A/N: I wrote this a little while ago... I'm going through a writer's block right now..so don't eat me!
Breakfast had gone well; Nora hadn't been there, but otherwise things were as normal as they could get. Lizzie brought Casey up to speed over scrambled eggs, and Marti was successful at weirding her out with her eating habits. It was yellow day; Marti had put bananas on her mustard covered eggs. Derek drove her to school, explaining the rules of the school hallways, and his status as King.
She had laughed at this, disbelieving, but had been proven wrong once they arrived. Every person, with no exception, had greeted him like a cool best friend, and some he actually greeted back.
Emily had gladly taken up the job as guide for him, and Casey was adapting to her new environment. Still, Derek felt uneasy about letting her out of his sight. She was still the new, fragile Casey, and he feared for her safety, both mentally and physically. They promised each other to meet in the library during lunch, and went their separate ways once the warning bell rang.
Derek hadn't been anywhere near the library for ages. He'd just had no reason to, since henever took up reading as a pastime. They were more Casey's thing. That was why he was in here in the first place, feeling like a fish not quite out of water, but nevertheless out of his element. In a shallow pool, maybe, during a drought.
He spotted her.
She was in a corner near the windows, nibbling on a pen, looking as if deep in thought.The faint traces of fading bruises and healing scratches blemished her pale skin, and she did not look half as confident or as in-your-face as Casey had been. He sighed, and walked over to her table.
"Casey," he whispered loudly. She looked at him, dazed. An expression of confusion crossed her features, then, as if finally realizing who he was, she stage-whispered back "Derek!"
It was odd, to see his stepsister say his name without any disgust or hatred. It wasn't unpleasant, just...odd.
"Hey. What're you doing here?" he asked her.
"Well, umm...what's my friend's name again? The one with frizzy hair who talks about you all the time?"
"Emily?"
"Yeah, Emily!" her eyes lit up at the name. "Well, Emily told me that this is what my favorite place was...is."
Sadness softened her features, and she seemed to deflate a bit. It was still distressing, after a whole day, that she still had no idea who she was.
Derek took note of this, and quickly changed the subject.
"So, what have you been doing? Doodling?" he looked over the table at her notebook. Habits die hard, he supposed, because she was copying out a whole chapter in a textbook.
"What're you doing, Casey? Copying the entire book?" He stifled a laugh. She looked at him blankly, and just said, "Emily told me I did this too...and that I liked copying textbooks for fun."
Seeing that staying inside was not a good option, he pulled her to her feet, and grabbed her things.
"C'mon, we're going to the park."
Few minutes later, Casey lay on the green grass under the oak tree, breathing in deeply. The place was calming after a whole day surrounded by strangers. Emily was really friendly, and most of her classmates left her alone, but it was good to finally see a familiar face. She smiled at him, sitting by her, leaning on the trunk of the tree.
"This is really nice,"
"Yeah, it is," he replied, stretching, revealing a toned stomach as his t-shirt struggled to cover it up. Now he was lying on his leather jacket, head propped up against a tree root. She looked away quickly, and chanted, 'my brother, my brother, my brother…'
Then she stopped suddenly, remembering something.
Looking over at Derek again, there was a moment's pause; she didn't want to disturb his peace.
"Derek," she began slowly.
"Hmm?" he murmured, already close to dozing.
"About Sam…" Derek's eye snapped open.
"What about him?"
"Shouldn't he be in school with us right now?"
"Technically, yeah…"
"But…?" she prompted. In all honesty, she was only asking to get it off her conscience, not because she was worried about her boyfriend. It was hard to care about someone who you had no memory of whatsoever.
"He's still in the hospital, Case." He frowned, shaking his head almost imperceptibly. "He's in a coma."
Casey took a sharp intake of breath. She'd assumed that this 'Sam' was already out of the hospital like herself. She'd been wrong.
"Is it serious?"
"I really don't know. The doctors said they can't do anything for him but wait. He's going to have to pull himself out of the coma."
Casey frowned. She felt pity for the boy, the boy who had been her boyfriend.
"Could I…could we go visit him sometime?" she asked tentatively. An odd look passed his features, but it was gone as quickly as it had come, and he just said, with a small smile, "Sure."
Then Derek lay back down, and visibly relaxed. Casey looked at him again and smiled back. He was such a considerate brother. She was glad to have someone like him to look after her.
It was really weird, to be unable to recognize anyone, even herself. She'd looked in the mirror for ages after she'd woken, just to familiarize herself with the face that everyone else saw. Her eyes were large and blue, her eyebrows arched neatly. Her face was mainly free of flaws, with the exception of a small blemish here and there. She had a button nose, and a full mouth. Her strong chin hinted at a stubborn nature, but she didn't really feel all that stubborn right now. Rich brown hair tumbled down her back, just a little past her shoulders.
Derek had similarly colored hair, brown with hints of red highlights hidden in the loose curls. It was messy, and not styled, but Casey thought that it looked just fine. The messiness was even kind of… endearing to look at.
She looked at him, lying against the tree once again, completely relaxed, and smiled. He had light and long lashes, and underneath, large, puppy dog brown eyes. He had a quirky nose, not sharp or blunt or upturned…just…Derek. His mouth was also full, with laugh lines on either side. He'd laugh more often, she imagined, if not for her.
Sighing again, she allowed the calming atmosphere lull her into sleep.
