I'm just writng this quick little one shot, don't worry, I haven't forgotten about my other fanfiction. This idea came to me out of no while I was wondering, "what happened to the Yorkes?" In the earlier seasons, J.T. mentions his parents on a number of occasions. Then in season five, he's living with his grandmother. Did I miss an episode? Anyways, read, enjoy, review!

I don't own Degrassi or the characters. Title comes from a quote in the story.

"Ugh!' Liberty groaned, walking out of her math class. She inspected her quiz grade to see if thier were any points Mr. armstrong took off by mistake. There were none.

"I take it you didn't score to well on the math quiz?" her boyfriend, J.T. Yorke, asked her.

"I got a seventy-four! I'm not doing well in math to begin with...and now I brought my grade down another point or so!" she exclaimed; J.T. noticed she looked like she was about to cry.

"I could help you study, since it's going to be on the test next week," he suggested.

"That was one of J.T. Yorke's world famous jokes, right?" she asked raising an eyebrow.

J.T. was a little angered by that comment. "No, I was being serious," he said calmly.

"J.T., no offence, but if I got a seventy-four, the best you could have gotten would probably be a sixty-five."

"Why does everyone think I'm stupid? For your information, Liberty, I got a perfect score!" he retorted. He fished out his math quiz from his locker, with a "100" marked in red pen, and showed it to Liberty.

Liberty checked the handwriting and name to see if it was his before she spoke. "Wow, you really did. I'm sorry. I don't think you're stupid, you just don't always push yourself enough,"

J.T. smiled at her apology. "It's fine. I don't really expect people who have half a brain to think I'm as smart as you anyways. But I'm really improving, especially in math. My grandma was a high school teacher before retiring; she helps a lot," he explained.

"That's great!" Liberty said, giving him a quick hug. "So...about the study date...is the offer still open?" she inquired.

J.T. pretended to consider her request carefully. "Hmmm...okay...but you better be thankful that I think you're hot." he joked.

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The rest of the day was uneventful. Although watching the new kid in school flirt with Heather Sinclaire, only to find her breath smelled like a horse's rear end, was rather amusing. When the last bell rang, Liberty hurried out of honors English as fast as she could. Her and J.T. had decided on meeting at his house to study right after school, and she always aimed at being punctual.

She quickly put all of her books from her locker into her bag. She didn't see J.T. right behind her and jumped back, bumping her head into her locker. "Ow! I'm such a spaz," Liberty laughed.

"That was kinda spastic," he chuckled. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Ready to go?" she asked.

"Yeah," he replied, taking her hand. The pair walked out of Degrassi to take the bus home.

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J.T. turned the key in the lock and lead Liberty into his apartment. It wasn't as large or lavish as her own home, but Liberty loved it because of how homey it felt. The cozy furniture, small fireplace in the family room, and the omnipresent smell of baking reminded her of a cottage in the woods.

"My grandma's out, but she left cookies!" J.T. exclaimed, a bit over-excitedly.

"Yeah...cookies...how exciting..." Liberty remarked with sarcasm.

"No seriously, my grandma makes the best cookies in the world. Let's take these to my room," J.T. started to walk down the hall, motioning for her to follow. It was the first time she had ever been inside J.T.'s room, and she wasn't surprised to see that it was a splitting image of his locker. And his locker was a miniature landfill. J.T. saw the unsure look on Liberty's face and realized his room was a mess; not what she was used to.

"Sorry my room's a total mess, I would have cleaned it up if I knew you were coming sooner. Uh...do you want to wait outside while I clean it?" he offered.

"No...that's fine," Liberty wasn't exactly pleased with the state of the room, however. J.T. cleared some clutter off of his bed to make room for her to sit. The two of them started studing polynomials, and Liberty was actually beginning to understand the concepts.

"I actually get it! Thanks so much J.T., you're an amazing teacher!" Liberty cried, throwing her arms around his neck.

"You're welcome," he said returning the hug, "maybe it's time we take a 'study break'?" he coyly suggested He shifted a little closer to her. Liberty agreed and the two of them started kissing. J.T. suddenly remembered something and cut the study break short.

"I forgot about the cookies!" he remembered. He took the plate from his desk and offered one to his girlfriend. "Aren't they good?"

Liberty took a bite. "These are amazing! If you're grandmother sold these, she'd rum Mrs. Fields out of business!" Liberty raved.

"I know, the women in the Cooney family are all good at baking," J.T. said remembering his mother.

"Yeah, I remember when we were in third grade I'd always wish you'd invite me on a playdate to your house because I loved your mom's snickerdoodles," Liberty recalled to a time when J.T. and Liberty had been best friends. J.T. was silent for a while. Liberty understood. "I'm sorry I shouldn't have mentioned her," she apologized.

"No Lib, it's fine. That's old, water under the bridge. It should be in our ancient history textbooks," J.T. tried to convince her. But Liberty knew better.

"J.T. it's okay to be upset. You don't have to hide everything all of the time," her voice softened; she took his hand.

"No, Liberty it's not okay. Why should I care about people who are too selfish to care about their own son?" his voice rose with every word.

"J.T., I'm sure they cared about you very much. Death isn't..."

"THEY DIDN'T DIE, OKAY?" he shouted Liberty looked a little bit startled. J.T. instantly felt bad for lashing out on her; his face and voice softened. "'I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yell. It's just..."

"J.T., it's okay, completely understandable. Let's just focus on polynomials for now," Liberty wanted to know what had happened to J.T.'s parents but didn't want to make J.T. upset.

The two resumed their tutoring session once again, and even had a few "study breaks" in between. Everything seemed to be going well, but soon Liberty had to leave.

"J.T., I should be going now. Thanks, I completely understand it all now," she said

"You're welcome," he replied as they walked out of the bedroom.

Liberty looked at the family room, immediately her mind started racing. "I love this place, it's like a cottage in the middle of the woods. I think if your grandma bought new curtains, wall decorations, a floor lamp, and maybe a small rug, it would all come together," Liberty eyes began to light up.

"Um, have you been watching too much HGTV?" J.T. asked her, Liberty hadn't ever struck him as the creative-type.

"Well, yeah, I guess. But being an interior designer is my dream job. It's something I've always loved," she explained.

"Really? What happened to law school?" J.T. asked, sitting on a couch in the family room, where Liberty joined him.

She sighed. "You know how you're parents want you to do something, because they think it's 'what's best for you'. But you have no interest in it? For me that's law school," she told him.

"You can't live your father's life, Liberty. It's all about you being happy, and if interior design makes you happy, then go for it," he said, Liberty wondered if his grandmother had been teaching him life lessons as well.

"I think I will. I mean, if I'm so passionate about about something that my celebrity crush is David Bromstad, when most girls my age are in love with Zac Efron, why shouldn't I go for it?" she said, getting excited.

"Exactly." After that there was silence.

"J.T.?"

"Yeah?"

"If your parents didn't die like everyone at school said, what happened to them...you don't have to answer that if you don't want to," Liberty said, almost taking back what she had just said.

"No, it's okay, if i could tell anyone, it'd be you," he said taking her hand in his. "Things with my parents were always good. I mean, sure, they were Star Trek geeks, but they were good people. Both of them had steady jobs as computer programmers. But then, my mom got laid off. Remember that time when like everyone in the computer industry was getting laid off?" Liberty nodded, he continued, "Yeah, well, my mom got laid off, but my dad didn't. You'd expect him to be caring about it and help her find a job. But my dad's a jerk so he didn't do that. Instead he was always on her case about how useless she was, and stuff like that. Which caused Mom to start shooting heroin."

"J.T. you don't have to continue," Liberty interrupted.

"No, it's okay, I've gone too far already. Well, my mom got sent to rehab. And my dad...well like I said, he's a jerk. On my fifteenth birthday I woke up, and he was gone," J.T. finished, Liberty could tell he was starting to get emotional.

"Oh, J.T.! I had no idea! I'm so sorry," Liberty cried sympathetically, there were tears welling up in her eyes.

"It's okay, Lib. I'm actually a lot better off here with my Grandma."

"I know. I'm sorry if I did anything to annoy you in the past, I didn't know. I thought you were just being mean."

"It's okay, I'm sorry too, for being a jerk in the past," he kissed her cheek.

"Well, I better get going, my dad wanted me home for dinner," Liberty said, glancing at the clock.

"I'll walk you home," J.T. insisted, "Liberty, can you promise me not to tell anyone about this?"

"I wouldn't dream of it," she replied before kissing him.

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When J.T. got home after walking to her house, his grandma was home.

"Hello, J.T., I see you've devoured my cookies."

"Yeah, thanks Grandma, they were great. Liberty thought so too; she came over to study.

"See? A little bit of effort and people are coming to you for help."

J.T. smiled at her. He retired to a couch in the family room and looked around. It did look like a cottage, now that he noticed. "Hey Grandma, heve you ever thought of getting new curtains?"

END

Finished, that took about a half hour to write, so don't expect it to be my best work. I know Liberty probably wouldn't ever be an interior designer, but it's called artistic lisense. Please review!