Title: The Hardest Thing

Summery: After a night of passion, Manny finds herself harboring an enormous secret that could destroy her friendship with Emma.

Authors Note: I'm sorry if the characters seem OOC, but if you'll just bear with me for a couple of chapters, I promise they will adjust. And I'm sorry if the writing is a little crappy at first, I promise it gets better. Takes place...after what it feels like to be a ghost I guess. The first two chapters were kind of short, so i combined them


Chapter 1

Feelings that aren't supposed to be felt

Manny sat on the couch, baby Jack in her lap, sharing potato chips with him. She heard the door open and shut, "Emma, are you finally home?" She called.

But it was Sean who walked through the doorway. He was wearing a wife beater that accentuated his muscled chest very well, a pair of jeans that looked totally hot on him and tennis shoes. His hair was down, and his beautiful eyes glistened.

"Oh, hi Sean," she said as casually as she could manage.

"Hi, Manny," he said, sitting on the couch and getting a chip. "Where is everybody?"

"Snake had a meeting after school, Spike ran to the store, and Emma is over at Liberty's."

"Oh," he nodded. "How are you holding up? He asked. "With the whole Craig thing."

She sighed. "I'm fine," she told him. "My boyfriend loved coke more than he loved me. What can you do?" She added with another sigh.

"That sucks," he said. "Craig's a jackass for doing that do you?"

She nodded. She stood up and put Jack in his playpen, and motioned toward the kitchen. "You want something to drink?" She asked.

"Sure," he got up to follow her and sat down in a chair at the kitchen table.

Manny bent down to grab a couple of sodas out of the refrigerator, and Sean couldn't help but notice how the small of her back was exposed. He saw the smoothness of her dark skin, the silky-ness of her long dark hair. He closed his eyes and shook himself out of it.

"Here you go," she handed him a can of soda.

"Thanks," he said. He'd been attracted to her for awhile. But it was awkward, living with his beautiful girlfriend, her gorgeous friend...and of course Emma's parents. So he didn't do anything, he just tried to keep his feelings to himself. He hoped that nobody, especially Emma, had seen the way he'd began to look at Manny. He couldn't help himself. He loved every move she made, every gesture. He loved the way she talked, the way she looked when she was practicing for Spirit Squad, the way her hair swung back and forth when she moved.

"So," he said, clearing his throat. "What are you up to?"

"Getting ready to do homework," she sighed.

"That's one thing I don't miss about school," he laughed.

"You're so lucky you're out," she said, playfully punching his arm. "You're all 'out-of-school-and-grown-up.'"

He laughed. "Yeah, but you'll be better off in the long run if you finish."

"You're probably right."

Their eyes met, and his heart jumped to his throat. Her beautiful brown eyes sparkled with laughter; he wanted to lean in and kiss her so badly. He cleared his throat, looking away. "I promised I'd meet Jay," he said. "So I've got to run."

"Okay," she said, trying not to sound disappointed. She shook her head after he left. She was at it again. Always attracted to somebody else's boyfriend. Only this time, that someone was her best friend.

Chapter 2
Confiding in a friend

Sean sat on Jay's couch, downing his second beer.

"Man, what's with you tonight?" Jay said, already on his fourth. "I've never seen you drink more than one at a time."

"If I told you, you'd think I was a jerk," he said, crushing the can between his hands.

"Try me," Jay's words slurred a little bit.

"Okay," he said. "Manny is hot."

"Every guy in Toronto knows that," Jay said. "What's the big deal?"

"The big deal is that she's Emma's best friend."

"So?" Jay said, taking out another beer. "As long as you don't want to do her or anything."

Sean looked down at the crushed beer can in his hand.

"Oh," Jay exclaimed. "So you do want to do her,"

"Shut up," Sean said, tossing the empty beer can at him.

Jay laughed hysterically, and Sean prayed that Jay would be too drunk to remember this conversation. "Well," he said finally after drinking half of the beer, "alls I gots to say is...don't get caught."

Sean rolled his eyes.

Manny was down stairs changing into her pajama's when the phone rang. She reached over and picked it up. "Simpson-Nelson residence," she said into the receiver.

"Manny, its Emma," Emma said in a hushed tone.

"Em, where are you, its like almost midnight?"

"I know, but I couldn't leave Liberty. She's so upset," Emma whispered. "Will you tell Mom and Snake that I'm crashing here tonight?"

"Sure thing. Is Liberty okay? Do you need me to come over?" she asked.

"No, don't worry, we'll be fine."

"Okay, sweetie," Manny said, "good luck."

"Thanks," Emma said.

Manny hung up the phone.

She lay down in her bed, snuggling up in the covers. She tossed and turned for at least twenty minutes, her mind swirling with thoughts about Sean and about how devastated Emma would be if she knew she felt this way.

She finally couldn't take anymore and jumped out of bed. She grabbed her backpack and went upstairs to the kitchen. She took out her math book and opened it to the page the homework was assigned to. She reached in her bag to find a pencil, but her hand landed on a picture instead. She pulled it out, knowing it would be one of her and Craig. She looked down at it. She was right. It was a picture Emma had taken of them at The Dot. She was laughing, and Craig was behind her with his arms wrapped around her shoulders. He was nuzzling her ear. They looked so happy. The epitome of the perfect couple. The photograph brought tears to her eyes as she remembered how much she had loved him, and how badly it had ended.

She heard the door on the side of the kitchen open, and she quickly wiped away her tears.

Sean stood in the doorway. "Has Emma come home yet?" he asked.

"No," Manny said, her voice shaky. "She's staying at Liberty's tonight."

"Manny?" Sean asked, coming in and setting down next to her, "are you alright?"

"I'm fine," she said. She handed the picture to him and wiped her cheeks again.

"Oh," he said, looking at the picture. "Craig's such a jerk. I could kill him for doing this to you."

"I don't understand," she said, the tears forming in her eyes again. She walked over to the sink, keeping her back to him. She didn't want him to see her cry. "Why wasn't I enough for him?"

"Hey," he said, following her. He put his hand on her shoulder and gently turned her to face him. "Hey, don't cry," he wrapped his arms around her. "You're gorgeous, and you're smart, and talented, and if he can't see that, then that's his problem."

She couldn't help but think of how safe she felt in his arms, her face buried against his chest. It felt like home. She pulled back a little bit, so she could look in his eyes. "Do you mean that?" she asked.

"Completely," he said.

This time when their eyes met, he couldn't bear to look away. He loved the way her eyes looked, big and sad and innocent. He loved the way her body curved underneath his arms. He couldn't help but notice how snuggly her tank top fit her small frame, or how short her shorts were. He couldn't avoid looking at the two inches of skin that showed between the end of her tank top and the beginning of her shorts. He couldn't help but lean down and kiss her.