SHOUT OUTS/ANSWERS

Dark-Supernatural-Angel: Yep. Well, read on and see. For the time being, yes.

BigTimeGleekBTR: Thanks. Glad you liked it. Sorry it's not soon enough.

DISCLAIMER

Life With Derek belongs to Canadian Television and Disney. Vampire Diaries belongs to L.J. Smith and the CW.

If one were to walk into Sir John Sparrow Thompson High that evening, they would see kids getting into their caps and gowns, talking with their peers excitedly. To any parent who walked in, it would appear to be the same thing they gone through once: getting ready for graduation and trying not to let their nerves get the best of them. However, there was one student among them that didn't seem nervous at all: Casey MacDonald. In the ladies' room, she listened to Emily and Kendra chatting away and smiled. She couldn't blame them for being excited and nervous. For them, this was all fresh and new. But for her, it was old hat.

"I can't believe you and Rose are moving," Emily complained.

"Yeah, well, although there have been some good times, this place holds a lot of bad memories. It just doesn't feel like home anymore," Kendra replied. Casey flashed her friend a sympathetic smile.

"Where will you guys go?" the vampire wondered.

"She's still stuck between New York and Chicago," came the response and Casey chuckled.

"Her two most favorite places in the world," she commented. Emily and Kendra turned to their friend. "So, what about Derek?" she asked.

"We talked about it and we're going to try a long-distance relationship," came the answer.

"How are you not nervous by the way?" Emily wondered.

"You forget, I've done this plenty of times," Casey responded and the girls chuckled.

"Right. Of course," Emily said. Wow. I can't believe that I forgot that Casey's a vampire, she thought to herself. She was just so used to them all hanging out. The girls continued to get ready as Derek and Sam were talking in the men's room.

"So, it's a go?" Derek questioned.

"Yeah, I took my wrist cuff off last night and I left it off this morning. I'm not sure how long Casey needs to wait before the vervain's out of my system so that she'll be able to turn me," Sam replied in a tone only Derek could hear.

"I'm gonna miss you a lot, man," Derek admitted.

"Yeah, I'm gonna miss you too," Sam replied. "But honestly, I can't wait. It's gonna be good," he continued. "So, what about you and Kendra?" he wondered.

"We're going to try the long-distance thing. I think it'll be okay, I mean, who else can put up with me?"

"Well, that's true." They laughed. Hours later, everyone lined up for graduation. Casey grinned as she stared at her friends. This is awesome! I'll get to leave soon! she thought to herself. It'd be nice to be able to be herself again. It'd be good. She couldn't wait to be graduated. She'd be able to be with her brothers again. It'd be good. Plus, she could tell that some of the neighbors had started to get suspicious of the fact that she still looked like she was fifteen. And as much as she loved this place, she had no desire to bring any trouble to her descendant. One-by-one, their names were called, the kids walked across the stage. In the audience, Stefan, Damon, Rose, Katherine, Lexie, Pearl, and Anna shared a knowing look. They could hear everything that was going on. They refocused their attention on the student. When Casey's name was finally called, she walked across the stage and no one's cheers and claps were louder than Stefan and Damon's. Casey laughed and waved to them. This is great! I love that they're here! she thought to herself. However, she said nothing as Principal Lassiter continued to talk. Finally, everyone's names were called and the class was presented to the audience. Minutes later, the entire senior class was milling about. Damon wrapped Casey in a hug as Sam hung back.

"I'm so proud of you," he murmured, causing her to laugh.

"You say that every time I graduate," she teased.

"That's because I always am," he responded. He then looked to Sam. "So how about it, kid? Ready to join us?"

"She told you?"

"She tells us everything."

"Yeah, I'm ready to join you."

"Great."

"So, I was wondering, what's the cover story going to be?" Sam wondered in a soft tone.

"Car crash. I think that would be the simplest explanation," Casey answered.

"That makes sense," Sam responded. "Let me say goodbye."

"Of course." They watched as the boy walked over to his family.

"Hey," they heard his parents greet him as they gave him a hug.

"Hey guys," he answered.

"Congratulations, honey."

"Thanks, Mom." Sam's parents looked at him with some concern. He seemed to be pensive.

"Is everything all right honey?" Mrs. Richards asked.

"Yeah, Mom. Everything's fine. I guess it's just all sinking in," he replied and she nodded in understanding. She had felt the same way when she had graduated. "I love you guys. Thanks for supporting me and encouraging me when I wanted to give up." His parents glanced at each other and then hugged their son again. They weren't sure why he was being so pensive, but they wouldn't press it. Presently, Damon, Stefan, and Casey came up to them.

"Hello, Casey," Melody acknowledged.

"Hey Mrs. Richards," Casey said. "Um, listen, do you mind if Sam went with the three of us to get some ice cream? My parents said it was okay," she requested.

"Oh, honey. I don't know," Melody stated, looking at Stefan and Damon with uncertainty.

"I'm Damon Salvatore and this is my brother Stefan. We're friends of Nora's," Damon introduced himself and pointed to his brother. "We came here for Casey's graduation. Nora's known our whole lives. If you want, you can talk to her," he continued. Sam's parents looked at each other and seemed to have a silent conversation with one another.

"Go on. It's just ice cream, right?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Then go and have a good time." With that, they all walked out of the school and to the van Damon had been driving where Sam and Casey got in the backseat, not even bothering to put on their seatbelts.

"I noticed you're not wearing your wrist cuff."

"Nope. Didn't even wear it last night. How long does it take for the vervain to wear off?"

"You should be good." Casey leaned over and kissed Sam on the lips passionately. He moaned and arched back into the seat as he wrapped his hands around her, letting them roam.

"This is okay, right?" he asked in between kisses.

"Of course," she assured him. Stefan and Damon glanced at each other, sharing a smile. Their little sister had it bad. Sam began to moan lustfully. With her fangs, Casey tore into her wrist, causing blood to flow and Sam's eyes became transfixed. Her blood was…beautiful…he leaned forward and started drinking eagerly. Casey let out a bliss-filled sigh as Sam drank from her. She couldn't wait until he was a vampire and they'd be together forever.

"So, how do you want me to kill you, baby?" she queried. He let out another swallow and looked up at her.

"I can choose?" he questioned.

"Of course," she replied.

"Something quick please," he requested.

"I can snap your neck. It's quick and relatively painless," she told him.

"That works," he agreed. Casey leaned forward and kissed him passionately, as she placed her hands on his neck. Sam moaned in delight. Her hands felt so cool. As they kissed, Casey tightened her grip on Sam's neck and the deftly twisted it. Seeing this, Damon pulled out his cell phone and dialed Nora. After a few rings, the woman picked up.

"Hello?" she asked.

"Casey's turned Sam. We're going to say he was killed in a car accident. Would you mind telling his parents?" Damon requested.

"Of course," Nora responded. Damon then hung up and the woman sighed. Oh, this is going to be hard, she thought to herself. She'd have to lie to a mother and tell her that her son was dead, when in fact he wasn't. But the other woman had no idea that vampires even existed. She started to breathe shakily as if she had gotten bad news and walked up to Sam's parents.

"Nora, what is it? What's wrong?" Melody questioned. Something happened to the kids. But what? she wondered as she instinctively leaned into her husband, Roger.

"That was-that was-" Nora started to say.

"Take a deep breath, Nora," Roger interjected gently and the woman did as she was told. "Now, start again. Tell us what happened." Nora took another shaky breath.

"The kids-there's been an accident…" Melody gasped and clutched Roger.

"No," she stated in a choked up voice. Not Sam. Not my baby, she thought to herself. This was supposed to be a night of happiness, not grief. This couldn't be happening.

"They-they-didn't-" Nora continued.

"Wh-where were they taken?" Roger asked, trying to control his own voice. Be strong. Be strong for them, he thought to himself. It was obvious that Nora was barely keeping it together and Melody was clutching him to keep from falling.

"I-I-I heard that they had a-a really hard time-identifying-" Nora cut herself off.

"They were that bad off?" Roger asked and she nodded.

"I-I-Casey," Nora said and started crying. Meanwhile, noticing the commotion, George and the rest of the MacDonald/Venturi clan walked up to them, giving the trio confused looks. In a quiet tone, Roger told them what had happened. Now? They chose to do it now? Derek wondered as he gasped as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing. Back in the van, Casey went to the back of the van, where a small refrigerator was.

"Good thinking. When he wakes up, he's going to need blood," Damon approved as she opened the refrigerator. Casey took out a small pile of blood packets and then blurred back to Sam just as he awoke.

"Hey, baby. Got you some food," she stated, opening up one of the packets. She then handed it to him and he drank eagerly. "Easy, baby. First thing you've gotta learn is control," she told him. Then, she proceeded to teach him how to savor and make the blood last as Damon continued driving.

THE END