Title; Save Your Breath

Chapter 1; You're Too Beautiful and It's Late

Authors Note; This is sort of spoiler-ish to the episode where Sean finds out about Jay and Emma's "secret". So if you aren't up for spoilers, I'd suggest waiting til after you see the episode.

Disclaimer; I don't own Degrassi, but I wish I did. If I did, Jay would become a stripper and Emma and Jay would be together, but hey! That's just me. Also I do not own the song Save Your Breath by Hit the Lights, which will be used often throughout the fanfic.

"…We weren't going out at the time, Sean. You have to understand that. You need to understand that." Emma Nelson told Sean Cameron, trying to convince him that what she had just told him - about her trips to the ravine to hook up with Jay Hogart, his soon-to-be former best friend - wasn't as big of a deal as he was really making it.

"That fucking asshole! He forced you to do this didn't he?" He punched the wall and Emma looked away, almost scared of Sean's anger. "Didn't he?!" He yelled louder.

"No! He didn't. He didn't even ask me to go in that van, it was my idea! Don't pin this all on Jay." She said angrily, referring to the guy who was conveniently sitting in the other room listening to them yell at each other. When Emma had told Jay to go in the other room, he simply nodded; they had had a previous discussion about Emma telling Sean about what happened:

Emma waited for Jay at his car, she needed to talk to him before Sean got out of jail.

"Greenpeace, what are you doing now? Have you come to tell me about the latest save the seal campaign?" Jay smirked.

"Uh, no. I gave up those campaigns almost two years ago, after…" She trialed off. "Anyways, we need to talk about something."

Jay nodded suspiciously, "Get in., I've got places to be. I'll drive you home." Emma got in the car and they sped off but she remained silent, unsure of how to word this. "Well, I haven't got all day, Greenpeace, so start talking or you're walking."

She sighed "Fine, I'm going to tell Sean about you and me."

"Whoa, whoa. There was never a you and me." Jay said smirking, looking her up and down.

She rolled her eyes. "In your dreams, Jay. But I'm talking about the ravine." At the mention of those nights, Jay raised his eyebrows.

"Are you fucking crazy? Sean is going to kill me." He said self-conceitedly.

Once again, she rolled her eyes. "I just wanted to pre-warn you that I might tell him, I'm not entirely sure yet. I just want to be honest with him…"

After a few minutes of silence, Emma watched the tension and anger on Jay's face replace with some sort of caring. "Just… Just let me know before you do. If anybody knows Sean, I do. And when he's mad, he can get kind of physical. I don't want anything happening to you, so maybe I should be there or something."

Emma nodded, "Okay I will, thanks Jay."

"Don't say I never did anything for you, Greenpeace." He told her before she got out of the car.

And now here Jay was, sitting on the couch in Emma's house listening to Emma and Sean fight downstairs in her bedroom. Jay had purposefully opened the door to make sure he could hear if anything got too out of hand, plus then he could hear if Sean was coming upstairs.

"Don't tell me not to pin this on Jay. I know him a hell of a lot better than you do. But then again I always I thought I knew you but now I feel like I don't even know you. You're a slut, Emma Nelson. A slut." And with those two words part of Emma's world came crashing down around her. With those two words Jay was racing down the stairs.

"Don't you ever. I repeat. Ever. Call her that. Or you'll have to deal with me." Jay yelled at Sean, and Sean lunged at Jay.

"Where do you get any right to come down here and tell me what I should do and what I shouldn't do? Emma is my girlfriend." Sean pushed Jay against a wall.

"Not anymore!" Emma yelled and pushed Sean away from Jay and towards the door. "Get out! Get out now!"

Sean walked out of the house, slamming the door behind him. Emma looked over at Jay, who was wide eyed. "Never thought you had that in you, Greenpeace." Emma tilted her head, confused. "I mean, I never thought you could tell Sean about that and then deal with him yelling at you and then, of all things, kick him out."

Emma shrugged, "I never knew either." She laughed stiffly, obviously hurt from what Sean had called her. "Thanks though, for coming down here."

"No problem, it's what…friends…are for." Jay nodded, walking away.