Here I sit on a bench in City Park with shopping bags at my feet. I glance at my watch 5:59. Do I even want him to show? I see Sam walking out of the shop across the street. Here he comes, Oh no! "Hey, Casey" He said putting his arm around me. I push him off. "Don't 'hey Casey' me!" I say. "Oh come on babe." He persists. "No!" I say and glance at my watch 6:01, "I have to go." I grab my bags as a very handsome man walks up to us. "Hey Case." He says with a smirk. It couldn't be? Could it? This well toned, maple haired, for lack of a better word, God, is Derek! "Hey… Derek?" I say slowly. The God nods. "What are you doing here?" Sam snarls. "Case," I wince, "Casey and I are going to catch up on things." "Oh I see you're cheating on me with him!" Sam says. "Actually, after what you pulled yesterday I don't think it would be considered 'cheating' and after what he did to me I don't plan on 'cheating' on anyone with him." I say angrily. "Come on Casey." Derek says grabbing my shopping bags and walking off with me close in suit. "Thanks, um… you think I could get a ride?" I asked embarrassed. "Sure, but if you don't mind me asking, how did you get here?" Derek questioned. "I took the bus, again." I say looking at my feet. "Follow me." He says leading me to his car. He throws my bags in the back and opens my door. "Why, thank you." I say smiling up at him. "Your welcome my lady." He says smirking.
We're halfway to my house when we break down. Lucky me. "So much for being home by 6:20." I mumble as Derek walks up to my window. "Well it looks like we're stuck here until morning or until a tow truck spots us." Derek says leaning his elbows on the sill. "That's nice." I say reaching into one off my bags and pulling out new laptop, old laptop, and new and old internet cards. "Want to use one?" I ask. He nods and walks around to his side of the car. I place the old internet card in the old laptop and hand it to him. "Thanks." He says flipping the laptop open and logging onto the internet. I did the same. We sat in silence for 20 minutes then Derek spoke up. "Why don't we see if we can get into the chatroom?" I nod and open my favorites. Secretly I had kept the chatroom in my favorites file and checked up on it every week or so. I watch Derek maple leaf icon pop up signally that he had entered the chatroom and then glance at my own icon, it was the same as a year ago, Derek had me in his arms. Tears spring to my eyes, but I blink them away and browse the sample pictures. There was no picture in the new computer worth putting as my picture. "Hey, Case…y do you want me to send you a picture or are you keeping us as your picture?" Derek asks. "Send me the family photo please." I say and wait for the file to pop up. When the file final came in I set it as my picture and reentered the chatroom, that's when Derek gasps and my breathe catches in my throat. There was no way to change our usernames. Derek's is Casey'scatch4lifeand mine is Derek'sgirl07.
The Chat;
Casey'scatch4life has entered the chat (CC4L)
Derek'sgirl07 has entered the chat (DG07)
Edwin'sdimondring21 has entered the chat (EDR21)
Lizzie'skisses has entered the chat (LK)
EDR21: I see you haven't made new accounts or Casey got suckered back in.
CC4L: Hey! What's that supposed to mean?
DG07: We didn't want to get new accounts, but as you can see I changed my picture.
LK: Yeah but it still has Derek in it.
Derek looks over at me; I'm hoping he can't see my face.
CC4L: Come on! It's got you too Ed! Why don't you just lay off?
EDR21: She's right next to you isn't she?
CC4L: Yeah
DG07: But it's not what you think. Lizzie you told me to e-mail him, so I invited him downtown.
EDR21: Oh God!
Edwin'sdiamondring21 has signed out
Lizzie'sKisses has signed out
Casey'scatch4life has sign out
Derek'sgirl07 has signed out
I shut my laptop and cuddle into the seat. Derek stares at the computer screen for another twenty minutes before shutting it down head leaning his head back and closing his eyes.
I wake up at 8:00 to find Derek no where in sight and me in the car which is now parked in front of a house. No! It's Derek's house. I look at the frosted window and then at the fully cranked heater. As I'm starring at the heater Derek comes out of the house and knocks on the window, when I look up he signals for me to come in the house. I slowly remove the computer from my lap, place it on the floor board, slip my coat on, and get out of the car. Derek wraps an arm around my shoulders, seeing my coat is thin, and walks me into the house. There was a fire going in the fireplace and the table was set and filled with breakfast. "Have a seat." Derek says pulling out a chair for me. I sit and give him a nod. He sits in a seat across from me. I look at my plate, waffles, sausage, and orange slices. "You remembered?" I ask surprised. "I lived with you for 3 years and was in a relationship with you for 5 years, I'm not going to forget your favorite breakfast." He says grinning. I smile back pick up my fork. Derek tries to start a conversation, "So when is Lizzie and Edwin's wedding?" "2 weeks." I reply. "So there is no chance I'll get an invitation?"
"Not a"
"So who all's going?"
"George, Mom, Me, Emily, Sam, Kendra, Shelton, Lauren, Jamie, etc."
"I see"
"Hey, you want to go with me, as my +1? I mean I didn't intend on going with anybody and if someone doesn't take you you're not going so."
"Thanks."
We sit in silence for a few minutes before I turn to look out the window. "Damn it!" I mumble under my breath, "Mind if I say for a while?" "Not at all," He says looking out the window. As we finish our breakfast and clean up silence falls over the house again. Once I finished loading my dishes into Derek's dishwasher I sit down on the couch in front of the fireplace. The blizzard that was taking over the town doesn't seem have too much of an affect on the temperature on the inside of Derek's home. "You warm?" he asks, I can tell he's avoiding saying my name. I nod, "Can we talk?" I ask. He takes a seat by me and looks me in the eye, "Listen Casey, I know what I did was wrong, but I didn't know how important you really were to me until you were gone. That came out wrong, I knew you were apart of my life, but I didn't know you were a part of me. Again that…" I intercede, "You talk way too much." We both lean in as our lips are about to touch my cell phone brings us to reality. I pull away and flip my cell open, "Hello?" "Sam I don't want to talk to you." "No Sam!" Derek looks in my eyes and I nod. I press the speakerphone button and Derek begins to talk, "Case, baby, who is that, come back to bed, please?" I blush. "Casey, was that Derek?" Sam asks. I respond with, "Coming Derek." And then I hang up. I laugh at the statement Derek made. "What, did you expect me to let you talk to him when he caused you so much pain?" Derek asks. "Hey, I'm talking to you aren't I?" I ask through giggles. He smirks.
It's been 6 hours sense Sam called and Derek and I are in the middle of our 3rd movie. First we watched Night at the Museum, and then we watched Starsky and Hutch, and now You, Me, and Dupree. "I'll be right back." Derek says getting up from the couch and heading down the hall. I snuggle into the couch and stare at the TV.
Flashback:
Derek and I were sitting on the Venturi/McDonald's couch watching My Best-friend's Wedding. Halfway through the movie Derek gave me a soft kiss. I gave him a harder kiss. Soon we were making out on the couch, Derek picked me up, carried me to my bedroom and so on.
End of Flashback
As I come out of the memory Derek sits back down on the couch. The movie credits begin to roll. "What time is it?" I ask. "4:10." He replies. "Man! Now what do we do?" I ask. "Want to go to the game room or library or something?" Derek asks. "Ooh, library?" I repeat. "Yeah, it's kind of big too, follow me." He says grabbing my hand and pulling me down the hall. At the end of the hall stands a staircase which we rush up and into the first door we see. "Here it is." He says. "Jeeze, kind of big my ass, this place is huge!" I exclaim. "Over here is the history and study section." He says walking me over to the section labeled Casey. "Hey, I'm offended!" I say playfully hitting his arm. "Fine, go look in the Derek section." He says laughing at me. I walk over there and one this catches my eye. "You have a Dasey scrapbook?" I question warily. "Yeah, I figure why throw away memories, well good ones that is." He says looking down. "Well, want to look through it?" I ask. "Sure," he says sitting down on the window seat. I join him and open the scrapbook. The first page has a picture of me and Derek holding hands and walking through the park, my sweet 16, Lizzie and Edwin's party, and me after the cake I had been baking that blew up on me and Derek. I laugh at the last picture at look at Derek, "What did the cake taste like? I was too embarrassed to taste it." "Chocolate, whip cream, and lemon, yum." He replies licking his lips. We turn the page. The page is covered with pictures of our anniversaries. The picture of our first anniversary is of the dining room table covered with a white tablecloth and rose petals, with 2 candles in the center. I tear up at the next photo. It is of me blindfolded and Derek leading me by the hand to a pond.
Flashback:
"Derek, where are you taking me?" I asked. "Shhh, just walk." He said. We walked in silence for a few minutes and then, we stopped. "Close your eyes?" he demanded kindly. I closed them and then felt the blindfold lifted off my eyes. He grabbed my hand again and walked me a few more steps. "Open them." He said. My eyes shot open. In front of me was a beautiful pond, with a picnic blanket in front of it with a candle in the center and a picnic basket off to the side. The sun had just set and the only light we had was the candle. "Oh my god, Derek, its amazing!" I exclaimedgiving me a hug and planting a kiss on his mouth. He chuckled and sat down.
End of Flashback
"You okay?" he asks looking me in the eyes. "Yeah, um fine," I sniffle, "just a little flashback." "Me too" He says, "I know I made a big mistake, but…" he leans in close to my face. Oh my god, do I want this? Should I back away? Should I finish the gap? What do I…?My thoughts are cut off by the scrapbook hitting the ground. We both jump back. "I'll get it!" Derek says getting off the window seat and picking up the book. "Um, where's your bathroom?" I ask. "Down the stairs, first door to your right," Derek replied opening the book again.
Run down the stairs and go left. I open the first door and find a coat closet, with out caring I go into the closet and lock the door. "Oh my god! What's wrong with me! I can't be falling for him all over again! Can I? No! Never! Shit, this can't be happening! What the hell is my problem? I've got to get out of here and soon." I say resting my head against the door. I leave the closet and walk back up to the library. Derek is sitting on the seat with his head in his hands. I walk over to him quietly and look at the page he's on. I gasp. The last page has one photo of us on it. It was us at the party a year earlier. Derek's head snaps up and he shuts the book. "I'm sorry I shouldn't have scared you like that." I say still in shock. "No, um it's ok." He says putting the book away and walking out. I follow him. He goes down the hall and enters his bedroom, but stops short. "The guest bedroom is 2 doors to the left and across the hall." He says before walking into his room and locking the door.
I go down the hall and enter the room. It has some of my old stuff in it. "Ooh my old CDs!" I say flipping through the CDs. I grab a Gwen Stefani CD and go over to the player, when I open it I see there is already a mix CD in it. "Wonder what's on it." I say before closing the lid and hitting play. Sweet Escape starts to play. I start to dance. After Sweet Escape ends Ultimate begins. This order seems familiar. I think. I look over at the bookshelf. It's a mess! "Maybe I can fit some cleaning in." I say walking over to the bookcase. Let's see I'll put this one here and that one there and then match the rest up by height, then there's the CDs I can put on the bottom shelf and… Hey Juliet… um oh yeah, and then I can organize the trinkets and… I think your fine… ugh where was I, right, and then I'll clean the desk… I know you really want me I hear friends talk about me… shit! I know this CD! "Dasey's mix!" I gasp. I finish the CD and look at the time 6:00. I leave the room and walk down the hall to Derek's room. I knock no answer. I know again and then put my ear to the door. Derek is playing Every Time We Touch on his guitar. I knock louder this time. The music stops and the door opens, "Yes?" "Um… I don't have anything to sleep in." I say blushing. "Here," he says throwing me one of his shirts, "Oh, what do you want for dinner?" "It's okay, your letting me stay here so the least I can do is make you one meal." I say walking away. I go back into my room and change into his shirt before heading down to the kitchen.
I finally finished dinner after 2 and ½ hours of slaving of a hot stove I set the food on the table and light the candles I placed in the center. "Dinner's done!" I yell up the stairs. Derek comes running down the stairs, "What did you make?" he asks. "Hmm… let's see I made some meatballs and rice, and my famous beef stew." I say grinning. "You made my favorites." He says. "Oh I know." I say walking away. The dining room is dimly lit and our mix CD is playing in the background, there are rose petals on the table along with the maple scented candles, and a chilling bottle of wine. "I'll be back." I say, "Don't touch any of the food!" I run upstairs.
I open the guest closet, it has some of my old clothes in it. I find my satin red strapless dress with a silk ribbon along the top and red strappy heels. I put my hair up in a matching silk ribbon and apply a little make up. I run down the stairs and through a back entrance to the kitchen. As I walk in Juliet is playing. "Hey, Derek," I say. He turns his head and his eyes bug out. "Okay, let's eat," I say going in to the kitchen to get the glasses for the wine. As I come back in Derek is singing the chorus to Juliet. I smile and set the glasses down. We sit and listen to the music for awhile. I eat my meatballs, rice, and stew, Derek is staring at me. "Um Derek, could you please not stare at me?" I ask kindly. He looks down, "Sorry." "It's okay." I reply. "This is good." He says still looking at his food. "Thanks," I say smiling at him. The rest of dinner was completely silent aside from the music that played. As I'm taking the last bite of my food Derek stands up and walks over to me, "My I have this dance?" he asks as My Heart Will Go On comes on. I nod and he takes my hand lifting me up from my seat. He pulls me close to his chest as we begin to sway with the music. I lift my arm and place them around his neck and his arms snake around my waist. I burry my head in his chest and we dance.