Digimon: Futures

I Do Not own the Rights to Digimon, and long odds on me owning 'em to anything else you may recognize.

#3: Casey

"You see, he's pretty much the only consistent thing I have ever really had." Casey began, in tones that suggested she was back in her own mind, digging through the dusty boxes long buried. She had her back to Sora, slotting the first disc of the first season of "How I Met Your Mother" into the player. After turning, she caught the raised eyebrow, and shrugged before continuing. "He's a few years older then me, as he was a Junior when I entered High School. Essentially, he got his heart stuck on me, and for the next four years, he went about trying to make me care. I was not with the greatest of people, and spurned not only his advances, but his very existence where I could for almost two whole years. But we were both involved in on of the extracurricular activities, one of the heavy duty ones where you are required to devote lots of hours together despite personal preferences. Well, familiarity not only breeds contempt, but also the ability to tolerate, and we just grew together until we both could see clearly that we were friends, though it felt like we'd been at that point all along. No starting point or spoken agreement, it just was. Well, tack another year on and he graduated, and to me, he was little more to me then a guy I knew who was good for getting things and that I could yell at when I was pissed about anything.

I think he's a bit of a masochist, as no matter what I threw at him, eventually he would shrug it off and he would wind up more dedicated then ever. Well, in Senior year, a lot of…well, shit went down, just part of growing up, friends changing, leaving, stabing you in the back. Long story short, I heaped a lot of abuse on him, but he weathered it, and it seems like most of that year it was just me and him, sitting in my room, or yard, just sitting around, me bitching about everything, him never complain or getting anything out of it. I never, at that time, realized he was my best, in all senses of the word, friend.

Then, I was about a year later, because eit was about a year before I shipped out, that little bastard told me the worst damn thing he could have possibly said." Sora handed her another glass of wine and sat back down.

"What was that?" she asked, hugging up one leg, leaning forward.

"Oh, I can't just tell you, I have to set it up a little.

We are in my back yard, sitting in the dark, I'm drinking some kind of beverage with alcohol in it (my mom was cool with it). We're watching the stars talking about god knows what, but just the usual airy stuff, and he looks over after I finish, and says:

"Catherine (he always, to this day, calls me Catherine, never Casey or anything) I love you. He even choked up a bit, and really struggled to get that damned 4 letter word out." Sora had gasped.

"Oh my god, what did you do." Sora loved this kind of story, and could only imagine what Casey might have said.

"I did what any reasonable girl would have done in my situation. I said "Oh, Okay." And changed the subject. After he left I didn't talk to him again. Didn't answer the calls, never called back, no contact at all." Sora looked horrified, and Casey held up her hands, as if to ward of the judgment. "picture it, I am a 19 year old newly graduate, who just discovered a few years back the joys of sex, and here, a friend, who I had, in all the years I had known him, never once given any indication that we would ever be a "we", in fact, I went out of my way to not let him get any hopes for that. I didn't want Love, I wanted sex, passion, flings, and not from him. But we had had long, multiple day long discussion on Love, so I had a ittle glimmering in what it meant to him.

Looking back on it now that I know more about how he uses Love, I know that it also scared the living hell out of me, though I didn't know at the time. So I ignored him, and apparently he stewed over until it reached a boil. One day, three months later, I open my Myspace, and there I find this scathing, page long letter with the semantic content saying: "do you really want to throw all of what we had away on something that doesn't really have any impact on me at all?" So, we talked a little by message, and then I agreed to let him come over to talk one night. He ripped me a new hole or two yelling and more pissed off than I had ever seen him before.

"I don't know what the hell your problem was! I don't know what you think Love is, but that is the beauty of it, because it doesn't fucking matter. I can mean whatever the hell you want it to mean, just like the Bible, but me? I know what it means, and I will stand by it weather you fucking like it or not! Whatever it means to you doesn't matter, doesn't change our relationship at all! I told you, because, for one, I figured you knew, and because you never once, even year ago when you were nothing more than a pretty bitch who though I wasn't worth her time, you never once took advantage when you knew full well you could." "it went on like that for about an hour, and it was sobering to hear that much…emotion from him. So, I called him the next day, we saw a movie, and it was like nothing ever happened, then, eventually, I joined the Marines, and was shipped out of the country. I had had a boyfriend then, but by the my second tour, Jake was the only one still writing me, and it was nice, just knowing somebody missed me.

Then the bomb went off, and next I knew I was waking up in the hospital. And he was there; first thing I saw when I woke up in extreme pain, in Germany. First thing he said, and probably what kept me from severe depression, was: "Don't worry, I just heard there were going to be some sponge baths, and so I took up volunteerism." He got me to giggle, and somehow that got me through the surgery, physical therapy, and crushing medical bills

…And, there we are, back in the states, and still good friends." The look on Sora's face told her that she had not been satisfied by the end of the story. But there really was nothing more to tell.

"What…WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT!" Sora roared, the wine getting the better of her. "When did you tell him you Love him, when did you start dating…. WHAT?" Casey's silence and averted gaze told her that was not none of this had been accomplished. "You mean he flew to Germany to see you in the Hospital, and… nothing?" She closed her eyes, grabbed her temples, and shook her head in disbelief. "So,… what are you going to do?"

"Oh no, that's enough about me, what is your story. You wouldn't be hitting this so hard if you didn't have some back story with this." Casey gave her the eyebrow, and Sora looked away and busied herself with the wine. "Come on, you made m.e share my story, you have to spill yours."

"Damn it. Alright…" So Sora finished her glass of wine, settled back, and gave Casey the breakdown on her past with Tai.

"Wow…that is… hmm… damn." Casey stared vacantly at the walls while Sora hugged her knees to her chest, and nodding.

"Yeah, it's almost like we each have one of those big budget romantic comedy movie that hit the theaters." She said.

"Well, when it's spelled out like that, it does sound like that. But… how can you know if you love someone, bur not love someone, you know?"

"What you are saying, yes, how to tell the difference…no. So now I guess the question is, are you… are WE going to make a move, or sit around and let something happen to ruin what could happen?"

"One thing is for certain," Casey said, looking up and pointing at Sora, looking resolute, "I am far too drunk to for anymore of that really heavy stuff tonight, so let's calm it down a little and get back to fun topics."

The chatted happily for a short while, then curled under blankets on the couch, fell into the trouble sleep of girls who had killed three bottles of wine.