Wow, I'm surprised I even finished this chapter. Anyways, hope you all enjoy it.
Another night of cravings and another night of nightmares. It had only been a week and a half since Derek told her he needed help and he was already having those dreams she read about. He had woken up screaming for help and she had run in to sooth him. As she was doing so, he broke down in fearful sobs, clutching at her shirt, pleading for her to do something. Another night, she noticed one of his dreams wasn't as bad at the first. He was covered with sweat but he wasn't screaming, he was whimpering. She had woken him up gently and he automatically checked his body. He had informed her that his dealer, who he owed no money to, caught him and was torturing him.
Sometimes, the dreams didn't make any sense whatsoever. Sometimes, they went back to when he and Casey were still step siblings. Still living in the same house. But sometimes, they weren't how life was when they lived together. It was morbid, violent, heart breaking. And sometimes, it scared Casey. And she knew it scared Derek because he was shaking while he would be telling her about it.
One night, she asked about his dream and he refused to tell her. She was about to let it go until Derek mentioned Marti. In that dream, he hurt her. He abused her like she was nothing, threw her around like she was a rag doll. Derek then told her that Marti was afraid of him and that she didn't call him her 'Smerek' anymore. Hell, she didn't even talk to him.
Casey got him to talk about all the things that were deep inside him, buried in his mind, all the things he kept in, well, except about his feelings for Casey. She didn't mention him sleeping with that girl or anything because she knew he had a soar spot about that. And she could tell he was still disgusted and disappointed in himself because of it.
He was making progress.
XxX
Casey was running around the apartment as quietly as she could. She was running late. She wasn't mad or anything, but Derek had had another nightmare and she stayed up with him, talking, until he fell asleep. Now, she was running late.
She was waiting for someone to pick up at the restaurant as she was trying to step into her shoes.
"Lisa, hey its Casey…yeah I'm running late."
"No worries. Just get her as soon as you can. You know mornings like this are crazy."
"Yeah, see you when I get there."
And she closed her phone. She heard foot steps coming to her and she looked up to see Derek.
"You ready?" He asked her.
He looked a little better. He had a little more color than he did a few nights before and the rings around his eyes were fading.
"Yeah, what are you doing?"
"I'm gonna go in with you." He stated.
"You sure? Lisa said you can take as long as you need."
"I'm sure." He said. "And plus, I can't stay here by myself."
"Okay."
XxX
The place was crowded. They were short two waiters and all of them had about five tables to wait. Not only that but since Derek was still new at this, he was nervous. He was afraid he would get orders mixed up, he would break things, and god forbid, spill, slip and fall. He was basically a nervous wreck. And to add to it, he was also shaking because he was craving that poison. And he wanted it, bad.
He had managed to get all his tables waited giving him five minutes to breath. When he started to walk out side, his manager was about to tell him to get back to work but Casey handled it.
He was leaning up against the wall when he heard someone call his name.
"Derek." The voice said.
Derek looked up and saw Ben walking up to him.
"What do you want?" Derek asked.
"Casey in there?"
"Maybe." Derek said, "Why? So you can yell at her, call her a bitch?"
"That's none of your business." Ben snapped at him.
"Yeah, she's in there." Derek said, rolling his eyes. "I'll go see if she can come out."
"She's my girlfriend, I'll go." Ben insisted.
"I don't care what she is to you." Derek snapped at him. "Last I heard she wanted you gone. So I'll go see if she wants to come out."
Derek walked back inside and saw Casey just coming back from seating a couple.
"Ben's outside." Derek stated.
"What?" Casey asked.
"Yeah, he's outside." Derek informed her, "Do you want me to tell him to get lost?"
She looked at him, almost shocked. The one person who the thought would never chase a guy away, was offering to do so right at that moment. Even in high school when he chased guys away it was because he just didn't want her to be happy. Well, he wanted her to be happy with him. She was also surprised that he would even think about doing it for her anyways. Sure Derek was a little bigger than Ben but as of late; Derek wasn't able to keep up in a pillow fight.
"Derek, it's fine, I'll go talk to him."
Derek simply nodded and watched her walk outside. He stood at the podium Casey was once standing at, and watched the two of them from the wide big window. He saw Ben talking with a fake pitiful look on his face that made Derek snort. He saw Casey nod to him and he saw Ben pull her into a hug. Derek sighed and turned away.
"You really don't like Ben, huh?" a voice asked.
Derek turned around and saw Lisa, his black haired, brown eyed, way shorter than him, manager.
"It's not that I don't like him, it's that I hate him." Derek said. "He doesn't deserve a great girl like Casey."
"And who, great wise one, deserves a great girl like Casey?" She asked him.
"I don't know." He said shaking his head. "Someone better than Ben."
"Case just needs to figure out what she wants."
"She needs to dump his ass."
Lisa stared at Derek, trying to read him.
"I think you're jealous." She said after a minute or two.
"Wh- what?" He stuttered.
"You heard me." Lisa said. "You're jealous because she's with Ben."
Derek looked away and Lisa got her answer.
"You have no reason to be jealous. She and Ben have been dating for about a year and he wants to move in."
"Why doesn't he?" Derek asked.
"Casey doesn't want that sort of commitment right now." Lisa sighed. "And besides, why would she wanna move in with him?"
Derek didn't say anything.
"I keep telling her to just end it, if you hear the way he talks to her-"
"I do, and I have." Derek said to her. "And I have every reason to be jealous. He gets to hold her, and kiss her, and do all the things that I can't all the time."
"But she's still spending a lot time with you."
"Not by choice." He muttered.
Lisa looked at Derek, confused. She had known that Derek was staying with Casey but she had no idea what he had gotten himself into to be sent here. She had asked Casey about it once but all she said was that it was a long and complicated story. Lisa didn't know about Derek and Casey's past, and she had never gotten the chance to ask her either. Whenever Lisa mentioned it, Ben was around and he mad it very clear that he didn't like Derek.
She didn't know Derek enough to say that she didn't like him. But when he said that he strongly disliked Ben, she already knew he was a good guy. Well, from what she knew.
Lisa was about to ask what he was talking about but the bell rang on the door, indicating someone stepped in. Or someone's. That someone's being, Casey and Ben.
"Hey, Ben." Lisa greeted.
"Hey." He said to her.
Derek was leaning against the counters, not even looking their way.
"Derek, can you get a menu?" Casey asked.
"Sure," he said tightly before snatching the menu from the counter.
Derek followed Casey and Ben to a table towards the back. When Ben was seated, Casey looked at Derek with a pointed look. He looked back and finally caught on.
"Can I get you started with a drink?" Derek asked with fake politeness.
"Yeah, I think I'll have a Coke." Ben said with that same tone.
Derek flashed him one last fake smile before turning away. When his back was turned, he muttered about how stupid Ben was under his breath. He grabbed a cup, threw some ice in it and pushed it under the soda dispenser and jabbed the button.
Lisa was watching from a short distance and shook her head.
"Would you fire me if I spit in his coke?" Derek asked.
"Yes, I would." She said to him. "Don't let him bug you."
"I can't." He stressed out.
"Think of it this way, you get to go home with Casey every night. He doesn't."
And that was all it took for Derek to relax a little. Lisa was right. It didn't matter if Casey went out with Ben every night because eventually, she would come home and he would be there. Derek would be there, not Ben. And that's how he liked it. That's how he wanted it to be forever. Oh, if only.
Derek started to walk back to the table and slowed when he heard talking.
"So, when is Derek leaving?" He heard Ben ask.
"Not till late September, I told you this."
"So, basically what you're saying is that I'm not gonna get to see you at all?"
"You're seeing me right now."
"That's not what I meant." He heard Ben sigh tiredly. "It's been a year Casey, when are we gonna take the next step?"
"Ben,"
"No, I would like an honest answer from you about this."
Derek was about to make his presence known, but stopped.
"I wanna be in love when it happens." She said to him, "I'm not in love with you."
"You were once." Ben said to her.
"Yeah, well, when someone snaps at you and yells at you a lot, it's kindof hard to stay in love with that person."
"I'm working on my anger. I am."
"I don't think you're working hard enough on it." Casey said tiredly.
Derek didn't have to see that Ben was shaking his head at Casey.
"I bet this all has something to do with Derek."
And his eyes grew wide.
"No, this has nothing to do with Derek." Casey defended, "Derek is staying with me because he needed to get away from his life back in Canada."
"There you go defending him again."
"This is why we fight so much," she told him, "you sit there and constantly try to make Derek seem like he's the bad guy here when really you are."
Derek heard the table move and the dishes clank. He looked around and saw that Ben had stood up and Casey moved away.
"Okay, pretty boy." Derek said loudly as he walked over to them.
He set the glass down on the table roughly and crossed his arms over his chest.
"I think it's time for you to leave." Derek said as calmly as he could.
"And you can tell me this because?" Ben asked him.
"Because I can, now leave."
Ben glared at Derek and snorted.
"I don't think so."
Derek smirked and glared back.
"See we have a little problem here." Derek said to him, "You don't have much of a choice."
People inside the restaurant were all looking at Derek and Ben, waiting for what was to unfold.
"Now, if you hadn't noticed, this is a quiet family restaurant. You arguing, isn't something that is wanted here." Derek said to him, "And Casey seems to not want you here anymore."
"We'll let her decide that."
Ben looked at Casey who was shaking her head.
"I think you should leave Ben."
Derek smirked when he saw Ben's jaw drop. Ben looked at Derek and shoved him back a bit. Derek simply shook his head as Ben walked out.
XxX
"He's an ass hole." Derek said, as he hung his leather jacket on the hook.
"Derek, not now." Casey said.
"Okay, sorry."
Casey stopped in her tracks. She turned to Derek and looked at him.
"That's it?" She asked. "No other input about how I should break up with him and how I can do so much better?"
"Yeah." He said. "But I mean, you should break up with him because he talks to you like you're shit. And you can do better. But you wanted to let it go, so I let it go."
"Thank you."
"For what?"
"Today," she said, easily, "he would have made the entire situation worse than it was supposed to be."
Derek watched Casey walk into her room without a word and he debated whether or not to follow her.
He did.
He knocked on her closed door and heard a faint 'come in', and he walked in.
"Casey?" He asked.
She was sitting at her vanity, removing her jewelry.
"Yeah?"
He moved in and sat on her bed in front of her.
"Ben yells at you, and talks to you like you're nothing. Why are you dating him?"
Casey sighed, "He wasn't like that before."
"Are you happy?" He asked.
Casey turned to him, brows furred together, and she bit her lip.
"I- I thought I was." She said, honestly.
Derek nodded and stood up, getting ready to leave. When he reached the door, he turned to face her one last time.
"As much as you say I'm wrong, you putting up with me and me being forced to stay here, I know you're not happy about that. But, do something that'll make you happy and talk to Ben."
She nodded.
"And I appreciate you putting up with me." He said, "You're the only one who hasn't given up on me."
She smiled and stood up. She walked over to him and wrapped her arms around his neck. He was a little stunned at first, unable to move, but then his arms slithered around her waist slowly.
Their first real hug.
He gave her a small squeeze and sighed through his nose.
"I'm always gonna be here for you Derek." She whispered to him.
"Thank you."
She removed herself from Derek and they both shared a soft smile.
"Where are you sleeping?" She asked.
"The couch."
"You can sleep in here you know." She reminded him.
"I know, but I think I'm gonna stay up a little longer."
"Okay, night."
"Night."
XxX
He waited about an hour before he pulled out that guitar. He grabbed his notebook and sat on the couch. He flipped open to a blank page a titled it, 'Casey'. He knew she wouldn't be looking through his stuff so he had nothing to worry about.
With the curve of the guitar rested on his knee, he began to lightly strum a random pattern. He stopped for a second and wrote the chords he played on the paper. He started playing again and starting humming along to it. After stopping and playing it over again, he started whispering words.
After about another hour, he had what looked like a verse and a complete chorus finished.
Pleased with what he had finished, he closed his notebook and put the guitar away. He then settled on the couch/bed and started tossing and turning. It was different from sleeping on the bed. It was harder than Casey's soft bed.
He sat up. She said he could sleep in the room with her if he wanted to. He looked to the door and got up. He opened her door and saw that she was sleeping peacefully. He walked in as quietly as he could and he walked over to the bed. He pulled off his shirt and stepped out of his jeans.
Slowly, he climbed into the bed and relaxed into it with a sigh. Casey then rolled over and snuggled into him. He tensed up at first, then relaxed again and put his arm around her. Her face was close to being buried in his neck and he took a chance. He moved his lips to her forehead and placed a soft kiss there before he shut his eyes and went to sleep himself.
Okay...there will be more issues with Ben in the future I think, I'm not too sure yet. And Casey is going to talk to him and he's not going to like kidnap her or something. Lol that would be drama. I was also going to make Derek and Ben throw down, but I thought it would be a little too intense. Maybe another chapter. Oh yeah, and your reviews make me smile. Sometimes I laugh because I just just hear in my head how they sound if someone actually said them. Enjoy!