Untitled
Chapter 1: So he did it
A/N: Ok I know I should be working on my other fics right now, but DON'T WORRY! I'm still going to update them, but I needed to type this up. I have a few more fics in the making and a few Harry Potter ones too, but that's irrelevant to this fic! Anyway...please don't kill me after you read this fic, if you want to yell at me that is fine, but please...I value my life.
Disclaimer: No, I don't own Degrassi or Simple Plan's song Untitled. I only own this plot.
I opened my eyes And I can't stand the pain Chorus: Everybody's screaming So I try to hold onto a time when nothing mattered How could this happen to me I made my mistakes
I try to see but I'm blinded by the white light
I can't remember how
I can't remember why
I'm lying here tonight
And I can't make it go away
No I can't stand the pain
How could this happen to me
I made my mistakes
Got no where to run
The night goes on
As I'm fading away
I'm sick of this life
I just wanna scream
How could this happen to me
I try to make a sound but no one hears me
I'm slipping off the edge
I'm hanging by a thread
I wanna start this over again
And I can't explain what happenedAnd I can't erase the things that I've done
No I can't
I made my mistakes
Got no where to run
The night goes on
As I'm fading away
I'm sick of this life
I just wanna scream
How could this happen to me
Got no where to run
The night goes on
As I'm fading away
I'm sick of this life
I just wanna scream
How could this happen to me
He did it, finally he finished the job, he never thought he would have the will power to do it, but he did. His body swung from side to side while his kid sister played in the backyard below, before his last breathe he thought of her and whispered her name. Never would it have been expected for him to say her, but he did. His final word was 'Manny.'
When Joey had found him he gasped and began to cry, he couldn't believe his son, his only son, was hanging limply from his ceiling fan. He called for Caitlin, but his voice was cracked. When she finally heard him call she screamed.
Calls were made of everyone, including the police as screams were heard throughout the households of Toronto. After just a few hours the word was out, Craig Manning was dead. The police removed the rope and body while searching for evidence or anything left behind; two things were found- a video tape and a sealed envelope.
The video tape came with directions to show it to all his friends and family, the envelope wasn't opened or touched, it was addressed to a Manuela Santos of 634 Crystal Way.
Joey had called her with the news himself, instead of the police, he felt since she was close and her wrote her the letter that it was necessary for him to let her know. For a few moments she couldn't believe it, she was in complete denial of the fact that Craig...happy-go-lucky Craig had killed himself. Joey knew she wasn't handling it well, especially when he told her there was a letter for her. What he didn't understand was why he would write a letter to Manny and not Ashley, she was his girlfriend after all.
Manny POV:
'Craig...why? Why would you ever do something as stupid as this? How could you leave us all behind as if life didn't matter?' I wiped my eyes again with a tissue and threw it away, no matter how hard I tried I couldn't make it stop. The pain held inside me just wouldn't go away. I looked at the picture Emma had taken of me and Craig on our first date and sobbed harder than ever, this was something I never expected, something that shouldn't have happened, but it did.
I tried my best to fix myself up, I felt it so appropriate to wear black as Spike pulled up into the driveway. She was also wearing black as was Emma and Mr. Simpson, I had never seen her so lost, so out there...until now.
Rumors had floated around that Ashley wouldn't be there, but as soon as we walked in we say her. She had on a long black dress with a black veil over her face, if people didn't know her they would assume she was Craig's wife.
I followed Emma to a seat near Craig's closet friends, everyone was crying and hugging constantly before we realized the ceremony had started.
Joey had said a few words, as did Caitlin, Marco and Ashley before we all watched the tape. The first thing that flashed across the screen was Craig's face, we all watched as he fiddled with the camcorder in his bedroom.
"Okay, now that I've finally got this down I can start this documentary. If you are watching this tape then I must be dead. First of all, I realize that my actions weren't very thought out, but lets face it, I took the cowards way out. Secondly I wanna say I'm sorry, sorry to Joey, sorry to Caitlin, sorry to Angie, sorry to Ashley and sorry to everyone else. I shouldn't have just let of you all, I should have went for help, but I didn't. I want to thank all of you for trying to support me and being there for me when I needed you the most. Ashley, I'm sorry I couldn't be the normal loving boyfriend that you needed, I couldn't understand how you felt because you suffocated me with love and information about how I could get better. You remember when I wrote you that song, well I'm gunna play it again just for you."
Craig pulled out his guitar and strummed the tune of Shine while his voice rang out like a singing chorus,
" Something 'bout the way you shine, when the lights go out, I wanna make you mine. Something 'bout the way it seems, you're always here in my dreams. When there's no one there no I'm not scared, but I'm in love...With you."
Even though he wasn't there several people clapped. He continued to apologize to everyone he could think of before the tape seemed over.
"Before I end this tape I wanted to apologize to everyone again, I hope that you all understand my decision, I love you."
With those last words the tape went fuzzy and Joey approached it. Before he could push the stop button Craig's face popped back on the screen.
"Before this video ends I want to apologize to one other person in particular. This person was someone I neglected throughout the end of my life, my biggest mistake had to be telling her she was mine. I never meant to hurt you...Manny."
Everyone gasped and turned to look at me, I just kept on crying.
"You loved me in a way that nobody else could, you were someone who was there through the good and the bad. You truly were the greatest thing that's happened to me...I love you."
The tape went to fuzz and everyone continued to stare at me, I had finally broken out into free falling tears, never had I ever expected anything like this...especially from Craig. I loved him more that anything and anyone I have ever cared about. I could tell Ashley was mad, the look on her face gave it all away. She glared as Emma escorted me out of the room.
For some reason I couldn't stop myself from smiling, Craig had truly cared about me, but why did he kill himself? Why couldn't he just tell me? I didn't understand it, but once I got home all I could think about was the letter. I needed to read it, I had to know what it said.
I called Joey and asked if I could come over, he said yes...as long as I could tolerate Ashley being there, he had invited her over after all. I hung up the phone, grabbed my coat, and yelled to my mom that I'd be home soon.
Normal POV:
Walking to Craig's house seemed long and dull without him walking by her side. The last time she had seen him he kissed her with no explanation, she was in so much shock that she didn't know what to say. When she finally got there she rand the door bell. Joey greeted her with a hug and welcomed her into the house. It smelt of warm vanilla sugar and burning firewood, this truly was her second home, even without Craig there. Angie ran down the stairs and into Manny's arms, she couldn't imagine how Angie must have felt.
Caitlin was in the kitchen with Ashley, you could tell there was slight awkwardness between them, as Manny walked into the kitchen an enormous amount of tension expanded. Caitlin smiled at her and greeted her with a hug as well. Joey walked into the kitchen.
"Manny, the letter's upstairs...come on."
She followed him into Craig's room. Many times had she been there before with him, she ran her hand across his bed as memories flooded her head. When she reached the desk she found his letter, the front had her address written in black ink that shone as if it had just been written. Manny took a deep breath as she opened the letter, inside was a note and a small box. She opened up the letter and began to read out loud.
"Manny-
Hey what's up? It's really hard for me to write this letter. If you're reading this then I've done it, I killed myself. Know that none of this was your fault. I'm sorry about kissing you in the hallway, I needed to know if I still had feelings for you and I do. Mo matter how long me and Ash were together I thought about you. All the time you were in my thoughts and dreams; I wanted last year to become reality again. If I could go back and change so many things I would change them in your favor. All I ever wanted was your happiness and if you were happy the way you were then I didn't want to stop you. Maybe if I didn't screw up so bad I wouldn't be where I am now. Inside this envelope is a box, inside the box should be two things. Do you remember last Christmas when I gave you later bracelet? That's in there along with a promise ring. It represents my promise that I will never hurt you again. I can't from where I am now, but if I was still around I would have given it to you anyway. I'm running out of time, Joey should be home soon and I don't want him stopping me. So I"ll end this letter with the three words that you always said, that I never appreciated until now. I love you.
-Craig"
The letter seemed stained with tears while Manny tried to fight back her own. She opened the box and sure enough, there was her bracelet wit h small little ice skates, next to it was a tiny gold ring. Manny picked up the ring and examined it, engraved in the side were the words, 'Never forget that I love you. Manny and Craig forever until death and beyond.'
How he got all that to fit she couldn't believe, but she slid it on her finger and cried. It was so hard losing someone she loved so much. Joey and Caitlin embraced her while she just cried, long and hard until she couldn't breathe. Being without him never hurt so bad. She felt so incomplete without him.
Ashley stood in the doorway with tears of hurt and anger, she didn't understand why Craig had loved Manny yet she was the girlfriend. It didn't matter anymore because Ashley was with him before he went. Secretly she was jealous, but could do anything about it. She walked back down the stairs and left.
On the walk home she realized that Craig is NEVER coming back. Never going to call her to say what's up, never ask her to go to the movies or dinner, never make-out again. She stopped dead in her tracks. It had finally hit her like a smack in the face, Craig was gone forever. Ashley slowly walked down the road to the creek where she use to sit with Craig. She sat near the edge so her feet dangled over the edge.
A pebble sat next to her finger, she lifted the rock and tossed it into the water. A tear slid down her cheek, Craig was never coming back and it hurt. Never did she really appreciate him until now. Suddenly someone came and sat next to her, it was Jimmy. (A/N: Yea I know Jimmy can't walk, but hey. My story, my rules so Jimmy can now walk! -)
"Hey," he said while staring into the water.
Ashley smiled, " Hey Jimmy."
"Hard day I bet."
She sighed, "Yea, I've been at Craig's since this morning."
"Sounds rough...it sucks without him."
Ashley smiled, " Yea sure does, I miss him so much, but probably not as much as I should."
Jimmy turned to her, "Ash, it's not easy losing someone you car about. You shouldn't be so hard on yourself."
She broke out into tears, "Oh Jimmy it's so hard! He loved Manny more than me and I don't think I really loved him."
He embraced her while she cried into his shoulder, "Shh, it's okay Ash. You just don't know what you think."
She sniffed, "You wanna know what I think?"
"What?" he asked.
"I think I still have feelings for you."
A/N: So what did you think? I'm sure you ALL want to kill me for killing off Craig, but hey. I don't think it's been done before and everybody loves him oh so much that I needed a sad fic with his death in it. Please leave me a pretty review so I can update again. Au revoir!
SkittlesStar25