Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter Four: Flowers from a Friend?

Derek sighed as he removed his jacket and hung it on the coat rack. He was starving, although he shouldn't be. He just ate a few hours ago at the place where Casey works. Casey. The girl who was slowly driving Derek insane. What is it about her?

Shaking his head to clear it, he turned at the sound of footsteps approaching. "Hey Smarti," Derek said smiling at his little sister.

"Hey Smerek. How are you today?" she asked sitting on the stool. Derek furrowed his brow at her politeness. This is different.

"I'm fine, and yourself?" he decided to continue with the polite act. See, his sister had the biggest imagination of anyone he knew – ever. So, he figured that she was probably in one of her little moods again, maybe trying out new behaviors that weren't as familiar to her as her regular demeanor – which was usually smart-alecky and demanding. Don't misunderstand – Derek loved his sister more than anyone in the world – but he was also aware of her distinct personality traits – manipulating people to get what she wants, the sassy mouth, the over-the-top intelligence – all which blended together to make Marti one of the most unique and entertaining people around. Probably in the world, Derek thought.

"I'm just great, thanks for asking. Today is the first day of the rest of my life," she declared extravagantly, her arms open wide for emphasis.

Derek quirked an eyebrow. "Oh yeah? Why is that?"

Marti gave him a look like he should already know the answer. "Because," she drew the word out, "I have a boyfriend. My first boyfriend."

Derek choked on his milk and cookies. "Say what now?"

"You heard me. I have a boyfriend. And before you freak out, let me just say that he is a very nice guy who I've been friends with for years," Marti said looking at her brother closely.

Derek stared at his little sis. His little sis – the one who apparently had a boyfriend. She's only 12 for Christ sakes! He took a deep breath to calm himself. This could not stand. "So," he said slowly, "If you've known him for years, then I should know him, right?" he asked, examining her face for any lies. He always knew when she was lying. She could fool everyone else, but not him.

"Yes, of course you know him. It's Dimi."

"Dimi? From next door? That Dimi?"

"Yeah, why are you so surprised?" she asked curiously.

Derek didn't have an answer for that. All he knew was the last he was paying attention, Marti and Dimi were two little kids who played cars together – sometimes dolls if Marti whined enough. On second thought, it all fell into place. She probably whined and whined until Dimi gave in. He focused back on his sister. "How long has this been going on?"

"Derek, haven't you been listening? Since today – duh! That's why I said today is the first day of the rest of my life," she looked at him like he was an idiot, and he guessed he was. He wondered if their father had heard about his yet.

"Does dad know?"

She shook her head. "Not yet. I'll tell him when he gets home from work," she stopped and thought for a moment. "Better yet, I'll wait until after dinner, when he's all full and drowsy," she said before sliding off the stool and heading out of the kitchen. "Don't tell him before I do, Derek. I mean it!" she yelled before he heard her ascending the stairs to her room.

Derek turned back around and stared at his plate of cookies. Suddenly he wasn't hungry anymore.

I'm slippin' into the lava
And I'm trying to keep from going under . . .

Casey heard her roommate Steph singing (badly) in the kitchen. It was irritating her to no end, as she was just trying to relax after 18 hours on her feet. Casey was 18 years old, but some days she felt like she was 80.

Cause I'm Burnin' Up
Burnin' Up
For you baby . . .

"Steph, can you hold it down a little? I'm trying to relax over here!" Casey called. Steph continued to sing, butchering the song that Casey used to like, her hips swaying to the music coming out of her ipod while she made herself a sandwich. Casey tried again. "Steph!" she yelled, this time throwing in an arm wave to try to get her attention. That did it.

Steph pulled the earbuds out. "What?" she asked annoyed. "I was getting my groove on in here!"

Casey rolled her eyes at the term "groove on." Sometimes Steph was a freak. Well, she was a freak all the time actually, but Casey couldn't slam on her too much, since she was letting Casey and Lizzie stay with her for a very low fee of $200/month. Casey just hated it when Steph would bring men home and keep her and Liz awake with loud sex. But, Casey thought, I just have to keep saving my money, and me and Liz will be able to get our own place within a year. I hope.

She snapped out of her thoughts to see Steph standing there with her hands on her hips, waiting for an answer from Casey. "I'm sorry, but your terrible singing was giving me a headache," Casey said before thinking.

Steph gave her a dirty look. "Oh, I'm sorry, princess. Not all of us can sing as great as you."

Casey sighed. Great. She would have to apologize again to Steph for offending her. It seems like all she and Steph did when they were together was fight. Probably because her and I have totally different personalities and we should have never moved in here. She glanced into the kitchen again. Steph had given up trying to have a discussion with Casey and had put her earbuds back in. She was, however, keeping the bad singing to a minimum, instead humming along.

I'll apologize tomorrow, Casey thought, getting up and going to bed.

Casey entered the restaurant the next day to find a huge bouquet of flowers on the table behind the podium. How lovely! She thought, seeing her name and grabbing the card. The flowers were a mix of fall favorites – mums, asters and some ferns thrown in for greenage – all in a lovely glass vase. For the girl I want to get to know better. The card read. I hope to have that dinner with you sometime – Derek.

Casey's head whipped up and she looked around the restaurant quickly, like she was expecting him to jump out at any moment. When he didn't appear before her and yell "Aha!", she calmed down and laughed to herself. What was it about him that made her so nervous? She usually wasn't this bad around guys. Maybe it was the way they had met . . . she thought to herself, remembering that night . . .

"Hey Casey. I see you got your flowers," her manager, Chad, had appeared at her elbow.

She smiled. "Uh, yeah. When did these show up?"

He shrugged. "Don't know. They were here when I got in an hour ago."

Casey nodded, somewhat disappointed. She was curious if Derek had them delivered or if he came by personally. She looked at the card again. It was handwritten, and she recognized it as his scrawl. She remembered from receiving flowers previously, that if a floral shop delivers them, the message is usually typewritten, not penned by hand. She smiled to herself. That means Derek had actually taken the time to go to a store and pick the arrangement out himself before personally writing the message and dropping it off here. The thought made her feel warm inside and she knew she was blushing.

"So, you finally got rid of Sam and found a nice guy, eh?" Chad asked, a small smile on his lips. Casey turned and looked at her manager, who was also her best male friend. He was trying not-so-subtly to wring some information from her.

"You know I got rid of Sam, Chad. He hasn't been around for awhile. As for having a new guy, you're wrong on that," she didn't say any more as she went around him to go punch in. He followed her to the back.

"Come on, Case. Spill. You never tell me anything anymore!" Chad said, pouting.

She laughed at his antics. "Oh, stop being such a drama queen! I swear, you're worse than Lizzie sometimes!"

Her comment made him cringe and he threw his hand over his heart and said dramatically, "I take offense at that. I may be gay, but that doesn't automatically make me a 'drama queen' as you so rudely put it."

Casey finished putting her stuff into her locker and closed it before turning the lock. She moved toward her friend and threw her arms around him. Casey wasn't close to a lot of people. She had trouble trusting them. But Chad had wormed his way into her heart. Without him, she didn't think she would make it some days. "Aw, Chaddie, you know I love you," she said into his shoulder.

"Yeah, yeah," he said into her hair. "You're lucky I love you back, or else I wouldn't put up with all your secretive bullshit," he said, a hurt note in his voice.

Casey pulled back and studied his face. "Chad, I'm not keeping anything from you, honest." Well, that wasn't totally the truth. She hadn't told him about the attack or meeting Derek. She wasn't ready to reveal anything about that night. She had her reasons. "The guy who sent these is just someone I met in here yesterday. He asked me out, I told him no and that was that. For me, at least. Obviously he didn't get the message," she said, not looking at him.

When she did chance a look at him, she noticed the tight expression around his lips and the way his skin paled a bit. "What is it?" she asked, concerned.

He paused before answering. "Well, you said you met him yesterday, right?"

She nodded. "Right."

"Well, yesterday when I went to take out the trash, there was this guy hanging around the dumpster. Started asking me about you, trying to get info. I told him to get lost or I would call the cops. I wonder if it's the same guy . . ." he trailed off, a worried look on his face.

Casey's eyebrows hit her hairline. "Well, I guess it could be. Who knows?" In truth, who else could it be? It was too much of a coincidence to be someone else. She felt a fissure of fear along her spine. Derek seemed like a nice, harmless guy, but what if he wasn't? What if he was stalking her or something? She shuddered and wrapped her arms around herself.

Chad, seeing her discomfort, moved forward again, grasping her arms with his hands. "Case, don't worry. If that creep comes around again, I'll take care of him, OK?"

Casey looked at her friend skeptically. She knew Chad meant well, but truth be told, he couldn't take care of himself, let alone her if there was such a situation. He was short and pudgy, and the only exercise he did was when he would move between the couch and the refrigerator during commercials. She loved him like a brother, though, and it was the thought that counted. Until she really needed protection, she thought morosely. She glanced into Chad's eyes and nodded. "I know you'll look out for me. You always do," she said before heading out to start her shift. It was going to be a long night.

"Psst, Lizzie!" A voice said behind her, causing Lizzie to jump slightly. She turned and glimpsed Bob standing beneath the stairs near the entrance.

She moved a little closer. "What?"

He looked around before answering. "Your sister around?"

She shook her head. "No, why?"

He shrugged. "Just wondering. I got some more stuff. You interested?"

Lizzie looked at him a moment. She remembered a few weeks ago when Casey busted her smoking with him. She hated disappointing her older sister, but that didn't seem to be enough to keep her out of trouble. However, the picture of Casey's stern face appeared in her mind and she found herself shaking her head "no" to his question. "I don't think so, Bob," she said before heading past him to her apartment.

"You scared of your sister?" He asked behind her condescendingly.

She ignored him and kept moving. She could feel his eyes burning her back as she unlocked the door and went in, quickly shutting it behind her. What a creep! She thought toeing off her shoes. She was careful to be quiet, as she spied Steph sleeping on the couch. She worked nights, although Lizzie wasn't sure what she did, exactly. She didn't think she wanted to know.

Review please!