Zeta Beta Alpha: Casey?
Disclaimer: I don't own LWD
AN: Hope you enjoy :)
Chapter 9:
Revelations
"Are you going to say anything?" She asked nervously. She had returned to her spot on the bed, covered in blankets, as if they could shield her from the bomb that was about to explode. She should have seen it coming, but it was too late and she simply had to deal with it.
"I don't even know where to start." He whispered, falling onto her roommate's empty bed. It was like he couldn't feel anything, he wasn't aware of what was going on. All he knew was that she was there, she was fine, and she was hiding something. It was all too much. It was supposed to be a good night. He was supposed to have won the game and taken her out (and possibly sleep over, if he was lucky.) But obviously that's not what happened. "What happened tonight?" He finally asked.
She gave him nothing though. She simply turned off her bedside light and laid her head on the pillow. She thought maybe, if she fell asleep he'd just leave. A clean cut goodbye. Why did he even want her to explain herself? She knew it was over the second he walked into her room. Why did they need to go back and forth to fight over it? That took a lot of energy, energy that none of them could afford.
"Casey…" he spoke, irritation spiking in his voice. She was not going to ignore him. She wasn't just going to give up. Was she not ready for the fight that was about to happen? Seemed like she was losing her touch.
The door suddenly opened. It was Casey's roommate Sarah. Her eyes went wide when she walked in. It was actually kind of funny; she looked like a deer in headlights. Her eyes shifted between Casey and Derek. Without saying a word, just by the tension she felt and the scene that laid in front of her, she quietly walked right out making it a point not to return for a few hours. It was scary in there.
Casey turned back towards him "You don't want to know." She finally said. It was hard to hear her over all that stuff she had on, but he managed.
"I'm asking you for a reason." He replied. Suddenly he wasn't so nice, like the numbness was fading, and he was starting to feel the tingly pain in his wound again. And that wound was his (never to be spoken about) feelings.
"You're gonna be mad." She didn't want him to be mad at her. He'd hate her. She knew he would. What was she even thinking? Things were going so good! Then she had to go and mess it all up.
"Gonna be? Trust me, I'm already am Princess." Usually when he called her Princess it was endearing and sweet. But this time…this time she knew it was bad.
"Okay..." She said taking a deep breath as he nodded at her to begin, and so she did. She told him everything. From the minute he left her dorm that morning, to her last conversation with Christina a few minutes ago. Everything. Including the way she was feeling. You know, the feelings she was trying her best to hide form him. But fuck it, that ship was sinking, might as well tell him the whole story right? Hiding things from him didn't seem to work for her. As she spoke, telling him every minuscule detail he just sat there and listened.
"Say something." She whispered chewing on her bottom lip. It was over. Of course it was; whatever 'it' even was.
He stared at the wall as if it were the most interesting thing in the world. In all reality, he just couldn't look at her. "So, you lied." He finally spoke, breaking the silence.
"Yeah," she nodded. It was true. She lied about tonight, but she needed to. He wouldn't have gone anywhere near Christina if Casey was there.
"Why?" He asked confused. She could have just...told him what she was feeling. Did that ever dawn on her? She loves to talk and communicate and share emotions, but this time she couldn't?
"You know why." She said tilting her head. Why did he want her to tell him the things he already knew? She already put it all out there, spilled her heart out to him.
"You tested me Casey…like I was a little kid." He didn't appreciate tests. He usually cheated on them, but this one...it was just wrong.
"It wasn't meant to be like that…" she whispered in hopes that her voice wouldn't crack. Tears were threatening to fall, but she held them back as best as she could.
"What are you going to do?" His eyes turned towards her for the first time.
"I…don't know." She said honestly. She really didn't.
"You don't know? I thought we had a plan Casey." His anger was elevating, slowly but surly. He doesn't like feeling...dare I say hurt, and vulnerable? He'd rather be pissed off and vicious; hitting people and slamming into things. Seemed like he would need to hit the ice soon. All that pent up aggression was not good for a guy.
"Things change." She shrugged sadly. They were about to change now too, she knew that fully well.
"Tell me about it." He scoffed, running his fingers through his hair.
"I don't know why you're so mad." She spat back. She was done explaining things to him. The energy in the room shifted a bit.
"You don't? Really Casey. Think about it." He said sarcastically. Was she really gonna pull that on him now?
"Hey, you knew something like this would happen! That night, when we talked about what could have been, you said I'd set you up with one of my friends and you'd go along with it to piss me off. You expect me to do these kinds of neurotic things."
"Just because I expect them doesn't mean you have to go and prove me right! You expect me to fall for Chris, and I didn't even touch her." He spat back. It was official, it was a full fledged battle between them. No thinking or ignoring questions, no. It was simply a verbal attack now; say something back and make the other hurt.
"I was scared alright? Is that what you wanted to hear?" She yelled, taking off a layer of blankets.
"Scared? Scared of what?" He asked, leaning closer towards her. The beds were on either side of the room and that was way too far away for them to fight. They needed to be close, to be in each other's faces. They craved the tension; it had been a while since they fought like this. Even though the situation wasn't ideal, they missed this. There was too much love and good feelings around them lately.
"Us!" She yelled. What else Derek?
"There is no us Casey, if you haven't noticed. Just a plan to get revenge." He smirked hoping that would hurt her.
But he failed, she served him one better. "Oh don't pull that shit with me Venturi. You saw me fuck up so now your guards up? Too late, it's been down for too long. And deep down, under all that bullshit, you know that we stopped pretending a long time ago." She sneered. Yeah, it was getting intense.
But that broke him. That stopped the back and forth. He wasn't sure how to reply to that because it was true. Damn her for being right. "I was gonna ask you out tonight after the game," he admitted with a sad laugh. "On a real date. Off campus. Just for us, not to prove anyone wrong or right." He looked up at her. His confession shocked her. She wasn't sure what she was supposed to say. She knew she messed up.
"So… what now?" She asked because well that's all she could come up with really. She leaned back against the wall and closed her eye in anticipation for his response.
"Now you figure out if you're going to be initiated or not." He shrugged getting up to leave.
"And us?" She dared ask him.
He didn't even look at her, mostly because he wouldn't be able to lie to her face. "There is no us." He said opening the door and leaving her to cry herself to sleep. And that she did.
That was a week ago. Initiation was only a day away and they hadn't spoken a word to each other since. He'd seen her on campus a few times but they refused to lock eyes, they just kept walking passed each other. But they wanted, no they were itching to yell and fight and...well anything really, as long as it wasn't over. They didn't want it to be over.
At first he didn't mind that much because at least he knew she was alive. But suddenly he stopped seeing her around. He didn't think much of it until so he asked a few of there mutual friends if they had seen her. He felt bad, like a stalker looking for her, but he couldn't fight the feeling that something was wrong, something more then the obvious. His intuition was confirmed when all his reports came back negative. No one had seen her on campus.
"Nikki!" He called entering the ZBA house. As much as he was there (well, before the incident that is,) the girls grew use to him. They even stopped going all goo-goo when he showed up. It had taken a while for them to adjust, but eventually they did. He didn't want to go to the house, but he had no choice at this point. He had even bit the bullet and called her, it went straight to voice mail. So he texted her with a simple "ARE YOU ALIVE?" and again…no response. That girl simply couldn't give him a moment of peace.
"Must you yell?" She said making her way down the beautiful flight of stairs at the foot of the house.
"Hey, you heard me didn't you?" He shrugged taking a seat on the last step.
"What's up Ventrui?" She asked, taking a seat next to him. She had grown use to calling him Venturi just like Jason, and with as much time as she spent with the team, it caught on.
"Please tell me she's here." He said turning serious.
Nikki remained quiet for a moment, unsure how she should break it to him.
"Nick..." He urged her to tell him what she knew.
"Why do you care? You made it clear it was over D." All they knew was that Derek and Casey broke up. They didn't know why or how it happened just that it did and that Casey was torn up about it and she refused to give details, but they figured he ended it and that's why she didn't show up to the game. There were a few rumors though about him leaving with Christina that night and with the way Chris and Casey had been acting, it was hard to tell. But Nikki, she knew. Jason told her how freaked Derek was before the game because Casey wasn't there and how he wasn't even going to go to the party. But if Casey didn't want to tell her the real story, she would respect that.
He laughed for a moment. "It's never over. Not with us," he told her. And he was right. They were Derek and Casey for pete's sake! Nothing with them is ever simple; did she expect anything else from him? For he told her there was nothing between them, but did she miss the whole 'I was going to ask you out tonight...for us?' Come on Casey, keep up!
She nodded, deep down she knew it wasn't over, however neurotic Casey on the other hand didn't. "She's gone Derek." She admitted to him. "You might want to talk to Chris, she took her car." Nikki shrugged.
Derek sighed, why was she so damn dramatic? "Summon the Queen for me," he said hiding his face in his hands. He knew that would just add fuel to the fire burning about him and Chris, but the rumors were the last of his worries. Let them think whatever they want to think. He was surprised so many people cared really. It was college after all, there were a million people on campus yet people were buzzing about Derek and Casey? Guess his popularity didn't end in high school (or maybe Casey pledging ZBA and him playing for the team just made them a power couple or whatever. As if he cared.)
"What's up?" Christina asked when she finally emerged from her bedroom to talk to Derek. She took her sweet time letting the hockey player sweat it out, she knew in due time he'd show up.
He was laid out on the perfect white couches with his filthy sneakers on the coffee table. Christina knocked his feet down just like Casey would. "Where is she?" He dropped the casual, 'I don't give a fuck' act quickly. It was soon replaced with hopelessness. He could sure use some food. Feeding his stomach always made things a little bit better.
Chris rolled her eyes and sighed, taking a seat on the opposite couch. This boy needed to toughen up if he was going to be dating a ZBA. "Home." She simply said. One word that made Derek's mind go into overdrive.
"Home?" He asked his head popping off of the couch. That couldn't be good.
"Yeah...she left last night. She said she'd be back tonight or tomorrow morning. Just in time for the ceremony." It was official, she was staying. In the beginning the plan was to ditch right before the ceremony and make a great big dramatic exist. By dramatic meaning: running outside where Derek would be parked on the curb waiting for her, and they would drive out in the sunset as everyone watched. But that idea was ruined. She was staying. She had nothing to lose any more anyway.
"Why did she go home?" He dared ask. No one back home even knew about what was going on with them. What would her excuse be...if she even used an excuse. What if she actually told them...the truth. He would need to call Edwin ASAP for damage control, (and maybe, just maybe, to see how she was doing.)
"She said she couldn't be on campus, needed to clear her mind...Be away from you maybe?" She suggested.
"Chris..." He cringed at the sound of her name. He couldn't let himself think about it. If he did he would probably change his mind. He just had to say it. "I need your help."
"Whoa whoa whoa. Derek Venturi, asking 'The Queen Bitch' for help?" She asked, sarcastically. She knew what Derek initially thought of her. She wasn't dumb. Almost everyone thought the same, but that was the point. To let people think she was the biggest bitch in the world. It made people run away from her and deep down, that's what she needed. Christina had deep rooted trust issues and didn't open up very often, but with her girls, her sisters, she finally could. So yeah, she was a bitch to Casey and had done a few...(well more then a few,) questionable things. But after she realized that Casey was actually a perfect addition to the ZBA house, she let her in. She opened up and showed her soft side. "Alert the authorities! The world is ending ladies and gentlemen." She continued her dramatic act.
"Shut up," he said throwing a pillow at her. If anyone would have told him that he would have turned to Chris for help in the beginning of this whole thing he wouldn't believe them. But as he slowly realized, Chris wasn't as bad as he thought. She had this image of being a bitch. It wasn't easy being on top, and at the end of the day, Derek could actually relate to Chris a lot more then he expected. "Don't make me tell anyone you're capable of actually being nice," he whispered leaning in. That boy sure could bargain.
"ALRIGHT! I give. What can I help you with?" She asked with a devious smile, because she knew she was about to help him make things right. And shockingly enough, she wanted them together. And if Chris could tell they belonged together, well it simply had to be done.
"Casey," she woke stirring. She opened her eyes and greeted her sister. When she got to the McDonald-Venturi household all was quiet, no one was home. So she decided that after three hours of driving, her body should have a well deserved nap. And the best thing about being home was that she was miles away from him. Sure, they had dozens of memories together in that house, but he wasn't there. She didn't have to deal with running into him at the quad, or anywhere. Peace and quiet eased her nerves quickly.
"Liz," she said smiling pulling her sister into her arms. It had been a while since they had seen each other. Every time they do, she's shocked by how much her sister had grown. She's almost a woman now.
"Hey Casey..." She said shocked by her sudden burst of energy. "Not that I'm not happy to see you, but what are you doing here? We weren't expecting you." The whole family had gone out to dinner and they were shocked to see an unfamiliar car in the driveway. But when they found Casey's belongings in the living room, they calmed down.
"I needed to get off campus..." she told her sister, her eyes getting watery. Not again.
"Oh Casey," Lizzie said knowing exactly where this was going. "A boy?" She asked just to be sure. She had known the signs of her sister being heartbroken in the past.
Casey nodded, her head falling onto the pillow once more, curling up into a ball.
"Casey," Lizzie coated running her hands through her big sister hair as she cried. "What's his name?" Lizzie asked after what seemed to be hours of crying.
Casey shook her head and cried harder. She refused to tell her sister it was Derek. What would she think? Well...hopefully she'd just think that there at each other's throats, about to kill each other. Not that he had kind-of-sort-of-not-exactly, broken up with her.
"Casey," Lizzie urged her. Who was this guy? She felt like she would know about a guy in her sister's life. What she didn't know was that she already knew the guy, pretty damn well.
"Derek." Casey admitted hiding deeper into the covers.
Lizzie's eyes went wide. Derek, of course. Well that changed everything. Suddenly thoughts of breaking out their old binder with Edwin sounded like a perfect way to spend the night. After taking care of Casey that is.
Lizzie walked into Edwin's bedroom that night swiftly and quickly, virtually undetected, like a ninja. "Hey," he greeted her from his bed. He was expecting her all night.
"Hey," she responded with a soft smile crawling into the bed to join him. He had a small bed, a twin size that only fit one person. It didn't leave much space for her, but she didn't mind. She simply looked for the perfect spot on his chest to lay her head.
"How is she?" He asked Lizzie, securing one arm around her waist and the other lost in her hair. He loves her purple streaks and the way they framed her face, making her skin almost glow.
"It's Derek..." Lizzie mumbled into his chest as she breathed into his neck. She had missed him. It was nearly one am and she had finally settled Casey down enough to sleep. After a long day at school, then family dinner (which is usual chaos) and the dilemma, she was beat. She just wanted to lay down. Lately this way as it's the only way she could sleep.
"I figured." He whispered noticing that she was fading fast.
"What did he do to my sister Ed?" She asked sadly.
"What did she do to my brother Liz?" He replied.
"Nothing!" She yelled, popping her head up so she could look into his eyes.
"Liz, he called me." Edwin cringed cupping her face.
"And...?" She asked completely interested in what Derek would need to talk to Edwin about. Would he really tell him what's going on? Their older siblings never did that. Little did they know that Lizzie and Edwin knew the deal. They might not know all the details surrounding the ZBA issue that semester, but they knew enough to put together that it was Dasey related. Dasey being the phrase they had dubbed 'operation Derek and Casey' with.
"He wanted to know that she got here alright...and how she was doing."
"What did you tell him?" She asked worried. If Ed told him Casey was horrible and crying, what would that do to Derek's ego? No, he simply couldn't have the upper hand in whatever was going on between the two.
"That she got here ok, but I wasn't sure how she was doing. I'd have to find out."
"Why can't those two figure out their own problems?" She asked hiding her face in the crook of his neck. Exhaustion had kicked in once more.
"Guess they're not as smart as us middle kids." He smiled pressing a kiss to her forehead gently. Edwin was always so sweet and gentle with her, the complete opposite from his brother. What was it with those Venturi men that made these McDonald women go wild?
"Obviously," she giggled pulling him tighter into her embrace. It was time to rest.
AN: I didn't even realize how close we were to the end of this story! So I broke up the grand finale into two shorter chapters, I hope you guys don't mind. Did you enjoy the Lizwin I put in there? I was trying to be clever, haha. I didn't actually show Casey telling Derek what happened, because I feel like that would be pointless, we all know what happened and she was just summarizing the last few chapters. I hope that was ok.
Also, I felt that I needed to add an awkward moment with Casey's roommate walking in. I'm horrible, I know. And I honestly didn't even expect to make Christina that big of a part in the story as she is. But she is now!
Hope you guys are still reading! One chapter left! Oh this always makes me sad. But all good things come to an end!
Ps. In celebration of the new year, go read my one shot The Morning After )