Back To You ~ (Cazzie Fanfic)

Crisis Point

Really appreciate the comments and how invested you guys are ❤️
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Casey flicks her turn signal a few seconds before she turns into the apartment building's parking lot. Her bones ache with exhaustion. Her bleary eyes burn. She'd driven home last night in a daze. With so many conflicting feelings roiling inside her that she couldn't slow them down enough to even figure out what they were. Mostly she felt terrified. Terrified that she'd just made an enormous mistake. Terrified that history was repeating itself. After she left the party she went straight home, quickly changed into her running gear, grabbed her keys and took off. Running as fast as she could, through the night darkened streets of her neighborhood, the cold air stinging her lungs. And then she ran through the next neighborhood, and then the next. Running to drown out her thoughts. She ran and ran until her chest was aching and her feet were sore and her shins were crackling. She stopped to breathe, gasping for air, bracing her hands on her knees. When she stood up she looked around to find that she had run all the way to her childhood home; Her parents' house. It was late but there was still a light on in the living room. She thought about leaving but she really had to pee now and her mouth was dry and sore and desperate for water. She walked up to the door in a daze, as if pulled by an invisible force, and let herself in. Her mother was in the kitchen, prepping something in the crock pot for the next day. She was wearing her favorite pajamas and slippers.

"Case? What are you doing here?" she asked, "Isn't Izzie's party tonight?"

Casey stood in the entryway, sweaty, breathing hard and swaying on her feet. Something in her expression made Elsa stop and rush over to her. She looked Casey over and then hugged her tightly, in spite of her sweat damp skin and clothes. And suddenly Casey was weeping. She hiccuped and sniffled and sobbed as Elsa swayed with her and rubbed her back. Eventually her mother got her a glass of water and pulled her over to sit on the couch.

"What happened?" Elsa asked, voice full of concern.

Casey slumped back against the seat.

"I fucked everything up," she said, sniffling hopelessly. "I think I just fucked everything up! But I didn't know what else to do," she all but wailed, roughly wiping at her tears.

Elsa got up and grabbed the box of tissues off the shelf. She brought them to Casey and sat back down. She didn't ask why or what had happened. She just put a comforting hand on Casey's shoulder and waited.

"I'm so confused," Casey began.

Elsa sat with her for a long time, as she tried to make sense of what she was feeling.

"So... you don't want to be with Izzie?" she asked, confused.

"No," Casey all but wailed. "I do!!!"

Elsa gently rubbed her back, trying to understand.

"I just... It just feels like if I let her that close I could get hurt again."

"Oh honey..." Elsa said, with so much compassion and so much love, "Aren't you already close? Aren't you already hurt?"

Casey buried her face in her hands.

"Fuck," she cried. "Now that I say it all out loud it sounds so stupid."

Then she sat back up. The clock said 12:30 AM. Her head was throbbing.

"It was so easy for her to forget about me before," she said quietly. "She could do it again."

She peeked up to see her mother looking at her thoughtfully.

"You know, relationships are kind of all about putting yourself in a position to be hurt. That's what vulnerability is. And... I don't think anything about your breakup was easy for Izzie. You know, she didn't tell me much, but I had a front row seat to how... heartbroken she was."