Disclaimer: Again, the word itself should be enough of an explanation: I don't own LWD.

Chapter 6: Promises Made

Tyler looked at Casey with wide eyes; Marti waved a hand furiously at Casey, willing her to come over. Tyler and Casey went running up to the crowd; Casey gathered Marti in her arms and saw a lone tear slide down the side of her cheek.

The three of them, Marti still in Casey's arms, shuffled through the crowd to see what had happened; on the floor lay blonde boy…the same one from earlier that day.

"Rick?" Tyler's voice was laced with confusion, but absolutely no concern could be heard. Their eyes averted from Rick's scrunched up body on the floor to the person standing superiorly above him.

Derek.

A large amount of the crowd cheered for him. A few cries of "What a man!" could be heard by various girls.

He walked over to Marti and hugged her tightly; the little girl grasped onto his neck, fearing he would be taken away from her; Casey and Tyler looked on in confusion.

"What happened?" Casey's eyebrows furrowed as she looked at Derek.

"He took my Smerek away from me, Smasey. H-he wanted to hurt him. He wanted me to be alone…so I wouldn't have my Smasey or my Smerek." Marti's tears poured onto her face silently.

The girl was young, but intelligent, nonetheless. She knew Casey was leaving and knew Rick wanted to hurt Derek…even if he hadn't had the exact intentions Marti had claimed; she was still wise beyond her years.

"Marti calm down, it's okay…I'm not going anywhere." Casey looked at them; Marti wouldn't be crying if Casey could stay at the Venturi household. Tears gathered in her eyes, she willed them to remain behind her eyes lids but they spilled over.

One by one, the tears slowly yet quickly overcame her face. Tyler looked between Casey and Derek, noticing they were avoiding any eye contact. Tyler bent to Marti's eyelevel as Derek set her down.

"Do you want an ice-cream, Marti?" The little girl made a toothy grin and took his hand in hers as he led her to a little shop.

"Casey…" Derek brushed away her tears with his thumbs gently.

"Derek…you don't understand, I love her and I love you…I know my mother, we're basically going to be forbidden to see you all. I can't live without you guys. I can't." Casey's shoulders began to shake as her crying became more aggressive.

"Hey, hey, hey," Derek held her shoulders as he lowered himself to her eyelevel. "Don't say that…I promise you that we'll see each other again. Case, I promise…even if I have to sneak out of the house at midnight with Marti in my arms, I will. Please know that; I'll do whatever it takes."

"You…you promise?" Derek nodded and embraced her in a tight hug.

"Promise." Marti and Tyler then came back, Marti with a chocolate ice cream cone and a wide smile on her face.

"Hi Smerek, hi Smasey!" Marti said, taking a big lick of her ice cream.

"Smasey?" Derek asked, raising an eyebrow. Marti nodded.

"Mm-hmm, because she's your girlfriend, and I didn't like any of your other girlfriends. But I like Casey because she's like my sister!" Marti explained happily; the three teens smiled and laughed.

"Aw, I love you, Smarti!" Casey knelt down and hugged the girl, being careful to not get any ice cream on Derek's jacket. That's when Casey looked down at herself; she needed to change.

She looked up and spotted a small shop with clothes that read "Centreville". Casey began walking over there, everyone else on her tail.

She picked up a couple of things and put them on, she paid for them and walked out of the store; when she stepped out a look of shock was on Tyler's face, a happy look on Marti's and a very excited look on Derek's.

"Um…they sell that in a gift shop?" Tyler's eyes widened as he unconsciously looked at Casey's body; Derek noticed and hit him on the head.

"You: eyes in their sockets!" Derek said to Tyler's puzzled expression.

"Casey, you look pretty!" Marti exclaimed happily clapping her non-ice-cream clad hands. Casey's eyes averted to Derek sheepishly.

"I-if you don't like it I can get something else…I know you get really protective and stuff and…" She trailed off while blushing; first: she had been rambling. Second: Derek wasn't listening; he was in a trance-like-state as he looked at her.

"Somebody likes it." Tyler muttered loud enough for Derek to come out of his stupor.

"Uh…it's…uh, you look…wow." Derek said, or mumbled, blinking at her.

"Thank you; I think. It was either this size or an extra-large." Derek gawked at her. She was wearing a light pink tank top that was extremely fitting with black letters across it that said "Centreville".

She was also wearing a pair of black denim shorts, that were a bit shorter than intended, but only because she was tall and thin; she had gotten it because her jeans that she was previously wearing had gotten soaked.

She pulled her hair up in a high and tight ponytail so her clothes wouldn't get wet from it. Derek blinked a couple of times more before being able to form a sentence.

"Smarti, go take Tyler on that ride you said you really loved." She smiled and nodded sharply while she took Tyler's hand. Tyler looked back at him to see Derek smirking.

Marti had said she loved almost every ride she'd gone on with Derek and Casey; so that would most likely take a while.

"Tsk-tsk, Derek. Giving your sister to a boy you just met." Casey smirked at the sight of Derek's roaming eyes.

"She loves him." He said, wrapping his arms loosely around her hips. Casey giggled.

"Right; and you love me?" Derek nodded, giving her a peck.

"You know when you said the log ride was your favourite ride?" Casey nodded.

"I bet you're full of remarks about how I have a favourite ride at Centre Island." Casey stated, rolling her eyes.

"Actually, no. I thought of saying: 'If there's a ride where I get to see my girlfriends shirt go see-through then it's my favourite ride, too.'" He smirked as she playfully hit his arm.

He bent lower to kiss her but she dodged it. He gave her a puzzled look.

"Not here; Derek. There's kids, and people, and mothers, and people, and fathers, and-"

"People! I get it; so what? Now I'm not good enough for PDA?" Casey rolled her eyes.

"You never were." She said coldly; Derek's face immediately fell.

"Cold." Casey shrugged then brushed past him, being sure to whack him in the face with her ponytail. He watched leave then shook his head. There was only one word to describe him at this point: whipped.

Derek trudged behind Casey; but when she made an effort to hit him in the face again, he tapped her butt. Casey whirled around so quickly she lost her balance and almost toppled over into a fountain; only to find herself being caught by Derek.

"You're just dying to take your clothes off, aren't you?" He smirked as Casey huffed.

"Pig." She crossed her arms over her chest and pouted.

"Again with the pouting!" Derek cried dramatically, flailing his arms around; Casey stuck her tongue out at him and Derek lightly kissed the tip of it with his own; at that moment a woman and her supposed daughter walked by.

"Ugh; so little places in Toronto that teens need to make a flippin' grope-fest at an amusement park!" They heard the woman mutter under her breath.

Casey immediately looked own and blushed while Derek rolled his eyes and indignantly stuck his tongue out at the woman's retreating form. Derek looked back at her and raised her chin.

"Hey; chin up." He smirked as she rolled her eyes.

"God, Derek; you're such a moron." She said, stifling laughter.

"What?! How so?" He asked, actually seeming to be appalled at her statement.

"Well…first off you're trying to make out with me at Centre Island-"

"Yeah…well…when you say it like that."

"-and second you act like a four year old after trying to make out with me at Centre Island." Casey finished; completely ignoring Derek's interjection.

"Hey! You can't repeat! You said the whole 'make out at Centre Island' thingy twice!" Derek said, once again acting like a four year old.

"I didn't repeat the point for the second was not the 'Centre Island' point; it was you acting like a four year old." Casey said, rolling her eyes.

After about two more hours of rides and Marti's sugar high; they went back to London.

It was Marti's time to go to bed; and she begged for Casey to tuck her in.

"Smasey?" Marti said; barely above a whisper from beneath her blankets.

"Yeah Smarti?" Casey said; a smile tugging at her lips as the nicknames were spoken.

"I'm I gonna see you 'gain?" Marti stifled a yawn as her words were muffled together by sleepiness.

"Mm-hmm; I'll come to visit; I told you that." Casey said, sitting on the edge of the bed.

"I know but…you won't forget, right? You'll come back for me and Smerek, right?"

"Right." Casey said; those oh, so, familiar tears coming back and stinging her eyes.

"Promise?"

"Promise…I could never forget you Smarti; never." But by the time Casey said anything after 'promise,' Marti had been asleep. Completely oblivious to the teens strong willed words that promised that little girl a place in her heart…

…forever.