Paul's advice was harder in practice than Derek expected.

Casey wasn't home when he arrived, and he hadn't seen her at school. He killed time by waiting to hear the door open, to hear her voice.

He jumped up when Edwin knocked on the door. "Dinner's ready, bro."

"Not hungry."

"First Casey and now you?"

Derek promised a slow and painful death if Edwin asked one more question, and his kid brother backed off and scampered away.

-6:02 PM-

George had come in to lecture Derek about responsibility and kindness.

Derek ignored him.

"Dad, I'm really not in the mood, okay? I had a really shitty day."

His father gave him a look regarding his language, but relented.

-7:36 PM-

Nora came in, asking if he felt okay and if he wanted soup.

"No, thanks." He murmured.

She frowned, "Well, I hope there isn't some bug going around the house. Of course, Casey said she's staying at Emily's so, maybe it's nothing. Get some sleep, okay?"

Not knowing she had given him information he needed, she smiled and shut the door.

So she was hiding from him. The idea hurt him more than he expected.

He could go over to Emily's, but it didn't seem like the type of environment a guy preferred when talking about feelings and possibly groveling. Derek grimaced, finding it nauseating to think about.

He could call on his cell, but Casey could always say no. Maybe he could trick her into it, say he was Edwin.

Or maybe he could have a certain little sister steal a different cell phone for him. A slow smile grew across his face.

"Smarti!"

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Emily had been watching Casey lay on a pillow on the floor, silently pretend to read the same page in her text book. No amount of questions or prodding would get her to open up about the things that were obviously bothering her.

It bothered her, because Casey was never one for keeping secrets from her, not usually. The oddest thing, to her, was that not even bringing up Derek—a subject she was more than happy to rant about forever—over the last few months made her talkative.

Especially not tonight.

Emily tried mentioning him, and Casey nearly bit her head off with the murderous stare she gave her. "I said I don't want to talk about him, Em," she snapped, "Please stop bringing him up."

She was so confused about Casey's behavior, getting offended didn't even occur to her. Remaining puzzled was all her brain appeared capable of—certainly not the list of math problems in front of her.

"I'm going to get something to drink, want anything?" Emily asked, stretching from her position on her bed.

"No thanks, Em." She responded with a forced smile.

Emily gave a slight nod, forced a smile herself in return and headed to the kitchen, where the Casey weirdness could not follow.

When she left, was, of course, the time Marti made her call. After much coaxing from Derek, and promising a ridiculous amount of sweets, two trips to the amusement park, and a pinkyswear that she wasn't helping pull a prank on Casey, she agreed to weasel her way into getting Lizzie's cell phone for him.

Derek pressed his lips on her forehead and said, "You're my favorite, Smarti, you know that?"

"Just don't forget about what you promised!" The youngest Venturi reminded him, leaving the room with a triumph smile. She wasn't sure why Derek needed to call Casey anyway, but she was more than happy with the outcome of her evening.

Derek shut the door. He found Casey's number easily enough. Calling it took a few paces around the room.

He made the call, and listened to it ring twice.

"Hey Liz, what's up?" she answered, forcing a neutral tone.

"I talked to Paul today. Please don't hang up, Casey." Derek answered quickly, hearing her slight gasp at his voice.

Casey found locking herself in Emily's bathroom, unable to stop the tears from falling and unable to hang up on him.

Hearing his voice had made her realize just how much she missed how much things used to be, before the chronic fights, when it was just them, exploring something new and exciting and exhilarating.

"Hear me out, please?" He asked, his voice soft but desperate, "I'm not good with this."

"With what?"

"You know. The…the…mushy lovey-dovey bullshit." He ran a hand through his hair, the familiar tightness of anxiety and panic curling up into a ball in the pit of his stomach. "Being…honest, I guess."

Casey stayed silent.

"You know…talking…about…" This was all leaving a bitter taste in his mouth.

Casey offered no sympathy to his obvious struggling, but for once, she was actually lost for words.

"Emotional stuff! God!" he said quickly, in an outburst.

"It's not like I didn't know that," stated Casey unhelpfully.

Derek sighed, frustrated. He tried another approach. "You were right, Casey."

That peaked her interest. "About what?"

He held his eyes on his hands. "You said," Deep breath, Venturi. "You said I was scared to care for you."

"A-and. Um. I…I am." God, could he sound any more of a retard?

"What are you saying, Derek?" Casey asked, slightly surprised, but mostly curious.

When he looked at her, really looked at her, he saw a beautiful, talented girl he was otherwise smitten with. Yes, she was the bane of his existence, and yes, half the time he'd probably get extremely annoyed with her, and he hated her monthaversies, he hated how worked up she got about stupid homework assignments, he hated how she thought she was right about everything. But he loved her, somehow.

He took a breath. "I talked to Paul. I told him the truth. And…and, he said, well, he said we were fighting 'cos I was spending too much time pushing you away, and that it was confusing for you and you're not good with…with not knowing exactly what things are and how they fit in Your Life Plan and your endless rules and I think he's right."

"You told him we were together?" Casey seemed shocked, but he wasn't sure if that was going to work against him.

"Well, I said, we were dating and then it got difficult and then we broke up and I needed his help 'cos I don't want it ending this way, Case."

Casey slumped against the edge of the bathtub, adjusting her phone against her ear. "I'm sorry, Derek," she whispered, the tears in her voice evident now, "I just…"

He ignored it, knowing if he stopped talking now it'd be impossible to say what he needed to. "Paul said the problem was that I was pushing you away, and he said I needed to fix that. And I swear I've said it a million times in my head a million different ways and I'm not good at this, this talking-about-feelings Lifetime crap you adore so, just…I love you, Casey."

All she could do was listen, and let him talk, and cry some more, even though she wasn't sure why she was crying now.

"…And it scared the shit out of me. And the idea that…that I couldn't be with you the way I wanted, not really, it made me bitter and it made me angry and I fought with you because I wanted you. I know that sounds stupid but I'd get jealous of some guy talking to you so I'd start a fight just to get him to fuck off and I'm sorry. I'm sorry I made it hard and I'm sorry I didn't figure it out earlier and I'm sorry for everything, Case. But please, don't give up on me."

There was a short pause as Casey processed what he said.

"I couldn't give up on you," she said finally, "Because I love you too."

It was the sappy-Casey answer he needed. His lips curled into a smile, and he was thankful no one could see it, because he was certain it looked stupid. "Can you come home now?"

She laughed. "Once it doesn't look like I've been crying in the bathroom while on the phone with you."

"You McDonalds," Derek teased gently, "Cry over everything."

"Oh, please, I saw you cry during the dog's death scene in I am Legend." Casey scoffed with a smile.

"Slightly tearing up and crying are two different things!" he said defensively.

"You're not as tough as you think, Venturi; you're a marshmallow."

"Maybe for you, Case." He admitted quietly.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

After feigning sickness at Emily's, and profusely apologizing to her mother for coming home at a late hour, Casey was home.

Nora frowned, sleepily, pressing her hand to her forehead. "You do look flushed, dear, and Derek's been in his room all night, seems like you two must have caught something. Why don't you stay home tomorrow? I'll call the school in the morning."

"Thanks, mom," she said, barely keeping her façade up, "I'm going to go to sleep now, sorry to wake you."

"It's no problem dear," Nora said, kissing her on the cheek, "I hope you feel better."

Casey walked up the stairs to her room, waiting outside her door, listening for her mother's return to her own bedroom. When she was certain the woman wouldn't be getting up again anytime soon, she tiptoed to the bedroom beside her, entering as silently as she could.

She found the edge of the bed, a gasp catching in her throat as Derek wrapped two arms around her, pulling her near.

"Kept me waiting long enough. I'm impressed you managed to avoid walking into something," Derek murmured, his voice conveying the smile she couldn't quite see.

Her hair tickled his neck as she leaned in to capture his lips, uncharacteristically ignoring his comment.

"Stay," He whispered after a few moments, "I can set the alarm early."

Casey considered telling him about Nora's plans, but decided not to. A plan was falling into place.

Derek interpreted her silence as hesitance. "I promise I'll save my dashing charm and plans of seduction for another night."

"Okay," she agreed with a small laugh, glad he couldn't read her mind, and found her way beneath the covers, "For a little while."