Casey's POV

It was like bracing for an impact that never happened. I spent the next few hours watching Max carefully, searching for any outward signs of irritation from him. But there was nothing. Maybe he didn't care that Cappie was wearing my garter. Maybe he hadn't figured out why Cappie had my garter in the first place.

I was just glad that nothing had come from my stupid slip of the tongue and everything seemed perfectly normal between us. We laughed. We drank. We danced. It was fun. I had fun. My preoccupation with Max had nearly made me forget about Cappie and the obsessive desire I had to bury my hands in his hair and my tongue down his throat.

It was a good night. Until....

Why was there always an until with me ? It never failed.

Cappie had gone up stairs to change. The drunker he got the less able he was in the heels. Max and I were on the dance floor. All the music of the evening had a theme. I believe the song that was playing was called, Shame on the moon. It was old and not really that familiar to me. But the rhythm was nice and slow and I had my head resting right over Max's very warm chest, listening to the sound of his heart beating steadily. It was comfortable and serene and I managed to lose myself in the feeling until...

I felt a hand on my shoulder and the moment I did, Max's heartbeat speed up to a nearly pounding speed.

I jerked around expecting to find someone that would cause that kind of reaction in him, like Evan maybe. But it was Cappie, wearing a pair of jeans and an orange t-shirt that proclaimed ' this is my fucking costume'. The makeup was gone and looked much more like his normal self. I smiled up at him and eased away from Max.

" Can I cut in ?" He asked, " Just for old times sake ?"

I was completely lost in the look in his eyes and it occurred to me belatedly that I probably should have waited for some kind of reaction from Max. But I just slide into his arms like it was where I was meant to be. I saw him glance over his shoulder, probably at Max and I guess they exchanged a smile.

Then I heard Max tell him, " You better return her in the same condition you took her in."

" Drunk and placid ?" Cappie laughed and I heard Max laugh as well. " Okay, not a problem."

I was too far gone to pay the conversation too much attention. A mixture of alcohol, the chill in the air and the feel of his body next to mine had me completely lost.

The feeling only deepened when he slipped his arms around me and pulled me in close. Then the music changed and Nina Simone's voice filled the night as she sang, ' I put a spell on you'.

The music couldn't have been more perfect if he had planned it and I wasn't entirely certain he hadn't. It would have been a very Cappie-like thing to do.

His breath brushed across my collarbone and it took me a second to realize it was because he was talking to me. I glanced up to meet his eyes as his words sunk into my comfortable numb brain.

" You certainly seem to be having a good time tonight."

I nodded and nuzzled even further into his arms. " I am. This was a great party."

He cleared his throat and something far more serious than was normal for him settled into his gaze as he blinked down at me. " Max, Rusty and I are planning on getting together some time this week. You know, a little buddy bonding time."

I gave him a drowsy smile. " That sounds nice."

" Yeah, maybe." He answered cryptically. " Thing is, I noticed your reaction earlier over the garter. Is there something going on between you and Max that I need to know about ?"

My eyes opened wide as the world suddenly returned back to me. " Why would you ask that ?"

He spun me in a circle and then pulled me back in. When I settled again, he was smiling knowingly. " I get the impression that you are keeping things from your boyfriend, Miss Cartwright. You know that isn't a very good idea."

Damn him. I never was able to hide anything from him. " Okay, so maybe I haven't told him the entire story about us." I admitted.

" Which part did you leave out ?" He asked.

I looked away from him, not wanting to meet his eyes, not ready to tell him exactly which part I hadn't told Max about, because it was just about everything.

He pulled me closer and leaned his mouth to my ear. " Casey..." he prompted, drawing out my name.

" I may not have mentioned much of anything about our past together. He thinks we had a couple of dates and that was it. He doesn't know the rest."

" What rest ?" he continued to push at me.

I huffed in frustration. " I hadn't told him anything about us. He doesn't know anything."

" Why not ?" he asked. " What is the big secret for ?"

I stopped dancing and stared at him. " Because when he found out about me dating Evan he didn't take it too well that I failed to mention it before hand and I'm scared that if he has any clue about what you mean to me," I bit my tongue as I realized what I'd said. Then I took a deep breath and started over. "What you meant to me, once, a long time ago, he won't be okay with us being friends now. I don't want to take that chance."

He was staring at me like antenna had just popped out of my head. I couldn't fathom what he was thinking from the look in his eyes. It was something unfamiliar and very odd. I wished he would say something and that seemed so ridiculous to me. I was actually wishing that Cappie would talk, would say something. That felt a lot like wishing a tree would grow leaves. Cappie had never been short on words before.

Finally, he seemed to come back to himself and he cleared his throat again. I wondered idly if he might be catching a cold. That worried me because Cappie was far from being a good sick person.

" So, I shouldn't mention anything about us being together ?" His voice was controlled and sounded normal but that foreign look was still in his eyes.

" I would appreciate it if you didn't. I don't want to have to decided between having you as my friend or having Max as my boyfriend." I told him in all honesty.

" Do you really think Max would make you choose ?" he asked, unconvinced.

" I don't want to make that choice." I repeated.

He suddenly pulled me closer into him and his eyes were no longer foreign, they were, in fact, very familiar. They were sapphire blue, a shade I knew well. " If you had to decide right now ? Which of us would you choose ?"

I blinked at him in surprise, my mouth unable to form words. My brain was screaming the answer at me so loudly I could barely hear anything else beyond it and my racing heartbeat. Of course it was him. He would forever be my choice.

I opened my mouth to tell him just that, but a look crossed his face and before I could utter the words, he turned me in his arms and I was standing face to face with Max.

He gave me a half-hearted smile. " I'm getting tired. Are you ready to go ?" He asked.

I nodded without speaking and started to pull away from Cappie. I felt his hand squeeze mine just before he released it.

I walked away from him without looking back. I figured it was better that way, easier.

It was becoming a habit, my walking away from him.

We were almost to the car when I remembered I'd left my scarf back in the game room. Max offered to go find it, but I insisted it would be easier if I retrieved it myself. I remembered exactly where it was.

I hurried through the house, passing a few passed out partiers on my way. Typical Kappa Tau house, I smiled to myself, bodies littering the floor, passed out around empty beer cans and other various bottles of liquor.

I got to the game room and snatched my scarf from a box in the corner where I'd laid it earlier in the evening. Then I turned to leave, but I caught something out of the corner of my eye as I did.

I turned my attention to the window that sat overlooking the backyard.

My stomach gave a resounding wretch and I barely managed to stop myself before I threw up all over the pool table.

Cappie was still on the dance floor, but now he had his arms wrapped around the girl I'd seen him with upstairs at the beginning of the evening. His mouth was firmly attached to hers and his hands were working their way under her tightly fitted shirt.

I felt like a fool. I was an idiot. For a moment, for just a moment, I thought something had passed between us. I thought he felt the same way. God ! I had been so wrong.

I blinked back an irrational rush of tears and hurried back to my waiting boyfriend.

Cappie's POV

She said mean. I wasn't totally sure at first, but when she stopped and corrected herself, I knew I was right. She said mean. She said, ' I'm scared that if he has any clue about what you mean to me...'

The words repeated themselves over and over in my mind. I couldn't stop hearing them.

It was the first time that she had given me any indication that her feelings were more than friendly towards me. The first hint that I might still have a chance with her.

But maybe I was wrong. Maybe she just meant what I mean to her as a friend.

I felt like a thirteen-year-old girl with a crush. Does she like me ? I think she likes me. She smiled at me. I felt an intense urge to giggle. Dear God, what was this woman doing to me ?

So with the reassurance of her slip of the tongue and a healthy dose of alcohol backing my decision, I'd her the question I really want to know the answer to. Who would she choose ?

The hesitation I saw in her eyes burned a whole in my chest and stung me deep down, the way that only Casey can. She had become a master at causing me pain and she did it without even trying. It just seemed to come naturally to her.

When Beth found me, standing there moments after watching Casey walk away from me, again. I did what I needed to do to erase her from my mind. I pulled Beth to me, closed my eyes and let my imagination run wild.

So much for erasing her from my mind. Her words continued to repeat themselves, the sound getting louder and louder until I couldn't concentrate on what I was trying to do to the girl in my arms.

I pulled back from her and gave her my best charming smile. " Do you think maybe I could have a rain check for tonight ? I'm just so tired and my head is pounding."

She blinked up at me with lowered lids. " Ah, poor baby, want me to help you to bed ?"

I kissed her softly, but didn't linger. " No, I think I can manage. But I'll call you tomorrow, okay ?"

She gave me a smile. " If you don't, I'm coming to find you."

The tone in her voice made me swallow. It sounded a little like a threat. " No, I'll call. I promise." I assured her before bidding her goodnight and practically running up the stairs to get away from her.

My entire body was on fire, a raging inferno that was quickly becoming out of control. I dug my fingers into the flesh under my hands and took a deep breath, drawing her scent as far into my lungs as I possibly could. Her breasts were pressed into my chest, molding to my hard contours, her nipples scrapping against my own.

A curtain of blond hair fell around my face. All my senses were filled with her. She tasted like heaven as a trailed my tongue up the column of her neck, stopping to nipple at her earlobe. She cried out as I found the place at the base of her throat and began to flick my tongue over her raging pulse.

Home, perfect, complete, right. The words were like a chant in my head, repeating themselves over and over in sync with the movements of our bodies as we pushed each other over the edge.

My name fell from her lips at the same instant that hers fell from mine. Then I felt as if I were falling.

My body bucked under her and my eyes snapped opened instantly.

I looked around the empty room and gave a groan of pain as I realized I was not only alone, but the burning feeling hadn't left with the dream. Casey might not have been in my arms, but my body was still on fire. Sweat dripped from my forehead and I flung the blankets off me impatiently.

The moment I did the cool air hit my skin and nearly cried out in protest again the sudden chills that wrecked my body.

My head was pounding. My eyes burned so badly I could barely see. I grabbed the blankets back to me and snuggled down until they nearly covered my head. I tried to swallow but it was like daggers were being driven into my throat.

I gave a frustrated cry to the silent night.

Shit, I thought to myself. I hated getting sick.