AN: "Again, again!" . Anyone ever watch Teletubbies? Baha, yeah yeah. I'm a dork.

Disclaimer: snort get real.

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Derek unlocked the door, glimpsing at his watch as he allowed the door to fall open. Behind him, the elevator whirred and he heard quiet footsteps walking up the stairs to his left. He lived respectably on the first floor. Below his apartment, the covered parking spaces to his complex led out to the busy city streets.

It had been his first day back to work and he had been worried the whole day. Lizzie had arrived just before he was to leave for work this morning and he continued to call and check in throughout the day. Lizze had relayed to him around 10 or so that Casey still was in her room, whether she was sleeping or not, Lizzie wasn't sure.

It was around lunch time when Lizzie told him Casey had been watching as she did her homework and made them lunch. She told him that Casey had bathed without her in the bathroom and she had even been able to mutter a 'Good morning.' when she emerged from the bathroom, her wet hair still sticking to her forehead.

Derek had called an hour or so before he left work, around 5, to ask if he had needed to pick anything up for dinner. In the background, he heard soft music playing and Casey giggling. As he spoke to Lizzie, he looked around his dull office and excitement of seeing Casey in almost less than an hour rang throughout his voice on the phone.

And now, as he opened the door, two bags of groceries held tightly in his right hand, he once again heard soft music playing from the kitchen.

"Hey, I'm home, you two." He called out to his apartment. He heard a small scuffle, a kitchen table chair sliding against the floor and a small pitter-patter of footsteps, before he saw Casey. As she appeared into his view, he laid the bags on the floor and she smiled widely, running to him and giving him a hug.

Derek laughed as her hands wound tightly around his neck. He tried to lean down to pick up the bags from the floor and she released him. He heard laughter as he picked the bags up, and stood straight. He saw Lizzie standing in the entrance of the kitchen and entryway, smiling at him.

He gave her a questioning look, and she pointed in the direction of his loft. Laughing, he set the groceries on the counter and took the stairs two by two.

"Hm. I wonder where Casey could be." He smiled as he heard a small giggle erupt from inside his wardrobe.

Throwing the doors open, Derek saw a flash of brown hair run down the stairs.

Derek sat on the foot of his bed and sighed, running a hand through his disheveled hair. He hadn't realized it was messed up until now, he figured it was when Casey hugged him.

Derek changed into a pair of basketball shorts and a large t-shirt before making his way to the partition. He looked below, Lizzie was preparing dinner and Casey sat at the counter on one of the tall stools, leaning over the stovetop to watch the food being cooked.

"Hey, Liz, I was thinking.. Why don't you just stay here for a little while? At least until Casey gets better. She's been improving everyday, obviously. I mean, if you'd rather stay at your place, that's fine, I just thought it would be easier for you and you wouldn't have to drive back and forth all the time."

Casey watched him as he spoke, and turned her gaze to Lizzie as she thought about it. Lizzie looked across the counter at Casey who was nodding her head ever so slightly. Lizzie smiled at Casey before glancing up at Derek again.

"We can have slumber parties." Derek grinned at her, watching as Lizzie's smile grew into a laugh.

"Fine, Derek. Only because I can't wait to see you in pigtails."

"Hm.. Remind me to get my haircut before then." Derek shot back at her, chuckling as he began to descend down the stairs.

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"I'll see you in the morning, okay? I figure I'll bring some stuff over everyday." Lizzie spoke in a hushed whisper turning back to Derek in the doorway. He nodded in approval.

"Yeah, that sounds good. Thanks again, Liz. I wouldn't have been able to do this without you. She's been progressing so well. We had had a rough start but now.." Derek's words trailed off as he shifted his eyes to the brown haired girl sitting on his sofa.

"She's my sister. I needed to do this. Get some rest tonight. You look exhausted. Work that busy?"

"Work is work. I had missed a lot. I'm sure I'll be back on top soon. Just hope everything continues to go this smoothly." Derek hugged Liz goodbye and watched as she walked down the stairway.

He closed the door quietly and locked it.

"Case? It's already almost 11. Let's get to bed, how bout it?" Derek had come to stand behind the couch, his hands mindlessly playing with the ends of her hair.

Casey stood up and began to move to her bedroom, stopping shortly to give him a hug.

Derek made sure she got into her bedroom all right and made his way up to his room.

Collapsing on his bed, he shimmied under his comforter and sheets. Grabbing his favorite pillow, the one he's had since childhood, he placed it to the right of him as he rolled onto his right side. He threw his arm over the pillow and quickly fell into a slumber.

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"Derek?" George called into the empty house. Derek watched as his father made his way into the kitchen. He turned his head suddenly when he heard the front door open and slam closed.

"George! Where's Derek?" He heard Lizzie's voice, but he couldn't see her. He listened closely as he heard a bedroom door being opened upstairs. He heard someone running down the stairs and the kitchen door swinging open.

George was standing at the island, his head in his hands and his elbows propped against the counter.

"Oh, Liz. I don't know. I got a call from him, but he hasn't answered his phone since." George's worried eyes met Lizzie's, the expressions matching.

Derek, invisible to them, dug in his pockets finding his cell phone. He flipped it open and saw missed calls. He noticed the voice message symbol blinking at him. As he listened to the automated voice come on, he held his breath, waiting for the messages to start rolling.

"Derek, can you please call me back as soon as you can? It isn't nice, leaving your father out of your life, you know."

"Derek. It's Liz. I know what you're going through, please, call me back. Nora's worried about you."

"Derek, it's your dad again. Listen, come home. Let's talk about this."

Derek exhaled, confused as ever. He was about to shut off his phone before he heard one last message about to start.

"Derek? Hey, it's Casey. My mom, Liz, and I are going to be gone longer than we thought, there's a lot of traffic on the road. We're still in the car, but we should be home hopefully soon. Let George know, will you? I don't want him worrying about my mom and us. And Derek? It was really nice seeing you this break. Gotta go, Dere. The light just turned green."

He closed the phone shut. He watched his dad rub at his tired eyes.

"What do I do, Liz? Nora's been locked in our bedroom all day. How are you handling this so well?"

"George, my mom just needs time. I know Casey wouldn't have wanted us moping because of her. If she were still here, you know she'd be nagging at us all and complaining that the house is a complete mess, no dinner has been made, and Derek still hasn't come back with the car yet."

George laughed without humor lacing it.

"Derek's taking this pretty hard. Ever since back at the hospital. We're all going to miss Casey. Edwin has been taking care of Marti all day, thankfully. I don't know what we would have done."

"If Case were here, she'd already be planning, you know that right?"

"I know..I just don't know how to get started. She always took care of this stuff for us. All that planning and thinking ahead, getting on top of things. That's not us. That was her."

"I don't think she would have known how to plan a funeral, either. I just know she'd try. No matter how hard it would be."

Funeral. A funeral? For Casey? Casey's not the one who died. It was Nora. Nora died in the accident.

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Derek woke up quickly. He had willed his eyes to open, not wanting to go through with that dream. Trying to rid the dream from his mind, he shook his head a little. His eyes searched the darkness and his hands groped for the pillow he had been holding. Instead, he felt warmth next to him.

Averting his eyes down to the bed, he saw Casey's head lying on his pillow next to him. The pillow he'd gone to sleep holding. Without waking her, Derek shifted back underneath the covers, sliding them out from under her and pulling them on top of her. Turning to his right side again, he slipped his arm around her waist before falling asleep again.

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AN: Man, let me tell you. This chapter was actually hard to get out. I just wanted y'all to see the Dasey progression.

Love love.