Author's Pre-Note: Long chappy today…
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Chapter
4
Things that Go
Bumping in the Night
'That was brutal,' Derek thought tiredly as he followed Sam into the locker rooms.
"You okay, dude?" his friend asked. "You were somewhere else today."
"It's been a long weekend," Derek said, rubbing his aching neck. "I think I might have pushed Casey too far."
"What'd you do?" Sam asked, probably wondering what his latest prank was and how bad it must have been to have honestly 'pushed Casey too far'.
"Nothing big… I just think it might have been the wrong time to be a jerk," he revealed. He had realized the night before that being mean to Casey when she had so many commitments and responsibilities on her shoulders was a bad idea.
"Isn't she planning that community fair?" Sam asked, untying his skates.
"Yeah, she started writing all her papers and shit too. She's really gonna drive herself to the ground one day," Derek said, shaking his head. He sat on the bench beside Sam.
"I kept telling her that when we were together," Sam said. "Never listened," he muttered, earning himself a chuckle from Derek.
"That's Casey for you, man," he laughed, recognizing Casey's inexorable stubbornness from a mile away.
"So what," Sam said conversationally. "She's ignoring you now?"
"Not quite," he answered, not really knowing how to describe the situation. All he knew was that she was really upset with him, enough to put a floor between them at least. "She moved out of her room."
"What do you mean?" Sam questioned, momentarily frozen in place.
"She's in the basement now," Derek explained.
"Didn't you guys have a huge stupid fight over that two years ago?" His friend looked completely bewildered.
"Yes," he said exasperatedly.
"Man, she must be really pissed."
"Tell me about it… and I apologized, twice," Derek heaved a sigh.
"Wow, dude, this is the fourth time you've shown remorse since I've known you… and the third time about something regarding Casey," Sam teased. Derek shoved him roughly.
"Shut up, this is bad. It's not like I did anything out of the ordinary." Sam just shrugged.
"Maybe it was the straw that broke the camel's back," he said matter-of-factly.
"The what?" Derek raised his eyebrows, completely missing what his best-friend was trying to tell him.
"It means she probably got fed up, dude. You're kinda always mean to her," Sam clarified, grabbing his things to hit the showers, Derek close at his heels.
"I am not," Derek rebuffed.
"Do I seriously need to go over this with you?" Sam snapped, clearly annoyed. "Just don't be so mean to her."
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"Sarah," Casey heard George saying as he opened the door. "How are you?"
"Oh good, good. You?" she said politely, smiling.
"Ah, not too bad," George shrugged.
"Have you told Casey I was coming?" she asked as she entered. She spotted her and grinned.
"He has," Casey said, approaching Mrs. Moore. She moved to hug her. Friday seemed to have sealed some kind of friendship between them. They talked and Casey ended up pouring her frustrations out. Moving into the basement was Sarah's idea.
"I would have called, but I felt this was more of a face-to-face kind of thing," she said jovially. Casey knew Sarah had come to tell her something; as to what it is, she had no idea. Sarah's enthusiasm was piquing her curiosity.
They walked to the dining table, Casey motioning Sarah to take a seat. George was hanging back, watching them with trepidation. Sensing his confusion, Casey piped in.
"I ran into Mrs. Moore on Friday night, and we had dinner."
"Oh," George said simply.
"She's as bright as you described her," she beamed. Casey wasn't sure if Sarah was just coating it or if she was telling the truth. Either way, Casey was flattered, both by Sarah's blatant approval and her step-dad's impression of her.
He nodded, looking slightly embarrassed but didn't deny anything. "Sarah has been working with me for the past five years, and she's probably the best lawyer in the firm."
Sarah waved her hand in dismissal. She was fairly young.
"You're too modest," George added. Sarah smiled shyly and thanked him.
"Anyway," she said eagerly. "My proposal!"
"Am I meant to stay?" George asked with hesitation. Sarah sent Casey an inquiring look.
"Did you do what I suggested?" she whispered to Casey.
"I have," Casey laughed. "It's officially going to be my third night in the basement."
"How is it?" Sarah wondered excitedly.
"Well, it hasn't been long enough, but so far… lots of loud crickets but you eventually learn to drown them out," Casey disclosed, making her guest laugh heartily.
"You suggested she move out of her room?" George questioned suddenly.
"I did," she retorted proudly. "The poor girl was suffering."
"Oh… well, I knew that. I'm just surprised that you know about this at all," George confessed.
"I'm a nosy person, sorry," Sarah said casually. That was a lie. Sarah had been anything but pushy. She winked at Casey.
"I was pressured," Casey joked. It was then that Marty came running in, Derek close at her heels. The little girl squealed at the sight of their guest.
"Sarah!" Marty cried out happily, wrapping her arms around Sarah's neck.
"Hey kid, I haven't seen you come around lately," she said, gladly returning the young girl's affection.
"I've been busy!" Marty replied sternly, causing everyone is the room to laugh.
"I'm sure," she managed to get out, finally acknowledging Derek's presence.
"Long time no see, Mrs. M," he said demurely.
"I've been busy," she answered, imitating Marty's tone. Derek smirked. "Now don't be a stranger," she stood up and opened her arms.
Derek rolled his eyes, but easily gave in.
"Okay, I'm too impatient," she declared after breaking apart from Derek. She turned back to Casey and taking back her seat.
"I've gathered that," Casey chuckled.
Sarah leaned forward. "I have another suggestion."
"All right," Casey uttered warily.
"Jack and I were talking yesterday and we were thinking… we've been wanting to rent out our basement for a while, but we never got the guts to do it. It's just too weird, you know? Having some stranger in my house does not feel like an investment to me… even if it is a separate part of the house.
"We want to test-drive it at least, just to see what it'd be like first," Sarah continued, gauging Casey's reaction. "See where I'm getting at?"
Unsure of what to make out of this offer, she knew she still wasn't ready to move completely out of the house. She probably wouldn't be able to afford it either.
"That's very nice of you Sarah, but I don't even think I can pay rent."
"Oh, no! No! It's a trial of sorts, you wouldn't have to pay anything," she clarified giddily.
"That's really generous…" Casey said, honestly appreciative of Mrs. Moore's offer. She looked around appraisingly, realizing that Derek and George were still in the room, similar frowns playing on their faces.
"But I don't know," Casey started. "I'm not quite ready to do that yet."
Sarah nodded in understanding. "It's fine. We're not going to rent it out any time soon, so if you change your mind," she finished, smiling invitingly. She stood up, clearly ready to leave.
Casey got up too, ready to walk her to door, when she noticed George's deeply puckered brow; he looked hurt.
Sarah bid them farewell, oblivious to their sudden mood change and waited for Casey to follow her. She pulled Casey along with her when she reached the porch.
"Though the offer still stands, I do remember you telling me you weren't planning on moving out of the house anytime soon. And though I was hoping, I wasn't really expecting you to just accept my offer," she confessed with a smile. "But I'd much rather have you come to us than wander around alone in the streets alone at night."
"Got it," Casey agreed. "Thank you."
"Don't mention it," she said sincerely, hugging Casey goodbye. "I still expect you to come baby-sit Amy some time soon, though," she yelled from her car.
When she finally entered back into the house, she heard George and Derek arguing in the kitchen.
"…what the hell you did, Derek, but you better fix it," she heard George yell angrily.
"What are you accusing me for?" Derek retorted, sounding affronted.
"Don't give me that," George snapped. By then, Casey had reached the kitchen doorway.
"I'm not moving out," she interrupted. "And I'm not planning too. I was having a bad day on Friday, that's all. I like it here." She tried to reassure George with a smile.
"It's just sometimes, it gets too much to handle," she continued, shooting Derek a deliberate glare. "But I don't want to move out." This seemed to be enough for George as he shook his head in acceptance and promptly left the room.
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Something was shaking him and he vaguely heard someone calling out his name.
"Derek," the soft voice repeated. He stirred, carefully trapped in between wakefulness and his slumber.
"Derek," she said again, causing his eyes to open.
It was Casey. He groaned, not sure if this was an absurdly real-feeling dream or if she was really there.
"Derek, get up, please," she pleaded in a mildly frightened whisper.
He rubbed his eyes, but sat up anyway.
"What's wrong, Casey?" he said through a yawn, his voice still groggy from sleep.
"There's a weird noise outside my window," she said quietly. He assessed her; she was fidgeting with her hands nervously.
"Well, what'd you expect," he sighed. "You're in the basement, Case." He fell back on the bed.
"Derek," she whined. "I think there's someone outside my window."
That woke him up. "Did you see someone?"
"No, I just heard incessant tapping on the window," she whispered. He dimly wondered why she had to come to him with this.
"It's probably an animal," he mumbled, burrowing back onto the bed.
"What if it's not?" she said softly, undeterred by his words. "Please, Derek."
"Fine," he muttered tiredly, getting up. "Don't be so mean to her," echoed in his head.
When they reached the basement, Casey hung back near the door.
"Are you serious?" he teased, nearing the window.
"What if it ends up being someone?" she said skeptically.
"What if it is? What are they going to do to you through a window?" Derek reasoned, facing her instead of the window.
"I don't know!" she exclaimed. "He could be holding a gun and I'd have no choice but to let him in!"
Derek burst out laughing but promptly stopped when Casey's frown deepened.
"Come on, this is Ontario, in the suburbs," he reassured, approaching her. "I've been living in this house for long enough to tell you that the chances of that happening are close to nil," he finished as he shoved her shoulder playfully. She seemed to have relaxed a bit.
"Alright, stay here if you want. I'll check it out."
He could hear the tapping Casey had described and had to admit that it did sound like a deliberate sound. He told Casey to close the lights and slowly opened the blinds. He smiled when he discovered it was a squirrel.
He had the mild urge to pretend like it was more threatening than it really was, but decided against it. He opened the blinds further and revealed the offending creature.
"Thank god," he heard her breathe out. Derek banged lightly on the window and shooed the rodent away.
"How long have you been awake?" Derek asked curiously, noticing her weary countenance.
"An hour, maybe," she said reluctantly, sitting on her bed. He shook his head and sat beside her. He rested his elbows on his knees and exhaled noisily.
"Don't wait that long next time," he said sincerely. She looked taken aback but nodded in acceptance.
"I'm sorry, Derek," she said quietly as he was making his way out. He turned to face her, not exactly sure what she was apologizing for, only to see her steadily staring at the ground. He watched with raised eyebrows when she got up and approached him.
"You're forgiven," she added, finally looking him up in the eye. Caught off guard, Derek merely shook his head in acknowledgement.
She stretched her hand out. "Peace?" A shy smile was playing at her lips. He took her hand and pulled her closer.
"You're not going to move out?" he asked softly, keeping her hand in his.
"No," she said firmly.
"Not even if I become too much to handle?" he added with a smirk.
"Not even if you drive me up the walls," she responded, returning his smirk. "I'm not easy to get rid of."
"Good," he said without pause.
"Goodnight Derek," she said through a grin, letting go of his hand.
"Goodnight Casey."
She smiled mysteriously and turned back to her bed. He watched her re-close the blinds and quickly ran back up before she caught him staring.
Maybe Sam was on to something after all.
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Author's Post-Note : Okay, so there's finally a shift between our two oblivious heroes. This is where things get interesting XD. Tell me what you liked, tell me what you didn't!!
EDITED
- Thanks for the people who gave me the right expression!
I
changed it now, thank you again!!
