I apologize in advance for this chapter.
I bolted upright in the hotel bedroom. I looked at my watch and realized I had only been asleep for fifteen minutes. I looked around the room everything seemed the same. Where did that come from Casey McDonald? I asked myself. There was a knock on the adjoining door, the only thing separating me and Derek.
"Case, you in there?" he asked. I considered pretending to be gone. Don't be silly, it was just a dream. There was another knock on the door. I opened it, pulling my still wet hair into a ponytail.
"Sorry, I had kind of fallen asleep." I said Derek standing in front of me with his arms behind his back, just like in the dream. I froze.
"Casey, you okay?" he asked.
"Umm yeah, I'm just a little tired." I answered. "What's up?" he shrugged.
"Not much wanted to see if you wanted to go get dinner or something."
"Umm I'm not too hungry, but if you want to go ahead and get something I'll be okay here."
"Okay, suit yourself. Um if you change your mind, just let me know if you want something?" I nodded and he stood there for a second." "Okay then." He said and then turned away, I shut the door.
"I need to call Emily."
"Casey!" Emily answered cheerfully. "How are things?"
"Fine." I paused "Well no, not really. Things are weird."
"What did Derek do?" she asked.
"Umm, nothing…"
"Oh." She said sounding, kind of disappointed. "What's going on?"
"I just had the weirdest dream."
"Casey, a dream is a dream. People have weird dreams all the time."
"Yeah, but they always have some kind of subconscious meaning attached to them." I retorted. "Derek kissed me."
"In real life or in the dream?" she asked and I sighed.
"In my dream."
"Whoa… that's intense… what exactly happened?"
"He said that he liked me, which I should have realized it was a dream right then that's a dead giveaway, and then it was like I was looking from his point of view and he asked me why I broke up with Michael and it turned into my telling him that it was because we fought about him all the time, and then he kissed me." Emily started laughing. "What's so funny?" I asked a little upset.
"I don't see why your dream is weird. It makes perfect sense to me."
"What do you mean?"
"You like Derek." She replied patiently. "I mean I've known it for a while, I guess now you're finally realizing it."
"I… what?"
"Don't try to deny it Casey. Think about it, I mean really thing about it. Why did you break up with Michael? And don't say it just wasn't working out. I know you better than that, I know when you're lying, and you were definitely lying when you said that."
"In a way we did fight a lot about Derek. Michael said that he didn't think that I was the right guy for him and there was no way he could ever compete with the Derek Venturi. Oh my god he thought I was into Derek!" I could practically see Emily shrugging as she answered.
"Well, don't you?" she asked.
"I mean, yeah. We get along, and I don't hate him."
"Casey stop trying to deny it and really think about it. How you fight all the time, but how do you actually feel when you guys are fighting. You aren't angry, its adrenaline you enjoy it. Not because you enjoy fighting but because there is chemistry between the two of you, sexual tension maybe."
"How do you know that?"
"Because anyone who has watched you guys fight in the past few years can see it, it's so obvious, only the two of you are blind to it."
"I don't really think that, that is completely true…" I started but Emily cut me off.
"Just really think about it." She said, and I could tell she was losing patience with me. "I have to go. I have a date and I need to finish getting ready. Maybe you should talk to Derek."
"Have fun and good luck on your date." I answered choosing to ignore her remark about talking to Derek. We said our goodbyes and hung up. "Do I really like Derek?" I asked aloud and then realized I was talking to myself I pushed the subject to the back of my mind, deciding it was time for a good movie.