Title: Snapshots to the Future
Category: Degrassi
Genre: Romance
Ship: Emma/Spinner
Rating: PG13
Spoilers: Degrassi Takes Manhattan
Word Count: 718
Summary: Spinner's always liked the idea of tattoos; they were an extension of him, a snapshot of what matters most.
Snapshots to the Future
-Drabble-
Spinner's always liked the idea of tattoos; they were an extension of him, a snapshot of what matters most. He's got his music note and a sprawling ink display on his calf, and then there's the key between his shoulders blades, in commemoration of a woman he once thought would be his everything. The ink was hardly dry before he found out she'd cheated on him and didn't think to tell him of her two week fuck up. The same day, The Dot blows up and he's left thinking everything good in his life is going to be lost, that's he just plain done.
All he wants to do is pig out on junk food and energy drinks and watch the fishing channel because some part of him is done, it's given up. But then his friends are there and he's at a casino and he's laughing with Emma Nelson, he's kissing her, he's marrying her and celebrating their nuptials in his hotel room, having spent hours in drunken debauchery. And when he wakes up, he can't believe what he's done, that she's wearing a ring so big it's hard to miss. There's talk of divorce or annulment and he knows he probably shoulder but he can't. Because Emma makes him feel like the worst day of his life might lead him to the best. There's some confusion, so misunderstanding on both parts and they almost don't stay together, but in the end, they celebrate on the beach with a sweet but short ceremony in front of friends and family and recommit to making what they have work for the long term.
A year later and he knows he's done the right thing; he knows that he was right, that his best day is every day since. She starts her environmental studies at TU and he gets The Dot back in order, looking better than ever, and he sees it as the beginning it was meant to be, rather than the end he'd assumed it was. Jane is long gone, exploring New York and all that she can be and he doesn't miss her like he thought he would. Occasionally, he regrets not having her friendship, but he's forgiven her for what she did, for cheating on him, because some part of him thinks that pain was worth going through. After all, his life is better now, he's got all that he wants, all that he loves, and there are no secrets, no regrets, no confusion on who will be where or who wants what.
Emma doesn't care if he goes anywhere with his band, so long as he has fun rocking out with them. She doesn't care if he remains a manager of The Dot the rest of his life, as long as he enjoys his job. She doesn't force him into college or ask him what else he wants for the future, because she's content in what they already have. His flat suits them both comfortably, she still waits on tables at The Dot even if she's never allowed to go anywhere near the grill, and she wears her wedding ring, formerly his mother's, proudly.
He's lying on the same chair in the same parlor he first got the "key" to Jane's "heart" tattooed. He's got two people working on him, one at his shoulder blades and another at his bicep. The first is remolding the ring into something else, into a symbol of triumph and courage and wiping away any connection to his ex. The second is drawing a pair of cards, a Jack and a ten, a tribute to the blackjack game that brought him and Emma to where they ended up. They'll be on fire around the edges, a reminder of when she blew up The Dot, and her name in cursive just below. When he walks away, his arm and back or stinging, but he's grinning. Because it was all worth it; from losing Jane to gaining Emma and onward.
He walks away from the tattoo parlor knowing that the life he was living when he went there last was completely over and the one had now was getting better every day. He's got no regrets and a whole lot of hope for the future he knows is going to be great.