The Bachelor
Disclaimer:
I don't own LWD
AN: ...Enjoy? At least try to!


The Bachelor:
Chapter 9

She hadn't heard from him in a few days. No one had. But she did know that Allie was supposed to come over last week. It worried her a bit. Was Derek ready to deal with her yet? Granted Derek didn't act like he was fragile and hurting. He did his best to put on a brave face and act like nothing had happened but he was still screening his calls and avoiding the subject altogether. Casey knew better though but she didn't want to push it.

But then again, she is Casey so at some point she had to push.

After a week of no communication with Derek, Casey thought it was time to intervene.

She really shouldn't be judging him though. She hadn't had much interaction with anyone else either. She would wake up, go to work, and try to get things done (while looking at her phone every five minutes, hoping he'd call). She'd then drag herself home and do it all over again the next day. She avoided her family as well. They knew something had happened between her and Derek. Something had to because she was the only one getting through to him since the wedding fiasco.

She sighed, not even wanting to think about her family. What would they say if they found out she slept with Derek…let alone was painfully in love with him as well?

She didn't let her mind dwell too much on them. She couldn't get Derek off her mind. Why hadn't he called? Why hadn't he reached out and let her know he was okay? Granted they were never best friends, ever. But she thought they had bonded after the wedding. They hung out all the next day. She even crashed at his bachelor pad (while doing a bit of redecorating, you know packing away all of Allie's stuff. She didn't want him to deal with it).

The thing that scared her most was that Derek didn't have any reason to deal with the outside world. He had time off for his honeymoon. And even though he never actually got married, his coach let it slide. He decided that Derek needed some time to himself.

She came over that day; ready for anything. She had everything she may need in the trunk of her car. She hesitated before knocking on his door. Should she really be there? Her of all people...? She begged Sam but he refused. He said that Derek told him off and that he'd come around eventually. The thing is Sam hadn't experienced heartbreak. Not like Derek...not like Casey. And she knew that Derek may say one thing, but he meant another. So that's why she stood there at his door, ready to brace whatever was on the other side. She gulped, raising her hand to the knocker and hit it three times.

She waited a minute or two, straining her ears to hear any movement on the other side of the door. Nothing. It was quiet. Too quiet. She knocked again, this time louder. She heard a groan come from inside. Pleased that there seemed to be human life inside, she smiled.

She heard him mumble a slur of words but understood none of them. She was sure he was nursing a hangover and her knocking was too obnoxious for his taste. Too bad.

"What?" He groaned, opening the door.

He looked exactly the way she expected. He wore a painful expression with his eyes squinted, nearly shut. As if she was too bright and cheery for his taste. Or maybe he had just woken up and his eyes still hadn't adjusted to the light. His bed-head looked…well, not so great. It was greasy and tangled. Not cute and untouched like it usually did. He only wore a pair of sweat pants that fell a little too low on his hips, exposing his green-stripped boxers and a dark happy trail right above it. And there was a smell...had he not been showering?

She didn't bother wasting her time with a greeting. She was sure whatever she said would be responded with a groans and complaints as to why she was there. And she really didn't care what he had to say. Not yet. Her first priority was getting him clean. So she pushed past him roughly, earning her a "What the fuck Casey," whine from the baby himself.

She continued to ignore him as she let herself take in the state of his apartment. It almost brought tears to her eyes. She had been there less than two weeks ago and she made it spic and span. And yet here she was standing in what looked like a toxic zone. She had to physically hold down her stomach's contents when she looked around. It was gross.

Pizza boxes and other take out containers cluttered the living room; on the coffee table, on the couch, even on the floor. How long had they been there? Hmm, tough to tell but she knew it was long enough to grow some fungus.

"What did you do?" She asked in horror, turning to him as if he had destroyed a masterpiece.

He rolled her eyes at her dramatics. "Nothing." He replied, taking a seat in his precious recliner, pulling a discarded box of pizza into his lap, hoping for some leftovers. He seemed to be in luck. He smiled down at the pizza in his hands like a madman... until Casey ripped it out of his hands.

"What?" He asked, yelling up at her. She still hadn't even explained why she was there. Let alone why she was taking away such a perfect slice of pizza. He needed breakfast after all!

"Shower. Now!" She yelled at him like she was his mother.

"What?" He asked genuinely concerned as if he didn't understand that strange concept she seemed to be talking about.

"Go shower, now." She spoke sternly through gritted teeth. "I refuse to speak to you until you look decent Venturi," she demanded.

"Who says I want to talk to you?" He countered. Who the hell did she think she was? She was not his favorite person at the moment, and the way she was talking to him, yeah it wasn't helping either.

"Listen kid," she said walking up to him, poking him in the chest roughly. "You can insult me all you want after you fix your hygiene problem, okay?" She with a sarcastic smile.

"Whatever." He said pushing passed her. He didn't want to listen to her. He rather kick her out, to be honest. But the thing was...he saw her point. He was beyond gross and disgusting. He smelled like musk and old gym socks. Why hadn't he noticed it before? Oh right, because he was sitting there mopping about his life.

She watched him like a hawk until the bathroom door slammed shut. She smiled triumphantly. At least she had won that battle. Now to fix the house...


To be honest he felt a thousand times better after he got out of the shower. His greasy locks where now squeaky clean and he smelled like his favorite soap; Irish springs (the smell of a man, he would always say). He looked at himself in the mirror and for the first time in days liked what he saw. He didn't look pale and sick anymore. Just… well, unhappy. He shook his head, refusing to go down that road again. He pulled a towel from the rack, wrapped it around his waist and headed out into the battle zone.

She didn't seem to attack him the second he stepped out. He figured it was safe to lock himself in his room to get clothes. Real clothes, not just sweat pants. He pulled on the cleanest pair of jeans he found and an old t-shirt. One last look in the mirror and he nodded. He looked normal again. It had been awhile.

By the time he made it out to the living room, it looked completely different. And he hadn't even been gone that long. Thirty minutes tops. All the leftovers where gone. Everything was clean - at least clean for Derek's standards. He didn't see a piece of pizza or chicken anywhere. So yeah, that was clean! But when his starving stomach growled, he was suddenly missing the mess.

He made his way into the kitchen where Casey seemed to have started on. She was doing the dishes while something was boiling in a pot on the stove.

"Why are you here?" He asked. Although he was now clean, his attitude had yet to change. She didn't have to be there. She had no reason to be there actually.

"Oh look! He has returned!" She mocked with a fake smile as if talking to an audience.

"Why are you here?" He repeated, obviously not amused by her sarcasm.

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe to make sure you're actually alive?" She countered quickly. She knew she was in for chaos, but she didn't expect him to be a little brat. What happened to all the progress?

"That's not your job." He sneered. What was it with this girl that made her think she could stuff her nose into everything? She needed to learn about boundaries and that some things were none of her business. Life would be a lot simpler if she learned to stay away.

She rolled her eyes. "I'm aware." She said turning her back on him, tending to the stove. Was she really that horrible of a person? Coming over, cleaning his house, cooking him a decent meal? Why was he so mad at her?

"Go home, Casey." He begged. He didn't want to see her, he didn't want to be near her. It was too much. It was too hard.

"I will. As soon as I finish these dishes. Feed you. And do your laundry. You're down to the bare essentials huh Der?" She smirked, surveying his body. She tried to make a joke out of it, not letting his words bother her. But it was starting to get pretty hard. He wouldn't lighten up one bit...

"I don't need you to take care of me Casey. You've done enough." He replied, not moving from his safe spot near the doorway.

"I'm not doing it because you want me to, dumbass. I'm doing it because I want to." She explained as her blood starting to bubble a little. She was starting to lose her cool. But she couldn't even be blamed for it. He was pushing her.

"Like I said: you've done enough. Go home." He egged her on. He wasn't even up for a fight to be honest. He just wanted her gone. He wanted to be alone…away from her, from Allie, from everyone. Wasn't he allowed that?

And with that, Casey erupted. "What the hell is your problem Venturi? I understand if you think I came here to bitch or god forbid talk about the elephant in the room. I'm not! I'm here making sure you're okay. That's all. Yet you're acting like I did something!" She yelled back at him, a hand on her hip; her battle stance established. She had taken the gloves off. It was weird though...She hadn't fought with him in what felt like forever. And falling into the same routine...this time didn't feel right. Something was off. But she didn't have time to sit there and think about it.

"YOU DID!" He screamed out, hands flailing about frustrated. Was she still not getting it? It was clear as day!

"Yeah? Well enlighten me." She fought back, crossing her arms over her chest, physically bracing herself for what was about to come. "What did I do?" She dared ask him.

If only she knew what she was in for...

"Everything! You're the reason I cheated on her. You're the reason I haven't left the house in days. You're the reason I'm not on my honeymoon right now. You're the reason she refuses to marry me. YOU'RE THE REASON SHE LEFT ME!" He yelled at her, counting off on his fingers all of her wrong doings. He kept taking a step closer to her with each passing reason.

"You see, there's a flaw in your theory." Casey spoke as calmly as she could, blinking back tears. Sure they had many, many fights in the past but never had he ever looked at her with such disgust in his eyes. And even though he had just explained why, she couldn't understand where this was coming from. He was all wrong. How couldn't he see that?

"What's that?" He countered, trying to calm himself down a bit. He knew he was overreacting and that he would come to regret this later but right now, he was furious. And the more she pretended to be all innocent and shocked by his words, the more his anger grew.

"I'm not behind any of your problems. This other girl is. You can blame her!" She hissed, pushing him away from her. He was too close. His presence was suffocating, making it hard to breathe or to even form a coherent argument. The anger boiling within her was enough of a distraction, she didn't need him helping.

"You just don't get it do you?" He asked softly, shaking his head as his eyes stayed focus on the ground.

"Oh, I get it perfectly fine Derek." Her eyes burning a hole into him, hoping he'd have the balls to look up at her.

And apparently, he did. "You are the other girl, Casey. You're my number one. You." He tried explaining, eyes meeting her burning glare.

Obviously that's why he was so upset. Out of all the girls in Canada, he fell for her. The one girl he's not supposed to have. And not just that but the fact that it had taken him so long to reach such a conclusion. If he had stopped to even think about it before all this, his heart, even Allies could have been spared.

But no, nothing goes his way. And to add another thing to his list of fails, he sort of expected her to he all surprised, happy and jumping into his arms after such a confession. But yet again that's not how the story goes. This is Casey after all. She never does what he expected from her.

Instead of seeing her happy and moved he saw her eyes darken to a deeper shade of blue and her face flushed with anger. It was almost as if by telling her it was her he had said the worst possible thing. It was almost comical the way he could feel the rage build up from her toes. She took a few seconds, gathering her thoughts before replying to him. "You've said some pretty low things to me before, Derek. But blaming me...for this? That's just a whole new level." She declared shuffling passed him and right out the door, not taking one more look at him.

He took in a deep breath, collecting as much air as he possibly could before letting out a slur of obscenities. He just told her. He literally just told her he loved her (obviously in a Derek Venturi kind of way) and she left. The girl would not understand simplicity could she? He ran his hands through his hair, grabbing two fistfuls and roughly pulling at them, hoping it would pull him out of the nightmare he must be living in.

Did that really just happen?

And with the sound of the fire alarm going off, his attention was pulled back to the stove where there may or may not be a small fire.


AN:

And cue the really long rambling author's note that most people skip...

Okay. This is bad. I know this is bad. You guys know this isn't my best work. And it's killing me. Like, I just sat here forcing myself to finish this chapter, but it was so painful. Because I know it's horrible. But it had to be done. Obviously Derek is not okay at the moment. But you have to understand in the span of 2 weeks he was left at the alter, he discovered that he's been in love with Casey, and had his encounter with Allie. And then he was left to deal with everything on his own. And spending so much time alone well, obviously it did him no good. So, I mean if you want a silver lining its the fact that he told her. But if you want to hate me for writing such a horrible chapter, I'll take it.

And by horrible I mean the way I wrote it. (The idea in my head was pretty perfect.) Anyway, I promise I will try my best to do better for next chapter. But if I didn't post this now it was going to be put off as I tried to rewrite it a million different ways, never actually resulting in anything good, and eventually midterms would come (and I'm aware that I'm rambling) and school will get so busy that I won't ever post and you guys would hate me. So instead of hating me in like 3 months, just hate me now for this one and I'll do my best for the next one.

Which actually you might hate me for too cause Allie is coming back... BUT NOT IN THE WAY YOU THINK! And hopefully then you'll only hate me cause you hate Allie's existence and not my actual writing...

And, to quote Eminem (in Love the Way You Lie): I'm so lost, hug me! Then tell me how ugly I am, but that you'll always love me.

Seriously, that's how I feel right now about this. Ugh! (Do you sense my frustration?)

Okay, I'm sorry. Bye!