My doorbell is the spawn of Satan. I need a new one. It grates on my nerves and sometimes, if it takes a long time to get to the door, I am ready to throttle the person on the other side.

Tonight, dressed in my pyjamas and dragged from a great novel that I had been heavily into, I was not impressed when someone decided to lean on the bell. I stomped into the hallway and peeked through the spyhole.

Something glass-eyed and fluffy stared back at me.

I opened the door.

"You couldn't tell who it was. Why the hell did you unlock the door?" He complained.

"Because, Derek, nobody else turns up at my apartment at 9pm with a freaking teddy bear." I replied stepping back and letting Derek, the teddy bear and his luggage into my hallway.

(That was Derek's luggage, not the teddy bear's).

"What is that thing?" I asked, motioning to the large stuffed creature in his arms. It was wearing a British police helmet and a little police blazer.

(The teddy bear this time, not Derek).

"You asked me to bring you something quintessentially British back from my trip. Meet Wills."

"Wills?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah. Named after Prince William. He's a copper."

"Copper?"

"Yeah. You know. A British policeman."

"I know what a copper is." I rubbed at my face. "Derek. Why are you here?"

"I'm back!" He grinned.

"Yes. I know you are. What are you doing here?"
"I came to give you Wills. He couldn't wait to meet you."
I sighed. "Straight from the airport?"

"Of course. Why?"

"Were you followed?"

"Probably."
"Der-ek!"
He led the way into my living room. I followed.

"That's going to look great, isn't it? You arrive back in the country for the first time in three weeks and the first place you go, without even dropping off your bags, is my apartment. What is your girlfriend going to say about you not going to see her but, coming to see me instead? Does she know?"

"Yes."

"And?"

"She's not overly impressed."

"Exactly."

"Casey. I'm a big boy now. Let me decide. Or do you not want me here?"

He asked the last question carefully and watched my face for the answer.

"That's a stupid question." I whispered. "I always want you here. You know that." Derek smiled. "Then where is my hug from my best friend?"

We hugged.

It was restrained and chaste; on the surface. When we pulled apart, Derek was holding my hand.

"England is a very long way from here." He said softly.

"I know."

"Three weeks is a long time."

"I know that too."

"I missed you."

"I missed you too."

And for a moment, the look we exchanged was far from chaste and restrained.

But we slipped back into "friends" mode, dropped our hands and Derek disappeared into the kitchen to make himself a coffee. I leaned against the work surface.

"How long are you staying?"

"Depends."

"On what?"
"How long it takes you to get sick of me."

"I was sick of you the moment I met you. How come you're still here?"
"We fell in love, remember?"
There was no dramatic look at each other. He simply stirred the coffee and led the way back into the living room.

"What's on TV?" he asked.

I gave up and sat down next to him.

"Not a lot. Find something we can critique."

He grinned at me, and then nodded towards his bags.

"Main suitcase."

"What about it?"
"Your real present."

"Let me guess…your dirty washing. Ah! Now I understand why you came straight here. You need your boxers starching!"

"There's a joke there, but I've been travelling too long to make it." He said rubbing his eyes. "Go look."

I made my way over to the suitcase and unzipped it.

"Flick through the washing, it's a bit far down."

I did as directed and, sure enough, there was a parcel.

"Open it."

I brought the parcel back to the sofa and sat down. Using my fingers to pull loose the tape, I undid the wrapping to find a book.

It was beautifully bound and the main cover said, "The Canterbury Tales."

You might be forgiven for not being impressed by this gift, but I was. I had studied English Literature as one of my majors at university, and my thesis was on Geoffrey Chaucer. Derek shouldn't know that. We had long since split up by that time.

"My thesis was on Chaucer."

"I know."

"How?"

"You think just because we weren't together anymore that I stopped caring? Anyway, I saw this book and I thought you don't get much more English than that…other than Shakespeare and I know how you feel about Shakespeare."

I remembered an evening many years ago where I had let fly on the subject of Shakespeare, bemoaning the fact that whilst the works were undeniably great they were probably written by more than one person and attributed to the single man.

I grinned.

"Thank you!" I said. I leaned towards him and kissed him on the cheek.

"No problem."

That night we watched a lame film on the sofa, picking holes in it until we barely heard a word, we were laughing so much. I sat in my usual position, wrapped in Derek's arms and legs. He held me tightly. His hands stroked my arms, his fingers laced with mine. Sometimes when we were like this I forgot the girlfriend and remembered Kingston all those years ago.

As I grew sleepy I wriggled even closer to him. He smiled.

"I fly thousands of miles, and you're the tired one?"

"No. I'm just comfortable."

"So am I." He said and I felt his lips against my neck, and after a while, small kisses along the bare skin on my shoulders where my pyjamas gaped. I groaned and leaned back into him.

"Next time I go away for a long time, come with me." Derek said in the dark of the living room

"As what?" I asked amused.

"I don't know. My official ego-deflator?" He suggested. I giggled.

"Okay. I can do that."

"Good. I'll get you on my staff. Do you want a salary?"

"How much were you thinking?"

"I was thinking a tub of Phish Food ice cream a week."

"Hmmm…make it a tub of Phish Food and a tub of Rocky Road and you have a deal."

"Done!" He said, kissing me on the nose. We laughed.

Derek sighed. "I mean it Casey. Next time I'm away for more than a week, I want you to come too."

"I'll try. It depends on work."

He flicked the TV off.

"Come on. Let's go to bed."

I slept chastely in his arms, but then I always did.

My best friend and I.


A week later:

"I'm sorry, Ed. Something's come up. I can't make it."

"Casey," my other step-brother protested. "We are due at the reception in forty five minutes!"

"I know. And I was already in my evening dress, make-up on and hair done. I'm sorry."
"What's the excuse?" He asked.

"Derek phoned."

"Oh?"

"He has a crisis. I need to go bail him out."

"Literally?"

"No. Some personal crisis."

"How come he didn't phone me?"

I laughed. "I have no idea Ed, and you can bawl him out about it later, but in the meantime, I really need to go."

He laughed. "No problem. I'm just sore you came up with an excuse not to attend this thing, I wish I could. Can I come too?"

"Oh come on. How popular would you be if you didn't turn up to your own Christmas party?"

He snorted. "They won't notice."

"Yes they will. Go. Have fun. I'll speak to you tomorrow when I find out what the Derek Disaster is."

"Fine. Good luck. Call me if you find a reason for me to ditch."

I laughed. "Ok hun!"

I wasn't kidding. I was in a midnight blue full length evening dress, my hair styled and my make-up perfect. I should be entering the ballroom at a posh hotel on the arm of the step-brother who really was a brother. Instead, I was hailing a cab and hurtling across town on an errand for the other step-brother – the one I would walk through fire for. The one I almost did walk through fire for.


He was standing on the sidewalk in a black tie suit and my heart leapt. It wasn't the formal dress that did it – he could be wearing grubby sweats or rags and I would still go weak at the knees. I saw him gulp as I walked towards him.

"You weren't kidding when you said you were on your way out." He said his voice tight.

"Relax, D. I was doing the supportive sister thing for Ed."

He did relax, a lot. It made me laugh at how jealous we got of the lives we led away from each other.

"You look…wow!" his voice trailed away. I got the message.

"What's up?" I asked changing the subject. "I came as soon as I could."

"I need you to come and help me with something. Do you mind?"

I frowned. "That depends. Is it a prank?"

He huffed. "No. It isn't."

I looked suspiciously at him.

"No. Casey. It isn't."

"Good."

Derek looked offended.

"Sorry." I muttered. "Come on then lead the way."

So he took my hand and turned to lead me up the sidewalk.

Walking required some assistance. My dress was beautiful, stunning – and tight. I had heels on too, so we were forced to take our time.

"So what is the problem?"

"When we get inside." He said, rubbing my hand with his thumb, and pushing the door to the grand building.

Inside he led me to the elevators and we rode to the third floor. We moved quickly so I couldn't see the signs which told you what the series of wooden doors along each side of the corridor contained within.

"Derek. It's 6pm on a Friday night, what the hell are we doing here?"

He stopped in the corridor.

"I'm going to ask you a question and you are going to tell me the truth. And then I want you to promise me something. Agreed?"

I frowned. "You're making no sense, but I never tell anything but the truth. I can't guarantee I'll make the promise though."

He shrugged. "Fair enough."

We stood opposite each other and I waited. Derek looked uncomfortable.

"Do you love me?" he asked, eventually.

I closed my eyes and bit my lip. Even without looking at him I knew he was staring at me. I opened my eyes again to check.

Yup, his eyes were burning into mine.

"Yes."

"Are you in love with me?" He clarified. Derek moved his hand and I could see it shaking. I reached out and caught it.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Please, Casey."

"I love you. I'm in love with you." I whispered just wanting to know what was upsetting him so much.

And then he smiled a grin, wide and so heart-felt it lit his eyes.

"I love you too." He said, squeezing the hand that still held his own. "And I need you to promise me that you will just switch your brain off now and let your heart run your mind for a while."
"You're making absolutely no sense."

"So what's new?" He smirked. "Please Casey. Heart, not mind. Promise?"

"That sounds dangerous."

"Not dangerous. But definitely a leap of faith. Now promise…and I'll make you a promise…you won't regret it."

Trust and love. That's what it came down to. And if there was one person on the planet who I trusted, it was the man standing in front of me. He had bullied me, and teased me, because he loved me – and I loved him.

"I promise."

He let go of my hand then and reached into his jacket pocket and I noticed his hands were really shaking now.

"Derek?" I was worried.

"Sign this, please."

"What is it?"

"Our marriage licence."


I know what you are thinking.

This has to be the biggest Derek prank on the planet yet. And for about thirty seconds, I thought that too;

Until I looked at him.

Actually, I stared at him and he stared back. It was a bunny-in-the-headlights kind of look. A sort of 'oh shit, what do I do now?'

The piece of paper he was holding was still shaking because the hand grasping it was shaking. There was a wetness in his eyes threatening to escape too.

I bit my lip and raised a hand to steady his wrist again.

"Breathe, Derek."

He gasped a breath and I chuckled.

"Where's the pen?"


Why were we there at 6pm on a Friday night? In the deserted halls of the marriage bureau?

Well actually, the bureau wasn't deserted, because when I had signed the piece of paper that gave us permission to marry, and Derek had planted a very, very chaste kiss on my lips, he opened a nearby door and pulled me inside.

"Hello Casey!" Benny was grinning from ear-to-ear. "Glad you could make it." I smiled back and turned to the beauty standing beside him.

"Hello Louisa. I'm glad you're looking so well." And she was. She was dressed more conservatively that I had seen her before, and she was holding Benny's hand tightly.

"Thank you, Casey. You look beautiful." It was heartfelt, and I knew she meant it.

"Shall we get started?" One of the two strangers in the room asked.

And then Derek and I got married.


AN: I suppose it's a bit of a pin-bubble moment, but technically you can't get married in New York state this way. Because there is a 24 hour wait between both parties signing the licence and you being allowed to marry – to stop hasty marriages! But where's the romance in that.

Incidentally, I don't do this very often, but I do have a picture of Casey's wedding dress. Unfortunately the only version I can find has me wearing it… For the dress' sake I'm trying to find the other picture where it is worn by a model.

A few more chapters to come…