A/N thanks for all the reviews and such amigos! I know a lot of people have been wondering what casey did to the family and in this chapter is a hint. I don't own anything but the plot and a brand new pair of pink high tops!
"Mom, I want a race car for Christmas." Joey said seriously to his mother over a bowl of cereal.
"Well, maybe if you're good, Santa will bring it to you." Nora said while Derek and Casey grinned at each other.
"We need to start decorating. Christmas is coming up soon." Marti said.
"That's right and we'll need to get a tree and bring out the box with the stockings and Christmas mugs in it... oh there's so much to do! And I have to organize that meeting with Janet, and then there's that manager who flew in from Atlanta to see me..." Nora trailed off as she listed off the things she need to do.
"Mom, it's no big deal. You handle your work thing and I'll take care of the house." Casey said to her mother.
"If you do it, then it'll look like Santa's workshop in here, princess." Derek smirked at her.
"Derek, it's supposed to look like Santa's workshop. It's Christmas." Casey snapped back.
"You mean Derekus."
"What are you talking about?" Casey said, totally exasperated.
"Oh... nothing." Derek said, the easy grin sliding off his face as he turned away from her. "Just something from Christmas about eight years ago."
"Oh." Casey said sadly. Something else she was missing out on.
Nora caught onto the uncomfortable silence and quickly said, "Why don't you guys pick out a tree tonight? I have to work late and I know George does too. It'll be fun!"
So later that night, Derek drove Casey, Marti and Joey out to a tree farm outside of town and they walked among the rows of evergreen trees trying to decide which one was perfect.
"I like this one." Marti said, stroking the dark green needles of one tree.
"No, that one is too short." Derek said and moved on.
"What about this one then?" Casey asked gesturing to the tree to her right.
"Casey, seriously? That one is way too skinny!" Derek rolled his eyes and kept walking.
"Der-ek! Stop being so negative and pick one then!" Casey cried angrily at her stepbrother.
"Picking the perfect tree is an art, Casey! You can't just pick any old one! It has to be special to sit in the Venturi living room!"
"Derek, you are so incredibly arrogant!"
"Look, Case, I'm not being arrogant. It's just a fact of life."
"Der-ek!"
"Wow too 'Der-ek!'s in under five minutes! You must have serious anger problems!" Derek said with his typical smirk.
"You make me angry!" Casey cried, frustrated.
"Guys! What about this one?" Joey said pointing to a tree.
"Hmmm... that one is actually pretty good!" Derek said.
"It's perfect!" Casey exclaimed.
"The let's pay for it and go. I can't feel my legs." Marti said shivering.
"Well, I did tell you to wear warmer pants." Casey said disapprovingly.
Marti rolled her eyes and Derek went to find the owner of the tree farm. They paid for it and the owner brought out a saw and tied it to the roof of their car. They drove back home and pulled into the driveway. They all got out of the car and stared at the evergreen tree tied to their roof.
"Now how are we going to get it down?" Casey murmured.
"I have no idea. See you later!" Derek waved and started towards the house.
"Not so fast, Venturi! You're helping us!" Casey grabbed his arm and pulled him back.
They ended up having to untie and slide it off the car and it took all four of them to drag it into the house. They were covered in pine needles by the time it was sitting in the living room.
"Whew." Joey said. "That really tired me out. But a mug of hot chocolate with whipped cream would sure make me feel better!" He looked hopefully in Casey's direction.
She sighed, "Alright. I'll make you a hot chocolate. Marti, can you get the box of decorations from the basement and Derek can you vacuum up the pine needles?"
Casey had just handed Joey a hot mug of hot chocolate with whip cream and a cinnamon stick in it when she heard someone yell from the front hall.
"Derek?" Casey said as she hurried out of the kitchen. "What happened?"
"Um, how do you work the vacuum?" He asked sheepishly as he held up the hose of the vacuum. Casey looked around in horror. The whole front hall was covered in dust. Derek wore dust like a suit of armour and dust coated everything in sight. Obviously he had gotten the suck and blow mixed up.
"Derek you idiot!" Casey cried angrily. "This is going to take me forever to clean up! Why do you always have to ruin everything?"
Derek's teasing eyes shut down and he glared at her coldly. "Whatever Casey. Sorry I'm not perfect like everything else in your world." And he stomped up the stairs to his room.
Casey rubbed her tired eyes. Derek could be such a child. She sighed and vacuumed properly. She wiped off every dust covered surface and dragged out the box of Christmas decorations. Where did Marti get to?
"Casey, why did you yell at Derek?" Joey asked as he wandered out of the kitchen.
"Because he made a mess! He's always trying to drive me crazy!" Casey said, frustrated.
"I think it was an accident." Joey said hesitantly.
Casey was quiet for a second.
"Do you think so?" She asked her little brother.
He nodded and she sighed again. Great. She made a fool of herself in front of a guy who lived for moments like that and now she was taking advice from a seven year old.
She made up another hot chocolate complete with whip cream, a cinnamon stick and chocolate shavings. She carried it upstairs and knocked on her stepbrother's door.
"What?" He barked from inside.
"Derek, I'm sorry I yelled at you earlier!" Casey called.
"Go away Casey!"
"Derek, I said I was sorry!"
He swung open the door to face her. "Sometimes sorry doesn't cut it. I've put up with your temper tantrums for years! And it's not that you yelled at me, it's that whatever I do, I can never be good enough for perfect Casey MacDonald!"
"You think I'm perfect?" Casey said with a choked laugh. "I'm far from it! But you try everything you can to make me hate you! And I'm tired of it!"
"Oh Casey." Derek said awkwardly, but not exactly kindly. "You are so delusional."
"What do you mean?" Casey asked.
Derek didn't answer, instead he asked, "Is that hot chocolate?"
"Yeah, for you."
He perked up and took a sip, leaving a whip cream moustache across the top of his lips. Casey laughed and he looked at her confusedly.
"What?" He asked.
"You – you have moustache!" She said giggling.
He blushed and she wiped it off with her thumb. She slowed as she realized that she was touching his lips. He obviously had the same thought and she shuffled backwards, embarrassed.
"Let's finish setting up the decorations." She said awkwardly.
"Yeah sure. Good hot chocolate by the way." He said quietly.
Marti said she was going out with Bean and ignored the scowl on her older brother's face. Joey got bored with setting things up and ended up playing with a couple of the decorations. Casey turned on some Christmas music and everything was pretty peaceful. The phone ringing cut through that peace.
"Hello?" Casey said as she put down a plastic snowman and picked up the telephone.
"Merry Christmas! It's Emily!" Her best friend's voice said.
"Emily! Oh, Em! It's been so long!" Casey cried.
"Who's this?" Emily said slowly.
"It's – it's Casey!" Casey said, crushed.
"Oh... Casey... hi."
Casey was heartbroken. Emily was acting just like everyone else at the beginning.
"Em, I was in a car accident and I lost my memory. I'm staying at my mom and George's and I'm truly sorry if I did something to you but please don't be mad at me!" Casey said softly.
"Casey... I'm sorry. It's just... been awhile since we've spoken."
"Oh, what's new with you then?" Casey said, happy to have her friend speaking to her normally.
"Well, I married Sheldon. If you lost your memory, then you wouldn't know him. We have a daughter named Ava, she's two and we live in Newfoundland." Emily said proudly.
"Emily, I'm so proud of you! That sounds great!" Casey said warmly.
"Yeah... I really like it here. Though I miss everyone from back home sometimes. That's why I call the Venturi's every Christmas. But I haven't spoken to you in-"
"Three years? Yeah I heard something happened. Emily can you tell me about it?" Casey pleaded with her best friend.
"Casey... I really wish I could. But I have a feeling that if I told you, then certain people would be very angry with me." Emily said regretfully.
"Like Derek?" Casey said, scowling slightly. "Everyone keeps eluding about something that happened three years ago involving me, Derek and Truman. Emily, I can't remember anything! Can't you help me at all?"
"Well... okay. I won't tell you about the fight; I'll leave that to Derek but I will tell you that you and Derek were best friends all through university."
"What? No, Derek and I hate each other!" Casey cried incredulously.
"I think it's more of a play-hate thing. But anyways, in high school you didn't really get along but the sooner you got to graduation, the closer the two of you got. And then when you got to university and didn't know a soul but each other, you just kind of clicked together." Emily said slowly.
"I'm talking about Derek and I, who are you talking about?"
"Casey! Just let me finish! As I was saying, at first you would pretend that you hated him, but I could tell that you really enjoyed spending time with Derek and maybe that's because you lived together-"
"What? We lived together?"
"Because your mom and George thought it'd be cheaper in the long run! From what you told me, you two would have dinner together almost every night and you'd make him study charts and watch his hockey games and he'd go see your plays and made fun of you less."
Casey didn't think that was the kind of relationship ship she and Derek had at all. Fighting and ignoring each other sounded more correct but what did she know? She couldn't remember almost half her life.
"You two got really close and everything was good until your twenty-second birthday." Emily said.
"What happened on my twenty-second birthday?" Casey whispered.
"Ava, sweetie, stop it! Mommy's on the phone! Look, Casey I'm sorry but I have to go! Ava's acting up again! I'll talk to you later!" Emily said.
"Okay, bye Em."
"Merry Christmas!"
A/N dun dun duh! Now you guys know more about casey and dereks relationship! Pretty please with dasey on top review?