AN: I don't own LWD

#63 Tattoo

Casey was always a prepared girl. She always had a specific plan and made sure to follow it. She was a girl who never did anything spontaneous, she always played it safe and was completely okay with that. It took a while for Derek to get her to loosen up a bit, relax and do fun stuff once in a while. With Derek she felt free to be anything, she loved opening herself up with him, but remained true to herself.

Then it happened. It was a dark stormy night, thunder raged, lightning flashed, and the rain came down in thick drops, blinding anyone who dared to go outside. Derek was driving home from a day conference in the city. Casey was at home, just watching TV and viewing the storm.

The storm seemed to be intensifying, so she called Derek. He said that the meeting was just finishing up and he was about to head home. Casey had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. She begged Derek to stay up there in the city, book a hotel room for the night, that he shouldn't be out driving in this storm. But Derek being Derek was stubborn and too prideful to admit that maybe he couldn't drive in the storm. He told Casey not to worry and that he would see her soon.

That was the last time Casey ever heard his voice, talked to him on the phone, the last time they exchanged, "I love you".

Casey got a phone call three hours later. As the speaker talked to Casey, her world went numb. Suddenly she was on autopilot; she ran to her car and zoomed off to the hospital. She parked the car and ran up to the ICU. She told her name and whom she was there for, and a doctor soon came to speak with her. The news was not good; the crash had been a devastating one. She was allowed to go in and see him, but when she got there she barely recognized him. His face was swollen, bruises, and cuts, all over his face. His left eye was swollen shut and he was on life support.

The funeral and wake happened soon after the inevitable. Casey felt numb and deaf to the world. The only thing that kept her real was the tears that didn't leave her face.

Weeks turned to months, and Casey still wasn't back to herself. She felt empty and lonely, Derek was her soulmate, her perfect match, her love, and without him she felt incomplete.

Casey was searching on the web for ideas on easing grief, anything to feel just a little bit better. Then she saw something, "Get a permanent memory: Tattoos." it sparked her interest and she immediately called the tattoo parlor.

The next day she found herself at the parlor, which was covered in purple and black paint, with eccentric art hanging on the walls. Clients and staff covered in tattoos and piercings, all giving her confused looks as she took a seat in the waiting room. If this had been a couple of months ago, Casey would have been surprised herself; a tattoo was something no one ever expected Casey to get.

A few minutes later, Casey was called in the room.

Casey returned home to her apartment a few hours later, a little sore from the tattoo. Before even getting the tattoo, Casey had done extensive research on them, especially after care. She kept the bandage on the recommended time period and took the best care of it.

A few days later Casey finally unwrapped the bandage, while standing in front of her full length mirror. As she pulled off the wrapping, she finally looked at the final product. The tattoo was a small one on the left side of her upper ribcage, close to her heart. She had Derek written in small black cursive, with two hockey sticks surrounding his name. She ran her fingers over his name, the ink smoothly set in her skin. "Der, I miss you so much." She whispered aloud.

Casey was never one for doing crazy things, or doing things that clashed with her reputation as the plain, by the rules girl. That is until she started dating Derek; he loved her for who she was, but always pushed her to change it up sometimes. She never thought she would lose him like she did. The tattoo couldn't erase the grief or loss she felt, nothing would, but doing something so Derek-like made her feel just a little bit better.