Here she is.

Let me just warn you, you will hate me on some parts, but i will discuss it at the bottom, so there will be no spoilers.:)

Enjoy!

She took a deep breath, and walked towards the kitchen, not even looking back at him because she knew he would follow. They were going to have this conversation, whether it is true or not.

Casey grabbed a bottle of water from the refrigerator and sighed. What if she were wrong? What if it were some other poor girl that was dating another hockey player? Would Derek hate her even more than he does now for accusing him of something so awful? Then she would really feel bad about the whole break up.

"Case, you're kind of scaring me. What's up?" he leaned against the island against his elbows as he waited on her. She leaned against the counter across from the island, and looked at her hands.

"I heard something really crazy, Derek…and I just need to be sure what I heard isn't what I'm thinking." She looked up at him, and nodded.

He got an uneasy feeling in his stomach. Why was he so worried? This could mean anything. He couldn't find the courage to find any words, so he just nodded at her to continue.

"Well…Martha told me this crazy story about her and Mark…" she started and paused, as if finding the right words to get all this out.

Derek stood up straight, because they were finally going to have that conversation that he had tried to avoid all these months. He wasn't ready. Nowhere near it.

"She said…she said that he and one of his friends bet that they could pick random girls and sleep with them before the dance and break up with them after…" she shook her head with disgust, still not believing that anybody was capable of something so horrible.

"Where are you going with this, Case?" he tried his best to seem nonchalant, because he was scared shitless.

"Well…it turned out that Martha was Mark's girl…and she talked about his friend…and…" she shook her head, and looked up at him. He looked scared, and wasn't able to hide it. He was standing too straight, and his eyes were too wide, and the realization dawned on her.

All of her assumptions were true. They had to be, because he would be arguing with her by now that this was the stupidest thing she'd ever accused him of. By now he would be telling her she needed to apologize, but instead he was standing there in silence, looking guilty.

"Please say that you aren't that friend, Der…" she couldn't stop the lump in her throat from getting thicker.

He just looked down at his fingers that he twiddled together. He was so busted, and just wasn't ready for this.

"Derek, answer me." She pleaded him. He sighed, and looked up at her.

"Case…it was a stupid bet…" he shook his head. Dumbest reply ever.

"So it's true, then? Our whole relationship was a lie?" her voice was raising, and her face was getting redder.

"It wasn't a lie, Case! I mean, at first it was…" he fumbled for his words.

"And then it wasn't?" she glared at him. Words couldn't describe how hurt she was and how stupid she felt. "Is that why you broke up with me, then? Because of the stupid bet?"

"Yes and no…"

"Well, which is it, Derek?" she demanded. No way in hell was she letting him skimp out on details.

"Yes, okay! I broke up with you because of the bet!" he was looking at her now. This conversation needed to happen, and he was feeling more confident. Maybe he would be able to fix things if they talked it out.

"All this time…" she shook her head. "You let me think I had done something wrong for you to end it, and I was thinking and rethinking the whole relationship to see where I went wrong, and it was all just a game to you!" she was walking around the counter as she talked, and was now in front of him.

"Case, you have to understand—"

"Understand what, Derek? That you absolutely hate me?" she was on the verge of tears, but she wasn't anywhere near done right now.

"I don't hate you, Case!" he tried to calm her down by reaching out to her, but she flinched away.

"Don't you touch me, Venturi. Haven't you done enough?" and then another realization dawned on her. "You knew I was a virgin, Derek!" and she was crying now, because this was something that really meant the world to her, and she thought she was finally sharing it with somebody who loved her back. "Why would you…" she was backing away from him, mentally trying to calm herself down.

"Casey…you have to understand that my feelings were real…" he whispered, barely loud enough for her to hear.

"You can never fix this, Derek." She frantically wiped at her tears. "I loved you, Derek…" she confessed, finally breaking her bravery and becoming weak Casey again.

Derek shook his head. "Case…my feelings for you were real…are real. I only broke up with you because I felt so guilty for lying to you this whole time, and I…I didn't want this to happen…" he motioned between them. He couldn't bear to see her like that, and it drove him crazy that he wasn't able to run and hide from all the feelings they were expressing to one another.

"You understand that I could never believe you again, right?"

"Please, just hear me out—"

"Why should I? Derek, you bet one of your friends that you would be able to sleep with me and take me to a dance, and dump me on my ass when you were done using me. Why would I ever even listen to a word you say ever again?" and she was starting to be strong Casey again, but not by much because her voice was still cracking.

"You're right, but Casey, I still want to be with you…please…just please…" he didn't know what else to say. He knew this would take time, and Casey was a hard nut to crack.

"Why would you do this to me?" her small voice broke into his thoughts. She sniffled.

"I didn't want to, Casey…I really didn't…" he took a seat on a stool, because this conversation was exhausting.

"What did you expect to happen? Did you expect me to be cool about all of this?"

"No…I was hoping that Mark would forget the bet and I would still end up with you…" he looked away from her, because he wasn't used to being honest about his every thought.

Casey finally controlled herself after several moments of silence, and wiped her tears with a napkin. She sniffled her last sniffle, and determined what to say.

"Well, I hope you got a good laugh out of it, Derek, because I sure as hell feel stupid enough to last a life time."

"I didn't want you to feel this way, Case…my feelings for you were real, and that's why I let it go on for so long. You have to know that I didn't take advantage of you. Everything was real. The feelings…they were real, Casey…"

"The bet was real, too, Derek. I mean, you should be happy that you didn't lose, right?"

"But I did lose, Case…" he sighed. Her breath caught in her throat, because he couldn't say things like that. Things that worked, that is. She couldn't let him off the hook so quickly…or ever, she decided.

"Where do we go from here?" because he needed to know. He wanted to see that there was still a chance that he could redeem himself after all of this mess was over, and maybe Casey would consider taking him back after some time to herself.

"Nowhere. You said it yourself. We weren't friends before this." Her voice as cold, and she refused to look away from him so that he knew that she was dead serious. "Why start now, right?"

"Would you ever forgive me?"

"No." she turned and walked out of the room with her head held high, because he needed to see that she will be okay without him, even though she was so broken inside, and nobody could ever fix it.

And it wasn't easy to even be in the apartment after that. She hated that he was just always there, and she couldn't escape him. She didn't want to go back to Martha after everything, because she was too embarrassed that she, too, was fooled by a guy that she had genuine feelings for.

Being that she literally tried to avoid everything, all her studies were perfectly fulfilled, and she was doing amazingly in all her classes. She still had to cook dinner for Derek, but would continue eating before he got home so that she could run away to her room. There were odd days, though, where they would have to run into one another. She would just shrug away from him, or he would just awkwardly stand there because he obviously wanted to speak to her.

He wasn't feeling so hot about all this. He felt like a pathetic lovesick puppy waiting for Casey to finally want to talk to him. Why would she, though? Especially after everything he did? He was honestly a changed man. He couldn't even stand to look at other girls, because he felt so guilty for what he had done, and how on earth would Casey feel if she knew he looked at another girl? He didn't want her to have to feel any more pain because of him.

Casey got a phone call about a month after everything. It was the most surprising phone call of her life, because why on earth would this guy be calling her right now?

"Casey?" the voice was familiar, but she couldn't put her finger on it.

"Yes, who may I ask is calling?" her voice was surprised, because the only people that ever called for her were her mom, George, or Lizzie. That's because they knew when to call her and when not to. Right now was not the time, because she was about to head out for dance practice.

"Oh please don't tell me you don't recognize the voice of your last high school boyfriend?" he teased her. The teasing brought a smile to her face, because obviously he was the last person she expected to be ringing her because the last time they spoke was the day he left for college.

"Truman French?" right before she'd said his name, Derek had entered the apartment, and heard her say his name. His stomach dropped, and fists clenched.
Though, Casey was really happy to hear from him. They hadn't left on bad terms or anything, and a familiar person was always nice.

"Right on the nose!" he sounded happy.

"To what do I owe this pleasure?" Casey sat on the couch, and Derek listened closely to the conversation from the kitchen, where he slowly fixed himself a sandwich.

"Well, I just called to let you know that I was going to be in the Kingston area tomorrow, just passing through…" he hinted with a smile in his voice.

"And you want to get together?" she laughed, because it was funny how Truman was always a little too embarrassed to ask her out, even though he was always so confident.

"Yeah, I'm only around during lunchtime. I'm heading out to see my grandmother, and I thought it'd be nice to see a familiar face." He said casually.

"Yeah, sure, I'm free around one, if that's okay?"

"Totally, I'll call you then, yeah?"

"Sure, Tru, I look forward to it." she smiled, and hung up. She happily walked back over to the phone hook, and placed the phone on it.

"So you're going out with Tru-scum tomorrow?" Derek walked over to the living room, and leaned against the pack of the sofa as he questioned her, sandwich in hand.

"I don't see how it's your business. And his name is Truman." She added, as she walked out of the room to the kitchen.

"Oh, I know his name." he couldn't help but grin.

"If you must know, I'm just having lunch with him. I don't see what the big deal is." She shrugged as she poured herself some juice.

"The big deal? Case, they guy was a total jerk in high school…"

"Yeah, well that stopped being your business a while back, don't you think?" she rolled her eyes, and finished her juice. "It's just lunch, Derek. It's not like I plan on eloping with him or anything."

"I hope not." Derek growled, and left the room to grab his work clothes for a quick exit.

And it really was just lunch. Truman talked about life at his university, and Casey talked about hers as well. She asked him how his love life was, to which he replied "What love life?" with a smirk. It turned out that he was much too busy with his studies and extracurricular activities to be involved with anybody.

"Since when did you become so serious, Tru?" she smiled at him, impressed with his accomplishments in his first year.

"Well, I have you to thank for that, I guess." He laughed a little. Her smile faltered, and she was confused.

"I don't follow…" she shook her head.

"Well, Case, after all the messing up I did with you…I was lucky enough to get a second chance with you…make that third chance…" he seemed embarrassed. "I know that what he had came and went, but had I not had that chance, I wouldn't have gotten to know the beautiful person that you really are, Case…"

"Truman…that's very sweet…" Casey cooed, blushing a little.

"It just made me realize that I shouldn't take good opportunities for granted, you know? And school really was a good opportunity…because if it weren't for you, I wouldn't have been able to get accepted to such great schools, you know?" and it was true, because without Casey, Truman would probably still be in London with his family, possibly going to community college studying something he didn't want to do.

"It was nothing, Truman, I would've done it for anyone." Casey shrugged. Obviously she wouldn't let anyone pass up a great chance at an awesome education.

"The point of my story really is…" he laughed awkwardly, "I don't want to let any good opportunities pass because I'm not always going to be lucky enough to get that chance again." He shrugged.

All she could do was smile. She was glad he was doing so well, and was so motivated. When she knew him in high school, he was so rebellious and mysterious. He was always skipping class, and trying to get out of activities. To see that he was so serious about everything now was very enlightening. His optimism was very inspirational as well.

He drove her back to the apartment after they were finished, and he stood with her in the doorway, still talking to her continuously, not yet wanting to say goodbye.

"You be sure to call me when you're in town again, Tru. I really had a good time." Casey nodded, and flung her arms around him. He hugged her back with a smile, and pushed a kiss to her cheek.

"I will, Case, it was so good catching up with you."

And he was gone, just like before. Casey felt a little better knowing that they were on such good ground now, but he really made her open her eyes about second chances. Why not give Derek one? What did she have to lose, than more dignity, and that was way out the window already. He genuinely did seem sorry, and she knew he was hurting, too. She knew he really had feelings for her, and she didn't mean to give him such a hard time. Well, she did, but she didn't expect to feel guilty about it.

Maybe he did deserve a second chance, but it would have to take some real reconsidering.

She closed the door to the apartment, and Derek had just hung up the phone. He looked at her, and his eyebrows rose, not exactly expecting her back so soon.

"Was that Nora?" Casey asked, because she hadn't talked to her mother in a little while, and needed to catch up a bit about what's going on at home.

"Nah, it was Ed. He needed love advice." He rolled his eyes with a shrugged. "How was lunch?" he had to ask, because he wanted to be sure she wasn't in love with the guy anymore.

"Oh, you know…we just talked about our hopes and dreams…about our wedding, and whatnot…" her voice was teasing, and it was the first time she'd taken that tone with him in a long time. It made a smile crack on his lips.

"Alright, well I better be invited to the service. You know I love wedding cake." And she smiled at that. He couldn't believe she smiled! He got that feeling in his stomach again. Oh boy...

A couple weeks later, she found herself thinking about the second chance thing again.

Casey sighed, walking on the sidewalk. She really missed Derek. She missed walking with him on campus. She missed waking up to him in the morning. Talking with him and arguing until they were blue in the face. It was her favorite part of everyday, and ever since she'd broken up with him, her life was never the same. She was always alone, nobody knew how to keep her on her toes the way he did, and nobody knew her the way he did (or even tried to get on that level). Nor did she feel the desire to wake up with anyone else but him in the morning with that playful smile and that teasing tone he always had.

Casey stopped dead in her tracks. She still loved him.

"I love him." She smiled to herself, and internally smacked herself for not forgiving him sooner.

It was then that she ran. She ran as fast as those dancers legs could take her with a backpack and notebook in her hand. She needed to get to him fast. She needed all this drama to be over and finally be back into the arms of the man she loved.

"DEREK!" she yelled as soon as she ran into the apartment, her face flushed and panting. Derek ran out of his room in a panic, clad in his black boxer briefs.

"What is it?! What happened?" the worry in his voice evident.

"Everything's fine!" she couldn't control the smile on her face, but she was still trying to catch her breath. "God, am I out of shape?" She questioned trying to even her breaths from the almost whole mile she'd run to get to the apartment.

"Well, now that you mention it…" his worrisome tone turned to a teasing one. She smacked him upside his head.

"De-rek! I've come running all this way to tell you I'm still in love with you, and you try to give me a complex about my weight?!"

Derek's teasing façade changed to an emotion Casey couldn't quite read.

"You're what?" he couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"I'm still in love with you, Der." She sighed, putting her notebook on the coffee table and her backpack onto it as well. Her cheeks were flushed, and her smile remained plastered to her face. But why wasn't Derek smiling. Perhaps she should elaborate more.

"I've been thinking a lot lately…that I miss you…"

"Casey, I—"

"No, let me finish, please…I miss you so much, Derek. I miss fighting, talking…waking up to you every morning teasing me about my snoring. I love you, Derek… Please, let's—"

"Derek what's going—Oh, Casey!" a familiar female voice cut her off. Casey turned and saw none other than Sally in one of Derek's t-shirts and a pair of his boxers.

"Sally?" she couldn't believe it. She looked up at Derek, who looked absolutely caught. She looked between the two, not sure what to do.

"Sally, will you just excuse us for a few more minutes?" Derek finally found his words. She only smiled and walked away.

"I'm too late…" Casey barely got out.

"No, Casey, it's not—"

"No…" she wouldn't let him finish. She only shook her head and swallowed the lump in her throat. "I deserve this…" she whispered.

"You don't, Casey…I still love you, too…" he grabbed for her hands, and she gently pulled away, picking up her backpack and notebook.

"I feel so stupid…" she whispered. "I waited too long…I just wanted to make you feel what you made me feel over that stupid bet…I didn't think it'd be so easy for you to move on…"

"I didn't move on, Casey…" he shook his head, because he was in deep.

"But Sally is here, Derek. In your clothes…beautiful as ever…" she whispered the last part.

"Casey, listen to me, please…" he didn't even know what to say.

"I've really gotta study, Derek…finals and all." She backed away slowly, making sure not to break down yet. "Tell Sal I say hi."

Okay, don't hate me!

I'm sorry to anyone who hates Truman, I honestly hated him too, but I love Joe Dinicol(sp?) lol. So i couldn't give him a bad rep for my story. I think I gave him an alright part, don't you think? kind of redeems his character for the show, i guess.

Anyway, yeesh, Derek with Sally again? I honestly hated her, too. I don't know, she was just TOO perfect for her own good. Girls with flaws are much more beautiful in my opinion.

A lot happened in this chapter, I know. Sorry if it seems so rushed, but I wanted to get this out, at least this part I mean.

I have half of next chapter written right now, and that should be up within a few days. Their relationship will get better, I promise. Be patient, loved ones.

Thank you to everyone who is reviewing! It really is appreciated, I love the positive feedback I'm getting.