I was on my way to Clayton to pick Izzie up. My heart was going a million times a minute. When I saw Clayton approaching, I heaved out a strong breath to calm myself down. "Casey Gardner," Izzie greeted, getting into the car. "How are you beautiful?" I asked as she leaned in for a kiss. "Good. Missed you though. I have so much to tell you. Quinn nearly poured acid in Mr Jarvis's pants!" She laughed and I snickered. I was feeling left out the entire day because I was dying not being at school and knowing what was going on. "What did you wanna talk about?" She asked and I cleared my throat. "I'm bringing you to get slushees. Then we'll talk," I said and she smiled. It hurt how she was so cheery and I felt absolutely guilty, knowing that I was about to ruin that. The rest of the ride, we talked about random things before we finally got to the 711.

    I walked back to the car with two slurpees in my hands and a packet of Twizzlers before getting into the car. "Newton you know me so well," She said, snatching the Twizzlers out of my hands. She took a sip from the slurpee and closed her eyes, savouring the taste. "If Crowley finds out we're eating junk we're dead," She said. "Anyways what did you wanna talk about?"

    I wanted to spill out everything but no words came out of my mouth. I was guilty. I knew what I did was wrong. But she has to see my side on this right? "Ummm... it's about your dad," I started, looking down. "Alright what about him?" She asked calmly, chewing on a Twizzler. I was half-shocked that she replied so quickly and seemed unbothered to talk about him. She probably noticed the surprise on my face. "I know it's not easy for you too. So I'm willing to be open about him if it makes you feel better," She said, twirling my hair between her fingers and I felt goosebumps when she smiled at me. "No I'm not... asking about him. I have to tell you something... about him... about us..."

    Now she was confused. "What does that mean?"

    "Last night... I just had to go see him..." I muttered.

    Silence overcame us for what felt like years but I was too scared to look at her. Eventually I felt her soft hand take mine. "Hey? You're good. Continue," She whispered.

    How is this girl not mad at me yet? I fucked up so bad and she's still holding my hand? I am so damn lucky.

    "I met him at Stewart Constructions... I made a deal with him so that I could have you forever... then he offered a different deal..."

    I tightened my grip on her hands because I was scared she would let go. I reached over and kissed her, my hand on the side of her neck. She was surprised, of course, but started to kiss back. It was the only way to calm me down. The only way to make me strong enough to tell her everything. "What deal did he offer?" She asked.

    "He... gave me a job... in exchange for his approval..." I choked out as the tears welled in my eyes.

    Silence.

    "I'm sorry Iz. It felt like the only way."

    "It's not though. There are a million other ways."

    "Like what?"

    "Secret relationship? Long-distance if he made me move? Me moving out of my place completely? A million fucking ways Gardner."

    Silence.

    "What job is it?"

    "Personal assistant..."

    "Wow. Thanks for choosing him over me." She got out of the car.

    "Izzie wait!" I exclaimed, leaving the car and saw her walking away. "How are you gonna get home?" I asked and she stopped. "I'll get a cab," She said, taking out her phone. "Come on just let me drive you home at least." She turned around and walked towards me. "I don't want to be with you right now," She muttered. My heart ached. She always wants to be around me. "Can we just talk about this?" I pleaded.

    "What the fuck is there to talk about. You took a job with my dad. The guy that abandoned me all those years ago. Try giving me an excuse Casey!" She yelled. "I did it for us," I whispered, putting my hands on her cheeks before she pushed them away. "No you didn't. You did it for yourself. Personal assistant to the CEO of Stewart Constructions just sounded like a great opportunity for you. If you were thinking about me when he offered you the job you never would have taken it." She was now crying.

    At this point, there was nothing I could possibly say to make this better. So when her cab came I let her go. Before she got in, she turned around to look at me again.

    "You're exactly like my dad."

    That night was the longest night of my life. I spent some of it crying and the rest of it just staring into space because I was already so numb. The only time I left my room was when Elsa called me down for dinner. "Your dad's here," She said simply before closing the door. Oh great, more bullshit to get through.

    When I went down, I saw Dad at the table and his face brightened when he saw me. I forced myself to smile back before going to hug him. "Hey Case. How have you been?" He asked. I stared into his eyes and felt at home again. I've missed him so much. "Yeah... I'm great," I said and he patted me on my head. "Casey where's your brother?" Elsa asked, putting the plates on the table. Right on cue, Sam walked down the stairs. "Hey buddy!" Dad greeted.

    "Hi. I'm going to finally have sex with Paige tonight," He said with a smile on his face. Dad and I looked at each other in shock and Elsa sighed, her hand on her face. For the first time today, I laughed. "Casey, how do you have sex?" He asked, turning to me and my eyes widened. "How would I know you weirdo," I said, pushing him away.

    "Because you and Izzie have sex," He said and I choked on my water. "Sam, some things are private..." Elsa whispered to him. I didn't dare to look at my dad. "What's he talking about?" Dad asked. "Casey and Izzie. They have sex. I can hear it from downstairs even with my headphones on, they're really loud," He said and I got off my chair before chasing him around the house. When I chased him back to the table, Elsa got between us. "You're seriously gonna let him get away with that?!" I yelled. "Let's just have a peaceful dinner, okay?"

    "No! I'm fucking done with all this bullshit!" I screamed. Dad stood up and placed his hand on my shoulder, trying to calm me down but I shoved his hand away. "Casey what's wrong?" Elsa asked. "Why are we acting like everything about this is normal? Because it's fucking not. Not everything works out. You and Dad didn't," I said and they looked at each other. I'm going to regret this soon but it was as if my heart took over and started speaking over my brain. "This looks like it's stemming from something else," Elsa said. I looked down on the floor and broke down before falling into both of their arms.

    I told them everything from the beginning. How I fell in love with Izzie, her dad coming back and eventually him giving me the job. They held me close for a while, not knowing the right words to say. "What if Izzie and I don't work out? What if she doesn't love me anymore?" I muttered.

    "Of course she does."

    We looked up at Sam who was sketching. "Every time the two of you are in the same room, she always looks at you like you're the only one there. It's kinda creepy. And whenever I see her leaving the house, she always has a smile on her face. Although I can't look at her the same anymore because it's usually after the two of you have sex."

    I rolled my eyes and walked towards him before hugging him. He didn't hug back and continued on his art work. "I'm sorry for nearly killing you," I said and he just nodded. "Just give Izzie some time. I guess the work experience could be good for you," Dad said and I nodded. "Ummm... I gotta go do homework," I said.

    "Alright, and Casey? Whenever she comes over, doors open okay?" Elsa said before she and dad went back to the dining room. "Thanks a lot asshole. Good luck getting laid tonight," I told Sam before running up to my room. When I went up, I locked my door and plopped onto the bed. My sadness about Izzie came flowing back as I was alone with my own thoughts. I finally decided to message her.

    "I miss you," I sent, before throwing my phone on the bed and going to my study table. I drowned myself in my work for the next hour to get everything off my mind and I finally managed to complete my overdue homework. I looked at my past submitted assignments and saw the ones Izzie had done for me. Obviously I did well for those assignments.

    I deserve it. Whatever is happening to me right now. I broke her trust and I committed my time to the man who destroyed her childhood. And I can't blame her if she doesn't want to be with me anymore.

    She hadn't replied me yet and I wasn't even surprised. Maybe I'll talk to her tomorrow. If I can even look at her without crying.

    When morning arrived I jumped out of bed and did my routine extra quick. I was hoping to pick Izzie up earlier so that we would have more time to chat. Before I left the house, I got a message from her and my heart dropped.

    Izzie<3: Nate's picking me up

    I stared at my phone in disbelief as anger and jealousy rose up my chest. I dropped my bag on the floor and angrily tapped on Nate's contact.

    "Why the hell are you picking my girl up?"

    Nate: Casey relax. She just said you're busy and she needed a lift. School's     like 10 minutes away you can see her then

    "I'm not fucking busy I was literally on my way to pick her up."

    Nate: Then go tell her that?

    "Oh God, you're frustrating."

    I dragged my feet to the car and tossed the bag into the passenger seat before slamming the door. The entire time I drove to school, I grunted my teeth thinking about Izzie being in Nate's car. I knew neither of them would do anything but obviously the insecurity still stands. When I reached school, I saw that Nate's car was parked which meant that Izzie was already in school. I walked to the lockers and saw the team.

    "PLEASE tell me you guys didn't break up," Quinn started, with her hands together, begging. "What are you talking about?" I asked. "We saw Izzie get out of Nate's car. Seriously of all people she went back to him?!" Penelope exclaimed and I rolled my eyes. "Guys calm down we didn't break up. We just fought about something so she's icing me out," I told them, opening my locker. "So she decides to get into a car with her ex? Damn, you guys must have been fighting about something really serious," Tanya said. "Where is she?" I asked. I didn't want to talk to anyone but Izzie right now. "Bathroom," Quinn replied and I made my way there.

    When I opened the door, I saw the love of my life washing her hands. She whipped her head around and the tension in her face dropped. "Hey..." I greeted. "Hi," She said, squirting the soap in her hands. "Um... can we talk?" I asked with my hands in my pockets. "Of course Casey. Let's talk. Why not you start with telling me what was going through your head when you accepted that job?" She asked. "I wanna talk about Nate," I said and she laughed. "Yeah cos that's the real issue here," She said, trying to walk past me but I blocked the door.

    She looked up at me and I looked down at her and it was then that I realised how drastic our height difference was. "So now I can't even go to class?" She asked and I backed her into the door before locking it. "Don't let me catch you with Nate again do you understand?" I whispered into her ear and I saw her gulp. I waited for her to say something and she didn't for a long time.

    "My dad wanted me to remind you that you have work today," was the last thing she said before exiting the toilet.

    I pursed my lips and closed my eyes before leaving to go to Geography. When I walked into the class, I threw my bag on the ground and slouched on my seat. Nate turned to look at me. "What's with the mood today Gardner?" He asked and I turned to stare at him. "Stay the fuck away from my girlfriend," I exclaimed and he rolled his eyes. "Look. SHE asked me to pick her up. And we didn't even talk on the way to school. Whatever issues you guys are going through, which I'm guessing is probably about her dad, you need to talk to her and resolve it together," He said.

    I stared at the empty blackboard, not wanting to continue this conversation. "Hey, he's not coming today. Take this," Nate spoke again as he tossed a cigarette on my table. "Are you crazy?" I whispered loudly. He put the cigarette at the corner of his mouth. "Relax Casey. I've done it so many times and no one cared. Come on you look like you could use it today," He said.

    "Thank you very much," Quinn said, walking towards Nate as she stole a cigarette from the packet. I looked around the classroom. "Fine," I agreed and he smirked before lighting mine and Quinn's cigarettes. I coughed when I took the first puff but eventually got used to it and savoured the high that hit me.

    During training, Izzie and I avoided each others' gaze as far as possible and with Crowley's rule about us not training together, it was a lot easier. I felt myself run faster today and I'm guessing it was from the rage and adrenaline that was overtaking my body but of course, Izzie ran faster too. When training ended, all I wanted was to bring Izzie home and spend my Friday night with her. But of course it was impossible. I also had to go to Stewart Constructions today.

    "Getting in Nate's car again?" I asked Izzie, who was stretching near the benches. "I'm walking," She replied and I felt relieved. "I can drop you off home before I go to... to see your dad..." I suggested. Before she could reply, a familiar voice was heard from the distance. "Girls!"

    We looked up and saw Izzie's dad walking towards us. "Iz I'll drop you at home. Casey we gotta head to work," He said, his hands in his suit pants pockets. "Yeah, no," Izzie said, taking her duffel bag and walking past us. "Have fun at work Casey. And don't think about messaging me tonight!" Izzie called out. "I'm guessing that didn't go well," Her dad said and I walked past him. "Look, I'm only talking to you at work. Anywhere else I am not looking at you," I said and he sighed.

    "You ready for your first day?" He asked as he turned on the car engine. I didn't say a word. "Are you just icing me out because Izzie is? You're the one that agreed to this, I just offered," He continued. "Yeah well now your daughter doesn't want to fucking talk to me!" I yelled. "Are you really making me out to be the villain here? At least give this a shot. And give Izzie her space until she wants to talk to you," He said.

    "Why are you giving me advice? I don't want shit from you," I grumbled, crossing my arms. "Because I was there when she was crying her eyes out last night in her room. Because I was there when she was holding onto her phone and trying her best not to give in and reply to you. Because I was there when she started pushing and punching me everywhere because I apparently was trying to take away the best thing that ever happened to her."

    I looked at the road ahead and saw the building approaching. "You make my daughter happy. That's something neither her mum nor I could ever do. And I'm not trying to ruin that. It's just inconveniently a complicated situation," He said, steering into the building.

    "But right now, I need you to get Izzie out of your head and focus on the present. Welcome to your first day."