Hello readers! Happy February! I hope the wait wasn't too bad! I made this chapter long, just in case... Enjoy!

I am in love with the reviews! I especially enjoyed the reviews from the last chapter.

They are so wonderful! Special thank you to KaRaEa and garnetandgold47 for guessing 2,000 points each!

Disclaimer: Nope. But if anyone is looking for a Valentine present to me... :)

Casey was excited. Since she had moved to Ottawa, she had never been over to a friend's house. It sounded childish, but she had felt very alone. She never thought she would ever step foot inside Emily's house ever again. Her husband told her that she was over thinking it; that she was overly excited and that she was abandoning him to their children. Casey was pretty sure he was over reacting.

She had met Emily at her office and followed her to Emily's new house. She squealed inwardly, excited to be visiting another grown-up.

"This is it," Emily sighed, letting Casey into the front room. It was a beautiful, clean, open, white room. The furniture was classic and new. "Can I get you something to drink?"

"Your house is so gorgeous," Casey exclaimed.

"Oh, thanks, Steven and I just got settled. And also you're not allowed to see any of the box filled messy rooms upstairs," Emily wiggled her eyebrows. "Drink? Tea?"

"That would be great, thanks!"

Emily pointed Casey into a chair and Casey settled into it. She spread her hands over the arms of the loveseat and admired how new and clean everything felt. It was like a fairytale; definitely not kid-friendly. But it was beautiful.

When Emily shuffled into the room in their drinks, she wore a giant smile.

"I feel so grown-up," she giggled, "entertaining in my own home."

"I haven't even done that yet," Casey confessed.

"Really?"

"Yeah, I haven't really had anyone," she trailed off. Emily nearly choked on her drink.

"Oh," she wiped her mouth, "I didn't think of that." She paused. "What happened after Abby, you know, played superhero?"

"Everything."

Casey wasn't sure how long she had been staring at the rug under the coffee table. Her face was tired and tearstained. She didn't really know what to do with herself.

Abby had dropped them off in front of the hotel at which she was staying, before she went out for provisions. The trip over had been quiet. They sat on the couch silent, shaken, and afraid. Casey's curls were drooping around her shoulders, sections straightened and sticky from whatever her cousin had been drinking. Derek let out a long breath of air. Casey's eyes flicked in his direction without turning her head.

"Derek," she hesitated, almost nervous that he too would start yelling. He didn't move. She licked her lips and tried again. "Derek, you stood up for me."

"What?"

"Even after what I said to you. I mean, you would have been justified in throwing me under the bus, but," she turned to face him, "you defended me."

"It doesn't matter," he brushed it off.

"It does to me," she insisted. He sat stiffly for a moment before he moved away.

"Don't do that."

"What?"

"Don't do that to me."

"Don't do what to you?"

"Treat me like that. Look, Casey, you've got to stop messing with me," he told her. "I mean it. I can't just be there for you now all because we're what's left in this mess; I'm not gonna do that."

"Derek," she tried.

"I was so ready. For everything to just be out in the open. More than ready." He shook his head. "God, Case, how I felt about you. I thought that being in love with you was enough. Enough to make everything else okay. But you didn't. I was so sure that people would just get over a fucking technicality. Because I'd never felt like that before. About anyone. Not ever. And then my own father wanted to have me institutionalized. So, there you go. You were right. You're always right."

"Derek, I didn't want to be right," she started.

"It shouldn't have been that big of a deal. I didn't know they were still convinced we'd be siblings."

"Why did you think I was so scared?"

"For some fucked up reason, I thought it was something normal."

"What do you mean normal?"

"Like what normal people freak out over. When they're seeing someone. You know?"

"What?"

"I'm not exactly your type, Princess," he explained.

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm not the kind you'd usually go for, Case, you know, polite or whatever. And that's probably a good thing. It's a pain in the ass trying to keep up with you. I mean you're up and down and all over the place. And your fucking rules and everything."

"I'm sorry I was such a burden," her heart squeezed, painfully tight in her chest. "You don't have to be so mean."The last insecurity came out as a whisper; she wasn't sure if she'd actually wanted to say it.

"Casey, you broke my heart!" his voice echoed in the empty room. "More than once," he finished. He pushed his fingers through his hair. "Whatever."

They were silent for another moment.

"I just don't need you deciding you want me now that I'm the only one left."

Casey felt like he might as well have hit her. Tears pricked her eyes; she bit her lip to keep them at bay. He didn't want her. Not anymore. He didn't want to be her last resort. She had ruined everything.

Because that's never what he'd been in the first place, a last resort. He was her first choice. She had understood the moment she knew she loved him that she was done; it was him or no one. The way he made her heart flip over, the spine-tingling gooseflesh that trailed after his fingers on her skin, and the slow burning sensation that started in in his kisses intoxicated her to the point of addiction. She'd loved him. She'd never stopped loving him. He engulfed so much of her world that convincing herself to give him up nearly killed her. He'd never been her last resort.

But she didn't tell him, didn't correct him. She hunched her shoulders and rocked slightly forward on the couch, nearly sitting on her hands. Because she had had her chance and she had wasted it.

Abby kicked the door in as Marti herded rolling suitcases inside.

"Okay," Abby puffed, "This is what we got." She and Marti unzipped the bag to show the shopping they'd brought back. Casey stood up away from the couch and excused herself to shower. She wanted to wash the night off and start over. Her whole life maybe. Because now she had no one and nothing.

As she tried to sleep in the overly starched sheets and brand new pajamas, she ran things over in her mind. She knew there was nothing that she could have done differently. And there was no one to blame but herself. She hugged her knees closer to her chest. Her feet were ice-cold. She breathed in and out very evenly. There was nothing she could control in this situation, except maybe her lungs. Until she fell asleep, anyway. She inhaled and exhaled deeply and it brought some comfort. She was still breathing.

"Hey, mom?" Derek asked over a piece of toast. "What do we do about our stuff?" He flicked his wrist to indicate himself and Casey. Her gaze was locked on the table, and she watched the muscles rope up his arm at the gesticulation. The food they crammed onto the little hotel table was impressive. Casey wasn't sure she wanted to eat, but she had been served a plate anyway. Abby swallowed.

"Uhm," she seemed to mull it over. "Well, I could talk to George when I drop Marti off today," she sipped some juice. "I hope that'll work but," she shrugged. "You know your dad."

Derek groaned and leaned back in his chair, pushing it back onto two legs. Casey looked up as he gazed at her, sucking his teeth.

"That is gonna be awkward," Marti commented, not looking up from her phone as she bit off part of a bacon strip. Abby sighed and raised her eyebrows in agreement.

"Well, let's give it a try," Derek moaned, standing up. "I'll need my car to get out of here."

When they were all bundled, the four of them filed into Abby's rental car, Marti claiming the front passenger seat. Casey felt very out of place. She didn't know Abby that well, and in any case, Derek had made it very clear that he wanted no part in her life. That was fine; it was just one more thing. It was just uncomfortable to be sitting in a car with someone she had been in love with, his mother, and his sister. She looked at her hands and out the window at the white and brown snow on the sides of the road. If she could make it through this, then she could go home in peace.

Ten minutes out, Abby's phone buzzed and Marti pawed through her mother's purse.

"It's dad," she kept her voice low, as if that would prevent her brother and Casey from hearing in the backseat. "He says they're not home."

Abby started to respond as Marti's phone started playing loud music.

"Hey, dad," Marti chirped into her phone. "No, we're in the car," she paused, as George mumbled something on the other end. "Well, she's driving, dad. I know I read it. Okay, where are you? Are you with her? Okay, so where are you?" She paused again and made a face. "Yes, I'm wearing boots and a hat. This isn't my first winter. If you don't tell me where you are, mom can't drop me off. Okay. Okay. Okay. Yeah, okay. Bye." She flipped her phone shut and sighed. "Nora went to the hotel with her mom and George took everyone else out. He didn't want to be in the house for a while. He wants to know if you will please drop me off with him at the movies so he can yell at you quietly in private."

Abby blew out a breath. "Okay, great," she pulled the car onto the house's street. "Der," she turned around in her seat. "Want to just get your stuff and I'll swing back in a bit?"

"Yeah, sure," he grumbled, shoving his door open. Abby smiled at Casey as she reached for the door handle. Casey gave her a small smile in return, suddenly uncomfortable at the amount of pity directed at her.

Derek waited for her on the sidewalk his hands stuffed in the pockets of his coat. Casey adjusted at her own coat as she pulled on her mittens. They had a four block walk before the house.
As Abby pulled away from the curb, the snow slowly began to fall. Derek looked at his boots and shuffled his feet before gaining a normal stride beside Casey.

"When was your flight out?" he asked, looking up instead of at her. She was a little taken aback at his initiating conversation.

"Tomorrow at 3," she replied.

"Are you just going to go straight home?"

"Well, I don't really have anything else anymore so, yeah, that was my plan."

"Whoa," he slowed his pace. "I was just asking. You weren't the only one who got disowned last night."

"Well, it kind of feels like it."

"What does that mean?"

"You still have people, Derek! Your mom and Marti. They're still here!"

"Yeah, I guess."

"I have no one. Actually no one. It's not like I could call my dad and have him magically be there for me; that's just not how it works with him. My mom's probably already called him anyway. I literally have no body. Everyone is gone; my mother, my sister, my stepfamily," she swallowed, "you. I'm alone. There is no one left."

They walked in silence for a moment, boots crunching in old snow.

"They aren't dead," he mumbled after a few more steps.

"What?"

"Your family. They didn't die."

"Yeah, I know. What's that got to do with anything?"

"Well, you could go talk to them."

"Why? So they can call me more names and have me put in a padded cell? I'd rather not."

"You could," he shrugged. "If you wanted them back, you could just go through the motions and come out clean on the other side." She looked up at him. He was back to staring at his feet.

"Why would I do that?"

"You'd have the support system you said you needed. You wouldn't have to worry about clashing with them about anything more minor."

"What would that solve?"

"Well," he seemed to chew his tongue, "when we were, you know, fighting, you didn't want to rock the boat."

"What boat?"

"The stepfamily one."

"Well, it got rocked. I think it actually sunk."

"And you don't feel like resurrecting it?"

"I don't think so."

"Why?"

"Because, as much as I believed I relied on them, they judged me for doing something for myself for once."

"I was something for yourself?" he smirked at her.

"Shut up. Doing something out of my character."

"And you don't want to go back on it?"

"I can't. I mean, do you remember what they said?"

"Yeah, I think that will be burned into my memory. But if you changed your mind, you wouldn't have to deal with what everyone thinks. You'll be the rehabilitated one. You know, mostly normal."

"Rehabilitated?" she struggled with the word. She'd though of her affection for Derek as an addiction but not one from which she needed to be rehabilitated. "I don't think I want to do that. Even if I did, it would never undo what they said or what they wanted to do."

"Why?"

"Because that hurt. It was worse than anything I could have imagined." She pushed her fists into her pockets as they reached the house.

"Yeah. That was pretty fucked up."

"Derek," she scolded out of habit.

"I know, I know," he grinned. He ushered her up the front steps, shuffled in his pockets for his key, and let them inside.

The house was just as they had left it. There were glasses on all of the surfaces, a pile of plates next to the sink still full of water. There were dried puddle marks on the floor from dropped or thrown drink.

"It's like a ground zero in here," Casey whispered, looking around. Jackets were haphazardly piled on the floor under the coat hook and all of the lights were off. It was stunning.

"Come on, Case," he put a hand on the small of her back and followed her up the stairs.

As she stuffed things into her suitcase, she was happy that she was an organized packer. She was able to fit her clothing, her shoes, and the small amount of items that she had resolved to leave at her mother's house when she moved. Now she was determined her erase herself from their house. She wrapped pictures of Liz and herself in shirts and gifts they'd made each other. She was going to preserve it all. Maybe they would miss her first.

She jumped as she noticed him in her doorway. "Ready?" he asked, a duffle bag slung over his shoulder."

"Almost," she shook her bangs away from her eyes. "Is that all you brought?"

"Basically," he shrugged. "Plus I drove so I can just stuff anything else in my car."

"Lucky," she mumbled, as she carefully wrapped another picture of herself, Marti, and Liz at Lizzie's high school graduation.

"I plan ahead."

"For this?" Casey didn't believe him. He shrugged again and she rolled her eyes. She flipped the lid of her bag closed and zipped it carefully shut. She grabbed her purse off of her desk chair, packed in her laptop, stuffed her phone charger into its specific pocket, and swung the strap over her shoulder. She gave the room a last glance, hoping all evidence of her was stripped from the room.

"God, Case, you even took the posters?"

"I bought them," she justified, setting her suitcase upright. They walked out to the steps, the house eerily quiet. "I don't want to be here anymore."

"Okay, well, do you know where I put my keys?"

"You just had them."

"I know. And now I don't. Where did they go?"

"I don't know; they're your keys. In your pocket? On your desk? On the key hook where they were supposed to go?"

"Nah, I checked there; those were the obvious places."He stepped down the stairs shaking his head.

"Did you check the door?"

"What?"

"You've left keys in the door before."

He narrowed his eyebrows at her as he opened the door. His keys clanked against the wood and Casey pressed her lips together.

"Don't say it," Derek warned.

"I'm not saying anything," she said, innocently. She walked out of the door behind him and watched as he shut and locked it behind them. He nodded toward his car and grabbed the end of her bag as she trooped down the stairs.

He helped her fit her bag into his back seat around the other items he'd shoved in before Abby made it back.

"It's freezing," Derek complained, crossing his arms and leaning against the newly closed door.

"And snowing," Casey commented. He nodded. "What's going on with you?"

"What? I'm cold." His answer didn't cover the smirk gracing his lips.

"Why are you smiling? I mean, last night you were yelling at me and now you're all," she couldn't think of the word she wanted and just gestured at him.

"All what?" he asked, a smile starting.

"I don't know, gushy," she finished lamely. His grin was genuine and solid.

"I can't be optimistic?"

"It's weird," she scrunched her nose. "We were disowned and thrown out of our family less than twelve hours ago."

"I know."

"And you're smiling."

"So?" he raised an eyebrow at her.

"What's going on?"

"Case, I was pissed earlier because I thought you were trying to be all friendly after you stomped all over me just because we were in the same boat."

"Thanks for your high opinion of me," she pouted.

"I thought that the only reason you would say yes to me now was because I was the only one left," he smiled again, "but you said you wouldn't take them back. You said that even if they would take you back, you wouldn't take them back."

"Which you didn't take to mean now that they hate me, I'd stick with you?"

"What? Is that what you meant?"

"No, stupid. I tried to pick you the first time."

"Not really," he grumbled.

"Derek, I was terrified of the seriousness," she started.

"I know, I get that. Now. I was under the tragic impression that it couldn't be that big of a deal. Which, when yelled at my face, was not the case." He smiled again. "But guess what?"

"What Der?" He pulled at the pockets on her coat to bring her closer to him.

"You picked me, Princess" he grinned hugely and embraced her. "Over all of them." And he kissed her.

Emily seemed to melt into her seat. "Aw," she cooed. "That's so sweet!"

"It was nice to have someone there for me," she nodded. "Even if we had a rough time getting there."

Emily nodded, still seeming to be in a fog.

"What happened after?"

"I had a job." Casey smiled, "we both went home."

"You liar," Emily laughed. "I mean you're obviously—" Then she gasped. "Oh, my God!" she stood suddenly, and made for the stairs. "I have to show you my dress! Don't move an inch!"

I love playing dress up! It makes me feel pretty...

We're coming up on the end; what could possibly go wrong? :)

Any thoughts?1,500 points to twist thinkers...

I'm thinking that the point scale will be along the 5,000s. The highest points will earn a story premise. Lower points will earn maybe a one-shot, a title, etc.

Let me know! Reviews are better than Valentine chocolates... :)