They had first lived together when they went to university. It was a purely practical arrangement with neither of them being able to afford to live alone, but for some bizarre reason it had worked. Being away from home and now finally growing up, a grudging friendship sort of thing happened. There were things they each kept out of the apartment, such as Derek's girls and Casey's dates, but otherwise life continued much the same as it had when they lived at home. They argued constantly, but they were happy.
So when they graduated university and both started internships at the same major news outlet, they chose to live together again. And they complemented each other; Derek as a cameraman second to none and Casey as a journalist.
Their first assignment together was accidental. There was a story to cover, a cameraman and journalist needed. Casey put the words to Derek's pictures.
But the spin they gave on the story was new, refreshing, cutting edge.
At first, the acclaim was purely academic or came from the people they knew, but then their work began to be acknowledged by a wider audience. The McDonald-Venturi partnership worked and they won their first award.
After four years, they had ten awards and it was clear their careers were set. They were a winning team.
Their current apartment was modern, sophisticated and only an hour from their parents' house. Casey was a home-lover and Derek, who wanted a non-psychotic flat-mate was prepared to give way to her on location at least. Actually, he was prepared to give way to her on so much more but Casey didn't need to know that.
Back to the present and the drive home from their friends' house had made her think about her own life. The comments they had both made about not wanting to settle down had hit her hard. Now just past thirty, she was suddenly beginning to realise that keeping the status quo might mean giving up some of her personal goals – or worse, it might be impossible and she was at risk of losing their partnership. For some reason, and she wasn't sure it was all professional, the thought made her go cold.
As Derek put the car keys down on the kitchen work surface he noticed Casey looking world-weary. It was a sight he had seen several times before and she had every right to. They may very well be only just past thirty but they had travelled the world with their careers, visited war zones to cover conflict, investigated crimes against humanity, highlighted the plight of forgotten corners of society - together they had seen sights that would tear at the heart of even the hardest soul.
He put an arm around her waist and nestled his nose against her neck.
"You look like you could do with snoring in my ear tonight."
He was rewarded with the slump of her body against him and the feather touch of her lips against his collar bone.
"Please."
Don't misunderstand. Their relationship was totally platonic – well they told themselves it was, anyway. On the rare occasions they showed this warmth to each other, they never crossed the invisible line. But they were close; closer than some married couples, because whilst they had never had anything even approaching sex, emotionally, (Derek had become more comfortable with that word lately), they knew each other- inside and out.