Time After Time
His eyes paced around the room, searching desperately for her to appear. He was sweating, shaking even, out of complete nervousness. He checked his watch for the billionth time that night. 7:32. She was supposed to meet him at 7:30. He took a deep breath. He had to focus. This was it- this was the beginning of the rest of his life.
The night was ideal. He couldn't have picked a better one. The air was cool, but still warm enough to walk after their meal. The sky was clear, and one could see every star in the heavens. The moon was silhouetted perfectly against the Toronto nightlife and added complex detail to the already flawless landscape.
The restaurant he had picked out, The Rosebud on West Queen, was buzzing with other people much like himself. The atmosphere was romantically inclined, like everyone was with their significant other or meeting a new date for the first time. It was perfect for the occasion.
Not soon after, the door to the restaurant opened, and the man stood up, towering above everyone at his lengthy six feet, four inches. In the doorway stood the love of his life, his best friend, and the only woman he could ever see himself with.
She had changed dramatically since their days together in junior high and high school. Gone was her eclectic style and mismatching clothes. Gone was the 'don't give a shit attitude.' Gone was her trademark hairstyle that got everyone roused. Gone was her rebellious nature, her striking attitude. Replaced was her maternal love for her daughter, her classy niche. Dark brown hair that fell in a gentle bob below her chin. A smile that lit up the entire world and made his heart stop.
He sometimes wondered if he would ever wake up from the dream he was living, or if he was just the luckiest man on the face of the earth.
She spotted him instantly; it was hard not to. She grinned her full set of pristine teeth and hurried to his table.
"What is all this about?" she asked, sitting down across from him. "The restaurant, your outfit, the wine!" She looked at the bottle of chardonnay that stood on their table. "How unlike you, Snake!"
He was dressed sharply. He sat in a black suit with a white undercoat and faded gold tie. Against his appearance, she wore a black cocktail dress with her favorite black heels. They gave her height. Her five foot two sometimes wasn't enough to cut it.
"This is a special night!" His face lit up as he remembered what had occurred on that day, eleven years ago.
"A special night?" She smoothed her dress as she watched his pour her a glass of wine. "It's not anyone's birthday, no one got promoted, no one had a baby. What is so special about tonight?"
He settled back into his chair. "I hoped you wouldn't remember."
"Remember what?"
"Today, February 25th. Eleven years ago…"
"Here comes Emma!" Snake was holding Emma, flying her in from the living room into the kitchen. Her mother, Spike Nelson, laughed which in turn caused her little girl to laugh as well.
"Aren't you two goofy?" She watched her friend and study partner put her two year old daughter into her playpen. "I hate to break up the party, but we have a big chemistry test tomorrow and I don't wan to fail." She smiled. "And I don't think you want to either, Snake."
"Right." He sat down beside her at her kitchen table. "Periodic table… atoms and electrons and protons. Woohoo!" He threw up his arms in mock celebration. "Might as well just end it all now."
She rolled her eyes. "Whatever, Snake. You want to get into university as much as I do, I expect."
"Yeah, yeah. University." He ran his hand through his light red hair. "It's all kind of ridiculous, isn't it?"
"What is?" She didn't look up, her eyes focused completely on the textbook before her. Behind the table stood Emma, watching intently as though she new something was about to happen.
"University! Going away after high school. Getting jobs and getting married, and just following the same norm that everyone in society expects you to follow."
She tore her focus away from her books. "What on earth are you talking about? Last time I checked, you were excited about going to university." She set down her pencil and leaned back into her chair, kicking her feet up onto the table.
"I don't know. I just sort of… changed my mind."
"What caused that?"
"This. Everything. Life as I have it now. It's fun. It's simple. There's no need to change."
She laughed again. "Spoken like a true man, my friend. You want life handed to you on a silver platter with mixed nuts or something. You've got to learn to take it as it comes and to just go with it." She paused, looking at him. His eyes were suddenly expressionless, and they just bore into her own.
"Snake, what are you doing?"
He didn't reply. Instead, he leaned forward across the table and put his hand on her cheek, his thumb gently stroking her chin. She looked up into his gaze, her heart beating faster than it ever had before.
"Snake?"
Her words were cut off by his kiss, gentle at first, but becoming increasingly more powerful. She fell into him, feeling more comfortable with herself and everything around her than she had in years. This was bliss, this was heaven!
They pulled apart far too soon.
"Our first kiss?" She shook her head, grinning enormously. "Only you would remember that, Snake."
He returned her smile. "I think about it all the time. How could I have been so stupid, to think that moving on with life was overrated? I wouldn't change what I have right now for anything."
"Well, you never really did leave Degrassi afterall, huh?" Playfully, she punched her arm. "Hey! Remember the time back in junior high…"
"Christine, Archie. You two will be partners. Joey and Heather. Liz and Derek."
Mr. Raditch's voice filled the small classroom, speaking of the upcoming research project that would were receiving. It was grade nine; in two months time, the year would be over. Their final assignment for the week was to write two advertising slogans for cigarettes, alcohol, or any other illegal substance. One had to be from the consumer, and one from the producer.
Spike looked across the classroom to see Snake with his head down on his desk, looking desperately at Joey, who was laughing hysterically that he had just said. She found herself fuming. Why did she have to be partnered with Snake? Stupid, immature, Snake! When he noticed her looking at him, he smiled and gave her a thumbs up, but she looked away and slumped into her seat. More than ever, she wanted to go home and just be with Emma.
"You have the rest of the period to discuss with your partner about the project you will do. They will be due next Wednesday, with presentations spanning into Thursday." Mr. Raditch took a seat at his desk and proceeded to grade papers.
Snake stood up, which was obvious due to his height, and hurried over to Spike. "I was thinking we could do tobacco-"
"I want to do acid."
His eyes bugged. "You want to do acid?" He was obviously recalling Shane McKay, Spike's ex boyfriend and the father of her daughter. He had taken acid earlier that year and had been found unconscious after falling from a bridge while on LSD. He was currently still in a comatose state at the hospital.
"Yes. We are doing our project on LSD and that's final."
He shrugged. "Whatever, Spike. Works for me."
-x-
"Geeze, I didn't realize how much this crap could do!"
They were in the research center during their free period. Snake was looking through a pamphlet he had picked up in the health office about LSD, his eyes scanning the print that was backed on bright blue paper.
He waited for her to speak, and was surprised when she failed to. "Spike?" He looked up, and saw her with her back to him, her eyes seeming to be gazing off into space.
"Spike?"
She turned to face him and he saw that her eyes were filled with tears.
"Hey, don't cry." He set down the pamphlet and scooted his chair toward her. "We don't have to do our project on this."
She nodded her head, rubbing her eyes against her sleeve. "I want to! I just… I know we weren't at a good place, me and Shane. But what if he never wakes up? Emma won't have a father. We never got to make things right."
He pulled her into his embrace, rubbing her back in slow circles. "Emma will always have a father. If all else fails, I'll be a father figure."
She looked up at him. "You would do that?"
"Sure, why not!" He smiled. "Just take it easy, Spike. You're too good for him, anyway."
"Who would've known that it all would've turned out like this, huh?" She laughed and took his hands into her own. "I love you, Archie."
"I love you too, Christine." He leaned forward to kiss her across the table.
"Spike!"
Ten years. Ten long years since they had all graduated from high school. It felt like forever. Of course, Archie hadn't exactly left his high school days behind, as he was the Media Immersion teacher at Degrassi.
"Snake! Oh my gosh, it's been forever!" She hurried toward him and gave him a hug around his middle. "I can't believe it. Ten years! And we actually have a reunion in just two days!"
He laughed. "Did you bring your stuff?"
"Not yet. Emma and I are going to bring it all over tomorrow. You won't believe some of the stuff I kept. It's priceless."
"Emma! Oh, wow. How is she?"
She smiled, picturing her now twelve year old daughter. "Growing up too fast. She'll be in grade seven this year. You'll have her as a student!"
"Never thought I'd see the day."
An awkward pause hung in the air. "Well, I've gotta keep putting up the memories." He gestured toward the display behind him. "It was good seeing you, Christine."
"You too, Archie."
The memory floated away.
"Archie…" Her voice brought him back to reality.
"Hmm?"
"Marry me."
A pause. Then:
"What?"
"There. I said it. I've been thinking about it for awhile now, and I was hoping you would bring it up or do something about it. But I can't just keep doing this. I want to marry you. I want to wake up every single day next to you, and have kids with you, and grow old with you, and die with you." Her eyes glittered. "I love you more than any other man in the world."
His entire being exploded before him. She had taken the words right from his mind.
As though to seal the deal, he reached into his jacket pocket and took out the ring he had purchased with Joey the previous eve. "That's exactly what I had planned to do all along, Christine."
Her eyes overflowed with tears of joy. He took the ring out of the box and slipped it onto her finger. "This is everything that I ever could've asked for."
The gentle music in the restaurant changed gears. Singing softly over the loudspeakers came a song so memorable, so perfect, that all they had to do was stare into each other's eyes and soar back into memories from days gone by.
"Lying in my bed I hear the clock tick,
And think of you
Caught up in circles confusion -
Is nothing new
Flashback - warm nights -
Almost left behind
Suitcases of memories,
Time after -
Sometimes you picture me -
I'm walking too far ahead
You're calling to me, I can't hear
What you've said -
Then you say - go slow -
I fall behind -
The second hand unwinds
If you're lost you can look - and you will find me
Time after time
If you fall I will catch you - I'll be waiting
Time after time
After my picture fades and darkness has
Turned to gray
Watching through windows - you're wondering
If I'm OK
Secrets stolen from deep inside
The drum beats out of time -
If you're lost you can look - and you will find me
Time after time
If you fall I will catch you - I'll be waiting
Time after time…"
"Happy anniversary, Spike."
"Happy anniversary, Snake."
All was complete.
OOC/ Thus completes my slightly AU oneshot about my all time favorite Degrassi couple- Archie Simpson and Christine Nelson! I know that it is revealed in the Next Generation episode White Wedding (212) that Spike proposed to Snake, but I wanted to make it very romantic and classy, which is why I portrayed it as I did and declared it AU. I also made up all the flashbacks, which were fun to think of, remembering the good old Degrassi Junior High with Joey, Wheels, Liz, Erica, Heather, Stephanie, Melanie, Lucy, LD, Caitlin, Voula, Simon, Alexa, and everyone in between.
And of course, Spike and Snake :)
So please review and let me know if there are any other diehard Spike/Snake shippers!!
Don't forget to check out my other Degrassi fics: Brace Yourself (about Mia Jones) and Youth Of The Nation (about Emma Nelson during the school shooting- Time Stands Still part II, 408)
As always, I own nothing. The song "Time After Time" belongs to Cyndi Lauper and whomever else is associated with her and/or that song. Degrassi belongs to Epitome Pictures, CTV, The-N, and the producers.
Peace, homies. -ELPHIE