Hello, readers! Happy June! I hope some happy summer weather is on its way!

Rating change is for language.

I apologize for the wait and hope a lot of words make it a little better? Anyway, enjoy!

Disclaimer: If I had the money to own this, I'd probably hire a private jet to be at my beck-and-call instead... that sounds like more fun...

Emily had promised to call the next morning. Her emergency exit the evening before to save Steven from dinner alone with his parents had allowed Casey some room to breathe. Emily didn't hate her and they still enjoyed each other's company. Granted, Emily had threatened hell on Earth if Casey disappeared again, and she was overly enthusiastic about Casey's life. They really should have a guide book written on this: "How to Tell Really Embarrassing Stories to a Friend without Dying of Humiliation." Because her life wasn't exciting. Or romantic. It was messy and unplanned. It was them. And they'd just…happened.

Emily had asked her to lunch over a message and Casey had to sneak away during naptime before her husband noticed that she'd left and had clipped the baby monitor to his shirt as he fiddled with the television. She hoped the loving note and container of lunch in the fridge would help her when she returned. She was pretty sure bacon and pasta fixed everything.

Casey decided to walk to the little bistro Emily had suggested. It wasn't far from her house, maybe two or three miles, and the rain had let up. And the garage was noisy. She didn't need to advertise that she was abandoning her husband with two sleeping children for a couple of hours. She could be sneaky.

When she arrived, Casey could see Emily at a little wooden table near a wall of windows. She picked her way through other patrons and could hear the wicker chairs squeak as people rearranged themselves. It was an odd background sound and Casey wondered how Emily had managed to take a phone call with all of the noise. She removed her coat and sat as Emily made to end the conversation.

"Yeah, she just got here. Uh-huh, I know. I'll check tomorrow. Yep. Okay, mom," she smiled apologetically at Casey, who had frozen. "Yes. Yep. I got it. Okay, mom, bye!" Emily clicked her phone off and settled it back in her purse. "Sorry, Casey, my mom has this habit of being a teeny bit chatty about everything." She put a napkin in her lap and stared at Casey. "Hello?" Casey was in a daze. Emily's mother. Who lived next to her mother. Had been on the phone. With Emily. As she'd walked in.

"Your mom?" Casey hesitated. She wasn't sure how Emily's relationship with her mother functioned, but if it was anything like her own experiences, her world would end right now.

"Yeah, I told her I'm meeting a planner for lunch," Emily smirked, lacing her fingers together. "I didn't specify what type of planner."

Yes. Plans. Those were nice; Casey liked plans. They made sense, they were organized, they had pretty colors, they didn't scare you half to death with unexpected phone calls. They didn't care if you told them about other plans or not. They were not heavily invested in your personal life.

Emily, on the other hand, was. Extremely. She needed to start watching Days of Our Lives if she was this starved for entertainment. Really, with the way she was eyeing Casey now, it would seem as if everything Emily had heard yesterday simply festered overnight and increase her need for Casey's life story to continue. Which was just silly because Emily knew exactly what happened next before she left to meet Steve. Casey had called her as it happened in the first place. So, Emily tapping on the table as water glasses were brought over was unnecessary. And also bad manners. As Casey perused the menu, Emily broke.

"Okay," she said, almost too loud. "So, from what you told me a million years ago, you and Landon were both high strung, right?"

"We're just jumping right in there, then," Casey mumbled, putting the menu back down.

"Yes, we are. We are talking and sharing because we are friends, and dammit! Your little secret life won't stop us!" It was a little dramatic, but the corner of Emily's mouth twitched at the end as she tried to keep her face upset. Casey smiled, too.

"Yes, well, at least I can sound like a spy or something." She straightened as the wicker protested. "Yes, Landon and I had similar ways of dealing with stress. Outwardly. Which, to someone who runs on high stress, just fuels the fire. He would stress out and I would stress that he was stressing and, in turn, he would stress out that I was stressing because he was stressed. It was a vicious cycle.

We had a great time while we were dating. He was polite, opened doors, asked my opinion, studied, had a diverse field of interests, and he was great company. Really friendly. But, he was graduating, and I was staying put. I still had a year left in my college career, and he wanted to move to the States and get married. We'd talked about it before and I said no, but I guess he'd thought I'd change my mind.

Whenever we fought about it after I had turned him down, it was loud and violent."

Emily interrupted. "Woah, woah, woah! Violent? What, did he hit you?"

"Oh, god, no. I knew he wouldn't hit me. He wasn't a hitter, except on skates. But sometimes, when he got really angry that I was winning, I had a sneaky suspicion that if I'd been male and pushed just a little bit more, he would have taken a swing at me."

"Winning?"

"The argument. And I know that arguing at all is statistically a lose-lose situation, but he could just do things that seemed designed to hurt me."

"So, how was that violent?"

"Someone always won. Someone always had hurt the other person more. That was winning. After a while, I knew it was bad. And I couldn't stand it."

The party was really loud. As they pulled up to the house, Casey could feel the bass resonating in her chest cavity. She guessed they were late by more than half an hour because the more alcohol consumed at a hockey party, the louder the music went. Landon's conception of time was definitely skewed.

But he'd been really sweet to remember their year anniversary. He didn't have much to work with because his stove top and oven had burnt out, but he'd made an effort to create a picnic for them. Granted, it had rained and they were forced to eat in the back seat of his little Civic which made the car smell like garlic in addition to old hockey sweat, but it was still sweet.

He used their clasped hands to pop the gear shift into neutral and gave her fingers a little squeeze.

"I should just make your hand a gear shift, sweetie," he told her, shaking the skull head that was there now. "That would be so nice to just hold your hand to change gears." Casey didn't know what to make of that. She guessed it was cute, in a creepy way. She detached their hands and cranked her window shut. The music still reverberated through the glass. Landon yanked the emergency break up and hurried out of the car to open her door.

"It's almost like dinner and a movie, sweetie," he told her, taking her hand again. He pushed the front door of the house open for her and guided her inside. It was nearly deafening. She could almost see the beat pulse in the limited space between people. She was going to damage an ear drum. She used to bring earplugs to protect them, but Landon had put his foot down against them months ago. Even though it would save his tympanum. Whatever.

They weaved between people dancing, drinking, and having a good time. Casey's head already hurt. She knew a bunch of the girls some of the other hockey players brought around and chatted for awhile as Landon made his rounds. The girls asked about the classes she had, commenting on this assignment or that professor, and even asked if she'd been to any good parties lately. Since she only went to the ones Landon brought her to, she felt a little trapped when they began talking about a drunken farce that had taken place the day before spring break ended.

Casey made her polite excuse and made her own way through the house. The dining room in the back of the house was the source of the thumping music; the table creaked under several large speakers and a stereo system. Casey had difficulty pulling the door closed behind her, and went in search of any other room. She pushed open a saloon door to the kitchen on the opposite side of the house.

"Ah! Casey!" Kelsey launched herself off of the island countertop and hugged Casey's around her shoulders. It took Casey a minute to respond; Kelsey hadn't mentioned the party and had been nearly asleep when Landon had come to pick Casey up for their date.

"What are you doing here? I thought you were calling it a night!" Kelsey made a pouty face and patted Casey on the forehead.

"Gotta power nap for a night out, Case!" she exclaimed, her hands shooting up in the air. Casey rolled her eyes, grinning.

"Of course," she replied, "That is essential in party-going etiquette. How could I forget?" Kelsey handed her a soda and they chatted for a while. Apparently, Kelsey went to high school with the girlfriend of the owner of the house and was memorable enough to warrant an invitation.

They wandered the house together and found a cluster of girls in the basement playing a game with a movie playing in the background.

"So," one of the girls explained, standing on the coffee table, "If they mention something to do with your major, it's a shot. If someone says 'what?' it's a sip of beer. If they use a word you don't know, it's 10 push-ups. If someone leaves this room to pee, we all have to drink until they get back. Okay? And when comic books are mentioned, we have to all get to that couch," she pointed to the love seat near the door, "in forty seconds. And the floor is lava."

Kelsey clapped her hands at the mention of the lava floor. "We are soooooo playing this game, Casey."

"Okay," Casey conceded, knowing no one would rescue her, "but if I crack my head open, call someone sober to drive me to the ER, okay?"

"Same goes for you, missy!" Kelsey squealed and dragged Casey to the coffee table.

At the end of the first episode, Kelsey was throwing cushions on the floor to float in the "lava" because the alcohol made the couch extremely far away. Three girls were encouraging others to 'keep going' from atop the pool table. Casey stood, panting on the coffee table gauging her jump from her perch to the bar. It was really unfair that she was double majoring. A shot later, everyone was clambering toward the couch at the mention of the Amazing Spiderman, first edition.

"Come on, Casey!" Kelsey jumped up and down on the naked couch and caught one of the girls as she made it to "safety." Casey had thirty seconds to leap over the pool table and two cushions to make it to the couch.

The room was alive with energy. Girls were shouting encouragement and orders to drink more. Some had abandoned jackets and scarves, jewelry and cell phones. Casey's hair was disheveled and falling out of her clip into her eyes, she was pretty sure she was sweating in front of a couple of complete strangers, she had consumed more alcohol than she had the past two semesters combined, and she was having an amazing time.

She managed to vault onto the green felt, barley feeling the slight burn the table gave her knee. She bounded to the cushions below without any balance issue, and had just made it to the couch when Landon burst into the basement. Seven girls were bouncing up and down on a pillow-free couch, clutching at each other to remain upright, and laughing nearly uncontrollably.

Landon tugged at Casey's shirt. "Hey, we're gonna go now." He turned to leave but Casey was confused. Landon didn't leave parties when it was still a double digit time of night. He was usually one of the last to leave. He was a senior hockey player and the life of any social event. "Let's go," he said again.

"What? You're leaving? Landon, I'll take her home, we're having a blast here! She can't leave now." A girl that Casey was pretty sure was named Elizabeth clutched at her and was joined by a chorus of protestations from the other girls.

"No, I brought her here, so I'm taking her back." He turned to Casey. "Com'mon."

"What happened?" Casey finally managed to push the question out.

"Meecham told me there was no parking on the street from 2:30am until 8am, so we have to leave. I'm not paying another $400 ticket."

"Oh, Landon, it's like 12:30am, you're fine," Kelsey piped up, resting an elbow on Casey's head.

"You don't know that," Landon counted, a little harshly. Casey's brow furrowed. "You don't live here."

"I went to school right—"

"You don't know, Kelsey! You do not live here." He was mad. Casey was confused and growing steadily more upset.

He was usually friendly with Kelsey and had only ever said 'butt out' in a polite malice before. Kelsey had a strong personality and she had stood up for Casey in one of the epic arguments that had been staged in the Residence hall. She'd told Landon to back off and come back later when things had settled. She was just trying to help.

"But I've been here before and parked overnight on the street, Landon. I just had to move my car before 8. You can stay, just relax."

"Don't tell me what to do, Kelsey," Landon reprimanded her in a clipped tone. He made to walk out again and Kelsey followed him.

"Hold on," she said, shutting the basement door behind her.

"Wow," a girl next to Elizabeth commented, pulling her hair off her neck. "Landon was pissed." The rest of them mumbled some agreement as they hopped off the couch and began fixing the room. Casey felt like she was stuck in slow motion, but grabbed a pillow to help clean up when she heard the shouting. Through the door. Landon and Kelsey. Yelling at each other. About her. Great. He was going to make her lose every friend she had here at Queens.

God, and he was barley willing to be her friend! He'd take her places and lose her when a gang of his buddies showed up. She'd mentioned that those situations made her uncomfortable, but had struck a nerve because Landon had thrown an apology that he had friends and she didn't as he left her room. That was nice talk coming from someone who is supposed to love you.

Casey could feel the heat and anger well up. She was going to stop this before it got any worse. She wrenched the basement door open and stomped up the stairs.

The rest of the house had gotten quieter; someone had turned down the music to better hear the fight developing. Everyone else seemed to be waiting, too.

'Good, God,' Casey thought, 'People need to invest in healthier forms of entertainment.' She pushed her way towards Landon and Kelsey. They were loud and mean.

"So, just butt-the-fuck-out, Kelsey!" Landon bellowed.

"No, ass-hat, listen, she can hang out without you! You've yelled at her like a dog-master all week, so just leave her ALONE and jerk-off somewhere else!"

"Thanks, Kelsey, for the life advice but I don't need it from a bitch like you."

"Oh, I'm a bitch? That's a great insult, Landon. Can't you see you're making her miserable?"

"Fuck off, Kelsey. This isn't your relationship! This is between Casey and me! So, go be a crazy whore and leave us alone."

Casey seethed. Kelsey was abrasive, but she was not a bitch. Or a whore. That was the final straw.

"What the hell?" Casey yelled over the two of them. Some people turned. "Oh, my God! Just knock it off! I'm an adult, I can make my own choices. Landon, she's trying to help you, if you'd shut up and listen to someone else for once in your life!" She was speaking so forcefully that she'd spat a little.

"God, is she poisoning you with her garbage, too, Casey? Jesus Christ! Come on, let's go." Casey crossed her arms over her chest.

"No," she said as calmly as she could.

"Casey," he said, louder. "Let's go."

"See? You're not even listening to me! I am not leaving with you." Landon made a face and Casey watched his fists ball. And then he rounded on Kelsey.

"Why are you trying to control her?" he screamed at her.

"Me?" Kelsey shrieked, incredulously.

Casey took his arm, "Landon, I make my own decisions. I'm not a baby and I'm not your property."

"I know you're not my—"

"And Kelsey was being nice. She was trying to help you stay here longer. With your friends. She was offering advice!"

"I don't need her fucking advice!" Landon was nearly pink in the face. "She's pushing you further away from me! She's making you hate me! She's—"

"My friend? Landon? Am I allowed to have friend?" Landon made to walk away, but someone had pushed another couch against the wall and it was blocking the front door. "I don't hate you! I hate how you're acting!" He moved away again and people gave him a wide berth. Casey moved after him, determined to make him listen. "You can't just walk away from this and hope that everything is going to be alright, Landon! This is bigger that the two of us screaming at each other."

He wasn't listening. He motioned for the guy sitting on the couch to get up so he could exit this argument. He wasn't getting away that easy. This was a big problem, and Casey was going to make him see. She pulled his arm away from the base of the couch and stood on it. The seat brought her eyelevel with him.

"You're not listening to me, Landon! You have your head so far up your own ass that you can't see around you! You can't treat people like that!"

"Casey get off the couch."

"You can't treat people like they are dirt and you can walk all over them!"

"Casey," he pulled her elbow a little, "move."

"No, Landon, listen to me! We're not going to fix this if you think this is okay! You're just screaming at people trying to help! She's my friend!"

"Casey get off the fucking couch!"

"No!"

Casey drew breath to finish her argument, but Landon was too far gone. He picked up a corner of the couch and tipped it over. Casey tumbled off of the couch as Landon flipped it over and Kelsey screamed a stream of profanities at him. He helped Casey up by tugging her arm. Casey jerked away from him.

"Don't you touch me." Her voice was even and biting. "I am so finished. I am done with the fighting and done with this drama. I am done with you." And Landon punched the wall next to the door on the way out.

Kelsey rushed over to Casey and looked at her bleeding elbow.

"We gotta call someone, make sure nothing is broken."

"No, Kels, I'm fine. Can we just leave?"

"Yeah, let's just," she looked around at the people immersed in the new gossip, "find someone sober and get you a Band-Aid."

And suddenly he was there. He assessed her elbow and gave her face a once over.

"I thought you hated me still," Casey said, as he picked up her purse and discarded shoes.

"Yeah, well," he didn't look at her directly, "you kinda need me, Princess." Derek gave her a flash of a smirk.

"Oh, yeah?" Kelsey retorted, her own shoes now at hand. Casey cocked an eyebrow. "How do you figure?"

"I'm the only not-drunk driver here," he smiled jingling his keys. "I think Miss Priss had more than I did." He looked Casey over again and shook his head, hanging it in sadness "I'm slightly ashamed of myself."

Casey finally cracked a smile. "Maybe I can just take it better than you."

"Yeah, sure. Dream on, Princess." He kicked the upturned couch out of the way and ushered the two girls out of the front door.

"Wow." Emily's eyes were wide. Casey was slightly pink in the face. She'd cleaned up the language considerably, but she was pretty sure that other patrons had heard her story and she was a little embarrassed. "Is that when you called me?"

Casey nodded. The second she got back into her room, she burst into tears, called Emily, and sobbed over the phone for hours as Kelsey rubbed her back.

"So," Emily smiled a little. "Derek's back."

"Yeah," Casey bit her bottom lip. "He was there."

"Did you guys talk about it?"

"Do you think Derek would ever sit down with me and talk about something?"

"No," Emily acknowledged after a moment of thought.

"Yeah," Casey nodded. "But he was back. And that was it."

"It?"

"We were friends. I knew he actually had feelings for a person other than himself. And he knew that I was willing to trust him."

"Okay."

"He became a real person; someone with a soul and a mind instead of just my jerk stepbrother."

"So, what happened next?"

So? What'cha think? :)

Let me know, and feel free to share your own relationship explosions!

...did anyone else notice how GIGANTIC the 'review' buttons got? ... they must be hinting at something, I just can't put my finger on it...