5"So if your ever lost and find yourself all alone
I'd search forever just to bring you home," – Nickelback
"I just… need some time to think."
"Okay then. Well I don't."
Those two sentences kept echoing around Casey's head. She didn't know how long she stood there, gazing at the spot where her (now ex)boyfriend once stood, celebrating their school's victory. All around her, people were clearing out of the hallway to go out to parties, go have fun, enjoy life. But for Casey McDonald, life had come to a standstill.
She had lost her boyfriend, her identity, her space on the debate team, her ballet classes, her ability to write poetically… Going even further back, she had lost some degree of influence over her younger sister who now had another older stepsibling to go to, she had lost her father through divorce, and her mother's full attention through her new marriage… she lost her old home, her old private school, her old friends…
Casey didn't know how long she stood there, counting her losses, wondering if she'd ever be the strong, thoughtful, independent, intelligent and poetic feminist she once was.
She might have stayed rooted to that spot in the hallway all night if it hadn't been for one familiar face swimming into her view.
"Need a ride?" Derek Venturi asked as he leaned casually against a locker, "You're supposed be at that party. Emily's been looking for you."
Casey just stared at him, her eyes still filled with tears that refused to drop.
She knew he should be out partying with the rest of Thompson High.
"You okay?"
She knew he had to be sensitive this week or pay George over $50 for his insensitive insults.
"I'll take that silence as a 'No,'"
She knew he knew she had just broken up with Max, an attractive quarterback who had raised her social status and made her finally feel accepted at her new school.
"So uh, what happened?"
She knew he didn't just randomly show up in a hall that would empty if she hadn't been standing there and she knew that Emily was too caught up in the Bulldog's victory to notice if she wasn't at the party.
"Helloooo," He waved a hand in front of her face.
She knew he came for her.
Without even thinking, Casey moved forward for the first time and wrapped her arms around him, burying her face in his shoulder. Derek tensed up for a bit and for a moment Casey feared he'd push her off. But today he was Sensitive-Derek so he reluctantly put an arm around her and tried his hardest not to scoff.
She was surprised at how comforting it was to hug Derek. He felt warm compared to the drafty hallway air and he smelled nicer than usual. He felt like home.
"C'mon, Case," Derek half-pleaded as he awkwardly patted her back.
Casey knew Derek wasn't used to this and hated tears, but he was the only person she could go to. And after all, it was his advice that got her into this mess.
"I didn't mean to break up with him!" Casey blurted into his shoulder as her tears finally escaped her eyes.
"Umm… what?"
"I didn't want to break up with him," Casey mumbled still refusing to let go of Derek, "I only wanted a break. He didn't understand. I just wanted to find my identity and hold onto it while still seeing him. I wanted to stay in his world. I just wanted my own world back, too. And now I don't have Max, I don't have myself back, I don't have anything!"
Derek tightened his hold on Casey for a second while he suppressed the urge to tell her that her school ID was in her locker.
"Casey, did you ever think that maybe if a guy can't deal with one of your crazy-Casey-crisis's, then he might not be the best guy to go out with?"
Casey finally pulled back to look at Derek. "I… didn't think of that," she said softly, starting to feel stupid for her emotional outburst. But for once, Derek wasn't making fun of her (Only because he can't, Casey reminded herself).
"Sooo…" Derek began, trying to pretend the last few minutes never happened, "Wanna go to that party now?"
Casey laughed slightly and shook her head. Leave it to Derek to think of parties as the solution to everything.
"Can you just drop me off at home?" she asked.
He nodded as they finally began to walk to the exit, Derek's arm still wrapped around her shoulder.
As Derek removed his arm from her shoulder to open the door, Casey knew that once they stepped out that door, it would be as though the past few minutes had never happened.
"Hey, Der," he turned to look at her with his hand on the doorknob, "Thanks. For everything."
He opened the door and shrugged, "Don't mention it. Ever."
Casey smiled and rolled her eyes as they walked to The Prince.
After dropping Casey off, Derek headed for the biggest party of the year. However, he was no longer in the mood for celebrating the Bulldogs victory. No matter who he found himself surrounded by, he couldn't help but want to talk about how Max broke up with Casey. It didn't help that Max himself was only a few feet away from him, chatting it up with some other girl, ignoring all questions about where his girlfriend was. No one but Casey could make him want to talk at a party instead of dance. He knew he wouldn't have left the party in the first place for anyone but Casey.
It's all because of stupid sensitivity,Derek thought furiously. He normally didn't do feelings. It had to be because of his recent bet with his dad that he suddenly cared about Casey and her feelings. Yeah, it was all his dad's fault. And he'd make sure to blame it all on him before word got out that he responded sensitively to Casey.
When Casey walked into the living room, she overheard her mom and George discussing Sensitive-Derek and how George couldn't afford to lose their bet. Casey smiled and began to formulate a plan to get Sensitive-Derek back to his normal, insulting, insensitive self...
Casey was barely halfway through the worst poem she had ever written before Derek cracked. And truthfully, she had never been so happy to have Derek insult her.
It meant that the world was not coming to an end—Casey may have changed beyond recognition, but Derek hadn't. No matter how long it may take Casey to find herself again, Derek was always just going to be Derek. He was the one person she could count on to be consistent—consistently annoying, maybe, but she knew it was still something she could count on. And she knew he'd always come for her when she needed him.