Disclaimer: I don't own LWD or the song When it All Falls Apart by the Veronicas.

AN: This and the next chapter are FLASHBACK EPISODES So it's based in the past when Derek & Casey break up. They're sixteen! r e v i e w

Chapter 3

-I'm having the day from hell, It wasn't all going so well before you came...-

Rays of sunshine filtered through sixteen year old Casey MacDonalds blinds. Pulling her pillow over her head she groaned and rolled onto her stomach. How could it be morning already? beep beep beep With a moan and a smack Casey hit her alarm clock, swinging her legs over the edge of her bed and rubbing her head, willing her headache to go away. It hadn't been a good night and from the way she was feeling she was sure it wasn't going to be a good day either. Sighing she grabbed her tank top, tight jeans, and a v-neck t-shirt and headed to the bathroom, only to be met by a locked door. With another groan she threw her head back.

"Dammit Derek open the door, I have to take a shower!" She yelled. Her boyfriend and her step-brother...and the father of her child. She giggled slightly. Amused somewhat at the thought. Granted he had never stated how he felt or anything, but in private with the three of them he showed it constantly, and he ravished his daughter.. She smiled and bit her lip, she knew she wouldn't be able to stay mad at him long. That's when the door swung open in her face.

"Morning," He grumbled, running his hand through his hair, water droplets falling around and on him as he did so. She smiled yet again at him. Maybe today would be ok, even though she hadn't gotten any sleep. He looked at her blue eyes, could he do it? He had no idea if he could where as she had no idea what he was about to do. With a weak smile he leaned over and kissed her on the lips, she kissed back.

"Morning to you too," She said with a bigger grin before noticing Derek's grim expression. "Is everything..." She was cut off by him shaking his head and a kiss on the cheek, he was shifting his feet back and forth.

"Case...Case...Casey I..." He wiped the sweat from the nape of his neck and shifted again. She nodded, urging him to proceed. He gulped. "I think we need to stop this...we have a kid...and we can't afford any more...problems. I love Trace, you do to. Let's just be seperate people. No couple no connections. Let's be over." He said in one long breath. Closing his eyes in hopes he could avoid her hurt expression.

"Wha...why?" She choked back tears that she knew wanted to escape.

"I can't say what you want me to say Casey...I can't do it...we need to space out ok?" He kissed her on the lips once more only to be pushed away.

"Stay away from me Derek...stay away." She said slowly, the expression of pain easily visible in her eyes and they way her mouth was pursed in a sad way. With the slam of the bathroom door in his face their baby began to cry. He headed towards Casey's room...for the last time.

-And you told me you needed space, with a kiss on the side of my face, not again.-

Casey threw the toilet seat and cover down and sat on it, allowing the tears and choking and racking sobs to come. She willed them to come. She'd just let her ... she'd just let Derek walk all over her. She'd let him break her heart without a fight. She didn't care if he was hurt at that moment. All she knew was that she was regretting not giving him the hard punch in the face she was sure he deserved. Her heart was aching and she could hear through the wall the cooing sweet sounds he was making at their little girl...their little girl. She put her shaking hands to her face as the tears proceeded to fall. Her heart breaking more and more with each tear that fell.

-And not to mention the tears I shed, but I should have kicked your ass instead. I need an intervention, attention to stop temptation to scream.-

Pressing his hand to his eyes he willed the tears that were coming to go away. He willed them to back down and not overcome him. He just needed a moment to process what he'd done. He did love her, he did. But she wanted him to say it, she wanted him to say things he couldn't say. Not because he didn't want to...because the words wouldn't come out. She wanted to be a couple in and out of school. She wanted a relationship he didn't know if he could handle. Casey overwhelmed him with her...uniqueness and her amazing abilities that she showed each day. She was a fantastic mother and girlfriend and friend. Derek wasn't sure if he could handle that amazingness everywhere. Taking a deep breath he cooed at his daughter, hoping upon hope that the scream of anger and frusteration and hurt wouldn't come out.

-Cause baby everything is f-ed up straight from the heart, tell me what do you do when it all falls apart.-

The shower water shut off and Casey exited the bathroom in nothing but a towel, clutching her wet clothes to her toweled body. Only to find Derek in her room giving their baby a bottle.

"Out," Was all she could say. Derek looked at her face. Puffed and red he knew she'd been crying. Would she admit it? Never. He simply nodded and went to his own room with Tracie while Casey got ready alone. Her heart aching and her body was as well. Staring in the mirror her mind flooded with memories. Her heart was shattered. Everything in her world was rocked. What could she do? What was she going to say and do and think now that Derek wasn't what she thought? They'd had a baby together, Casey was at a loss as to how that could make him love her less. Any less at all. She shook her head and brushed her hair. Determined to make it through the day without another tear, determined to make it through her life without Derek without another tear.

-Gotta pick myself up, where do I start. Cause I can't turn to you when it all falls apart. No-

Casey searched each of her family members faces, hoping to find some source of comfort. In the end she knew it was a hopeless cause. None of them could know her pain inside. As she held Tracie in her arms she caught Derek's eyes. With a small nod and a look in her eye stating I see she looked at her daughter. With the big blue eyes and brown hair you could see she was their daughter. She held Derek's mischevious smirk upon her face much of the time and Casey's determination in her eyes. A mixture, a Venturi-MacDonald. They'd chosen Tracie Vanessa Venturi since Casey and Derek had been together. They'd mixed their chosen names. It was the easiest thing they could have thought of. And it fit her perfectly. She smiled at her daughter who was holding Casey's finger in her hand and waving it around, forcing a small smile from her mom.

"My babygirl," Casey whispered in her ear, planitng a kiss on her forhead before handing her to Nora. "Be back at three," She said and headed out the door.

Stopping dead in her tracks yet another groan that was mixed with a painful realization escaped her lips. The car was gone. Derek had left her to take the bus. They were over. She sighed and ran her hand through her damp hair. She didn't care. Who was she going to try and impress? Derek? As if. With little emotion she trudged two blocks to the bus stop and waited. The bus came and took them away. All the while Casey MacDonald remained silent while inside she was crashing down.

-Don't know where I parked my car, Don't know who my real friends are anymore.-

The school was packed as Derek entered. High fiving each guy he found and smiling his million dollar smile at each girl he felt on top of the world. On the outside. Because on the inside he was crashed and burned. He hadn't wanted to do that to Casey. Hadn't wanted to hear her racking sobs in the shower or see the expression of she'll live in the kitchen. He'd wanted them to grow up and have more children as gorgeous as Tracie, grow old and die together. But he couldn't say what needed to be said for that to happen. He was sixteen. He knew he wanted it. It had been a matter of letting it out.

With a sigh and a small smirk he found Emily waiting at his locker yet again. She had no inkling that Tracie was his baby, Casey had never bothered to "find the father." As Emily put it, which had for Emily left an open door in possibilities for the two. He simply said hello and opened his locker. Casey entered the building as well, right as the rain outside began to pour and her best friend caught her eye.

"Well Derek, I'll see you at lunch." Emily whispered in his ear seductivly. He nodded, not really hearing or noticing her at all. Only Casey's piercing blue eyes in hers as Emily walked in the opposite direction. In Derek and Casey's minds all they could think was, well what a great way to start the day and it just gets better.

Sitting down in her chair Casey whiped away a tear that escaped. Sam sat behind her and Derek across the room. He couldn't be near her. He couldn't smell her or he'd stand up in front of the class and start singing some stupid song. She drove him mad. He couldn't do it. Couldn't be near her when so much was at stake for his reputation. Because at sixteen for him it was more important than some crush, he thought it was a crush, only a crush. She choked a little as he stared at her, nodding at her as well. Knowing full well her heart was shattered. He knew she'd trusted him when there was no one else for her to trust. And he knew that she held his heart in her hands, but he wouldn't say it. He refused to admit that he was in love with Casey or that he was whipped or anything else. He wouldn't do it. And she never thought she'd think of it. But that was the moment she wrote something on a note and passed it behind her, asking Sam to the party that night.

-I put my faith in you, what a stupid thing to do, when it rains it pours.-

The day came and went. Night approached. Friday night. Usually it would have been Casey, Tracie, and Derek night. For Casey and Derek tonight it was Casey vs. Derek at the party tonight.

The party booming and the lights down real low Casey entered in low slung jeans and a tank top. Nothing too much but enough to catch attention. She saw Sam and headed for him, pressing a light kiss on his cheek, tracing his chest with her finger and lacing her hand with his. Derek watched all of this with extreme envy in his heart. And at the easiest moment found a girl whose name he'd never forget and wrapped his arm around her waist. Her name was Kaycee. He shook his had at himself. He was idiot, this he knew for certain. But he wasn't letting Casey get to him. She was like taking a drink of alcohol or some E, an extreme high that would get to you and never go away.

-And not too mention I drank too much, I'm feeling hng over and out of touch.-

Casey stood in the middle of what used to be a living room and was now a dance floor. Her head was spinning and Sam had his arms around her waist, placing light little kisses across her back. She smiled to herself. Derek's face glowered at her, then a smirk lit on his face and turned to the girl in front of him. She sighed, feeling her heart stab itself. What was she getting herself into? She pulled away from Sam and spun around in circles to the beat of the music. Allowing herself to flow hoping to god that she wouldn't yell or scream and cry, hoping she could just pass out or something. Instead she just stopped. Stared at everyone around her before dashing out of the house into the car and home. Tears flowing down her face. No more tears she begged herself. No more tears.

-I need an intervention, attention to stop temptation to scream.-

Derek watched her as she ran out of the house. Not really feeling the soft licking and biting Kaycee was providing his neck with. With ease he pushed her off onto another guy who was happy to supervise her for a bit. Derek laughed a bit, what a joke. He'd tried so hard with that Kaycee girl, but Casey's expression was heart wrenching. And at that moment Derek had to wonder if he had a heart. Stopping to stare at the empty parking space in front of him he frowned. Shoving his hands in his pockets Derek started to walk home, tears streaming down his face. "Casey," Falling from his lips. "I love you..." Coming out in nothing but a choked whisper.

-Cause baby everything is f'ed up straight from the heart. Tell me what do you do when it all falls apart-

The tears fell but the sobs slowed as Casey sat on her bed, rocking Tracie to sleep with a bottle. Her baby, his baby, their baby.. She was Derekless. She had never known it would feel like this to be 'dumped.' But then again she doubted it felt like this when you with just any boyfriend. She and Derek had something not many people had, sighing she chuckled a little. What were the odds that the one to be her first love and the one to rip her heart out and into shreds would be her own step-brother. But then again she doubted this had happened to anyone else. Whiping the tears from her face Tracie smiled at her mom, causing her to smile as well. "No more tears baby, no more for daddy." She whispered, swearing silently to herself. It was done. No more tears, she'd said it earlier, but this time it was done. She heard the front door slam.

-Gotta pick myself up, where do I start. Cause I can't turn to you when it all falls apart-

The steps made loud noises as Derek stormed up them, he'd cried.Hard. He'd stopped on a curb in the dark under a streetlight to sob his heart out over Casey. And there she was. Derek stopped outside her door and looked in. Her beautiful face shining from tears he knew he'd caused. Another bit of his heart ripped out and stayed there with her. Inivisible it was to her, but it stayed there. She looked at him, big anime eyes was the only expression he could think of to describe them. Tracie sleeping in her mom's arms. Casey quietly laid her baby in her bassinet next to her bed before standing up, walking to the door, staring at Derek and shutting the door in his face.

-No-

He sighed. It was done. He'd cast the last stone of their relationship. All because she was asking him to feel, to openly feel. And he had for her. He just couldn't say it. After everything he couldn't put his heart out there for the world to see. There was no way he was going to do it. Wallking into his own room he shut his door. Tracie was going to sleep in his room tomorrow. He sighed, his shoulders shook a bit and he lay on his bed. Staring at the picture of the three of them. That picture he knew was going to stay with him forever.

-Can it be easier? Can I just change my life? Cause it just seems to go bad everytime.-

Sitting on her bed watching Tracie breathe in and out steadily she slowly sighed. The tears were forming again but she wouldn't cry. At that moment she stared at her daughter she was torn. Torn between wishing to be absolutely anyone else under the sun but herself and wanting to be herself because she had Tracie, she had a baby that would be her tie to Derek until she died. Because Derek loved his baby. No one knew it but their family. And that ripped her heart out more. However much he loved his babygirl, it wouldn't be enough until he could say it.

-Will I be mending another one ending once again?-

The two didn't know it, the two didn't feel it. But as they sat there, forcing themselves not to cry and forcing themselves to believe that this was how it was supposed to be. That they didn't love the other they were setting themselves up to just fall in love with each other again. Each time Derek saw Casey he loved her more than the first. Each time Casey saw Derek she gave her heart to him and it stayed. Derek could feel Casey's pain radiating to him and Casey could feel something from Derek even though she had no idea what it was. They simply sat there and towards the early morning when the sun began to come up you could see the tears shimmering on their cheeks. Casey sitting by Tracie's bassinet wanting so badly to jump up and run to Derek, proudly telling him about Tracie's first full nights sleep. But she wouldn't, couldn't or wouldn't she wasn't sure if she could decifer the difference.

-Everything is f-ed up straight from the heart, tell me what do you do when it all falls apart? Gotta pick myself up,where do I start? Cause I can't turn to you when it all falls apart. No.-

Uneventful things happened. More eventful things happened. Family events. Birthdays, Christmas. Vacations. All of which included their little additiion and everyones joy. Her fist word was Madama. A mixture of her parents whom she spent equal amounts of time with. She had no idea her parents hadn't uttered a word to eachother since that day. Their world was rocked and shakin and turned upside down the day Derek decided he couldn't say it. The day everything in their lives fell apart and twisted around.

-Cause everything is f'ed up straight from the heart, tell me what do you do when it all falls apart. Gotta pick myself up where do I start. Cause I can't turn to you when it all falls apart. No.-

Doors slammed and two people drove away...in seperate directions headed for seperate lives. The only thing keeping them together was the little girl in the backseat of Casey MacDonalds small car. And their unbreakable bond they'd created, when Derek decided to let things all fall apart.

-Falls apart...gotta pick myself up cause things are messed up.-

tbc