Izzie's POV

I didn't even notice that the sunlight had already started to stream through the window, or the fact that Erika had just entered my house through the unlocked door.

I didn't bother locking it after Casey left.

I was still on the floor, mascara running down my cheeks as I stared blankly into space. The wine bottle on my kitchen counter looked very inviting but I hated anything to do with alcohol right now. I especially hated the alcohol that was in Casey's system. The alcohol that made her think it was okay to just come over for her own desires.

Gretchen's words kept replaying in my head.

"And you would be hella dumb to not leave before she does the same thing to you."

But how could I possibly leave? How could I leave after the way she looked at me when we held each other at the beach? How could I leave when I know we had something before. There's a reason we're here together again.

Was I in love with Casey or just in denial? Maybe a little bit of both.

When Erika saw me on the ground, she came to the same level as me, no words spoken. She frowned at the sight of my swollen eyes and quivering lips as she took my face into her hands. "Are you okay?" She whispered and I refused to look at her.

"That was a dumb question. You're obviously not okay," She continued, chuckling softly.

"Casey came here last night," I finally said, my voice shaking. "What happened? Did you guys get into a fight?"

"No... no we didn't."

Her hands moved to mine and she held them tightly to reassure me. At that moment, my phone started to ring and we looked towards it to see that it was Casey.

My lips started to quiver more and when Erika noticed this, she turned off my phone. "You just tell me when you're ready," She said with a smile.

"We had sex..."

"And... it was bad?"

"No... it was so good. I hate that it was so good. I hate that it happened..."

"Izzie, what happened?"

"She was drunk. She came over drunk and... she just got on her knees and... in my head I wanted her to stop but I just... I couldn't push her away. Because it felt so good. And even though she was drunk, she was still so gentle with me. But after that she just left. She fucked me and then left!"

Erika pulled me into a hug and I sighed, trying to control the tears that were flowing again.

Right when she opened her mouth to speak, we heard a knock on the door before it opened. My eyes widened at the sight of Casey who looked at us in shock.

"What happened? Izzie are you okay?" She asked, bending down next to me and I scooted away from her. "I'm fine. You should go," I said, looking at the floor while Casey looked at Erika who simply shrugged.

"Did I do something?" She asked and I pursed my lips so I wouldn't cry.

"Where were you last night?" I asked, looking at her. Erika stroked my palm reassuringly before getting up. She gave me a small nod before leaving the house.

"What do you mean? I was just-"

"Where were you last night?"

She now looked confused and concerned. "Honestly Izzie I don't really know. I woke up with a killer headache and I think I got drunk yesterday."

"Where were you when you got drunk?" I asked, my voice now louder and her face tensed up. "I was... I was at home..."

"So you don't remember anything from last night?!" I yelled at her, now getting up.

"Izzie I was drunk-"

"Ok then let me tell you what happened," I cut her off as she stood up.

She had a worried look on her face as she waited for me to stop crying.

"You came to my house late last night, piss drunk, and then you fucked the shit out of me, and then left like it meant nothing."

She stood rooted to the ground and it was hard to read her expression.

"Was what Gretchen said true? That you only want me for sex?" I asked, walking closer to her as a tear trickled down her cheek.

"Izzie no... I promise that's not it..."

"Get out."

"Izzie please... I'm sorry..."

"Sorry's not gonna cut it."

"IZZIE PLEASE!"

She tried to take my face into her hands but I pushed her away. "Don't even try. Just leave Casey, please."

"Izzie I can explain."

"Let's hear it then."

"I'm scared, okay?"

I didn't reply as I allowed her to continue. "You scare the fuck out of me," She said and I furrowed my eyebrows. "What the hell does that mean?"

"Because we had something. We had something in another life. Do you not see how scary that is?"

"I thought you didn't want to think about that."

"It's hard to ignore. And... if we didn't make it together in that life then I'm terrified we're not gonna make it together in this life. And right now... I'm falling in love with you so hard. And it's so confusing and I just don't know how to do it. And when I took a sip of that alcohol last night you were the only one on my mind. I kept thinking about how much I love you... and how much I cannot mess us up in this life."

"You don't know that you messed us up. We don't know what happened."

"And that's what's scary. I thought... I just thought if I got drunk I could just forget about all this and pretend that there isn't that lurking thought of what we used to have. But I couldn't stop thinking about you. And things escalated and..."

She finally looked at me.

"Izzie I'm so sorry. You don't deserve that. I fucking hate myself right now. But I promise... I'm fighting for us."

She took my face in her hands. "I'm not letting anything take us away from each other."

"You promise?" My voice shook.

"I promise."

She placed her forehead on mine and held my hand.

We wanted to try again so we closed our eyes.

"I'm Izzie Taylor. Born in Santa Clarita. I want to go back to the age of 16..." I whispered and I saw some images flash across my eyes.

"I'm Casey Gardner. Born in Santa Clarita. I want to go back to the age of 16..."

"I see the stars, I see a 711, I see... a school?" I said, confused about the new image I was seeing.

"Same... same I see a school too. There's like... people in weird uniforms."

"With ties and stuff..."

"Izzie I see... myself in a car... watching the moon."

"I... I don't see that I just... wait... yeah, yeah I see it too."

"I see an old house..." Her voice started to shake.

"Casey... I see Mr Taylor... Casey..." I was starting to cry. It was messing with my head so much so Casey held onto my hands tighter.

"Izzie... I see you..."

My sobs got louder at those words and I let go of her hands so that I could bring her face closer to mine instead.

"Izzie you're beautiful."

"Come on, come on, come on," I muttered to myself, racking my brain to see an image of Casey and I cried even louder because I was desperate at this point.

"Oh my God, Casey I see you. You're running. It's like... a track competition or something..."

The impact was so much that we were both forced to open our eyes.

The moment our eyes met again, I jumped on Casey and she lifted me up. I ran my hands all over her face and body as everything started to come back.

She's standing in front of me. My Casey Gardner.

Not everything was clear just yet but she was so clear. Her face was so clear. And I was so clearly in love with her.

She sank onto the floor, bringing me with her as she held me close.

She refused to let me go.