A/N: Whoo hoo! You guys have no idea how awesome it's been to hear how much you liked the first chapter! Really, it's been tough getting this out--I'm dealing with several different story lines set in different years (as you begin to see in this chapter), and it's hard keeping it all straight. So, again, if you see any inconsistencies, let me know and I'll fix them. Otherwise, sit back and enjoy the new chappie!

Disclaimer: I forgot to make this abundantly clear when I started the new fic ... I don't own LwD.

Derek Venturi felt his breath catch in his throat and his heart stop. Standing not 30 meters away from him was his former best friend, his one-time lover, and favorite stepsister, Casey. It had been ten years since they had seen each other, and that decade was extremely kind to her. She looked older, wiser, calmer. Her long, golden-brown hair, curled at the ends, was cut shorter. Her skin, always creamy, now glowed—from what, he wasn't entirely sure. And her figure, shaped into lean, lovely curves by years of dance, looked meticulously maintained. At 29 years old, Casey McDonald was more beautiful than the day he last saw her.

Derek watched Casey take a single, graceful step into the center aisle and closed his eyes. Seeing her, here, like this, made him crazy. He wanted to run to her and hug her. He wanted to yell at her. He wanted to shake her until she came to her senses. He couldn't do that, though, not standing next to Sam. Not standing in front of his former peers and his family. Not at all. He closed that door ten years ago, when she walked out of the door and out of his life.

And here she is, looking as gorgeous as ever. She's here because of Sam.

The thought pained Derek, as did reflecting on any part of his past that included Casey. He couldn't play poker anymore—he and Casey first admitted that they liked each other over a charged game of poker at the family dining-room table. He avoided hospitals at all costs—he and Casey were mandated to break up in the Recovery Ward after their younger brother's birth. Being in Kingston nearly killed him when he saw the familiar skyline against the stark lake—this was the last place he saw Casey before he left Ontario for good.

Derek opened his eyes and drank her in, the little pieces of her that he didn't quite remember but could never entirely forget: the curve of her slim ankle above her impossibly high heels. The golden skin of her shoulder peeking out from her strapless dress. The crinkle of her eyes as she returned Sam's smile. The rise of her bosom as she inhaled and exhaled.

He closed his eyes again. He couldn't do it. He couldn't watch her glide into that church and down that aisle. Unwillingly, he felt his mind float back to that fateful day in January 2010:

"So this is it, huh?" Casey asked, her blue eyes brightened by the thin layer of tears threatening to spill over onto her cheeks.

"Yeah, I guess it is," Derek said roughly. He was trying to hold in his own tears; he couldn't look her in the eyes anymore.

"Then … I guess I'll go."

"Let me help you with your bags."

Derek picked up Casey's suitcase, following her out the door. She was pulling a pink rolling suitcase, the same one that she carried onto the airplane last summer. That glorious, painful summer. He had been in Europe, she had been in New York, but they were inexplicably tied together. They didn't realize it at the time, but that absence really did make them stronger. Eventually.

This absence would not be the same. This separation was not by choice, not in the same way that it had been before. Before, they willingly separated to avoid admitting that they loved each other; now, they were being forced apart by their irate parents, irrational adults who wanted to avoid admitting that Derek and Casey loved each other.

This was the last of her things; the boxes and furniture that she could take had already been moved into Adelaide Hall. She was on the other side of campus now, in an all-female residence, with a reserved roommate that had already been forewarned of their family situation. Not their romantic situation or the reason for Casey's relocation in the middle of the school year, just the fact that Casey and Derek were stepsiblings. A fact that would effectively keep them from spending time together romantically in Addy at all.

They walked to the car in silence, desperately holding onto their last moments of unadulterated, unashamed togetherness. Derek resolutely put Casey's suitcases in the boot of the car, slammed it shut, and pulled her into a hug. They clung to each other, and Derek tried mightily to memorize every curve of her body as it fit against his. The way her hair rustled against the buttons on his shirt. The way her hands cupped his shoulder blades. The camber of her hips as they met her torso. He sighed deeply and pulled her closer.

There was a cough behind them. Derek let go, and turned towards the sound.

"That's enough, Derek. Casey, let's go."

George Venturi, Derek's father, climbed into the driver's seat and started the engine. Derek held the passenger door open for Casey, and she slid into the seat next to George, fixating her wet eyes on Derek as he closed the door. George had taken off work under the pretense of helping Casey move; they all knew it was to make sure that she actually left.

Derek watched as the car pulled away. Casey stared at him over her left shoulder, silently promising him that she would be back. That she would hold him to his promise to make things work, no matter what.

And see how that turned out, Derek thought bitterly, glancing at his family. They were turned toward the back of the church, watching Casey intently as she took another step into the sanctuary. Gavin Venturi, the youngest of the McDonald-Venturi children, bounced excitedly in his seat, and Derek could hear his little brother whispering loudly, "Edwin, Edwin, look, it's Casey!"

"Shh," came Edwin Venturi's hushed reply, "I know. You can talk to her after the wedding, I promise, but we have to be quiet now."

"But Edwin! I wanna talk to her now!"

"Later, Gavin," answered Edwin's fiancée, Katie Collins, soothingly. She smoothed down the boy's dark, messy hair, so similar to Derek's in style and Edwin's in color, and whispered something in his ear. He nodded and grinned widely, then snuggled in close to Katie and wrapped his little arms around her.

Derek returned his gaze to the heart achingly beautiful woman standing in the back of the church. He still hadn't managed to catch her eye; she was still smiling broadly at Sam. Sam nudged Derek with his left elbow and leaned over to whisper in his ear, "Look at Casey, man … she looks more gorgeous than she ever has."

Derek wanted to punch him. I know, asshole, she looks amazing. I haven't seen her for ten years, and you have to rub this in my face? WHY did you have to ask her? And why do you feel the need to point out to me how beautiful she is? I know it. I remember it. And it's killing me.

Derek clenched his fists and whispered back through gritted teeth, "Yeah, I see it. Aren't you getting married today?"

Sam grinned at his best friend and puffed up with pride. The diffused light coming in from the church's skylight glinted off the shiny medals on his left breast. "Yeah, I am. I can't wait to marry that girl, D."

Derek looked away from Sam and back at Casey, his eyes following her as she skirted the back pew on the groom's side and took a seat, alone.

A/N: Mwahahahahaha ... another cliffie! So, it's not Casey getting married to Sam, and it's not Derek getting married to Casey, so ... who's Sam marrying? Like I said before, I don't own LwD, but I suppose I technically own Gavin Venturi and Katie Collins. If you'd like to borrow them, please feel free to do so, just give me a little credit if you do. Thanks!