Life with Derek

Once again I don't own anything.

Coming Home

Chapter 2

After letting herself cry, then relaxing in a nice hot bath, she put on the shirt and pajama pants and then she realized who they belonged to. Derek. A million memories came rushing at her at once. "Now is not the time Casey." She said to herself sternly.

"Are you okay in there?" Lizzie asked as she pushed her ear to the bathroom door trying to hear what Casey was saying.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Casey said as she opened the door. "I think I am just going to get some sleep, Night Liz." Casey said as she started to walk into the bedroom that she couldn't wait to leave three and a half years ago.

"Good Night Casey, if you need anything, anything at all, you know where to find me." Lizzie said with a smile as she headed to the stairs.

"Thanks Lizzie." Casey called down after her, feeling a little better.

Casey crawled into her old bed. 'Wow, I have really missed this bed.' Casey thought as she snuggled up against her pillows and in her blankets. She knew that she couldn't avoid the truth of everything that had happened that day any longer, and even though the bath had made her feel better, it couldn't last for the rest of her life. She needed to think.

She thought about her trip to the store to pick up the box that would tell her what her future held. She thought about how to tell Alex, about what he would say, and how things would turn out, but either way they would be okay. They loved each other… right? WRONG.

"How could you Alex?!" Casey asked her bare bedroom walls as she took the diamond ring off her left ring finger.

flashback

As Casey was putting her set of the apartment keys back in purse she heard an unfamiliar female voice. Sliding the skinny box into her purse she slowly and quietly walked to the bathroom door, and listened.

"Al" The voice let out between flirty giggles. "You're so amazing. If I was your fiancé I would never let you out of my sight." Casey could hear the water moving around and some more giggling. "So when does SHE get home?" She let out bitterly.

"Come on babe let's not talk about her. You know you're the only woman I love."

"Oh, Alex Russell, I love you to!" And once again Casey heard the water splash around and some more giggling.

Managing to breath out a oh my god, Casey quietly stumbled to the bedroom she shared with her fiancé, sitting on the still made bed, Casey silently thanked god for that small little favor. "What am I going to do?" Casey whispered to herself, as she squeezed her purse tighter. Casey knew her only option was to leave, but to where? She didn't want to go back home, but she didn't want to make her friends deal with all of this. Hearing some more squealing from the bathroom made her realize that it didn't matter where she was going, as long as she wasn't listening to her fiancé with some other woman. After grabbing all of her school books and laptop and stuffing them in her case, she went to her dresser and threw some of her clothes on the bed, walking to the closet she got out the suitcase, and threw it on the bed. Not thinking Casey loudly and violently slammed the door. Hearing lots of splashing and loud, rushed whispering coming from the bathroom, Casey hurried up to finish packing, she wanted to be sure that she had the stuff she would need for at least a few days. When her suitcase was full she saw Alex standing in the door way. He was only wearing a pair of boxes, it was the pair that she had bought him for Christmas the year before, he was still wet, with bubbles in his hair, and a lipstick smudge on the side of his mouth. He was looking at the floor, but blocking the doorway so she couldn't get out. Grabbing her purse and all of the stuff she packed, Casey walked over to him.

"You need to move, NOW." She said in a loud angry whisper. Alex moved to one side without looking up at her, and let her pass.

Relieved that he wasn't going to make thing harder for her, so she walked to her car, and threw her stuff in the backseat, wondering if maybe she was over reacting, maybe there was a explanation.

"Alexxxx!" A woman shouted from the door. Casey slammed the back door, and made herself look towards the voice, only to see some blonde haired tramp wearing her blue bathrobe. "Do you know what happened to my shirt?" the women said through a evil smirk.

Needing to leave right then, before the did something she would regret Casey started to get in the car.

"Casey! Casey! Please wait, it's really not what it looks like." Alex said while he tried to grab her hand.

"Don't. You. Even. Try. That." She said through gritted teeth.

"Casey…I…you… Ashley and I… I mean, you know you're the only women I love." He said through a smile.

"Oh my god, I can't even believe you just said that Alex! I mean I knew you weren't perfect but this!!" She said while throwing her hands in the air. "This is too much, even for you!"

"Lighten up Case, it was a little mistake, everyone makes them, even you."

"You did NOT just say that! You think that cheating on me qualifies as a little mistake." Casey said while turning back towards her car to leave.

"Oh come on Case, don't you want to admit to your mistakes right now?" He said as he wiped most of the bubbles out of his hair.

Turning back around to face him, she replied "I don't know what you are talking about."

"I am talking about me. Okay Casey, Me! I am your huge mistake!"

"You're delusional Alex! Why in the hell would I agree to marry you if I thought you were a 'huge mistake'?"

"You agreed to marry me, because you couldn't marry him!" He shot back at her.

"Him?? Alex there is no him. Why would you even think that was a "him"?? And who is this him you think I am messing around with??!!" She said getting madder and madder at Alex for accusing her of having affair when she just found out that he was actually having one!

"I don't think your sleeping with him Casey. Although I wish that was all it was. I would rather you had sex with him, then be in love with him." Alex said looking Casey right in the eyes.

"You know, this is really quite funny." Casey said throwing her hands in the air out of disbelief "I mean I come home to find you and some woman in our bathtub doing god only knows what, and you accuse me of this… whatever this is you're accusing me of!!"

"I'm not as dumb as you think Casey, I was just ignoring it, and do you want to know why? Because I didn't want to know that you wanted another guy, but after all these years I can't pretend anymore. You've wanted him since you were in 10th grade, and it's not going away. I see it in your eyes every time you talk to or about him. And it kills me."

"Sam?? Sam and I broke up years and years ago! And I never even loved Sam, I liked him, but I was NEVER IN LOVE with him. And for god's sake, he is married, to my best friend! And they have Elias. So you really need to get over your jealousy issues especially this one."

"Not Sam, Casey."

"Then who…? Who do you think I am in love with??" She said never thinking he would actually say the name that she would barely admit to herself.

Alex sighed and decided that it was time that he said the name, he knew it was true, but saying it was a different thing. "Derek. Okay?? You're in love with Derek!"

end of flashback

Snapping back to reality Casey wiped the tears off of her face and walked over to the desk and grabbed her purse. After getting comfortable in the middle of her bed again, she took a deep breath as she slowly unzipped the top zipper and pulled out the skinny box. The box that would tell her what her future held, the box that would change her life more then any affair would.