I may be stretching reality a little bit when it comes to what happens with the registrar's office, but I didn't think Queen's would appreciate me calling them up and asking how deferment works just for a fanfic. So I looked on the website, and everything I use in this chapter is from there.

Chapter 6: Derek, OUR, and Lizzie

Derek slapped a piece of paper down on Casey's desk. "Here."

He began to walk away, but she called him back. "What is it?"

"You can read, can't you?" Derek snarked.

Casey rolled her eyes and reached for the paper. They had been on speaking terms for the past two days, but their relationship had returned to the strained indifference of their first year together. Their teasing had changed from playful to harsh, maybe even harsher than it had ever been before. She was glad, in a way. It made things less awkward between them.

By the time she finished reading the paper, Derek had left her room. He had applied for deferment for her, filled out all the paperwork. All she had to do was sign it and fax it over to Queen's.

That was it, then. He was telling her once and for all that he didn't want to be with her. He wanted her gone. She stared at the door. It hurt, but it was for the best. She had four days left to call Bernard. There was no reason to put it off any longer.

"Hi, Mr. Blue? This is Casey McDonald. I'll take the job."

VWDVWDVWD

She was on the 4:45 flight to New York. Saying goodbye to her family was surreal. She had been slowly preparing herself for the task all summer, but she had been expecting to drive off with Derek in The Prince, not hug them at the check-in desk at London International.

Queen's had sent her an email expressing their disappointment that she would not be joining their fall freshman class. Her admission was secure, but she would lose her scholarship and her financial deposit with the year of deferment. She would have to make a lot of money in New York in order to even think about returning to Queen's without a scholarship. Thankfully, her mom and George had been understanding.

Though she knew it was mostly because of Derek's attitude, she couldn't shake the nagging feeling that she had made the wrong decision. But she figured that had she turned down the job, she would have felt the same way. It was just fear of the unknown. Derek had diagnosed her himself back in the spring – she had Futuritis again.

Her father was excited to hear that she would be moving to New York. She would be living with him, since she would only be there a year, and living in the city was expensive.

Derek had spent the last few days staring out windows and barking orders at Edwin. She had asked him to join the family at the airport to see her off, but he declined. That hurt her almost as much as anything else that had happened. But he hadn't gone to the airport with Sally when she'd gone to Vancouver, either. He just didn't do goodbyes very well.

It was 8:19 the morning of her flight. The registrar's office opened at 8:30. Casey chewed nervously on her bottom lip as she waited. It was stupid and impulsive, she knew, but she had to be sure that once she left, there would be no chance of changing her mind.

When it was time, she dialed the number with shaking fingers.

"Office of the University Registrar, how may I help you?"

"My name is Casey McDonald. I have a question about deferment."

She could hear the clacking of a keyboard on the other end of the line. "M-A-C or M-C?"

"M-C."

"I see you have been accepted as a deferred student for this academic year."

"Yes. I was wondering…is it too late to change my mind?"

"You'd like to re-enroll?"

Casey gulped. "Possibly."

The secretary, or whoever was on the line, chuckled. "Miss McDonald, classes start very soon. You're cutting it close."

"So there's still time?" Casey brightened immediately. Up until this morning, she had been excited about the job. But now that her departure time was swiftly approaching, she was having gut-wrenching doubts.

"Today is the deadline, actually. Tomorrow we'll be giving your spot to someone on the waiting list."

She couldn't believe her luck. "I'll call you back if I decide I want to withdraw my deferment."

"You have until 4:30. Do you mind my asking why you wanted to defer?"

"I'm going to New York to be a dancer." It sounded as crazy as it ever did just then.

"That's lovely. If I don't speak to you again, best of luck to you."

"Thank you." She hung up with the registrar's office and flopped down onto her bed.

Her phone buzzed with a text message alert. Jesse had sent her a smiley face and wrote, "Can't wait to see you!"

She smiled. She was excited about seeing him again. He had already begun rehearsals, and the few times she had spoken with him, he seemed beyond thrilled. He described the strenuous practices, and Casey's first thought was that it seemed like hard work.

Of course it was hard work. It was a job. Derek was wrong. Dancing was her escape, but it also made her incredibly happy. Why shouldn't your job make you happy?

She tried to ignore the voice in her head telling her that going to Queen's with Derek could make her incredibly happy too. But even if she did go to Queen's, she wouldn't be with Derek. So what was the difference?

Her carry-on bag was sitting on her bed. She placed her phone back inside, making room for it next to her textbooks.

She couldn't help it. She was bringing her textbooks to New York. After all, she didn't want to forget everything she'd learned over the summer. She thought about what Derek had said about learning being her passion. She could learn in New York, too. Maybe even take an online course or two.

Who was she kidding? She wouldn't have time for that. She was contracted for eight shows a week. After doing that for a year, would she even want to go back to school? It would be good for her to get time away from her studies…but on the other hand, a year was a long time to be away from the classroom. How long would it take her to get back into the school routine? Something she told Derek during his Sally-going-to-Vancouver crisis came back to haunt her. "You can't drop out of school, Derek. Even you're not stupid enough to do that." How ironic that Derek would be going to Queen's, and Casey'd be the dropout. There was a difference between dropping out and deferring, of course. But next year, she would be a year older than most of the freshman class. Maybe she wouldn't fit in with them because she'd been out of high school for so long.

Casey wrestled with these issues all morning. It wasn't fun. And Derek's words clouded all of her thoughts. "Don't go." That had been his gut reaction, and despite his rejection of her a few days ago, he had meant all of the things he said at the lodge, she was sure of it.

But how scary was the thought that they needed each other? Was that the sign of a wildly unhealthy codependent relationship? Or was that just the simple truth of two people in love?

Casey needed to get out of her head. She called Jesse and talked to him for a little while. He was so excited to show her the ropes, go sightseeing in New York with her, and of course, dance. Just hearing all of that helped her decide that she had made the right choice.

VWDVWDVWD

She stared out the car window on the way to the airport, feeling a fresh wave of grief at the fact that Derek wasn't sitting next to her. They had said goodbye at the house with a quick hug and a look that lasted a little too long, until George coughed, breaking the spell. She kissed his cheek and turned around without looking back.

At the check-in counter, everyone gathered to say goodbye one last time. Casey sobbed her way through the security checkpoint. She found her terminal quickly enough and sat down to wait. It was 4:06.

She pulled a textbook out of her carry-on and flipped to a random page. As she absently turned the pages, something fluttered to the floor. She picked up the folded piece of paper and opened it. For a moment she thought, and almost hoped, that it was a note from Derek.

It was a note, but it wasn't from Derek. It was written in Lizzie's tight, neat script.

Dear Casey,

I thought you would like to have a little piece of home with you on the plane. I bet you're soaring over the border right now. I know we said goodbye at the airport, but I wanted to say it one more time in this letter. It'll be fun being the big sister for a change, but I'm going to miss you so much. New York is so much farther away than Kingston. I thought you'd be able to come home sometimes on weekends, fighting with Derek in the car the whole way. But instead you'll be dancing in sold out shows. You'll get famous, and the paparazzi will come knocking on our door wondering about your life story. I wonder what they'll write about you and Derek. Sorry. I don't know why I wrote that. Anyway, that's not the point. The point is that this is really goodbye. I'm sure we'll come see you perform, but this will be the longest we've been apart, and I'm really sad. It's going to be so weird that Mom will have the baby, and you won't be here. I'm going to be starting high school, and you won't be around to ask for advice. But I know we'll see each other. Maybe I can convince Mom to let me stay with you and Dad for the whole winter break.

I just wanted to say one more time, I love you and I'll miss you.

Lizard

Casey was bawling by the time she finished reading; her eyes were so clouded with tears that she could barely see the last few lines.

She would miss her new brother or sister's birth. She hadn't even thought about that. The idea that she wouldn't meet her new sibling right away made her stomach clench. All that talk about the McDonalds and the Venturis becoming one family, and she had abandoned them to chase a dream she hadn't even considered until a week ago. She took a deep breath and reread the letter, trying to analyze Lizzie's vibe. Was she asking her to come home in a roundabout way? Casey wasn't sure. But she did know that she wanted to change diapers, babysit, and be there for all of her baby brother or sister's firsts. Of course, she wouldn't be home to do that anyway, she'd be at Queen's. But when her mom went into labor, she'd have a much better chance of making it home in time from Kingston than from New York City.

But was she really about to throw away her career for the unlikely chance to be present at her sibling's birth?

That was crazy. But when she thought about it, it was just as crazy as running off to New York for a year to dance. Derek had told her back in the spring that going to Western would be the cowardly choice, that she shouldn't stick around for the family. And he was right. But there was a big difference between going away to school and taking a job in another country.

It was 4:23. Her plane had begun boarding.

She fished her cell phone out of her bag and dialed the registrar's number.