I do not own any of these characters. They belong to WVD who is amazing, btw.

Debra and Officer Borsch took the floor first, dancing by themselves for nearly a minute when other people began joining. Casey had let go of my hand as we left the dining area, but now he held on to it fast.

"May I ask you to dance?" Casey smiled at me. I took a deep breath: "Sure."

The music was slow, rhythmic, but I wasn't paying attention as Casey led me onto the dance floor and placed his hands around my waist. I looked away momentarily, shyly, as I moved my arms around his neck. This time, unlike the Farewell Dance, Casey held me closer, more securely. He wasn't letting me go anywhere, not that I wanted to.

The best thing about dancing with Casey then—actually there were many things that I loved about dancing with Casey—was that our friends weren't there and neither was Heather. It was nice to be alone, in a way. There was no Marissa or Dot or Holly to pull me aside for interrogation. That would be for later. They didn't want to wait a minute past midnight.

Anyway, as we danced we didn't really talk. It was like earlier at dinner. We didn't need to talk; we communicated through our eyes and now through the warmth of our arms touching each other.

We actually kept slow dancing as the music switched. We never noticed anything or anyone, just focusing on the other's eyes and the growing electricity between us.

At one point Casey leaned down to me and said in my ear: "There's a pavilion outside. We can still hear the music from there." I cocked my head in curiosity.

"Why do you want to go out there?"

"It seems like a nice place and the weather is fairly cool. I'm getting a little warm in here."

"OK," I said and he led me towards the outside doors. Once outside there were simple white lights strung from the trees. We walked in silence; our hands twined together, the rhythm of our footsteps echoing dimly in the small area.

The pavilion was empty and, as Casey said, I could still hear the music. I had no idea what time it was, but since the reception ended at midnight I wasn't too worried about time.

Another slow song began and Casey walked up the stairs backwards, leading me. He had a smile on his face, one that was gentle and fairly serious. He wasn't joking around like Billy always did. He didn't care that our parents were dating or that Heather was my archenemy.

He spun me and pulled me close, closer than he had inside. I now realized why we were out here. Instead of pulling me into a panic attack of nervousness or anger at myself for liking Heather's brother, I stayed calm, perfectly content at the moment, the place.

"So, which did you like better, the Farewell Dance or this wedding?" Casey asked quietly, leaning towards my ear, even though their was no one else around. My spine tingled with electricity and I smiled automatically, happily.

"I don't know yet. This wedding isn't over yet. Why do you ask?"

"Just wondering is all. What did you like about the Farewell Dance?"

"A lot of things. The limo and being pirates. Billy leading dances. That one song…" I trailed off, remembering what almost happened then as the song played.

"Which song? They play a lot of songs at dances you know," Casey teased, still whispering in my ear.

"Waitin' for Rain to Fall. I also liked just having fun, you know, with you and everyone else."

"And here? What do you like here?"

"That even though I am in a dress and at a wedding I'm still having a really good time. Why are you so curious?"

"What else would make this night memorable?"

"Casey," I pulled away from him a little so I could look at him, "Why are you avoiding my question?"

"Hey, you are avoiding mine!" Casey teased as he pulled me gently closer to him.

"I want to ask another one."

"By all means, but I may not answer."

"Which did you like better, the Farewell Dance or this wedding?"

"This wedding, by a wide margin."

"Why?" My heart began to pound quickly as Casey looked directly at me.

"Because of how you asked me, because of how we are dancing, because of what I am about to do, because of how wonderful you look tonight and because of Officer Borsch's speech."

"That's a lot of reasons," I said melodically, "Hmm…"

"Why the hmm?"

"Well, what are you about to do? You've done everything."

"No, not even remotely." Casey looked down at me in partial disbelief and awe. The rest of his expression was filled with delight and joy.

He smiled, like he had on the camping trip after we woke up to drool, like he had when he realized I was me in an old lady disguise, like he had just a few minutes ago when we entered the pavilion. That smile, like all the other smiles before, told me how much he actually cared about me, no matter how I looked. Tonight, I was just helping myself a little bit more than normal.

He pulled me closer, more securely, looked at me easily and moved his head towards me slowly.

I filled the small gap between us, securing my arms around his neck a little more and met his lips with mine.

The world was completely cut off from us now. All my focus, everything, was on Casey. His arms around me, holding me to him. He lips on mine, moving with mine. His heart beating erractingly with mine. My hands twisted in his hair, his hand moving up my waist, to my face and the small of my back towards my hair where he let it rest. I have no idea how long the kiss lasted, but as it began to end we broke off slowly, lingering the moment, not wanting it to end. When it finally did I had to catch my breath as I took in Casey; his eyes dancing with pure glee at my response, his breath also catching from our kiss and our proximity.

Casey leaned down to me again, his lips brushing my cheek as he said: "You have no idea how long I have wanted to do that."

"I can take a guess."

"No, actually, you can't. I couldn't believe it when you asked me to this wedding. I was so worried about going off to high school, that you would run into some other guy. I thought I'd lost my chances after I last saw you in front of your home."

"You didn't. I had just realized the day before how much I like you."

"Really?" Casey pulled away a bit, confusion coloring his voice, "I thought you were already here at the camping trip."

"Oh, yeah, then too a little, I guess. I was too focused on condors and being absolutely filthy."

"You didn't look that bad. Billy and I were way worse."

"Uh-huh," I said skeptically, part of my mind on our conversation and the other part on the kiss.

Casey noticed my attention was divided. He leaned back in to me, bringing me closer as we kissed again and again as the rest of the wedding continued on without us. We were locked in our own world as we kissed and danced.

"You know something that would make me feel even more relieved?" Casey asked near the end of the night.

"What's that?" I murmured into his shoulder.

"If you'd say you'd go out with me."

"Oh," I said, moving my head away from his shoulder, looking at him, "Yeah, I'd like that."

Casey beamed at me and kissed me again, with a strong intensity of happiness.

"Thank you," He said after we stopped. I gave him a confused look.

"For asking me here, to be with you, for saying yes, for being here."

"That's a hefty list."

"I know. I like you so much."

"I do too. It just took me a little longer."

"I'll say," Casey teased. I scoffed at him as the music faded.

"What time is it?"

"Almost midnight. What time do you need to be home?"

"You mean Marissa's?" I laughed, "Midnight. They'll kill me if I'm late."

Casey laughed too. "They really want to know, huh?"

"Yeah. We should go."

"Not yet," Casey said as he kissed me one more time.

Casey walked me to Marissa's, making sure we got one more, really two, more kisses before he finally left to wait for his dad to pick him up.

My head was dizzy and filled with the events of the night as I went up Marissa's walkway. I prepared myself for a full attack and made the motion to knock when the door flew open.

"SAMMY!" My friends cried as they saw me in the dress and a beaming smile.

"Hey guys, what's up?"

"What's up?!" Marissa cried, "We saw you at the end of the driveway!! Sammy, are you serious?!!"

"Well if you saw me than I have nothing to say," I teased as I eased my way into the door.

"Not fair," Dot moaned as we headed to Marissa's bedroom. I laughed with Holly, completely happy as I sat down and launched my story of the wedding.