Back To You ~ (Cazzie Fanfic)

Tightly Woven Together

Izzie turns the bathroom light off before she even opens the door, not wanting to wake Casey up with the light. She moves as silently around the room as possible, finding her clothes and dressing. It's a Thursday night and Casey has training in the morning. Steve has been merciless in his efforts to prepare her for her competition in a few weeks; the biggest one she's had since she started working with him. Izzie worries about her. She wants to trust that Casey knows what she is doing but she can see the strain and stress in the quiet moments, when Casey doesn't think Izzie is watching. When they're together Casey seems happy. It gives Izzie a warm, fluttery feeling in her chest just to think about how happy they both seem to feel. But Casey talks about track, and her goals, less and less. And they still never talk about this thing between them and whatever it is they are doing here. Izzie tries not to let herself even think the word "relationship."

Izzie gets her pants on and fastened, then pulls her shirt on. She'll button it later, when she can see what she's doing. She grabs her blazer and her bag and gently turns the door knob. She'd come to the Gardners straight from work to spend a little time with Casey before it was too late. Elsa and Doug had been out on a date. Work has been crazy lately and she's had to stay until 8 or 9 all week which means she hasn't seen much of her family or Casey. Luckily Gabby and Dylan are super independent now and pretty much take care of the grocery shopping and cleaning and caring for Chloe, when she isn't with her dad. Dylan even packed Izzie's lunch the other day.

Casey was already in her pajamas when Izzie arrived and they curled up on her bed commiserating about Dan and Steve and misogynistic assholes in general.

"So... remember Kate? The assistant trainer I told you about?" Casey asked, absentmindedly stroking Izzie's jaw as she lay curled up against her with her head in Casey's lap.

"Mhmm," Izzie murmured, closing her eyes and enjoying the sensation.

"She wants me to leave Steve and train with her instead."

Izzie opened her eyes.

"Seriously?"

"Yeah," Casey nodded.

"Are you gonna do it?"

"I dunno. Probably not. It's super risky. I mean, I feel like I only get one shot at this thing and... Steve's like, a sure bet. I mean, he has so much experience."

"He's also a dick."

Casey sighed.

"Yeah."

There was a pause and then she continued, "But Kate's like, young. Not as young as us, obviously, but... she's never trained anyone herself before. It's... risky."

"True," Izzie said, as she absentmindedly turned onto her back so Casey's fingers could trace the length of her neck.

"But, you're always talking about what a great relationship you have with her."

"Yeah, she does make everything so much more bearable with Steve. Did I tell you she figured out how to get that one knot in my glute out?"

"Seriously?" Izzie said, momentarily distracted from the amazing feeling of Casey's fingers tracing along her collar bones, inside her button down shirt.

"Yeah! And I know it's like... a big deal that she talked to me. I mean... she could get fired for that. Though, obviously I'm not gonna tell Steve. But... still. It's clear that she's sure about me."

"Well..." Izzie said, "You have time to think about it."

She reached up to cup Casey's face with her palm as Casey unbuttoned her top button with a soft smile.