How to Fall Head over Heels
by TheBucketWoman
Disclaimer: I am not a Canadian television writer. This means that I have no capacity on LWD. I'm a little sad about this, but I guess I'll live.
Chapter Twelve:
Part One: Casey
It was a pretty innocent looking piece of notebook paper, a little flower at each corner, and when she unfolded it, she found dense, spiky handwriting that she would know anywhere.
Oh God, here it comes, she thought.
Casey, it read, Only you could get something like this out of me. I'm about to be very mushy. Sorry about that. I'm not good at it. But I had to do this, literally could not wait another day, and since we never seem to have enough time alone for me to properly tell you any of this face to face, it had to be a pre written note, you know as opposed to a spontaneous one. And I can't wait for my voice to come back, either. I've wasted enough time.
Okay, out with it. I'm crazy about you. Wasn't it obvious?I've been in constant fear that it was obvious and that there was no way you'd ever buy what I was selling. I'm still terrified that you're going to think that I'm your creepy stepbrother who needs to be let down easy, or prohibited by law from coming within a hundred feet of you. One of those.
But somehow I don't think that you're creeped out. Scared, maybe, and that's normal but I'm noticing that half this hospital thinks we're together, and nobody has corrected them. So it can't just be me.
Sam's been bugging me for months. Since that Karaoke night at the diner, if you want to know the truth. When you sang, he said I looked like I was hit with the Thunderbolt...remember the Godfather, with Michael Corleone and the Sicilian girl and how he lost his mind the second he saw her? Like that. I wanted to grab you off the stage and bend you over a table or something and kiss you until your brains leaked out of your ears. And you know Sam. He could see it on my face. I can't get much by you,but I can get even less by Sam. He wanted me to tell you how I felt. And he knows how to push my buttons. We actually had that fight on Friday because he called me a coward, and of course he was right, and I was a little sick of him being right, so I shoved him into a locker. Had this whole accident with the puck not happened, he would have just given me a run of the mill ass-kicking, and a well deserved one at that.
So this is my attempt at telling you what I should probably have told you months ago. Everything on the table. You know every song on the radio and I pretend that it drives me crazy that you always seem to be singing along, but you must have noticed that I never turn the radio off. When it's your turn to cook dinner, I eat tofu almost uncomplainingly, because I know how you can't stand handling raw meat. I eat tofu for you. Believe me, it's love. I love you. I wish I'd studied more poetry in school because I could really use a good poetic line here, but I got nothing. So I'll just have to keep it simple: I love you.
Now here's where I need to ask you formally if you would consider dating me. Would you? Knowing you, you're stressing about whether or not it could possibly work out, and I don't know if it will either, but I think that it could be worth a try. It could be the best thing that we ever do, or it could be a complete disaster. Even if it's a mistake, it'll be worth it.
D.
Part Two: Nora
There was crying coming from Casey's room. Nora poked her head in and saw the girl sitting on the floor in front of her bed, a piece of paper clutched in her hand. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out who it was from. Casey, in her state, had no grip to speak of, so Nora took the paper from her easily.
She scanned it to get the gist, but even with her quick read, she couldn't help but be struck by how Derek was his father's son: sweet, warm, loving, excellent, and completely unpoetic. And Casey, being Nora's daughter was eating it up.
Nora sat down next to Casey on the floor, putting an arm around her to pull her closer. She let her daughter cry it out, and when Casey got to the sniffling stage, Nora asked the all-important question.
"So," she said. "What do you think?"
"I guess, I have to tell him no, don't I?"
"Why's that?" Nora asked.
"Don't you think it's a bad idea?"
"Who cares what I think?" Nora said. "What do you think? You can't go through life worrying about what will make everyone else happy, Casey. This is your decision. You two deserve to be happy, don't you?"
"It's not just about us though," Casey said. "There are five other people in this house who have to put up with us."
"Never stopped you before," Nora said. "And if you think none of us saw this coming..."
"You did?"
"We did."
"Why didn't you tell us?"
"It's not our fault that you're slow," Nora said. "We figured you'd catch on eventually."
"But what do you think of this, Mom?" Casey asked. "I really want to know."
"I think it's inconvenient; it's not ideal, but we trust you," Nora said.
Nora knew that Casey would continue to dither for a while, and it was best to just ride it out. Casey started several sentences but lost her nerve before she could form any more arguments against starting a relationship with Derek. Finally, Nora said, "We both know that you're crazy about him, Casey. Be honest with yourself. Can you do that?"
"Uh huh," Casey said.
"Good," Nora said. "Now, what are you gonna tell him?"
"I'm gonna tell him he's paying on our first date?"
"Okay," Nora said. "I'll go tell George to raise his allowance."
A/N: Short chapter, but I didn't want you guys to hang any longer. There's more to come, obviously, so keep your eyes open for it. :-)