Back To You ~ (Cazzie Fanfic)

Unsaved Number

Izzie loads the last dish into the dishwasher and shuts it. She'll run it before she goes to bed, in case Gabby wants to add anything. Dylan is sitting at the table doing his homework and the streetlight filters in through the closed blinds giving the apartment a soft and peaceful vibe.

Izzie goes to her room and climbs onto the bed, pulling out her notebook to do a last minute review. Her exam is first thing in the morning. Her very first therapy appointment is after that. She is already dreading the appointment but at this point she really has no choice. She clicks her retractable pen over and over while she stares at her notes. She fiddles with the neck of her sweater, pulling it up a little higher. Focusing is impossible.

Izzie has been replaying the interaction she had with Casey this morning, for hours. She's not sure what to make of it. Had it been ok? It felt ok. It even felt... good? Of all the scenarios she'd played out over the past few years, of what would happen when she eventually ran into Casey again, this was definitely one of the more positive outcomes. But then it ended so abruptly. And she had so many questions. What interview? For what? And why here? Will Casey be moving back? And what is Casey's life like now? How has it been these last three years? Is she dating anyone? Izzie swallows, mentally crossing that last question off the list.

Their interaction had gone so much better than she thought it would. What if... what if they could talk again? Just, like, about surface level stuff. Getting caught up. Maybe that would also be ok/nice. And then maybe Elsa wouldn't have to keep Izzie such a secret. And maybe they could run into each other from time to time and it would be ok. Less awkward. She picks up her phone and sees that her hand is literally trembling.

Jesus, calm down, she tells herself, trying to breathe around the constriction in her chest.

She puts her phone down. Then picks it up again. Finally she decides there isn't really anything to lose besides her pride so she types in Casey's phone number, from memory. She wonders if Casey has deleted her number. She assumes she has. Should she say who it is? Will she know it's Izzie? She decides to just assume Casey will know. She spends the next 30 minutes crafting her text, agonizing over whether to use punctuation and what punctuation to use. She decides to take a big risk of seeming overly enthusiastic by using a single exclamation point.

Hi! It was nice running into you earlier. I don't know how long you're in town but would you want to get coffee or something? To catch up more. Maybe tomorrow afternoon?

She hits send, drops the phone on her bed and falls back onto her pillow. God, was that a terrible idea? She immediately regrets the exclamation point. Her heart is racing and her fingers are itching to grab her phone and open her favorite hookup app. But instead she gets up, boils water and jumpily makes a cup of chamomile tea. She checks on Dylan and helps him with a math problem. When she gets back to her room she takes a deep breath and picks up her phone. There's a message. From an unsaved number. From Casey.

Hey, yeah it was nice seeing you too. I'm actually flying out after my meeting tomorrow though so I can't.

Before she can stop it from happening, Izzie's heart sinks.

Fuuccck, she thinks, God I feel stupid.

Then, Ok don't freak out, don't freak out. It's not the best but it's not the worst. You tried.

Then her phone buzzes and another message pops through.

But I might be back for a bit after graduation in a couple months. Want me to reach out then?

And before she can stop it from happening, a wide smile spreads over Izzie's face.