Both Casey and Sam turned to face the door with a start. Someone was on the other end trying to break it down. "SAM!!! GET YOUR ASS OUT HERE NOW YOU SON OF A BITCH!!!!!" it was Derek. Sam looked at Casey confused. He didn't understand why Derek was so angry. He went to go open the door and as soon as he did his nose met Derek's fist.

"What the hell was that for?!" Sam said while holding his nose up to stop the bleeding.

"Like you don't know. How in the hell could you do that to her!" Derek shouted. He was so furious that he didn't notice Casey getting a towel to give to Sam. "Did you think I would let you hit her and get away with it? Are you that stupid? Don't you know that I love her and would do anything for h- what the HELL are you doing here?" he asked as he saw Casey rush to Sam's side with a towel in her hands.

"DEREK calm down!!!" Casey shouted as she looked him in the eye.

"CALM DOWN!! CALM DOWN?" he shouted in disbelief. "How can I 'calm down' Case? How can you be over here after what he did to you?" he looked at her like she was crazy. How can she be back at Sam's apartment after last night?

"Derek, its okay…" she said as she moved around the kitchen table. She didn't like seeing Derek this angry. In fact she had never seen him this angry before. "Can we talk about this outside?" she asked.

Derek thought about it, then slowly nodded his head in agreement. He followed her into the hallway, giving Sam a disgusted look as he passed him. "What's going on Case?" he asked as soon as she closed the door. "Why are you over here?"

"Look, Sam… he didn't know what he was doing last night. He was really drunk, he'd never mean to hurt me." She said hoping that would be enough to convince him to drop it. But knowing Derek, it wasn't enough.

"Weather he meant to or not, he still hurt you Case. And what's that on your cheek?" he asked, noticing a fresh red handprint on her cheek.

"He got a little angry when I first mentioned him getting help. He hit me, but he apologized and said he'd get help. Its my fault really, I should have said it to him in a way where he wouldn't have gotten angry…" she trailed off. Derek just stood there looking stunned at what he had heard.

"Will you listen to yourself?" he practically shouted. "How can you blame yourself for something he did? Casey, you need to break up with him. This isn't healthy!!"

"Derek, we're not breaking up! Now he said he'd never hurt me and I believe him" she shouted as he turned away.

"I'D NEVER HURT YOU" he shouted as he turned around. "I love you Casey… I love you and I'd never hurt you… can't you see that?"

" I do, I… I know. But Derek, I've gotta see if this works with me and Sam." She said. She had a bad feeling in her stomach. She didn't know what Derek was about to do but she knew that whatever it was, it wasn't good.

"Why?" Derek asked with his back turned to her. "Why would you be with someone who continues to hurt you? Why would you choose him over me? Why would you do that when you know that I love you."

"Because… because…" Casey thought about it. She really didn't have an answer. 'Why do I keep doing this to Derek? Why am I here? Do I really want Sam? I think I do. I've been with Sam since high school. He was the first boy to show any interest in me. But Derek's always been there for me, and I always find myself talking about him at work. And I'm always talking about him…mom always said "you always hurt the one you love". Is that it? Do I always hurt Derek because…' "Because I love him" she said in shock. She had finally realized her feelings for Derek.

Derek turned around slowly. He could not believe what he had just heard. She loved him. After all the things he's done to her, she loves him. "Fine! Whatever Case. I can't take this anymore. This is all just a game to you. You love him, fine. You obviously don't care about me at all."

Casey stood there stunned. She didn't mean to say that she loved Sam. 'NO, no I love you Derek, I've always loved you.' She thought. She willed herself to say the words but they wouldn't come.

"That's great Case. And I hope you have a great live with him. I can't do this anymore. Good bye Casey." He said as he turned back around and started to walk away. Casey watched him leave. She stood there stunned processing what he had just said. She couldn't believe it. A life without Derek. At one point in time that was all she wanted. But now that she knew the real Derek, there was nothing more frightening.

She watched Derek enter the elevator. She couldn't breathe. What had she done? The look in his eyes said he was hurt. As the elevator doors closed she fell to the floor and began to cry. Sam -who had been listening to the whole thing on the other side of the door- came out and put his arms around her. "It's okay Casey, he's just angry right now. Give him time to cool off. He'll come around." She didn't want to hear it. She broke free of Sam's grasp and ran towards the stairs.

"DEREK!!!" she yelled as she ran down the stairs. When she reached the front lobby she saw him speed off in his car, away from her. And somehow Casey knew, she just knew that he wasn't coming back anytime soon. That is… it he ever came back.