I want to say thanks to everyone who reviewed this story. Its my first chapter fic, and it has over 120 reviews, and somewhere near 9,000 hits, so I really appreciate it you guys!
Disclaimer: I own Maggie, Cameryn and Joel... and anyone else I make up. I sadly don't own LWD or Michael Seater... [
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xXx Chapter 10 xXx
Casey had just said the worst possible thing to come out of any 18 year olds mouth. Two words that should only be uttered in the privacy of those immediately concerned with the words, not in front of the whole senior class. But here they were, standing in the middle of the living room with 50 of their closest friends surrounding them, and saying things that should be private.
"Are you sure? 100 percent positive that what you just said is true?" Derek asked. His voice was hardly audible, the color was drained from is face and he looked like he might get sick.
Casey just stood there, silent tears rolling down her face. She knew this wasn't the best place to tell him, but she couldn't except his wedding proposal knowing that she was secretly carrying their child. It wasn't right, leading him on in that manner, making him feel as if he had to be with her now, because they were going to have a baby. She wanted to be with Derek, but she didn't want him to feel like he had to be with her, like he didn't have a choice in the matter.
"I think we need to discuss this in private Casey, Derek." George said, breaking the awkward silence in the room. It was hard to see his son in such a state, not only was it his son, but it was also a girl who has grown to be somewhat of a daughter in the past few years. They were just 18, still kids themselves, and now they would be having a kid, it seemed so improbable.
"Mr. Venturi, we got this, we'll make sure everyone is out of the house. You guys just go and discuss whatever you need to." Sam said, stepping forward. Emily, Maggie and Cameryn and Joel nodded in agreement, and started ushering people outside of the house.
Edwin, Marti and Lizzie, who had all been in the living room made their way to the stairs, getting an approving nod from George before heading up. Casey still stood their, arms wrapped around herself, silently crying. Barely a foot away Derek stood, his face confused and still rather pale. Now sitting in an armchair was Nora, who was nearly as pale as Derek at the moment. George seemed to be the only one capable of human speech at the moment.
"Lets go to the kitchen guys. We have something to discuss." George said, helping Nora walk to the kitchen. Derek and Casey barely moved, they only faced towards each other.
"I'm so sorry Derek." Casey whispered. "I don't even know when this could have happened, we were so safe and I'm just so sorry."
"No Case, I'm sorry. You didn't climb on top off yourself and get pregnant, I had a big part in it" Derek said, moving closer towards Casey, finally reaching out and hugging her. As soon as Derek's arms wrapped around her, Casey collapsed into a burst of tears. Derek just held her, stroking her hair, telling her all would be okay.
Nora and George just stood there, watching their children. As much as things need to get discussed, now was not the time. Casey and Derek needed time alone, time to figure out what they were feeling at the moment, without the help of their parents.
"Casey, Derek. We'll be downstairs, this conversation can wait until the morning. You know where we are if you need us." Nora said, as she and George walked into the kitchen, heading for their downstairs room.
Derek lead Casey to the couch, and though they were still wrapped in each others arms, they managed to sit down somewhat comfortably.
"Casey... I don't know what to say really. I know I just asked you to marry me, but I wasn't expecting this of all things. I figured we had time before we were going to have kids... not that I don't want kids... I just want time. More time to do what we wanted to, but now your pregnant, and were going to be seniors..." Derek said before Casey cut him off.
"Your rambling. You tend to do that when your nervous." Casey said, giving a slight giggle.
"Damn Casey, you know me to well." Derek said, changing his position by taking her hand in his.
"Well, we have been living together for about 4 years now. I catch on pretty quickly." She said, sniffing deeply, and brushing her hair from her eyes.
"So... what are we going to do?" Derek asked, not breaking eye contact with Casey.
"I don't know what we can do. Abortion is not an option, there no way I would do that to an innocent person. Adoption is always an idea. We'll know that our child has a good home, and that its well taken care of." Casey said, looking rather uncomfortable.
"Can we not decide this right now? I think we should look into some details about it before we decide what to do. What I meant is... what are we going to do about us?" Derek asked, biting his lip.
"What do you mean "about us"? Were in this together Derek, like you said, I didn't get myself pregnant. You cant expect me to do this alone. And imagine how bad it would look if you dump me after you proposed and found out we were having a baby" Casey said, jumping on the offensive.
"Do you really think I'm trying to dump you? God Casey, even I'm not that much of a dick. What I meant was, what about our engagement? Do you want to marry me or not?!" Derek said, jumping from the couch. He couldn't believe Casey had actually thought he was trying to dump her. Slowly he started to pace back in forth, his hands tangling in his hair.
"Oh... I forgot. I'm sorry, its just that... there so much going on in my head right now.. I wasn't thinking. Of course you'd never leave me. That's such a silly idea." Casey said, also getting up. She stopped in the middle of where Derek was pacing, placing her hands on his shoulders.
"Yes, I'll marry you. I love you more then life itself." Casey said, her eyes once again brimming with tears.
"Are you serious? You will really marry me? I'm like the biggest fuck up ever, in all of all time, and you want to marry me? How did I get so lucky?" Derek asked, wrapping his arms around Casey's waist, leaning in to kiss her.
"You must have a hell of a guardian angel." Casey said, kissing him in return.
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It had been three days since Casey's impromptu announcement. Derek had spent the last two of it helping Casey pack up most o her belongings. No, she wasn't moving out, neither was he, she was just moving into his room, and all her extra stuff was going into the crawlspace under the stairs.
"Casey, do you really need all this stuff? Most of your clothes are going into boxes, and so are your books. But all these nick knack things, are they really necessary? Like your posters and all, I mean, my room is now also yours, but there isn't room for all of it." Derek said, his head poking out from his closet.
"Derek, we agreed that your room was getting a full makeover not a "lets-put-all-of-Casey's-stuff-into-the-close-and-pretend-it-was-never-there" makeover. Especially if were going to be living here for a while. We don't even know where we'll put the baby yet. If we keep it. And were lucky George and Mom are letting us stay here rent free until we graduate." Casey replied. She was shorting through a box of objects, placing some in another box, while others went in a pile on the bed.
Derek was about to respond when a soft knock came to the door.
"Casey? Derek? It's Maggie, is it all clear?" Came a voice through the door.
"Its open Mags." Derek called from the closet. He looked at the clothes in his hand, threw them into a random pile, and made his way over to where Casey was.
Maggie opened the door, carrying a large decorative bag with her.
"Here guys. Its a "Congratulations on the Engagement/Baby/House warming" gift. Cameryn helped pick it out too, but he's currently on his way back to Harbor Creek. He was lucky to get a day off, let alone two. Mr. Morrison is insane, and letting his lead snare player take two days off just proves that." Maggie said, laughing a bit as she made her way through the random piles of trash, clothes and random objects.
"Oh yeah, he's in their marching band. I completely forgot. Why would he need to take time off?" Derek asked, settling down by Casey, absentmindedly playing with her hair.
"Derek, they compete in Open Class. There is like, 140 kids in their band, they don't have time to not practice. Especially with their competition. McDowell seems to be getting better and better each year, Iroquois is amazing musically, and General McLane is all around great. Harbor Creek doesn't stand a chance is they don't work hard." Maggie said, finally finding a clean place to sit.
"Band geek..." Derek muttered under his breath.
"No, just a very concerned girlfriend." Mage said with a smile. "Now open your gift, or I'll do it for you."
"Okay okay okay. Jeesh." Derek said, taking the bag from Maggie. Casey was never one to open gifts from people while said person was in front of them. Opening the bag he found a framed picture of him and Casey. It was when he proposed at Casey's party, him on bended knee, her eyes twinkling... or filling with tears, he couldn't tell. It was inscribed with the basic words "Always and Forever, Derek and Casey."
"Oh, Maggie. Its beautiful. I love it." Casey said, giving Maggie a hug.
"Oh there's more, keep looking Derek." Maggie said, rolling her eyes.
Maggie was right, there was more. There was a card from Maggie's parents, with a check for $500 dollars in it. Not only that, they said if there was anything else at all they needed, just to call.
"You have the nicest parents ever Maggie. Normally I wouldn't except this much money, but I have a feeling its going to be needed." Derek said, getting up and hugging Maggie.
"Yeah Mags, its a bit much, but we'll defiantly fine somewhere for it to go. Maybe for baby clothes, or furniture. Thank you." Casey said, slightly flustered.
"Its okay guys. You really need it. Even if you don't keep the baby, you still have a ton of things to buy. Speaking of the baby... have you put any thought into whether you will keep it or not?" Maggie asked earnestly, she was their best friend, and she was concerned for them.
Derek looked at Casey, biting his lip. They had talked about it. In all honesty, that was all they talked about. They had yet to make a decision, and George and Nora were okay with that. All that really mattered was that they were doing what they wanted to do, and that they were going to be happy.
"About that... we don't really know yet. Dad and Nora really don't care what we do, they will be happy for us no matter what." Derek said, grabbing Casey's hand.
"We have time to make up our minds. Were not rushing on a decision." Casey said, with a smile.
"Its good to know. As long as your happy." Maggie said, getting up to leave. "Bye guys, I'll see you soon."
Maggie left the room, giving them a wave goodbye. Derek wrapped his arm around Casey, rubbing his hand on her belly. In a few short months, they would be parents to a beautiful baby, and he didn't care what it was, he didn't even care whether or not this was going to be a long stressful six months. All he cared about was that he was with Casey, and that they were happy with each other.
Looking into Casey's eyes, Derek lightly kissed her hand. "As long as we're together?"
"As long as we're together." She said with a smile.
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THE END!
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a/n: This is so not the end. Just the end of this story. Watch out for part three, "As Long as We're Together", coming soon.
It might take little while, its Championships week ad I'm insanely busy with rehearsals, changing things [again, and school work. I promise it'll be out soon.
Watch out for one shots, because I really need to use up some ideas I have. I might even get a four or five part story up too, maybe longer... not sure at the moment. Just a random idea that's been in my head lately.
So you know what to do... REVIEW! I hope you guys like the end of the story... or is it only the beginning?
Oh, and the schools mentioned in the story, the ones competeting against Harbor Creek are real schools. They really do compete against Harbor Creek in the Open Class division in LMBA, so just a heads up...
-Bexx
