Previously:
Derek had heard enough, "Realize this! We will never to be a couple. Casey and I are dating. It didn't work out between us Emily, get over it. We would've made each other miserable. You know this." Emily just shook her head. Derek finally felt the stress he had been trying to keep at bay. It weighed him down with exhaustion. "Emily, listen. Casey will be my wife some day and you can be a part of our lives or not. The choice is completely up to you."
Derek left Emily standing beside the park bench. For now, he was done with her. Her fate as a friend he left up to Casey. He would let Casey choose whether she even wanted Emily in their lives or not.
DASEY
The next morning Derek awoke to the smell of pancakes, bacon, and eggs. He practically floated down stairs like in those old cartoons. It wasn't until he saw Lizzie sitting at the table that the previous day's events came crashing back to him. His smile was gone and so was his appetite. He Derek turned from the kitchen and headed into the living room. He grabbed the remote and began flipping through channels.
Edwin had joined him soon after he settled on an old hockey game. "How did it go?" Edwin asked.
Derek shrugged, "As best as it could have gone. She cried; told me that we were getting back together."
"Wait, Emily told you that you and her were getting back together?" Derek nodded. "Good thing you two split. She's obviously crazy."
Derek chuckled. He then realized that this might have been the first time he was truly grateful that he had Edwin as a brother. Derek knew he gave Edwin a hard time for most of his life. However, Derek also knew that having the support of his brother and sister in this relationship was a big boost. On the other side he knew how much it destroyed Casey for not having her sisters.
Derek cut his eyes towards Edwin who was watching the television. "Hey," he called. Edwin turned his head towards him. "Thanks… you know, for having our backs."
Edwin cracked a grin. "No problem. It was kind of obvious… or at least I thought so."
No more was said.
DASEY
Casey awoke the next morning with a great headache. The pounding in her head only intensified as she rose from the bed. She jumped in the shower and turned the water to extreme hot. She hoped the hot water would relax her muscles. She wasn't sure how long she had stood under the water but long enough for the water to turn chilly.
Casey moved in a haze. She got dressed in new pjs and braided her hair to the side. She had no desire to look pretty. She made her way downstairs in hopes of a tall glass of ice water, some Tylenol, and maybe some food. Casey halted in her tracks as she saw Lizzie eating breakfast at the table. She wasn't ready to confront her sister yet but no one else was around at the moment.
Casey grabbed a few pancakes and set them on her plate. Lizzie had yet to look up from her plate. Before she could even pour her syrup Lizzie decided to get up.
"Wait, Lizzie," Lizzie stopped but didn't turn to look at her sister. "We need to talk."
Lizzie still stood with her back turned. She made no move to look at Casey; all she did was nod. "Later," Lizzie whispered.
Casey's shoulders sank with relief. She was relieved that Lizzie didn't want to talk at that moment. Her head hurt too much and was too hungry to have a good conversation. "Okay," Casey whispered back. Lizzie left the kitchen and Casey was left to finish breakfast alone.
Once breakfast was over Casey went back up to her room. She had made headway with Lizzie but she wasn't ready to forgive Emily at the moment. Her words, she suspected, were said out of jealously. What really hurt the most was Casey second guessing Derek. Emily wasn't completely wrong about Derek not being a one woman guy. He was always looking for his next conquest; seeing if there was something better.
Casey knew she didn't want to spend the rest of her life second guessing him. She didn't want to spend her life double checking to see if he was checking someone else out.
DASEY
Derek knew Casey was avoiding him. He had heard her small conversation earlier with Lizzie. He had decided to stay out of it and give her some time. However, he was genuinely hurt when he didn't see her for the rest of the say.
He thought about what Emily had told her about him. Sure he was somewhat of a player during high school but not now. Not since he discovered he was of in love with Casey. However, he knew Casey and he knew she was over thinking all the things Emily had said to her. He decided to do something a bit drastic. He decided to call someone who had always been on their side. Someone who had gotten to know Casey very well, almost as well as himself.
He dialed in reinforcements. He called Kennedy.
A couple of hours away Kennedy heard her ring tone for Derek's number. Carry on my wayward son… there'll be peace when you are done… lay your wary head to rest… don't you cry no more…
Kennedy thought it was a very fitting song for Derek. He suffered in silence just as Dean did from Supernatural. He had held his love in silence for Casey for her own good. He did what was best for her by not interacting with her as she found herself at college. Derek was pretty much Dean… just not in a chosen by God form.
"It's about damn time!" She yelled into the phone. "I have been patiently waiting for some sort of communication. I think I could've come into contact with aliens while waiting on you guys."
It was true. Derek had asked Kennedy to give Casey and him some time to adjust. He wanted to tell his family about their relationship according to their plan. He didn't want anyone compromising their thought process. It wasn't that Derek thought that Kennedy would sabotage them… he just wanted Casey and himself to plan this out.
"We have a situation," Derek sighed into the phone. Derek went on for about twenty minutes explaining what all had happened in the last couple of days.
Kennedy could've punched someone. Both Derek and she had made great headway with Casey. Kennedy would've never had guessed Lizzie to be so cruel.
"What the hell, Derek? Where is she now?" Kennedy sat up from sofa, threw her book on the ground and began pacing.
"She's been avoiding me all day. She had a small conversation with Lizzie this morning— just asking if they could talk. Lizzie said they could talk later," Derek aimlessly ran a hand through his hair. He could feel a headache coming on. "I haven't seen Casey since then— I'm not even sure if she's eaten at all today."
Kennedy was even more worried. "I think the best course of action is to let her come to you—"
"But—" Derek tried to interrupt.
"No!" Kennedy snapped. She knew Casey well enough to know that all she was thinking about were her sister and Emily's words. She would obsess over them. Replay the words over and over… especially her sisters. Kennedy was even willing to guess that Casey would put off thinking about Emily until her sister was sorted out.
Kennedy also knew (by his reaction alone) that Derek was extremely upset. Upset at the fact that Casey wasn't reaching out to him. And by Casey's reaction to Derek after Lizzie's comments Kennedy wasn't sure how long it would take for Casey to communicate with him again.
"Derek, you know how Casey is. You're going to have to give her some time to work this out. She's can't have you hovering over her all this time." Kennedy calmed her voice and tried to reason with Derek. Her heart was breaking for both of them. "I know you're hurting right now, but you're going to have to put your own feelings aside. I know you've done it for a long time already but hopefully this will be the last time."
Derek didn't want to see reason. He wanted Casey not to care if Lizzie approved or if Emily bad mouthed them. He wanted her to love him so much that it didn't mean jack what other people said… But then again, that wouldn't be Casey. One of the best parts of Casey was that she took other people's feelings into consideration. That fact still didn't help Derek swallow the terrible feeling that she was pulling away from him… from them as a couple.
He wasn't ready to give up nor was he ready to just leave her alone. On the other hand, it greatly annoyed him that Kennedy was right. Casey would only be thinking about her sister.
"Yeah," Derek finally responded, his voice barely above a whisper. "Do you think it would help if you called her?"
Kennedy thought about it for a moment. She was pretty much in the same spot as Derek. Kennedy didn't want to interfere with Casey's process. "No, I think I'll sit this one out. If she does call me I'll speak with her. But she'll know we've talked if I call her now."
Derek could only nod in agreement. "Okay. I guess we'll see what happens."
"Yeah," Kennedy agreed. "Keep me updated."
DASEY
Casey asked her mom if she could bring up food to her room. She wanted to devise a plan for talking with Lizzie. Casey knew that she couldn't simply ask her sister why she had said such awful things. Casey also wanted to avoid Derek for a bit. She couldn't face him. The look of lost and hurt on his face was too painful for Casey to look at. She knew he was hurting a great deal but she had to shove those feelings to the side.
That afternoon Casey's mom informed her that Lizzie had decided to stay after school for a bit. The younger children were still in school for another week. Casey huffed with frustration. She knew Lizzie was trying to avoid their conversation.
Two hours after Lizzie was supposed to be out of school she finally arrived home. Casey's heart was pounding in her chest. She was aggravated at first that Lizzie was late, now she herself was so nervous that she too wanted to avoid her.
Casey took a deep breath and looked over her notes. She felt like she could puke at any moment. Casey walked down the hallway to Lizzie's room and knocked three times.
"Come in," Lizzie answered. Casey opened the door and saw Lizzie lying on her bed face down.
"Hey," Casey called.
Lizzie quickly flipped around and sat up on her bed. "Hey," she said back.
"Can I come in?" Casey had yet to actually enter her sister's room.
Lizzie thought about it for a moment, "Sure."
Casey grabbed her sister's desk chair and sat beside her bed. "We need to talk." Lizzie only nodded. Casey knew that Lizzie was going to be tough to crack. She knew that she wasn't going to speak unless Casey asked her too. "Why are you upset that Derek and I are dating?"
Lizzie sighed, "I'm not that upset."
Casey tried to hold back her tears. She wanted to scream at Lizzie then why would you say such things? Casey held herself back, "But you're still a little bit upset."
"I'm so sorry, Casey," Lizzie whispered. Casey held her breath. Lizzie's eyes started to water. "I didn't mean anything that I said."
Casey jumped from her chair and hugged her sister. "You have to tell me what's going on or I can't fix it."
Lizzie tried to control her crying. "I didn't mean any of it. I was so worried about you two! You guys left for college and barely talked with anyone! You didn't call! I got jealous!"
Casey instantly felt the guilt. She admittedly wanted to cut off communication with her family. She wanted to stand on her own two feet. Casey had planned to call and visit after the first month but then whole Derek thing came into play. Needless to say that Derek took up a lot of her time… well, him and studying.
"I'm so sorry Lizzie. I was so busy wanting to be independent that I left you behind. I swear I didn't mean to. I just wanted to show everyone that I could be independent and not have to rely on the family or Derek… I guess my plan backfired."
Lizzie laughed as she wiped her tears away. "Yeah, I knew you guys were weird but not that weird."
Casey laughed whole heartedly. "But I've been a horrible sister, Liz. I should've visited more and called more. I won't make the mistake again."
Lizzie nodded. She quietly stared at her hands, thinking. "I got so mad, Casey. We didn't hear from you and then you come home and say you're dating Derek… It was a lot to take in. It was like he already took you away during college and he wants to take you away permanently."
"Well…" Casey thought for a moment and then smiled as she almost laughed at her own cleverness. "I guess it's a good thing we have the same family."
Lizzie busted out laughing and Casey soon followed.
"Too soon!" Lizzie shouted as she wiped away her now happy tears.
The girls continued to talk, laugh and exchange stories. Both Casey and Lizzie were beyond happy to have their sister back.
DASEY
Derek had heard them laughing all the way downstairs. His heart stupidly fluttered as he heard them. Hopefully that laughter meant that they worked things out and that there was still hope. He hated waiting for Casey to come to him. He wanted to see her. He wanted to talk to her. He wanted to just be with her.
"Derek," Nora called from the kitchen.
He huffed in his frustration, wanting to wallow in his misery. "Yeah?" He answered back.
"Come help me in the kitchen," she called back.
Derek huffed again but got up. When he walked into the kitchen he saw Nora stirring her famous chili. Chili was definitely Derek's weakness. He knew Nora was just trying to make him feel better.
His suspicions were confirmed when she held out a big spoon for him to taste. He couldn't help but smile and take a bite. It was perfect… as he knew it would be.
"Perfect," he said. Nora laughed and gave him another bite.
"I was sort of listening to their conversation up there…." Nora waived her hands aimlessly. Derek stopped cold. Derek waited for Nora to continue. "Casey basically asked her Lizzie what was wrong. Turns out Lizzie was a bit jealous and thought you were trying to take her sister away."
Derek could see where Lizzie was coming from but he thought she was old enough to realize that they would never leave her behind. Derek knew he should not have assumed that Lizzie would understand. Jealousy could do crazy things to people.