I am so, so, so sorry for the delay! I know it's been 8 months. First there was school, and then I just kept putting it off. Then my computer had to get reformatted. Plus I have no idea what I'm doing anymore, but I'm determined not to give up. But I'm going to try for you and for me. If you've stuck with me for this long, thank you! That means so much to me, especially because I get incredibly impatient when a story takes this long to update. I really haven't meant to keep everyone waiting…life (and procrastination) just happens.

So let me know what you think of this, and if you think it's worth continuing at this point? Thankss!

Disclaimer: I own nothing. The end.

Casey took a deep breath and forced her feet to walk forward to the Dance Department's bulletin board, where several notices and flyers were pinned. Only one, however, was drawing her, and that was the cast list for The Sleeping Beauty. She had allowed Derek to convince her to audition for the role of Sleeping Beauty herself, though she hadn't been sure that she would get the role.

When she reached the board, she forced herself to scan the smaller and less significant roles for her name first, though whether it was to put off the impending disappointment of not receiving the lead role or to make the victory of receiving it all the better she wasn't sure. However, when she didn't see her name in any other female part, she closed her eyes, took a deep breathe, and opened them back up. Her gaze slowly made its way up the list until she found "Sleeping Beauty." Biting her lip, she forced herself to let her gaze drop to see the name. It wasn't her, it wasn't her, it wasn't – Casey McDonald. It was her. She had been given the role.

Casey blinked several times, processing the information, then a massive smile broke out across her face. Suddenly she turned on her heel and flew out the doors. She had to tell Derek.

Derek was reclining on their couch watching hockey and eating chips—he'd get to his homework in a bit—when the door flew open and Casey was suddenly standing two feet from him. Her face was flushed and she had one of the biggest smiles he had ever seen.

"Um, hi? What's up with the clown smile?" Okay, it wasn't really a clown smile. But it was still kind of unnerving.

"The cast list for The Sleeping Beauty was posted today." Her eyes were sparkling now, and it looked as if she could barely contain herself. She was holding herself rigidly; it seemed she was afraid to relax in case she began bouncing off the walls.

"Isn't that the ballet you auditioned for? Wait…did you get it?" Derek had straightened up by now, moving from a slouch on the couch to standing less than a foot from Casey, his hands clutching her shoulders.

"Yes! I got it! I got the role of Sleeping Beauty, Derek!" Now that she had told him her news, she relaxed very slightly, and her hands had moved up to wrap around his arms.

"You got it? Of course you did! You got it! I knew you would!" Suddenly he picked her up and swung her around, his face as feverish and happy as hers. When they finally stopped, he gently set her on her feet and kissed her forehead, then pulled back and looked at her.

"We're going out to dinner. My treat. Go get changed into something nice." Derek winked at her then walked over to his phone and started dialing numbers.

A few hours later, the two of them sat in a, well, cozy, booth in a rather nice restaurant. The lights were dimmed, and each table had a few candles lit for ambiance and the extra light. The settings were china and polished silver, and each place had a wine glass, though half the time it was just used for water. Casey and Derek had been seated at a round booth, and after some slightly awkward glances and scuffles they had discovered a comfortable distance from each other that wasn't too distant.

Casey looked around, bright eyes wide and reflecting the lights and candlelight around her. "Derek, how did you get us into here? It's got to be—"

"Shh." He held up his hand, brown eyes seriously regarding her. "That doesn't matter tonight. You deserve it for getting the role. Besides, when I become the star of Team Canada, you can do the same thing for me." Here his mouth stretched into a smirk.

"Well…okay. But thank you. Really, thank you." On impulse, she reached out and covered his hand. Derek's gaze dropped to their joined hands and his jaw dropped slightly; Casey looked equally surprised at her spontaneity but didn't remove her hand. After a slight hesitation, Derek turned his hand over and laced his fingers between hers, locking eyes with her.

"You're welcome, Princess."

All right, I'm going to try to get one chapter out again before I go back to school in a couple weeks. I hope you enjoyed it. And I don't actually know if Team Canada is the right name, but that's the only name I could find. It's the national hockey team in Canada.

Hope you enjoyed! Please review!