*DISCLAMER: I don't own LWD. But I do own Daniel. Oh, and that waitress, Amanda.*

CHAPTER 21: Touch My Own Skin and Hope That I'm Still Breathing

"So, Lizzie, where do you want to go for lunch?" George asked, pulling out on to the street.

"Hmmm…" she thought. "I don't know."

"Well, what are you in the mood for?" asked Nora.

"Pancakes, maybe?" she suggested, hoping not to receive anyone's disapproval.

"TOTALLY!" yelled Marti, grinning from ear to ear.

"Pancakes it is," Lizzie said.

"How many?" asked the greeter, cheerfully. She had black, long, wavy hair and light blue eyes, slightly tanned skin and a glimmering smile. She appeared to be a bit older than Casey; 22 perhaps? Or maybe it was the lack of over-the-top makeup that was normally present at Thompson High that made her look older?

"Six," responded George, confidently.

"Awesome, right this way," she grabbed 5 large menus and a small kids one with a packet of crayons. The group followed her to a large booth. Nora, Marti and George sat on one side and Casey, Lizzie and Edwin sat on the other.

Edwin's eye's followed the pretty greeter back to her podium. Lizzie noticed this and flung her hand out at him, hitting him (moderately hard for a backhanded slap) on the shoulder.

"Ow!" Edwin yelled. "What was that for?"

''You were staring at her, Edwin. I could tell."

"So?" he shrugged.

"So? It's rude. And creepy. Plus, you wouldn't have a chance even if you were the last guy on earth."

"Doesn't mean I can't look," he shrugged as another cheery waitress came over to the table.

"Hi, I'm Amanda. I'll be your server today. What can I get you to drinks?" she smiled, pulling out a small pad of paper and the pen that was tucked behind her ear. Her red hair was pulled into a sleek ponytail.

"I'll have a coffee," said Nora, her menu open and in front of her.

"Make that two," said George, smiling.

"Chocolate Milk, please!" yelled Marti, grinning.

"Orange juice for me, please," Casey said.

"I'll have Iced Tea," Lizzie said, studying the menu for a dish.

"And I'll have a Coke," Edwin said.

She finished scribbling down their orders on the pad. "Alright, so I've got two coffees, chocolate milk, an orange juice, an Iced Tea and a Coke. Perfect, I'll be right back with your drinks." Amanda scurried off to the kitchen.

Casey looked up just as Amanda approached the table. She carried a tray filled with the assortment of their drinks. She set the tray down on the table and gave them out.

"Here you go," she said, placing Casey's orange juice in front of her. Casey nodded her head in 'thanks' and looked at the menu.

"What would you like to eat?" she asked, taking out the pad and pen again.

"I'll have the Pancake Supreme," Edwin said.

"I'll have the Berry Bonanza," said Lizzie, folding her menu to close it.

"I'll have the Grand Breakfast," said George, looking at the waitress.

"I'll have the Banana Pancakes, with the hash browns and fruit salad," said Nora, following Lizzie's lead and closing the menu too.

"I'll just have fruit salad," said Casey.

"Okay," responded Amanda. "And for you?" she asked, directing her gaze to Marti.

"I want the Funky Monkey, please!" exclaimed Marti.

"Perfect," she stated, and left towards the kitchen.

"Are you ok, Case?" Nora asked after the waitress left. "I mean, you didn't order much,"

"Yeah, I'm alright. I'm just not that hungry." Casey shrugged.

"Alright," responded Nora, trying to hide the skepticism laced in her voice [and badly, I might add].

Marti leaned over and tapped George on the arm.

"Daddy, will you play tic-tac-toe with me?" he asked.

"Yeah, sure," he agreed.

"Okay, you're 'x'. You go first!" Marti smiled

Casey began to dig into her fruit salad while the "men" quickly nommed on their pancakes and bacon.

"Edwin, George. It's not a race. Relax," Nora smiled.

Suddenly, as Casey put another fork-full of cantaloupe in her mouth, she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. She set her fork down in the bowl for a moment and pulled out her Blackberry and took a look at the message. It was from Daniel:

I got smthg I want 2
show u. Meet me in
10 in the parking lot
the park

Casey stared at her lap as she texted Daniel back.

Can't. Lunch with
the Fam.

She sat her phone beside her on the bench and went back to eating that cantaloupe. After she ate those pieces, her phone vibrated again.

How bout after?
I can pick u up.

"Hey Mom," Casey began, lifting her head up from staring at her lap. "Can I go hang out with Daniel after lunch?"

Nora didn't need to think. "Casey, I don't like how much time you're spending with Daniel. It's worrisome." She cut into her second pancake. "I've hardly seen you in the last couple of weeks."

"Please, Mom," she begged.

"I don't know Casey. Let me think for a moment."

"Alright, Casey, you can go hang out with Daniel." Nora finally said.

"Really?"

"Yes. But he has to pick you up from here and you need to be back at home by 2:00. Got it?"

"Yeah, just let me text him back."

"Alright, we all ready to go?" George asked, putting his debit card back into his wallet.

"Yeah," Edwin nodded, sliding out of the booth. Lizzie then Casey followed his lead.

Casey faced the door. She noticed it open, and Daniel step through. His hair covered his face and his hands were shoved in his pockets. He walked past the podium, looking up to look at where she was. He walked over to her and gave her a hug.

"Hey," she smiled.

"Hey," he smiled back and then wrapped his arm around her. "Hi, Mrs. McDonald,"

"Hello Daniel," Nora said.

"Erm, I suppose we should be going now…" he said nervously, looking at Casey. "I'll have her back by 2:00." He added, noticing Nora opening her mouth to remind him.

Lizzie leaned over to Edwin as everyone watched them walk out of the restaurant. "I don't like him. He gives me the creeps." She whispered.

"You and me both," he whispered back.

"Okay, open your eyes!" Daniel yelled. "Taa-daah!"

Casey's jaw dropped open. Right in front of her was Daniel's new car. It was a 1975 Plymouth Fury in Black (with an attractive red pinstripe); Daniel's dream car. "Ohmygawd, this-this is…" A smile took over her face.

"Yeah. That was what the e-Mail I was checking this morning was about. The owner accepted my offer."

"Daniel, I'm so happy for you," she said, throwing her arms around his neck. "You must've worked really hard to get this."

"Yeah, it's taken most of my pay and my Echo, but it's definitely worth it. C'mon, hop in. Let's go for a drive."

The farther north they went, the fewer houses they saw and the more trees there were. She'd been up this far with Emily when they visited her family's cottage last summer but other than knowing where Muskoka was, she had no clue where they were.

"Now, where exactly are you taking me?" she asked, jokingly.

"You'll see," Daniel smiled, pulling onto the exit ramp.

He made a couple quick left turns and one or two right ones, driving down a long stretch of road. Casey watched the trees. They were up in the country; she could tell that much. She watched as the trees grew closer, the houses grew farther apart and the greens richer. Daniel turned up a steep hill, driving carefully.

"Certainly doesn't handle like the Echo," he remarked, in a matter-of-factly voice under his breath.

A couple more minutes later, he pulled into a parking lot.

"Alright," he said, putting the car in park. "We're here."

Casey looked out the window. "Where exactly is here?"

"It's this conservation area that was abandoned a couple years back. Very few people come here, but the ones that do, like it. I came across it one night when I was just… driving, looking for a place to sleep."

Casey was still looking out the window. "It's really pretty."

"Yeah, it really is."

"Casey,"

"Yeah?" she said, turning her head.

She turned her head to look at him. He took his hand and brought her into him, kissing her. She gently pushed him away.

"W-what is it?" he asked, a little shocked that that happened.

"Daniel, I can't." For lack of better words.

"Can't what? Kiss me?" he laughed a little; hints of confusion hidden by the small laugh.

She nodded. "It just feels… wrong. Because of what happened between you and Derek today, I mean. But I'm just so confused right now, Daniel. My head feels like its spinning! (She looked up at him.) I still wanna be here with you, but at the same time, I feel so guilty." Casey sighed and her voice grew smaller. "I just don't know what to do or what to think right now,"

He slid over, looking her in the eyes. "I'm sorry Casey, I'm so sorry. I never meant to put you in that position; at all. I never wanted you to feel so confused; I just wanted to protect you."

She 'leapt' foreword, so to speak, and hugged him, arms around his neck. He wrapped his arms around his waist and pulled her in.

"I love you, Casey" he whispered.

"I love you too," she whispered back. Her voice trembled, wavering like she was crying.

She pulled away and he looked at her. She definitely was crying. Silent tears were streaming down her face. Daniel reached out to wipe away a tear, then pulled her in and kissed her.

Knock Knock.

"Derek?" George asked, holding a white Styrofoam tray. "We brought some pancakes back for you."

No answer.

"Derek?" he asked again. "You awake?"

No answer.

"Derek?"

George opened the door.

George's eyes widened. His jaw fell (so did the pancakes [NOOOO!][But that's not the point, let's keep it serious] [Sirius BLACK!] [Ohhoho, Harry Potter humor] [I'm stopping now, really] [Whoops, I lied. I'll stop now and get back to the story][I lied again. I'm such a terrible person for making fun of a serious situation] [Sirius BLACK!][Okay, I swear this is the last unrelated author comment.]).

"Nora!" he yelled.

Daniel smashed his hands on the window, spreading his fingers against the glass as he held himself over Casey while he kissed her [I know, kissing is icky, but that's sorta what most the story is based on…] [Crap, I lied again][This one's it. I swear]. She wrapped her arms around his neck and he took one arm off the window and wrapped it around her waist.

Casey pulled away for a moment. He looked at her and she looked back at him. Daniel knew what this look meant.

"You sure?" he asked, concern on his face. She nodded in response. [I suppose that's not what you do when you're confused, but hey.] [Damnit. Lied again. Sorry. Last one. In this chapter. :)]

He leaned in again (half leaning against her, half supporting himself) as he pulled of his leather jacket and dropped it to the car floor. He placed his hands behind her, and she undid her zipper on her sweater. She let it slide off her shoulders to her wrists, pulling one hand out of the sleeve and wrapping it around his neck.

He moved one arm and wrapped it around her waist, pushing her back, supporting them with his other arm. He slid one hand up her shirt. She flinched at first, but it didn't matter because in a few seconds, she was starting to pull his shirt off of him and he was reaching for hers and she was playfully grabbing his hair.

BEEPBEEPBEEPBEEP! BEEPBEEPBEEPBEEP!

"Just ignore it," he mumbled.

BEEPBEEPBEEPBEEP! BEEPBEEPBEEPBEEP!

Daniel pulled away for a moment and she (and him) pulled his shirt over his head, throwing it to the floor of the car and then moved back to kissing her.

He pressed his body against hers, holding her tightly against him. She continued to run her fingers through his hair as he started to lift up her shirt to pull it off of her.

BEEPBEEPBEEPBEEP! BEEPBEEPBEEPBEEP!

"Shit," she mumbled, reaching for her pocket and pulled away for a moment.

BEEPBEEPBEEPBEEP! BEEPBEEPBEEPBEEP!

She pulled it out of her pocket as Daniel pulled away from her so she could look at her phone. Home was what the screen said in big, bold white letters. "It's Mom," she said, worried, sitting up.

"Ignore it," he said, leaning back in.

"What if it's urgent?" she pushed him back.

At this point, Daniel sat there, watching her. Casey held the phone to her ear.

"Hey,"

"Ohmygod, Casey, I-I was s-so wor-rried. Y-you didn't p-pick up," Nora sobbed on the other end.

"I'm sorry, I was in the middle of something. Why? What's up?

"You h-haven't heard a-anything from Derek, per ch-chance, h-have y-you?"

"No, I haven't heard anything from him. Why? What's going on?"

She heard Nora sob again and then mutter something inaudible.

"What happened?" she asked.

Suddenly, Casey dropped her phone and Daniel stared at her. Her face was blank and she stared off into space, as if she was in shock.

"Casey? What is it?"

"Daniel, I have to go home. We've got to go now."

"What? Why?"

She looked at him, tears filling her eyes. "Derek's missing,"

SUMMER!

Exams; Done. School; Finito.

YAY!

BTW, are we all excited for next, next week? I know I AM! First, Breathe Carolina's new album, Hell Is What You Make It comes out on the 12th and then, la piece de resistance, HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS: PART 2 comes out on the 15th.