I got a review about Derek's weight...so I added the whole fat thing in there. And don't worry, Derek isn't like super fat. And I don't know what happened, I started working on this chapter and I couldn't stop. So, enjoy!
"I'm fat." Derek said as he plopped down on the couch next to Casey.
"Well, look how you've been eating."
It had only been a few days since the Ben incident and Derek's cravings were starting to die down. He still ate like he did in high school but then, he managed to keep his weight at a certain range because of hockey.
"How I've been eating?" Derek repeated. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Oh, please. I know you've been sneaking cookies in bed. I wake up laying on crumbs."
"I don't mean to- I mean- oh forget it." He sighed out. "And so what? Yeah I have been eating cookies in bed."
"That's one of the reasons why you're getting fat because I've been making you low in everything meals."
"Either way, I'm getting fat."
Casey looked at him, that cute pout that made her smile, and she scooted closer to him. She noticed he wasn't pale at all and the rings around his eyes were completely gone. She then thought back to the last time she was woken up by his screaming in the middle of the night, she couldn't remember.
"Derek, you're fine." She said to him, "But, if you wanna lose a bit of weight, I can figure something out."
And the next thing he knew, he was standing in front of a gym with Casey. They both walked in and started with whatever came to mind.
Derek wanted to lose weight and get bigger, strength wise and muscle wise, while Casey wanted to get toned. In his mind, Derek wanted to make Ben look pathetic standing next to him. But then again, he didn't want to get too big. If he was too big, his arms would be able to fit in his leather jacket, and got forbid that happen.
Casey had always been in great shape. He was going to tell her that she didn't need to work out and that he would be okay if she wanted to do something else. But why throw away the chance to see her in tiny shorts and a sports bra? So Derek kept his mouth shut.
Not that he was a pervert or anything, don't get him wrong, but he was thrilled at the thought of Casey being half naked as she worked out in front or next to him.
During their workout, Casey had mapped out a schedule for them. They would work out together three times a week and he Derek wanted to go by himself, then he could.
And he did.
Towards the beginning on July, both he and Casey started to notice differences. Or instance, the small pouch on his stomach was gone, his arms were a tiny bit bigger than they were before and now had a small bulge of muscle there. And his calf's were become more and more toned and defined every day. Even at work Casey saw that he was getting a lot of looks from young girls who went in for lunch or dinner with their friends. She recognized those looks back from high school. And normally she would just roll her eyes every time these girls would throw themselves over him. Now, there was a pang of jealousy when she saw him talking to these girls but it would always vanish because he would look at her and smile. A real smile, not like that smirk he usually gave the girls.
XxX
"Are you sure I can't come with you?" Derek pleaded.
Casey and Lisa were going into town to get pedicures and manicures, and then have a girl's day. He knew that she was testing him, to see if he would break and go crawling back to that god awful poison.
"Derek, you'll be fine."
"But, Case." He whined.
"No, you'll be fine here and I trust you."
He was pleading her with his eyes to let him come.
"Derek, you're gonna have to be alone sometime. I can't always be watching you." She said as she walked to the door. She turned around to face him again, "Like I said, I trust you."
And with that, she walked out the door and Derek sighed.
"I don't trust myself," he muttered.
He sighed once more before he walked back to the couch.
He had no idea how long Casey was going to be so he wasn't sure how much time he had on his hands. He then took his note book out and grabbed that guitar he grew to love. He flipped open to the page he was working on and looked at his progress. He had been slacking a bit and he didn't even get the first verse started. He thought he had it a while back but had moved it to be the second verse.
He leaned back on the couch and put the pen to the paper.
--
Casey was in a world of girl pleasure. It had been a while since she had a girl's day and she loved every minute of it.
"Casey," Lisa said in a tone that meant business.
"What now, Lisa?"
"This is about Ben, and I don't care if you don't wanna talk about it because we're talking about it."
Casey sighed and looked at Lisa.
"Okay, then. What do you wanna talk about?" Casey asked.
"About you dumping his sorry ass and making a move on Derek."
"Lisa!"
"No I'm serious." Lisa said. "Ben has been treating you like trash lately and I think Derek would be so much better than Ben." Casey sighed, "And I know I don't know you and Derek's past, but I think you and him should try at least."
Casey didn't say anything but the wheel in her head was turning. Contemplating whether or not to just tell her friend the truth.
"Lisa, I have to tell you something."
"Uh-oh, I know that tone, what's wrong?" Lisa asked.
"Derek used to be my step brother."
Lisa didn't say anything. All she did was look at Casey like she had two heads. Her jaw dropped, her eyes were wide, and any other facial expression a shocked person would have.
"Okay, explain now." Lisa said quickly.
"My mom married his dad when we were in high school. Come the middle of our junior year, things started to fall apart. And by the end of it, they had divorced. I still stayed in the same school as Derek but I noticed that he was changing and before I knew it, I transferred schools."
"So why is he here?" Lisa asked her, curious than ever.
"I'm getting to that." She said to her friend, "When I said that Derek was changing, I meant he was changing as in life style change." And by the look on Lisa's face, she had no idea what Casey was talking about. "He was doing drugs."
When Casey said that, Lisa had an unreadable expression on her face.
"Derek is here because his dad doesn't know what to do with him anymore. His dad said that he was hostile, mean, and angry. He sent him to live with my mom but that all changed when I came home."
"So, let me get this straight, your mom and his dad married,"
"Yes,"
"Got divorced, you and your family move, causing Derek to turn to drugs,"
"True."
"His dad decides that he can't handle him so he sent him to live with your mom but then she can't handle him and then you step in to help him,"
"Pretty much."
"And now you're totally crushing on him."
"Yeah- I mean no." Casey said quickly.
Lisa's jaw dropped.
"Oh my god!" She exclaimed. "You are crushing on the ex step brother!"
"No, I am not…" Casey paused, "I don't like Derek…much. Okay I totally like Derek."
Lisa squealed so loud and so high, Casey was surprised that it didn't break glass. Casey covered her ears and winced.
--
Derek was sitting in the same spot on the couch with the pen still touching the paper. Nothing came out this time. He tried to play the guitar more, to see if words would form like it had before, but nothing came out. He didn't know what the problem was.
He then decided that he needed a new environment. He stood up, stepped into his shoes and slipped on his jacket. He looked around and grabbed a small note pad form the counter, put it in his pocket and walked out the door.
When he got outside, he decided against walking in the direction of the alley way, and chose the opposite. It was like it was the first night he was with Casey except this time, he didn't need to get away from anything. He just needed to try to get these words out and on to paper.
He wanted the words to be perfect. He knew why he wanted to do it, and he wasn't expecting her to feel anything back, he just wanted to show her how much he appreciated her not giving up on him. Because a 'thank you' just wouldn't be enough to express the thanks he had for Casey.
He found himself at a park minutes later. He settled on a bench and took out that pad he brought with him. He looked around and saw a couple walking hand in hand. The girl was leaning into the guy's side and she was smiling. Derek saw the happiness radiating from both of them and it made him think back to a time when he was that happy. The only thing was he couldn't remember when he was happy.
Not when his mom and dad got divorced, because he would hardly see his mother, not when his dad got remarried because the eldest step daughter was off limits at the time, and he most certainly was not happy when they got divorced because then he couldn't see Casey anymore. Despite the fact that she was off limits to him, it killed him to know he wasn't going to see her anymore. Until now, that is. And the truth was, he thought that all this unhappiness was brought upon him for a reason. And there had to be a pretty damn good one but Derek didn't know.
His head hung slightly when he saw them share a soft kiss.
He wished he had something like that. That happiness, that feeling of knowing you'll always have that someone to be there for you.
He looked to the blank pad, and started writing. And this time, the pen didn't stop.
--
Lisa was still going on about how Casey liked Derek and how Derek liked Casey, and frankly, Casey was getting tired of it. They had finished their nails and were on their way to lunch. And as fate would have put it, they walked past that same park Derek was at. Lisa was the one who spotted him.
"Hey, Case, isn't that Derek?" She asked.
"Where?" Casey looked.
"Derek!" Lisa shouted
And sure enough, he looked up and Lisa pulled Casey along as she rushed to him.
"What are you doing here?" Lisa asked.
"I needed some air."
He saw an uncertainty flash through Casey's eyes.
"I was tired of the apartment." He said honestly.
"Well, Casey and I were headed to lunch. Wanna join us?" She asked.
"Sure, if it's alright."
"Oh, don't be ridiculous, of course it's alright, right Casey?" Lisa turned to Casey.
"I thought that this was supposed to be-" Lisa pinched her butt, "Ow! I mean, it's alright." Casey smiled weakly at him.
Derek smirked at Casey. Sometimes she was too cute.
XxX
"So you two were locked in the bathroom while there was a crazy party in your house?" Lisa asked.
"Yeah." Derek said smirking.
"And I even told him it was a bad idea to have a party." Casey said.
"What happened next?"
Derek and Casey both look at each other and smiled.
"Shampoo fight." They both said at the same time.
"Uh, no you had shampoo, which he nailed me in the eyes-"
"I didn't mean to." He defended.
"And I had some water thing. Hardly anything came out of it." Casey continued.
Derek simply rolled his eyes.
"Wow, seems like fun." Lisa said smiling.
"Please, at that time, Derek lived to torture me."
"You were the same," he said in a sing song voice.
Casey scoffed and smacked his shoulder playfully while Lisa watched this love filled playful banter.
XxX
Derek had just walked in from working out and was surprised and pissed to see Ben sitting on the couch with Casey.
"Hey, Derek." She greeted with a smile.
"Hey."
"Ben and I are gonna go out to dinner to talk."
"Okay." Derek replied as he walked into her room.
The door slammed a little and Casey looked at Ben.
"I'll be right back."
And this time, Casey didn't give him a chance to bitch or anything of the sort. She simply got up as quickly as she could and entered her room. She heard the shower running in her bathroom and she knocked on the door. He opened it and she saw a bit of pain in his eyes.
"Are you mad?" She asked.
"No, I mean I'm mad he's here." Derek said to her, "But you two need to talk."
Casey simply nodded.
"I'm sure you can fend for yourself while I'm gone."
"Yeah," he nodded.
"Okay, well, see you when I get home."
Derek simply watched her walk out. He sighed and closed the bathroom door.
When Casey walked back into the living room, she saw Ben near the front door.
"What are you doing?" She asked.
"Waiting for you." He said, "Ready?"
"Yeah."
XxX
Casey and Ben were sitting at the table, eating silently.
"Is there a reason why you wanted to talk?" Ben asked.
"Yeah, I've been doing a lot of thinking lately and," she paused, "do you want me happy?" She asked him.
"Of course," he said honestly.
"Well, I'm not happy."
Ben knew where this was going.
"I think we should take a break." She said to him.
"A break."
"Yeah, I just think it would good for us. This way, you can focus on bettering yourself and then I'll have time to figure out what I want."
"Do you think I'm stupid, Casey?" He asked rudely. "This is about Derek."
"No it isn't. This is about me."
"Whatever."
Casey glared at him and for the first time ever, she got up and walked out of the restaurant, ignoring his calls for her.
She was sick and tired of Ben always bringing Derek into the problem when he was never there to begin with. Or was he? She knew she liked him but she still cared about Ben, despite the fact that he had been as ass to her as of late. She couldn't help it. When she met Ben a year ago, he was really nice, sweet, and a perfect gentleman and that was the Ben she was still in love with.
So maybe she lied to him when she said she didn't love him anymore, but she told the truth too. She just needed to figure out what she wanted.
When she arrived at her front door, she heard the most beautiful guitar playing she had ever heard. She opened her door quietly and saw Derek playing. She was in awe. Suddenly he groaned and stopped.
"Hey." She said, making her presence known.
He looked at her and smile.
"Hey, you're early."
"Didn't go so well." She told him.
"How'd he take the break?"
"I don't wanna talk about it." She hook her head. "But I am hungry."
"Pizza?" He asked.
"All over it."
Casey then started to dig through her purse for some money and sighed.
"Do have any money left over from that twenty I gave you yesterday?" She asked him.
"Yeah, I think I have a ten in my jacket." He said as he was putting the guitar away.
Casey put her purse on the counter and walked over to his jacket. She checked his left pocket and found nothing. She checked his right pocket and felt paper and plastic. She clutched her hand around both and pulled them out. She slowly opened her hand and saw a ten dollar bill along with a small plastic bag with white powder in side. Her heart dropped.
"Did you find it?" Derek asked turning around.
He saw her with the baggie and he froze.
So, I think I'm almost over this writers block thing. Well hope you liked it! And this story is totally taking over on it's own and I like it.