AN: Hi guys! I know, I'm surprised I'm posting already too...LoL! Anyway, I'm really excited about this story so I hope you guys are enjoying it. I'd also like to take a moment to answer a question I'd gotten a lot from A Conversation Between Good and Evil. Yes, I had actually intended to make it a oneshot but seeing as I forgot to mark it as "completed" and because people have expressed an interest in there being more to the story, I actually do have some ideas of future chapters. So yes, there will be more. I'm going to be focusing mainly on this story though, so new chapters of Good and Evil may come slowly so just bear with me. Anyway, here's the second chapter of That Summer. I was excited to post so I apologize that it's not as "edited" as it could be. I hope you like it!

Disclaimer: Nope, still don't own it.

Chapter Two – And Then There Were Two

June 25th

The morning light streamed in through the crack in the curtains and flickered mercilessly across Casey's face, rousing her from a delicious dream in which she had turned down the idea of a cross-country road trip and was instead happily lounging in the sun on the balcony of her family's hotel room in Venice. Or something like that. Casey shut her eyes tight and, in an attempt to fight off waking completely, turned onto her side away from the treacherous light. But it was no good, she was now fully awake and Europe was a world (and a severe lapse in judgment) away.

She stretched out her aching muscles and grabbed her towel before dragging herself into the bathroom for a shower. Seeing as it was Sunday, one of her precious few days off work, everyone she would consider a close, dear friend was off frolicking their summer away and enjoying their youth (with the exception of poor Ralph), and she was not yet desperate enough to go seeking Kendra's company (whom she had heard was back for the summer), she found herself with nothing to do and in no hurry. So she decided to take her time and take a long, refreshing shower.

An hour and a half later, she emerged from her bedroom refreshed, dressed, hair styled, make up on and as she grabbed her purse and slipped on her shoes, she was again brought back to the soul crushing realization that she had absolutely nothing to do.

She slipped her shoes back off and allowed herself to plop down heavily onto the couch. She let her purse fall to the floor as she turned her head to look at the clock on the wall. Oh, she thought, and it was only 9 a.m.

Casey flipped on the TV and allowed her brain to go on auto-pilot, at least until 10 a.m. when she would again resume grumbling about wasting the prime of her youth. She wasn't sure how many infomercials she'd sat through, since the images had gradually begun melding together, before disgruntled thumping came bounding down the stairs finally culminating in something somewhat resembling Derek collapsing onto the recliner.

There was no "Hi" or "Hey" or even a "Good morning," not that she was exactly expecting one. She figured his mood was probably just a little darker than hers and for once, she couldn't blame him. She figured being stuck at home and being forced to go to summer school immediately followed by tutoring sessions Monday through Friday (all pre-arranged by and enforced by threat of military school from George) was probably just a little worse than her situation, though not by much. Though, watching George put his foot down and actually mean it had kind of been awesome to watch. But yeah, she figured Derek was just a little more miserable than her.

She forced herself out of her infomercial stupor and turned towards him.

"Infomercials or cartoons?" she asked, giving him a look that let him know she was serious about turning over TV control to him.

He slowly turned his head towards her and barked out, "Cartoons, now!" before turning his head back to the TV. Casey knew she shouldn't find comfort in knowing that someone, Derek especially, was worse off than she was, but she couldn't help it. And so she had to fight hard to keep the smile off her face as she flipped the TV to the latest adventure of Scooby Doo.

It was almost noon before Casey finally couldn't take the sitting around any longer. She and Derek had spent a little over an hour watching cartoons and Casey worried her brain was turning to mush. And her stomach was grumbling. Loudly. She heard a sound coming from Derek and realized it was just moments before he too started complaining about hunger.

Not really wanting to become Derek's personal chef for the summer but finding no other way to get food in her stomach at the moment, Casey forced herself up and to the kitchen. She pretended she didn't see Derek's victorious smirk as she did so.

She checked first the fridge then the cupboards and noted with a frown that they'd nearly depleted the food supplies their family had left them with. She could easily whip up some scrambled eggs so she grabbed a couple eggs and placed them on the counter. She wasn't really in the mood to put much effort into cooking so she decided to skip the pancakes and instead pulled out the remains of a loaf of sliced bread and dropped a couple pieces into the toaster before returning to the fridge and pulling out a bag of shredded cheese then searching for some peppers and onions.

She quickly made the omelets and buttered the toast before going ahead and washing the dishes since she didn't feel like arguing with Derek about chores. Casey took a second to note that she must be in dire straights indeed if she couldn't even find the energy to argue with Derek. But she decided to shrug it off and grabbed a couple forks and plates and went back to the living room. Derek barely looked up long enough to grab his plate before returning his attention to Wile E. Coyote.

It is going to be a VERY long summer, Casey thought to herself as she slowly ate her food.

Casey was finishing up her and Derek's dishes. She'd just gotten off the phone with Nora, George and the kids who'd wanted to make sure they hadn't killed each other yet and that Derek had been attending his daily classes and tutoring sessions. George hadn't wanted to run the risk of Derek again not doing his assignments and had had the foresight to have Casey physically drive him to class each day (though dragging Derek out of bed, shoving him into the bathroom, nagging him out of the shower and into somewhat clean clothes, then wrestling him into the car and out of it again once they reached the school took her an extra hour and a half each day) and hired a daily tutor who would pick him up from class and take him to the library to study and do the assigned homework immediately after class let out and then dropped him off at home. To add insult to injury, George (again showing a foresight somewhat out of character for him) had made sure that Derek's tutor weighed 230 pounds, was on a college boxing team, male, straight, and completely impervious to Derek's charm. Casey was almost positive the ad George had placed for a tutor also required the tutor to lack a sense of humor. So Derek was pretty much screwed.

Casey had assured them that yes, Derek was attending his classes. She was deprived an extra hour and a half of sleep everyday because of it, but yes he was getting to school. She also assured them that yes, from how miserable he was, she was sure the tutor was doing his job. Yes, she'd picked up their dry cleaning. Yes, she was checking their mail. No, they hadn't been starving to death. Though, she would probably have to do some grocery shopping today. And no, they hadn't put any hits out on each other yet. At least she hadn't, though she was hard pressed to be positive about Derek.

She hung up happy to have talked to them, but with a renewed sense of misery that she was missing out on a European summer. She stomped back to the living room and threw herself on the couch.

"You missed a call from the fam," she told him.

"Mmm," was his reply. Or at least that's what she took it as.

She watched the anvil fall on Yosemite Sam's head and knew this couldn't continue. At least not today. She sighed as she tried to rouse him again.

"Derek, we need to get some groceries. We're almost out of food."

"Mmm." This time she was sure it was his reply. She had no idea what it meant but at least she hadn't lied when she told their parents that he wasn't dead.

"Fine, I'll go grocery shopping without you," she said, standing and picking up her purse which was still where she'd dropped it earlier. "Just bear in mind that I believe in a well balanced diet. I like oatmeal, tofu, soy, all natural grains and sugar free snacks."

Derek sprinted up the stairs, yelling that he'd be down in ten minutes. She took the time to check her wallet for the cash and ATM card Nora had left her for their food. Edwin had converted their parents to online banking a while back so she didn't have to take care of paying the bills while they were gone. All she had to do was sort their mail so Edwin could reconcile everything when they returned. And keep her and Derek fed and alive. Assured that she still had Nora's ATM card to pay for groceries (she figured she'd keep the cash for pizza deliveries and emergencies) she plopped back onto the couch and waited for Derek.

"Derek, this isn't the grocery store," Casey observed as Derek pulled into a parking slot at the ice rink.

"That would explain why there's only food at the snack bar or the vending machines," Derek replied sarcastically. He shut off the engine, pocketed the keys and climbed out of the car to grab a bag from the trunk. Casey, whose only other option was to continue sitting in the car like an idiot, quickly followed after him.

Twenty minutes later, she was dressed in full hockey gear and waddling out into the middle of the ice rink.

"Why am I dressed like this?" she demanded as Derek skated around her, getting a feel for the ice, which was unusually empty.

"Because, Spacey, I have been doing nothing but school and homework for over a week now. All my friends are off enjoying their summer, except for Ralph, and I need hockey. I need sports. I need social interaction. And since nonstop chemical formulas and Shakespeare have killed my social life and sucked the soul out of me, that leaves you." He also tossed in a look that said, "Trust me, I'm not any happier about this than you are." But at least he was wise enough to restrain from vocalizing that thought.

"I don't even know how to play hockey," she argued. She looked down at the hockey stick in her hands and wondered how she'd be able to trip Derek with it. She looked up and saw Derek skate backwards around her as he told her to simply follow his lead and came to the conclusion that attempting to trip Derek while he played hockey (i.e. was in his element) was more likely to result in her humiliation and so she tossed the idea.

Derek decided to start by showing her a couple basic moves. Casey winded up on her rear end more times that she'd care to admit and so Derek moved on.

"Okay, Casey. We're going to practice shooting the puck into the goal. Think you can handle that?" he challenged, smirk firmly in place.

"All I have to do is hit this little black disc into that big net?"

"Yup," he answered, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I can do that." Casey moved into position then stared intently at the net then down at the puck. Derek could practically see the gears moving in her head.

She wound up then let her hockey stick smack the puck. It barely made it halfway.

"Why didn't it go anywhere?" Casey lamented.

"Because you swing like a girl." Casey narrowed her eyes at Derek's comment and quickly, albeit awkwardly, waddled over to where her puck had landed. She got into position and before Derek could let out another comment, smacked the puck directly into the net.

There was a moment of silence as both recovered from their shared shock at what just happened. Casey came to first and swiveled around to give Derek a victorious grin.

"Hit like a girl, huh?" she challenged, borrowing Derek's trademark smirk.

Derek was silent a beat longer as he contemplated his next move. Casey worried he would make her repeat the move to show it was simply beginners luck but he surprised her when he simply barked out, "Good, now we can move on."

An hour and a half later, Derek was practically skipping back towards the car while Casey wondered if her muscles would ever stop hurting.

"Move it Spacey! We have snacks we need to buy," Derek called over his shoulder. Casey simply glared daggers back at him. He'd spent the last hour making her do drills which was then followed by chasing him around the rink for a makeshift one on one match. Not the mention, the padding had smelled and weighed a ton. She could shower for three hours and still feel unclean. As it was she'd showered twice and still felt the grime.

By now, Derek was seated and buckled into the driver's seat. "Case! Hurry up!"

"Der-ek! Every muscle in my body hurts and it's –"

" – all my fault. Blah! Blah! Blah! Get in the car." Casey gingerly seated herself in the front passenger's seat and vowed revenge. And for the first time in over a week, Derek had a good laugh.

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So that was Chapter 2, I hope you enjoyed it. Be sure to review and let me know what you think!