Lips against lips, body against body and hands in each other's hair, eventually they fell gently to the ground and Derek rolled lightly on top of her.
Casey groaned into his mouth and the sensations his body caused against hers intensified. They were still fully clothed but there was no doubt where this was going.
"I need you." He murmured against her neck.
"I want you." She confirmed against his shoulder.
CRASH!
SMASH!
Tinkle, tinkle…And then an eerie silence.
Derek lifted his face from Casey's and his body followed quickly after him. Casey too sat up.
"What the fuck was that?" Derek exclaimed. The music from the party had stopped and the background hum of people talking was gone; in their place, the screaming started.
Derek stood and held out a hand to Casey to help her up. She took it and they ran for the gate, Casey fumbling in the pocket of her pants for the key.
As they emerged from the garden, there was no need to ask which way to go. Every person in the place was standing still as a statue orientated towards the Pool House, a single storey building, attached to the main house complex by a covered corridor. The walls of the Pool House were glass panels for the most part – or at least they had been. As Derek and Casey ran towards the structure, they could both see one large section was now crazed and crumbling, and guests were crowding around looking at something inside. Derek squeezed then dropped Casey's hand and stepped closer.
"Derek! Oh thank god. I sent someone to look for you or your sister." It was the girlfriend of one of the other players. "You'd better go inside and take a look. Neil and Robert were rough-housing and they've gone through the glass and into the pool. Doc's with them and I think they are okay but there's a lot of damage."
Derek pushed through the guests until he reached the scene inside.
He didn't notice Casey's face as the girl had spoken. He didn't notice her step back-wards. And as he began to take charge and handle the mess, he didn't notice her turn and run.
The ambulance doors closed and the vehicle pulled away. Left on the step, Derek turned to Tim, his agent standing beside him.
"Most of the guests have gone. The rest are just waiting on cabs." Tim said. "I've called your insurance company and they are sending out an emergency glazier."
"Thanks Tim. I appreciate the help." Derek frowned as he wondered why it was Tim sorting this out and not Casey. "Where's Casey?"
Tim shrugged. "I haven't seen her for a while. Why?"
"Nothing."
But it wasn't nothing. By the time the last guest left, Derek had searched the entire house and she wasn't there. He pulled his cell from his pocket and dialled her number. The phone rang unanswered for a while and then just as he was about to give up, she answered.
"Where are you?" he asked. "At home?"
"Yes." Her voice sounded subdued…wrong.
"Why?"
"Because there was a lot going on, and I'd be in the way."
"Don't be silly princess. Everyone's gone. Come over."
"No."
"Why not? Do you want me to come over to you?"
"No. Don't, Derek." She sounded panicked.
"Don't what?" He asked, suddenly suspicious.
Casey sighed. "Don't behave as though everything is normal. It isn't. I think we need some space and…"
"What? Casey…"
"Derek…just leave it, okay?"
"No it isn't okay. We need to talk."
This time her voice was extra quiet. "There is nothing to talk about."
"Yes, there is."
"No there isn't."
"If you won't talk to me now, will you talk to me tomorrow? Come over."
"No." Casey closed her eyes and leant her head back against the headboard where she was lying. "Not your house. Somewhere public."
"Why? You think I'm going to attack you?"
"Not exactly."
"We can't do this." Casey stated bleakly.
Derek glared at her. He hadn't even sat down at the little table in the coffee house yet and she wasn't looking at him, instead looking at the cooling cup of tea in front of her.
"What happened to 'Hi Derek! Sorry I ran out on you last night'?" he said sitting opposite her.
"I am sorry." She said, finally looking up, but still not quite meeting his gaze. "But we can't do this. You're supposed to be my brother."
"No I'm not. I'm just someone whose father married your mother. Our relationship isn't even illegal, Casey."
"We don't have a relationship Derek." Her voice was calm and detached as though she was distancing herself from the words.
His eyes widened and he stood up. "I used to think you were too emotional. Now I see I got it wrong. You're not emotional enough. What happened to the last ten years, Casey? What happened to the best friend I thought I had? I'm not saying we could make it work between us as a couple, but to deny that there is anything there at all…"
She blinked and then reached out and caught his arm. "I didn't mean it like that. Please…sit down." He regarded her coldly for a while and finally resumed his seat.
"You are my best friend, which is what makes this so impossible. We'll screw everything up…everything we hold important. Yes, we would satisfy our own desires but we would change the dynamic of our family, making it difficult for Mom and George, never mind how the kids would see us. Our friends have only ever seen us as siblings, they'd be disgusted. And when it all fell apart we wouldn't even have our friendship left. I don't think I'm ready to deal with that."
"You underestimate people." Derek said quietly.
"What people? Your team mate's girlfriend who called me your sister last night?" Derek closed his eyes as suddenly her reasons for disappearing made sense. "Emily, who once took great delight in showing me an article in a supermarket magazine about a guy who got his step-sister pregnant?" Derek groaned and cursed his ex-girlfriend. "The Press?"
Derek took a deep breath. He supposed he should be fighting her on this, but he knew she had a point. In isolation, a relationship between them made perfect sense and if it was just about the two of them there would be no reservations. But she was right – sort of, particularly about the press. They would spin it as some thing weird and unusual – and even he had to admit getting hot and heavy with your step-sibling sounded a bit freakish in a way.
"You're wrong about us." He said eventually. "That anything would stop us being friends."
Her face softened. "How could we be friends when we split up?" She asked her hands waving in frustration.
"We've invested too much time in this friendship to let anything get in its way – even a failed relationship." He insisted.
"I thought I was supposed to be the optimist."
Derek smiled sadly his arguments were thin and he knew it. Casey looked carefully at him.
"You see my point, don't you?" she asked.
"Yeah." He looked away but his fingers found hers across the table. "I'm sorry. I should never have let last night happen."
"There were two of us, Derek. And it's been building up for a while." Casey's voice took on a new softer note, and her fingers brushed his gently.
He snorted. "Casey, it's been building up since the day I met you. Nothing is guaranteed to spark a flame for me than someone saying "You can't do that"."
"Forbidden fruit." Casey agreed. Derek chuckled.
"Does that make you Eve?"
"Please don't start running around in a fig leaf."
"Why? Temptation too much?" She rolled her eyes and he laced their fingers together. "Actually I'm not sure fig leaves come in big enough sizes."
"Oh god. Your ego's got control of your mouth again."
The laughter died away after a few minutes and Casey squeezed his hand and then released it.
"So we aren't going to continue this?" she asked motioning between them with her released hand.
"You said not." Derek replied and then looking at her slightly hurt expression. "No. We aren't. But I don't want to lose our friendship. We need to stay friends." He turned square to the table and rested his elbow on the surface, leaning his chin on his hands and watching her.
"Don't you think things are going to be a little tense between us?" Casey asked. "…now that we know what it's like to…kiss each other."
"You sound like a twelve year old, Honey." He grinned. "You mean, are we going to be able to walk around each other without wanting to go at it like a pair of rabbits? Probably not." Their eye met.
"What do we do? Have some time apart? Avoid each other?"
"I was thinking one night of no-holds-barred sex – get it out of our system so that we can just move on as ex-lovers and laugh about it in our old age." He joked.
"Be serious you idiot!"
He laughed but then his face turned serious and he took her hand. "I don't know how it's going to work, Casey. But the only option we have is time and distance."
His thumb rubbed across her palm. "I'm sorry."
"Me too."
It was hard staying away from each other. The times before hadn't been so difficult because they had known that they would see each other again soon. Both of them poured their frustration into their work and a secret hope that maybe they would see each other at Christmas, at home. Consequently, their careers blossomed and they became busy, giving the impression to the outside world that everything was sunshine and laughter.
Thanksgiving came and went, and two months later Christmas approached. Casey found her work ensured she was expected to be in Europe at Christmas. Much as she longed to be back in London, Ontario, in her heart she knew that London, England was the right place to be. She lied to her mom, telling her she was contractually obliged to stay away, but she knew Derek would know the truth – and she was fairly sure he would approve of her decision. And sure enough, on Christmas Day she received a text.
You were missed, but thank you. Merry Xmas D x
.
New Year came, and Casey returned home and saw her family – but Derek was "on the road" for fixtures. This time it was her turn to send a wry text and she had smiled at his reply.
The weather's too cold for fig leaves. MY x
Before long it was four months since they had seen each other.
"…and you have the charity dinner on the 19th and the award ceremony the following weekend…and if you continue to ignore me I'm going to dress up as Tarzan and swing through the trees in a loincloth."
Casey nodded absent-mindedly. "That sounds fine." She said to Angela, causing her agent and friend to sigh audibly and bang her head against her desk.
"Casey for the love of Michael, would you just phone him?"
Casey frowned. "Phone who? Who's Michael?"
Angela leaned her head back in her office chair and regarded her friend in exasperation.
"Whoever has you so distracted! I've just spoken about gibberish for the past ten minutes and you haven't batted an eyelid. It won't fly, hun. You need to get whatever funk it is out of your system."
"I'm sorry."
"Sorry doesn't get you to the right meeting on the right day. You need to get your head in gear." Casey's friend sighed. "Do you want to talk about it?"
Casey shook her head. "No. You don't want to know."
"Is this something that is going to bite us later on?" Angela set her pen on the desk in front of her and leaned back in her chair.
"Not if I keep this up." Casey insisted.
Her friend shook her head. "You're making absolutely no sense, you know that, don't you?"
"I'm sorry hun. I'm just battling a few demons right now." Casey found herself rubbing absent-mindedly at the watch on her wrist and her heart reminded her that it had been a present from Derek.
"And working really hard. Look. Take a week out. Go deal with your demons and then come back refreshed."
Casey shook her head. "I need the work to keep me focussed."
"On what? It sure as hell isn't your work." Angela sat forward.
"I'm making things difficult for you." Casey's voice was apologetic.
"No. You're making me worried for you. Have you spoken to Nora?" Casey's friend standing up and coming around the desk. Once there she perched against it, and regarded her charge.
Casey glanced up in a panic. "Hell no!"
"Oh great! Something you can't tell Nora about. I think it's time I battened down the hatches." Angela rubbed at the space between her eyes as if she had a headache coming.
"Don't exaggerate."
"I'm not…I just…Case. You can talk to me about anything, you know that?"
"I know. I appreciate it. I'm just in denial at the moment."
"My dad always used to say that pussy-footing around a problem was a hiding to nowhere and that you should grab the bull by both horns and just go with the flow." Angela coughed at the memory of her beloved parent. "Of course, Dad was always one for mixed metaphors. He kept a journal all his life and when I became a literary agent he wanted me to publish the journals, but the thought of all those mixed metaphors just had me running for the hills like a wailing banshee – and Jesus! It's hereditary!"
They both laughed, and Casey appreciated her friend even more than ever.
"Casey. I mean it about talking to me. And I also mean it about taking time out. You need to think – and maybe you need to act."
AN: Don't forget my Facebook page. It's seriously worth going there, because I use it to plant clues and teasers, and sometimes give reasons for why there hasn't been an update. In case you hadn't worked it out, Chapter 16 was not IT. The big IT is still to come and then we are on to part two of the story.