AN: sorry. Internet was on the fritz. I'm updating now, though. :)

Disclaimer: nothing owned.


Separation was the term that labeled their marital status. Yeah, so maybe they were hardly in a marriage but legally they were. And they were separated. For the past three weeks they were separated. For the last three weeks they hardly saw one another because she was being avoided. Avoided by her husband ever since that night at her apartment. She told herself that her instinct was to stop it because it just didn't feel right. She wasn't sure if there were feelings and she sure as hell didn't know if she had feelings for him. There was still that divorce that they both needed to get in 7 months and getting involved with him was just…it just made her brain hurt.

Just up until two months ago, he was Derek Venturi: Casey's annoying step-brother that she accidently got married to. But besides that, he became her friend that she actually enjoyed having around. Now…now here she was: being avoided by that friend who was her step-brother and husband… and right now she didn't like it one bit.

For the past three weeks she waited for him to call or come over, she even made an attempt to call him but he never picked up. There were many occasions where she stopped by pretending to hang out with Gina but she was really there hoping to bump into Derek. Unfortunately for her, he was never home. Gina even told her when Derek was home but he'd weasel his way out. So she just gave up trying and she hoped they could just get back to the way they were. And now more than ever was a perfect reason as to why she didn't want to get involved with him because things like this happen. Feelings get hurt and avoiding continues. She hated this.

There she sat in her row, slowly looking around at the people. Well she could care less about the people, she just wanted to see one person and so far she hadn't seen any sign of him. She knew he cared about graduation, so he had to be there somewhere. Waiting patiently for the V's to make their way to the stage and finally they did. She sat up intently as she looked at the row's line and there he was. Derek Venturi and he was perfectly fine. She sort of hoped he was sick or something just so she was sure that maybe that was the reason he was avoiding her…but no. He was there in all his glory as he looked out to his class and yelled out a "Hell Yeah, I graduated!" Casey rolled her eyes and all she could think about was how badly she wanted to hurry up and get out of this hell hole and talk to him.

"Hurry the hell up!" she muttered through her teeth, "Damn announcements take forever." She turned her head and saw her neighbor raising a suspicious eyebrow at her. Casey laughed nervously, "Sorry…I…uh…really have to pee. Yeah."

"Oh," he held up his empty bottle of water, "You're welcome to use my bottle."

Casey wrinkled her nose in disgust and stared away, "No thanks."

--

Finally the graduation was over and she was rushing to get out of the place. She was really annoyed with the traffic of people just standing around; it was stopping her from getting out this damned vicinity. There she found herself standing stuck in a sea full of people and at that point she was so angry that she ending up bum-rushing everyone and their mothers. Finally she made it free to go out the doors and outside the venue. "So damn claustrophobic."

Sam and Gina were standing outside and she darted over to them in an angry manner. They were a bit startled by her negative appearance toward them, "Wh-what's wrong, Casey?" Gina nervously let out.

Casey groaned as she paced back and forth in front of them, "De-rek!" she stopped and glared at them, "Derek Venturi is my problem! Can you guys believe him?!"

"What? He seemed perfectly fine to me?" Sam inquired and this made Casey even more angry.

"Exactly! He's perfectly fine!" She wrinkled her nose and glared staring ahead, "He's just great and that bastard has been ignoring me!" She quietly ran a hand through her hair, "Was I wrong?" they were both taken aback by Scary Casey coming out to play, "Was I wrong to stop him? Should I have just let him kiss me or something?" Sam and Gina blinked at her, "Hello?!" she screamed.

They were startled, "Umm…" Gina shrugged, "We already talked about this, Casey."

- - - -

"He totally kissed me and I stopped him." Casey quietly admitted to her two friends.

Emily and Gina both had wide eyes. Both opened their mouths to speak but immediately closed it right after. They were speechless. Gina shook her head and looked over at Emily, who also had disappointment on her face. "Can you be--" she threw a glance at her completely incoherent friend and immediately put up a hand to block her vision of Casey. "Can you believe what she did?!" she muttered quietly to Emily.

Casey groaned, "Are you guys seriously going to do this?"

"Do you hear something, Gina?" Emily sang out sarcastically as she, too, avoided looking at her friend.

Gina shook her head, "Nope. All I hear is a senseless little bird."

"Senseless?" Casey scoffed, "I'm Senseless?!"

Emily looked around, "I hear it again, Gina. The bird keeps practically begging for something but when it gets it…it doesn't want it!"

"Damn bird," Gina muttered loudly, "is so damn stupid! No wonder they all fly into that glass window all the time. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid."

"Fine!" Casey got up, "I don't need this," and finally Emily and Gina snapped out of their act.

"Sit your ass down, Casey. We're just messing with you." Emily annoyingly told her and she did. "We just don't understand why."

"First of all, he sprung it on me and it was the first thing I could think of doing." Gimily sat unconvinced, "You guys! Seriously it didn't feel right. And now I feel like a total monster!"

"You should feel like a monster!" Emily shrieked, "Finally he actually felt the need to kiss you. You reject him, Casey. I don't understand. I really don't. Humor me, please!" she begged.

"Did you idiots and Derek forget that there's still a divorce we have to get in 7 months?"

Gimily got quiet. "Oh." "That's right."

Casey pinched her temples and bit her lip in thought, "It didn't feel like the right time, okay? It didn't."

Gina sighed, "Well in that case, if it didn't feel right then it didn't." Emily threw her a glare in which she couldn't believe Gina was letting this go so quickly. "What, Emily? She's right."

Casey offered her friend a smile, "Thanks. That's all I needed to know. Well I gotta go. I'll talk to guys later. Bye."

"Bye." "Bye, Casey."

They watched her leave and Gina cleared her throat, "You know I was totally kidding. That girl is completely dense sometimes."

Emily nodded in agreement, "Damn straight."

- - - -

Nodding ahead, Casey recalled their talk, "Yeah, exactly, I felt it wasn't right so I stopped him." She brought her eyes to look at a frightened-by-the-girl-talk Sam, "What about you?" she muttered toward him.

Raising his hands in defense, Sam didn't have an answer, "I'm not part of th--"

"SAM!" Casey startled him again and Gina nudged him as she threw him a stare to just answer her before she goes more crazy. People don't like Crazy Casey. She's scary.

Sam sighed and decided to just tell her, "You really hurt his feelings."

"Feelings?!" Casey screamed in a whisper, "Guys don't have feelings!--"

"Hey guys…" Derek came in from behind her and immediately she stopped talking. He looked over at Sam and Gina and he pretty much just threw a glance over at Casey. "So what are we doing ton--"

Casey glared and she immediately felt anger run through her veins, "Oh, you son of a bitch," she muttered through her teeth, "don't pretend like I'm not here."

He arched his eyebrows and fixed his look at Sam and Gina, "Do you guys hear something? It sounds like someone trying to cut me off while I was in the middle of doing something."

"Oh!" Casey let out a loud with a sarcastic laugh, "Wow! He's a funny guy this one!"

Sam and Gina were a bit frightened by the fact that they were stuck in the middle of an argument. "Umm…"

"Grabbing drinks at that one place right?" Sam chimed in to change the hostile environment that was becoming this area they stood in.

Derek nodded with slight sarcasm, "Yeah. Can't wait." He caught sight of some people he had to see. Well he wanted to see them so he could get away from the annoyance that was Casey, "Alright. I'll see you guys later."

"Ugh!" Casey started her angry pacing again, "Damn that Venturi!" She stopped, sighed, and watched him go over to some girls where he was laughing and smiling and all she could feel was horrible. She nodded slowly to herself, "Yeah," she stifled a sad laugh, "he's perfectly fine without me." Gina reached over to comfort a sad Casey but she pulled back and shook her head with a reassuring smile. "I'm fine. He's fine. We're supposed to be separated anyway, right?" Sam and Gina slowly shrugged, "He's just making things easier for me." Casey felt the need to just get away from everyone and everything, "I'm just gonna go home now."

"You still gonna come out with us for drinks later?" Gina asked…well kinda hoping it would cheer her up.

Casey shrugged, "I don't know. Not really up for anything right now. I'll give you guys a call. Happy Grad Day." They nodded and she made her way toward her car.

"It looks like those two are playing hard to get, huh?" Gina crazily muttered aloud to herself while her line of vision stayed on Casey.

Sam raised an eyebrow, "Are you talking to yourself?"

Gina didn't even hear him, "They'll be back fighting and not fighting and almost kissing and rejected kissing and cuddling before we know it." She nodded rapidly and all Sam saw was crazy, "Mhmm…yup."

"Wow." Sam sighed. Deadpanned. "So you talk to yourself now. Interesting."

--

Casey felt a tap on her shoulder as she reached her car. It was her family and quickly she realized that she had them come out to see her. Because Derek was running laps in her mind, she had totally forgot, "Hey, guys," she offered them smiles.

Nora was crying with joy at the sight of her daughter, "Casey," she hugged her tight, "I'm so proud of you, Sweetie."

Casey pulled back and smiled, "Thanks, Mom." This was supposed to be the greatest day of her life and right now she was feeling just the opposite.

"We need pictures!" Nora yelped out as she rummaged through her purse to get the camera out. Her eyes scanned all the people around, "Where's Derek?" Casey really didn't care at that moment. Nora looked over at George, "Georgie, we need Derek so we can get some pictures!"

"Okay, okay." George went to go find his son. A few minutes later, came back the two Venturi guys. "Okay, we got Derek," he breathed with a hand resting on his bad hip.

Nora gave him a big hug to which he wrinkled his nose to, "Derek! I'm so proud of you, too! Our little future filmmaker or hockey star!"

"Ha. We'll see," Derek tried to get out of the uncomfortable hug, "Thanks Nora."

"Time for pictures!" Nora positioned her camera, "Okay, you two, get together--"

"Wh-what?" "Excuse me?!" both Derek and Casey nervously sang at the same time.

Nora sighed, "You two need to stop acting like there are cooties around. I know you aren't as bad as you once were. Now get together so I can take pictures!" She demanded still with that crazy Mom smile.

Casey and Derek groaned as they inched their way together for a photo-op. They both secretly threw their eyes to give one another glances as Nora went on a picture taking tirade, "You two are so adorable." This only made them groan some more. Finally she finished and they quickly separated. "Alright, you two, so we're going to take you out to lunch, right? I know you and your friends have an outing tonight so come on let's go."

They were all ready to head into their cars but Casey stood behind, "Hey, you guys, I'm feeling pretty tired right now." She threw out a convincing yawn followed by a laugh, "Graduation takes a lot out of a person. So you guys go ahead and go. I'm just going to head home." Derek watched her intently, arching his eyebrows at her actions. He could tell she was upset and it was obvious it was because of him. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't upset being around her at the moment too.

Nora frowned, "Casey, this is yours and Derek's day. We have to take you out to lunch."

Casey offered her a smile, "I know, I know. We can go another day when I'm feeling better." She gave Nora and George a hug, "Just go ahead and take Derek out. You guys have some fun. I need a cat-nap or something."

"Alright, Sweetie." "Okay, Casey." Nora and George told her. "We're really proud of you."

Casey nodded and headed toward her car to which Derek caught up with her. "Hey, Casey?"

She shook her head, "It speaks!" her mouth let out a bitter snort.

"Hey!" she turned to look at him, "You were the one that called me a son of a bitch for the first time in 3 weeks."

"Because it's been 3 weeks!" she quickly opened her door to get in but Derek grabbed her elbow to stop her, "Just go because they are waiting for you," she sighed, "Just let me go and be perfectly fine without me. Let me go, Derek." He did and she quickly got into her car to where she absently mindedly grabbed a pen and a crumpled up receipt from the floor and started to write, "Don't forget to buy scissors…"

--

Casey woke up to a loud banging on her door and boy how she hated abrupt wake ups during her sleep. She let out a frustrated scream as she forced herself out of bed and over to her front door. The banging was loud once more, "Someone needs to…" she turned the knob, "learn som--" there he stood with a little bouquet of flowers for her and all she could do is arch her eyebrows toward him. "What is this some peace offering or something?" he reciprocated her look as the words came out, "Because I don't need it."

Casey tried to shut the door but he brought a foot in to stop it, "Casey, it's not a peace offering it's just I know how much this day means to you and I got you this as a present. Now will you please accept them?" he practically begged.

She sighed and gave him a reluctant nod to which he smiled as he gave her the flowers, "Fine." He handed them to her and immediately she took in the fragrant scent.

"Can I get a smile of some sort?" he grinned jokingly to make the mood much lighter between them. She offered him a small smile to which he didn't complain to, "There it is! That's all I'm asking for."

She rolled her eyes and the next thing she knew was bringing herself in his arms for a hug to which he immediately gave back to her. Casey held onto him tight and at that moment it was the only thing that seemed right. These past three weeks took a toll on her and seeing him being his sweet old self was all she needed right now. "Derek Venturi, I am beyond upset with you right now…" she mumbled against him.

Derek instantly smiled and hugged her tighter. He hadn't been this close to her since that embarrassing night but he didn't care. He kinda missed being in this proximity, "What's new?" he joked. He heard her laugh and now he just felt good to be able to be the Derek and Casey they remembered before all these things happened.

Casey pulled back and the first thing she could think of doing was this: grabbing the flowers he got her and hitting him over and over again; the petals flying all over the place until they hit the floor. Yeah, Casey seriously had no control over her emotions and sometimes the only way she could deal with it was to hit him. She muttered, "Don't ever pull this little stunt again!"

He grabbed the flowers from her to stop this physical abuse she was laying upon him, "What stunt?" he knew exactly what she was referring to. There was still a part of him that couldn't understand why it was him that was coming over here and cheering her up when for the last three weeks he was the one who needed it. She should've been the one to fix this but unfortunately for him, Derek Venturi had a soft spot for his wife.

"Avoiding me for 3 weeks?!" she smacked him upside the head, "What the hell is the matter with you?!"

"What the hell is the matter with me?!" he battled back. "You shot me down! You should totally be the one coming to my place and apologizing."

"I did!" she cried out in frustration, "I went to your house over and over again! I tried to talk to you! You kept running away from me!" she defended herself and he was quiet, "See."

For the past three weeks, Derek Venturi was a bit of a wreck in his own right. The past three weeks had been a little hard on him. He had been putting himself down for trying to kiss Casey that night and he felt like an idiot getting shot down. He was Derek Venturi. Girls never shot him down… he shot them down. But here was Casey, his wife, and the only one who he actually gave a damn about in quite some time. He didn't intend on trying to avoid her… it sorta just happened to the point where days became weeks.

Today he knew he was going to have to see her and he knew there was no point in sulking about seeing her. During graduation he knew he had to put on an act to show that he was okay and the incident that happened between them would just stay an incident; hopefully never to be mentioned again. He was happy today and he was celebrating a milestone in his life. But the looks that Casey gave him or the look of hurt that she had when he was around to ignore her made him anything but happy. Derek wanted to be happy and the only way to do that was to have Casey back in his life and right now that's what he was trying to do.

"Casey, I'm sorry for avoiding you." There was that immediate snort that came from her, "I didn't plan on doing it. I just felt really shitty for doing something because you led me on," he tried to hold in a tiny laughter.

Casey managed to let a long gasp escape past her lips, "I did not lead you on!" Derek raised an unbelieving eyebrow as her face scrunched up in thought, "Fine. I'm sorry."

"You should be." He started to fidget with his fingers as he began to speak again, "God, I've never been so embarrassed in my life, Casey."

Casey gave him a sarcastic laugh, "HA! Derek Venturi embarrassed? Since when?!" she laughed and he didn't so she settled herself, "Sorry."

Derek rolled his eyes as they walked over to the couch. Casey folded her legs beneath her as she watched him speak. And all she did see on his face was embarrassment, "Of course I was embarrassed! I mean damn I tried to kiss you, Casey! How else was I supposed to react?"

"Derek," she scooted closer to him, "I told you that night that it was okay." She shook her head, "I didn't think that you'd go and avoid me like that after we just started becoming close again. How do you think I felt when you aren't here to bug me?" she let out a chuckle, "I mean, it was two months of not seeing you and then we had what like two days?" Derek nodded staring ahead, "Then it was back to not seeing you. I really do miss having you around." She shrugged, "I missed you." Casey managed a chuckle, "Every day."

Burying his head in his hands as he sighed, "Casey," he took a deep breath and looked up at her. "You really can't keep messing with me like this."

Casey raised an eyebrow, "Like what?"

He directed a scoff toward her, "Don't pretend like you don't know. You keep sending me mixed signals!" She still looked confused. He shook his head and tried again, his eyes more narrow this time around, "You keep saying things about how you miss having me around and how much you missed me. Even saying things about how when you're with me you aren't crazy and yeah, Casey, maybe this is hard for you to believe but I actually really like you and when you say shit like that, it only makes me think that maybe," he shrugged, "just maybe, you might like me too." He let out a breath that had been stuck somewhere inside him and realized he actually admitted it.

He actually did admit it and she wasn't exactly sure she liked him that way, only that she missed him. And she was unsure of her feelings and now she could see that it was actually hurting him. That Sam was right in saying she hurt his feelings. "Derek, I say those things because I actually mean them. I'm not sure I have feelings for you and I can't lie to you just to make you feel better." Casey swore she saw the hurt flicker on his face and at that moment she felt terrible for putting it there. She softly put her hand on his, where that tingle crept through the fibers of both their hands, "Derek, just because I don't feel that way about you doesn't mean I don't want you around. I hate when you're not around," she snorted, "I never thought I'd ever say that about you." She hinted a small laugh and she could see Derek do the same. "I like when we're able to joke and have fun, you know? You are the only fun I have, I hope you know."

"Really?" he managed a smirk.

Casey nodded, "Yeah, so you can imagine how much hell these last three weeks have been. Constantly getting called stupid by the girls."

"Those are some very smart girls." She pouted. "I'm just kidding…" the beam was back, "they are just as stupid as you are."

"De-rek!" he busted out into laughter and immediately she joined him, "See! This is what I'm talking about. I love this…" he nodded, "I don't like being so serious with you because then you go and avoid me for weeks. I don't want to touch that with us."

He nodded slowly, "Yeah…"

"And it's things like this that make me not want to get involved with you other than being your friend and," she laughed, "your wife." Derek laughed and once again felt the need to avoid her eyes as he looked down. Casey brought her fingers to tilt his chin up to look at her again, "Friends?"

Derek knew everything she said was true and friends would be the best thing for them. He would just have to set his feelings aside and try to be the Derek he was to her before all this. Just these last few laughs he had with her were refreshing and it was because they didn't cross that friends barrier. He nodded and confirmed it, "Friends."

"Good. Now, Hubby, give me my hug." He rolled his eyes and chuckled as he leaned forward to give her the hug she requested, "Don't go hiding from me anymore, okay?" she whispered against him.

Derek at the moment just wanted to savor what he had in front of him. There would be no more of these serious about feeling hugs because friends was what they were, "I couldn't even if I tried." Pulling back, he had a little whine in his voice, "So please tell me you changed your mind in coming out with us tonight…" and now it was time to flip the old Derek switch back on. He did a pretty good job doing it.

Casey raised an eyebrow, "How did you know I wasn't going…" he shrugged, "It was Gina wasn't it?"

"Yup." He got closer to her and whispered with a tiny hint of laughter arising from his voice, "She made me come here and say all these nice things to you. Oh, and the flowers too…"

- - - -

"OW! OW! OW!" Gina grabbed Derek by the ear and sat him down on the couch as she stood angry in front of him, "WHAT THE HELL IS THE MATTER WITH YOU?! THAT HURTS!" he yelled.

"Derek Venturi, you are going to quit this little bitch act you got going and you're going to talk to Casey."

Derek slouched back on the couch, rubbing his red ear. "No. If she wants to talk, she can come here."

"She did!! For the past three weeks she tried!"

He shrugged, "Tell her to try harder."

Gina groaned aloud. "Why are you being so difficult?! Why is Casey so difficult?! You two are one in the same I hope you know."

"Yadda, Yadda." Derek rolled his eyes, "Gina, be a dear and fetch me a bag of ice. Please!"

Her eyes narrowed with rage, "I am not your slave, Derek."

"Samm--"

Gina looked over at Sam, who was about to get up, "Sam, sit down!" he did and she threw her look back at Derek, "Sam isn't your slave either!"

"Just yours?" Derek snorted while Sam wrinkled his nose.

"UGH!" She looked around and saw a drumstick on the ground and picked it up, "Okay, Derek. Let's try again." Pointing the drumstick toward Derek, "You will go out, buy some really pretty flowers, and make peace with your wife."

Derek laughed nervously, "How in the hell did Sammy and I get stuck with a bunch of angry girls like you two?"

Gina took a deep breath, "I'm not even going to reply to that." She dropped and took a seat on the coffee table, "Derek, please?"

He sat up and grinned, "Only because you ask so nicely." He brought himself off the couch then turned around before heading out, "You wanna give me some money for those really pretty flowers?"

"Sam!"

"I'm on it!" he reached into his back pocket and handed Derek some money.

- - - -

Casey smacked his shoulder hard, "So you didn't mean any of those things you said?!" she frowned.

He pulled back in hysterical laughter to which she still had a wrinkled nose and a glare, "I did." He settled down and put his hands on her shoulder to assure her, "I meant every word. I promise." She got her half a smile back. "So you'll come out, yes?"

"Fine," she pretended to be annoyed, "I'll come out tonight."

Derek instantly grinned, "Thatta girl. Now get your ass up and get ready because these kitty pajamas aren't going to cut it."

Casey rolled her eyes, "Shut up." She got up, "Let me take a shower."

Derek stood up and had mock seriousness on his face, "You need help with that?"

She shook her head at his perverted act, "Get your mind out of the gutter, boy."

--

She came out of the shower and went into her room only to be startled by Derek sitting on the edge of her bed, "De-REK!"

He laughed as she subconsciously tried to cover herself up even more with her towel, "Calm yourself woman. I've seen it before and it's pretty damn great so go and get dressed."

"Perv." She muttered allowed and it only made him beam brightly at her, "How I let you get away with saying those things to me, I'll never know."

"It's only because you feel flattered when I compliment you," he smirked as he explained matter-of-factly.

"Whatever." She wrinkled her nose due to the unfortunate fact that he was right. She totally felt flattered when he complimented her... she just wouldn't give him the satisfaction of knowing, "Now if you want me to get ready," she nicely said, "then GET OUT!"

He fell backwards on her bed, "I'm going to take a nap." He grabbed her drool stained pillow and rested comfortably his head, "My eyes will be closed and I won't see a thing." She huffed and went into her closet to change.

--

Derek awoke to small slaps on his cheek, "Derek? Wake up." He opened his eyes to a slight chuckling Casey, "The whole napping thing…I didn't know it was your style, Grampa."

He rolled his eyes and decided to get her back, "Trust me it's only fun when you have a cuddle buddy. I missed mine very much and naps are just much less enjoyable these days."

"Shut up, please," she groaned while grabbing his hand and pulling him off the bed. "I kinda got you something too."

Derek scrunched up his nose into that big ball of happy again, "Aw," he pinched her cheek, "my wife got me a gift."

"Der-ek!" he stopped, "It's over there on my dresser."

He got up and opened the plastic bag; his eyes grew wide, "Cas-Casey, I thought you were kidding about these." He turned around holding a pair of scissors still in its package. Casey fell back on her bed in hysterics, "Casey, this isn't funny."

She sat up and settled down, "That's not what I got you, you dolt. It's the box next to it." He opened it, "You know… those scissors are for the next time you do something stupid."

He turned his head and shot her a look, "Ha-Ha." The box was opened and it was those same pair of sunglasses, "Aw," he turned around and smiled sarcastically, "it's the sunglasses you viciously yanked off my face."

She rolled her eyes, "Yes, that one and don't worry it's a whole new pair. It was sort of my peace offering but you kept hiding like a little bitch."

"Hey!" he frowned.

"Just kidding," he sat down next to her and put them on, "What are you doing?"

"I happen to know I look pretty dang fly, don't you think?" he smirked to himself and didn't even await a retort from her, "I think I'll wear them tonight!" he said excitedly.

Casey sneered, "I swear if you wear them tonight I am--"

"Going to yank them off my face, throw them on the floor, and then feel guilty enough to buy me a new pair?" he bit his lip to contain his laughter. Without another word, Casey got up and went over to her dresser, "Wh-what are you doing over there, Casey?"

She took the scissors out of its package, "Derek Venturi, drop 'em."

He started to pace backwards as she stalked toward him, "You know, when I heard you say it in my dream, this was not the scenario I saw."

"You dreamt about this?" He laughed nervously. "Wrong answer! Get over here!" he ran away from her.

"ABUSE!"


Gah. These two...they make me tired. They make me lose my funny, don't you agree? haha.

Next chapter. Their night out. What'll happen...still "Friends?"

hmm... review so I can figure it out. ;)