The bridal shower was going smoothly and it had been nearly an hour since Casey thought of "you-know-who".

"Phone call for Ms. McDonald." bellowed the hostess.

Casey got up and walked to the front to take the phone call.

"She's gone." whispered one of the ladies. Everyone turned to Emily who put out her cigarette to continue her story that everyone had been itching to hear.

"So, what happened next?" asked Morgan eagerly.

Emily continued:

Casey hadn't expected anything to happen to her tonight. She had an important exam tomorrow that she was not at all prepared for.

The library was silent and nearly empty, with the exception of a few people. Casey liked the quiet but in this situation it was eerie and was putting her to sleep. She got up to get the next book she needed.

She went to the empty section of the library and began searching for the author. "Eliot...Eliot" she whispered to herself.

"That's an odd name for a girl." said a gentle voice.

Casey looked around and couldn't see anyone. She ignored it and kept looking.

"I pegged you for more of a Angela or a Grace." the voice said again.

Casey pulled out a book and saw a pair of eyes peering at her from the other section. She new those eyes instantly and smiled then put the book back.

"Nope, not Angela or Grace. Want to try again?"

Derek laughed to himself. "Not Angela or Grace huh?"

"No" Casey pulled out a book she needed and made her way to the next section.

"What about Lizzie?" he asked

Casey shook her head "No, but my sister's name is Lizzie."

"Older or younger?"

"Younger"

"Hmm a sister, a bookworm, and mysterious."

Casey laughed a little to loudly and was shushed by the librarian. "Mysterious is not a word used to describe me Derek."

"Ok, mysterious, humble, and modest. I got your personality pegged so far but not your name..."

"Yeah, that's about right."

Derek pulled out a book to look at Casey. "Jane?"

"No" Casey kept walking and pulled out a book.

Derek looked at her again. "Charlotte?"

"Getting a little closer. Their is a 'c' in it."

"Beginning or end?"

"Beginning."

Derek searched his thoughts for a name that began with a "c". Claire...Cara...Carmen...no those were all nice names but didn't suit her.

"How about this? You give me three more guesses and if I don't get it then I will buy you dinner, lets say...friday?"

Casey thought about it and decided that seemed like a fair bet. He wasn't too good at guessing and she would get a free dinner because of that. "Ok it's a deal. Three more tries."

"Hmm Crystal?" he began

"Ooo no sorry next guess." Casey said still browsing the books getting another one.

Derek thought then came up with the next one: "Callie?"

"Closer, the 'ca' is right. You've got one more try Derek. Are you sure you don't want to back out of it now?" Casey reached the end of the section and there was Derek standing face to face with her. He looked in her eyes intently and it made Casey freeze and look in his eyes. He wasn't going to get it, there was just no way he was going to.

"Casey" he whispered.

Casey looked at him and couldn't help but grin. "Casey"

Derek held out his hand "Nice to meet you Casey"

Casey shook his hand "Nice to meet you Derek." They held each others hands for a moment and said nothing. But Casey finally broke the silence "So I guess you won. You don't owe me dinner on friday."

"I guess so...but I want to."

And so it began, Casey and Derek fell madly in love.

"Aww!!" said all the women.

"That's so sweet. I wish my husband was that romantic when we met." said Anne, one of the women at the bridal shower.

"They fell in love. That's beautiful!" Morgan gushed.

Emily rolled her eyes and downed her sixth glass of champagne. "Uh huh" she said sullenly.

"Wait, so what happened?"

Emily lit another cigarette "What do you mean 'happened'? They fell in love, that's it."

"But why did they break up? Why didn't they get married? Did her drag his feet on asking her?" asked Morgan

"No"

"SO WHAT HAPPENED!?" asked all the women.

Emily rolled her eyes and puffed her cigarette "Fine, I'll tell you":

"Derek where are we?" asked Casey covering her eyes.

"Hold on one more second." he lead her a little further. "Ok, open your eyes."

Casey opened her eyes. It was breathtaking, it was like nothing she'd ever seen. She was standing on the roof of a skyscraper looking over the city. There was candles everywhere, a blanket set up, champagne, rose petals everywhere, the stars were shining and the moon was luminous. It was perfect not just beacuse it was beautiful, but because it was done by Derek.

"Derek, this is...this is... I..."

Derek giggled "I love it when you stammer. Come on let's sit down."

Casey and Derek sat and ate the dinner he had made for them. It was complete with her favorite dessert: chocolate covered strawberries.

"How was it?" he asked later.

"Perfect, especially these strawberries." Casey bit into one and made a sort of purring noise she always made when he thought something was delicious. Derek always loved that sound.

"I'm glad you liked it. But that's not all."

Casey looked at him puzzled. She put the strawberry down and looked at him.

"I was saving this for the perfect moment. But then I realized that, every moment with you is the perfect moment."

Casey smiled sweetly and gently kissed him. Derek reached in his pocket and pulled out a small black box.

"Derek, is that...?"

"Casey McDonald, will you marry me?"

Casey felt the tears well up in her eyes. This was it, she was faced with the decision of forever. Forever with Derek. Was she ready for forever?

Casey smiled the biggest smile she eer smiled and the tears of joy spilt out "Yes Derek. I"ll marry you!"

Derek slipped the ring on her finger and pulled her in close to him. He kissed her with urgency and with all the happiness in him. She had agreed on forever, she would be his always.

"She said yes?!" Morgan asked

"Yup" Emily replied

"But...why aren't her and Derek together now? I mean why-"

"I called it off." a voice interrupted from behind them making them jump up.

"Casey. We were just..." began Morgan

"No, it's fine! Really, it's ok." Casey lied. "I called it off after my mom and Emily made me see that Derek wasn't the right one. And he wasn't, I have them to thank because without them I would have entered a marriage that was doomed to failure." she continued lying, not only to her friends but to herself.

Casey looked at her feet then back at her friends "I have to get going but uh, Morgan thank you for inviting me. I'll see you tomorrow." then she grabbed her purse and jetted out the door before anyone said anything else.