A/N: I HAVE NEVER MISSED WRITING SO MUCH! So here is some writing.

Chapter 8

ThirdPOV

Once dinner was over Nora and George decided to head back to the hotel. They were leaving in the morning and didn't want to be tired for their ride home.

Derek shut the door and inhaled a deep breath. "I told my dad he would have to call before surprising me from now on." Casey smiled as she sat on the sofa. Derek took a look at her and realized she was thinking. Her far off look told him as much. "Case?"

She slid her eyes over towards him. "My mom knows," she whispered.

"What?" He asked, his voice increasing a couple of notes.

Casey crossed her arms and glared at him. "She knew because of the guilty look on your face when they walked in."

Derek froze in his place near the sofa. "What did you tell her?"

Casey smiled a bit, "She didn't really give me a chance to say anything. All she said was that you couldn't help who you fell in love with."

Derek sat down next to her. "So… that was kind of like a blessing."

"Sort of, but George doesn't know." Casey threw her legs over Derek's and he pulled her closer.

Derek slid out her pony tail and combed his fingers through her hair. "Case?"

"Hmm?"

"Break is coming soon."

"Mmhmm."

"Case, I don't want to have to sneak around when we're there." Derek felt her stiffen underneath him. He gave her a moment to think.

Casey knew what Derek was asking her without having to ask her.

"You want to tell everyone while we're down there?" Casey asked.

She felt Derek nod his head. "I don't want to have to peek around the corner just to give you a goodnight kiss." Casey couldn't help but chuckle. "Hey," Derek pulled her chin up to meet his gaze. "I'm serious about this and I'm serious about you. The end."

His statement was firm and she didn't want to hide either. So she smiled, "Okay."

It wasn't until later that night back at her dorm room that Casey was realizing that Derek was way ahead of her in the confidence department of their relationship. She still had doubts. She loved him but that didn't mean she didn't have doubts as to their future.

Casey sighed and glanced over at Kennedy who was snoring like a dog and envied her. Casey never thought a future relationship and the man in that relationship would keep her up all night. She certainly never expected it to be Derek.

DASEY

Through finals, study sessions, hockey games Casey and Derek were beyond ready to begin holiday break. The only good part of the past couple of weeks was their pregame ritual. However, they were both mentally exhausted. Not only did Casey pull off a 4.0 grade point average but Derek pulled off a 3.4 (with Casey's help of course).

Casey was napping in her bed when Kennedy shook her awake.

"Casey? Don't you need to start packing?"

Casey groaned and flipped over on her side to get a better look at Kennedy. "Yeah, I'm just so tired. Chemistry is not my cup of tea. I pulled an all-nighter for that test. I'm just so glad it's over."

Kennedy smiled and continued on with her packing. "I'm glad you're getting a chance to rest. I would be going out of my mind if I was 'bringing a boy home with me'."

Casey froze at her statement. She had completely forgotten about Derek's wish to introduce themselves to the family as a couple. Kennedy noticed Casey's face.

"Oh Casey, did you forget?" Kennedy put down the clothes she was folding and sat next to her friend. "Casey, it's going to be okay. You already know your mom is okay with it and that's half the battle!"

Casey just sat there frozen in place. She could faintly hear Kennedy dialing Derek's number in the background. She wasn't sure how long she sat there but was startled when a hand came up to her face. Her eyes began to focus again and saw Derek kneeling before her.

"She's coming back," she heard Derek speak. "Will you give us a moment Kennedy?"

Casey heard her dorm room shut and Derek move to sit next to her. Her dorm room slowly came back into focus.

"Case? What's going on?" Derek snaked his arm around her waist and gave her a squeeze.

"I…uh… forgot we were telling our parents about us," Casey mumbled under her breath. She didn't want to disappoint Derek.

Much to her surprise Derek chuckled. "Well, I'm honestly surprised you haven't had a Casey freak out until now."

Casey fully snapped out of her gaze and punched Derek in the shoulder. Derek doubled over on his side and moaned. "Why must you be so violent woman?" Casey cracked a smile but not enough to put Derek at ease. She slipped back into her far off look. "So tell me. What are the voices in your head telling you?"

Case slid her eyes towards him and glared but answered. "I'm worried," she stated simply. "I'm worried that our family will be torn apart by this."

Derek nodded his head in confirmation. He too was worried about the same thing but he wanted Casey more. If it came down to it Derek would pick Casey. The thought scared him a little. He needed to put on a brave face for Casey though. He had planned for either scenario. However, knowing that they had Nora on their side was a huge relief to Derek.

Derek grabbed Casey by cheeks and forced her to smile. "Come on! You're acting like you don't know our family! Nora is happy. I'm pretty sure my dad is expecting it. I'm sure Edwin will either crack a joke or be stunned into silence. Smarti will probably not even care and go back to her fairy tale. And I'm sure Lizzie will come around."

His last statement wasn't what Casey had wanted to hear. "What do you mean Lizzie will come around?"

Derek shrugged. "She's the only one I'm actually worried about. I mean she's never really been my biggest fan. I blame you for that." Derek pointed accusingly. "All that let's ban together and hate the new family… But I'll take four out of five."

Casey frown only deepened. "Derek, please don't joke about that. She's the only sibling I have and I would be so very disappointed. I can't choose Derek…"

Derek blew out a long breath. "Casey, you're not going to have to make a choice. This is going to work out."

Casey studied Derek for a moment. Derek had always been cocky. But this Derek was more than that, he was confident. "How can you be so sure?" She asked.

Derek cracked a smirk. "Because if anyone deserves a happy ending its us. We got dealt a bad hand when our parents decided to marry and neither of us could do anything about it until we were out of the house. Even if you didn't feel "jealous" per say while I was dating those girls, I did feel it when you dated guys. There was always something off about our relationship. I sabotaged all your boyfriends on purpose. But you…"

Derek took Casey's hand and smiled a genuine smile. "You unconsciously sabotaged my dates as well. That's when I knew without a doubt that we'd make it. We would get our happy ending. We might have some rough patches ahead but we'll make it."

Casey was quiet before she smiled. "I am so writing that in my diary."

Derek's face turn to horror as he tickled Casey into submission.

With the van all packed Casey turned to Kennedy and embraced her.

"Call me," Kennedy said as she hugged her friend tight. When she pulled back from their hug she saw Casey's face and knew this trip had a 50/50 chance of either breaking Casey or making her the most happy. "I'm serious, Casey. Don't go get all lost in that head of yours."

Casey nodded, "But—"

"No," Kennedy shook her head. "No buts. Not this time. I may not have known you for very long but this is it. You two are it. And I know you think you're only 18 and too young to be having serious relationship thoughts, but who gives a crap?!" She paused to calm herself. "You have a guy that basically worships you, no matter what he says. You're so lucky. Most people wish they would have as much time as you with their soul mate. People would kill for one more day. You get as many as you want Casey, so don't waste them with stupid thoughts."

Casey hugged her friend again. "You better keep your phone on."

Kennedy laughed and basically shoved her friend into the van. They waved and Kennedy held her breath until they were out of sight. She sent a plea out into the universe to allow Casey her happy ending. Then she wished one for herself, because if someone was listening- well she couldn't be stupid.

DASEY

"So have you kept in touch with anyone from home?" Casey asked. She was bored. She didn't bring any books because she was tired of reading (textbooks). Her phone was charging due to using it during her finals. And Derek didn't have the music up loud enough to really listen to.

Derek shrugged. "Not really. I mean I talk to Sammy sometimes but he's having issues of his own. He's thinking about coming home and working full time. Money is rough right now. Other than him, I haven't spoken with anyone." Derek messed with the channels of the radio. "You?"

Casey shrugged. "Nope."

Derek frowned, sort of shocked she hadn't kept in touch with anyone. "Really?"

"Nope, I mean I think Emily stopped talking to me after the first week of college. She was hanging out with her sorority sisters and I found Kennedy and that was it. I never really planned to stay in touch with everyone. I wanted a new start."

Casey didn't take much offence to Emily's not calling. She knew deep down that they wouldn't really stay in touch after they both left for college. Casey tried texting, emailing, and the occasional phone call but Emily declined the calls and left her messages unanswered. She felt hurt in the beginning but when she and Kennedy started connecting she brushed it off.

Now here riding home with Derek, in a relationship with Derek… Casey wasn't really looking forward to seeing Emily again. She knew how she felt about Derek but was hoping she'd met someone nice at her college. Casey couldn't explain the feeling she had but she knew she was dreading seeing Emily.

"Do you have plans to meet up with Sam? Or anyone?" Casey asked.

"Eh, maybe if I see Sam, but not plans have been made." Derek knew he would run into Sam eventually but wasn't stressed about it. He knew he and Sam were still on good terms and that they could always find their way back to being friends. What Derek didn't realize, even when he figured out he loved Casey, that Casey would take Sam's place. It was scary to think that Derek had a best friend that was also his girlfriend. Realizing this only made Derek more determined to fight for Casey. He couldn't give up his best friend.

Casey didn't comment back but instead stared out the window at the passing scenery. Derek silently chuckled to himself. He knew and was glad that Casey had Kennedy. He knew that Casey would need two best friends… there was just too much Casey. He did silently hope that she considered him her other best friend.

An hour later they were pulling up to the house. They parked outside and no one moved.

A minute passes.

Two minutes pass.

"If we don't get out, they're gonna come out here." Derek says quietly.

Casey nods and they step out of the van. They quickly grab their luggage and head up the steps. They both sigh in relief when Nora meets them.

Casey smiles and gets a bit choked up as she sees her mom. "Hi, mom." She drops her things and neatly folds into her mom's embrace.

Derek gives Nora a wink and gathers Casey's bags to move into the house. Nora takes this opportunity to look at her daughter.

"So how are you?" She asks.

Casey shrugs. "I love him."

Nora is slightly taken aback, "Wow."

Before Casey can stop herself she lets out the plan. "We're going to tell everyone after dinner."

Nora doesn't say anything for a few moments. She takes another look at Casey. She's grown, healthy, no dark circles under her eyes, she's nervous…but content. "I think that's a good idea. Plus it'll give everyone some time to mull it over when they go to sleep."

Casey just nods and moves inside. She crosses her fingers and send yet another plea to whoever is listening— let them have this one.

A/N: I put notes (for future chapters) at the end of whatever I'm writing. I almost uploaded those. Awesome.