Alone

[Phoebe]

Title of story: Alone

Type of Fic: Short/Medium fic

BTTB Rating: G/T

Main Characters: Dexter, Sasha, Matt and Casey (Dex/Casey and Sasha/Matt)

Genre:  Drama and Family, Romance, Friendship, Teen

Does it contains spoilers: Nope

Warnings: there shouldn't be

Story beginning read-proofed?: No

Summary: When Sid leaves town leaving Dex in charge of Sasha the both of them cling to the first person who gives them support.

 

Chapter 1

For the first time since he moved to the bay the ocean wasn't calming him down. Usually watching the waves crash against the shore over and over again got him to think straight, not this time. The sound hurt his ears and the seagulls flying above him drove him insane, being alone drove him insane. He should've let Sasha come with him, she was going through the exact same thing, but he was selfish, only thinking about how hurt he was. Sasha has gone through this twice now, being abandoned by their dad. She was probably at home all alone thinking that it's her fault because hey, he left her once before. He was about to stand up and leave so he could go give his little sister a hug and apologise for leaving when a figure running out of the water waved at him, it was Casey. Casey was his only friend left in the bay. April got transferred to some hospital in the city, Xavier left years ago and so did Ruby. He didn't even have Indie anymore, she found her way out of this town too. All Dex had left was Casey and Sasha, and he wasn't even sure he could count Casey. Casey pushed the end of his surfboard into the sand just a few meters in front of Dex and started to dry himself. He wrapped the towel around his neck and sat beside Dex.
"What's on your mind?" Casey stared at him so intensely, like if he looked away for one second Dex might disappear. It made him feel special, like someone was really seeing him for the first time.
"My dad ran off with some woman and left me in charge of Sasha. She greeted me as dad this morning." Casey looked at Dex the way a person would look at child who just dropped their ice cream on the ground. Dex has never seen so much pity in someone's eyes before. He didn't want pity, he wanted to go home and find his dad sitting at the table with his laptop drinking a cup of tea. He wanted it to be some sort of sick prank, he didn't want it to be real.
"You're barely 18 and he's leaving you with Sash. How does he expect you to support her money wise? You don't have a job" Dex could tell that Casey was getting riled up by this, his voice was getting louder with every word he spoke. By the time he got to job he was yelling. Dex had no idea why it was making Casey so angry, it had nothing to do with him.
"On the note he left he said he'll give us certain amount of money each week, we'll be fine. Sasha has her job and I'm thinking of applying for a job at Angelo's. We'll be fine" Casey doesn't look convinced, neither is Dex if he's truthful.
"We are looking for a barman, get your RSA and Brax will be more than happy to hire you. The only problem he'll have with it is you're far too intelligent to be a barman, he'll think you need to strive for something else." In a way Casey was right, Dex was too smart to be pouring drinks for people on a Saturday night, but maybe it would be good for Dex to be doing something that doesn't involve too much brain power.
"That would be awesome, thank you Case. I should go back to Sash, I should never of left her by herself." They both stand up, Dex slips his shoes back on his feet and waves goodbye to Casey. Casey didn't wave back, instead he pulled Dex in for a hug. Dex didn't know what surprised him more, the hug or how fast his heart was beating during it.

All the lights were off when he got home even though it was barely seven o'clock. He should never of left Sasha alone, now she's probably in bed crying because not only did their dad leave her, twice, but so did Dex. He walked into the lounge and almost jumped a meter when he saw Sasha sitting on the couch with a mug in her hand.
"The lights were hurting my eyes so I turned them off. You can turn them on if you want." There was no emotion in her voice at all, not anger not sadness, nothing. He flicked the light switch on and the room came to life. Sasha was surrounded by crumpled up tissues and her eyes were bloodshot. The two of them just looked at each other. Sasha's eyes were filled with hurt, and Dex knew his were too. He sat beside on the couch and she lent into him and started to cry. He couldn't help but wonder how long she had been crying before he got home.
"Sash, you and I are going to be just fine." He wasn't sure who he was trying to convince by saying this, himself or Sasha. Sasha wiped her eyes and sat up.
"You're right, as long as I've got you I'll be fine." She was right, as long as they had each other the two of them would be happy.

The sun shining through the lounge room window woke Dex up from his sleep. Sasha's head was resting on his shoulder, her eyes were closed and mouth slightly open. Dex slid over to the other side of the couch and placed Sasha's head on a cushion, something he had done countless times when the two of them fell asleep watching movies. He boiled the kettle and decided he needed to get changed out of yesterday's clothes. He had just taken off his shirt when there was a knock on the door. Dex didn't bother to put on shirt, he figured whoever wanted to visit a tragedy stricken family at eight in the morning could deal with his pale pudgy stomach. He opens the door to find Casey standing on his front porch with Dex's phone in his hand.
"Braxton's get up before ten? Who knew" Casey chuckled and Dexter moved out of the doorway so Casey could step in.
"It's a rare occasion. I came by to drop off your phone, you left it at the beach." Casey handed the phone over to Dex. Dex couldn't help but notice Casey's gaze was on his stomach, suddenly Dex started to feel very vulnerable. He led Casey into the lounge to see Sasha had woken up and gone to her room. Dex picked up a shirt from the table and pulled it over his head.
"Uh thanks. I wasn't in a very good state of mind yesterday." Casey's cheeks were tinted red, he started to hop from foot to foot, watching him was making Dex dizzy.
"I also came around to see if you wanted to do something today. I was thinking a drive into the city or maybe we could just go to the beach. Sasha could come to if she wanted." Dex wanted to go with him, but he knew it would just be the two of them because Sasha planned on spending the day and night with her boyfriend Matt.
"I'd love to, Sasha's busy but I'm free. The beach sounds good, I'll just shower and change if you don't mind waiting?" Casey nodded his head and sat down on the couch moving some of the tissues out of the way. Dex ran off to his room and grabbed his board shorts and a tank top and headed towards the shower.

Dex layed on his back looking up at the sky with Casey laying beside him. They had barely spoken since they arrived. The sound of the waves was deafening but Dex didn't mind this time. Casey sat up and started burring his feet in the sand until they couldn't be seen. Dex smiles at him.
"I did that when I was a kid, the first time I was able to convince Indie that my feet had been bitten off by a shark." Casey chuckles and lifts his feet out of the sand. The two of them just sat there staring out at the water, not saying a word. Dex wanted him to say something, there was no point in being around each other if they weren't going to speak. Dex stood up and brushed the sand off his legs the best he could. Casey looked up at him and extended his hand, Dex grabs it and pulls him up. Casey doesn't both brushing the sand off his legs.
"I want food, lets go to the diner" Casey nods and follows Dex to the diner where everyone stared at the two of them.
"Why are they staring?" Casey whispers to Dex while they were in line. Dex hadn't noticed all the eyes on them. Summer Bay is a small town, new travels fast and something like a good doctor running off with someone half his age and leaving his too kids behind is probably the most exciting thing going on in the town.
"I'm the son of the doctor who ran away, that's why" Casey smiles at him apologetically. They moved closer to the counter. Now that Casey had mentioned it Dex felt like everyone was staring at him. It was just like his dad to throw Dex into the spotlight, whether Dex wanted to be in it or not.
"I'm sorry Dex" Dex rolls his eyes. It wasn't Casey's fault, it wasn't even Dex or Sasha's fault, it was Sid's. He was the one who felt like this woman was more important than his children.
"Don't be, you weren't the one who ran away. What's the bet that he wasn't told Indie? He's probably left me to do that like he's left me to do everything else." They were now at the front of the line. Dex blushes, he didn't want anyone else but Casey to hear what he just muttered but because of Dex's terrible timing Irene knew.
"What can I get you two boys?" Irene smiles sympathetically at Dex, everyone was smiling sympathetically at Dex, even Casey. Dex didn't want sympathy and he didn't want the attention. Sid had only been gone a day and Dex wanted to scream at everyone to just leave him alone.
"Two chocolate chip muffins please Irene" Casey shoves his hands in his pockets and rocks back and forth on his feet. When Casey and Dex were in high school they would come to the diner after every test and get themselves a chocolate chip muffin. Dex hadn't had one since his last test of high school, it didn't feel right to eat one without Casey sitting across from him. Irene hands them a chocolate chip muffin each. Casey hands her a $5 bill but Irene hands it back.
"On the house love. Dex if you need anything you know where to find me darl." Dex smiles politely and nods. Casey mutters out a thanks and walks over to an empty table.
"I hate that everyone's looking at you like you're some sort of exotic zoo animal, you're not you're normal human being going something rough." Casey peels off the wrapper of his muffin and takes a bite. Dex does the same.
"These taste better than I remember." Dex says with a mouthful of food. Casey shakes his head at him smiling.
"I agree, I haven't had one of these for ages." Casey had crumbs on his shirt. It brought back memories of high school days where Casey would end up with crumbs stuck in his hair some how.
"Neither, April brought me one once and I gave it Sasha. She looked at me funny for the rest of the day, like it was unusual for me to be nice or something." Casey laughs and brushes the crumbs off his shirt. He puts the rest of his muffin in his mouth and collects his and Dex's rubbish. Dex finishes off his muffin while he was gone.
"Dex, if you need anything, come to me."
 

[Phoebe]

Sorry for the long wait! Baby Evie is my main priority but I will try and update this more often. I personally love this chapter! I hope you guys do too! I forgot to mention in my first post that my inspiration for this story came from the lovely Jen's fanfictions she's written about Dex/Casey. If you like this story you should definitely check out Jen's 

Chapter 2

Dex was sure that the image of his sister making out with her curly haired boyfriend on their couch would never leave his brain. Casey had hid his face in Dex's shoulder and his breath was tickling him. Dex cleared his throat loudly and the two of them broke apart.
"Hey Dex my favorite big brother! How are you?" Sasha jumped off the couch and gave Dex a friendly punch on the shoulder that wasn't occupied by Casey's face. Dex jiggled the arm Casey was leaning on in attempt to get him to move but he muttered out a no and Dex decided to give up.
"I thought you were staying at Matt's? So why are you making out in my living room? You've scarred my poor BFF Casey for life!" Dex wrapped his other arm around Casey so he could make a point of patting his back as if to console him.
"Casey is far from innocent, and I do believe Mr Braxton and myself have done more than make out before. Ain't that right Case?" Matt coughed awkwardly from where he was sitting on the couch, Dex threw him an apologetic look. Casey mumbled a shut up into Dex's shoulder and Sasha skipped away happily.
"The question still stands Sasha, why are you here?" Sasha was now laying down with her head in Matt's lap and he still looked uncomfortable with the situation. Sasha sighed and sat up.
"There's no room at his house, but there is heaps of room here! We'll even sleep in different rooms, please Dex?" One upside to their dad leaving was that Dex was now in charge, all plans to go out or to have people over had to be cleared by him first. He could tell Sasha was hating it. Casey was still leaning on Dex's shoulder and it was starting to make his arm hurt.
"Alright, separate rooms! If you want to be together after ten you're in the lounge. He can have dad's old room and Casey's got Indie's. Now don't bother me unless you're dying of starvation or vampires have started to raid the house or something." Casey had asked earlier on if he was able to stay the farmhouse for a night or two, getting sleep at his house was becoming extremely difficult. Kyle played his guitar until the early hours of the morning and Brax and Ricky's room was next to his and the new born baby screamed all night. Dex pushed Casey's head off his shoulder and led him to Dex's room. Dex closed the door after them and then fell backwards on his bed. Casey was staring at Dex's door that was cover entirely in photos of Dex and his friends, something Indie and Sasha had done for his birthday the previous year. Casey was staring at a photo of the two of them at Bianca and Heath's wedding. Both in tuxes and laughing at something April had said behind the camera. It was a great photo.
"Is there a chance I could have this?" Casey said pointing at the photo. Dex pulled out a photo album and flipped through until he found the photo and handed it to him.
"Indie and Sash did that for my birthday last year and accidentally printed everything twice so they gave me a photo album full of them too. It's a good photo isn't it?" Casey nodded and placed the photo on Dex's beside table. He layed horizontally at Dex's feet. Dex could hear Sasha giggling in the lounge room. Dex sat up and looked over at Casey to see that he was asleep. Dex tip toed out the bedroom door and braced himself before entering the lounge, he glad to see everything was strictly PG. "Hey Romeo and Juliet, keep it down, Casey's asleep." Sasha smirked up at him.
"Do you, Mr Dexter Walker, have feelings for a certain Mr Casey Braxton?" Sasha whispered to him.
"No I do not. Just because I'm gay doesn't mean I like every guy I meet, okay Sash? Now just please be quiet?" Sasha shook her head at her older brother.
"Whatever you say big brother"


Casey slept most of the day and Dex let him. He would go in and check on him occasionally, making sure the blanket was covering him and that the pillow was still under his head (god knows how many times Dex has woken up with his head on the mattress and his pillow on the floor) Dex kind of felt like his mother. Or his boyfriend. Sasha's words bounced around in his head for the rest of the day, Dex just couldn't shake it. Dex has never had a male crush that wasn't a celebrity, he highly doubted that his first crush on someone that wasn't on TV would be Casey Braxton. It was six O'clock and Dex couldn't bothered cooking, slightly burnt toast was the only thing Dex knew how to cook. He walked up at Sasha's door and knocked.
"Clothes on, I'm coming in" Dex opened the door to see Sasha's face buried into Matt's chest, Matt was running his fingers through her hair and was making comforting noises. "Oh Sash, I know dad isn't around but you've got me, you'll always have me. I'm not going anywhere and if I do I'll be dragging you with me. We're a team." Sasha looked up from Matt's chest, her eyes were bloodshot and her cheeks were tear stained and red and blotchy.
"Oh Dex!" She jumped up and wrapped her arms around him and started to cry a little bit more. Dex rubbed her back without saying a word. Dex did all his crying when they first found out Sid was gone. It was Sasha who hugged him and told him everything would be fine and that she'd watch The Big Bang Theory with him without comparing to Sheldon if it would make him stop crying. Sasha was stronger for longer but she's just beginning to crack.
"Sash, this is going to sound a little odd but Hawaiian pizza tonight? I'll get extra pineapple for you?'' Sasha chuckled and moved out of Dex's arms and back to Matt.
"That would be great, thanks Dexanator." Dex rolled his eyes at the nickname and left Sasha's room. He stood in front of his bedroom door for a solid three minutes trying to decide whether to wake Casey and get a pizza he likes or guess and possibly get it totally wrong. Dex sighed and opened his bedroom door, he figured better to be safe than sorry. The blanket had fallen off of Casey again. His knees where pulled up to his chest and his mouth was slightly opening, tiny snores escaping it. Dex sat beside him and started to shake him slowly. Casey woke up like a confused child who had forgotten where they were. He smiled when he saw Dex.
"I'm really sorry to wake you but I didn't know what pizza to get you." Casey sat up and stretched out his arms and legs. His eyes still looked tired.
"I'll come for a drive" Casey hopped up and ran his fingers through his hair.
"Alright lets go."


Casey was rocking back and forth on his feet and it was driving Dex mad. They were waiting for Brax to finish making their pizzas and Casey just couldn't stand still. Dex clamped his hand down Casey's shoulder and Casey stopped.
"Sorry I'm just fidgety. I'm convinced Brax is taking longer because it's my pizzas, I wouldn't put it past him you know, he pulls stunts like that all the time." Casey continued to ramble on about how much Brax sucks sometimes and Dex couldn't understand where all the extra energy was coming from. A few hours ago Casey was half asleep on Dex's shoulder.
"Casey, I get, Brax is unfair. You're like an over energetic puppy" Casey's cheeks turned a bright red colour and he looked down at his feet. Dex had never seen Casey like this before, it was strange.
"I shouldn't nap, this is what happens" Dex chuckled and shook his head. Brax finally came around the corner with their three pizzas in boxes. "Took you long enough, you gave me enough time to embarrass myself." Casey tried to whisper to Brax when he went up to the counter to grab the pizzas.
"If you and your little boyfriend want three pizzas you've got to wait for them." Dex felt his cheeks warm up after hearing Brax's reply. Casey shook his head and waved at his brother before storming out of Angelo's. Dex smiled awkwardly before following Casey out. Casey was waiting for Dex by his car with the pizza's still in his hand. Dex unlocked the car and they both hopped in.
"Brax refers to all my male friends as my boyfriend, just so you know. It's his way of dealing with... Who I am. I'm sorry if that made you uncomfortable and I'm sorry if what I just told you makes you uncomfortable I just thought you should know." Dex's heart sank a little knowing that what Brax said didn't mean that Casey spoke about him in a way that would make Brax think they're together. Dex couldn't believe that Casey was gay, Casey the womanizer, Casey the guy who took his sister's virginity (Dex didn't like to think about that)
"Sash does something kinda similar to me, she assumes I like every guy I meet. She grilled me for a week after I met Matt, I was tempted to kiss him just to **** her off since she was so convinced I wanted to." Casey threw his head back laughing. Dex started up the car while Casey continued to laugh.
"When I told Heath he was convinced I was into him. Heath, my brother." Dex started laughing too. The two boys drove along just laughing together, not even realising what the two of them just admitted to each.


It was one in the morning when a knock on the door woke him. He mumbled a come in and made sure his blanket covered his shirtless chest. Casey walked through in just his boxers with a nervous look on his face. The moonlight shining through the window made it easier for Dex to see him.
"I don't sleep well without someone I trust near me at strange places. It's probably some psychological thing from my childhood. You're the only one here I trust. So if you wouldn't mind?" Dex just nodded and rolled over so there was enough room for Casey to get in. The bed dipped as Casey climbed in next to him. He was warm and Dex found himself wanting to get closer, wanting to hug him.
"Casey, you're welcome here anytime. Hell you can even move in, the more the merrier" It was probably the sleep deprivation talking but Dex meant it. Dex knew that Casey's home life wasn't crash hot and if moving in with Dex and Sasha helped him then so be it.
"I might just take you up on that offer Dex. Goodnight." Casey turned away from Dex and Dex turned away from Casey too but it didn't feel right. Dex grabbed a spare pillow and hugged it to his chest and tried to sleep like that, but it still was right. He rolled to face Casey's back and he found himself counting the moles on his back to try and pass time until Dex's eyes could finally flutter shut. Casey turned around to face Dex and opened his eyes.
"Uh Dex" Casey's blue eyes stood out even in the darkness.
"Yeah Case?" His voice was barely above a whisper.
"I'm, um, a cuddler." Dex could see Casey's cheeks turn a bright red even in the dark. Dex smiled, that was exactly what he wanted.
"Me too." Casey smiled and rolled over again so his back was to Casey. Dex wrapped his arms around Casey's waist and lent his head on Casey's back. Dex was finally able to sleep.

[Phoebe]

Thank you for the comments everyone!

 

Chapter 3

 

Sasha's loud singing woke Dex from his slumber. His arms were still around Casey who somehow managed to stay asleep with Sasha killing cats just a few doors down. Casey stirred when Dex moved his arms from around him.
"Why did you have to move?" Casey grumbled before rolling onto his back looking up at the ceiling. Dex was still on his side facing him. The sun had started to shine through Dex's bedroom window and the birds were chirping outside.
"My arm was falling asleep, sorry." Dex sits up and runs his fingers through his hair. Casey grabs his hand and tries to pull him back down but Dex wouldn't. Casey sighs before sitting up as well.
"I should head off, get packing so I can move in here as soon as possible." Dex Casey a confused look. Casey, move in with them? When did Casey get that idea? Casey raises his eyebrows at him and gets out of the bed.
"Move in here? You can't move in here?" Dex wasn't sure if Casey had heard him over Sasha's singing but Casey's face falling told him he did.
"Last night you said I could? Short memory loss or what Dex?" Casey sounded like he had his heart set on living with him. Dex and Sasha just lost a father, now wasn't the right time for anyone to move in, not just Casey.
"Now isn't a good time Casey, I was so tired last night I must not of thought things through when I said it. I'm sorry. You can stay over whenever you like, but living here is a bit of stretch right now." Casey shook his head angrily at Dex before walking to Dex's bedroom door.
"You know what, just forget it." Casey left Dex's room making sure to slam the door on his way out. A few minutes later he heard the front door slam shut too signally Casey was out of the house. Dex punched the pillow beside him and put his face into his hands. There's a knock on the door and Dex hoped that it was somehow Casey.
"Come in." Sasha enters his room with her hands on her hips and her eyebrows furrowed. She threw Dex his shirt and he pulled it over his head. She sat down on the bed beside him and nudged him with her elbow a little.
"What happened?" She had pulled Dex's blanket over legs as was now sitting were Casey was just minutes before. Dex felt bad about the whole situation, but he couldn't just let Casey live with him. Sasha and Dex needed time to themselves right now, they need time to accept the fact that Sid left.
"He wanted to move in, I said no." Sasha raised her eyebrows at him and slapped his arm. Dex rubbed where she had hit him and moved away from her.
"Why did you say no? You idiot!" Sasha yelled so loud Dex was sure he felt the ground shake.
"Because dad just walked out on us? I don't exactly feel like living with anyone other than you at the moment thank you very much." Sasha threw back her head laughing at him. Dex shoved her lightly and she laughed more.
"You're so full of it Dex! You don't want Casey moving in here because you're afraid you'll blurt out that you like him, not because dad just left and you want quality time with me." Dex was getting fed up with Sasha's assumptions. Dex didn't like Casey.
"Sasha, get out."




Dex didn't realise that trying to hold two coffees and two chocolate chip muffins would be so difficult. Dex had to use his elbow to knock on the Braxton's front door, he felt ridiculous. The door swung open and he was meet with a shirtless Casey. He looked like he just got out of the water, his hair was dripping wet and so were his board shorts. Casey sighs and lets Dex in. The Braxton house was messier than Dex remembered, there was baby clothes and toys everywhere and the sink was full of dirty dishes.
"Peace offering?" Dex said dumbly and handed Casey a muffin and a coffee. Casey shook his head at Dex with a small smile. Casey sits down on the couch and motions for Dex to sit next to him.
"I'm sorry for carrying on so much, it's understandable that you don't want a roommate right now. I'm sure you can tell why I want to move out so badly." Dex takes a sip of his coffee and nods.
"I can't imagine living in a house that's full to the brim would be much fun. You are welcome at the Walker farm anytime, just not permanently, yet." Casey smiles at Dex. The two of them finish their coffees and muffins in silence. Once they were done Casey stood up.
"I should go shower, wait here I won't take too long." Dex nods and Casey heads off to shower. Dex pulls out his phone to try beat the level of candy crush he was stuck on. The front door open and closed and in walked Heath and his daughter Darcy.
"What are you doing here Walker?" Heath spat out. Dex felt his cheeks get warmer. Heath never liked Dex and Dex never liked Heath. Heath was irresponsible and thought of no one but himself, Dex was the complete opposite. Dex saw Darcy hit heath's arm.
"Dad we treat guests with respect, remember? That's what Uncle Brax said." Heath chuckles at his daughter and messes up her hair a little bit making her frown.
"Your Uncle Brax is an idiot, now run off." Darcy ran off and Dex gulped. Heath sat on the couch next to him. Dex started praying that Casey got out of the shower soon. "Are you the one that sent my brother home in a tizzy this morning? He came home and went out for a surf without even saying hello." Dex gulped again. He sighed with relief when he heard the shower turn off.
"Uh, yeah I guess that was me." Dex could hear Casey shuffling around in the bathroom, opening and closing cupboards. Heath stood up and smirked at him.
"Well, don't do it again." Heath whacked the back of Dex's head before heading off in the direction that Darcy went a few minutes earlier. Dex was rubbing the back of his head when Casey finally left the bathroom.
"Is heath back?" He said while drying his hair with his towel. Dex just nodded and Casey sighed. "He gave you trouble didn't he?" Dex nodded again with his hand still on the back of his head. "Heath leave my friends alone." Casey yelled out, Dex heard Heath yell back a whatever and Casey flipped him off. "I'm sorry about that. Lets go."




"Casey I will never let you teach me how to surf, I'm sorry." Dex had made the mistake of asking Casey how the surf was this morning and now Casey was convinced that Dex wanted to learn. They were sitting in Dex's lounge watching The Big Bang Theory (Dex owns the box set and demanded they watch it) and Casey had just bought up him teaching Dex how to surf.
"Come on Dex, you'd love it." The front door opened and Sasha walked in followed by Matt.
"Hey Matt, are you staying again tonight?" Sasha looked surprised and so did Matt and Casey. Matt just kinda shrugs and Casey had taken a sudden interest in the show.
"Ah yeah, if that's alright with you, Mr Walker." Sasha lets out a snort at Matt's politeness, Casey sniggers a little bit and Dex had to bite his tongue to stop himself from laughing at the boy too.
"Just call me Dex, and of course of it is, you can even move in if you want." Casey punched Dex's arm and Sasha dragged Matt away laughing. Dex rubbed where Casey had punched him. "Is it hurt Dex day or something, and if it is why didn't I get warned about it?" Casey focused his attention on Dex again.
"So, about learning to surf." Dex paused the TV and turned to glare at Casey, Casey just looked back at him with a big smirk.
"Look Casey, I'm not like you, I'm not made for surfing. I'm more like Sheldon Cooper over here." Dex said gesturing at the TV where Sheldon was about to knock on Penny's door. "Him and I are more a like than I'd like to admit. We both have certain spots and we both would rather stay at home figuring out math equations than go out partying, and both of us couldn't surf to save ourselves. So please just give up." Casey sighs and presses play on the TV again.
"You're aren't like Sheldon but anyway." Dex sighed and pressed pause making Casey groan at him.
"Go ask Sasha, I bet she tells you I am." Casey stood up with a determined look on his face.
"Fine then I will." Casey walked off and Dex yelled out for him to knock first. Dex's arm still throbbed from when Casey hit him. Dex got up and grabbed two glasses out of the cupboard and then grabbed the coke out and poured himself and Casey a glass of coke each. When he closed the fridge after putting the coke back he found himself looking at the picture that was stuck to the fridge with a magnet. It was a photo of Sasha, Dex,Indie and Sid the night of Dex's school formal. Dex felt a lump rise in his throat, in the photo Dex looked so happy and so did Sasha and now both of them can't get through the day without shedding a tear. Dex pulled the picture off the fridge and ripped Sid out of it and put it back. It looked much better without him. Dex grabbed the two glasses of coke and turned around to see Casey staring at him.
"So uh, what did she say?" Dex handed Casey his drink and Casey smiled at him gratefully. Casey cleared his throat.
"Yeah she agreed with you, do you want to talk about something?" Dex shook his head.
"No, no I don't"




Casey had snuck into Dex's room again and now they were both laying on their backs looking up the ceiling, Dex's mind was racing with so many different things. He was worried about Sasha and how she was and he was even worried his dad. Was he okay? Was he happy? Was he regretting what he did? Dex hoped he was. Sid was a rock for Dex since they moved to the bay, Dex had gone through so much and Sid was always there to remind him to keep his head up and that everything was going to be okay. He didn't have his rock anymore.
"You're frowning, what's wrong?" Casey was looking at Dex now, even in the moonlight Dex could see the worry lines on Casey's face. Dex sighed and ran his fingers through his hair.
"I'm just thinking about dad, I'm not as strong as I pretend to be, and neither is Sash, god Sash could fool anyone with the facade she's putting on right now. You think she's taking it well but then you tell her to watch out for strange guys or something dad use to say to her and she breaks down. The hardest thing about it is that I can't help because I'm almost as broken and alone as she is." Casey grabbed his hand under the covers and squeezed.
"You two aren't alone, she's got Matt and you and you've got her and well, me. You're doing such a great job Dex, you'll get through this. You'll be okay." Dex turned to face Casey with watery eyes. Casey wrapped his arms around Dex and Dex sighed. He may of lost one rock but he may of just gained another.
"Thank you Casey for everything lately." Casey looked at him with a smile.
"I don't mind at all Dex."

[Phoebe]

Thank you all for the comments! I hope you like this chapter

 

Chapter 4

Dex recognised the handwriting straight away, the barely legible scrawl of a doctor. Sid had written both Sasha and Dex's name on the front above their address. Dex didn't know what had changed in his father since he left but Sid never had a problem with picking up and phone and dialing a number before he left. Dex didn't care, at least the letter didn't need to be replied to, if he had of called Dex would of had to talk, and Dex didn't want that. Dex fiddled with the sealed piece of the envelope, part of him was telling him to just tear it in half and forget about it but a much larger part was telling him to open it. Dex tore open the Envelope and took out the letter and began to read.

Dear Dex and Sash,
How are you both? You're not giving your brother a hard time are you Sash? Go easy on him. Dex have you found a job yet? I hope Sash hasn't been too much trouble for you. Where I'm living is beautiful, Dex you'd love it, there's so many historical buildings around and all of them have a story. I've missed you both so much and I'm so sorry I couldn't take you with him, but it just wouldn't of worked. I was leaving so I could begin a new life with my new love, you two would of been reminders of the past. I love you both with all of my heart and I am truly sorry that it had be this way.
While I'm writing this I should let you know that I'm getting married next week nothing big or fancy just a small get together with some of the friends we've made here and some of Lily's family. It might be easier if you didn't come, I'd be too tempted to come back with you.
Love dad x

Dex slid down the front door with the letter still in his hands. He didn't want them around because they would've been reminders of the past. He didn't want them at his wedding but her family was allowed to be there. Did Sid even consider Dex, Sasha and Indie family anymore? Or were they just people from the past that he doesn't want to go back to now. Dex refused to cry about this, he had shed too many tears about this since Sid had walked out, and it's taken all this time for Dex to realise he isn't worth the energy it takes to cry. Sasha walked out in an old shirt of her's that was just a little too tight around the stomach and a pair of pajama shorts. She walked up to him like she was approaching a dangerous animal.
"Whatcha got there Dex?" Sasha reached down to grab the letter but Dex yanked it away from her with wide eyes. She stepped back a little bit and ran her fingers through her hair. "Dex let me see what's in your hand, please?" Dex shook his head at her. Sasha slid down the door beside him and rested her head on his shoulder. Dex slowly wrapped his arm around her.
"It's a letter." Dex whispered suddenly. Sasha breathed a sigh of relief at the sound of Dex's voice. She looked up at him with a small smile.
"From who Dex?" She was being so careful with him, like if she pushed too much he would break.
"Sid, he's getting married and he doesn't want us there. We're just reminders of his old life now." Sasha's face fell just for a second but Dex still saw it. She rested her head on his shoulder.
"We don't need him Dex. Give me the letter" Dex handed her the letter without saying a word. Sasha folded in half and then ripped it. She hand Dex half and then ripped her half again and so did Dex. grabbed all the pieces and scrunched them into a big ball and then chucked them into the bin. "We don't need him."



Dex still wasn't in the best mental state when he arrived at Angelo's, Sasha wanted to go with him but Dex said that it was very professional to attend a meeting with your new boss with your little sister just a few meters behind you. Brax was waiting for him outside and waved him over when he saw him. Dex smiled the most genuine smile he could and walked over to Brax and sat across from him.
"Alright, so just get yourself a black shirt and jeans and that's your uniform sorted. Just sign these forms and hand them in to me before you go." Dex nodded and Brax got up and clamped his hand on his shoulder before walking away. Dex signed all three of the forms with his messy signature. He waited until there was no one else at the bar before going up to Brax. He handed them over and Brax gave him a funny look. "Are you alright Dex?" Casey suddenly appeared beside him and shook his head at Brax before leading Dex away.
"When did you get here? And why?" Casey had lead him down the stairs and sat him down in one of the chairs in the surf club.
"Sasha called me and said you had a rough morning and asked me to make sure you weren't drinking or that you had actually gotten there." Dex slammed his fist down on one of the tables making most of the people in the surf club stare at him.
"I'm fine! I wasn't going to drink, I wasn't going to put myself in any danger. I couldn't even if I wanted to. I've got too many responsibilities now to just leave them. I am not a child that needs to be checked up on. I'm not." Casey grabbed Dex's hand and looked into his eyes.
"I know you aren't Dex, Sasha was just worried. She said for good five minutes you wouldn't talk, you just stared straight ahead. Sasha didn't know what was happening and she thought I could help. So look at this way, I wasn't helping you I was helping Sasha. I was doing something for Sasha." Dex just nodded and Casey went to move his hand but Dex stopped him. It was comforting him. "Sasha said she's going to be with Matt all day and night so she suggested I take you back to my house so you didn't get lonely" Casey was still treading on eggshells with Dex and Dex hated it. He was fine.
"Sounds nice, if you stop acting like if you say the wrong thing I'm going to self combust or something" Casey smiles at him.
"Alright Dex, are you ready for a Braxton night in?"



Darcy thought Dex was great, much to Heath's annoyance and Casey's amusement. She had told Dex to sit on the ground in front of the couch and that she'd be back. Dex gave Casey a worried look but Casey just smiled at him. Darcy came back with a hairbrush some clips and a hair tie. Casey mouthed good luck to Dex before going and getting the washing in because it had started to rain. Darcy sat behind him and started to brush his hair. Dex had started to except his fate.
"I like your hair because you don't put gel in it like dad, Uncle Case and Brax do." Dex started to imagine Casey in little pigtails with hair clips stuck in his hair, Dex couldn't help but smile.
"Uncle Case likes to play hairdressers with you does he?" Darcy giggled and grabbed what she could of Dex's hair and pulled it into a little ponytail.
"Yeah he does, he leaves it in longer than dad does and he always says thank you afterwards. Sometimes he gives me a dollar for it. Are you the boy that makes him come home with a big smile on his face?" Dex wasn't sure but he couldn't help but hope he was. Dex shrugged at the little girl who was now putting clips in his hair.
"You'd have to ask your Uncle Case about that Darcy" Casey entered the room with a washing basket full of clothing.
"Ask Uncle Case what?" Darcy hopped out from behind Dex to check out her handy work. She nodded her head and smiled.
"It's a secret." Dex said winking at Darcy who just giggled. Darcy wrapped her arms around Dex and then grabbed her hairbrush and leftover clips before skipping off. Casey sat beside him on the ground and started playing with Dex's little ponytail.
"Heath's going to end up liking you now. He can't stand it when people can't take a little embarrassment to make a little kid happy, especially when the little kid is Darcy." Dex just sighed and leant his head on the couch.
"That's good, at least I won't fear for my life whenever I come over here." Casey chuckled and stood up extending his hand to help Dex. Dex accepted the help despite not wanting to be helped. Ricky walked through the front door with two bags of food in each hand. Dex goes and takes two off her and she smiled gratefully at him.
"See Casey, if you're um... Friend? Can be helpful why can't you?" Darcy ran out after hearing Ricky's voice and tackled her in a massive hug. Dex put the bags on the table.
"Ricky! This is Dex and I think he's the one that makes Uncle Case happy" Darcy had tried to whisper that last part but Casey clearly heard it. He turned bright red and coughed awkwardly. Ricky just laughed at her.
"Why are you so obsessed with knowing who the boy is Darc?" Ricky asked with amusement in her voice.
"Because I am, and I think it's Dex." Casey just shook his head and grabbed two glasses and filled them both with water and handed one to Dex who drank it gratefully.
"Stop meddling or I'll get Uncle Brax to call the tickle monster." Casey called out. Darcy's eyes widened and then she ran off. Dex gave Casey a funny look and Casey just smiled at him. "When she's doing something she should Brax puts on this weird monster voice and tickles her. She hates it." Casey's cheeks were still really red. Dex ran his hands under the water and flicked the water that was on his hands at Casey's face sending droplets of water at his face.  "What was that for?" Casey said while wiping the water of his face. Dex smirked at him.
"Just trying to cool your cheeks down."



Casey's room was messier than Dex's but his bed was slightly bigger. Casey had posters of bands that he liked and surfers up on his wall. It took a while for Dex to spot it but the photo of Dex and Casey that Casey asked for the first time Casey was at his house was up on the wall near the bed. Casey entered the room with a smile on his face.
"Darcy wanted me and only me to read to her tonight, Heath's pissed." Dex laughed at sat on the edge of Casey's bed and yawned. Casey sat beside him and looked at him with concern in his eyes. "Do you want to talk about this morning? I know you didn't want to talk to Sasha about it but I figure I'm a little different to Sash. You can open up to me without feeling like you're letting me down." Dex sighed and moved so his back was up against the wall.
"I'm guessing Sasha told you about the letter?" Casey nodded with a sad smile. "He said we were reminders of the past. He said that he couldn't start a new life with pieces of his old life hanging around. He's getting married and he doesn't want Sasha and I there, but this Lily woman's family is going to be there. I read it and I didn't want Sasha to see it but instead of screwing it up before she had the chance to see it I shut down. She found me on the ground in front of the door with the letter still in my hand, she tried to take it off me but I moved it so she couldn't grab it. I didn't want her knowing what he said, I'm so pissed at myself for telling her." Casey was beside him now and had grabbed his hand.
"Sasha didn't seem upset when she called me, she was worried about you. Now I'm worried about you." Dex sighed and closed his eyes.
"I'm fine."

[Phoebe]

Thank you guys! I'm glad you're liking it! This chapter is exactly 2016 words, I thought it was pretty cool.

 

Chapter 5

 

"This is so weird" Sasha was on a date with Matt at Angelo's, and Dex was working. Casey swapped shifts with Ash so he could Dex out on his first night as a barman.
"Sasha you're under 18 people will think you're ordering a drink and we'll get in trouble so go back to your table and forget I'm here." Sasha glared at Dex before walking back to where Matt was sitting. She started to talk really animatedly and Dex could see how happy she was with him. Dex decided he approved of this boyfriend.
"You're lucky you got this shift, later on it's get busier and more drunken idiots come in and demand to always have their glass full." Casey was pouring some whiskey based drink into one of the smaller glasses, Dex hated the smell.
"Yeah lucky me" Casey nudged him on the way past with a smile on his face. Working at Angelo's was turning out to be quite fun, he had Casey there to talk to him and some of the customers were pretty cool to talk to too. One girl told him that she wanted to be friends because made a pun about the drink she had just ordered. A young blonde guy was in front of the counter now. "What can I get for you" The guy smiled at him.
"One of those please." He said pointing to one of the beers in the fridge. Dex got it out and unscrewed the top and hand it to him.
"That'll be $2.50 thanks." The guy smiled at him and handed the money over.
"And when can I buy you a drink?" Casey was now behind Dex grabbing out some glasses for another customer's drink.
"I don't drink, sorry." Dex could see that Casey's attitude had changed since before he left to give those people drinks, he was slamming the glasses around, Dex thought they were going to break. Dex started looking for a way out of this situation. He saw that Sasha and Matt's glasses were empty and an idea struck. "I better go see if that couple over there needs a top up." Dex walked off leaving Casey with the flirty guy. Sasha gave him a funny look. Matt just smiled at him. "Please let me fill up your glasses." Now they were both giving him a funny look. Dex sighed. "Do you see the blonde guy at the counter?"
"You mean the one that Casey is having a go at?" Sasha said with amusement in her voice. Dex turned around and his mouth dropped open at what he saw. Casey and the guy were in a heated discussion and neither of them seemed to want to back down. Dex grabbed Matt and Sasha's glasses and walked back to the counter.
"It's extremely inappropriate and I'm tempted to ask you to leave." Dex had never heard Casey sound so angry. Dex placed a hand on his arm and pulled him a few steps back from the counter.
"Is there a problem here?" Dex asked once the two of them were far enough apart. The blonde just smirked and chucked a balled up piece of paper at Dex who strangely enough was able to catch it before walking away. Casey slammed down a glass extra hard before walking out on to the deck just as Brax and Heath arrived to take over from them.
"What's wrong with the princess? You **** him off again?" Heath spat out bitterly. Dex threw his hands up in defense.
"Wasn't me this time, it was a customer. Have fun and don't let Sash drink, she'll try and con you." Both Heath and Brax nod at Dex. Dex goes out onto the deck and stands next to Casey. Dex leans his head on Casey's shoulder and Casey smiles at him. "What's up with you?" Dex whispered, the balled up piece of paper still in his hand.
"That piece of paper has his number on it, I said it wasn't right to give your number out to someone who was working and all he could say was that you were cute." Dex showed Casey the piece of paper before throwing it towards the nearest bin, it bounced of the side and landed on the floor but Casey still got the point. Dex walked over and picked up the piece of paper and chucked it in the bin.
"I'm not into blondes anyway." Casey shook his head at Dex smiling a little. Dex held out his hand and Casey took it. Dex waved at Sasha and Matt. Casey was still holding Dex's hand when they walked past the guy who wanted Dex to have his number. Dex saw Casey smirk at him as they walked by. "You're terrible"
"That guy is terrible. Darcy was disappointed she doesn't get to see you tonight." Sasha was staying Matt's house again and she was making Dex stay at Casey's.
"She'll like being at her grandma's though." Casey screwed up his nose and shook his head.
"She loves her grandma but apparently she's not as fun as you. That's what she said this morning when Heath was packing her bag. Heath glared at me for a solid five minutes after." Dex felt his cheeks warm up. People don't generally like him, especially little kids. He's far too serious. "It will be nice to hang out without anyone there to annoy us though."
"So, I'm curious, who is this mystery guy that Darcy was talking about?" Casey stopped walking, making it so Dex stop too. Dex regretted asking him as soon as he saw how awkward it made Casey feel. Casey was looking at his shoes and Dex could see his cheeks were light shade of red. "You don't have to answer I was just curious." Dex said quietly. Casey shook his head.
"No I should tell you, just give me a moment." Casey's voice was quiet Dex barely heard what he said. They stood there in front of the surf club in silence. Dex had this strange feeling that he was either about to be told something that will make him either really happy or would crush him.
"Case?" Casey looked up at him and Dex saw worry in his eyes. Casey took a breath and closed his eyes.
"The boy that sends me home happy is you. I thought you would've picked up on it by now. I have a picture of us on my wall for Christ sake. I understand if you want nothing to do with me now bu-" Dex stopped Casey halfway through his ramblings by putting his lips on Casey's. It was different to kissing April or any of the others Dex had kissed before. Casey's lips were rougher than their's, but Dex liked it. The two pulled away once they had ran out of breath. Casey's lips were red and swollen, Dex was proud knowing he did that. Casey blinked a few times, like he was trying to figure out if the kiss had actually happened. "That was, I don't even know what that was." Dex just smirked.
"That was the best possible way to get you to stop talking, that's what that was."



Casey sighed when they entered the Braxton house to see that his brothers had yet again failed to keep the house clean. Empty beer bottles covered the dining table and the coffee table and some baby clothes covered sections of the couch. The dishes had been done though. Without saying a word Dex started to pick up the empty beer bottles and other rubbish and put them into a fresh rubbish bag. Casey starts cleaning up the baby clothes. It took the two of them ten minutes to get the place clean enough for Casey to be happy. Casey fell back on the couch and placed his head in his hands. Dex sighed and layed down on the couch so his feet were in Casey's lap.
"I'm sorry you had to clean up after my pigs of brothers." Casey dropped his hands from his face and rested them on Dex's ankles. Dex just shrugged.
"It was stressing you out, I could tell." Casey leans back on the couch and closes his eyes. Dex's phone starts buzzing on the coffee table. Sasha's name flashed up on the screen. Dex grabs it and answers with his eyebrows furrowed. "Sash, what's up?" Casey was watching Dex now.
"Dex, you have to meet me at the hospital, Sasha tripped down the stairs and seems like she's just broken her arm but we won't know until she can get checked up on." Matt's words were rushed. Dex's eyes widened and a lump rised in his throat. Sasha was hurt.
"Was she drinking? Did they serve her drinks?" Casey sat up straighter and mouthed what's going on to Dex who just help up his finger.
"No they didn't. Brax gave her a lecture on underage drinking actually. Please get there as soon as possible, I know she'll want you there when she wakes up." Dex felt sick to his stomach, his sister was unconscious. He said goodbye to Matt before getting up and putting his shoes on.
"Dex, what is going on?" Casey had Dex by the shoulders and was looking him in the eyes. Dex was breathing hard and was on the verge of tears.
"Sash, she fell down the stairs at Angelo's and Matt's positive she's broken some bones. I need to be at the hospital when she wakes up." Casey wiped the tears that had fallen out of Dex's eyes away. Casey picked up his keys and slipped on his shoes before leading Dex to his car. They drove to the hospital in silence, Casey's hand rested on Dex's thigh. Dex was doing his best to stay calm. Matt could only see something wrong with her arm, but you can't see head injuries. They got to the hospital and spotted Matt immediately. Dex ran up to him. "What's happening? Is she okay? What the hell happened?" Casey was rubbing Dex's back trying to calm him down.
"She has a slight concussion but that's all head wise. She's broken her arm and Fractioned a bone in her foot. The doctor said she's lucky." Dex could see that Matt had been crying, his eyes were all red and puffy and his cheeks were wet.
"How did it happen?" Matt took a deep breath and closed his eyes.
"She was replying to message from your dad and she must of got one that upset her because she stopped in the middle of the stairway and the people behind us didn't realise she had stopped so they kept going and stumbled forwards and fell the rest of the way down." Sasha was messaging their dad, what the hell for? Dex took a few deep breaths to try and calm himself down.
"Thank you Matt for being there for her, thank you for calling me I really appreciate it." Dex embraced him an awkward hug. All three of them sat in the horrible plastic chairs. Dex leaned his head on Casey's shoulder and took deep breaths to try and keep calm. Matt stood up.
"I'm going to get a coffee, do you you guys want one? My shout." Dex and Casey both nodded. Matt headed off the direction of the cafeteria. Casey kissed the top of Dex's head affectionately.
"She's going to be perfectly fine. She'll be back to calling you dad and waking you up at one in the morning because she's craving a frozen coke in no time. There isn't any head injuries, she's just going to have a horrid cast on for a while which you can write Dex is the best brother ever or something all over it just to **** her off. She's going to be okay Dex." Dex grabbed Casey's hand and squeezed it. Dex knew Casey was right, Sasha was a fighter, there was no way that she was going to let this beat her.
"Thank you so much, I needed that."

[Phoebe]

Thank you everyone! This is a very small update but I hope you like it anyway

Chapter 6

Dex couldn't stop his legs from bouncing, the large quantity of coffee he had consumed since arriving at the hospital had started to take a toll on him. He pulled out his phone and checked the time, it was 12:30, they got to the hospital at about 11:30 meaning they had been there for an hour without any information. Casey had fallen asleep on Dex's shoulder, he felt guilty that Casey was stuck here with him. Matt was called home by Leah twenty minutes ago so it was just Dex and Casey there, waiting. Dex shook Casey awake lightly. Casey's eyes slowly opened and he looked around confused at first as to where he was, Dex thought it was adorable.
"You should go home and get some sleep, I'll be fine by myself." Casey shook his head, Dex couldn't tell whether it was his way of waking himself up or if he was telling Dex no. Dex's back was starting to ache from the horrible plastic chairs and he was tired, he wanted to go home.
"As if Dex, you need me here and I'm worried about Sash too. I'm staying." Dex sighed and stood up.
"Well, I need more coffee." Casey shook his head and pulled him down on to his seat again. Nate walked down the hall and smiled at the two of them. Dex and Casey both stood up and walked over to him. "Is she awake?"
"She is, we'd like to keep her overnight just to make sure everything is all good. She's asking for the both of you. She's in the fifth room on the left." Casey mumbled a thanks but Dex was already outside Sasha's room. He waited for Casey to catch up with him. Dex grabbed his hand and smiled at him. They walked in and saw Sasha laying in bed with a cast up to her shoulder with scrapes and cuts all over her other arm and face.
"Sash, look at you." Dex whispered. Sasha chuckled and held her other arm out to the side so Dex could hug her. "I was so worried about you. I've never had so much coffee in one go before." Sasha smiled warmly at him. Then her face fell and tears welled up in her eyes.
"I just remembered why I fell, dad sent me a message saying he'll be around on Friday to grab some things that he forgot to take with him. Matt's going to visit his sister on Friday so I have no where to go." Casey was beside Dex now. He had one hand on Dex's back and the other was leaning on Sasha's hospital bed. Dex felt a lump form in his throat.
"Sasha this going to sound strange to you but I think we both need to be there, we need to show him that we don't need him. Casey can be there to hold me back from punching dad in the nose and to just generally be there for us. We'll be fine, dad will be the one crying by the end of it, I can guarantee it." Casey nodded his head and smiled softly at Sasha. Dex wasn't sure if what he was saying was the best way to go about it, it might backfire on them.
"Dex I don't know, I don't think I can do it." Dex grabbed her hand and squeezed.
"I'm not sure if I can either Sash but I think we need to."



Dex quietly got out of bed, being careful not to wake Casey up. He tip toed out into the lounge room and into the kitchen. The microwave flashed 4:30, Dex hadn't got an ounce of sleep since him and Casey got home two hours ago. Dex grabbed a glass and filled it with water. Dex hadn't wanted to leave but Sasha said if he didn't leave her alone then she would call Indie and tell her about Dex's mental breakdown earlier in the week. Indie was studying to become a therapist. Dex decided he wasn't thirsty anymore and poured the water down the sink.
"That was waste, fish could've used that you know." Dex glared at Heath and placed the glass on the sink before walking out of the kitchen. "Hey Walker don't walk away from me." Heath started to laugh, realising what he had just said. "I didn't even mean to do that I swear." Dex crossed his arms over his bare chest and furrowed his eyebrows at Heath.
"Why are you so chirpy, it's 4:30 in the morning." Heath stopped laughing and took a deep breath.
"Darc had a bad dream, apparently I got attacked by a giant turtle or something. She came into my room and hour ago and I haven't been able to fall back to sleep." Dex gave Heath a sympathetic look. "Why are you awake at 4:30 anyway?" Dex sighed and sat down on the couch.
"You would know what happened to Sasha? Well she fell because dad texted her saying he was going to drop by on Friday to grab some things. I told her we should be there when he is but she doesn't agree with me and it's keeping me awake. I should get back though before Case goes to hug me or something and freaks out." Dex gets up off the couch and turns around to find Casey standing in the doorway of his bedroom with slightly messier hair than he remembered with his arms crossed.
"Too late Dexter." Heath hits Dex on the back with a big grin on his face.
"He used your full name, you're in the dog house now." Casey flipped him off and Heath flipped him off back. "I better get to bed. See ya later brother and brother in-law, kind of. I dunno I haven't had any sleep, night." Heath walks back through the kitchen. Casey raised his eyebrows at Dex and beckoned him to come over. Dex walks over to him and allows himself to held by Casey.
"You've won Heath over I think."

[Phoebe]

Thank you everyone! here is chapter 7

 

Chapter 7

 

"Welcome back Sasha, your room is just down the hall incase you've forgotten." Sasha hit Dex's arm with a huge smile on her face. "Don't bite the hand that feeds ya Sash." Sasha chuckled. Dex carried her things down the hall and into her bedroom where Matt was waiting. Dex shook his head at him. Sasha was in the kitchen making popcorn when Dex walked into the lounge. "Sasha what are you doing?"
"Making popcorn, I was thinking we could have a movie marathon." Dex and Sasha had both been too busy to do what they use to do together. Dex was starting to feel bad about the boy hiding out in her bedroom.
"Sasha, you should go to your room, grab some movies from there." Sasha put the bowl of popcorn on the coffee table and skipped out of the lounge. A few seconds later he heard Sasha scream and then laugh. The plan had been successful. The two of them walked out together, Dex could tell she was trying to get him to go home.
"I'll come around later, I just want to spend time with my brother." Dex cleared his throat and the two of them looked at him.
"You come around here later Matt, Sasha will text you. I'll get Casey to come around too." Sasha raised her eyebrows at him. Dex rolled his eyes at her. "You were right, okay? No I told you so or I will throw all this popcorn at you and don't think I won't." Sasha squealed and both Matt and Dex shook their head at her.
"Okay, I'll head off then, love you Sash." Sasha got on her tip toes and kissed him. Dex liked Matt, he was a good guy and he treated his sister well but he still didn't want to see them kissing, not in his own home. Sasha sat down beside him once Matt had left, her bad arm resting on two pillows.
"I don't see why they had to cast up my whole arm, it doesn't seem necessary." Sasha grumbled. Dex had already signed it multiple times and he had written a bunch of stupid things Sasha had said on the cast as well. Sasha asked one of the nurses if she could scrub it off and the nurse laughed at her. Sasha gave Dex the silent treatment for a good hour after that. "So tell me Dexter, you and Casey? When did that happen?" Dex sighed.
"Yesterday actually, just after we left Angelo's." Sasha pressed play on the TV, the first movie she put on was Lilo and Stitch, her favorite Disney movie. Sasha rested her head on Dex's shoulder and yawned.
"I'm glad you had Casey with you yesterday, you probably would've panicked if he wasn't there." Dex raised his eyebrows at her. Dex had panicked, Casey couldn't do anything to stop it. Casey had calmed him down a little bit but not enough.
"Casey didn't stop me from panicking, he did stop me from drinking more coffee though." Dex took a large handful of popcorn and popped it all in his mouth at once, Sasha looked at him horrified he just shrugged. Dex had missed Sasha recently, he was glad she wanted to hang out with just him.
"So what are we going to do when dad gets here tomorrow?" Dex grabbed the remote and paused the TV. He ran his fingers through his hair.
"We have both boys over tonight so they're here in the morning, and then when Sid gets here we ignore him to the best of our abilities." Sasha sighed and sat up. She looked at him with worry in her eyes. Dex was worried too, but he couldn't show it. He had to be the strong older brother, Sasha had to be able to lean on him when she wasn't strong enough to stand on her own, she can't do that if Dex is weak too. Sasha grabbed his hand hand with her one good one and squeezed.
"We're going to get through this, aren't we?" Sasha's eyes had started to well up with tears. Dex had to close his eyes to prevent any tears of his own from falling.
"Of course Sash."



"I bring pizza and ice cream" Casey calls out after Dex opens the front door for him. Dex smiles at him gratefully and takes the tub of ice cream out of his arms.
"What flavor ice cream?" Sasha calls out from her bedroom. Dex shakes his head at her at reaches up to put the ice cream in the freezer. Casey's arms were suddenly around his waist. Dex turned around to face him, he looked up at him with sad eyes. Casey gave him a sad smile before resting his chin on top of Dex's head.
"Mint choc chip, come get some pizza you two." Casey called out. Dex chuckled a little bit, he was being a better parent than Dex was. Casey kissed the top of Dex's head before letting him go and opening the pizza boxes. Dex rubbed at his eyes, he was so tired, sleep hadn't been coming easy for him. Sasha and Matt walked in the room hand in hand.
"Casey you are literally the only one who likes mint choc chip ice cream." Sasha said letting go of Matt's hand so she could grab a piece of pizza. Dex furrowed his eyebrows at her.
"That won't stop you from eating half a tub later. By the way I happen to like mint choc chip ice cream." Sasha rolled her eyes at him. Matt shook his head the both of them before grabbing his own piece of pizza.
"Whatever Dexter. Thanks for pizza and ice cream Casey." Casey nodded his head at her. Sasha grabbed a plate and piled on enough pizza for both her and Matt before dragging Matt back to her bedroom. Dex tried to enforce the no food in bedrooms rule but he figured if ants decide to camp out in her room because there is crumbs everywhere then that's her problem. Dex walked over to the couch and sat down. Casey brought over the pizza box but Dex just shook his head.
"Dex you need to eat." Dex shook his head again and Casey sighed. "Do I have to call Indie? Because unlike Sasha I will actually do it. I'll explain the whole situation. She may want to give Sid a piece of her mind." Casey held out the pizza box again and Dex shook his head again.
"I'm just not hungry, Sasha and I pigged out on popcorn earlier." Casey raised his eyebrows and Dex sighed and picked up a piece of pizza and put it in his mouth and bit off a piece. "Happy?" Dex said with a mouthful of food. Casey laughed at him.
"Yes, thank you. Heath wants you to come over tomorrow night, he's having a barbecue for Darcy's birthday. He said Sasha and Matt can come over too." Dex finished his pizza off and wiped his hands on his pants.
"Sure, we'll need something to get our minds off Sid. Heath must really like me now, it's weird." Casey sighed and leaned his head on Dex's shoulder.
"I told you, you've won him over. Plus I think he wants you to look after Darcy next weekend when we're all out of town for mum's birthday, he's probably just sucking up." Dex nodded his head and sighed.
"I think I can do that, no sucking up needed, Sasha would love Darcy." Casey leaned in and kissed him, it took Dex by surprise, but it was a good surprise.
"You're the best."
"I know."



"What was your childhood like?" Dex whispered to the half asleep boy next to him. Casey sat up in bed and looked at Dex like he just asked Casey to kill someone. Dex started to feel guilty, Dex couldn't imagine that Casey's childhood was a nice one. Dex's wasn't perfect either, well it was in the beginning but then Sid started cheating and then their mum ran off and it all went down hill pretty quickly.
"Oh it was fabulous, my mother was the mother of the year and brothers were so kind to me. Really, I had the best childhood." Casey's voice dripped with sarcasm. Dex sat up in bed as well.
"I'm sorry I asked, you just never speak about your childhood or family at all. I know pretty much nothing about you." Casey slid away from Dex a little bit, Dex was hurt.
"There's a reason for that Dex, I don't want to talk about it. I thought you would know that." Dex shook his head and climbed out of bed. He grabbed his phone and charger and turned to face Casey who was still sitting up and was now watching Dex carefully.
"I'm sorry for being curious about my boyfriend's life, I'm going to the spare room, I'm not in the mood for this right now. We both need sleep obviously." Dex turned towards the door and then Casey cleared his throat.
"My mother was drunk 90% of my childhood, she cleaned up her act after we moved out. That scar on my back is from her throwing a rock at me when we were leaving the house, she was aiming for Heath but she was drunk so her aim wasn't great. Dad was in jail and the people he owed money would come around all the time and get in our faces, I watched one break Brax's arm because Brax told him to leave us alone. Heath was having issues so he would take it out on me, because I was younger and scared of him. Do you see why I didn't want to talk about it?" Dex gulped and nodded his head. "Please get back into bed?" Dex plugged his charger back in and hopped back into bed.
"My dad was never home, he always at some other women's house, which turned out to be Sasha's mum. Mum knew about it but she refused to admit it, she went crazy. Indie brought home her first boyfriend and a month later I had to hold Indie while mum left with him in the passenger seat. Dad moved us all here where I felt like I didn't really fit in, I had to watch while Indie made all these friends while the only friend I had was my laptop. Now dad's gone and I've become a parent at 18. Your childhood was far worse than mine but mine still wasn't the best." Dex turned on his side facing the wall, Casey's arms snaked around his waist.
"Look at us now, despite our childhoods we've grown up to be half decent people."



Dex woke up alone in his bed, he had no idea how Casey managed to leave the bed without disturbing him. Whenever Dex is the closest to the wall and wakes up first he always wakes Casey, by either treading on him or shaking the bed too much. Dex could hear Casey talking to Matt and Sasha in the kitchen. He picked up his phone, it was ten in the morning. Dex rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and got out of bed. He pulled on a shirt and stumbled out of the room. Sasha was still in her nightie and Matt was in old pair of Dex's pajama bottoms. Sasha and Matt waved at him, Casey was yet to see him. Casey was facing the toaster, waiting for it to pop. Dex wrapped his arms around him and kissed his cheek. Casey jumped a little bit but quickly calmed down, Dex rested his head on Casey's back. Dex could Sasha making vomit noises, Dex flipped her off and she laughed.
"Good morning sleepy head." Casey said as the toaster popped. He grabbed the two pieces of toast and buttered them. Dex heard the front door being unlocked and he stood up straighter. His eyes widened as he saw him. Sid was now standing in the doorway of the lounge.

[Phoebe]

Thank you everyone!

 

Chapter 8

 

Casey tried to move out of Dex's arms but Dex wouldn't let him, they had nothing to be ashamed of. All four of them stared at Sid, Sid was doing his best to look anywhere but at Dex and Sasha. Dex could tell Sasha wanted to to get up and leave but he knew that she wouldn't, they promised each other that they'd do this together.
"Continue to butter your toast." Dex whispered in his boyfriend's ear. Casey turned around in Dex's arms so he was facing him.
"I'm finished though?" Dex rolled his eyes and picked up one of the pieces of toast and took a bite. Casey shook his head and picked up the other piece and began eating. "Have you had breakfast Sash? Matt chuck us the remote." Dex thanked god for Casey at that moment, he was the only one being normal at that point in time. Matt flung the remote in Casey's direction and it landed on the floor in front of him.
"Sash have you eaten?" Dex asked her again. She looked up at him startled, her eyes were wet.
"Uh, no I haven't" Sid had been standing there the whole time, just watching them. He hadn't even tried to say anything. Sasha stood up and walked to the kitchen, grabbing Dex's hand on the way past. "Do we say something?" Sasha whispered Dex shook his head and grabbed the Vegemite off the top shelf for her.
"No, we ignore him, remember?" Sasha nodded. Sid took another step into the room. Dex eyed him carefully. Casey had the morning cartoons on as loud as the TV could go. Dex watched as Sid reached over and turned the TV off. Sasha clenched her teeth.
"You don't live here anymore, you don't get to do that." Sasha spat out. Sid took a deep breath, like he did when he was about to give out a punishment. Dex's heart started beating faster. "You can't leave and then come back and turn the TV off on the people who were there for us when you weren't. Casey was the one to stay at the hospital with Dex until two in the morning while I was there for my arm. Casey was the one that got Dex a job to support me. Casey was the one who picked up the pieces and glued them back together, so if he wants to blast the TV so loud that people in China can hear it, so be it." Casey was looking down at the ground, his cheeks red.
"I turned the TV off so you two could talk to me!" Sid bellowed. Matt stood up this time. Casey tried to get him to sit down but he shrugged him off.
"Maybe Sasha and Dex don't want to talk to you, did you ever think of that Mr Walker? You know it really irks me that you can leave the two of them without a proper goodbye or anything and then come back and expect to be greeted with a hug a friendly chat. I've held Sasha while she cried over you, I've helped her tear you out of pictures, I calmed her down after she witnessed her brother totally breakdown after reading a letter you wrote the two of them, I shouldn't of had to do that. The question that has been running through my head through all of this is, what kind of father just leaves his kids?" Sasha had started to cry, Dex let her bury her head in his chest.
"A pretty lousy one." Casey muttered as he pulled Matt back down onto the couch. Sid was looking at Dex and Sasha now, his face was red and tears had started to well up in his eyes. Dex was disgusted, Sid had no right to be upset.
"You don't understand, I know it looks bad but-" Dex scoffed.
"It looks worse than bad dad, I can't walk past someone without them whispering 'Oh that's the doctor's son, poor boy.' Everyone looks at Sasha and I with so much pity, I hate it. The funny thing is I've been imagining the day you walked back through that door in my head for weeks now, I imagined it to be this great reunion and it always ended with you coming back. Now that you're here, I just want you gone because Sasha and I were starting to cope. Maybe we rely a little too much on Matt and Case but what we've got going is working, and there's no room for you in this equation anymore dad. So will you grab whatever you forgot, hand me your key because neither of us want you here and go. Don't say anything, just go." Sid wiped at his eyes and took another deep breath. Dex could see his hands were shaking, something that only happened when he was upset.
"The things I forgot, the things I came here for, were the two of you. I wanted to come back here and take you to the city with me, but now I see that you would rather get stung by bees a thousand times than come with me. I hope one day you'll understand why I did it, I hope that one day you'll be able to say that you forgive me. For now I see it's best if I'm gone out of your lives. Matt and Casey, thank you for being there for Dex and Sasha, I appreciate it. I'll get going now. Call me whenever you want Dex and Sash, I'll always answer." Sid chucked Dex his key, Dex was able to catch it with one hand and keep his arm around Sasha who hadn't stopped crying. The front door slammed shut and a few minutes later you could Sid backing out of the driveway. "He's gone Sash, he's not coming back." Dex whispered. Sasha pulled away from Dex and wiped her eyes.
"Give the key to Casey, you need him here." Sasha whispered to him. Dex looked at the key in his hand and then looked at his boyfriend who was trying to calm down a still angry Matt down. Sasha nodded her head at him.
"Hey Case, catch!" Casey looked up just in time to see the key hit his chest. Casey picked up the key and smiled. Matt glared at the ground. "Matt, get permission from the other's at your house and then I'll get you a key made." Matt nodded at him. Sasha walked over to Matt and grabbed his hand and led him out of the room. "Sasha was right you know, I don't think I could've done anything of this if it wasn't for you, thank you Casey." Casey shook his head.
"I would do everything I've done for you ten times over if it meant that you would be happy."

 

Dex knocked on Sasha's door, Sid had left hours ago and Sasha hadn't made any effort to come out of her room since. Matt muttered a come in and Dex swung the door open. At first look Dex thought Sasha was asleep, but then she rolled onto her back and Dex could see her eyes were open. Dex sat beside her on the bed, being careful not to knock her bad arm.
"Hey Sash, we're invited to Darcy's birthday barbecue but if you don't want to go then I understand. Matt you're invited too." Sasha sat up and ran her hands over her eyes.
"Give us a minute to freshen up and we'll go. I need to get my mind off of things." Dex smiled at her proudly. He ruffled her hair and left the room. Dex wasn't sure if he was up for a celebration but he promised Casey he would go, plus Casey had told Darcy Dex was going and he can't bare the thought of disappointing her. Dex's face dropped, he hadn't got Darcy a present.
"Casey, I've made a terrible mistake." Dex whispered as he walked back into the lounge. Casey quirked his eyebrows at him. "I didn't get Darcy anything." Casey chuckled and got off the couch.
"I put your name on my card, don't worry." Casey wrapped his arms around Dex, Dex buried his face into Casey's chest. "Is Sasha going?" Dex nodded. "Good, she needs to get out of the house after today, so do you. You never told me how you felt about Sid coming back for you? I understand if you don't want to talk about it but you will have to at one stage." Dex looked up at Casey, Dex was tired and he didn't want to think about Sid anymore, but Casey deserved an answer.
"I don't know how I feel, even if things went well today I wouldn't of gone with him, I know that much. I think Sasha would've though, she's missed him more than she's willing to admit. She's seen his true colours now, I saw them years ago I just chose to ignore them." Casey nodded his head and kissed Dex's forehead.
"I was so close to getting Heath and Brax down here to give Sid a piece of their minds, Heath probably would've punched his teeth in." Dex chuckled a little bit. Casey leaned down and connected their lips together. They pulled apart a minute later when Sasha loudly cleared her throat. Dex smiled at her sheepishly.
"Now that your tongues are out of each other's throats, can we go?" Dex and Casey both nodded and followed them out of the house. Dex locked the front door behind him. Casey unlocked his car and they all piled in. Sasha and Matt sat in the back while Dex sat in the passenger seat next to Casey who was driving. Casey turned on the radio and some terrible pop song played through the speakers, Sasha happened to know every word. Dex found himself watching Casey drive, his eyes were crinkled from laughing at Sasha's singing but they were still still focused on the road, the corners of his mouth were pulled up into a smile. Dex thought he looked beautiful, Dex would never tell him that though, it would go straight to his head. "Dex you are giving Casey the biggest love heart eyes I've ever seen, and I thought Matt was bad." Sasha said with amusement in her voice. Dex looked away from Casey, his cheeks had started to warm up, Sasha was such a pain.
"Were you staring at me?" Casey said. Dex looked out the other window in attempt to avoid answering the question. Sasha started laughing in the back. "Dexter Walker, were you looking at me." Dex sighed.
"I just glanced at you, that's all." Sasha snorted and Dex turned around to glare at her. "Sasha I'll let you know that I have memorized some of your diary, don't test me." Sasha raised her eyebrows at him. "I love his curls and how bronze they are, his smile lights up the room" Dex said in a high pitched voice. "I can go on if you want?" Matt had started laughing and Sasha hit him with her good arm.
"Alright Dex, you win this one." Casey pulled into the driveway, there were a few cars parked out the front already.
"It's just family here tonight, no Riverboys." Dex let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. Sasha nodded her head and climbed out of the car. Casey picked up the present from the back of the car and hopped out too. Dex hesitated before finally following the other three. He managed to catch up with Casey who grabbed his hand when he realised Dex was beside him. Dex squeezed his hand. Sasha and Matt had already entered the Braxton home. "Are you sure you're up for this?" Even if he wasn't it was too late to back down now. Dex nodded his head and Casey smiled at him.Dex took a big breath. Despite the less than ideal day he had had he was feeling okay.
"Yes, let's do this Case."

[Phoebe]

So this is the last chapter! Thank you to everyone who has been reading this fic, if you've liked this i suggest that you go and read @Jen's Dex/Casey fanfictions they are amazing! I'd like to give a big thank you to the following people who left me loevly comments on my chapters: JarlieFanEver, Red Ranger 1, JosieTash, Kristen and Suzza101! I appreciate it a lot!

 

Chapter 9 

 

Casey lead Dex through his house and into the backyard. Darcy sat between Heath and Bianca, she had birthday girl badge pinned to her dress. Brax was cooking the barbecue, Ricky was beside him talking to him. Matt and Sasha had started a conversation with Kyle. Darcy jumped up and ran up to Dex and Casey, she wrapped her arms around Casey first.
"Happy birthday Darcy! Have you had a good day?" Casey asked her. She nodded her head and grinned up at him.
"Yeah! Bianca and Ricky have made me a chocolate cake, but I'm not meant to know," she whispered to the two boys. "Uncle Kyle got me this bracelet, look it says my name!" She exclaimed holding out her wrist so they could see it. "Uncle Brax and Ricky got me this dress and a nice pair of shoes," Darcy smiled at them. She wrapped her arms around Dex, "Thank you for coming Dex, dad said you had a bad day. Oh! I forgot to say what dad and B got me! They got me a new phone!" Dex smiled at her and ruffled her hair.
"Dex! We forgot to get Darcy a present!" Dex hit his forehead with his hand and Casey was scowling down at the ground. Dex watched as Darcy's face dropped a little bit before she quickly put on a smile again.
"That's okay! I don't need presents." Casey chuckled at her and handed over her present, Darcy giggled and started to unwrap it.
"Oi Darc! Card first kiddo," Heath yelled out. Darcy rolled her eyes before untaping the card from the present and tearing the envelope. Darcy quickly scanned the card before putting it down on the closest chair. She ripped open the packaging to see a phone case and a pair of headphones. She looked up the both of them with a big smile on her face.
"Thank you! I love it! Hey dad! Look what Uncle Case and Dex got me!" Darcy ran off with her new things in her hands to show her dad. Casey put his arm around Dex and kissed his forehead.
"You have not said a word since we got here, are you okay?" Casey whispered to him. Dex looked over at his sister who was throwing her head back laughing at something Matt had said, even after today she still was able to keep her head up. Dex wasn't as good at hiding his feelings as she was, Sasha had always been a lot stronger than Dex.
"I'm doing okay Case, I'm doing okay." Heath walked up to them with two full beers in his hands. He hands one to each of them.
"Thanks for being here fellas, Darcy really appreciates it." Dex twists the top of his beer and nods at Heath. The two of them had started to form a strange sort of friendship over the past few weeks. Dex helps Heath out with anything that involves maths and science and Heath gives Dex workout tips, not that Dex will ever use them.
"Wouldn't miss it. We need to talk to you and Brax about something really quickly," Casey said after taking a swig from his beer. Dex took a mouthful and cringed, he wasn't the biggest fan of beer. Heath gestured for Brax to come over, Ricky took over the barbecue. Brax put his hands in his pockets and looked at his brothers questioningly. Casey took a deep breath. "I'm moving in with Dex, Sash and possibly Matt. I just thought I'd let you know." Dex looked down at his feet and kicked at the ground, not wanting to make eye contact with any of the Braxton brothers at that moment.
"Are you sure about this mate?" Brax said. Heath hit Brax's arm and raised his eyebrows at him. Brax and ran his fingers through his hair. "Alright alright. You have to visit though, and the both of you are going to keep working at Angelo's right?" Dex and Casey both nodded their heads. Brax pulled his brother into a hug. "I'm proud of ya." Casey smiled and Brax let go. Brax walked back to the barbecue and took over again.
"I'm happy for the both of you," Heath said with a smile. He walked back to Darcy and Bianca.
"That went way better than I expected."



Dex carried Casey's last box into the house and put it in the lounge. He fell back on to the couch and took several deep breaths. Casey walked out of the kitchen with two large glasses of water in his hands, he handed over one to Dex, Dex took it gratefully.
"I never thought that you would have so much stuff, it's Sasha moving in all over again," Dex whined. Casey chuckled at him and sat beside him. Dex drank his water and put the cup down on the coffee table and layed with his head in Casey's lap. Casey chuckled again and started playing with Dex's hair. "I'm so tired, but I'm happy." Dex closed his eyes and smiled.
"I'm happy that you're happy. I'm tired too, I had no idea Darcy was going to keep us all up until it wasn't her birthday anymore. Heath didn't seem to impressed either but he's a wimp when it comes to his daughter." Dex opened his eyes and looked up at Casey.
"Do you think we'll have kids?" Casey furrowed his eyebrows together. Dex had always wanted children, once upon a time he was hoping for children with April, that stopped pretty quickly. Casey pursed his lips together.
"That's kind of hard Dex," Casey said with a hint of amusement in his voice. Dex rolled his eyes at his boyfriend.
"There's other ways to go about it Casey, adoption, surrogacy and probably some other ways that I can't think of at the moment." Casey bit his lip and Dex suddenly got what Casey's problem was. "Case, I don't mean right now, just eventually. I'd like to have kids, that's all." Casey let out a breath and went back to running his fingers through Dex's hair.
"I was scared for a moment there, but yeah I would like to have kids some day." Dex smiled up at him. Dex had been so unhappy for so long before Casey came into his life, he was unsure of himself and felt like he had no one. No one seemed to understand the things he was going through, but Casey did. Even if Casey didn't quite get something he always let Dex rant and complain without any judgement. Casey was extremely important to Dex, a few months back Dex would never of imagined himself thinking that.
"I'm sorry for scaring you. Thank you for everything you've done for me Case, I wouldn't be this okay with everything if it wasn't for you." Casey grabbed Dex's hand and kissed it.
"I love you Dexter Walker." Dex looked up at him with a big grin on his face.
"I love you too Casey Braxton."

 

 

 

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