Chapter Two

Casey stared at Cappie in shock. She quickly looked away, hoping that he hadn't seen the sadness in her eyes. She silently counted to three and crossed her arms over her chest and looked at Cappie. "Sure," she said quietly.

"May I come in?" Cappie asked.

"Sure," Casey turned and walked over to the bed and took a seat. She quickly wiped at her face to rid of the evidence that she'd been crying. She gestured to the chair at the desk. "Have a seat." She watched as Cappie sat down.

Cappie turned to her and he couldn't help but feel a little something in his heart. He could tell that she'd been crying and he felt bad because he knew he was the cause of it. Evan had told him earlier that Casey didn't know he would be showing up to Vail with Lana. Cappie felt like he owed Casey an explanation. "How are you doing?" He asked casually.

Casey looked at him for a few seconds before responding. "I'm okay," she finally said. "I'm ready for some skiing and snowboarding. The last few months at work have been really busy, so it's nice to have a break." She gave a small cough. "How are things with you?"

Cappie slowly nodded. "Overall, things are good. I really love being a house dad," he said with a small laugh. "Things at the KT house are so different than before."

"Oh," Casey said, "what do you mean? Is there less partying?"

Cappie laughed. "Oh, we're still partying hard, but we're also taking philanthropy and our grades seriously. We're ranked number two in philanthropy hours and number three for having the highest cumulative GPA."

Casey smiled. "Well, I'm impressed. That's great to hear."

"It's not all me," Cappie replied. "Your brother had a lot to do with it. I thought I was a good President," Cappie smiled at her, "but Rusty was awesome. He really turned the frat around. Our guys are even considered 'dateable' to your ZBZs."

"I thought I would never hear that," Casey teased. They were both relaxed and laughing and for a second Casey forgot that they were exes, not friends. She sighed and gave Cappie a look. "So, you said you wanted to talk. About what?"

Cappie looked into her face and saw the sadness peeking through. He needed to get on with it. "I'm sorry that you didn't know about Lana."

Casey waved her hands at him. "What do you have to be sorry about? It's not like we've talked in a year. You're free to do whatever you want."

"Case," Cappie said, "I need to explain about Lana."

"What's to explain?" Casey challenged. "I get it. You don't need to sugarcoat anything. She's the one you cheated on me with. I already know." She looked down at her hands.

"That's what I wanted to explain," Cappie said quietly. "Will you look at me?"

Casey stubbornly looked up. "Explain?" She asked in confusion. "Explain what?" She asked with emphasis as she looked into his blue eyes. "Explain how hurt I was that you broke up with me out of the blue? Explain that you threw away our relationship for a night of drunken sex? Or explain how easy it was for you to move on?" By this time, Casey knew her voice was rising and she didn't care. It felt good to let all her feelings from the past year out.

"Case," Cappie said. She felt weak in the knees as she heard the way he said her name. He always had that affect on her. "I didn't throw away our relationship on a night of drunken sex. I lied to you about that."

Casey stared at Cappie in shock. "What?"

Cappie looked away and sighed. "I made that part up. Yes, Lana kissed me, but I never slept with her. I just said it so that," Cappie swallowed, "it would make hating me easier."

Casey felt tears stinging her eyes. "I couldn't hate you even if I tried," she said softly. "Why would you let me believe that? Why?"

"I'm sorry, Casey," Cappie told her. "It was just easier to say that." Cappie looked away and sheepishly muttered, "Then you'd let me go."

Casey shook her head. "Don't you get it, Cap, I loved you. We should've just talked about it and made it work. I spent the last year in a daze questioning everything about our relationship and trying to understand where things went wrong." She stared at him. "But, the truth is that you wanted to stay at CRU and instead of talking about it, you created this scenario to cover it up. God, Cappie, you made me think the worst of you." She sighed. "I just, I just," she shook her head, "what do you want from me?"

Cappie sighed. "Look, I'd like it if we could try to be friends again. I know it was stupid of me to lie about sleeping with Lana to get you to break up with me, but you didn't try to understand where I was coming from. Casey, I was miserable in D.C. I just wanted my life back at CRU."

"Well, clearly, life at CRU has treated you well. I'm happy for you." Casey said with sarcastically. "But, I'm not sure if we can be friends. I just, don't know what to say about all of this. I mean, I can't even tell you what I'm madder about – the fact that you lied about sleeping with someone or the fact that you wanted a life at CRU more than you wanted a life with me."

"Case," Cappie interjected. "I always wanted a life with you." He shrugged. "I just didn't want a life in D.C. You were amazing in D.C. You fit in; you built an amazing life there. Me, I was lost. I couldn't handle life without CRU."

Casey shook her head. "Why didn't you just say something?"

"I don't know, I was scared that you'd laugh at me or thought I was being childish, refusing to grow up." Cappie replied.

Casey reached a hand out and put it on his. "Honestly? You're right; I probably would've said something along those lines." She looked at him. "But at least, we would've known there was a problem. Cap, when you told me you didn't want to go back to D.C. I didn't expect that. Then you went off on how much you hated D.C. You should've just told me earlier."

"I know," Cappie said. "I wish I could go back and change things, but it's been a year. A lot has happened."

"I know," Casey said with a nod.

"Well, there is one other thing."

"What?"

"Could you convince the other girls to be nice to Lana?" Cappie asked sheepishly. "It's my fault you guys all have this bad opinion of her, but she's actually pretty great."

Casey looked down and realized her hand was still on his. She moved it away. "I guess," she said quietly. Then she looked at him. "How serious are you guys?"

Cappie cleared his throat. "Despite what you've heard, we've actually only started dating four months ago." He gave her an awkward grin. "Trust me; I was also mourning our relationship. You know, I cleaned for months on end."

Casey nodded, understanding the inclination. Cappie had had a penchant for cleaning whenever they were broken up. It gave her some comfort that he hadn't just jumped into a new relationship. "Well, I'll make sure to let the other girls know to be nice."

Cappie gave her a big grin. "Thanks Case. I do appreciate it."

"Sure," she said quietly. "But as for us being friends again, it's going to take time. And please don't feel bad if I try and avoid you or Lana during this trip. I just don't know if I'm really all okay with this. Okay?"

Cappie couldn't help but feel pain in his heart at hearing her words. "I hear you," he replied nonchalantly. He cleared his throat and stood up. "I better go find my room. I just really wanted to talk to you before everyone else got here."

Casey looked at Cappie. She could see his blue eyes sadden when she told him she was planning to avoid his presence. She had to, though. She couldn't sit there and pretend things were going to be okay, even if he admitted the truth about not cheating on her. "Thanks for telling me the truth," she said as she walked Cappie to the door. "I hope you'll find everything you want," Casey began saying, "with, uh, with Lana." She finally managed to etch out.

Cappie turned to face her. He reached for her hand. "It's okay, Case," he whispered. "You don't have to say that." He looked down at her hand in his. He stared down into her beautiful hazel eyes. "It's really good to see you. You don't know how hard it was not seeing you for a year. I don't think we've ever gone that long before."

Casey couldn't hold back the tears. "It's good to see you, too," she said with a small smile. She wasn't sure if it was her imagination or not, but she saw Cappie's face coming closer to hers. His hand was still on hers and she could feel the heat searing between them.

"Oh, there you are!" A voice exclaimed from Casey's doorway. Casey and Cappie broke apart and stared at Lana. She was smiling at them and wearing a black bikini, a red sarong tied around her waist. "Baby, it's hot tub time."

Cappie cleared his throat. "Er, go on ahead. I'll meet you there in a few minutes."

Lana continued smiling. "I think I'll wait," there was hint of annoyance in her tone.

"Go ahead," Casey said. "I have some reading to do anyway. Have fun." She turned her back on them and grabbed her laptop.

Cappie stared at Casey's back and closed his eyes. Idiot, he thought to himself. He wasn't sure if he was more annoyed that he had almost kissed Casey or annoyed that Lana had interrupted them. Whatever moment he had with Casey was clearly gone now. "See ya, Case." He turned to face Lana. She was giving him a disapproving look. Cappie shrugged and gestured for her to go. Lana grabbed his hand as she led him towards to the pool area.

A/N: Of course I couldn't have Cappie cheat on Casey. He'd never do that :) Thanks for reading!