Her stereo was cranked up so loud she couldn't even hear herself think. What the heck was that last night? Running off stage, running to Noel's house, Staying the night there, seeing his half-naked body stand before me, getting nervous, leaving him behind bright and early this morning without even a word. I can' t take this, it's too much pressure. It's time to go home and figure what all of this means.

She drove fiercely home. Going 10 miles over the speed limit and hardly paying attention to the lights. She came upon her street finally and saw the white house she had come to know oh so well. She thrust the passenger door open and stormed violently into the house.

A soft voice came calling up behind her catching her off guard.

"Oh Casey it's good to know you're home. We were so worried when you called last night," said Nora.

Casey sighed, "I'm okay mom. It was just a rough night."

"I bet. Derek was so worried."

"Derek? Derek Venturi was worried about me?"

"Yeah.. he was going to go over to Noel's to get you but I told him that you just needed some time."

A stunned look came across her face. The idea that The-Derek-Venturi could be worried about his annoying straight-laced stepsister is just insane.

She strode up the stairs and went to Derek's room. "Derek?"

"What?" He grunted from behind his computer desk.

"I made it back okay. Thanks for caring," she smiled.

"What the heck do I care if you came home alright? I could care less about that."

"Mom told me you were worried."

"She misunderstood," he said not even looking at me.

Anger filled my cheeks. "What do you mean?"

"I don't care about what happened to you," he said softly.

"Yeah, you do! Why can't you just admit it?"

"Because... Because.."

"What?" I realized for a second that we were inches apart from eachother.

For a second her mind flinted towards their kiss. The closeness reminded her of the soft kiss, Derek had bestowed upon her lips.

Then as if fate had stepped in Lizzie broke into the room. Instantly Derek and I broke apart and found ourselves on opposite sides of the room.

"Where were you?" She demanded.

"I...I was at Noel's house," I muttered.

"What?" Derek questioned.

"I was at Noel's didn't mom tell you guys?"

"No..." They said in unison.

"Well that's where I was. So yeah I think i'm gonna go take a shower and then head out. I want to go to the bookstore and a few other places today."

Casey walked out and made her way to her room leaving Derek alone with his thoughts.

What was I getting at? He thought bitterly to himself. The closeness, it was so intense, I almost kissed her again. How I wanted to grab her and kiss her so intensely. Wait did I just say that? Oh god I am seriously messed up. There must be a prison for this kind of interaction. That's it, I'm going straight to hell.

...

In the shower Casey was mulling over the events of days passed. Her mind drifted towards Derek. Their kiss that now seemed like centuries ago. Their moment in his room. What would have happened if Lizzie had not busted the door open. Would they have kissed yet again? Her mind then driifted towards something that happened this morning. Leaving Noel as she had done so in a hurry without even saying goodbye. What was she so scared of that let her run scared back home. Then she remembered Noel's half naked body standing before her. So perfect. He was built nonetheless. It was weird because everyone seemed to picture Noel being tall and scrawny but the image before her was far from scrawny, it was strong, protective and she could feel herself getting lost in it.

After the mulling was over Casey ran into her room picking out some clothes for the day. She had settled on her dark washed jeans and a long sleeved blue shirt. Quickly she grabbed her keys and headed out.

Her mind focused fiercely on the road ahead. Trying to block out the last 24 hours. She ran inside to the bookstore called "Emmerson Books" The bookstore was pretty big. Casey had her heart set on picking up an old classic to read. As she made her way towards the classics, A tall figure caught her eye.

He was dressed in a green hoodie and his dark hair covered his eyes. She knew him all too well and a smile broke out over her face. She made her way towards him. "Noel," she called out.

He seemed not to have heard her because just then he turned towards the exit and walked out. What got into him? Casey wondered.

She turned towards the book section looking for something semi interesting to read. She looked at the titles and alas she found one that seemed to catch her eye. As she read the words the only things she could think about were Derek, Noel and the performance. It was funny, she had left today with the hope that maybe she would be able to put all of this into the past and just forget about it. However, as she could tell that was not an option. Instead she just decided that she would continue looking for titles.

She had glanced at more than 50 titles and had found nothing. It was a total bust and soon she found herself making her way towards her car.

...

Noel and his friend were at the skate park. Noel was actually good at skateboarding despite what people thought. He could do back flips and grind any rail worth grinding but today he seemed to fall short and fell over when he tried to grind the railway.

"What's wrong Noel?" asked Will helping him up.

"Nothing, dude. I'm fine."

"Yeah, 'cause I really believe that. What's up?"

"It's just. It's Casey."

"Yeah I still don't know why that girl hangs around you. No offense but she's totally out of your league."

"Thanks dude, you always know what to say."

"Sorry, continue."

"Well she came over last night, late. She was upset and we talked for awhile and then she asked if she could stay over and well I couldn't let her go home all upset so I agreed and she stayed the night."

"Nice one, so how was it?"

"How was what?"

"You know..."

"Will I didn't sleep with her! Get your mind out of the gutter, Casey isn't that kind of girl and I would never take advantage of her like that! What is wrong with you?"

"Sorry cable's out. Continue."

"Well she stayed over and it was nice and then when I was coming out of the bathroom. We had this moment and I don't know. I mean at least I thought it was a moment, maybe I imagined it and then the next morning I wake her up to bring her some coffee and she's gone out the door."

"She vanished?"

"Well she was gone."

"Maybe she was kidnapped. Oh yeah, someone came into my house, knowing Casey would randomly come into my house. Disregard all of our belongings just so they could have Casey to themselves."

"You make it seem like it's a crazy idea."

"I ran into her this afternoon at Emmerson's Books. She wasn't kidnapped. She wanted to get away from me, away from the house."

"Dude that's rough. You know what Noel. You've been on this whole Casey McDonald thing since grade 11. Ever since you saw her in the hallway and then you audtioned for that whole musical thing. You guys have been friends ever since and nothing has ever transitioned. Maybe it's time you gave up on her and moved on. You know Sween has been sweet on you lately ever since that Derek guy let her loose."

"Sween's nice and everything but I don't know she's not Casey."

"Dude..."

"I don't know maybe Casey and I just need to be apart for a bit, until she can figure out what it is she wants. Ya know?"

"Yeah I know."

With that the two boys took off with their boards and continued to board down the half-pipe.

...

Derek was finding himself frustrated with everything that's been going on. He took an extra shift at Smelly Nelly's hoping that it would distract him from everything that's been going on the last few days.

He grabbed his pad and when he was out to take another person's order. Emily Davis caught his eye. She was sitting at a table by herself.

"Hey Em. What's up?"

She smiled up at him. She was wearing a green v-neck sweater and a long black skirt.

"You look nice, got a hot date?"

She blushed. "Of course with Tony Reid. He's meeting me here in 10 minutes."

"Nice..." Derek sighed.

"What's wrong with you?" Emily asked.

"Nothing I'm fine," he said.

Emily frowned. "You don't look so fine. What's up? Please don't tell me a girl did this to you."

He nodded reluctantly.

"Sit down for a second, let's talk."

"What about your date?"

"He can wait. Now tell me what's going on?"

"Well there's this girl."

"Yeah I got that," Emily smiled.

"Well she's very complicated. She infuriates me 90% of the time and I can't stand when she does it. She thinks she knows me so well and when in reality she knows very little. She refuses to deal with anything and she runs off scared."

"What's she like?"

"She's smart and funny. She's pretty but its complicated."

"How so?"

"She's the last person I should ever think about. Seriously it's wrong and I know it."

"And how does she make you feel?"

"Well half the time she makes me feel furious and angry like I could break something. The other half of the time she makes me feel worthy and tall and that I mean something. I don't know it's just..."

"Complicated," Emily finnished.

"Yeah."

"Well I can't tell you exactly what to do Derek but it seems like this girl is pretty special. It seems like you really care about her and if you don't tell her how you feel, you might end up regretting it. This could potentially be the love of your life. I've honestly never seen you react this way towards anyone and that says a lot."

Derek grinned, "You're pretty brilliant Emily Davis. Has anyone ever told you that?"

Emily smiled, "No I don't believe they have."

..

Casey got home a few hours later. Her mind was still clouded and her thoughts didn't make sense. She didn't know what to do or how she felt about any of this. So much to analyze and she didn't know how to make sense of this. Emily was usually one to rely on for thought but she knew she couldn't tell her about everything. Her kiss and almost kiss with Derek was so bizarre even she didn't fully understand it. Then she thought about Noel and how he made her feel so warm and secure.

Her feelings were undeniable and she didn't know which feelings were the strongest. She was torn.

She thought once more about Noel and how he didn't notice her at the bookstore. What if he heard her but chose to ignore her. Could she have blamed him though? She did freak out this morning and leave Noel's house without a word.

What was a girl so confused to do?

There was only one option she liked and that was to temporarily let things go and forget about the past events. She had a gig this coming Friday. There would be no running away this time and that thought frightened her to death. Finally she would have to succumb to the stage and just do it.

There was no way to avoid all of this, it was in a sense, unavoidable and she knew that this would all coming crashing down on her come Friday, but until then she was more than happy to forget about her problems and focus solely on the performance.

The question was. Could she really forget?

A/N: Okay I am SO SORRY! Everyone! I know I should have updated months ago but I've been so busy lately. Anyway. I'm back into writing mode and I just want to thank everyone for reviewing and if your still continuing to read this story then I thank you. I promise this time the next update will be quicker. Thanks so much for reviewing and I hope you continue to do so, your input means the world to me! :D

Next Chap is the big performance so be prepared :)

Take Care.

-Ally