A/N: Wow ... I thought I uploaded this chapter DAYS ago, and I just realized that it never published. So, for your reading pleasure, you get not one, but TWO new chapters today! Go, read, have fun. If you didn't get a chance to read the intermission before I deleted it, here's a brief overview of what we do know:

1. Derek left Casey. We don't know why.
2. When Derek left, he headed for Vancouver. Why, we don't know, but we can assume to see Sally.
3. When Derek left, he kind of went off into the deep end in terms of morality.
4. Casey is having trouble seeing Derek again, presumably because he left her without explanation.
5. Casey either is short on cash or lives somewhere far enough away that it makes traveling back to Ontario expensive.
6. Casey is not marrying Sam.
7. Derek and Casey obviously both still have feelings for each other, but are having trouble dealing with them because of whatever happened.

Casey stood outside the doors to the reception hall. She could hear the music and chatter wafting through the doors but she couldn't bring herself to go inside. He was in there. They were in there.

She was on the verge of missing dinner. Under any other circumstance, she probably wouldn't have cared. She did, however, tell Sam that she would be there, and it wasn't in her nature to renege on an old friend, especially one that meant so much to her. Besides, she had yet to meet Emma—she and Sam met long after he and Casey stopped hanging out—and she wanted to meet the woman that Sam had chosen to be his companion throughout life.

You have to go in there, Casey, she chided herself. At least say hello and have a glass of wine. You can leave as soon as dinner is over. You don't have to stay for the dancing. You don't even have to stay for cake.

She pushed open the heavy wooden door and stepped inside the banquet hall. The majority of the guests were already seated at large, round tables with pristine white tablecloths and twinkling centerpieces. A few others were collecting last-minute drinks at the bars set up around the dance floor. Casey made her way over to the seating chart to check her table; she wanted to be seated before Sam and Emma made their grand entrance into the hall.

Upon locating her name and table on the chart, she scanned the room to find her place. Her eyes alighted on the table number, and, skirting a cluster of enthusiastic guests, she wove through the tables to Table #2.

There he was. Sitting at Table #2. In the seat next to hers.

Damn it, Sam, I will kill you for this one, Casey though fiercely, clenching her fists.

Casey took her seat, aligning her body away from Derek and greeting the other people at the table. As they all said their hellos, she was acutely aware of the maid of honor hanging on Derek to her right. He seemed uncomfortable, but he didn't make any move to stop her.

So that's how it's going to be, huh, Derek? Well, two can play that game, Casey thought as she smiled at the man on her left. Trust me, I've playing this game before. And won.

"Yeah, there's this great party going on tonight. The Pi Kapps. I love those guys. They throw the best parties," Casey's Residence Life-assigned roommate, Miriam, chattered happily, applying mascara to her already heavily-coated lashes. "Hey, do you think we'll meet anyone tonight? I mean, yeah, I was talking to Zack all week last week, but then he was all, 'Oh, I'm going to call you, Miri, we'll go out,' and then that bastard never called. So, screw him, whatever, I'm SOOO going to get laid tonight. Or, like, try."

"No, I think you will. You're SOOO pretty, Miri. Any guy would be lucky to have you." Miriam's companion, a slight blond girl from down the hall, nodded enthusiastically as Miriam continued to apply her makeup. "I just worry that I won't be able to meet anyone. I mean, we're not getting any younger here, you know?"

"I know what you mean," Miriam said, "I mean, it's like, university is for meeting people and hooking up and stuff, not just spending all your time studying." She shuddered and examined her face in the mirror.

The blonde motioned towards Casey and stage-whispered, "Oh, you mean like her?"

"Oh, you can speak up, she doesn't care, do you, Case?" Miriam asked, twirling towards Casey. "You're just here to get a big, fancy degree, aren't you, Case? Not here to get a … what did you call it? An M-R-S?" Miriam cackled and went back to painting her face.

Casey sat at her desk, twisting her pencil in her hands and striving to stay quiet. That was just one of many jabs that Miriam took at her, and Casey was resolute in her efforts to let the insults roll off her back.

It's not my fault that you're a dumb whore, Casey thought angrily, and that your only hope of succeeding in life is to trick some asshole into marrying you. Me? I'm earning my degree and getting the HELL out of here.

Casey did earn her degree two years later, a semester earlier than planned. She received her diploma with a complete lack of emotion; there was no joy in her heart. It was just another box checked before she went into the next gray period in her life. There was no pomp, no circumstance, just a sheet of paper from the Registrar, the remainder of her scholarship money, and another box checked.

Casey stood with the other guests when Sam and Emma made their grand entrance and applauded lightly, sneaking furtive glances at Derek and smiling widely at the man on her left. She babbled to him through dinner, purposely ignoring the uncomfortable shifting and the glazed-over look in his eyes. She watched Emma and her father wistfully during the father-daughter dance, knowing that she would never have a sweet moment like that, not with her father and not with George. The music picked up, and people flocked to the dance floor to do the Chicken Dance. Casey felt the air shift to her right as the maid of honor dragged Derek out onto the dance floor. She watched as the maid of honor tried to get Derek to flap his arms like a chicken wings. She turned to the man on her left, slightly surprised that he was gone. She heard the music slow down, watching people as they started to form couples.

Casey saw Derek walk off the dance floor, leaving the maid of honor standing alone, her mouth open in shock. He walked over to Table #2 and positioned himself in front of Casey, forcing her to look at him. He didn't say a word. He simply extended his hand and ever-so-slightly motioned with his eyes. She couldn't answer. She simply placed her hand in his and allowed him to lead her onto the dance floor.

As it had been all those years ago, their bodies fit together perfectly. The wide plains of his chest had grown wider and firmer with age, and his hands, always strong, were still able to find that one spot at the small of her back that made her tingle with anticipation. She nestled her cheek into his chest, breathing in his unique, musky scent of cologne, deodorant, and lavender. She heard his heart thumping in his chest, keeping perfect time with hers, and she finally found the words that had been evading her for so long.

I'm home.

A/N: So, to add to the list, we now know that in the past, Casey really buckled down and studied her ass off when Derek left. In the present, Derek and Casey just reconnected on some level, and it was AWESOME.