1At first it had been extremely awkward between them since 'the incident'. For a while they couldn't even make eye contact and avoided each other as much as possible. But eventually things actually did start to return to normal. Derek had went back to teasing her and Casey was actually pretty glad..annoyed still, but glad. Derek was right, it was like it never happened.

Well that didn't last very long. Then Casey started to feel funny. She was getting sick a lot and her period was over two weeks late. She started to ponder whether or not Derek had worn a condom, but she honestly couldn't remember and she was definitely not about to ask him. She wouldn't say a word about the whole thing until she was absolutely positive that she was pregnant. And that was why she needed Emily.

"Em, I need a pregnancy test..so I can know for sure. And well.."

"You don't want to go alone."

"Exactly."

"Don't worry Case. We'll go tomorrow after school. And who knows, maybe you don't have to worry at all."

"Thanks Emily you're a lifesaver."

"It's no problem. I'll see you tomorrow. Everything's gonna be okay Casey." Casey forced a smile for Emily as she walked out the door, and tried to convince herself that she was right. Maybe it was all just coincidence? Stranger things had happened before. She'd seen an episode of CSI where a girl was having all the symptoms of pregnancy, but it had turned out to be some crazy mental disorder where you convince yourself you're pregnant when you're not, and your body starts to actually react to it. It all sounded pretty farfetched to her, but she was willing to believe anything at that point. Anything that could disprove the possibility that she could be having Derek's baby.

"God, that was awful." The next day Casey and Emily were walking up Emily's driveway, returning from their trip to the drugstore. They had spent nearly half an hour driving around until they had finally found a place far enough away from where they lived so that they wouldn't run into anyone they knew. "Casey it wasn't that bad." Emily said trying to reassure her.

"I could just feel that stupid checkout lady judging me. Like I was just another statistic."

"Well it didn't exactly help when you blurted out the fact that you were drunk when it happened."

"I panicked, did you see the way she was looking at me? I thought it would make me sound like less of a--"

Emily cut her off. "Casey don't say it okay because it's not true."

Casey just sighed and said, "Let's just get this over with."

The moments leading up to the results of the test were painfully silent. Emily just sat on her couch, watching Casey make track marks on her floor, pacing back and forth. "Maybe you should sit down?" Emily suggested.

"I can't I'm too nervous. God why won't that stupid timer hurry up!" Casey snapped referring to the little white kitchen timer sitting on the coffee table. She immediately regretted yelling and started to apologize when a loud ding! startled both of them.

Casey ran over to where the stick was sitting, eager to receive her fate. Emily was about to ask what it said, but then realized she didn't need to.

Casey had already sank down to her knees, put her face in her hands and started sobbing. Emily walked over to her and bent down to wrap her arms around her to console her. "It's gonna be okay."

Casey managed to stop crying for a moment and choked out, "Why is this happening to me? I can't be pregnant." Emily just held her tighter, feeling genuinely sorry for her best friend.

After an eternity of tears, she finally managed to pull herself together.

"What am I gonna do?"

"Well for starters, you should probably go tell him." At that moment Casey hated Emily for always being so rational. As much as she'd wanted to throw it in his face before, she knew that would be a very painful conversation and she was not looking forward to it.

"Right, I'll just tell him..eventually."

"The sooner the better. Casey you shouldn't have to go through all this alone. It's his problem too." Casey thought for a minute, and then realized Emily was so right. She had been suffering in silence for way too long. Besides, he was gonna find out eventually. Why not get it over with?

Casey gave Emily a long hug goodbye and walked the short walk back to her house. When she got home, her house was surprisingly quiet. She took off her jacket and started to walk upstairs when a yellow post-it note on the coffee table caught her eye. 'Gone to the grocery store. Then to pick up the kids. Be home shortly.' She smiled to herself when she realized what day it was. It was Wednesday, the one day when she was most likely to have the house to herself. Lizzie had soccer, Marti had dance, Edwin had karate, and most importantly..Derek had hockey practice. She let out a sigh of relief when she realized she was home alone. She wouldn't have to tell him just yet. She could just lounge around for a bit and gather her thoughts, even if it was only for a short time.

Casey had just started to relax when she heard a voice upstairs. It sounded like someone was on the phone..it sounded like Derek. Oh crap. Casey realized she couldn't put it off any longer. Now was the perfect opportunity and she just needed to get it over with.

"Yeah dude can you believe that? How are we supposed to win next Friday if we don't have a coach?" Derek was ranting into the phone to Sam when Casey knocked on his door.

"Derek? Can I come in?"

He let out a sigh. "Gotta go, upchuck alert. We'll figure it out tomorrow." He hung up the phone and jerked the door open, making Casey jump. "What do you want?!" he snapped at her. He was stressed out enough as it was and he really didn't need Casey nagging at him. He'd just found out that his hockey coach was taking a leave of absence over some sick relative, thus ruining their chances at making it to states this year. When he saw how freaked Casey looked he lowered his voice and said again, "What?"

"I need to talk to you about something."

"Sure, on one condition." Derek said, a smirk forming on his lips. "Just promise not to puke on my shoes." Casey rolled her eyes. Was he ever gonna let her forget that?

"You should probably sit down for this." She said, stepping past him into his room.

Derek just scoffed. Whatever stupid girly drama she was about to lay on him, he was pretty sure he could handle it.

Casey took a deep breath. "Derek I came here because...I..umm..I-I-I-I.." She started stuttering so bad Derek almost wanted to laugh at her.

"As amusing as it is to watch you clam up like an idiot, I have stuff to do so just spit it out--."

Casey squeezed her eyes shut and cut him off, blurting out, "Derek, I'm pregnant!"

"No way." Derek stared at her in disbelief. "Man that sucks."

Casey just nodded. She was confused by how calm he sounded. She'd expected a much bigger reaction from him.

"But on a happier note," Derek started with a smile, "I'm off the hook for whatever I do wrong for the next nine months. I'll look like an angel compared to you." Casey couldn't believe what she was hearing. He really didn't get it. Was Derek really that dense? "So who's the unlucky loser who has to be tied down to you for the rest of his life? And why are you telling me all this anyway?"

She shook her head in disbelief. He was unbelievable. "Derek it's yours."

His smile quickly faded and he dropped down onto his bed, stunned speechless. Casey sat down next to him and tried to put her hand on his shoulder, but he quickly jerked away. This was a joke. She had to be kidding. "Casey if this is your way of getting back at me for making fun of you it's not funny."

"What? Derek I wouldn't joke about something like this." He saw how serious she looked and his heart almost stopped. "And your positive...that you are?" She nodded. Then he got up off the bed, stormed down the stairs, and she heard the front door slam shut.

Derek came back fifteen minutes later and barged into her room. She was laying down on her bed with her laptop when he threw a brown paper bag at her. "Why hello to you too Derek." She said with a sarcastically.

"That's for you." She pulled a small white box out of the bag and read First Response: Pregnancy Test.

"Derek I'm not taking this, there's no point. I know I'm pregnant."

"Really? How can you be so sure?"

"For starters I haven't had my period in like three weeks and--"

Derek cut her off. "I really didn't need to know that." he shuddered.

Casey rolled her eyes and continued, "I already took a test with Emily."

"Wait, hold up you told Emily?"

"I had to, I needed someone to help me. Obviously you can't handle it so I'm pretty sure I picked the right person for the job."

Derek was getting frustrated. "Look, just take the stupid test okay? I did not go out and buy this for nothing. Besides, the other one could have been defective."

Casey growled, grabbed the test and stalked off to the bathroom.

A few minutes later she came back, stick in hand. "Happy now?"

"What does it say?"

"Look for yourself." She threw it down onto his desk.

"A smiley face! That's good right?"

"No Derek that means we're screwed."

"Damn." He dropped his head down onto his desk. She waited.

"Well?"

"Look just give me a minute to think okay! I can fix this."

"No you can't Derek! You cannot fix this! My life is ruined and it's all your fault!" Casey was crying now. She ran to leave his room and bumped into Lizzie in the hallway. She hadn't even heard anyone come in the front door.

"Casey what happened? Why are you crying?"

"It's nothing. Just Derek, as usual. I'm just gonna go lay down."

Lizzie had looked genuinely freaked by Casey's behavior and Casey felt bad for leaving her like that, but she couldn't possibly tell her the truth. She couldn't tell anyone. How was she gonna explain this to her parents? She didn't even want to think about that. Casey curled up under her covers and decided to hide out for awhile. She didn't want to see or talk to anyone..especially Derek.

Meanwhile Derek was beyond upset. His mind was racing over the conversation he had just had with Casey. It was actually official, he had seen the proof with his own eyes. A little yellow smiley face staring back at him, mocking him. Casey was pregnant with his kid and he was scared out of his mind. He played through the conversation in his head and his mood shifted from fear to frustration. She had said, 'My life is ruined and it's all your fault!' Her life? What about his? He was supposed to go into the NHL and be a famous hockey player. How was he supposed to do that with a baby in his life? And did Casey actually blame him for this? If he remembered correctly, she had been the one to initiate the whole thing. She herself had suggested they go upstairs. She was practically throwing herself at him. Sure she had been drunk, but so was he. What was he supposed to do, say no? He's a guy so that was out of the question. But now they had to face the consequences of their actions. He was gonna be a dad. No! There's just no way. Just the thought of it made the entire room close in on him. At that point he knew what he had to do. Him and Casey both.

Casey was in the process of dialing Emily's number when Derek barged into her room once again and snatched the phone out of her hand. "Der-ek! What are you doing?"

"I'm making you an appointment at the free clinic. We're gonna fix this right now."

She grabbed it right back out of his hands and said, "You have no right to just come in here and decide everything! You just found out 20 minutes ago, I've been dealing with this for much longer." He reached for the phone again, but she jerked it away. Who did he think he was taking charge like this? Casey was beyond pissed, but she had made sure to keep her voice at a reasonable level, just in case someone tried to listen in.

"That's only because you didn't tell me. Casey listen to yourself. Are you actually saying you want to have a baby?" Derek hissed back.

"Well no...I don't know. But it's my decision, not yours! You can't just tell me what to do."

Derek held back his urge to yell and said in a very calm voice, "Casey listen to me. Let's be rational here. This is for the best. What are people gonna say when they find out? You won't be able to hide it forever, you're gonna start to show. Think of all the looks you're gonna get from everyone. All the whispering behind your back, all the rumors." He paused, put his hands on her shoulders, and gave her his concerned look. "Casey I'm not just being selfish here, I'm thinking of you too. Me? I could just walk around here the whole time like nothing's wrong. But for you...everyone's gonna be able to see it. People are cruel Casey. Do you really want to go through all that?"

Casey thought for a minute and as much as she would hate to admit it, Derek was making a lot of sense. "No, I guess not."

"Exactly my point. Why should you if you don't have to. We can make this whole thing go away just like we did before." Casey sighed in defeat. Derek was right. There was no way she could do the whole pregnancy thing. Girls like her could not be pregnant. She handed him the phone and he turned around and left the room.