Forget Us Not

Forget Us Not

Disclaimer: I own nothing. The song is Villain, Hedley.

A/N: I know this took FOREVER to be posted. But I've been doing pretty well, haven't I? Anyhow, the next chapter!!

Part XII: Home, Sweet, Home

I'm so cold and far away from home
You're so tired and so damn alone
It's darker and much harder to be me
So far away from my reality

"I don't understand why I'm being tortured." I was glaring at nothing in particular as the rain distorted my vision of the world outside of a cramped taxi. I don't think one realizes how small the backseat is until you're begging for more space to sit as far away from the other passenger as possible.

"You aren't being tortured, Case. He's your father." I snapped an angry glance at him briefly before re-averting my attention back to the blurriness—brought to me by the dreadful precipitation.

I despise how weather conveys emotion.

"You dare not try to suck your way up into my good-books." I heard him sigh.

"C'mon, Casey. I'm only trying to help." Okay, that did it. I turned my glare unto him instantaneously.

"Help? You're trying to help me?! Really, Derek. God. Your definition of 'help' must be: to kick one's girlfriend out of one's home and make her do something she isn't ready to do." I crossed my arms over my chest and looked away, not wanting to see him, nor his reaction.

"Case—" I sighed irritably.

"Stop. Can you please stop, Sir? I'm getting out here." I directed to the cabdriver. He pulled over to the side of the road and I climbed out of the car.

"Casey, it's pouring rain!" Derek yelled from the taxi.

"Don't care!" I sniped.

"Jesus, this girl is suicidal." Pause. "Keep the change." The mumbling was cut-off by the sound of a car-door being slammed and a car pulling away. The noises of the street, rain and footsteps of Derek catching up to me were drowned out by the sound of my erratic breathing and pounding heart.

In so many words: I knew where he was coming from. My way of dealing with things was to run away from them. But only until I had built up enough courage to face the problems.

"You're being obscene." His voice was next to my ear, and I was now fully aware of the fact I was no longer walking, but being held in his tight and warm embrace.

I hate the way you look, I'm looking back
I hate the way I look, you're looking too
I think maybe I'm just falling, falling, falling

We'd been standing in that position—my back to him as he held me secure to his chest—for just shy of ten minutes. His warm breath was tickling my cheek and tempting me to turn around and allow him to win with not so much of a bat of his long lashes. It was ridiculous, this hold he had on me.

"Who are you to tell me that the way I'm acting is obscene?!" I snapped. Okay, I can admit that wasn't the best way to deal with my anger.

"Because you are!" He shot back. There was a note of desperation in his voice. I ripped myself from his arms and glared at him.

"How would you know? You barely know who I am. You don't know anything about my relationship with my father." He was watching me with narrowed eyes now. Slowly, he shook his head.

"And whose fault is that?" He asked. I could feel my eyes watering.

"It isn't like you showed any interest." My voice was now but a low murmur. He scoffed unbelievingly.

"You're blaming your issues on me?! Casey, all I did was try to get you to talk to me about stuff! Ever since you went rampaging on with the stupid wedding-dresses!" I rolled my eyes and continued to walk away.

"Profound, Derek." I mumbled. He has freaking bat ears.

"At least I speak. All I get from you is…uselessness! There's no point in talking to a post, Casey. No point. I've been willing to listen, but you haven't been willing to talk nor listen." I stopped walking and listened. I heard him scoff again. "That's right. You're hypocritical, Ms. McDonald. What do I look like to you, a shrink?" He asked. The tears spilled over when I turned to face him. His face was a sheer mask of anger and disgust. Both petulant emotions were directed at me.

Crack!

My hand had stung with the impact; I could only imagine the pain in Derek's cheek. Awaiting his response, I was simply met with the sight of him clenching his jaw and hailing a cab. I was still watching him in slight shock. He always came up smelling like roses.

Derek opened the door and motioned for me to get in. I climbed into the warm car and looked up at him hesitantly. He simply leaned down and offered me some amount of cash that would probably exceed the amount of the taxi fare. I shook my head and he sighed.

"Just take it, Case." His tone was soft but firm. I shook my head again. I hadn't trusted myself with words, and I was right in doing so, because as soon as I so much as opened my mouth, my bottom lip quivered immensely.

"I've got my own money." I somehow managed to rasp and stutter out. He inhaled through his nostrils, but upon seeing my lack of interest in arguing any further he nodded and closed the door lightly. I gave directions to the cab-driver. As he drove off, I looked back, despite the fact I could only see blurs, and after a while, I could barely see that.

The windows were fogged over, a down-pour of rain fell outside, and my teary eyes only made everything fuzzier.

And you kiss me like you know inside of me (let me lead you, let me follow)
And you watch me fight my own insanity (let me lead you, let me follow)
And I feel like I'm a villain Jesus said would never ever leave us
And I'm stronger now than I ever was before

I let myself in. My father was nowhere in sight, but Lily-Anne was sitting cross-legged on the sofa. The television was on, but it seemed as though she were deep in thought. However, her gaze snapped up to me as I shut the door behind myself.

"Casey." I didn't respond. I didn't hide my tear stricken face, either. I motioned my head as an acknowledgement to her before I slipped soundlessly into the guestroom. I was hopeful that, at the very least, no sobs would escape my throat. But the effort was futile.

From what I was aware of, what little sobs that were unleashed weren't all that alarming, but the logical part of me—always to be found—willed my body to burrow my head in between two excessively fluffed-up pillows. I craved sleep. Restless or not, it was all I had wanted at that moment. Because awake, the pain never died and I was aware of the tears at all times.

I just wanted sleep. No thinking, no hurting, no crying. Just sleep.

You think I never could have seen it all
It seems you want me just to watch me fall
Your fingers and your lips are beautiful
Your fingers and your lips are killing me

Amazingly enough, I had a somewhat peaceful night. Dreamless and painless. Morning, however, wasn't so peaceful. Apparently, my night hadn't been so tearless. I lifted my aching head to come into view with my reflection.

A pink nose, a blotchy face and red eyes brimmed with puffiness. Like hell I was going anywhere near civilization outside of my very room looking like that.

But of course, someone had to knock on my door. I scrambled beneath my warm blankets. "Go away." Great, even my voice was scratchy. I heard the door open notwithstanding my protest.

"Hey, your father's worried about you." It was Lily-Anne. I sniffled; I undoubtedly had yet to finish my crying.

"It's his fault. It's his entire fault." I whispered. I could feel Lily-Anne's hand rubbing soothing circles on my back.

"What is, Sweetheart?" I let out a short huff-of-a-breath.

"Everything." And that's when I just let the whole story out.

Every. Little. Bit.

I hate the way you look, I'm looking back
I hate the way I look, you're looking too
I think maybe I'm just falling, falling, falling

A/N: BTW, that isn't the whole song, I'm going to make a part 2 of this chapter so…yeah. Again, I apologize for the awful update and the amount of time it took to get it up. Please let me know what you think!!