Under Their Skin (a Dasey, of course!)

Prologue: In the middle there was ... nothing

If you ask either of them who noticed first, who changed things, how things changed, they can't tell you. They've racked their brains, sifted through months and weeks and days of insignificant details, tiny lost moments in the middle of the bigger picture, little nails, insignificant but sharp, scratching the surface of everyday life, peeling back layers to the bone that lies beneath.

They've pondered the enormity of the actual moments when the changes were brought to their attention, in the hours, minutes, seconds of acknowledgement, terror, denial and acceptance. But no; still, nothing. They frown, uncertain what this failure of memory means. Neither Casey, so fiercely precise when it comes to the lives of others, nor Derek, so delighted by his certainty in himself – can tell you a single thing.

And if they could, would you really want to know? Does it matter how they changed from being selfcentred, uncharitable, rivals, some would say enemies, to being – well, not quite friends, nor sworn allies, their relationship edgy and bitter-sweet still, but for all that – a couple.

It matters? You want to hear it even though you've conjectured this eight hundred times already, replayed these scenes and sequences through with your friends, your family even, giggled and squirmed at other people's imaginings on this subject and lain awake in thrall to your own just wishing they'd make another show so you could finally please just get some sleep? You're young, so it can't be lost youth you're looking for. Your interest in their story is genuine, a kind of addiction, but innocent for all that. Like me, you're hooked by the uncertainty, the cautious warmth and the tantalizing glimpses of a near perfect but possibly forbidden romance? Okay, I'll have to tell you then. And to uncover more, you'll have to read on.