The next few days were a little strange.

We had a couple dozen biters come onto the property one by one, and I started working on my stabbing techniques.

Thomas started teaching Suzie how to shoot. At first, my sister was scared, but when she took her first biter down, her attitude changed. Now Suzie was excited when a biter came into the yard. She wanted to be the first one to shoot at it.

We began work on some significant upgrades to the property and the trailer. We were purely focused on making our home secure.

Derek and I stayed out of each other's way for the most part. If he was inside, I would find something to keep me busy outside or vice versa. It was hard being so close to him without being able to talk to him.

For the first couple of days, my evading strategy worked, but after two days of not speaking, I felt his eyes on me. Frequently, I would catch him watching me longingly, and unlike most people, Derek refused to look away when he was caught. Remorse was written all over his face.

And of course, Andrea would notice every time.

I missed Derek, but Andrea was still a glaring monkey on his back, literally. It was apparent she had no intention of making friends with anyone. She was focused on Derek and only Derek. If I so much as looked at Derek or her, she would give me nasty looks. Honestly, whatever relationship they had seemed unhealthy, but I knew nothing when it came to victims of kidnapping.

Surprisingly, Celia was fitting in just fine. She was helping and laughing. We didn't speak much, but we were still cordial. I was just glad that Matt was smiling again. He and Celia were in full-on relationship mode, and I'd become content with seeing them so lovey-dovey. Matt was my past, and I could see how well he and Celia got along.

Over yet another cold dinner, some of us discussed building a large wooden fence to enclose our homestead. There was a chainlink fence in the backyard, but it wouldn't do the job when it came to biters.

We planned to visit the hardware store and grocery store to see what was left. Seeds and canning equipment were vital, plus I wanted to find a library. I wanted to gather books on a slew of topics since I knew very little about most everything in this new world.

Specifically, I needed to find guide books about gardening, canning, hunting, and even being a mother. Having to grow up at such a fast pace was difficult, and I was admittedly ignorant in many categories of basic human existence.

What the hell were the past twelve years in school for, anyway? What a waste.

They should've been teaching us how to make clothes or soap, or how to grow a sustainable garden, or how to build a workable cistern. Instead, my brain was filled with stupid facts that I had no use for now.

Survival was life. Why weren't we taught the simple things first? Like the basics of agriculture. Instead, I knew how to figure out hundreds of pointless Calculus equations that would never be helpful.

Mindy was running low on supplies, and I knew we could make do for now. However, I didn't quite know how to handle the baby food and formula situation. Plus, we were down to our last few diapers. She had needs that a store might have.

Thomas suggested the storage facility option again, but I only agreed to drive by to assess the situation from the outside, so we could make a plan.

On the bright side, Thomas mentioned something about a lake that was within in walking distance that would be suitable for many purposes. Needless to say, I was encouraging everyone to plan a visit to the lake soon.

Lucky for us, Mitch was part prepper. There was a long list of things we still needed, but Mitch had thought of a lot.

I'd taken it upon myself to reorganize the huge underground cellar in the backyard. Thomas called it a root cellar, but this one was at least twenty times the size of any root cellar I'd ever seen.

I was counting and organizing our supplies when Grant brought in another box.

"Thanks. You can set that on the counter." I tried to grab a box from the top shelf, but I wasn't tall enough to get it down.

Grant let out a low hearty laugh. "I can get that for you."

I faced him, smiling. "Thanks. I'm going to have to make a step stool to keep down here."

Grant grinned, pulled the box down, and set it on the floor. It was full of toothpaste and toothbrushes. Grant reached in, pulling out a green toothbrush. "Dibs."

I laughed and held up my pointer finger. "Okay. This one time, but we need to be frugal, and we need to keep this between us. I don't want everyone coming to me for a new toothbrush."

Grant stuck the toothbrush in his back pocket, chuckling. "You know, for what it's worth, my brother is a damn idiot."

Crap. I swallowed, picking up the box. "How do you mean?"

Grant followed me to a nearby counter where I continued with my work.

"You and Suzie are untouchable for guys like us. Both of you are gorgeous and you both have this 'I don't give a shit' attitude. You're both smart as hell and always take on the world alone. You don't need guys like us to drag you down, but I..." Grant stopped, clearing his throat.

"You what?" I glanced at him to see his face flushed pink.

Grant's blue eyes wandered around the room until he mustered up the courage to look at me. "I don't really know how to say this and I know it's soon, but you need to know... I'm in love with your sister."

I grinned as gratitude for this wonderful boy swept through me. "I know."

Grant's forehead wrinkled in confusion. "You do? How?"

"I can just tell." I nudged him. "But if you love her I expect you to take care of her."

Grant gave me a look of serious resolve. "I would do anything for her. I'd die for Su."

I smiled at how good that made me feel. Knowing I could rely on Grant to take care of Suzie if anything ever happened to me was more than I could've ever wished for. "And I know this is a hard topic, but you guys need to remember to be safe when that special time comes."

Grant's eyes widened as he scratched the back of his head, looking anywhere but at me. "Oh, I know. I—"

"Hey, it's fine. Don't freak out. You and Suzie are perfect together. I just don't want another Mindy anytime soon. You know what I mean, right?" I waited for his gaze to meet mine.

Grant finally glanced at me, nodding with a tight grin.

It would happen between them eventually, and I needed them to be safe. We didn't have any doctors anymore, and the idea of another baby in the house scared the living hell out of me. I knew Grant would treat Suzie right, I just needed him to hear me out, so there wasn't any confusion.

Letting out a small laugh, Grant said, "Man, you're so nice, Casey. I know we haven't really talked much, but thank you for taking me in and being so nice about—"

"Stop." I shook my hand in his face, grinning. "Grant, I consider you family, and I treat my family good. You've done so much for Suzie and Mindy. You've been there when I couldn't be. You're in my inner circle now. Don't ever be scared to talk to me about anything. I'll always be here for you just like I am with Su, okay?"

"Okay." A huge smile crossed Grant's face. "And just to let you know, I never liked her."

"Liked who?" My eyebrows pinched.

"Andrea." Grant rubbed the back of his neck. "She's like a wart that never goes away."

I burst out laughing. I couldn't help it. Grant was comparing Andrea to a wart. That was just mean.

I covered my mouth. "I'm sorry, what?"

Grant smiled, nodding. "It's true. She's always been trouble for Derek. Every time he kicked her to the curb, Andrea would find a reason to force him to come back to her. I mean, I know this situation is completely different, but still, she's bad news. Der changes when he's around her. He totally broke it off with Andrea a few months back. He swore up and down she was his past, and he never wanted to go back to her bullshit, but he's doing the same thing all over again. If they leave, can I stay with you and Su?"

The question threw me off, but I just grinned as I rubbed his arm. "What did I say? You're family. You can stay with us forever."

"I'm sorry for telling you all that," Grant said. "I just don't want to go with Derek when Andrea talks him into leaving."

"No worries. You're staying, and that's that." I smiled at him in reassurance. "Will you go check on Su and Mindy for me?"

"Yeah, no problem." Grant patted my shoulder as he walked out.

That was an unexpectedly good talk. Grant was my responsibility now. I would have to make more of an effort to really get to know him, especially now that he was practically my brother. It was important for Grant to know that he no longer needed to walk on eggshells around me. I wasn't Jim, and I wouldn't ever torture him like that.

The thought of Derek leaving was a punch to the gut. I didn't want him to go.

Lost in thought, I grabbed another box, slowly unloading cans onto the shelf.

"Case?" Derek stood at the bottom of the steps with his hands in his pockets.

Ignoring him, I continued stacking. We had a lot of vegetable soup. It wasn't my favorite, but vegetable soup was full of nutrients, and I could probably make baby food out of it.

"I'm sorry." Derek was closer now.

I still didn't answer.

Next was creamed corn. There was a frigging lot of creamed corn. What in the hell were we going to do with all this creamed corn?

I could probably use it in some baked concoction once we figured out the oven situation. I'd seen my mom do it a few times. It would take practice, and I would need to find cookbooks.

"I was a total piece of shit." Derek was directly behind me, breathing down my neck.

Shivers ran down my spine.

He was way too close for comfort. He hadn't spoken to me in over four days, and in that time he and Andrea hadn't separated.

I mean, I hadn't seen him kiss her, but they were always together. I could only imagine what they did behind closed doors. I wasn't stupid and why was I thinking about this?

Next on my agenda. Green beans. French green beans. Lima beans. Pinto beans. Black beans. Red beans. Damn, there were a lot of beans in the world.

Derek let out a long breath, blowing my hair around my face. "Are you ever going to talk to me again?"

"Not until you tell me something," I said the words without even thinking. What in the hell was wrong with me? I didn't want to hear his excuses. He'd been the biggest asshole in the world, and I didn't do asshole.

"What do you want to hear?" Derek sounded relieved as I slowly turned to face him.

"Are you leaving?" Not the something I meant to ask, but damn, I needed to know.

Derek's brow furrowed. "No. What makes you think that?"

"Really? Because everyone seems to think you're leaving with Andrea." I slammed a can down. "Why'd you lie to me? We promised there'd be no lies between us, and you never told me the truth to begin with."

"I never lied." Derek leaned his hip against the shelf, folding his arms.

I glared at him, folding my arms. "Really? It's easy to see that you never wanted me. You said you wanted me and you've wanted me for years."

Derek leaned his head to the side, searching my eyes. "I do, and I have."

"No, you clearly want Andrea, and everyone knows it." I threw the box down.

"It's complicated." Derek ran a hand through his hair.

How dare he. Everything was complicated now. I wasn't always easy to talk to, but I thought he and I had an understanding. Now everything appeared to be twisted and sideways.

"Fine. Why don't you go back to your complicated life? I don't have time for liars. I'm busy trying to survive the end of the world." I squatted to open another box.

"Everything okay in here?" Thomas popped his head in, and I was so glad.

"Dude, what are you? Casey's bodyguard?" Derek asked, chuckling.

"I'm whatever Casey wants me to be." Thomas winked at me.

"Yeah, everything's okay." I wiped a hand over my face.

"You need some help in here?" Thomas walked down the steps, glancing around at my progress.

"Actually, yeah. I'd love some help." I glared at Derek, hoping he would get the point and leave.

Thomas rubbed his hands together. "I'm down for anything. Tell me what to do."

I gave Thomas a small smile. "We still have all those boxes over there to unpack."

When Thomas walked to the other side of the room, I ignored Derek watching me curiously and turned toward the counter, continuing on with my work.

Suddenly, Derek yanked me back as I squealed in surprise. He spun me around, picked me up and set me on the counter. Derek moved quickly in between my legs, making me straddle him. This was a position I was very familiar with when it came to Derek.

"Der, what the?" Thomas sounded shocked.

Derek stared into my eyes. "Just give us a sec, Dude."

Thomas glanced at me to make sure I was alright.

I nodded.

Thomas gave me a tight grin before leaving. "Yell for me if he tries anything. I'll beat his ass again."

"She's always safe with me." Derek replied.

"Let me down. I can't talk like this." I studied Derek's face, softening at the longing behind his eyes.

Derek's hands cupped my cheeks as pain crossed over his face. "I'm sorry. I should've never talked to you like that out on the road. Andrea caught me completely off guard, and I lost my mind. We were all scared, and I know you were too. I'm sorry for letting you deal with those girls alone. I had no idea you would take care of them right away. I was sure you'd find me first. You're just so damn strong, Case. I wasn't thinking and should've been smarter about the whole situation.

"And I'm sorry for being a shithead over your hug with Thomas and the Mitch thing. You were right. Thomas deserved to know. I was a complete bastard, and I know I deserve any punishment you want to give me, but I need you, Case. I know everything is fucked up right now, but I can't lose you. Please don't shut me out." Derek's blue eyes searched mine as tears filled his eyes. "I want you back, Baby."

Why? Why was he doing this to me?

Lifting my hands to squeeze his wrists, I shook my head, trying to hold back my own tears. "I can't be with you, Derek. I—"

Derek rested his forehead to mine as his thumbs caressed my cheeks. "I need you, Casey. Nothing is going on between Andrea and me. She's nearly impossible to get rid of, and I don't know what to do with her. She's not right in the head, and I'm worried about what she'll do if I just cut her off."

I scoffed. "See? That's the prob—"

"You need to know I don't want Andrea, and I'm not with Andrea. I want you. I've always wanted you." Derek's gaze fell to my lips, studying them.

"It's not a good—"

Derek didn't let me finish as he crushed his mouth against mine. This kiss wasn't like any other kiss we'd had before.

Our lips were urgent and in need of one another like magnets. Before I knew it, I was melting into him, pulling him into me. I didn't know what was going on. I couldn't be with Derek, but I wanted him.

His tongue slid over my lips as his hands drifted down my sides and around my back, pulling me into him. Granting him entry, I reveled in the soft sweetness of his tongue caressing over mine. God. I missed him.

Damn it! I ripped myself away from him, panting.

Derek was breathing just as hard when I pushed him back and hopped off the counter. "We can't."

He ran a shaky hand through his dark hair. "But—"

"Andrea is a problem, Derek. I don't know what to do about it. I just know you change when she's around, and not in a good way. You become a dick and all she does is glare at me. I've tried playing nice with her. I don't know how to fix this, but I know that I can't be runner-up to a girl who wants to cut me into little pieces. I'm sorry." I closed my eyes, trying to keep my tears at bay.

"I know. She's crazy." Derek screwed his eyes shut, dragging a hand through his hair.

"This all sucks. I miss you." I bit my lips together.

Derek opened his eyes as he moved toward me, tugging me into his arms. "I'm so sorry, Baby. I miss you too. I'll figure this out, and when I do, we can be together, okay?"

I laughed, wiping a tear away. "It's not like I'm going anywhere. I mean, if the biters or Andrea don't kill me first."

When Derek pulled back, his blue eyes searched mine as he kissed me again. "I promise. I will figure this out."

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