Disclaimer: I do not own LWD or any of its characters!

Chapter Four

So here's the thing. I'm not big on thinking things over. And even though I had just come into more information in the past night about Casey than I had in the past ten years, I was doing my best not to think about it.

But her 'five minutes' had turned into five hours. And the four Redbull's I had drunk during my kitchen raid weren't helping my brain calm down.

The game was over, and even with several hundred channels there was nothing that caught my attention. Or at least nothing as fascinating as the slide show playing through my head right now.

I kept seeing the photo Christmas cards that came every year with a gift from Casey and Tyler. They fit in perfectly with the picture I had of Casey. The two of them posed under a mistletoe, smiling at one another. Sitting in front of a fireplace, smiling at the camera. I mean yeah I thought it was stupid and cheesy, but hey that's Casey.

And in some weird way, each year as they got more and more cliché I found myself getting sorta, slightly jealous.

Sure I was living the life down in Miami. I held a partnership in a successful investment firm. Nice car, condo on the beach, a contact list full of hot girls waiting for me to call. But I'd be damned if every time I saw another one of their cards, something inside of me would twist and ache.

Last year's was the worst. They had matching sweaters, and even though Casey was staring at the camera smiling, he was looking at her in a way that made you just know how he felt about her. It was nauseating really.

In my mind this was all passing, complete with nauseas, aching twists. And above it was a bright flashing neon sign reading LIE.

It's wrong, but I found some pleasure in this. Knowing that she wasn't living in the white picketed world that I thought she was. In fact real life Casey didn't even look like the woman in the photos. It dissolved a bit of the aching. Hell, maybe she was even as miserable as I was at times.

But as the show looped back to the last one, I couldn't get the look on Tyler's face out of my head. Cover or no cover, that look was anything but a lie. And the way her façade had dropped when she mentioned his name. They were more than just partners. Welcome back stomach dropping nausea.

God, what was wrong with me?

I didn't have to think that one over for long, when Casey waltzed back into the room saving me from my own train of thought.

She leaned toward me grabbing for the remote. She had a cell phone up to her head, and she was silent as the channel changed to a local news station.

"Yes, it is on now. Thank you, I'll be in touch later." She hung up the phone and stared at the TV as a reporter began the intro to a new story.

"We have breaking news tonight from the crash scene at Airport Expressway on 195. Officials are saying the eastbound route should be cleared in time for morning traffic. Earlier this evening a black Mercedes lost control while going eastbound over the second bridge, colliding with a gas tanker. The driver of the Mercedes was killed upon impact. Lucky there were no other injuries since the area was cleared before the tanker exploded minutes later. There has been no report of what had caused the accident, but this just in. The driver of the Mercedes has been identified as local man Derek Venturi." Casey clicked off the TV as a picture of me flashed across the screen.

"Looks like I know how to go out with a bang, huh?" I asked, shaking my head.

"Derek, let me let you in on the severity of this situation, because obviously you just are not getting it. You just cost the government several million dollars. Our family is going to hear about this tonight. Do you have any idea what this is going to do to them? Because of you, my cover could very easily be questioned… which in case you still don't get it, translates my life could be in question. And you're cracking jokes?" She flung the remote at me, and I dodged just before it connected with my head. Good to know that my hockey reflexes were somewhat still working.

"No, I'm just trying to lighten the situation. Something you obviously wouldn't understand." Especially since freak out Casey had been replaced by anger management, weapon yielding Casey.

"Whatever. I need to go to sleep now, and make the most out of the hour catnap I'm going to have before my alarm goes off." She glared at me, making it clear that was also my fault. "You should probably do the same. Tomorrow is going to be a long day for both of us. Come on."

I raised my eyebrows. "Come on where?"

"Well I would assume you'd prefer the guestroom to the couch. But hey if you want to sleep on a sofa instead of the king sized memory foam bed, your call." She shrugged her shoulders.

"Yeah, that makes sense." I said getting up off the couch and following her.

Down the hall we reached two doors. She opened the first and pointed. "There are clothes in the closet that should fit you."

"No, I washed my clothes, I'm all set." Well sort of washed them. There was soap involved, same thing.

"If you're referring to the clothes that you left in the tub, I threw them away. Your deep shampooing couldn't get rid of the smell." She smiled, folding her arms.

"Ugh, Casey that shirt was expensive." I groaned.

"And so are the clothes in the closet. Plus, they don't smell like vomit. If you need anything else, I'm right next door." She nodded to the door besides mine. "Night Derek."

I nodded, thinking of the irony of how full circle everything was starting to feel. "Yeah. Oh, and Case… thanks."

I know I should have said it earlier, but better late than never right?

I watched her face as she took in my words, her eyes really looking at mine. She shrugged her shoulders, and I saw a fast glimpse of the first real Casey smile all day. "You would have done it for me."

With that she turned and closed the door behind her. I smirked to myself and did the same.