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When Casey rewrote her life plan to include Derek (which, yes, was the most romantic thing she's ever done because she's insane and maybe it made him stupidly happy), he was pretty fucking shocked at her timeline for some things. There were some he already knew, like not having a kid until at least a year after she graduates law school and wanting to own a home by twenty-eight.
And then there's the marriage part of the whole thing, which she wants before she starts law school. Now, Derek's fear of commitment is long gone; he's been looking for rings for quite some time, but this still seems a little crazy to him.
Look, he'll propose whenever he gets his hands on the perfect ring, but he was expecting Casey to not want to be married until she's twenty-five because she's weird. Sure, they'd date for seven years before they got married, but that's honestly not that weird given their ages. They're not from the South or whatever, where people get married just to start popping out babies.
To make it clear: Derek's not complaining about getting to marry Casey ahead of schedule. It did throw him for a loop originally, but then again, she's Casey; her entire existence in his life threw him for a loop.
He's known she's the woman he's going to marry since… well, Derek's not sure when, actually, but it just hit him right in the chest one day and hasn't left since. So if she wants to get married earlier than he anticipated, then he's completely on board. Embarrassingly so, actually.
This is not who Derek normally is, what he normally does. Casey's the one who gets her tits all fired up when it comes to weddings. She cried at the last one they went to, and it wasn't that emotional. Gus and Viv are a great couple, sure, but Jesus, Casey did not need to cry over them as hard as she did. The woman was blubbering by the vows.
So he decides to bring Coop and Joey to the big event: ring shopping. Who better to help Derek pick out an engagement ring than these two idiots? Joey has a girlfriend and Coop, well, he may be single, but he can probably provide decent commentary.
"I still can't believe this is your idea of normalcy," Joey says when they enter the jewelry store. "Or that Casey came up with this."
"Really?" Coop asks, raising his eyebrow. "You can't believe that she wants to get married before law school? Because I can, very easily." He's got a point; Derek nods his agreement. Her exact words were something about entering a new era and wanting to be a more stable adult. Derek's pretty sure he could be any random guy on the street, but she just lucked out and happens to be dating a god. "And Venti here is whipped, so of course they're getting married."
"I hate you," Derek says, scoffing as he walks to the ring area. Someone here has to be productive, and it will evidently not be his friends. "I'm under strict instructions here, guys. Focus. I've been looking for weeks."
"Princess cut, not entirely diamond because that's too flashy, white gold to match with the diamonds you do include while being durable enough for daily wear and meaningful," Joey recites. Maybe Derek's been stressing over this, just a little, and he will take no one's shit for it. Not even Wesley's and for being as much of a romantic as he is, the man should shut the fuck up. "We'll find it, brother. Chill. She'll love it if you get her two fused pieces of macaroni."
A voice that sounds suspiciously like Casey pops up in his head, ranting about how disgusting and moldy that is, and Derek grins. "You've clearly never met Casey."
"D, what's her favorite color?" Coop asks from where he's wandered off to, talking to a sales lady. "They've got gemstones sorted by color. That shit's gotta be right up Casey's alley." Well, he's not entirely wrong. Casey would think it's a sentimental gesture, but there's also a very high chance the ring would break.
"Last I heard, it was mauve, but that could've changed in the last hour," Derek shrugs. It's difficult to get something sentimental related to color for Casey. Blue is sort of the only option, and ridiculously cliche. "Do you have any engagement rings with sapphires, maybe?"
"Mauve is a purple, bro," Joey whispers, as if that's helpful, and Derek elbows him.
"Her eyes are blue, bro," Derek fake whispers back, mocking him. "And besides, I've seen her Pinterest board, I know that sapphires are in most of the rings." He's not that unprepared.
The sales associate brings forward a tray filled with sapphire and diamond rings. They're all beautiful, but there's one in particular that has Casey written all over it. It's a princess cut (which isn't technically one of the requirements, but he's going to be sappy), with sapphires wrapped around it and diamonds on the band. There are like twenty of these on Casey's Pinterest board, so he's fairly certain this is her ring.
Unless, of course, she hates it and demands he takes it back to buy her one she actually likes, but all this stress has been so that doesn't happen. Hopefully. He's not gonna worry about it.
In under an hour, Derek's able to walk out of there with her ring in his pocket. Joey and Coop are still mocking him, but, well, that's to be expected. No normal twenty one (barely) year old proposes to his girlfriend. Then again, normal people are lame and not godlike or dating an alien who happens to be their stepsister, so they don't really get a say here.
"Man, I am so happy Rory doesn't want me to propose," Joey laughs when they reach the parking lot. "How are you gonna do it?"
"I'll figure it out," Derek grins. Plans are always fun, and so what if he really wants to make an awesome plan to propose to Casey with? It's honestly the least embarrassing part of this whole thing.
"Better question is how fucking long you've been saving for that ring," Coop whistles. "Shit's pricey."
"I may have dug into the new XBOX funds," Derek admits. "She's been getting suspicious about my lack of purchasing, though. Apparently I have an impulse shopping issue." Personally, Derek thinks the collection of rubber ducks on their apartment window are beautiful, but Casey has referred to them as the tackiest things she's ever seen multiple times.
"This is why I'm single," Coop says. They're at the area the three of them parked now, and his goodbye is a, "Good luck, brother," before getting in the car.
Joey looks like he's about to say something, but Rory calls him, so their goodbye is a bro shoulder slap. It's a very reassuring way for Joey to say that he wishes Derek luck with his plan, though the fact that it's batshit insane is also thrown in there. Bro shoulder slaps are incredibly communicative.
The entire ride home, Derek can practically feel the ring burning a hole in his pocket. His mind is going a million miles an hour. At least Casey should still be studying or at work, so he has time to hide it. There are several issues posed with the issue of where to hide the ring since Casey occasionally throws clothes at Derek and demands a date night. She can't find the ring doing that!
Maybe he'll put it in a sock. He did buy new socks last week, so if he puts the ring in one, it should be safe. Probably. Would that gross Casey out? It's doubtful.
For some reason beyond him, Casey's home when he gets to the apartment. Normally, that's cause for celebration. She's been overworking herself this semester, so he's always proud of when she remembers to take a fucking break without his insistence. But it's very suspicious that she's only home when he wants her to be ten minutes behind him.
It's now Derek's turn to not be suspicious. "Did you order food without me?" He asks, frowning in offense. "If you ordered vegetable pizza again, I swear to the Leafs, I'm going to scream and ban you from ever ordering food."
"It's pepperoni and olive," Casey answers from her spot on their couch. Oh. At least it's edible, that's good. "And I got it because Rory wanted to thank me for taking her lingerie shopping last week, so she paid."
"Gross." Derek's nose scrunches up at just the mention, because ew. No one needs to buy shit together. It's not like Derek's buying boxers with the guys. That would be gross. Girls are weird. "Never mention Rory and lingerie in the same sentence ever again."
"Don't be a baby, Der-ek; it's not like I only buy it alone." Thank the Leafs he's not eating, because he starts choking on air right now, which is far less messy. "Are you okay?" Casey shrieks, jumping up to slap his back unhelpfully. "Dear god. Are my lingerie shopping habits going to kill you?"
"Maybe," he croaks, still regaining the ability to take in oxygen. "Why the fuck do girls buy that shit together?"
"It's a bonding experience," Casey explains, putting a hand on his hip. She picked the hip that has the pocket with the ring, because of course she did. "What do you have in your pocket?"
"Parking ticket," Derek answers quickly and totally not suspiciously. "It's a fake one, from the guys. You don't need to freak or whatever. I didn't commit any traffic violations. They're just giving me shit."
"Well now I have to read it." Oh, fucking hell. How's he going to rope his way out of this one? Evidently, Derek takes a fraction of a second too long to think, because Casey reaches into his pocket and feels the box. "That's not a parking ticket," she accuses. "Derek. What's in your pocket?"
She just had to force the issue and ruin what could have been a brilliant scheme. This is, for the record, Casey's fault.
Still, Derek sighs and drops down to one knee. "This isn't the most romantic way to do this." In fact, it's not romantic at all; Casey's still grabbing onto his pocket, so now she's half crouched over him, and he's really getting an excellent view of her tits. "Would you unhand me, crazy woman, so I can at least have the damn ring when I propose?"
Casey almost instantly tears up, because she's insane, and relinquishes her grip on his pocket. He misses the view of her tits, but it's definitely better for her back if she stands up straight. Marti has scoliosis and Derek's not willing to risk anyone else having it. Maybe he's ranting anxiously, but this is his internal monologue, so he can think about whatever the fuck he wants so he doesn't throw up before proposing to Casey. That would be comically terrible.
Derek pulls the ring box out of his pocket, opening it to her. A speech; she wants a speech. He really should've started rehearsing one.
"I just got this ring today," he starts, because that seems like the right way to. Maybe his voice is a little shaky and he feels a little sweaty, but that's normal when proposing to an alien such as his Spacey. "And I've spent weeks looking for one. Ever since you drew up that new life plan. I couldn't find the right one until today, not for lack of trying, but because every time I'd see a ring, your voice would pop into my head with a rant about how it was wrong." Casey's laughing now, which is good. Someone should. "Finding this has been harder than all of my years of hockey combined."
She's still smiling. That's good. He likes seeing her smile. It makes him smile too, but he knows it's unsteady. "It's one of those metaphorical things you love so much, I think. We're not easy, or quick, or the simplest solution to all problems." Allegedly, Derek doesn't fully believe it. "But when I get good news, you're the first person I tell, and when you got on the Dean's list, I swear to God, Case, I was so stupidly proud of you I could've written a fucking song."
"Please don't," she teases, still grinning, and Derek would shoot a glare at her, but it's just so them. Of course she interrupts him in the middle of his proposal, which she initiated, and of course he didn't get his great scheme.
"I know it'll suck sometimes, because you're insane and I'm stubborn, but I know we're going to get through it together because we're meant to be and other cliche shit. For the rest of our fucking lives, I want to argue with you and come home to you and laugh at you being insane. I want to hear your rants on why baby names shouldn't be gendered and I promise I'll let you be as insane as you want about everything." This proposal feels selfish, somehow, like it's all his own wants and not hers. Fuck. How's he gonna dig himself out of this hole?
"This proposal sucks, and it's nowhere near what you deserve, and I'm pretty sure I didn't focus on you nearly enough, but in my defense, you totally threw me off schedule here." Casey laughs, her grin widening. "My whole universe has been orbiting around you since we were fifteen, Princess, and if you want it to, then it will for the rest of our lives."
"I do want that," Casey says, her eyes still brimming with tears. "Der, this is the part where you ask the question." Right. He still technically has to do that. A flash of what could be considered a blush is on his face before he remembers what he's doing.
"Casey McDonald, will you marry me?" Derek asks, because he knows she likes the cliche shit.
"I will," she almost whispers, as if she's afraid to break the moment by being too loud. "Baby, of course I will."
A wave of relief with the strength of a tsunami rolls over Derek then. It's not like he was expecting a rejection, but a postponement wouldn't have been too out of the ordinary for Casey. Before she can overthink it, he slides the ring onto her finger and rises to his feet because his knee is starting to get stiff and he needs to kiss Casey.
The kiss isn't very good. It's shit, in fact, probably one of their worst on a technical level, because they're both smiling so wide it's more like they're breathing the same air. Derek's still pretty sure it's the best kiss of his fucking life, because it's with Casey, who he's engaged to now. Holy fucking shit. She's his fiance. That's wild. He has a fiance. And the fiance isn't just anyone, it's Casey, who's currently grinning against his mouth.
"We're engaged," she whispers when they part, still grinning. Her eyes are sparkling and Derek's chest feels tight with how much he loves her. "And your proposal was very good, actually."
"Very funny," Derek chuckles. "I'm redoing it. This was awful, Case."
"I thought it was sweet, actually. It was very you. I loved it, Der. There's no need to do it again." Casey may be sincere (her eyes are) but Derek's still redoing the damn proposal. This was a great opportunity to scheme, lost, and maybe he thinks Casey deserves better than whatever the fuck just came out of his mouth.
"Too late, I'm already scheming," he smirks. "So now's the time to tell me if you hate the ring. I'll replace it for proposal two: electric boogaloo."
"It's beautiful," Casey says fiercely. "Don't you dare return it. Or buy me another ring. We don't have the money for you to be buying engagement rings willy-nilly, mister."
Has he mentioned he loves her yet? Because if he hasn't, let's make one thing really fucking clear: Derek Venturi is helplessly, eternally, in love with Casey McDonald.