves smiled at the boy, looking back up to Casey and urging the boy towards her. A jolt went through Casey's chest at the word 'London' and her smile twitched down a little. Mrs. Geeves left the classroom, closing the door behind her.
"Hello, I'm Ms. McDonald. What is your name?" Casey asked the boy. The boy smiled brightly up at her.
"Derek!" He exclaimed as Casey's smile fell completely and her breathing became jagged.
"D-D-Der-Derek?" Casey asked unsurely, blinking away very unfamiliar tears. She breathed in and out quickly. The hole in her chest from 2 months ago returned and burned at the edges.
"Yes. My name is Derek," He said, his smile fading at the horrified look on Casey's face. Her breath left her quickly and she swallowed the lump that was forming in her throat. She blinked rapidly to clear the brimming tears. The hole in her chest ripped open more. She put one hand on her desk to steady her and with her other, she clutched her chest.
She looked away from the boy to the ground. Her eyes were wide and blinking as she tried to control her breathing. Hyperventalation took over her as her body began to shake and some students jumped up and rushed to her side.
"Ms. McDonald? Are you okay? Ms. McDonald?!" Lena asked her. Other students nodded for Casey's answer. She continued to stare at the ground and shook her head slowly.
"Derek," Casey breathed out in a whisper. As soon as the words poured from her lips, she couldn't control her tears any longer. They spilled over as she collapsed to the ground. The students stared in shock.
"Ryan! Go get Mrs. Geeves!" Mary shouted to Ryan who was standing a couple feet away from her. He ran out of the room and was soon back with Mrs. Geeves in tow, a worried expression plastered on her face.
Casey gasped for air as her crying became sobbing. "Derek!" She screamed loudly, clutching her chest with one hand and the ground with another.
"Ms. McDonald! Are you okay?" Mrs. Geeves asked, running over to Casey's side.
"Derek!" She screamed once more, her sobs shaking her body.
"Derek? What did he do?" Mrs. Geeves asked, thoroughly confused.
"Call," She gasped for more air. "him."
"Wait. Don't you have a step-brother named Derek? Is that who you want?" Mrs. Geeves asked. Casey nodded her head furiously and pointed to her purse.
"Phone!" She shouted. "Call." Mrs. Geeves nodded and grabbed Casey's purse, going through it in search of Casey's cell phone. She found it and pulled it out, going through the phone book, and finding the number. She impatiently waited for someone to pick up and finally someone did: Derek.
"Hello? Casey?!" Derek asked excitedly.
"Is this Derek?" Mrs. Geeves asked.
"Yes," He said slowly, wondering who was on Casey's cell phone.
"This is Linda Geeves from the middle school Casey works at. She broke down. I think it's a panic attack. She looks like she's gasping for air and she's clutching her chest and screaming your name," Mrs. Geeves said in a hurry, using only one breath.
"Oh my God, Casey! Can I talk to her?" Derek asked frantically.
"Derek!" Casey screamed again, her sobs not retreating.
"Casey? Is that Casey?" Derek asked in worry.
"Yes, yes, that's her. I'll see if she can talk and maybe you can calm her down, but if you can't, I need to call the hospital to get them over here," Mrs. Geeves said, bending down by Casey.
"Casey? It's Derek. Can you talk?" Mrs. Geeves asked Casey, slowly handing the cell phone towards her. Casey grabbed it frantically and held it close to her ear.
"D-D-Derek?" Casey choked out and gasped for another breath of air.
"Oh, Casey. Calm down. You need to calm down, okay? If you don't, you might need to go to the hospital. In fact, I think it's best that you do," Derek said. Casey's eyes widened at Derek's voice, having not heard it in a long time.
"Casey, you need to hand the phone back to Mrs. Geeves," Derek said calmly. Not wanting to disobey him, Casey handed the phone back to Mrs. Geeves, staring at it. Mrs. Geeves took the phone and nodded into it, Casey's sobbing slowed a little, but her body still shook.
Mrs. Geeves hung up and dialed the hospital. Casey clutched her chest more, wanting to hear Derek's voice again. She had an overwhelming urge to hear him, see him, hug him and not let go.
Paramedics arrived shortly after and hauled Casey onto a stretcher and carried her into an ambulence. Casey stared at the inside metal top and kept repeating, "Derek."
Once at the hospital, they strolled her to the emergency room and fed her air, others checking her to see what happened. One left to phone her parents after getting her identification.
One leaned over, removing her mask, and asked her sternly, "Are you okay? Can you tell me what happened?"
"Derek," She whispered.
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Yeah, that was an extremely angsty chapter. I don't usually do angst. This is odd. Well, I hope you don't mind it too much. After writing this, I formed big plans. Big plans...Please review!!