I Just Don't Think I'll Ever Get Over You – Craig and Ashley one-shot fanfic – PG
Disclaimer: I Just Don't Think I'll Ever Get Over You belongs to Colin Hay
All characters belong to Degrassi
"I drink good coffee every morning
Comes from a place far away.
And when I'm done I feel like talking
Without you here, there is less to say."
Craig Manning sat alone in the kitchen of his loft apartment. Up until a few months prior, he had shared it with Ashley Kerwin, his high school sweetheart.
That was before Craig had screwed-up. Again. And Ashley had grown tired of forgiving him. This last time it was over for good. She had made that more than clear to him when he came home that fateful day to find her things cleared out of the apartment and a letter on the coffee-table, addressed to him and stained with her tears.
Craig took one last swig of his coffee and straightened his tie. He grabbed his cell phone and car keys off the counter, scanning the room for his briefcase. It was on the couch, the couch that Ashley's scent still lingered upon.
It was mornings like this he missed their conversations most. The cheery, easy banter the two had always shared. But that was missing now, too.
"Don't want you thinking I'm unhappy
What is closer to the truth
That if I lived 'til I was a hundred and two
I just don't think I'll ever get over you."
"Knock knock," a startled Ashley Kerwin looks up from her desk to find Terri McGregor in the doorway to her office.
"Terri!" Ashley says, trying her hardest to put a smile on her face.
"I was in the neighborhood and…" Terri trails off, "Ash, how are you?"
"What do you mean?" Ashley replies, practicing her puzzled look.
"Look, Ashley, I know you're having a hard time with this Craig thing and I just think…"
"Stop, alright, just stop." Ashley interrupts, "I'm fine, really. I've just been really busy with work and…work."
"Okay, okay, I just want you to know I'm here if you need to talk, kay? But I have to jet."
"Bye Terr!"
"How dare she come interrupt me at work to talk about that…that jerk!!?" Ashley thinks to herself, astonished. She was doing perfectly fine without him. She had convinced herself of that. Sure, she had been working more than usual, but she liked it. At least that is what she had told others…and herself. And she was moving on. She was fine.
"No longer moved to drink strong whiskey
I shook the hand of time and I knew
That if I lived 'til I could no longer climb my stairs
I just don't think I'll ever get over you."
Craig entered his empty apartment late that evening, not even bothering to flip on the lights. That was something he had given up after a month or so without Ashley.
He made his way to the kitchen, the red-blinking light on his answering machine leading the way. He pressed play and took a glass down from the cabinet.
Standing in the dark with a glass of whiskey in his hand, he listened as his half-sister Angela excitedly filled him in on the details of her junior prom, what time to pick her up, the color of her dress, et cetera. He had promised to take her without thinking.
Craig set his glass down without taking a sip. He retreated to his bedroom and lie on his bed, sleepless in the dark.
He tried to remove himself from thoughts of her, thoughts of Ashley. But once again, hers was the last name that floated across his head before sleep floated in.
"A face that dances and it haunts me
With laughter still ringing in my ears
I still find pieces of your presence here
Here on, here on, after all these years."
Ashley tossed and turned in her bed. It always felt too big when she was sleeping in it alone.
She sat up and flipped on the lamp on her nightstand. Light flooded the room as she opened the drawer to pull out a book. And that is when she saw it, the picture of her and Craig, taken years ago when they had been named Luau King and Queen in grade 9.
But that was over 10 years ago. "And why was that picture in my nightstand now?" thought Ashley.
She pushed that thought away, pushed the drawer in, and lay back down. She had lost all interest in reading.
Every time she thought of the good times with Craig, she did her best to remind herself of the bad, which had so often outweighed the good.
She let out a sigh and reached up to flick off her lamp and once again lay in darkness.
"I don't want you thinking that I don't get asked to dinner
Cus I'm here to say that I sometimes do.
And even though I may seem to feel a touch of love
I just don't think I'll ever get over you."
Craig walked slowly into the diner. A place he used to visit frequently with Ash. And that is when he saw her, right past the hostess stand, at a table for one.
She looked up and he could almost feel the pain and sadness in her eyes.
Craig walked to her, each step heavier than the next.
Ashley gave him a little wave, hoping he would just pass along. There was no need for him to stop now. They were fine apart. Adults living separate lives. No need to pick old wounds.
"Ashley…" said Craig shakily, "sure is a surprise to find you here."
"Hi Craig, I was just grabbing a…a cup of coffee. Before I head out to meet some friends, one friend, I mean."
"Yeah…no, I, yeah." Craig fumbled over his words, "that's great; I'm meeting someone, too. They just aren't here yet, I guess." His heart ached to lie to her.
"Well, I better be, you know, leaving, to meet my friend." Ashley quickly stood and gathered her things.
As she put on her coat Craig couldn't help but notice the empty plate at the table. "Only coffee…sure," he thought to himself.
"Well, I'll see you around I suppose," Ashley said, as she hurried to the register to pay her check.
Craig watched her leave, watched her walk down the street until she disappeared from sight. Then he took a seat at his own table for one.
"If I lived until I was one hundred and two
I just don't think I'll ever get over you."