I don't own the show. Hey readers, this is just a short one. I want to try and show how things constantly move back and forth between these two, nothing's ever certain or fixed...

Previously: Catching his mood, Casey said softly, 'Go help George put the house to rights, and then make an excuse so we can go for a walk together.' She was half expecting him to refuse, to tell her to go do it herself, as he would have done had she asked him a month ago, but instead he just said to Nora, 'Okay if Case and I sort out the upstairs before we head to the mall? Be nice to get all the stinky girl stuff out of my room…' and Nora's cheerful gratitude, the absence of any anxiety about the two of them actually doing something fun together, had been just one of the satisfactions of that shimmering, still, sensual afternoon.

Chapter 10 – Shimmering Afternoon

'Where shall we go?' Derek shook his head, thinking. He wanted to go somewhere they could be alone, where they would not bump into Sam or Emily or anyone else who'd be able to read Casey's face. Scratch that. In fact, just seeing the two of them anywhere together, not fighting, would stagger their friends into asking questions.

And these were sure to be awkward, complicated questions, which neither of them had asked themselves yet. What will her mother say? What will your dad think? How will people at school think of you now? What if you guys don't make it? What if she stops loving you…? Questions he would much rather nobody bothered them with for at least a few months or even years. Certainly until Casey was past her finals, and he had her to himself for the summer or even until he was sure that she would be with him for the longest time, maybe forever, and that there was no turning back for either of them. These thoughts were so unlike those that Derek was used to experiencing, felt so much like the commitment and soppy foreverness which he used to shun and ridicule in previous relationships, that Derek almost thought someone had secretly stolen into his body and replaced his heart with someone else's. He was a stranger to himself. But oh, when she was with him, that stranger felt so good!

So he frowned, deep in thought, before thumping his head with his palm and starting up the Prince.

It was after three by the time Casey and Derek had managed to replace all the furniture and clear the detritus of the unexpected guests. Nora was playing cards with Marti, Lizzie and Edwin and George was lying down with backache – or so he said. The birdfeeder was still in pride of place in the middle of the lawn, only now it was tilting at a dangerous angle. The family hadn't noticed as yet.

No-one had batted an eyelid when Casey had called goodbye.

'Where are we going?' she demanded, suspicious and wanting to be in control of events as usual.

'You'll see.'

'Can I put the radio on?'

'You're actually asking me, Case? Don't you normally just do it anyway?' He wanted to hold her hand. His fingers felt lonely on the gear stick. But he refrained.

'Hmm, seems like I wanted you to say yes first. I didn't want to risk a fight. Must be something wrong with me today.' She was smiling wisely at him and he wanted to turn towards her glowing face, but a funny nervous feeling was building inside him, so he kept his eyes on the road.

Would she be angry when she realised where they were going?

They came to a turn-off from the highway and were soon going along a slip road that made the car judder and bounce. On each side there looked to be forest, low branches swaying close to the windows, the air thick with an earthy scent. Casey groaned as her bones were shaken. She had been watching Derek with a far away look on her face and humming along to the music. The bumping made her look out of the window.

'Derek! Where are we? What is this place? This is totally not what I was expecting – but it looks so familiar.' She frowned, biting her bottom lip.

He brought the car to a standstill and got out, going around and opening her door for her. She climbed out and stood beside him, looking around.

'Don't you remember this, Case? Your sponsored hike?'

Dappled sunlit path, trees, damp earth, a fresh mossy smell. Somewhere off to the left, the sound of burbling water. It looked very different from how it had done on the grey autumnal day she'd returned from her hike. But it was the same place.

His heart was beating really hard. Maybe this was utterly stupid of him. Yesterday he'd slowed everything down, assured her there was plenty of time. They would get to know each other slowly. But now his curiosity about what had happened to her on that hike, his guilt about not having accompanied her, had made him act rashly. He could have taken her to the mall or to a café and just as well asked her about it over coffee. Or he could have gone to the movies with her and held her hand. Everything was still so new between them that it shone like a sunlit afternoon. But he'd suspected she didn't want to talk about this particular thing, at least with him. So. Here they were. Guided by something fearless in her and some stubborn need in him to be part of that.

'My hike?' Her eyes were very wide and calm, but her voice sounded odd, almost piercing, as if she was about to burst into tears or to ascend into sudden peals of laughter and he could see her foot beating an anxious rhythm against the ground. Derek realised that though he'd thought he knew her really well, the beauty beside him was also mysterious and self contained, unlike the naïve girl in his arms last night. This was someone with secret thoughts and memories and feelings that he was as desperate as ever to learn but that, given his record with her, might not treat him very kindly. Somehow all her reassuring affection seemed to be sliding out of his mind, leaving him quite literally gasping for a response, anything to show that she was still the same person who had sworn she could never leave him.

He was about to start babbling, to suggest they should go home, to tell her about his letter from the University, to ask her advice and watch her pleasure, anything to get her to speak to him in her usual, casual, friendly manner. He reminded himself that he was Derek Venturi, girl catcher, the most wanted guy in the school but, disappointingly, this did nothing at all for his self-confidence in this situation. Because he had never been in this situation before. And now someone else seemed to have all the power.

Then, quite suddenly, instead of replying to him, this unexpectedly enigmatic Casey touched his arm and said, 'Let's go for a walk in the woods.' And, though this was not what he had planned, and shivering at her lightest touch, Derek acquiesced.

What will she tell him on their walk in the woods?