Alex and Jay are invited to a house party, but an hour before they're due to depart, they have a huge bust up that escalates on the way there. They go to the party arguing, and Alex strays off and ends up in the arms of an unexpected companion.

Time line is a little retarded. It's season six Craig with season four Jalex, but lots of events and occurrences from said seasons and season five have been chopped and changed in accordance. It's not that big of a deal though. It won't affect your reading. Please enjoy!

R&R darlings! :)

Alex and Jay arrived at the party with a frosty distance between their stances. Jay had a stony cold glare fixed on his face and he walked a fair few paces ahead of his girlfriend. He had no beers, no green, nothing. For once, Jay had arrived to a house party empty handed. He didn't even have a hand to hold.

Craig Manning was not in the mood to party like a rock star tonight. He'd not long been back in Toronto and already his life was in the toilet. After the cocaine confusion with Manny and Ellie, no-one really wanted to know his name.

The party was already pretty hectic when he arrived, and no-one bothered him. He grabbed himself a beer and took a seat on the couch. Most of these kids he didn't recognize. Maybe they were Degrassi students, maybe they were in college. Who knows? He recognized a few friendly faces, at least. Alex Nunez and Jay Hogart arrived together, but not together. Something must be going on there...

At some point during the night, Craig found himself socializing with Jay. He wandered over to the troubled musician a little under an hour after he arrived with a beer in hand. For the first few minutes, no words were exchanged, just sympathetic looks and the silent sipping of beers and lighting of cigarettes. Craig noted Jay's fixation on his estranged better half.

"Trouble in paradise?" He mused as he and Jay leaned against the wall simultaneously taking a drag on their respective cigarettes. Jay had been watching with a sickly knot in his stomach as Alex allowed herself to be felt up by some jerk with a flat peak and a nightdress-esque t-shirt.

"Like you wouldn't believe, dude." Jay sighed heavily.

"Are you not gonna fight for her?"

"There's no point." Jay replied quickly. "She throws it back in my face."

Craig considered these words, letting them roll over in his memory.

"What happened?"

Jay decided instantly that he'd rather not let Strokes kid know all the gory details. "These things happen, Manning. Bummer times."

Craig didn't get how Jay could act in two such different manners in the space of a few minutes.

"She's your girl dude. You should be fighting for her. Battling. Whatever. But you shouldn't just let her slip away like that."

Jay studied the seriousness of his companions features, before scoffing and dismissing this dude's advice. "Whatever, Oprah."

Jay and Craig didn't spend much more time together after that. It was for the best they didn't. Craig ran his hand across his jeans pocket every once in a while, checking he still had his baggy. He didn't see where Jay went after their awkward conversation, but he kept seeing Alex. She was pretty well hidden by these massive Puerto Rican or whatever guys wearing huge shirts and caps. She looked monotonous – neither happy to be their nor unhappy. Not long after making that analysis, Craig and Alex found themselves indulging in each others company on the veranda smoking up together.

The cool mid October breeze was refreshing and kinda essential when it was matched with the death-defying heat of the house. Craig was already stood out there with a freshly lit Marlboro when Alex stumbled over the threshold with a can of Budweiser in one hand a pack of cigarettes in the other.

"Hey, Downtown Sasquatch guy!" Alex greeted him merrily.

"Craig." He corrected her, smiling anyway.

"I know." Alex seemed to calm down. She rested her tin on the wooden railing and pulled a cigarette from the pack and slipped it between her lips. "Gotta light?" She murmured, knowing for sure she'd lost hers in the jungle of sweaty bodies inside.

"Uh, yeah sure." Craig held his out and lit the flint. Alex leaned forward and dipped the tip into the flame, inhaling deeply.

"Thanks." She said, blowing out a cloud of smoke into the clear black sky.

"No problem." Craig returned the lighter to his possession and soaked up the non-awkward silence as they both smoked their lives away. Alex downed the last of her Bud and tossed the can to the grass uninterestedly. "Another drink?" Craig offered her a swig of his bottle of vodka, half jokingly at first, but he had to smile to himself as she took the bottle without a second thought and drank at least half of what was a three quarters full bottle.

She smiled and laughed in slight embarrassment as she handed the bottle back and wiped her mouth. "Thank you, bartender."

"No problem." Craig said again.

"You need to come up with a new catchphrase, Manning." Alex teased. She slipped her cigarettes inside her bra and headed back inside, not stopping to ask if Craig was coming too...

The vodka was intoxicating, the aromatic clouds of smoke dancing in her lungs made her head spin and the buzzing rush of the coke made her heart hammer. The loud music was like drowning out the raucous screams of the other scene kids around her. It was dark, strobe light flashed green and yellow and red periodically, but that made vision even more difficult. The only thing Alex was truly aware of was the warm tingle of breath on her neck as she grinded slowly with him in time to the dirty beats. She moved her hips slowly with the heavy pounding music and the body heat meeting in between their slow moving bodies was electrifying. His lips pressed against her skin blocking out the tingly heat of his breath, replacing it with the soft caress of his lips against her shoulder. He trailed them up across her collar bone, up her neck and across her face. He didn't kiss her lips though. His hands quickly moved from her hips to retrieve something from his pocket. From the depths of his pocket he produced a small clear baggy and shook out two pills. Ecstasy. He held the pills in one hand, took her hand with the other and dropped one of the pills into her palm. He tipped her chin up slightly so they were looking directly at each other. He placed his pill between his fingers and placed it on her tongue gently. She lifted her hands to his face and copied. As she swallowed away her inhibitions, his lips met hers for the first time and she felt like melting.

Leaving a party early was rare for Jay. He'd never left a party without Alex before. It felt like betrayal leaving the house without her, but there was a metaphorical brick wall of underlying emotions and troubles that was getting in his way. He'd drank just two beers, and was so cold and bitter, he decided he'd take his chances driving home. He passed a drunken guy on his way down the garden path who was publicly getting a blow job from some chick with pink hair. He could feel a subliminal weapon stabbing at him from deep inside. That was guilt. At least he could say he never got head in front of other people. He had some morals. Only when he was safely inside his car did he feel like he was OK. Away from reality. Only when he shut his eyes, he saw Alex stood at the party with all those guys, their filthy hands all over her. He claimed she was his girl, but he'd done a pretty shitty job of being her guy.

It didn't take long for the E to kick in. It was absolutely fucking euphoric. The music was louder, senses were heightened, emotions were doubled, lights were brighter. Alex wasn't sure if Jay was still here. She hoped he was. She hoped he was watching her having a good time. Forgetting her problems. She hoped he'd seen her do the E with Craig and saw them kiss. She wanted him to feel something close to the kind of pain he caused her with all of the girls at the ravine that he thought she didn't know about.

After what felt like years of slow dancing, kissing, feeling, exploration, Craig and Alex broke away from each other physically, and Craig lead the way away from the throng of sweaty teenagers to the makeshift bar area. She stumbled and giggled as she fought her way through the crowds. She had hold of Craig's sweaty hand, to ensure she didn't lose her way. When they emerged out of the crowd, she felt relief. It wasn't as warm anymore, and she could breathe a bit better. Maybe it was wearing off. Craig leaned against the bar and pulled her in by her waist. They both smiled broadly and laughed at nothing in particular. Craig swiped a bottle of Grey Goose vodka and unscrewed the lid to use as a homemade shot glass. He transferred some of the clear liquid, spilling almost a whole capful on the floor as he did so. Alex giggled again at that, and watched in drug enhanced awe as Craig threw the shot down his neck, then took another swig from the bottle. He passed it to her and she took it from him, her shaky hands not feeling too reliable. She bought the rim to her lips and could taste the cigarette smoke from Craig's breath. It reminded her temporarily of Jay. To banish those thoughts, she leaned forward quickly and nuzzled her face in Craig's neck. She kissed him all over like he had done for her earlier, before slowing it down to a soft suckle. She felt his hands on her ass as she did, and this only encouraged her further. When she had to come up for air, she stood up on her tip toes so she could whisper in his ear above the loud din of the music.

"I think it's wearing off."

He didn't say a word, but produced two more pills for them to share together.

The time between cracking open another bottle of Grey Goose with Craig in the kitchen and being on the king size bed with Craig upstairs was a hazy blur for Alex. She knew that she rarely drank Grey Goose, and for good reason. It looked expensive, it smelt expensive, it even tasted expensive. But Alex was too horny and too drunk to really care by this point. She couldn't really remember anything by now. Was Jay here still? Was Jay with one of his whores from the ravine? Who the hell's house is this anyway? All of her questions were abolished as her mind was blown away by what happened next...

Things were heating up way before they made it to the bed. Craig had Alex pressed against the wall, his hands on the small of her back pushing her waist into him. The mixture of the pills slowing them down, the alcohol, the foreignness of having a new person... All these factors contributed to the most amazing kiss Alex ever had. It was slow, soft, gentle. He slowly introduced the tongue, and as he did, it just got better. Matched with the smooth flow of his hands over her exposed skin, shivers shot up her spine and her heart fluttered. He ran his hands under the fabric of her shirt and his hands covered her back, the cold contrast between their skins causing her to shudder even more in heavy anticipation. He lifted her top over her head quickly and she unbuttoned his checkered shirt. He reached in her bra and discarded the cigarettes. The shirts were dropped to the floor and work began on the jeans in an instant. He slid her jeans off her and she stepped out of them quickly as he did the same. He spun her round quickly and headed for the bed. He pushed her down onto it gently but firmly and rested a portion of his weight on top of her as he kissed her hard.

Alex noted that the build up to this sex was a lot shorter than the build up with Jay. With Jay, there was so much foreplay and expectation, it almost become pointless, but then she was never disappointed with Jay. She wasn't sure if this sex would even compare to Jay, but she was sure as hell gonna find out. She was past the point of no return now, it's gonna happen. Craig removed her underwear quickly and pulled down his boxers, Alex moved her legs and slowly he began. It started slow and sensual, but soon it got faster and harder. Alex moaned and whispered his name breathlessly as a familiar feeling of complete pleasure washed over her.

Afterwards, both of them fell asleep before they had a chance to really acknowledge what happened. When Alex awoke, it was still dark, music was still pounding, and her high was beginning to wear off again. The first thing that came into her head was the fact that they hadn't used a condom. Now she was a little more alert, she regretted what had happened. She scrambled about in the covers looking for her clothes. She grabbed her cigarettes off the carpeted floor and headed through the door, not waking Craig.

Downstairs, she was totally unaware of how much time had passed. She recognized none of the faces. No one looked friendly. No one was approachable. She looked around her and saw a bottle of Grey Goose on the kitchen unit. A small piece of memory came flooding back to her. She crossed the open living room. There weren't as many people here now as there was. She felt paranoid as she headed towards the door. A punk kid obviously mortally drunk was slumped by the front door watching her ominously as she approached him. She let herself out of the house and took a deep refreshing breath in as the clean air greeted her. It was a small weight off her mind, that made this horrible shitter of a situation not seem as bad. She didn't stick to the path but headed across the grass and hit the sidewalk, heading towards the centre of town. The heavy thud of her clumsy footsteps on the concrete and the constant beat of her heavy heart didn't match up, and the mashed up banging was deafening her inside her messed up head. She felt her pace quickening, and finally found herself running across the sidewalk, knowing each step she took was getting her closer to where she really wanted to be. As she headed through town past all the shops, she saw in the drug store window that it was approaching 3am. There was barely another soul in town, not that she was stopping to really look. She crossed the road with little to no attention of traffic. She was getting closer now, she could practically feel it calling her home. It was getting nearer. Safety. True safety. Away from everything that had ever been truly horrible in her life.

When she arrived on the doorstep, she was completely out of breath and the blinding stitch in her side was crippling. She managed to lift an arm to knock on the door frantically. She didn't give it long, before trying again. There was no way she was giving up. Finally, the door creaked open and she fell over the threshold.

"Jay!" She gasped as she fell into his arms. This felt like home.

"Whoa, Lexi what's wrong? What's happened to you?" Jay asked in concern, holding his baby girl in his arms tightly. Her tiny body was trembling. That familiar sicky-knotty feeling from earlier was back. "Lexi baby?"

"Please don't leave me. Please. I can't be on my own."

"I'm not leaving you, what made you think that?" Jay asked, even though as he spoke those words he knew why she thought that. It was perfectly clear...

Well there it is. Very random I know. Please let me know what you thought of it! And whether or not you think it worked. (: