Crazy! Crazy was the only word that Derek could come up with to describe the situation that was unfolding before him. The situation with Casey was crazy. How could things have changed so suddenly? And also, his dad telling him to wait until morning to try and talk to her. That was really crazy. Since when did he ever wait anything out? He was a take charge kind of person, and right now he was charging over to Emily's to talk some sense into Casey.

Derek walked around the back of the Davis' house and saw that Emily's bedroom light was on. Reaching in his pocket, he searched for Emily's cell number and pressed dial.

"It's him," Emily said looking at the number that was coming up on the phone.

"Don't answer it. Maybe he'll think we're asleep."

Finally the phone quit ringing and the signal popped up showing that she had a new voice mail. "He just left a message. I don't think this is going to be good," she added as she pressed in the code to hear the message.

Pressing the button so the speaker phone would come on, Derek's voice was soon heard throughout the room. "Emily, its Derek and I know that you're awake. Right now I'm standing outside looking up into your bedroom window and I see the light. You have five minutes to let me in the back door or I'm coming around to the front and ringing the doorbell. I'm not leaving until I talk to Casey. Your time starts now."

Emily walked over to the window and looking down. She could see a very irritated Derek with his arms crossed, staring straight back up at her.

Turning back towards Casey she sighed. "I told you Case, there's no way he's going to let this go. I don't want him waking up my parents and Demi. Just go down there and talk to him. I really think you need too." Just then a text message popped up on her phone. It read, '3 minutes and counting'.

"He's counting down the minutes Casey. Go down there and talk to him."

"No, no way! I can't! Not tonight anyway. Can't you please go talk to him for me? Tell him that I'm asleep and you were up talking to Sheldon. Anything, Emily! I just can't face him tonight."

Emily closed her eyes and shook her head. "Girl, you owe me big time. You can't even imagine what you're going to have to do for me someday to even come close to making up for this. I'm like a lamb getting led to the slaughter. He's going to eat me alive."

Casey got up and hugged Emily. "I'll do it. Whatever it is, I'll do it. Just go down there for me."

She was about to say more but Emily's phone went off again. This time the message read, '1 minute and I'm coming in!'

"I'm going, I'm going, but I can't promise you anything." With that she was out the door and down the stairs.

When she reached the back door Derek was standing there waiting.

"Glad to see you came to your senses," Derek said as he started to come through the door.

"Hold on! Who said you were coming in?" Emily asked as she placed her hand on Derek's chest to stop him.

"I said, and I'd say that's good enough."

"Listen, Casey's asleep. I was up talking to Sheldon on the phone. In the morning, I'll tell Casey you came by." She began to close the door but it was Derek's turn to stop her.

"See, I have a couple of problems with that. One, I want to see Casey, even if she is asleep and two, I know she's not. I saw her walk over and hug you right before you came down. If you want to lie to me, you might want to make sure that you're a little more careful next time."

Emily's heart began to race. Oh no, it was just like she had told Casey. He was like a vulture circling his prey. How in the world was she going to get herself out of this one?

"Listen Derek, Casey doesn't want to see you right now. I don't want to go into the specifics, so just go home. Please don't start this tonight. It won't do anyone any good."

"Sorry Emily, but it's too late for not starting anything. As far as I'm concerned the minute she wouldn't talk to me it started. She started it, but I'm going to finish it, now let me in the door or I'll wake up the whole house."

Emily pushed Derek further outside, and walked out herself, closing the door behind her. "Derek, can't you just leave it alone for right now. Even you're smart enough to realize that she doesn't want to talk to you. Just let it be. When she's ready, I'm sure she'll let you know what's going on."

Derek was livid by this point. He was trying to control his temper but he knew that it wasn't going to hold for much longer. Taking a deep breath he tried to calm himself. "Emily, I'm going to ask you one more time. Please, let me in to see her. Can you not see what this is doing to me? I don't understand why she's shutting me out like this. If she has a problem, I need to help her."

Emily knew what she was about to say was going to blow him away, but she had no choice. Gathering up as much courage as she could, she looked him straight in the eye. "Did you ever think that maybe you're the problem?"

He felt like he'd been sucker punched. Never in a million years had he let himself believe that he would hear those words. Finally he managed to get out, "What?"

Standing a little straighter and trying to look as convincing as she could, she repeated, "Did you ever think that maybe you're the problem? I mean, why else would she ignore your phone calls or for that matter, ask to sleep over so she wouldn't have to face you?"

"What the hell is going on here?" he asked throwing his hands in the air. "I mean, before the game we were fine. She seemed a little absent minded before she left me to go sit down, but after the game, everything changed. What in the world could have happened in that short amount of time?"

"I don't know Derek. It's really not my place to tell, but I do know that she doesn't want to tell you anything tonight. Just go home. She'll talk to you when she's ready."

Yeah right, like that was going to happen. There was no way he was going to just go home and wait, Derek thought to himself. He had to think of something and he had to think of something fast. Trying to muster up as much Venturi charm as he could at the moment and trying to appear calm, he started, "Emily, I understand where you're coming from. I know you want what's best for Casey, but can't you see, I'm what's best for her. She needs me. Just let me see her. I know it's got to be some big misunderstanding. If I could have just five minutes I know that it would all be over and everyone would be happy again."

"Derek, I promised her that I'd get you to leave. Please don't make me break my promise. I'm sure she'll talk to you later. She's just really struggling with something right now."

"Exactly! That's the problem. She's struggling with something and no one wants to bother to tell me what it is. If anyone deserves to know, it's me. Just tell me so I can fix it."

"Derek, I'm not going into this. Just go home."

He folded his arms and looked her straight in the eyes. "I'm not leaving. I told you what I was going to do if you didn't let me in and I meant it."

He left her no choice, she was going to have to pull out Casey's lame excuse, but oh how she dreaded it. She didn't even want to imagine what his reaction was going to be. "Derek, I really don't think you want to know what she had to say."

"Try again. That's all I do want. You can tell me now or I'm going to start making a lot of racket."

"Stop it! You're just going to upset her."

"At this point in time I don't really care. An upset Casey is a heck of a lot better than no Casey at all. Now tell me, what did she say?"

Emily closed her eyes. Do it, just say it, she willed herself. "She told me that she felt like she'd rushed into this. She said she had taken all her old feelings for Max and just piled them onto you, kind of like a replacement. She said that she realized that she really didn't love you and that she was still hung up on Max." There she had done it. She had gotten it out without choking on her words.

Derek immediately began shaking his head no. "That doesn't make sense. It doesn't make any sense at all. She told me she had felt it too. She tells me she loves me all the time. You don't kiss someone like she kisses me and then say, 'Oh, I'm sorry, I was just substituting you for my dead boyfriend'." Derek was beyond livid now. No way, no way was this the truth. He tried to rationalize it in his head, but there was just no way. He had to get to her. He knew that if he could just get to her then they could work this out.

"Derek, I'm sorry. I'm just telling you what she wanted me too. I don't want to hurt you, I really don't. Please, just give her some time."

Time! No way was he giving her any time. Time would just make things worse. He knew that if he could just see her then surely she couldn't deny their relationship. He was positive that she couldn't look him straight in the eye and tell him these things. There was more to this and he wouldn't rest until he found out what it was.

Trying to be as calm as he could, he walked toward Emily, standing as close to her as he could. "Emily I just don't believe it. I know how we were in the car before the game. I know what the last few weeks have been like. I'm not resting until I see her."

He was around Emily before she ever knew what hit her. He opened the door and ran up the stairs making his way to Emily's room. Emily was right behind him, but she wasn't fast enough. Derek threw the door open and there on the bed sat a distraught Casey, hugging a pillow tight to her chest.