Disclaimer: Don't own Degrassi. What a surprise?

A/N: So here is the sequel to Whatever It Takes that follows James Nichols (OC) at the University of Southern Toronto. It starts around the mid-March, approximately seven months after the Las Vegas trip. As stated in the first story, it is AU and it is rated M for a reason. Oh well, on with the story.


Whatever It Takes II: Reflections

Chapter 1: The Reunion

Twenty years old James Nichols sat in his condo with his head resting on the back of his couch. Between exams, The Core, his new job at The Break Room, and his helping hand with the plays, he was thoroughly tired.

"Tell me." Of course this would not stop his girlfriend from questioning him about the surprised trip him and his friend Declan Coyne had planned as a retreat.

James watched her straddled his lap. He had his fair share with teases, Manny Santos being one of the more recent ones, but Holly J Sinclair was a seducing devil when she wanted to be. If she wanted to get a secret out of his stubborn mouth, she knew how to do it.

"Tell me." she purred in his ear, grinding her hips into his.

"HJ…" James groaned as he felt her rotating her hips against his. "I can't."

She paused. "Why not?"

"Because then it wouldn't be a surprise, now would it, love?" James retorted.

Holly J looked at him before continuing her actions. He figured she was going to make him pay for not telling him. She normally did.

It was ironic on how he and Holly J became a couple. It happened a few weeks after he and Anya MacPherson had broken up. Yeah, that's right, Holly J's best friend. He and Anya began dating near mid-October, days after Sav broke up with her. They soon broke up after it was clear that she was not over Sav, and James and Holly J began dating. Ironically, Anya and Sav were still no longer together, she dating the quarterback, Riley Stavros, and Sav was rumored to be seeing his sister's Media Immersion's teacher, Winnie Oh.

James smirked at the thought of the older woman. Sav was one lucky bastard.

"Tell me and I'll fix that." Holly J murmured before kissing his neck, a hand on the growing bulge in his pants.

"I can't." James said. "Declan and Jane isn't here yet."

"I don't care." Holly J said before gripping his length through his jeans. "Tell me where we're going."

James's hands moved towards her waist, but she immediately swatted his hands away. This was her game. She would be in charge of this torturing until he told her what she wanted. Then and only then would he be able to do what he wanted.

"I have to call Manny." James lied.

Holly J gave him a leveled stare. "We already stopped by, remember?" James bit back a groan as she pressed herself against him more. "Are you trying to leave me? Using your baby mama as a means of escape?"

James only smirked. During the, now unspoken about, trip to Las Vegas Manny ended up pregnant with his child. It was no big deal (apparently their parents didn't see it as "no big deal" though) seeing as they were great friends and Craig seemed to be an understanding guy about the whole ordeal. Of course, with it now being in March and Manny now seven months pregnant, things became more complicated. Craig, Manny's current boyfriend, had to do runs for James whenever he was unavailable and both of them were subjected to her mood swings. It was terribly annoying.

"No, I wouldn't do that." Holly J's face showed that she wasn't buying it and kept her tease up.

"You can touch me if you tell me." she said with a smile. James let out a small chuckle. "I know you really want to."

"I can't." James told her though he was really thinking about just telling her the entire thing. How he and Declan planned it, where they planned to go, how long they would be there, everything. Her red shirt that revealed quite the amount of cleavage and the black skirt she was wearing was already enticing enough. The grinding was just plan torture. "But I really want to."

Holly J seemed to be at a lost as she stopped. James realized that this has never happened. She has never lost an argument using her seducing abilities. And something told him that she was not about to start now.

"Okay." she moved off of him only to turn around and sit on his lap. "Then let's just watch TV."

"HJ…" his voice was almost cracking from her pushing herself against him. She leaned back, the back of her head resting on his shoulder as she let out a moan. "Stop doing that."

She smiled innocently. "You know how to make it stop."

"You know I can't…" James's words died as she placed a finger against his lips, her grinding becoming more intense.

"Not a word unless you tell me." James groaned as he felt his hips moving in sync with hers now.

A knock came on the door causing Holly J to completely stop. She gave James a look before moving off of him, sitting on the couch beside him.

"I'm not waiting another day." she told him.

James smiled as he rose, thanking his decision of clothing today. His pants, boxers, and shirt did a pretty good job at hiding his throbbing erection.

James opened the door to see his best friend Declan and Declan's girlfriend, Jane Vaughn. They had been together since the Vegas trip and were still together even after the Christmas fiasco. Apparently, when Declan introduced Jane to his parents, they did not approve as Laura had done James in the beginning of September. Of course, James was in D.C at the time with his own family so he does not know the entire story.

"Please, come in." James said heading back for the living room.

"She giving you a hard time?" Declan questioned.

"I heard that Coyne." Holly J said. "Why not just tell me already and things will be a lot easier for the both of you?"

"I hate to break it to you, but we're not telling you until we're on the plane." Declan said.

"I don't think I'll last mate." James told Declan. "Holly J has her ways of making me talk."

Declan raised his brows. "No sex? Believe me, Jane's been holding out since mid-January." James looked at Jane, who took a seat beside her friend on the couch. "Besides, I'm waiting on someone."

"Do you know Jaime? It would help if you did." Jane said.

James frowned. "No, I don't know who he's waiting for."

Declan shrugged. "It'll be a surprise for all of us then."

"Listen here," Holly J stated. "I want to know where we're going."

"Make that two of us." Jane said crossing her arms.

"I'll give you a hint, it's not in Canada." Declan said.

Jane scoffed. "Some hint. I could've guessed that."

"Jaime you'd better tell me now or else your child will be fatherless." Holly J announced.

James opened his mouth to answer before his door opened. He was seconds away from shouting at whomever opened the door to his condo before his throat grew extremely dry extremely fast.

"Surprise!" Fiona said happily as she moved into the room.

James stared at his ex as she moved down the small hall towards him and hugged him.

"Did you miss me?" she asked before moving towards Declan. "Mom says to check in with her before and after we land. Kind of a…" Fiona's words died when she spotted Holly J. "Okay… What is she doing here?"

"Bird," James said, feeling a bit happy that he could once again say that word and get the attention of the girl he was calling. "Holly J and I are together."

Fiona gasped before looking at Declan who only shrugged. Apparently all the while Declan and Fiona has been keeping in touch, Declan had not let it slip that James was seeing Holly J. This was going to be a long trip.

"Well… That's great. I'm happy." Fiona said. "Oh! You two haven't met Charlie! I'll be right back."

Fiona moved to leave the home as James and Declan exchanged glances. James has had no contact with Fiona since she left. She did not call, she did not stop by, she did not send e-mails or letters. Nothing. He saw her once on TV in late November when rumors were being spread that she had "replaced him" for a high school sweetheart named Sebastian. Obviously, Sebastian got dumped for this Charlie guy.

"You called your sister?" James asked Declan.

Declan shrugged. "She's got time off at the same time we do. I figured that the three of us could use some sort of reunion, right?"

James nodded silently. Declan knew that James still had a thing for Fiona and James suspected that she did too as Declan always had to update her about his well-being.

"Ta-da!" Fiona said reentering the room. Jaws dropped at the sight of Charlie. "Declan, Jaime, this is my girlfriend, Charlie Lima. Charlie, this is my twin Declan and my best friend Jaime."

"You have a girlfriend." Declan said in a plain voice.

Fiona sighed. "It's a long story, but I am forever off of men."

"It's nice to meet you both. Fiona's told me a lot about you." Charlie said before eying James. "Both of you actually."

James grinned. "Likewise mate."

"So," Fiona said clapping her hands. "Did you tell her- them- yet?"

"We were doing that now bird." Fiona sighed in excitement as James turned to address his girlfriend and Jane. "We're going to-"

"Hawaii!" Fiona said happily.

Holly J's eyes widened. "What? Really?" James nodded and the cheerleader sprung from her seat and latched onto him. "You're amazing Jaime!"

James only held Holly J as her legs went around his waist. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw Fiona look elsewhere. He felt a familiar guilt that he had not felt in such a long time, but brushed it aside once he felt Holly J's lips against his. He responded to the kiss and set her down.

"You might want to go get your things love." James said to her.

Holly J nodded and moved for the master bedroom.

"Well," Fiona said. "You didn't take long finding my replacement. I mean, for a roommate and all."

"She hasn't moved in completely." James said as if he was defending himself.

"Right. So how long?" Fiona asked.

James sighed as he thought. "Um, since late November, early December."

"You two look happy together." Charlie said with a friendly smile.

James shrugged. "A lot of arguments and support will do that."

"I'll say." Jane said with a smirk.

Fiona frowned. "What happened?"

"Have you heard about Manny?" Fiona shook her head. "Well… Um…" James did not know whether or not he should tell her about Manny's pregnancy, but soon thought nothing of it. If she was angry, she would not show it in front of Charlie. "When Manny and I slept together in Vegas, she ended up pregnant. And Holly J's mom did not originally like the idea of her daughter dating a soon-to-be father. But that's all behind us now."

"Vegas? Manny got pregnant in Vegas?" James nodded at Fiona's question. "Well… I'm happy that everything turned out alright."

"How long have you been with Charlie?" James questioned. He felt tension rising between him and Fiona and hoped that small talk would settle it.

"Not long. Mid-January. About a day or two after her parents' separation." Charlie answered.

"Uh-huh." Declan stated. "So can we go now?"

"I'll go see what's taking her so long." James said moving away.

Up until Holly J met his family in December, James had always dreamt that one day he would wake up and Fiona would be lying beside him in the bed. Sometimes he dreamt that she would be awake and smiling at him and others he dreamt that she would be asleep, trying to snuggle up against him. But now that she was here with Charlie, he felt really awkward. Not because he found out that his ex was now a lesbian, but because the flames that he had once seen in her eyes were still there. For him or Charlie, he did not know, but they were there.

"You about ready love?" James asked coming to his room.

"Oh, yeah," Holly J said zipping up her traveling bag. "Not all of us packed earlier because we didn't know where we were going."

James smiled. "Sorry about that. But now that you know, you can fix the problem you started, right?"

"If we start now we'll miss our flight." Holly J said. "But, because you're such an amazing guy, as soon as we get to the hotel, I'm yours."

The words nearly sent chills down James's spine. As stated before, neither Manny nor Fiona could compare to Holly J in the sex department. She was completely different from the snobby, honor-roll cheerleader a lot of students saw her to be. She was his sexual challenge, never just allowing him to assume dominance, and he was hers. Only when she was teasing him was she ever in complete control. Other than that, they used whatever trick that they had to assume the dominant role.

"Let's go then." James said grabbing the bag he had already packed and Holly J's.

"Hey," she said stopping him from exiting the room. "Is this going to be awkward for you? You know, you seeing Fiona for the first time since September and now she's here with her girlfriend."

James gave Holly J a smile. "I have you, Holly J. I think I'll survive."

The statement drew a smile on Holly J's face. Another thing no one really knew but James was the real sweet side of his girlfriend. She was very helpful when it came to homework (the stuff she knew that is) and between work and school, she would volunteer to help James, Jane, and sometimes Declan.

"Let's go." she said as James led her out of the room.

"You don't mind that I got one of your energy drinks do you?" Charlie questioned James as he and Holly J stepped in-between the kitchen and living room.

"No problem." James said. He heard the snickering between the Coyne twins, they obviously picking up on the lie. "Are we going?"

"Yes we are." Jane said. "Let's go Declan."

"I'm going, I'm going." Declan said. "Fi? Charlie? Coming?"

"Let's go Charlie." Fiona said. "Oh, and Jaime, you missed a spot."

James frowned. "Missed what spot bird?"

"You cleaned the windows didn't you?" Fiona said pointing to the floor to ceiling windows in the living room. James nodded. "You missed a spot. There." James and Holly J looked to see where Fiona was pointing to. "Obviously you can see that."

"Let's go Fiona." Charlie told her girlfriend as she led her out of the home, taking the energy drink with her.

James looked at Holly J who shrugged.

"She's your friend." Holly J said walking for the door.

James only sighed. "Why can't I get a break?"


The trip to the airport had been quite the eventful one. Fiona had chosen to ride with James in his Explorer, surprised that he had sent his Nissan GT-R back to D.C in exchange for an SUV. But she did not complain and filled him in on her time at NYU. He was shocked that she had so many new friends in NYU seeing as he was her only friend at the University of Southern Toronto (UST). Some things changed, he figured.

"So," Fiona continued. "That's why Sebastian and I just couldn't work and why I'm forever off of men."

Holly J allowed a smirk to play on her lips.

"So… Jaime was the last guy you slept with huh? You must've been unfulfilling Jaime." she said.

James ignored his girlfriend, despite the phrase doing a number to his pride.

Fiona smiled. "No, that's not it. Jaime's a good lover."

"Oh, I know." Holly J replied. "It's just funny to think about it."

"Where's Declan?" Charlie asked looking around.

James shrugged. "Probably already on the plane. He did say that he wanted to rest a bit. All the last minute things with the play, I don't blame him."

"You guys are doing another play? When? I wanted to go to the last one but I had exams." Fiona said. "Was it any good?"

"It got a good reception." James replied as the group moved for the line to the metal detectors. "And that's all we can ask for."

Fiona nodded. "I see. So… Have you spoken to your dad recently?"

James shook his head. "Not since the end of January. Work keeps me busy." Fiona frowned. "I got a job at The Break Room. Apparently celebrity bartenders draw in a crowd."

Fiona's brows shot up. "Oh! I didn't hear that about you." Fiona then smiled. "Remember the last time we went to the Break Room?"

"Kind of hard to forget bird." James replied. "But, things have changed, right?"

"Right." James heard her voice and it did not sound all that convincing. He ignored it for the sake of Holly J and Charlie. They did not need to be dragged into his and Fiona's problems. "Um, my mom says hi, by the way."

"Hmm…" James hated Laura Coyne with all his being. It was her decision to take Fiona away from him and thus it was her fault that Fiona was here with Charlie and he was here with Holly J.

"I can't wait until we're in Hawaii." Holly J stated. "Where are we going? Where are we staying?"

"Now that's a surprise that I won't tell you until we get there." James said. Holly J gave him a fixed stare that told him that more devious seduction was to come if he did not change his mind, but he kept the façade up that he did not care. "Declan and I went through a lot to plan this surprised getaway. Something has to be a surprise."

Holly J crossed her arms. "I guess you're right."

"My arms are so tired." Fiona whined.

James almost moved to take Fiona's bags from her hands before he paused. The Las Vegas trip, he did it without thinking. In fact, he did it without her saying anything at all. In Vegas, he was her lover. Now he was only a friend.

"Do you mind holding these for me?" Fiona asked Charlie.

"I have bags of my own." Charlie countered.

Fiona then looked at James. He sighed in defeat before shifting his and Holly J's bags so that he held those two in one hand and Fiona's in the other.

"Thanks Jaime." Fiona said.

James nodded. "No problem bird."

"I wonder what your brother has in store for us." Charlie said, drawing Fiona's attention.

"Knowing Dex and Jaime," Fiona stated. "Anything is possible. And I do mean anything."

"We'll see." Holly J said.

James only smiled. This was probably going to be more trouble than it was worth, but at least he got to be with the woman he loved. Too bad she was currently in a relationship with another woman and he with Holly J.