Hi!! I'm soooooo sorry that this is late coming out. I had computer issues and I couldn't write or get to it for the majority of the week. But on the good side this chapter is pretty long, well for me it is. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own any thing except Matt and Lindsey

Today Matt was arriving. Matt who is apparently the love of Casey's life. Derek could barely tolerate the thought of Casey dating somebody whose name sounded similar to one of her ex boyfriend's name. Max was a douche and so was Matt. It seemed unfair to judge Matt, but it was something that came to Derek easily. For some reason he hated the thought of Casey being with somebody else. Of course, he was nobody to judge. He went to Lindsey, the girl he cheated with, and now he was marrying her. Marriage was still a hard word for him to stomach. It was so, final. It wasn't a word that you would normally hear out of his mouth. Heck, he was surprised he proposed to Lindsey in the first place.

Lindsey and Casey seemed to be getting along well. At least Casey was trying. Lindsey could be hard to handle sometimes. She always got what she wanted. Casey stood her ground on the hair issue. She wasn't going to dye her hair. Derek visibly heard Lindsey and agreed with her but secretly sided with Casey. He loved Casey's hair. Her brown hair brought out the gleam in her eyes and made her face truly shine when she was happy. Casey had compromised with Lindsey on the tan. She wasn't going to go to the tanning bed "to get skin cancer" as she put it. She was going for a spray tan which was just as good.

Now the whole family was waiting in the living room for Casey and her man to come back from the airport. Derek was the only one who wasn't excited. His father had already suggested that he take Matt and Sam out to "bond". That was the last thing Derek wanted to do. Casey had surprisingly agreed with Derek. She seemed hell-bent on keeping Matt away from Derek. Probably didn't want Derek to turn back to his high school ways and scare him off. He never told Casey that he did that because he wanted her for himself. Which was pointless now. He didn't want Casey, right?

Derek was snapped out of his thoughts when the door burst open. In walked Casey, looking stunning as usual, and her beloved Matt. The entire family rushed forward to greet them as Derek stayed back and assess Matt. He was actually pretty good looking. He was tall, green eyes, scruffy blond hair that met his ears, dressed really well for a guy, he was perfect for Casey. Thinking this, Derek looked down at his feet as the family exclaimed over them.

"Oh Matt I can't tell you how excited I was when Casey told us you were dating," Nora said disentangling herself from Matt. He laughed and loosely looped his arm around Casey.

"What can I say? She had me when she walked into my first class that fatal day in September senior year," he said smiling affectionately down at Casey. Casey bit her lip and smiled at him slightly. She looked down and saw Derek.

"Derek," she whispered softly. He caught her eyes and bit licked his lips, his mouth suddenly dry.

"Hey Matt, I'm Derek, Casey's step brother," he said politely and stuck out his hand for Matt to shake. Matt glanced down at him (he was pretty tall) and carefully shook Derek's hand as if he was analyzing him.

"Nice to meet you," he said smiling briefly. "Congratulations."

Derek had forgotten all about getting married the moment they walked in the door, so he was surprised when Lindsey rushed forward and grabbed his arm.

"Thank you," she gushed at Matt. Derek smiled unenthusiastically at her and looked away. He was beginning to feel really uncomfortable in this situation. He walked over to the steps and sat down on the landing as his family made room for Matt and Casey to sit down. They sat there and answered questions while Derek's mind drifted off. Matt was perfect for Casey. He seemed like a good guy, smart, good looking. Parents must love him, while Derek was a parent's nightmare. Lindsey's parents were hard to warm up too. But, of course, so was Lindsey. He always saw Casey with somebody else. Somebody who didn't seem so perfect, Somebody who was like him, more edgier and didn't look like a knight in shining armor. Hell, who was Derek trying to kid? He saw Casey with him.

Casey sat uncomfortably at her dining room table as the family ate dinner. So far everybody (with the exception of Lizzie, Marti, and Edwin) was convinced that Matt was her boyfriend. She looked around and saw George and her mom absolutely beaming at Matt. They were always telling her what a nice boy they thought he was. She just never had the heart to tell them that he was gay. Hopefully, they won't find out any time soon. Lindsey was sitting around, looking a little down on the fact that nobody was paying attention to her. Derek was pushing his food around which was strange because he was always shoving food down his throat.

"So Matt, tell us what your up to these day," Nora said smiling kindly. Derek looked up expectantly.

"Uh," Matt began. He shot a look at Casey. Casey swallowed. She didn't think her parents would be too big fans of the whole starving actor thing that Matt did.

"He's looking into the CPA field," She interjected, smiling nervously. Matt shot her a disgusted look. Matt's father was a CPA and wasn't a big fan of Matt's acting career. Derek's face darkened and looked back down and Lindsey broke out in a grin.

"Oh, wow, a CPA," she complimented, twirling a piece of her blond hair. "My father is one. It's a very generous payment job."

Casey wrinkled her nose. Lindsey looked like she was into money more than people. Starting with her more-than-rent-for-a-year veil for her dress and ending with the million dollar church for where the wedding was to take place. But, Derek didn't seem to mind the fact that his fiancée was sort of flirting with Matt in front of his face. He looked too distracted.

"What were your past relationships like?" Lindsey asked nonchalantly. Casey nearly choked on her water as Matt dropped his fork. Derek snapped his head up and noticed how uncomfortable the atmosphere seemed to get.

"Linds, that's really none of your business," he said out of the corner of his mouth. Lindsey rolled her eyes and flipped her hair over her shoulder, managing to whip Edwin in the face. Matt looked over at Casey and bit his lip. Casey licked her lips and tried to think of a good excuse to get out of the question.

"It's a tragic story actually," Matt began thoughtfully. Casey looked over, alarmed. Matt bit his lip and looked upward as if he was reminiscing. "Oh the memories, they still kill me," he said, his voice breaking. He was such a good actor.

"Tell more," Lindsey said, intrigued.

"Lindsey!" Derek said appalled. "It's obvious that it's a bad story for him to even think on. Leave the guy alone."

Casey looked at Derek impressed. She was beginning to think that Derek had no control over Lindsey. This, however, changed her opinion.

"Thank you," Matt said, touched. He began to move his hand to pat Derek's but Casey smacked it quickly. Matt had forgotten that he was playing at straight man for a moment. Nobody else seemed to notice it though except for Lizzie. Casey smiled into her plate trying to hide her laughter at Matt's acting. Lizzie snorted into her glass, causing everybody to look at her. She began coughing uncontrollably.

"Sorry," she coughed. "Went down my windpipe."

"Thank you thank you thank you soooo much, Matt!" Casey said flinging her arms around him. He laughed and returned her hug. It was about ten o'clock that night. After a truly awkward dinner, she was grateful that most of her family was asleep now or had left i.e. Lindsey. It was hard for Casey to avoid Derek's stare at dinner. He just sat there, not really saying anything unless somebody asked him a question and bore his stare into Casey's face. She looked away, trying to keep her nervousness in check and tried not to give anything away. Derek had a way of always being able to see right through her.

"It's no problem Case," Matt said settling down on her bed. "I think we really fooled them don't you?"

"Hopefully," she sighed. "I think they mostly bought it. Do you think Derek did?"

"I think he more than bought it," Matt said checking his nails. "Did you see his face? He looked like he just lost his puppy."

"Nah," Casey said swatting his hands. He cared more about his nails than Casey did about her own. "He was just quiet and being his old aloof self."

"Yeah right," Matt disagreed. "I'm a guy and I can read guys cause, hello, I like them more. He was definitely upset."

"Whatever," Casey dismissed, pulling Matt toward her door. "You should go to bed before people suspect stuff."

"Like we're having sex? Casey, come on, that'll ruin Derek's day even more!" Matt remarked opening her door. She rolled her eyes and reached up to kiss him lightly on the cheek which Derek saw as he opened his door.

"Thanks Matt," she said smiling at him.

"No problem babe," he said winking at her as he headed toward the room he was sharing with Edwin. She smiled and shook her head turning around and gasped when she saw Derek standing behind her.

"Derek!" she said placing a hand on her heart.

"That's my name don't wear it out," he said chuckling at his lame attempt at a joke. She cast a confused look and went in her room.

"Um, Matt seems like a great guy," he said sitting on her bed like he had so many times during high school. She took her place in the computer chair and looked at him. She cast her eyes away from him and looked at her hands.

"He really is," she said biting her lip. She felt Derek's eyes on her and the hair on her neck stand up. She looked up at him and was shocked to see his face down cast.

"I'm happy for you, really," he whispered softly. She blinked and looked at her door.

"Thank you," she smiled softly, feeling tears well up in her eyes.

"I never really saw you with somebody else," he spoke up. Casey snapped her eyes to him and saw him looking intensely at her. Her breath caught in her throat and she focused her eyes on him. "I always saw you with me."

"Really?" she asked feeling her voice shake slightly.

"I guess, today was a wake up call," he got up and wiped his hands on his jeans. "You're happy with him aren't you?"

She looked up at him and felt a tear spill over onto her cheek. She carefully averted her eyes to the right of him.

"Yes, I am," she lied. Derek looked at her and then smiled sadly.

"Okay then."

She watched him walk to the door. She brushed her tear off her face and turned toward her desk.

"Casey?" she looked up at the sound of his voice and met his eyes. He took a deep breath and pursed his lips together as if he was determining whether to say something.

"I really did love you," he confessed. She bit her lip to keep herself from crying and to also keep herself from running to kiss him.

"I just wanted you to know."

And with that, he was gone. She heard the slam of him door and she threw herself on her bed. She turned her head into her pillow and let the tears fall. Hearing Derek say those words really meant that they were over, for good. It hurt worse that she expected.

Review!