a/n: sorry it took so long, school got really busy.

disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 9: That was Then, and This is Now

This is the hardest story,
That I've ever told,
No hope or love or glory,
Happy Endings,
Gone for ever more,

It had been a little over a week since Casey had sent the letter to Derek, pouring her heart out. Nora was still at the hospital, trying to get back to normal as fast as she could. George was able to visit her and he had seem to be improving dramatically since then, wanting to get out of rehab quickly. Casey hadn't had another dream about the past since Nora woke up, things were starting to slowly get back to normal.

Well, everything besides Derek. Derek only called once since he left but no one was home so he left a message. So Casey had to wait patiently, waiting for her letter to reach Derek. Her family members and friends tried to reassure her that once he read the letter that he would come back but that didn't stop Casey thinking up crazy ideas that he would just laugh at the letter then put it through the shredder. To help with luck, Casey took out her 25 cent wedding ring that Derek gave her years before and placed it on her ring finger. She would pray that Derek would get that letter soon and phone her to tell her that he loved her and wanted to be with her.

What Casey didn't know was that the letter had arrived. Unfortunately, it had been brought up to the office and was handed to Derek's secretary, Faith. Faith immediately recognized who it was from. She knew that Nora Macdonald-Venturi was awake and that her threat was no longer considered a thought in Casey's mind.

Faith was scared since she knew that Nora was awake. In fact, she was there when Nora opened her eyes. See, Faith acting on impulse, went to go visit Nora, to make sure she would have the right room number if she ever had to call in a favor for someone to pull the plug. As she was there, being a bigger klutz that Casey, she tripped over the plug that was keeping Nora alive, and it fell out. She quickly grabbed the cord and plugged it back in and ran out of the room.

She grabbed the first nurse that she saw, telling her to go check on Nora, saying that she didn't look so good. The nurse ran inside the room then shouted, calling for a doctor because Nora was awake. She was shocked that she was actually the one destroying her plans to be with Derek. After using a sum amount of curse words, she ran out of that hospital as fast as she could, knowing that she had to get Derek on a plane and far away from London or else Casey would tell him how she feels and it would be game over for her.

She was successful in getting Derek out of the province and into their own without him finding out Nora was awake and she thought that she was safe. As long as Derek never spoke to Casey again, she was fine. Her wall of safety came crashing down as she was holding the letter. She knew exactly what was in that letter. She felt her hands shake as she saw Derek walking towards her, probably wanting to pick up his mail. On impulse, she opened her first desk drawer and shoved the letter in it. She got up, handed Derek his coffee and the remaining pieces of mail, and walked with him as he gave her assignments, completely forgetting about the dangerous letter that was in her desk.

---

Casey walked into her school in the morning with the same worried face as she had before. She usually loved Tuesdays, mostly because they weren't Mondays but today she couldn't tell you what colour the sky is if you asked her. She only had one thing on her mind, the letter.

"He's going to come back Casey," Rachel reassured her as they talked in Rachel's classroom.

"Shouldn't he have gotten the letter by now?" Casey asked.

"They don't call it snail mail for no reason," Mark said.

"Oh, I know," Casey said, gulping down her coffee, again wishing that alcohol would magically appear in the cup. "Why didn't I ask for his e-mail? That would have been faster."

"Because you were too busy crying in your room," Mark said, and Rachel smacked him.

"Thanks," Casey said sarcastically.

"No problem," Mark replied as the bell rang, signalling the beginning of school.

Casey walked to her classroom, getting her students to settle down. As she listened to the morning announcements, she wondered if Derek was reading her letter right now.

---

"Why did I move to Alberta?" Derek asked himself as he walked to his office. It was so cold in the winter. On his way to his office, he noticed that he got there before Faith did. She had such a crappy car and he knew it would take her a bit longer to get into work this morning, since it had snowed the night before.

When he went into his office, he wanted to staple some of his work together before mailing it and realized that his staples had ran out. He went to Faith's desk, knowing that she kept staples in the top drawer of the desk. As he opened it though, he didn't see what he expected. He expected to see paperclips, staples, rulers, etc. but what he found was the letter, addressed to him, sitting on top. He recognized immediately that this was Casey's writing and he grabbed it and ripped it open.

'Dear Derek,' it began. 'I'm writing you this letter because I missed you at the airport and I couldn't do this on the phone…' Derek couldn't believe it when he read it. Casey wanted him to come home, she loved him and she wanted to be with him. Still holding the letter, he ran into his office, grabbing his coat and running to the elevators. On his way there though, he was stopped by Faith.

"Derek where are you going?" she asked him.

"Home," he said as the elevator doors opened he stepped inside and just before the doors shut he shouted, "by the way, your fired."

Faith stood there shocked. Fired, she had never been fired. Not only that but she figured that he wasn't her boyfriend anymore and that just bothered her even more. What was she suppose to do now? She had no idea, she always got her way, and now she didn't. "This must be what average people feel like," she said as she walked to her desk to pack her things. She began to cry though, she had tried so hard not to be average but she failed. That was all she thought about, everything else, including Derek left her mind.

It was the same for Derek, all thoughts of Faith left his head. He ran to his car and as he drove to the airport, he booked a flight to London, Ontario on the way there. He wanted to tell Casey that he loved her in person, not over the phone. He was lucky that he was able to get a ticket at such sort notice. As he ran through the airport, he managed to go through security and checking really quickly. He did this by telling people why he was in such a hurry; having to tell his one true love that he loved her and when that didn't work, he said that his father is dying, only lying a little bit.

He quickly walked to the gate but on the way, he passed a machine that was selling rings for 25 cents. Derek smirked as he reached into his pocket and fished out 25 cents. He grabbed the ring case, not having time to look inside it and ran to the gate, making it just in time for his flight. Unfortunately for him, what he didn't know was that ring case belonged to a drug dealer and was carrying cocaine in it instead of a ring. Derek didn't think to look in the case, shoving it in his coat pocket to not lose it.

Derek was restless the whole flight, feeling like the plane was moving at a snail's pace. He wanted to find Casey as fast as he could. He was in such a nervous mood that he didn't care that he was in the aisle seat and that the person sitting beside him was a elderly woman who was snoring so loud that everyone could hear her. He didn't pay attention to anything around him, not at the girl who was trying to catch his eye to flirt with him or at the movie that was playing right in front of him.

He let out a gush of air when they landed, knowing that it was only a matter of time before he found Casey. He was going over all the things that he had to do in his mind before he could find Casey when he reached security. He pulled out everything that he had in his pockets, including the ring case containing cocaine and walked through the metal detector.

He waited on the other side for his things and was stopped by a security guard, telling him that he had to come with him. Derek freaked out and started to run but realized that other security guards were chasing after him. He stopped and shouted stop at the security guards, causing everyone to turn their heads. Afraid of what he might do, the security guards stopped a distance away from him, circling around him, waiting to see what he did next.

---

Casey slowly walked to the office. It was recess and she wanted to do some photocopying. She had to travel through the office to get to the photocopy machine. When she walked in and greeted Gail, the school's secretary, she shushed her. Casey was shocked, Gail loved to gossip to anyone and everyone and never stopped talking, much less shush someone. It was then that she realized most of her fellow staff members were in the office, none of them talking. She noticed Rachel and Mark in the crowd and walked up to them.

"What's going on?" she whispered to them.

"Some idiot tried to smuggle drugs through the airport and when they caught him he ran but stopped suddenly and shouted for security to not come any closer," Rachel explained.

"Is anyone hurt?" Casey asked, scared to what the world was coming to.

"Not that we know of, now shush," Mark replied. Casey closed her mouth and followed Mark's gaze to the tiny radio on Gail's desk as they all listened.

"The perpetrator is surrounded by security and police that have arrived on the scene." The radio blared out. "No one is moving in because they do not know what he will do if he gets spooked again. Wait, the perpetrator is saying something. He's asking… he's asking to make a phone call, just one phone call then he will cooperate. The police agree, only if they can hear the conversation. The perpetrator nodded his head and one police officer is moving in slowly, placing down a cell phone and sliding it to the perpetrator. He picked it up and is dialling. Who would he want to call so badly? Whoever it is, they will be placed on speakerphone, for everyone to hear. The perpetrator pressed send and-"

Casey didn't hear what the reporter said next because just then the school phone rang. Everyone looked at it, thinking the same thing, no it couldn't be. Gail reached for it on the third ring and pressed it to her ear.

"Trudeau Public Elementary school, how may I help you," Gail sang into the phone as she always did, only when she said this, it came through the radio also.

"May I please speak to Casey Macdonald?" Casey eyes bulged, knowing who the owner was to that voice.

"Just a second," Gail said then placing her hand over the phone so that no one on the other end could hear her. "Casey, the phone is for you," Gail said. Casey shook her head.

"I can't. It's Derek," Casey replied, completely freaked out at what Derek did, he has completely lost it.

"Casey this is no time to debate about this," Rachel said slowly. Casey was about to argue but Mark placed his two cents in.

"Pick up the phone woman!" Mark shouted. Casey, startled by this because Mark never yelled, reluctantly took the phone out of Gail's hands.

Casey thought of a million things in a second what to say through the phone but only the stupidest one came out. "This is Casey Macdonald," Casey sang the same way Gail had only seconds before.

"Casey! Good, I was afraid that they couldn't reach you," Derek said. Casey thought what to say next because it wasn't like a private conversation between her and Derek, everyone who was listening to that radio station was hearing what she was saying.

"Derek why are you calling?" Casey asked, sounding bored but her whole body was really jumping all around inside.

"I'm in London, at the airport," Derek said.

"I know Derek, it's on the radio, in fact this conversation is on the radio." Casey knew that he was probably looking around right now, trying to find the reporter because he didn't say anything. "Derek why are you here?" Casey asked slowly, almost afraid to hear the answer.

"I'm here because…" Derek started. The entire staff leaned in, closer to the radio and Casey automatically did the same even though it didn't make a difference. "I came to London because I-" suddenly the phone went dead. "Damn your battery died," Derek shouted at the police officer but he didn't get to say anything else because another officer jumped him and he fell to the ground.

"Well, who is this Casey Macdonald and what was he going to say to her, let's hope she comes to the airport to find out for herself." Casey heard the radio say. She slowly put down the phone and looked around, seeing all of her staff members and friends staring back at her.

"Let's go," Rachel said to her. Casey was surprised that she was the one who said it, Rachel, like herself liked to think things through instead of just jumping right into them. Casey shook her head.

"I don't want to," she said as if she was five and didn't want to go to the doctor's. She sensed everyone staring at her as if she was crazy. "I don't want him to reject me in public, in front of everyone," Casey explained.

"How do you know he was going to reject you?" Rachel asked.

"She doesn't," Mark replied before Casey could say anything. "That's not why she doesn't want to go. Since the accident that your family was in, you have spent the entire time trying to get things back to normal, forgetting about what you needed because you didn't want to remember. You don't want to go to the airport because Derek might reject you but because Derek might want to be with you and you don't want that.

"You have spent these years hating yourself, never forgiving yourself, blaming yourself because you think that you could have stopped that accident. You want to be unhappy because you want to punish yourself but Casey, no one could have told the future, no one could have seen that accident coming and even if you could fix it, you wouldn't. If you did, Zachie wouldn't be here, you wouldn't have met us, you wouldn't have become the strong person you are today so what you need to do is forgive yourself and let yourself be happy for once. Go to the airport and see Derek." Once Mark was finished with his speech everyone turned to Casey but she was speechless, never had Mark said something so serious, he always joked around, Rachel was the rational one, not him.

"What if he rejects me, I don't want to be unhappy anymore," Casey said feeling tears in her eyes, knowing that what Mark said was true.

Mark pondered something for a second before he spoke. "Well if he does reject you, you can always do a murder, suicide thing," he joked which made Casey smile.

"Well, I can't just up and leave, what about my class?" Casey pointed out.

"I'll take over your class for the rest of the day, and I'll call one of your siblings to pick up Zachie, you just go Casey," the principal said, she was always a sucker for romantic stories.

Casey nodded, not thinking of any other excuse. "Okay, I'll go." Casey said running out of the office to grab her coat and bag. By the time she got to her car, Mark and Rachel were standing in front of it waiting for her.

"Uh, guys we all can't go," Casey said.

"Why? One of the special ed teachers is watching my class and Gail is watching Rachel's class, besides were sick," Mark said, nudging Rachel and she faked cough. Casey rolled her eyes.

"Fine get in the car," she replied as she beeped it open. Rachel pushed her aside though, claiming that she was in no condition to drive. Casey rolled her eyes and got into the back but she was secretly glad that she didn't have to drive. In her head, she was still convinced that Derek was going to reject her.

Rachel speeded through the traffic, how she was not pulled over was beyond Casey could imagine because she broke about ten laws in ten seconds but then again, so did she. Once they made it to the airport, Casey ran inside, followed by Mark and Rachel. Casey wasn't sure why she was running, she just felt like she had too, if she was going to be rejected then the sooner she was rejected, the sooner she could get on with her life.

"Hello," Casey said to a random police officer that she found. Usually she did not just up and talk to people she didn't know but she didn't care anymore. The officer looked at her like she was crazy and he looked behind her, seeing Mark and Rachel standing there, all three of them waiting for him to speak.

"Hello," the officer answered back slowly. "Can I help you with something?"

"Yes, I'm Casey Macdonald and I'm wondering if I can talk to Derek Venturi," Casey said quickly. She had so much of a tunnel vision that she didn't see the reporter listening to the conversation, getting really excited, running up to her.

"You're Casey Macdonald, the person that the suspected drug dealer had to call before he went to jail, to tell you that he loved you," the reporter said.

"Derek's in jail!" Casey replied.

"He didn't say he loved her yet," Rachel told to the reporter.

"Airport jail, it's not so bad, he is just in questioning," the officer answered Casey.

"Yes, but he was going to tell her he loved her before some officer jumped him, was that you?" Mark asked the officer, looking annoyed at him. There was a pause, all of them were having different conversations that they didn't know what to say.

"Ya, that was me," the officer answered Mark.

"You jumped him before he could tell his feelings for Casey! Do you have any idea what these two have been going through!" Rachel cried, jabbing her finger into the officer's chest.

"He could have had a bomb or a gun," the officer said, trying to justify it.

"We're in Canada you idiot. The only guns are in the ghetto!" Rachel screamed in his face. This was a bit surprising because Rachel never yelled, or lost her temper but apparently there was a first time for everything. The officer was a bit taken a back by this and didn't say anything for a second.

"Can I see Derek, please?" Casey said calmly but sternly, more of a command than a request. The officer looked a bit nervous, Casey giving him a pleading look and Rachel giving him a death glare with Mark looking at her strangely. He had never seen Rachel act this way and the reporter was sticking her microphone in the officer's face, waiting for an answer. Seeing all of this, he grew afraid and didn't say anything. He may be able to tackle people twice his size while they are holding a weapon but when it came to females, he was scared out of his mind.

"Will you let her see the one she loves or not?" The reporter asked, sticking the microphone closer to his mouth.

"Uh, well, it isn't my decision so I can't give you an answer-" the officer started to say but was interrupted by Rachel.

"Oh, for the love of…" Rachel started to say. She grabbed his walkie-talkie before the officer knew what was going on. "Okay, this is for whoever is in charge, we need to see Derek Venturi immediately!" Rachel shouted into the talkie. A couple of officers were now looking over at them, hearing Rachel speak through their talkie.

Mark then grabbed the talkie from Rachel's hand, "Ya, we really need to see him, we have the girl who is in love with him and he loves her back so let them be together!" He shouted into the talkie.

"Thanks guys," Casey said sarcastically, knowing that her love life was just broadcasted on the radio and probably will make it on the six o'clock news.

"Give me that," the officer said, grabbing the talkie from Mark's hand as another officer came over.

"What seems to be the problem Joe?" the officer asked him.

"They want to see Derek Venturi," he answered back.

"Not all of us," Casey said, becoming more self-conscious by the second. "Just me, these guys can wait outside," Casey continued, referring to Mark, Rachel, the reporter with her crew, and the small crowd of random people who were standing behind her, giving her their support.

"It is very important that Casey sees Derek. They use to be together but then their family was in a car accident and they broke up and now six years later they realize that they really belong together," Mark tried to explain.

"Which family, Casey's or Derek's?" the reporter asked.

"Both their step-siblings," Rachel said without thinking. Casey saw the reporter's eyes brighten, knowing that her story about the suspected drug dealer was getting bigger by the second.

"Guys, I know you are trying to help me but really, stop it," Casey harshly whispered.

"Please, can Casey see Derek, you have no idea what kind of pain this girl has been through. Please just let her see him," Rachel begged, obviously not listening to Casey at all.

Both officers looked at each other. "Stan, they are not going to go away until we let her see him and besides he is becoming less of a suspect every minute we are talking to these people," Joe said and Stan nodded and pulled out his walkie-talkie to get in contact with his boss.

---

"For the last time, I came here to tell the woman that I love that I want to be with her and I bought that ring as a temporarily engagement ring as I did years before when I first asked her to marry me," Derek tried to explain. He was stuck in a questioning room at the airport with a police officer because apparently he was a suspected drug dealer. He couldn't believe that he was about to tell Casey his feelings for her and he was cut off because the phone died and an officer tackled him.

"And this woman is your step-sister," the officer stated.

"Yes," Derek said nodding. The officer rolled his eyes, not believing it for a second. He couldn't have risked jail time just to tell his step-sister that he loved her.

"Let's start from the beginning, you're-" he started to say but stopped because someone was speaking to him through the walkie-talkie. Not wanting Derek to hear, just in case it was something confidential, he crossed the room to the corner, where he himself could barely hear the voice through the talkie.

"What? Say that again," the officer said, was all Derek could hear. "This is unbelievable," the officer continued, rolling his eyes. "Fine send her in, this case is shitty anyways." Once he finished, he looked over at Derek. "You are a very lucky man," he said before opening up the door and walking out holding the door open, allowing another person to walk through.

Derek couldn't believe it when he saw Casey walking through the door. He felt like he was on cloud nine, seeing her standing there, she looked like a princess, well, until she smacked him on the head.

"Derek you idiot, running away from airport security. Do you get stupider as the years go by?" she asked him. Derek stood up, not liking how he had to look up to talk to her. This way, when he stood up, he forced Casey to look up at him.

"I think I get smarter when I get older. If I was sixteen and this happened I probably wouldn't have used my one phone call to call you but dad to bail me out. Obviously, you are much faster in getting me out," Derek replied back.

"Derek why are you here?" Casey asked quickly, not looking at him but at the floor, afraid to meet his eyes.

"I came," he started, walking closer to her, placing his finger under her chin and lifting her face up gently, forcing her to look in his eyes. "I came to see you," he said softly.

"Why?" Casey asked so quietly that if they weren't so close he wouldn't have heard her. She didn't realize she was crying until she felt his thumb go across her cheek, brushing the tear away.

"I came to see you because I got your letter and I thought, wow, this must have taken a lot of guts to write. I thought I should match those guts that you have and come here, to tell you that I love you and want to spend the rest of my life with you. Unfortunately, I ended up in here since the ring that I bought you for 25 cents wasn't in the case but cocaine so it didn't turn out so well," Derek said, smirking as he saw Casey smile.

She then brought up her left hand to show Derek the ring that he bought her when they became engaged to be engaged. She took it off her finger and placed it in his hand, his smirk faded, mentally kicking himself that he put himself through hell and he was going to be rejected again. He lowered his head, looking at the ring instead of at her, afraid of what he would do if he looked at her, he didn't want to cry. She lifted his head as he just did to her but she did it with both her hands, holding the side of his face.

"I'm so tired of being engaged to be engaged. So tired of thinking that the song 'Happy Ending' is my life. I want to be engaged to you, if you will have me," she whispered. Derek smiled again and couldn't contain his joy and grabbed her and started to kiss her.

What they didn't realize was that Mark had his face pressed up against the door, waiting for the exact moment to open it and find Derek and Casey together and happy. He picked this moment and opened the door, tears filled his eyes as he say Casey kissing the one she loved as he and the crowd behind him started clapping.

"Told you it would be a 'Danielle Steels' ending," he said to Rachel as she grabbed her wallet out to give him 20 bucks. She was glad that he won this one. She began to cheer as she moved to get the microphone out of her face.

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