Picture Perfect
Chapter 36
By Crystal

"Casey, I have to ask you something. Do you trust me?"

Casey looked at Jane and carefully thought. After a moment she nodded her head. "Yes. I trust you Jane."

"Will you let me do something for you?"

"What did you have in mind?"

"Well you said you wanted to go back to the way you used to be."

"Yeah, I do."

"Well I have something in mind that will greatly help."

** Later that night **

Nick came in the door and saw his mom sitting in the living room.

"Nick, come in here please," she called. Nick came in and sat down next to him mom. "What's up?" he asked.

"I was hoping that you, Casey and I could have a discussion."

Nick looked down at his hands and exhaled. "Are you sure that's a good idea right now, Mom?"

"Yes. Casey and I did a lot of talking today and I think that she has some things she wants to tell you, and vice versa. She asked if I would be present in the room."

"Well where is she?" he asked.

"Her and your dad are bringing in some packages from the car. They should be in any minute."

A moment later the garage door opened and Bob came in with his arms full of packages.

"Go ahead and set those down Case, I'll bring them up to your room."

"Okay, thanks Bob." Casey emerged from behind Bob and immediately locked eyes with Nick. He sat there completely shocked. If it hadn't been for his dad's words he would have never recognized him. As she walked closer to him he looked over her appearance, which was a drastic change from the Casey he first encountered again two weeks before.

She wore a caramel colored, ¾ length skirt, a white button down collared blouse and a pair of caramel colored platforms. Her hair was shorter, falling down to the middle of her back, and a light shade of brown with blonde highlights. Her facial features seemed different. Her eyebrows were more immaculately trimmed and she had a radiant glow. Her green eyes stood out like beautiful, shining gems. She stood in front of Nick and looked down at him.

"Can't a girl get a hug around here?" she asked with a nervous laugh. Nick was too shocked to move.

"Nick! Oh Nick. For crying out loud!" laughed Jane. Nick stood up slowly and allowed Casey to wrap her arms around his neck. It took him a moment to respond. He breathed her in deep. She smelled like cinnamon, he thought. He gently wrapped his arms around her waist and brought her in close, hugging her tightly. She pulled away after a moment and smiled up at him. Nick looked her in her eyes and felt as if he were staring into the eyes of someone he had loved forever. And he was.

Casey sat down on the love seat; Nick sat back down next to his mom. Casey leaned back, crossed her legs and placed her hands in her lap. "I asked Jane to be here because I wanted to talk to you Nick. A lot of things have happened over the course of the past few days and even more over the past six years. I changed a lot, became something that was only a reflection of my misery and loneliness. Today I decided that I had had enough of that person. With help from your mom I changed back to my old self, physically at least. I want to be the real me. I'm quitting the drugs and the drinking and the sex… I'm just going to be Casey Summers, girl next door," she laughed. "And I want to change because… well, I put my mom through hell, Nick. That's why she sent me out here. And she said that after I've changed I could go home. And I want to go home."

Nick felt as if someone had shot him. Everything started to slowly swirl around him, becoming hazy and dizzy. He was beginning to hear things he didn't want to hear. His stomach started to defy him. It bubbled and curdled inside of him, making him feel nauseated. He looked down at the floor, then everything went black.

**

"Nick… Wake up Nickypoo… Nicky…" Casey cooed. When she got no response from him she put her lips on his and kissed him softly. "Wake up Stallion," she said in a deep, seductive voice. Nick's eyes fluttered open. "It's about time Nicky. I thought I was going to have to give you CPR." Casey backed away and watched him sit up.

"Where am I?" he asked.

"In your room. Your dad had to carry you up here because you passed out downstairs. I told them that I would just continue my conversation with you after you woke up. But you've been passed out for five minutes and I got bored, so when you didn't respond to me running my fingers through your hair, I tried tickling your feet. But that didn't work so I started calling you names. Seems as if Stallion has more of an affect on you than anything else."

Nick blushed and leaned back. Casey lay down next to him and put an arm over his chest.

"It's just like old times, isn't it?" she asked. Nick put an arm under her and relaxed against her body.

"Yeah it is."

"It's nice."

"It's nice to have the real you back."

"I guess I shocked you, huh?" she asked.

Nick laughed and nodded his head. "You sure did. I thought you were someone else at first. You look really beautiful Casey."

"Thanks. I wasn't aiming for beautiful, but I appreciate the comment nonetheless."

Nick looked at her and studied her face before asking, "What were you aiming for?"

"I was aiming for Casey, the real Casey. Not some gothic wannabe."

"Mission accomplished. So, you want to move back to California?"

"Yeah. I talked to my mom and she cried for a long time when I told her how much I wanted to change. She is eager to see me again. I also talked to my school principal, actually, my old school principal. He agreed to let me back into school. I'll have to make some stuff up at our local junior college but I'll get to graduate with everyone else."

"So you're really doing it, aren't you?"

"Yeah Nick. It's my home."

"What about me?" he asked softly.

"I think that it'll be good for us. Neither of us knows what we want Nick."

"I disagree. I think we both know exactly what we want."

Casey sighed and thought about it. "You're right. But I don't think now is the right time. I mean, your twenty and I'm eighteen, you have a career and I have to graduate high school."

"And I'm in love with you and you're…."

"I'm in love with you too," she finished.

"So isn't love supposed to conquer all?" he asked sadly.

"If it does then this won't be a goodbye, it'll be more of a 'see ya when I'm not so messed up anymore.' Fate works to our advantage if we're meant to be. We met up again after six years of being apart, surely we will be together again."

"I don't want to let you go Casey." Nick wrapped his arms tightly around Casey and rested his face against her face.

"But you will. You will because you love me too much. And because you know we can't be together right now. "

"You're right," he hesitantly agreed.

"Of course I'm right," she giggled. She looked up at him and smiled. "I love you Nick."

"I love you Casey. And… and even know we can't be together now, somehow, some day, we will."

They fell asleep together on the bed, in each other's arms.