A/N: I decided to take some time from the holiday's festivities, meaning arguments with my family, to write a chapter.

Happy Thanksgiving to those who celebrate it and happy third Thursday in November to those who don't. 

Also, thanks to all the reviewers! I didn't ever think I would ever have as many as I have now. They make my little heart want to write more for all of you!

Enjoy and review!

PS – Does anyone know what's going on with the emails? I haven't received a single notification of a story update or review in a while. I miss them!

Chapter 12: Anyone else's eyes

Friday came and went extremely fast. With school, Derek's hockey game, dinner and their movie, both Derek and Casey were too tired to think about the upcoming weekend. Although neither had thought of it as anything more than their first weekend back home, both were really excited. It was something about leaving their new life for the first time, interacting with old friends, going back to that wall.

Derek had missed that wall. He missed how close it made the two of them. Sure they had been very close in their apartment and spent a lot of time together, but it was different. That wall represented a lot to him. It was something that reminded him of Casey. It reminded him of his love for her, all of those nights he sat at home staring at that wall. It made him think of how he had changed, matured over the years. He was no longer the boy that didn't care about anything. Derek now cared about his life, his future, his grades and someone other than himself. That wall was so much than a wall to him, it was his life and he was happy to be going back to it.

Casey too missed that wall. It was something she longed for these past three weeks she had been away from it. There was something about it that she needed in her life, or rather what was behind it. Casey knew that Derek had inspired the best in her. She had been able to express herself so much better when looking at that wall. She put all of her emotions in her writing when in the presence of that wall. Everything she felt was poured out. Her dreams of wanting to become a writer and teacher came to her while looking at the wall. That wall made her whole life what it was and she was excited to be seeing it again.

Before they knew it, they were in Derek's jeep, heading back to their old life. It wasn't too early in the morning, but Casey couldn't help but fall asleep. The silence gave Derek a lot of time to think.

He knew he loved Casey, he knew he saw her in his future, but he couldn't help but wonder if he was in hers. Since they both had gotten really close over the years, Derek couldn't help but wonder if Casey thought of him as a brother. That was Derek's worst fear. It pained him to think that in 5 years Casey could be married and Derek would be standing in the sidelines, watching the love of his life marry someone else.

But what could Derek really do? It wasn't like loving a stepsibling in a non-sibling way was accepted. He would have to eventually accept a life without Casey, but he decided at that moment that he wouldn't give up without a fight. It was just the details of his agenda that he didn't know. Those bothersome questions of when, where and how.

As Derek was contemplating the biggest decision of his life, Casey dreamt her worst fears. She saw herself in a church, at the alter, with Derek in front of her. He was looking in her eyes and she could almost feel the love radiating off of him. She looked around and saw all the happy faces in their seats. Everything was perfect. It wasn't until she heard the music letting everyone know it was their time to stand and look towards the back of the church.

Casey's heart sank. It was then that she noticed that she was far from Derek instead of right in front of him. It was then that she realized that she was in a horrible bride maid's dress. It was then that she realized that Derek was mouthing 'I love you' to someone else, the person that was walking up the aisle. Casey couldn't help but wonder what made her so special, what she did that made his eyes light up, what she had that Casey didn't.

As Derek pulled into the driveway of their parent's house, he gently shook Casey, telling her that they were home. This is not our home though Casey thought. It was then that she decided that she had to know if that girl in the white dress could ever be her. She had to fight for what she wanted. But, alike Derek, there were those pesky questions lurking in her head.

Making their way into the house, they noticed something very strange. It was quiet, eerily quiet. They made their way into the kitchen to find a note on the counter.

Welcome back guys. We went to the mall to get a few last minute things for the Davis' party tonight. There are some leftovers in the fridge if you're hungry. See you later this afternoon.

Love George, Nora, Edwin, Lizzie and Marti

After eating a quick lunch, Casey and Derek made their way up the stairs and to their respective rooms. Simultaneously, both sets of eyes made their way to the wall. Instantly, they both hated it. They wanted it gone, out of the way. But how could they make it disappear? It wasn't like either one could just run up to the other's door and shout 'I love you', they knew this was real life and not a sappy '80s movie. Their words and timing needed to be precise. This secret was hidden for so long, neither wanted it to be blurted out without specific precautions. This was going to be harder than either of them thought.

Casey finally looked away from the wall. It was getting late in the day and she needed to think about getting ready for the party. She knew what she planned on wearing the second she read the invitation.

It was a hunter green dress that fell to the floor. It was tight at the top and tied like a corset in the back, leaving her shoulders bare. The bottom billowed out around her waist, with black stringy designs from her waist to the floor. Casey thought that she looked really good in it while looking at herself in the mirror. And she also thought that Derek would like it.

That day Casey borrowed Derek's jeep while he was out with his friends. She said she had to pick up something from the mall and he gave her his keys without a problem. It was true that Casey wanted to go to the mall, but she really didn't need to pick anything up.

It was about a month before prom and Casey decided that she wasn't going. She was asked by a few guys, but not the one she wanted to ask her. Casey decided she wasn't going to ruin anyone's night by moping around because she wasn't with the person she wanted to go with, so she turned all of her offers down.

However, every time Casey went to the mall she was drawn to the dress department. She wanted to get dressed up, have her hair done, apply the perfect make-up, and dance the night away. But, she never let herself try on a dress, afraid it would cause her to cave and accept a date with someone she didn't want to go with.

That particular day, Casey decided she just needed to try on a dress, to get it out of her system. So she drove Derek's jeep to the next town, to go to a mall that no one she knew would see her. She grabbed a few dresses and made her way into the dressing room. None of them were anything special, just normal dresses. When she was about to leave the store, Casey noticed a rack towards the back of the department.

The green caught her eye and it called her over to it. She quickly found her size and walked over to the dressing room. She fell in love with the dress. It looked great on her and she knew that Derek would love the color. Without thinking, Casey brought it over the register, paid for it and made her way to the jeep.

On her way home, Casey realized what she did. What was I thinking? It's not like I'm even going to prom. And I wouldn't want to wear this dress for anyone besides Derek. After berating herself the entire drive home, Casey decided it was a really great dress and that it didn't cost that much. She would keep it, maybe wear it someday in the future.

Unfortunately, Derek had no idea what he planned on wearing. He had nothing that would be considered a costume for a masquerade party. Derek made his way out of his room and walked the few steps to Casey's door. Knocking on the open door, he waited for Casey to look in his direction.

"Do you need to go to the mall to pick up a costume?"

She looked into her closet, seeing the black bag covering the green dress in the back. "No thanks, I have a costume."

Derek left the house and drove his way to the mall. While browsing through the only store set up for Halloween, he couldn't help but think about that night. He hadn't danced with Casey since his cousin's wedding and he was hoping that tonight he could dance with her.

There were not many occasions that he has been able to dance with her since the wedding, but one stuck out in his head. Derek could have danced with Casey at their senior prom, it was just too bad that neither of them attended.

Derek tried to avoid all discussion about prom as best as he could. When his hockey friends would talk about limos and tuxedos, he would say he needed to be somewhere. It wasn't that Derek couldn't get a date. He knew that he could have probably stolen any of his friends' dates. It was just that he couldn't get the date he wanted.

There was no way Derek could ask Casey to prom. It would be weird and awkward on too many levels. Having to explain his actions to the world and especially Casey would have been too hard. And going to prom with someone else was not an option to him. Sure, girls threw themselves at him and many mentioned that they weren't asked yet, but Derek never asked any of them. None of them were Casey.

Besides, Derek could not think of going to prom and seeing Casey dance with someone else. It would have killed him, and Derek didn't want to think of what he would do seeing another guy that close to Casey, so he decided that he was going to stay home. He thought it would be a quiet evening in front of the tv.

Prom night came and Derek was in his room most of the day. He didn't want to see Casey dressed up for someone else. He did not want to see the sparkle in her eyes when her date came to the door.

Derek waited to hear the doorbell ring, for Casey's bedroom door to close and finally for the front door to close. He knew that all of these sounds were made by Casey, because the rest of the family decided to go out for the evening. Derek dragged himself out of his room and down the stairs, stopping at the landing, surprised to see what he saw.

Casey sat on the couch with the remote in her hands. She was wearing a pink tank top and black pajama bottoms, with her hair thrown up in a messy bun. Sitting in front of her on the table was a fresh pizza pie, Derek now knowing that the pizza delivery person was the one to ring the doorbell. Derek didn't know why she wasn't going to prom, but he didn't let the question linger in his mind for long. He was just excited to know that he would be spending prom night with Casey, even if it wasn't at prom.

Derek and Casey spent the entire night watching movies together. Neither asked why the other wasn't at prom, but neither really cared at all.

Derek finally came across an outfit that he would consider wearing. It was a pair of black pants with a white button down shirt, with ruffles in the front. It came with a black cape and a huge hat with a feather in it. There was also a black mask to complete the costume. Derek brought it to the register and paid for it, finally leaving the mall around 7:30.

By the time Derek got home, Casey was almost finished getting ready. She had on the dress and finished her make up. It was a bit heavier than usual, with green eye shadow to accent the dress, nothing like Casey normally wore. She went through an old trunk in the back of her closet and found a mask that covered the top half of her face, mostly around her eyes. It was from when she was younger, before moving in the Venturi household. The mask was from a school play, where she was a fairy. It was green with a lot of sparkles and matched the dress really well. Looking in the mirror she decided that her costume needed one more thing, her blond wig.

While Casey was finishing getting ready, Derek went to his own room to get ready himself. Putting everything on, he looked at himself in the mirror. It was a decent outfit and the mask covered most of the top part of his face.

Both Derek and Casey were looking in their respective mirrors at their outfits, thinking the same thing. I look nothing like myself. My eyes are the only things that would give it away that it was me. Suddenly a sly smirk crept on both of their faces. Something was definitely going to happen that night, they could feel it. The 'what' was still unknown, but they both knew something was going to happen. They both thought that the other never actually looked at them. Casey thought that her blue eyes wouldn't be anything special to Derek, and he thought the same about his brown one's. They didn't know how wrong they were.