Author's Note: So here's the third chapter of That Summer. I hope you guys are enjoying the story because I'm absolutely in love with the idea. I love writing Derek and Casey in this situation. My biggest fear though is that you guys will think the story is move too slowly because in this universe, Casey and Derek have never really become friends or anything. They've pretty much maintained the status quo of their relationship over the years. They have gotten older, however, so naturally there has been some growth maturity-wise which explains the lack of major blowouts and fights. However, them becoming friends is important to the story so that needs to happen before any progress romance-wise takes place. Although, it is possible some of the romance and friendship building could overlap. Anyway, I hope you continue to enjoy the story and without further ado, here's chapter three!

Disclaimer: I've cried, I've begged, and I've pleaded and it's still not mine :(

Chapter Three – When Life Hands You A Lemon…

June 30th

Casey made her way through the front door, grateful for the first time to be met with the stony silent reminder that her family was off thoroughly enjoying themselves in Europe. The latest e-mail update from Liz had shown the family gallivanting around in beautiful Paris. They'd visited the Eifel Tower, the Louvre, Notre Dame and Casey had been so full of jealousy, she'd nearly lost it and had taken her anger out on the brownie batter she found herself mixing. After sharing the brownies and a half gallon of milk with Derek, commiserating and wallowing in their shared self-pity, she miraculously was able to push aside the envy and be happy her family was having a good time.

She couldn't lie, however, and say it didn't still sting. Everyday she found herself eating dinner in front of the television with Derek was a reminder of what she'd given up. Walking through the doors after a long, grueling day at work and being met with silence or the television blaring was usually the worst part. But today, after the day she'd had, she was actually glad. After spending eight hours helping and waiting on upper middle class princesses who likened themselves to celebutantes like Paris Hilton, and stay at home soccer moms who didn't seem to have anything better to do with themselves but harass poor underpaid sales clerks like Casey, she was almost convinced she no longer liked people. And thus she welcomed the empty embrace of the silence she was met with.

She kicked off her shoes and dropped her purse on the side of the couch before collapsing onto the soft cushions. Since the TV was off, she figured Derek was up in his room napping since his tutor, Ian, would have dropped him off at the latest an hour ago. She checked her watch, it was half past eight. She wondered if Derek had eaten dinner yet.

Great, she chided herself, I've become his personal chef. Her stomach grumbled and she realized she hadn't had dinner either. She lifted herself up from the couch with a groan. There was no choice. If she wanted to eat, she'd have to do it herself.

She made her way slowly to the kitchen and peeked into the fridge. She made a grab for some sandwich fixings when she stopped herself and shut the fridge door.

What the hell were her and Derek doing? she asked herself. Was she really going to sit around and feel miserable for herself for two months?

"No way," she answered out loud. She turned around and marched up the stairs to Derek's room and threw open the door.

"Derek, get up!" She saw the blankets stir slightly and knew her earlier assumption about Derek napping had been right. She moved to his bed and pulled the blankets off of him, letting them fall to the floor. She sent a thankful prayer heavenward that he was clothed.

"Der-ek! Get up!" He sent her a glare that normally would have had her having second thoughts about this plan. But instead, she soldiered on.

"Der-ek! Get up, get up, get up!" He rolled onto his stomach and covered his head with a pillow. She grabbed the pillow and began hitting him with it.

"Casey, what the hell?" he snarled and he rolled back over and propped himself up to glare at her.

"Oh good, you're up," she chirped, choosing to ignore the death glare he was shooting her. "Put on your shoes and let's go."

"Spacey, I hope that little outing Sunday didn't put you under some false impression that we're friends or anything. Cuz we're not."

"Nope, I still detest your very existence."

"Good. So if you'll just show yourself out, I'll get back to my nap." He reclaimed his pillow and laid back down on the bed.

Seeing no other option, Casey did a few quick stretches then braced herself as she again approached Derek's bed. This time she grabbed one of his legs and proceeded to yank him off the mattress.

Caught off guard and thus unable to react in time, Derek fell onto the blankets Casey had removed earlier. Hard.

"Casey, have you lost your mind?" he screamed and he struggled to get his leg back from her.

"We're rejoining the living Derek," she sputtered in between grunts as she pulled him with all her might towards the door.

"I don't…want…to…" he huffed as he scrambled to get into a position he could use to pull against her.

"You can't honestly expect me to believe you're happy like this. Ow!" She ended with an exclamation as she pulled a little too hard and wound up on her rear end in the hallway. Both remained on the floor, struggling to regain their breaths from the physical exertion.

"Forget happy. I just want to spend my weekend wallowing in misery so come Monday when this nightmare repeats itself, I'll be ready."

Calculating how hard it had been to get him to the doorway of his room, Casey realized that dragging him down the stairs was probably out of the question. Unless she planned on reneging on her promise to Nora and George that they'd both be alive once they came back.

But Casey wasn't done yet. She had one more weapon in her arsenal.

"I'll buy you dinner. Whatever you want." He was silent a long time. Casey feared he wasn't going to go for the bait. But after a few more minutes, he finally did.

"Fine. But you're going to regret this," he agreed reluctantly. She figured it was because his stomach had started growling at the mention of dinner.

"I'll meet you downstairs in ten minutes," he continued.

"Good," Casey said, careful to keep the smile out of her voice. She pushed herself up and moved to head down the stairs.

"And I'm driving," Derek added before slamming his door shut.

Casey hurried down the stairs, this time not bothering to hide her smile.

Forty-five minutes later, they found themselves seated at an Italian restaurant waiting for their orders. Derek was obliterating the basket of bread and Casey was picking her way through a garden salad.

"You better keep your word about paying for dinner because this place is pricey," Derek commented with his mouth full of bread.

"I said I would and I will," Casey said with an eye roll.

"This is a change, why are you rolling in dough all of a sudden?"

"First paycheck."

"I see. And what, you were dying to blow it on me?"

"As if. No, I just realized we were becoming zombies, Derek. I mean, it's Friday night. It wasn't even nine o'clock yet and you were already in bed. And I, I was about to spend my Friday night cooking you dinner."

Derek snickered at the last part of her explanation which caused another eye roll from Casey. "Yeah and here you are spending your hard earned cash buying me Italian food. Definitely a step up."

"Hey, I refuse to spend another Friday night feeling sorry for myself in front of the TV. I'm only buying you dinner because I promised mom and George I'd make sure you were fed."

Their dinners arrived and they lapsed into a not so uncomfortable silence while they ate. Not too long after, the waitress arrived with Derek's dessert and placed the tab on the table as she took away their dinner plates.

"I can't believe you didn't get dessert," Derek told Casey as he shoveled a large piece of chocolate cake into his mouth. "This place has the best dessert."

"Yeah well, I'm still feeling the after effects of the brownies from three nights ago," Casey replied as she checked the tab and calculated the tip. She pulled a couple bills from her wallet and signaled the waitress over.

"Keep the change," Casey told her.

"Thanks hun, I'll be right back with your mints and the receipt."

"Are you sure you don't want a piece of this cake?" Derek asked again. Casey looked up and saw him shovel another large piece into his mouth.

"Yeah, I'll pass," she told him as her lips pursed a bit at the sight.

"Suit yourself." And with that, Derek shoved the last piece into his mouth. He swiped at his mouth with the napkin then finished Casey's soda to swallow down the cake.

The waitress returned with the receipt and their mints.

"Here you go," she said as she placed the items on the table and scooped up the remaining dishes.

"Your boyfriend has a good appetite," she said to Casey with a conspiratorial wink. "That's usually a good sign he's a keeper."

Derek did a spit take into the glass of water he'd been taking a drink from while Casey's eyes bugged out of their sockets.

They both quickly spoke over each other in denial.

"Eww, he's so not my boyfriend," Casey told the waitress emphatically.

"She is so not my girlfriend," Derek growled.

"Hehe, I get it. First date. You kids are so adorable," she clucked as she took the dishes away.

They eyed each other warily as the waitress made her retreat.

"Well, we should probably –" Casey began as she gathered her purse and a mint.

"Yeah, we probably should," Derek said standing and grabbing his own mint.

Casey paused momentarily at the door and glanced at the table to make sure she hadn't left anything behind. She caught the eye of their waitress who gave her an encouraging wink. Quickly, she spun on her heals and ran after Derek who lamented about what was taking her so long.

Casey looked around as Derek pulled into a parking slot. For the second time in less than a week, she had no idea where Derek had taken her.

"Uh, Derek, where are we?" she asked as she released her seatbelt.

"You'll see. Come on," he ordered as he hopped out of the car. She followed after him as he locked the doors and headed around to the entrance of the building.

"Derek, are you sure this place is safe?" she asked in hushed tones.

"What? Princess scared she's going to get mugged?" he teased.

"I didn't say that," she argued indignantly. He simply snickered in response.

"Relax, it's a revival movie theater," he said as the rounded the corner. The entrance was now visible and Casey could see that Derek was telling the truth.

"Oh wow, I've never been here before," she told him honestly.

"I come here sometimes to see some of the classics," he said over his shoulder as he moved towards the ticket window. Casey knew Derek was a movie buff, but the fact he actually went to a place like this to watch classic movies surprised her. She hurried after him to the ticket window.

"So what's showing?" she asked as glanced up to see the showtimes.

He glanced down at his watch. "We're just in time for the beginning of the double feature special."

"Sounds good to me," she agreed. She figured he'd know better about what was good to watch. They moved to the open window to buy their tickets and Casey reached for her wallet. Derek stopped her and took out his own.

"Derek?" she asked in confusion.

"You paid for dinner. This was my idea so I pay," he said by way of explanation. The clerk handed him his change and their tickets and Derek handed one to Casey.

"Thanks," she said with a smile as they headed into the theater.

"But remember, this by no way –"

" – means we're friends. I know, I know," she finished for him.

"Good, just so we're clear." They made their way to the ticket taker who pointed them towards the right screening room.

"Derek, what's the double feature anyway?" she asked as they headed in to find seats just in time for the lights to start dimming. Derek waited until they were seated and the room had darkened completely before answering her question.

"Oh, uh, I think tonight is horror night," he answered smoothly. "Hope you sleep well tonight, Case."

"DER-EK!" Even in the dark, Casey knew that infuriating smirk was on his lips. She would get him back, she vowed to herself. One way or another, she would get him back.

Just then, the swamp creature made a surprise appearance on the screen eliciting a scream from Casey. The sound of Derek's laughter echoed throughout the empty theater.

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So that was chapter three. How was it? I was in a hurry to post it as soon as I finished it so let me know if there are any glaring typos or grammar errors. As always, I'd appreciate any reviews to let me know you guys are enjoying the story.