Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews, I'm glad everyone seems to be enjoying it! Hope you like this chapter... it's Derek to the rescue! lol :-)
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Derek's mind was on overload as he sped along the highway. He shut off his cell phone because his dad had tried calling him four times in a row. He didn't turn on the radio or put in a CD. His jaw was set and teeth were steadily grinding away as he gripped the steering wheel with both hands.
Two hours. It would take close to two hours to get to Casey's ex-stepfather's house. He didn't have a plan when he got there. What he really wanted to do was beat the shit out of the asshole and whisk Casey off somewhere—anywhere, as long as they were together and he knew she was safe.
No wonder why Casey had looked so upset about going to the wedding. It had nothing to do with the wedding at all. She didn't want to see Lizzie's dad.
Daniel MacDonald. Nora had not only taken his last name, but clearly had had Casey's changed as well. Now Casey carried the name of that piece of shit, against her will. It made Derek sick just thinking about it.
How anybody could hurt someone like Casey was beyond him. Sure, he had made fun of her and teased her at times (okay… most of the time), but it was always playful. He never intentionally tried to really hurt her—he couldn't.
Casey was one of those rare finds that guys search forever looking for. She was the whole package: sweet, caring, smart, feisty, outspoken, and beautiful. The truth was that Derek had always known all of this—he knew that she was the perfect girl for him. His match. But he had to suppress any feelings he felt for her—because they were siblings now. Stepsiblings, but siblings nonetheless. He was supposed to think of her as his sister. Like Marti. And whenever he felt anything else for her, he would get angry. Which was why that he picked on her a lot, instigating their fights. And she would always fight back.
He loved every minute of it.
But to think about someone actually intentionally hurting Casey—causing her pain, making her cry? It just made him plain sick inside.
"Goddamn speed limit," Derek growled as he stepped on the gas. It was late and there weren't many cars around. He would chance a ticket if it meant getting there any sooner—getting Casey away from that monster.
He knew that thinking about it when he couldn't do anything about it just yet only increased his anger. So he rolled down the windows to let the cool Canadian air calm his flushed face and turned on the radio to his favourite station.
He had to think about something else—anything else—besides Casey.
Do not get me wrong I cannot wait for you to come home
For now you're not here and I'm not there, it's like we're on our own
To figure it out, consider how to find a place to stand
Instead of walking away and instead of nowhere to land
This is going to break me clean in two
This is going to bring me close to you
She is everything I need that I never knew I wanted
She is everything I want that I never knew I needed
She is everything I need that I never knew I wanted
She is everything I want that I never knew I needed
It's all up in the air and we stand still to see what comes down
I don't know where it is, I don't know when, but I want you around
When it falls into place with you and I, we go from if to when
Your side and mine are both behind it's indication
This is going to bring me clarity
This'll take the heart right out of me
She is everything I need that I never knew I wanted
She is everything I want that I never knew I needed
She is everything I need that I never knew I wanted
She is everything I want that I never knew I needed
This is going to bring me to my knees
I just want to hold you close to me
She is everything I need that I never knew I wanted
She is everything I want that I never knew I needed
She is everything I needed
She is everything
"Shit," Derek felt his eyes becoming blurry as the song ended. Everything was becoming so clear to him.
Of course it takes a freakin' trauma like this for me to realise I'm falling for my stepsister, he thought bitterly to himself.
Derek furiously rubbed at his eyes with one hand, glaring at the never-ending road in front of him. All he could see was the terrified look on Casey's face during her nightmares. Lizzie's scared blue eyes as she told him about her father. Nora's blatant stupidity.
Please, God, let her be okay, he prayed desperately as he drove on, his adrenaline pumping through his veins.
And two hours seemed like two days.
Daniel MacDonald's house was in a nice neighbourhood where all houses looked the same—clean, white, and perfect—and families hid all of their dark secrets from the rest of the world. It took a frustrated Derek longer to find it than it should have because each house was a carbon-copy of the one before it, and it was hard to make out the address numbers in the dark.
Derek felt that swearing incessantly would help as he slowly rolled down the longest street he had ever seen. Once he finally found the house he was looking for, he didn't waste anytime, not even bothering to turn off the ignition of his car as he threw it into park, jumped out of the driver's seat, slammed the door, and ran up to the porch.
He wanted to break the door down, but settled with impatiently ringing the doorbell—eight times in a row. A light flickered on from inside and the door opened to reveal a tired looking, rather large man, about his own dad's age but at least a foot taller and a good 75 lbs heavier than George, struggling to tie his royal blue bathrobe. He had thinning brown hair, the same shade as Lizzie's, and the shadow of a beard across his frowning face. Thin glasses were perched on his pointy nose, and he glared through them down at Derek.
"Can I help you?" he asked roughly, his voice unimpressed and slightly thick with sleep.
"You better not have laid one fucking finger on her," Derek growled at the man, pushing past him so fast that Daniel didn't have time to react.
"Casey?" he called as he began running inside the house.
"Just who the hell do you think you are!" he could hear Daniel storming after him.
"Casey?" Derek called desperately again, running up the stairs on a whim.
"Derek?" he finally heard her soft voice and Derek felt his heart squeeze at the sound. He heard her again and followed her voice down the hall and to the left. He opened the door to find Casey curled up in a bed, her eyes rimmed with redness and her cheeks wet with tears. She was in the fetal position, her whole body visibly shaking. She was clad in only a pair of cotton panties and a bra.
"Casey," Derek breathed, rushing over to her. As soon as Casey saw him, she burst into a fresh batch of tears, and Derek quickly gathered her up into his arms. She was freezing. Probably in shock.
"D-D-Derek," she bawled into his shoulder.
"Casey," Derek rubbed her back, trying to warm her up. "Case, did he hurt you?"
Casey only sobbed harder into his jacket and Derek closed his eyes silent mourning for the shivering girl in his arms. He had to take that as an affirmative.
Trying to push aside his emotions for the time being, Derek leapt into action. He shrugged off his jacket quickly and pulled it over Casey's trembling form. He zipped it up high, covering up her exposed body, just as Daniel MacDonald finally made it into the room.
"What the fuck do you think you're doing!" Daniel's voice boomed, dark blue eyes blazing with anger. He moved to get at Casey but Derek quickly jumped in front of her, pushing the hysterical girl behind him.
"You will not touch her ever again," Derek seethed through his teeth, his fists clenched and ready. Whatever he had to do, he would not let this monster lay one hand on Casey as long as he had a breath in his body.
Daniel actually laughed at that. He peered down at the boy who was much smaller than he was and let out a mocking guffaw. "You know this stupid punk, kitten?" he asked Casey with an amused smirk on his face.
Casey didn't respond, simply grabbing the back of Derek's shirt, clutching him to her from behind. Derek had never seen her look so completely fragile and scared before.
It made his blood boil.
Knowing it was probably not the brightest thing to do at the time, Derek felt himself lose control and charge at the lumberjack-built man. Daniel, who was momentarily caught off guard by the teen's audacity, was somehow knocked to the ground.
"Run, Casey!" Derek shouted as he toppled to the ground on top of the huge man. Terrified, Casey screamed at the top of her lungs and jumped over the two, fleeing the room as fast as she could.
"Call the police!" Derek managed to yell before feeling Daniel's oversized fist connect with his skull.
It only took that one punch for his whole world to turn black.