Chapter Text
She made her goodbyes short and sweet. George had been incredibly welcoming, and she promised to make arrangements to finish copying Abby’s books no matter what he decided to do with them. Casey didn’t break her promises. She was grateful to know her sister was in good hands, even though she thought prolonging the inevitable was foolish. Marti gave her the tightest hug she’d had in years. She tried not to make direct eye contact with Derek. His silent acceptance was something she needed, but it also made her inexplicably furious.
Edwin… had skipped breakfast. Whether it had been on purpose, she had no idea.
She took the long way to the back stairs, saying a silent goodbye to the house that had somehow become a second home. Casey made it to the top of the stairs despite her now blurry vision.
“Casey, wait!”
Casey turned when Edwin called her name.
Halfway up the stairs, he stopped dead at the pure look of devastation on her face that would have been evident even without the streaming tears.
“You do love him, don’t you?” he asked softly.
“That’s why I have to go”, Casey choked out.
“Casey… What if there’s another way?”
“I don’t think I have any more faith for a miracle”, she said hollowly.
“I was up all night. What if I told you that Halloween lands on a new moon this year? You practice magic based on intentions, right?” he asked urgently.
“Right…” Casey blinked, realizing what he was proposing immediately. “Even if we had enough salt-”
Edwin shook his head. “I can get anything. We’d need some moonstones, blessed water, a crow’s feather-”
“A blood-soaked ruby”, Casey added. “Edwin… we’re by no means the first generation to try to break this curse. What makes you think it will work this time?”
Edwin nodded. “And a few other odds and ends, but, Casey, this might be your only shot. The most important thing you need is something I can’t get.”
“What do you mean?”
“Casey… I’ve suspected for a while now that this curse in particular was reinforced with hopelessness. It’s easy. Disaster strikes every generation and the curse gets stronger.”
“What?” she croaked. It couldn’t be that simple… not when so many lives had been lost and relationships ruined.
“Have you never really suspected?” he looked rightfully surprised.
“ No. ” She shook her head furiously. “I was too worried about hurting someone else.”
“That plus your willingness to sacrifice- Casey… we’ve barely got a week to get this right. And you have to get your head on straight.”
“Are you willing to risk your brother’s life to try this? Because I don’t know if I am”, she whispered. Even if they could manage to find the correct way to mash extremely strong purifying and renewal spells together, it was still extremely risky. Minor curses weren’t incredibly difficult to break with proper ingredients and use of the moon’s power, but a generational curse like this one wasn’t nearly as simple.
“Why don’t you let me be the judge of that?”
Casey bit her bottom lip in an attempt to hold back the agonizing noises wanting to claw their way up her throat.
Derek.
Of course he’d followed her when she’d all but fled from the breakfast table to grab her things and leave.
“Don’t put your fate in my hands, Derek”, she said tightly.
“Casey, I trust you.”
“ I don’t trust me! And if something horrible happened, I’d never forgive myself.” She refused to believe that a curse with this much power could be ended simply by letting herself be truly happy. It made no sense. Being the anchor to strengthening their own family’s curse was something she was having a hard time grappling with.
“I’ve tried leaving this place at least five times. I always come back. I think I’ve been waiting for you to show up forever.”
“ Derek ”, she sighed.
“Casey… I trust you”, he repeated. “You need to trust yourself.”
She’d given up on true happiness so long ago… to have the potential dangled in front of her by the first people that she truly cared about other than Lizzie and their Mom in so so long…. She wanted to grab at it. Badly.
His hands wrapped around her upper arms. “You told me that you want the people you love to want to stay. Casey, I want to stay… no matter what that looks like for us. You deserve so much more than always feeling alone.”
She choked back a sob. “ Derek- ”
His hands slide up until he’s cupping her cheeks gently. “Case- you can do this.”
“ I’m scared. ”
“I’m right here”, he promised. “And good luck getting rid of me now. I’m as stubborn as you.”
She almost laughed, pulling back a bit to try to breathe normally as she swiped the edges off her sleeves against the wet streaks on her face. He let her go, only to drop a hand to her waist, and she let herself absorb the comfort of his touch. Finally, she looked up.
“I’m going to need to look at all of your research”, she said to Edwin.
He gave her a ghost of a smile. “I hoped you would say that.”
Derek nodded. “I'll grab Lizzie and Nora.”
Casey tipped her head slightly to look up at him, reaching to squeeze his hand. “Thank you”, she whispered.
Derek turned and left, and Casey went with Edwin to his office. Casey blinked incredulously, taking in the magnitude of the papers that were now spread out across every flat surface. “We’ve been busy”, Edwin said wryly.
“Maybe we should relocate the important papers somewhere with more space”, Casey suggested absently as she glanced at the whiteboard in the corner.
Magical Elements?
Moonstones
Blood moon
Charms
Gems
Blood
Milk thistle
Moonlight harvesting
New Moon
Emotions
Intention
Achor
Apparently they really had been busy.
Edwin began gathering up the necessary papers, handed Casey a Manila folder, and then shooed her into the hallway. She followed Edwin back to the dining table, and he spread the papers out again as both families gathered around. Casey began skimming the information he’d accumulated as Edwin began explaining his theories. He clarified a few things with Nora, and made notes accordingly. The McDonalds took a few days to go over all the information more thoroughly, and Casey was surprised when Nora came to the same conclusion she had.
It was doable.
It might even- it had large potential to work.
Magic was largely about intention.
Curses usually had a loophole because intent could be broken when the origin was removed. Generational curses were manifested with an anchor to reinforce it. And while the Webster ancestors had looked into various anchors, none had considered that it was tied to their own emotional states of loss and hopelessness.
Edwin shared his proposed list of spell ingredients, and Nora added crushed petals of the blue iris, and mentioned that they’d need a cast iron pan and an open flame. He started marking things off on his checklist, and added a few things. Lizzie agreed to help make sure they had everything they needed, and they planned a trip to town the following day.
They had four more days to prepare. Luckily, most things they had on hand, but the amount of salt they needed would be alarming for whoever checked them out at the store.
Casey’s nerves made it nearly impossible for her to sit down, and she only ate when Derek bullied her into the kitchen and refused to let her have any more coffee. On the last night, Lizzie, Marti, and Edwin made a special trip into town just to get pizza, and the three of them ended up eating the extra box of garlic knots on the way home.
They’d planned for every possible contingency, and Nora had approved the spell work Lizzie and Casey had written together to unwind several hundred years of despair. It had been much more difficult than anticipated, and Casey had broken a pencil at one point.
Derek had been in the kitchen with George and Marti when they heard her cursing from halfway across the house.
Marti smirked. “I can’t wait until she’s my sister-in-law.”
“Slow your roll, Smarti”, Derek said with a huff of laughter.
His baby sister had the audacity to only scoff. “Puh-lease. You’re stupidly in love with her.”
“You shush”, he muttered, pointing at her.
“That wasn’t a denial”, George said, trying not to laugh while his children bickered.
Derek sighed. “Of course it wasn’t. I’m not an idiot.”
“Debatable”, Marti chirped playfully.
Derek swiped the bowl from her hand and put it back in the fridge. “Be nice, or I’ll tell Casey you ate all her cookie dough”, he called as he left the room.
“Party pooper!”
0
That night, the last one before fate would be determined, they gathered in the family room and agreed to put aside tomorrow’s problems and stuff themselves with pizza. When Casey made her second trip back from the kitchen, she found that Derek had taken up residence in her seat. He grinned up at her innocently when she cocked an eyebrow. Derek reached for her, hand curling around her hip, and she let herself be tugged into his lap without protest. Casey shuffled a bit and made herself comfortable with her head resting on his shoulder.
Warm, warm, warm-
Her head buzzed with heat that took over her body, chasing away the chill she normally carried.
With her head resting comfortably on his shoulder, she let herself drift into a light sleep and would stay there until he carried her to her own bed later. She blinked up at him sleepily, fingers grabbing his shirt tightly when he tried to stand up. “Stay.”
He sighed. “Casey-”
She shook her head and scooted over to make room. “ Stay .”
“Okay.”
00
They were tangled together the next morning, her leg across his hip and her hair trying to smother him. She gave him a shy smile as they got out of bed several hours later than they normally woke up. George was helping Lizzie in the kitchen as they put brunch together when Derek and Casey finally came downstairs.
Casey had been the one who hadn’t wanted him to leave her last night, but this morning, he wasn’t letting her get more than a few steps away before he followed.
She liked it.
The day passed incrementally slowly. Marti sighed a lot, and Edwin stared at their plans while gnawing on his pen cap until Nora patted him on the shoulder and told him there was nothing else to be done. Lizzie had gone outside with Archimedes two different times to expend some of her own nervous energy.
Casey took over the kitchen. The flour-covered counters were a noble sacrifice for her stress baking. Everyone except Derek left her alone while she did what she needed to do to settle her mind properly for the spell they needed to cast. He stayed within reach, but didn’t hover. Later, maybe, she’d be able to express how grateful she was, but right now, there was a rock of nervousness in her throat.
At dinner time, they pulled food from the fridge and ate leftovers before George went outside and lit the fire. Edwin had a cardboard box with all the things they’d need, and he’d checked to make sure they hadn’t forgotten anything no less than four times.
They waited for the moon to rise to its apex. The timing for this spell was imperative, and Lizzie kept obsessively checking her watch. Finally, she nodded and the chairs were moved away. Nora, Lizzie, and Casey stood in a triangle around the fire, and Edwin closed them inside a salt circle. The three of them took turns adding ingredients to the cast iron pan and began reciting the spell they’d memorized. Casey could feel the oppressiveness in the air, their magic becoming a somewhat tangible presence, as she added the last ingredient before she set the pan carefully in the flames.
Nora pulled out their ritual knife and pricked her finger, adding several drops of her blood. Casey followed suit, and then Lizzie. They joined hands then and chanted the last part of the spell. The flames lit the items in the pan, and the whole fire began to emit a pink smoke as their offering was eaten by magical flames.
Lizzie gasped.
The pink flames grew stronger and the smoke thicker.
Finally, after what seemed like an hour, the pink hue began to fade. The fire returned to normal without fanfare.
Edwin frowned. “Did it work?”
Lizzie seemed at a loss because it was more anticlimactic than she’d been expecting. “I- Mom?”
“If it didn’t work, we’d know”, Nora said curiously.
“It worked”, Casey answered softly.
“Do you feel any different?” Lizzie asked.
Casey shook her head, but she smiled. From what she had gleaned from the subtext of the information Edwin had put together, it wasn’t the spell itself that was most important.
She stepped away from the fire and stopped in front of Derek. “Are you sure?” she asked quietly.
He nodded. Her hands found his shoulders and she leaned up on her tiptoes to kiss him. His hands found her hips and their mouths sought each other’s without any restraint. They were headed into dangerous territory when George cleared his throat in a mild warning.
They hadn’t even separated a full inch, but she could see Derek’s grin.
“You’re warm”, he said softly.
She drew in a breath, allowing herself to feel the heat in her own chest that had become accessible to her once again. “Because of you”, she answered.
Casey would probably owe her mother an update about her love life that had been nonexistent for over a decade, explaining how they’d all ended up here, but that could come much later.
“Best. Halloween. Ever ”, Marti declared happily before falling dramatically into her chair again.
Derek dipped his head down and let his forehead rest against hers. If teleportation was real, Casey would have done it. “Derek…” she murmured against his mouth. “We’d better go inside before I start begging you to do inappropriate things to me.”
She wanted him. Badly. And now that she could have him, there would be no more hiding or waiting.
He raised an eyebrow. “Yeah?”
She nodded. “Now would be good.” Casey let out a playful shriek when he scooped her up.
“Thank you and good night!” Derek called as he headed toward the house.
“A bit of subtlety would be-” Casey let out a noise of protest. “Der ek ! You can’t just kiss me to shut me up!”
“Wanna bet?”
He carried her inside and through to the back of the house where his bedroom was - something that would give them a bit of extra privacy until they were ready to come up for air. Casey made him put her down once the door was closed and locked, and she pulled out a small satchel from her pocket and used its contents to strengthen her privacy spell. Once finished, she met his steady gaze, tilting her head in fascination.
He wanted her.
Derek stepped closer and her eyes widened slightly. Once their hands found each other again, clothing became unnecessary. Casey found it easier than it ever had been before to let her mind shut off as a haze of lust descended upon the room, and all she could remember in that immediate moment was his name.
His touch made her feel wanted, needed, protected… she never wanted it to stop. This dizzying feeling of being safe and happy made her feel like she was floating. The only thing she had to worry about was giving him everything he was giving her- maybe there was a spell to let him feel what she was feeling…?
Later.
She would find a way to show him what he’d given her, and how much she wanted to give him in return.
Much later.
Casey was half on top of him, her heart still pounding with exertion, elbow propped on a pillow as she used her free hand to trace lazy lines over his face with her fingertips. “Thank you for waiting for me”, she said softly.
He caught her hand and pressed a kiss to the inside of her wrist. “Worth it”, he promised.
“I don’t… I don’t really know how to do this… be with a person like this ”, she gestured between them. “I don’t think I’m a easy person-”
“Casey-”
“If you can be patient with me, I’ll give you everything I can-”
His hand tangled in her hair and he pulled her closer. “I just want you . Okay?” And then he proved for the second time that he could, in fact, kiss her to shut her up… and make a few other noises if he wanted.
0
It took them a few days before they were willing to come up for air for more than just a quick bite of food, even though Derek doted on her and brought her all the coffee she required to function. Normally, Casey would have been embarrassed for the way she wanted them to stay cocooned together in their own reality, but she felt like they’d earned this time to themselves.
Finally, on the third morning, they emerged from Derek’s bedroom in time for breakfast. Casey had been incredibly grateful he had an attached bathroom. It was the slow clap from Marti that made the blush creep up Casey’s neck.
“Okay, okay”, Derek flapped a hand at them when Lizzie and Edwin joined Marti’s bad behavior.
Lizzie snorted. “Should we mention how long Casey’s privacy spell lasted before Mom cast a new one?”
Edwin smirked.
“You promised not to harass them”, Nora said as she calmly flipped pancakes while George checked the scrambled eggs.
Casey buried her face in Derek’s neck. “ Oh my god ”, she whined. That was mortifying.
“That’s what I heard”, Marti said cheekily, holding her mug of coffee up in a ‘cheers’ gesture.
Derek glared at his sister over the top of Casey’s head. “Are you done?” he asked exasperatedly.
Marti grinned. “Yeah, fine. I’m happy for you both.”
Casey ignored Marti for the time being. The girl would be ruthless if Casey threw her a bone now. She eyed her mom and George suspiciously. She glanced at Lizzie and raised an eyebrow in question, nodding to the stove.
Lizzie hid a grin and gave a subtle nod.
Huh.
Okay then.
Derek disentangled them to go make coffee and came back with two mugs which Casey made grabby hands for before she found herself tucked into Derek’s lap at the kitchen table as they waited for breakfast to be done. Things settled back to normal only after Edwin pointed out the fact that both of them had hickey’s on their necks and Derek threatened his brother with dismemberment. The morning was peaceful and relaxed, and Casey took the teasing with a good-natured eyeroll. She wouldn’t still be here if it weren’t for what they’d all done.
Derek’s hand made nonsensical, soothing patterns in her back that made her skin prickle with awareness. It didn’t matter that they’d spent three days in bed. When she shifted her shoulders to dislodge his hand, he only huffed a quiet laugh, knowing she wasn’t rejecting his touch outright, just keeping them from going at it on the breakfast table with spectators. He kissed her shoulder and she closed her eyes, trying to hold back the tidal wave of need she felt.
When George announced breakfast was ready, Casey sprang out of his lap, offering to get Derek’s plate.
He was definitely laughing at her.
00
Two days later:
All it took was a small suggestion from Casey, wondering if Nora and George maybe wanted some privacy, and the rest of them quickly decided to take advantage of the second house they had at their disposal. Lizzie began chattering about all the places in town to take the Venturis in their town.
Both George and Nora protested, saying the kids were more than welcome to stay as long as they wanted, but were shrugged off.
Cars were quickly packed.
Marti pretended to dither for half a minute: “Derek and Casey being disgustingly in love, or Dad and Nora making kissy faces…? Ugh.”
Lizzie grinned at the younger girl. “Come with us. Our house is infused with magic, and Casey has the whole third floor to herself. We’ve got tons of space.”
Marti disappeared to her room to pack, and Derek wrapped his arms around Casey from behind. “The whole third floor, huh?”
She grinned and reached back to run a hand through his unruly hair. “I can learn to share.”
“Good.”
Edwin was quickly shot down over his request to fly. Between Archimedes, Samson, and Casey’s extreme hatred of planes, they were definitely driving. Derek left his truck here for now and took over the driver’s seat in Casey’s SUV and Marti made herself comfortable in the back with a blanket on the seat for Samson. Edwin and Lizzie piled the rest of their stuff in his truck.
Hugs were traded, and Nora embraced both of her daughters as she promised that she and George would come to them for Christmas, something that had Edwin moaning, “I supposed you’ll both fly, won’t you?”
Lizzie whacked him gently as she passed.
“Hey!”
Edwin followed Derek as they took the long drive that Casey had made by herself several months ago, only in reverse, to end up at the McDonald house. Derek grumbled often throughout their trip that this wasn’t a trip anyone would be making alone ever again. Casey rolled her eyes, but had more than a few warm fuzzies growing in her stomach because it was ridiculously nice to be taken care of for once. Their home mostly managed itself, with the magic that had been embedded in it for so many years, and Casey wasn’t surprised to find that nothing was amiss when they arrived.
The sisters gave the Venturis a tour and they unpacked their things. Casey left the room assignments to Lizzie and dragged Derek upstairs to the third floor with a sense of urgency.
She urgently wanted to rip his clothes off, anyway…
Casey couldn’t find it in herself to be embarrassed about how much she wanted him.
Returning to town was odd, but comforting after being away for so long. Casey took them to her favorite cafe and bookstore; Lizzie showed them her favorite restaurant, and they made a necessary stop at the grocery store. They received some silent attention being infrequent visitors who were now bringing strangers with them, but the townspeople were polite.
Snow was coming. Casey could almost taste it in the air.
Six days later, they woke up with the ground covered in several inches of snow. Marti’s screech of excitement woke up the whole house. The girl was dressed and outside throwing snowballs for Samson to chase while Casey and Lizzie started breakfast while still in their pajamas.
Since they’d come back home, Archimedes often took residence in his nest on top of the bookcase in the study to keep an eye on the chaos if he wasn’t stretching his wings outside, and Casey occasionally woke up in the mornings with the owl tugging at her hair - something that freaked Derek out because they’d definitely shut the door.
00
Four days before Christmas Eve:
Casey gave Marti a playfully suspicious glare when she finally came downstairs. Edwin and Lizzie had gone to pick up Nora and George at the airport while everyone else got ready. The house had been decorated in superfluous holiday decor. Casey had put the organized boxes in the right rooms and let Lizzie and Marti handle bossing the boys around while she dealt with the food preparation. “That’s my sweater.”
Marti looked down at the pilfered burgundy cable knit sweater she’d paired with some black skinny jeans and blinked at Casey innocently. “Can I borrow it?”
Casey rolled her eyes. “I love you, but sometimes you make me contemplate murder.”
Marti grinned. “Sharing clothes is a mandatory sister activity”, she pointed out.
“Don’t get food on it.”
“Isn’t there some magical witchery to deal with stains?” Marti frowned.
“Magic doesn’t fix everything. But- uh… maybe ask Mom. I never paid attention to the cleaning part of magic”, Casey admitted wryly. “I always preferred to do it by hand.”
“Weirdo”, Marti said affectionately. “Need help?”
“Gods, yes”, Casey grinned.
An hour later, Lizzie and Edwin stomped back through the front door with their respective parents behind them carrying luggage. Nora and George were in high spirits, and it was clear to Casey that her mother was happier than she’d ever been. It was less shocking than it could have been when Nora showed them her wedding ring and announced they had actually eloped.
Having both - now one family, she supposed - together for the holidays made the McDonald house feel warm and cozy, and happier than it had ever been. Nora had always made the holiday a happy affair when the girls were younger, but it had never been this loud and fun. And when the snowstorm hit on Christmas Day, they all found comfort in front of the fireplace and enjoyed each other’s company as they traded stories about what they’d been doing in their time apart.
00
The family hunkered down in the large, three-story house through most of winter, and Nora began teaching Marti the basics of the magic that she had never had the chance to learn from her own mother, and no one was surprised when it came quickly to her.
Casey still wasn’t sure what was going on with Lizzie and Edwin, but they were clearly joined at the hip, and no one was surprised when the two of them announced in the first week of March that they were going to spend some time traveling. They kept in touch, calling or emailing at least twice a week, and they didn’t come home until Casey told them to be back at the end of June for a wedding.
Casey was waiting on the front porch with her mom and Derek when Edwin’s truck pulled up the driveway. Lizzie barely waited for the vehicle to stop before jumping out and running to meet her sister. She pulled away abruptly and stared at the small bump. “You didn’t tell me!” she said in shock.
Casey grinned. “I wanted to tell you in person”, she shrugged, biting her lip.
“We can be aunts together”, Marti said, rocking back on her heels excitedly. “I can’t wait!”
The rest of the family had come outside hearing the commotion and Edwin made his rounds greeting the rest of the family before stopping in front of them. He grinned. “‘Come back for a wedding’, huh?” He teased Casey.
“Surprise?” she said with a laugh as Derek wrapped an arm around her. He’d been hovering more than usual since they found out.
Samson was barking as Archimedes flew overhead with a twig in his mouth. Nora and George were happy, and Lizzie had a partner in crime to discover the world with. Marti was happier than ever learning basic magic, and had also enrolled to take classes at the nearby college. Casey had found her other half, someone who had enough patience for her doubts and steady enough to make her take a chance when all had seemed hopeless.
Over the months, her love for him had only grown. She loved making him laugh, and her attraction for him went far beyond his stupidly handsome face. He never let her get too far from him, and she was drawn into his orbit the same way. She loved seeing what a good brother he was, and that he’d included Lizzie in his protective circle. Casey loved how if she was reading before bed that he’d fall asleep on her shoulder, or he’d steal her book and read to her until they were both sleepy. They way he grinned when she cuddled up next to him let her know that he craved their closeness as much as she did.
He was her missing puzzle piece, and she was certain she was his too.
It wasn’t just that she’d found the love of her life, or that her mother had a sparkle in her eye that she’d been missing for over a decade… it was that her family had grown exponentially and loneliness was no longer even an option.
They would be married in front of their family in three days.
Casey would spend the rest of their lives together returning the faith he had in her ten-fold. Being the oldest children of single parents was a responsibility they’d both understood. And while they were all adults now, and neither of them would call their younger siblings a burden, it was nice to have a partner that understood. They both knew isolation and loneliness in different ways. She knew better than most how fleeting time could be, and she would never take it for granted.
Lizzie and Marti were playfully bickering about who would be the baby’s favorite aunt as they all went inside and Casey followed. Her hand was in Derek’s and her heart was at peace. She could only be grateful.
Casey still didn’t believe in fate, but she knew they were meant to be together.
She also knew that Lizzie would take half the credit for it in her maid of honor speech.
And Casey would let her.