Sam regarded him in a lengthy gaze that lasted almost two minutes. Derek knew this because he'd spent the time staring at his watch, counting down the seconds. The boy next to him shifted on his bed, clearly uncomfortable. I'm sure as hell not starting this conversation, Derek thought bitterly.
"Derek, Nora called in hysterics last night. Asking about Casey. Asking about you. She asked me something weird, man."
Derek tensed. He so did not want to have this conversation. He'd been at Sam's for a grand total of fifteen minutes. Was he not allowed to have some peace?
"She asked me," Sam continued, cautiously, "if you were…with Casey."
"Of course I was with her, Sam, we came home together, didn't we?" Derek answered dryly, shooting Sam a bitter look.
"Don't BS me, dude. You know what I mean." Derek scowled.
He sighed, casting one quick wayward glance at his best friend. He was on the floor, slumped against the wall, looking so dejected, Sam probably figured out the story in seconds.
"Yes." Derek said simply.
"So…what are you going to do?"
"How the hell am I supposed to know? Casey won't even speak to me, and Nora and Dad kicked me out!"
"They didn't kick you out, Derek."
"They totally did. Do you not see the 'orphan' sign pointing at me? That family wants nothing to do with me now. Including Casey. Especially Casey."
"I'm sure—"
"Do not try to make me feel better."
"Okay. How did they find out, anyway?"
Derek scoffed. "I have no idea. I'd used Ralph's credit card, so they couldn't track it through that. And they'd called us on the cell, so they technically couldn't have called missing persons."
"Dude!" Sam said, smacking Derek on the back of the head, "Your parents pay for those phones, which also have location services!"
"Thank you for rubbing it in," Derek muttered, and his friend fell silent.
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
Casey lay on her bed, her tears yet to come. She'd been such a bitch. He'd tried to do something nice for her, and she'd thrown it back in his face. She wanted to apologize. She wanted to see him.
She just needed him, and it was killing her.
A knock reverberated on her door, and seconds later, Nora poked her head into the room. "Still not hungry?"
Casey didn't say anything. I hate you, she thought miserably, I hate you so much right now. And you ask me about food.
Nora sighed, trying to decide whether to comfort her daughter or leave her be. Judging by the sharp hatred in her eyes, Nora chose the latter.
She should have stopped this; she'd expected it. She'd noticed it. If she interfered, Casey would be hurt. So she let it be. And now…Casey was hurt. And Nora couldn't do a damn thing.
The woman held the cell phone in her hand. She saw the picture of Derek as the background. She couldn't do this to her daughter. Yes, the girl had made a mistake. But it tore her up to watch her little girl in pain.
Silently, she set the pink object on her shelf. "Try to get some sleep," Nora said softly, knowing full well Casey wouldn't even be in her room come morning.
Casey had stared at the cell phone for a full five minutes after her mom had left. She was convinced it was some kind of trick, some kind of test.
She got off the bed, tiptoed to the phone. Hesitantly took it. She returned to her bed, sitting crosslegged and holding the phone in her hands as if it were a precious stone.
Casey took a deep breath, and dialed Sam's cell phone.
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
Sam did a comical jig as his cell phone vibrated. He fished it out of his jeans, and had to double-check the caller ID. "You might want to answer this," Sam said, handing him the phone.
"I don't want to talk to anyone, Sam." Derek muttered irritably, slapping the phone away.
Sam flipped open the phone, put it on speaker.
"Derek."
His heart caught in his throat. He scrambled to his feet, grabbing the phone.
"Hey." He said lamely, not being able to think of anything else to utter.
"I need to see you," Casey said seriously.
"Casey," he sighed. "What if—"
"I don't care," she said harshly, tears pricking her eyes. "I can't handle being alone tonight."
"Okay, okay." Derek sighed, "Where do you want me to meet you?"
"Just stay at Sam's. I'll climb in through the window."
There was a silence between them.
"I…Um…I'll…see you soon, then."
"See you soon." She whispered, and clicked the phone shut.
Derek looked at Sam, who was expectantly waiting for the news. "She's coming over."
"Uhh, you mean Casey's sneaking out? And, well, in, too?"
"That's exactly what I mean."
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
Casey, throwing on a jacket and stuffing her wallet in her pocket, abandoned the cell phone on her bed.
She snuck over to Derek's room, opened the window, and dropped. A screeching pain reached her head, and her legs were sprawled in front of her in, thankfully, normal angles.
"Ow," she whispered, rubbing her head and trying to rid of the jarring ringing in her ears. Her shoulder felt warm, and a searing pain ran throughout her right shoulder blade. She ignored it, and began the trek to Sam's house.
It was cold, and the darkness seeped all around her. It would be harder to find Sam's than she originally thought. But she would make it. She had to make it.
An hour later, Casey still hadn't gotten to Sam's house. Derek had already called her cell fifty times at least, and he was almost positive she didn't have it with her.
"She didn't answer. Again." Derek said, hurling the phone against the wall in frustration.
"Dude, that's my cell phone!" Sam cried.
Derek evil-eyed him, daring him to complain more. Sam stared back.
A rock caused a crack in Sam's window. Sam grumbled. "You two are going to bring me into debt at this rate." Derek beat him to the window, and saw Casey shivering on the ground below.
"I'll bring her through the back. Stay here." Sam commanded, closing his bedroom door firmly behind him.
Derek, staring at the doorknob in nervous anticipation, played with the small car model of Sam's in order to keep calm.
And then the door burst open. Casey stared at him for a moment before she said, "I got lost."
And he abandoned the cobalt blue car for the girl that launched herself upon him, grabbing his jacket and pulling him into a feverish (albeit slightly sloppy) kiss.
One kiss soon became two, and so on and so forth; Sam watched this display of affection with discomfort, not wanting to interrupt the happy couple's tonsil hockey, but also not wanting to watch it. "I..uh…guys?" Sam called out meekly.
Derek separated his lips from Casey's long enough to utter, "Go watch TV or something, man."
"No, no, Sam." Casey said, pushing Derek away. "I'm sorry; that was rude."
"I…yeah. Sure." Sam said, shifting from one foot to the other, clearly disturbed by his ex girlfriend making out with her arch enemy and stepbrother.
She smoothed her shirt and ran her fingers through her hair. Derek sat by her side, clearly disgruntled by the interruption of his activities.
"So," Sam said, "Want to play a game?"
"Yeah," Derek began brightly, "It's called sending the best friend into the living room so the other best friend can make out."
"Der-ek!" Casey growled. "Be nice. It's not like Mom and George are being too welcoming right now. You're lucky you have somewhere to go."
"Yes, because I am the demon seed while you're the innocent keener that got sucked into my evil charm, right?" Derek muttered sarcastically.
"They didn't say that!"
"Then why was I the one who got sent away?"
"Because Em lives right next door and it was a bit too convenient? Not to mention, Em's a major gossip?"
"Your logic has no effect on me."
"Whatever, Derek. You're being rude and you know I'm right." Casey muttered, lapsing into a silence.
Sam, fully weirded out, and finally deciding that not-so-happy couple needed some alone time, announced, "I'm going to…do the laundry or something. Bye."
The door shut. Derek eyed Casey, and Casey pretended to not be aware of it.
"Why did you come?" He asked.
"I wanted to say I was sorry."
"Sorry?"
"For being mean to you before you left."
"Why would that bother me? I'm so used to your drama queen crap, I barely notice it anymore."
Casey evil-eyed him. "I'm trying to apologize, and you're being a butt."
Derek laughed. "Did you seriously just call me a butt?"
Casey looked at him, tipping her nose up into the air. "Yes, I did."
She took his hand into hers. "Derek," she said, eyes softening.
"No, no, no. Do not start with the waterworks."
She sniffled, "Don't you care what's happening?"
"Of course I do. But I still don't want to deal with your tears."
"You dealt with them just fine last night." She said, a solitary tear beginning its journey down her cheek.
Derek sighed, closed his eyes. "Casey. Please."
Her tears did not stop.
"Do you want me to hug you? Here," he pulled her into his arms, holding her, "Is that better?"
She couldn't swallow the lump in her throat. "The more you try to not make me cry, the more I will cry."
"Please, don't, Case. It's all…emotional and girly and…and…and…I hate that."
She sniffled. "Just hold me, you idiot."
"I am holding you."
She looked at him. "Yeah." She said softly, "Yeah, you are."
She smiled at this, and he placed a rough kiss on her forehead.
"You're still a butt, though," Casey said seriously.
Derek grinned. "Am I a sexy butt?"
"The sexiest."
"Good."
Sam, who had been perched outside the door the whole time, smiled. This wasn't as strange as he'd thought it was. They were strangely…perfect.