2008
Casey was released early from jail, where he had a rough time. He visited his grandfather Bob and went to see Gwen and Will and their baby Hallie. Soon after his release, Casey's grandmother, Lisa thrilled that he had been released, and aware of his potential difficulties in finding a job due to his prison record, gave him a job as a bartender at the Lakeview.
Casey then unwillingly pretended to be Luke Snyder's boyfriend, in a bid to keep Ameera Ali Aziz in the United States. Casey had a crush on Ameera but her visa was out of date, so she married Luke's boyfriend, Noah Mayer. Homeland security became suspicious when they found Casey and Ameera hanging out together, so Luke pretended that Casey was gay. After finding out that Ameera had feelings for Noah, Casey decided to stop playing along with the charade and told Luke about Ameera's true feelings. Casey was fired from the Lakeview for being late. After hanging out around the house for a while, Casey got offered the job of being Emily Stewart's personal assistant, of which Margo disapproved. Not long after starting at the Intruder, Casey was held captive with Emily in her office by a judge wanting revenge for an article Emily had published. Luckily, Casey managed to stay cool and keep the judge from hurting anyone. Margo voiced her disapproval, so Emily fired Casey. After a run-in with Margo, Emily confronted Tom and told him to make Margo back off. Tom managed to get Margo to accept Casey's choices. Casey convinced Emily to rehire him.
Shortly thereafter, Casey confessed to Emily that while he had worked at the Lakeview he had stolen money from the register to pay off the guard who had arranged for his early release from prison (resulting in another bartender's having been blamed for the theft and fired). Emily convinced Casey to confess to his grandmother that it was in fact he who took the money. Lisa was devastated to learn that her grandson had yet again stolen from her, and torn over not wanting to keep the news from Tom and Margo, knowing Margo, as a cop, would need to arrest Casey for violating the terms of his parole. In the end she did tell Tom and Margo. Margo decided not to have Casey arrested, but under the stipulation that he stop seeing Emily, and that he enroll in college.
Soon, there were sexual tensions between Casey and Emily, after he had seen her naked in her office. They had sex, which they continued to have, despite fearing someone might find out. After a while, their feelings grew deeper and admitting their love for each other. When Margo found out, she was outraged and demanded Emily to stay away from her son. This only brought the two of them closer and in a moment of spontaneity, Emily asked Casey to marry her. They did, but soon after they came back to Oakdale, Emily had no memory of the proposal or the ceremony and wondered what had gotten into her. She dumped Casey, who was shaken by this. Not much later, they got back together, but then Emily collapsed in front of Margo and she was taken to the hospital. While being there, Casey suddenly had a psychotic episode and was admitted to the hospital as well. More patients, such as Meg Ryan, Alison Stewart and Chris Hughes were admitted as well and a plaque was discovered. Chris found out someone was poisoning them, and it brought out different kinds of emotions in everyone. Casey got very aggressive every time he wanted something. When he asked for a nurse to bring his wife with him, she refused, to which Casey became very outraged and tried to kill the nurse. Margo, at that point, had realized Casey truly loved Emily, and brought Emily to Casey's bed, where not much later, Tom had given his blessings for their marriage.
After the antidote for the poison was found and injected, everyone was discharged from the hospital and Emily wanted an annulment. Casey refused, but Emily insisted, saying she wanted a relationship, not a marriage. These were the first fractures in their relationship. Casey agreed to go ahead with the annulment, but admitted to his parents to he loved being married to Emily. A couple of weeks later, the subject "children" coincidentally came up and Casey admitted he would love to have children and he wanted Emily to be their mother. Emily got scared and said she needed to think. However, the next day, Casey discovered she had gone to the hospital to sterilize herself and therefore wouldn't be able to have kids anymore. Casey was outraged that she made this decision without him and when Emily went through with the procedure anyway, he broke up with her. Emily believed they would be all right soon again, but it changed when presumed dead Dusty Donovan returned to town, with whom she had a short fling before his so-called death. They picked of where they left off, exactly three days after she and Casey broke up.
Casey was devastated by this, but tried to get on with his life. He started to hang out more again with Luke and Noah and Emily's sister Ali joined them as well, in the campaign Luke had at his school. Casey now spends more time with Ali, who was recently divorced, and he is slowly starting to move on again with his life, accepting he and Emily weren't right for each other.
Casey becomes Luke's campaign manager when he runs for student government president. He makes it clear that he's not above using underhanded tactics in order to win, including using Alison as a spy for the other side. When Alison's deception is discovered, she's kidnapped by masked men on Halloween, taken to a dorm room and forced to strip as they videotape her. Casey comes to her rescue, attacking Mark, the man they believe to be the main perpetrator. As a result, Casey is arrested, although he avoids charges and is released after having spent the night in prison. However, he soon finds out he's suspended from school for the assault.
On the final election day, Casey stuffs the ballot box so that Luke wins. Noah has a crisis of conscious and tells the dean that Luke cheated, and Luke is expelled from college. Casey reprimands Noah, then confesses his crime to the dean, claiming that he acted alone and that Luke did nothing wrong. The dean then expels Casey as well.
Casey is afraid of telling his parents and puts it off for a while. Alison shows up at his house to help him search for jobs. Casey admits that he has no idea what to do with his life, and Ali tries to help him figure it out. She tells him to picture himself doing something that excites him, then make his move. Casey tries to kiss her. Alison pulls away and says she values their friendship and doesn't want to take it any further.
On Thanksgiving, Casey persuades Alison to help him break the news of his expulsion to his parents. Alison does help explain the situation to Margo and Tom, who are more disappointed than angry. Emily shows up to spend Thanksgiving with the Hughes and flirts with Casey, saying that she still cares about him. By this time Casey has gotten over her. Emily then leaves and the Hughes and Alison enjoy a happy Thanksgiving dinner despite the circumstances.
Later Tom puts his foot down and tells Casey to either get a job or move out. Casey gets a job as a janitor at the hospital where Alison works. Alison is given the assignment of looking after a college student who overdosed on drugs, and is horrified to realize that it's Mark, the man who kidnapped and sexually harassed her. Mark has a psychotic episode and escapes to the hospital roof, planning to jump. Alison and Casey are tempted to let him jump, but Casey manages to save him. Alison is moved by his efforts and the two grow closer as a result of the incident.
Casey's world is turned upside down when an unexpected guest arrives at his home; Maddie. She's back for the holidays and though Casey seems glad to see her, he has no idea what to do. While they're talking, Alison arrives in order to drive him to work. Maddie, clearly jealous of them, leaves immediately. Casey is hesitant to give his relationship with Maddie another chance, but Alison convinces him to try it. Casey sets up a date with Maddie, thinking they're going out, but it turns out Maddie prefers to stay in. When she pressures Casey to have sex with her, Casey points out that they haven't seen each other for two years and need more time to get better acquainted. Maddie reluctantly agrees and they plan a date for New Year's.
Meanwhile, Alison receives a text message from Lucy Montgomery, who's back in Oakdale in search of a bone marrow transplant for her brother Johnny. Alison agrees to test possible donors secretly. She reserves a room at the Lakeview for Lucy and Johnny under her name. She arrives at the Hughes' house to get a sample from Casey, where he tells her of his plans for his New Year's Eve date with Maddie. Alison, clearly jealous, claims that she has a date for New Year's Eve as well, with a man she works with.
On New Year's Eve, while Lucy and Johnny are out for a walk, Alison is alone in the Lakeview room. Casey, who plans to meet Maddie later, sees her enter the Lakeview and follows her upstairs, wanting to know the truth about her plans for New Year's Eve. He doesn't believe Alison when she says she got the hotel room for her and her date. Finally, out of frustration, she says she got the room in the hopes that Casey would want to spend the night with her. When Casey doesn't believe her, she kisses him to convince him it's true. They end up on the bed with Casey naked and Alison in her underwear, but she pulls away and gets out of bed before they can have sex. She says she doesn't want to sleep with him while lying to him. Casey expresses disappointment that she's keeping secrets from him but is understanding and doesn't pressure her. Alison promises to tell him the truth when the time is right, and they part amiably.
Maddie, who had to stop at her brother Henry's hotel room to get her cell phone, hears Casey and Alison together in the room. She later meets Casey downstairs and, crying, tells him she knows he's sleeping with Alison.
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