Part 3
Two weeks passed and the day of Blair's and Rob's June wedding dawned bright and sunny. True to form, Casey was freaking out enough for both her and the bride. As the maid of honor, Casey took her responsibilities very seriously and was driving Blair slightly nuts. They had already been to the salon and were now at the church to dress.
Casey was fussing with Blair's princess cut cream colored dress and didn't notice at first that the other bridesmaids all had matching golden jewelry. Blair could see the panic on Casey's face as she realized she had no special baubles to wear. She was used to Casey's crisis' and was already texting the person who usually created those crisis'. Get UR a$$ over here.
"Uhhh, Blair. Jewelry. Where's my jewelry?" Casey's voice already rising an octave.
"Chillz, Case."
Puzzled but trusting her best friend, Casey started her breathing exercises and went back to fluffing Blair's gown. A minute later there was a knock at the door. "Can you get that Case?"
"Sure." Casey, ever helpful, crossed the room wondering why someone would need to knock. Casey opened the door a crack to see Derek leaning against the doorjam. Immediately her mood changed. "What do you want?" She hissed through the opening.
"Blair told me to come over."
"Why?"
"Uh, maybe you could, uh, come out into the hall?" Derek shifted nervously.
Casey eyed him suspiciously. "Why."
Derek ran his hand through his hair and let out a frustrated groan. "Just do it, Princess."
"Okay, okay." She bit out and stepped into the hall shutting the door behind her careful not to catch her dress.
Derek's chocolate eyes widened as they swept over her. She was wearing a floor length strapless lilac gown with beading on the fitted bodice. She had kept it hidden from him even when he had begged to see it. He gulped and desperately started the mantra: "She's just a friend. She's just a friend." Wait…that wasn't the mantra: "She's your step-sister." Yeah that was it. "She's your step-sister. She's your hot step-sister." This was not working.
Casey had no idea why Derek was standing there looking like he was having an internal battle about something. Probably trying to figure out which bridesmaid to nail first, she thought bitterly. She hadn't noticed him looking at her.
"What are we doing Derek?" Casey's voice was impatient, her arms crossed over her chest, and a tapping purple shoe peeked out from under her dress.
Derek's eyes jumped to hers, surprised at the question, before he realized she meant something different. "Oh right, um, your jewelry." He reached into his tuxedo pocket and suddenly regretted his brilliant idea.
With the movement, Casey finally noticed Derek's appearance. He was wearing a traditional black tuxedo with a lilac vest and looked charming…sexy…delectable. What?
"Case?" Derek said trying to get her attention. "Your jewelry."
"Oh right." She took the box from Derek's hand, and he saw apprehension in her eyes. "Why do you have it?"
Derek mumbled something under his breath, but Casey was fluent in Derek mumbles after eight years. "I picked it out."
Curious now, Casey opened the large black velvet box. Inside was a necklace, a bracelet, and earrings. Casey inhaled sharply. The set was beautiful. A gold and platinum heart accented with diamonds hung from the fine chain. A smaller version of the pendant was attached to the bracelet and the earrings were mini hearts dangling from small hoops. Casey's eyes watered, and her stomached fluttered. She stared at the box so long that Derek started to worry that she hated the set. This was such a bad idea, he thought. How could I ever be good enough for Casey.
"Look, Casey, if, uh, you don't like it, I, uh, I can take it…"
"Mine," Casey exclaimed possessively as she quickly pulled the box to her chest and away from Derek's outstretched hand. Her blue eyes stared into his.
Derek chuckled and the tension went out of his shoulders. Where had this nervous Derek come from? "Could I help you fasten the necklace?"
Casey smiled shyly and nodded, her sparkling blue eyes looking up at him through her thick lashes. She was so beautiful. Derek gently took the necklace from her fingers and crossed behind her. His hands were shaking, and he kept brushing her neck as it took him three tries to catch the clasp. Shivers ran through Casey's body every time he touched her skin. She found she had trouble breathing and the butterflies that had seemed to take up residency in her stomach were flapping crazily. The way her body reacted confused her, and she told herself to act normal. It was just Derek.
When Derek was finished, he had to stop himself from running his hands down her arms and catching her around the waist. He wanted to kiss her neck and make her feel the way he did inside. He swallowed hard and took a step back. Unaware of Derek's turmoil, Casey turned around and asked him to help clasp her bracelet as well. Derek could only nod because he didn't trust himself to speak. Next she slipped the earrings in and then smiled up at him holding her arms out at her sides and twirling. "How do I look?" Beautiful.
Derek was saved from answering when his phone chirped to alert him of a new text. Stop flirting. Time to start. Derek felt his face heat up but Casey didn't seem to notice. "Gotta get back to Rob. It's about time to start."
Casey's eyes widened as she pulled at Derek's wrist to check the time. "See ya," she chirped out as she dashed back into the dressing room.
Derek rubbed his wrist where Casey's fingers hand burned into his skin. He closed his eyes and ran his hand through his hair. He took several deep breaths, redirected his thoughts, and walked down the hall to rejoin his best friend on his wedding day.
Part 4
Pachelbel's Canon in D played as the attendants marched down the aisle. Rob and Derek were already up front which meant Casey had to walk down the aisle by herself just ahead of the flower girl and subsequently the bride and her father. The wedding planner motioned for Casey to take her place and after a giving Blair a quick hug she hurried over to her spot.
It was an old church that seated about five hundred. Light filtered through beautiful stained glass windows. Tall single candelabras lined the long aisle. The smell of fresh flowers wafted through the air. Casey looked out at the hundreds of eyes staring back at her and froze. The wedding planner gave her a little push and Casey stumbled forward. Casey's eyes darted around wildly. "Princess." Her eyes jumped to his calm chocolate orbs. She wasn't even sure if he had actually spoken, but she started breathing again, found her center, and with a glowing smile started down the aisle. A silly grin was plastered on Derek's face as he kept his gaze steady. He had given up trying to control his thoughts and imagined a different wedding as he watched Casey walk down the aisle.
George, Nora, Edwin, Lizzie, Marti, and Simon were sitting on the groom's side watching Casey. As Casey found her center, Nora followed her daughter's eyes and was startled to see the grin on Derek's face that looked oddly familiar to the grin George still gave her. Nora's breath caught as her hand covered her astonished mouth, and Edwin elbowed Lizzie who smirked.
Casey and Derek never broke their gaze as she stepped into place at the front of the church. It was only when the music changed, that they looked back to see the bride and her father. Derek continued to glance over at Casey who was crying already. She caught his eyes several times and blushed. Fortunately, Blair and Rob were so caught up in one another, they ignored their best friends' behavior. It wasn't hard, since, they were used to ignoring their best friends' behavior.
The ceremony started, and Casey noticed Derek couldn't keep that silly grin off his face or his eyes on the pastor. Casey tried hard to pay attention but Derek noticed that she was distracted by him and he thoroughly enjoyed the thought. However, it was Derek that was caught unaware when Rob turned to him for the rings. Derek had been wiggling his eyebrows at Casey when Rob faced him. Rob had to stop himself from rolling his eyes as he knew the ceremony was being recorded and Blair would kill him if that showed on the film. Rob almost smiled at the thought of Blair chewing out Casey and Derek for their antics when she watched the CD. Derek eyes slowly turned to Rob and after a brief pause, Derek winked and reached into his pocket for the rings. In the congregation, Nora's hands covered her face as she shook her head and Edwin, Lizzie, Marti, and even Simon were trying to reign in the giggles. George as usual was clueless. Casey was glaring at Derek when his gaze returned to hers immediately after Rob turned back to Blair. He smirked and winked at her which turned Casey's face red and made Nora slump in her seat. Finally George realized an unspoken conversation was occurring between his son and step-daughter and turned to Nora for explanation. Lizzie had to squeeze Edwin's leg so hard she started to cut off circulation before he could control his laughter. Marti was helping Simon master the smirk and wink. He was a Venturi after all.
To be continued...
AN: To my lovely reviewers/alerters: a BIG thank you. LaFolie, Adelaide Taylor, Lucas4everPeyton, Dark-Supernatural-Angel, leanaplumz, marshmello08, Danicadea.
To my lovely readers: I don't know if you are enjoying the story because you haven't reviewed! Please, just a few lines.