The Reunion
Disclaimer: I don't own LWD.
AN: Enjoy

Chapter 3:

DPOV

The first thing Derek did when he got to the rink the following Monday was to see what his schedule looked like for the coming weeks. And it just so happened that he was off the night of Casey's Fletcher reunion. But he didn't tell her that right away. He wanted her to sweat it out for a few days because well... it was just more fun that way.

Eventually he felt pretty bad about her freaking out so he told her that he was free and that he could go with her. She breathed a sigh of relief which was nice to see for a change.

It didn't last long at all though because the reunion was two weeks away which meant that Casey needed a dress. And instead of going with the ever fashionable Gary, Casey dragged Derek, her husband, along. Typical, isn't it? Secretly he was alright with that because he didn't have to come up with an excuse to see her that week, which was nice, but that didn't mean he wasn't going to complain about it when Casey dragged him into every store he could possibly imagine.

Eventually they entered one store that looked promising and expensive; Casey had the money to spend. Plus, she was trying to impress her old bullies, who were apparently almost as bad as Derek was during high school. He managed to find a seat while Casey disappeared in to the dressing rooms.

She changed into about ten dresses that afternoon, coming out to model each and every one of them for him. Most of the time, he would shake his head or make a stupid comment. This would simply piss Casey off and send her back into the changing room to find another dress that would pass Derek's approval.

After a while she came out in a short-sleeved black and white mini dress that was a little short for her normal style. The dress was fashionable; it was all black with a thick white panel of fabric in the middle which took up most of her torso. But what caught his attention was not the color, it was the cut of the dress itself, or rather the shape of it. It was pretty simple as dresses go, but the square neckline did wonders to Casey's chest. Normally he felt at least a little bad when he checked Casey out, but not this time. He couldn't find it in himself to look away. The white middle panel was tight, tight enough that it seemed to push Casey's chest up and together. Although Derek kind of wished that her chest would just spill over the top of the dress, it didn't. The dress remained classy. It revealed just enough to keep him wanting more. And yes, he did want more, a lot more actually. Aside from the cleavage, the stretchy material clung to her every last curve, molding it against her frame flawlessly. Her silhouette was simply breathtaking in it.

Derek couldn't help himself but hiss, "Well, damn McDonald!" when she twirled around, awaiting his comments. "Yeah that. Please, get that," he groaned while still wide-eyed and surprised that Casey could look like a runway model even after all those years.

His reaction was enough for her to buy it, which says something about their dynamic but he didn't bother thinking about that. It was hard enough to erase the picture of her in that dress from his mind to think of anything else, to be honest. Maybe that's why he was so distracted on their way back home and he kept slamming onto the brakes. They almost got into an accident because of it…although he'd never admit to her why that was.

With the dress taken care of, he thought the rest would be smooth sailing… But it wasn't. Of course not.

She was freaking out and he's totally over her melodramatics. So he lounged around her house as she ran around making note cards and prepping him on their backstory, which is apparently necessary to the whole ordeal. But he just tuned her out completely. He didn't need any prepping. He knew exactly what he's going to say if asked anything about them.

.*.*.*.*.*.

Finally it was the night of the reunion. It was being held in a swanky upscale hotel in the center of the city that included valet parking and everything. But Derek didn't trust anyone with his cars. Not even Casey.

He still had The Prince, of course; he'd never get rid of it! But it was currently parked in a garage, collecting dust at the moment. He promised he'd keep it for his future kids. Of course he'd fix it up and make sure it ran correctly first but he wanted them to have a piece of his own adolescence when they did.

Aside from the Prince, Derek had owned a classic 1967 Chevy Impala. Casey always teased him about it. But he said everyone needed a classic, badass car. He hadn't even had a chance to drive it yet. He was still restoring it, and getting piece of the motor which took some time on such an old car. But he didn't mind. It was going to be amazing when it was finally finished.

And then he had his Baby. The first big purchase he made when he joined the major leagues. It was completely different than his other two cars. His Baby was a black-on-black limited edition top of the line SUV with dark tinted windows for the ultimate amount of privacy a car could provide. Honestly, it looked like it belonged to an FBI agent or something. Lizzie always got on him about how bad it was for the environment but he loved it because it was practical. When he went out with the boys after practice, a bunch of them could just slide right in. Or when he hung around with the kiddies, there was more than enough space for them all. Casey always teased him about it, claiming that he was overcompensating for something. To which Derek would clearly reply "wanna find out?" which usually ended conversations between them all the time.

But the real reason Derek decided to get his huge SUV was because it was reliable and it could withstand everything. After having the Prince break down on him multiple times in his college years, he really wanted something that could get through anything. And for the few years since getting the massive car, it hadn't given him trouble once.

Derek was all about Car Porn as he liked to call it. He aspired to collect a lot more too, but he couldn't. At least not yet. Because there was just no way he could get more cars without having his own house and his own garage to keep them all in. Baby steps, he told himself.

He turned to look at Casey in the passenger seat and what he saw bothered him. Her eyes were locked out the window, and she was frozen still. Which is odd, she should be jumping out of her skin or fidgeting and ranting like she usually does when she's nervous. Her lack of reaction only meant one thing... she had turned into the scarier version of her normal freak-out-self that he was used to. She had gone into the silent freak-out mode. And he didn't know how to help her. He had never dealt with her in this kind of state. He had only heard about it before from Nora, Liz, Emily and even Angela…but never firsthand. And that in itself was terrifying.

"Spacey," he started, speaking out the nickname slowly while trying to pull her out of her thoughts without startling her.

"You haven't called me that in years." She murmured softly yet not turning her gaze away from the window.

"What can I say, reunion makes me nostalgic," he shrugged, but that didn't get a reaction out of her either. "Hey..." he started, clearing his throat, his tone getting a bit more serious, "You know you don't have to do this."He reminded her as he pulled into the back parking lot of the hotel, skipping the valet purposely. This is a really bad idea, he wanted to add. But he didn't. Because although he knew how horrible the whole night could go, he didn't want her to back out of it for his own selfish reasons. Reasons she didn't have to know about.

He sounded like a parent trying to convince their troublesome teen out of a stupid idea. And the feeling wasn't far off. He was nervous to do this. To pretend to be her husband, it just felt wrong. Or maybe it was the part of him that wished it was real that felt wrong? He wasn't sure yet.

"Don't," she quickly begged him, closing her eyes tight before straightening herself up in her seat.

He could tell that she was trying her best to keep it together. A breakdown, a slip up, could ruin her makeup. And although he didn't think that was so bad, he knew how much this all meant to her. She wanted to look perfect, flawless and happy, he knew that. So, he needed to pull her out of said funk... freak-out, or whatever the hell was going on because clearly he didn't know since she wasn't talking.

"Casey." He countered, drawing out her name in a breath. "You're going to want to hear me out," he teased while taking a peek at her from the corner of his eyes as he scanned the parking lot aisles for an empty spot. He knew exactly what he had to tell her since it's been in the back of his mind for days…ever since she proposed this insane idea to him in the first place.

"What?" She groaned while gently dabbing at the corners of her eyes with her fingertips. He could see the tears building up.

He found a free spot and finished parking the car quickly before killing the engine. Silence fell upon them as he took a deep breath before letting it all out. He kept his eyes trained out on the windshield and looking at the other cars around them as well as the night sky above them.

"You don't need a husband. You don't need a phone full of your 'kids' pictures. The things you do on a daily basis... its more than what half those women," he stopped to point at the reception hall where the reunion was being held, "could deal with," he stopped to look into her eyes this time. He licked his lips and continued. "I don't mind being your arm candy for the night, I don't have a problem smiling, shaking hands of people whose names I won't remember. I really don't." He emphasized because this wasn't about him, it was about her. "But you need to know that you don't need to do this. You are impressing all on your own. You don't need a man by your side to do it."

CPOV:

"You do realized I'm trying my best not to cry, right?" She laughed nervously while trying her best to cover up the sob that was forming in the back of her throat because this was Derek! And he's being sweet and she's already so damn emotional about the whole night and it's way too much to handle all at once.

And it wasn't just what he was saying. It was physically being next to him that was killing her as well. Over the years, Casey had accepted the fact that Derek was attractive. She had even come to realize what Derek was; her favorite Derek. And this Derek, the one sitting next to her, wearing a two piece suit and tie with his signature bedhead locks that simply fell into place... yeah that was officially her all-time favorite.

"Well, then I guess I shouldn't give you this, huh?" He smirked before reaching into his jacket pocket and pulling a small ring box.

"What's that?" She asked; her voice softer now as the fight was slowly leaving her system.

"How do you expect to walk around that room full of people, claiming to be married...without a ring?" He asked her with a smirk playing on his lips. Like he had this planned the entire time. He opened the box, showing her the contents inside.

Her heart sunk. But in a good way, if possible. "I didn't..." She started and yet she couldn't finish. She was simply in awe of the ring that Derek had surprised her with. It was a princess square cut diamond (oh, how very suiting) surrounded by smaller diamonds. The top half of the actually band itself had diamonds within it as well. Along with the engagement ring laid the simply white-gold wedding band that interlocked with the engagement ring. It's safe to say that the ring was bold, shiny, and beyond beautiful.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Put this on." He dismissed the possible awkwardness by taking out the rings and handing them over to her shaky hands.

She nodded before sliding the rings onto her finger without a single thought. "Thank you," she mumbled, almost to herself.

Silence fell over the pair again, awkwardness that only left her mind with space to fill with her thoughts…thoughts she didn't need at that moment.

She cleared her throat and asked, "What about you?" She tried to act cool about the whole thing, but her breathing was a bit static and her heart still hadn't gone back to normal just yet.

"Yeah, I got one." He muttered before revealing his own wedding band from his jacket pocket as well. He simply slipped it onto his left hand and looked up at her. "Ready?" He asked after unbuckling his seat belt with his hand already at the door handle.

She caught his eyes before they flicked down to her left hand for just a second before meeting her eyes. She smiled, relaxing into his gaze. "Yeah, let's go." She nodded. She was as ready as she'll ever be.

From then on he was a perfect gentleman. Well, no. He's never a perfect gentleman. But still, at least he tried to be. He made an effort. That counts right? Starting in the parking lot, he held out his arm for her to hold on to. That's something he must have learned from The Art of Being a Gentleman (101, because he didn't meet the requirements for the advance level). They taught that in college, right?

She bit back a smile while hooking an arm around his before wrapping her hand securely around his right bicep. It wasn't until she felt his muscle flex underneath the layers of clothes that she cursed herself. She hadn't realized how much physically contact this night would provide them with. And she wasn't sure if she could deal with being so close to him the entire night.

She didn't dare to comment on it though. She simply took it in stride. He held her close as the cool spring breeze blew passed them. The parking lot was silent aside from the clacking of her heels. She swore she heard her own heartbeat, which lead her to believe that he could hear it too. That thought made her freak out about it a bit more, which started the cycle all over again.

The walk from the car to the entrance felt like miles, but finally they made it to the entrance, together.

AN: Part of the car scene was originally for a snap shot. It inspired the entire story!

PS. I tried to find a picture of Ashley's actual wedding ring but she doesn't seem to wear it to events, and when I actually get to see it, I can't zoom in enough to see the detail. But it looks pretty big, sparkly and princess cut from what I can see from some of her wedding photos. And the dress she wears is based on one of her instagram photos, which I can't link cause it wont show up! But you'll know which one I described if you look at her instagram!

PPS. Disclaimer: One of Derek's cars, the 1967 Chevy Impala is straight out of Supernatural, and is usually referred to as "Baby."

Thanks for the feedback so far guys! Like I said before, it's been a while since I've written a chapter fic, so I'm a bit rusty.

Review?