A/N: This story does contain some spoilers for all of the seasons-including small ones for season 5! I made up alot of parts so it is A.U. after Weddings, Parties, Anything. This is a future fic and the cast is now 24-25. This first chapter is just the prologue to set the stage for the real story which will contain dialouge as well as narration. I love reviews and will love you if you submit one! I haven't written in awhile but I do have severeal stories on ff. net. This story will contain a variety of characters including: Manny, Craig, Emma, Paige, Sean, and Ashley. I want to make this pretty realistic so I don't know if everyone will be in the story because at 24-25, you just don't see the same people that you did in high school! This story is mostly Craig/Manny based. Please enjoy! I will update soon!
Disclaimer: I do not own Degrassi or any of its characters. I am simply using my imagination to further the plot in the way I see fit! Like so many of us, I wish I owned the wonderful Craig Manning...
Prologue
She was twenty four but felt more like thirteen. Looking back on it, thirteen was when her life changed. She wished she wasn't so much of a girl-that all of her memories were not tied to a boy-one boy. She wished her life had changed for some grander reason. People usually tied a great life change to graduations, deaths, births, etc. Instead, hers was linked forever to a boy changing schools.
Craig Manning. The name still sent a shiver of excitement up her spine. She had met him with Emma and had liked him instantly. But Emma had known him first and in eighth grade girl world-that was everything. Over time Craig would actually like her! It was odd. No one ever noticed background Manny. All eyes were on Emma-the pretty activist who made sure her voice was known. Manny just smiled and went along with everything, why did Craig ask her to dance?
But nothing was ever simple, and Craig had dumped her the day after their first date. Emma and Sean got back together, and Craig became a couple with Ashley. Manny was alone again and as insignificant as ever. That's when I changed physically, she thought, although psychologically she had changed the moment she met Craig. That was the moment her life became chaotic and all later changes could be tied back to falling for him.
She got noticed. A few tank tops, and tube tops got her to the top of the female hierarchy at Degrassi. She was hot and boys liked her! But even dating the popular Sully could not quiet her secret love for Craig. And then I got sneaky, Manny thought, wincing at the memory of what she had done to satisfy the hurt of seeing the one she loved loving someone else. He had cheated on Ashley and Manny let herself believe that he loved her. When she asked him to choose didn't he come back to her? He found her ice skating and he told her that he wanted her-that it always was her. But Ashley knew him well and with the gift of a guitar, Manny's heart was forgotten. Did Craig intend to string them both on forever? Neither Manny nor Ashley waited to find out-they both dumped him-only seconds apart from each other.
She had tried to purge Craig from her life after that, but one huge thing brought them together. A baby. Manny still thought about "her"-would it have been a girl? She somehow thought so. She remembered how Craig had wanted their child, he wanted to be with her. But when she realized that as a ninth grader she would never be able to give her baby the loving home she deserved, and had terminated the baby-her short lived relationship with Craig been terminated as well. He walked away with hatred towards Manny and went back to the perfect Ashley.
Life was normal then. Craig had his problems with Ashley-he was diagnosed bi-polar Manny had heard through the grape vine. But they had little contact. She dated J.T., and then Spinner. Both, although good guys, were unable to spark the same feelings in her. And still, although they rarely spoke, just a glimpse of Craig Manning made her slightly dizzy. She knew first loves died hard, and she did her best to occupy her time with other thoughts, but some nights it just seemed impossible to escape her dreams of "what if".
And then the fates brought them back together. Ashley had left him for England and another guy. Manny hated her for that-she never would have broken Craig's heart. And Manny had her own troubles, Peter had allowed the entire school to view her stupid drunken striptease. Manny hated herself too. Why was she so dumb? Why did she keep looking for love and validation in all of the wrong places?
But then he saved her. Not really of course. He said he wished he had saved her that night and scared Peter into leaving her alone. He tried to be her friend and even let her play with the band! Craig gave her hope again, at least that they could be friends. And when she expected nothing more from him, when she was sure that this was the best she could get, and was happy for it—he kissed her. And for once things felt like they might be right.
She had never been so happy as she had for those two months with Craig. They had no Ashley scowling at them, and no pregnancy scares. They simply had cuddling in his garage, band practice, movies on Friday nights, and after school time at the Dot. They were together, and although they seemed doomed from the start-their life was more problem free then any other couple at Degrassi.
For once, things felt even. Sure, Manny wanted to do all she could to take care of Craig, and make him happy. But like any good couple, Craig wanted to do the same for his girlfriend. He had fought his feelings for so long but now it felt good to have them out in the open. He knew Manny wouldn't hurt him, and after all of this time, he was finally man enough not to hurt her either.
But he did. He left. He had to she knew. And because she loved him so much she didn't even fight him on it. She let him go. It was the only time Manny could remember being truly unselfish. He had told her he loved her-that he always had. That dating her had been unsafe, and it took him awhile to allow himself to feel that vulnerable to someone, to put his heart on the line, but that it had been worth it. He told her that when he looked back on high school-the person he would see was her. Once again, he said those words, the same ones he said when he promised to leave Ashley for her—"It's you. It's always been you." And this time she belived him, even as he packed his guitar to move away for his music. Because she knew that the only thing that Craig could love more then a woman-any woman-was music. That was the way it was suppose to be at eighteen, you were suppose to live your dreams to the fullest and let old love go. So she wished him the best, and let him fly away.
They talked for awhile. Letters, and emails and a call or two. Craig was doing well. He was playing with a great band, and touring Canada. He was even going to the states for a few gigs! Eventually they talked less and less until they completely lost contact. Manny graduated the following year and left for college a few miles away. She lost contact with everyone then, except Emma who would always be her best friend.
After college, she returned to Toronto, though not the same neighborhood that she had grown up in. She got a job in a P.R. firm like she wanted. She still acted, here and there, but mostly just community theatre. She wanted a normal life now, and acting seemed as long forgotten as Spirit Squad practices, and Media Immersion class.
She dated, no one special though. Except Terence. She had met him in college and they had been together for three years before he left her. She was heart broken for while but in the end she knew that she had always had doubts. She never felt completely right with him, but she always just thought that was because she had be spoiled by her first love. That may seem funny. How could she have been spoiled when it had been nothing but problems and heart ache? Still, she felt spoiled because she had never in her life known anyone else who felt as much love for someone as she felt for Craig, and even two minutes with him felt like a special event—how could any new guy compete with that?
But now she had met someone nice-he was a friend of Emma's from her university. He had just moved from Nova Scotia to Toronto and he had instantly taken a liking to Manny. At first she had tried to categorize him as a friend, she was fresh of a break up with Terence, and although she found this new guy-Patrick-cute-he wasn't exactly her type. He was a year younger, and looked even younger. He had never really had a long term commitment to anyone, and he seemed more interested in fun then anything else. But over time, she changed her mind. Although he was young, he could be serious. He made her feel special. He looked at her as if she was someone very important, and as if , never in his life, had ever met a woman so beautiful, smart, and charming. She couldn't help but start to fall for him too.
In the beginning, their relationship was wonderful. He put her on a pedestal and Manny loved the attention after so much heart break. After a while, of course, that changed. The relationship was not so one sided. And Manny found herself not only in love with Patrick but clinging a bit to him too. Now when they fought, it was her who always broke the tense silence first, it was her who hugged him, and seeked forgiveness. Even when he was wrong, although she still told him she was upset, she was the one who smoothed things over first. She wanted him to live with her, for them to get engaged, anything to mark the finality in their commitment. She just didn't want to hurt ever again and she wanted to hang on to something real. She pushed doubts aside, and even once when they fought and he told her she "made him sick", she explained away the cruelty of the words. He was drinking, and was never mean! It was a mistake and when he showed up with a self made apology card, she melted. She knew their relationship had changed in the year they had dated and she was becoming dependent but aren't you suppose to depend on your boyfriend? Didn't he depend on her? She was sure he did. And he loved her. Everyone saw that. She was always told how he looked at her with eyes of love-so what was the problem? Everything was calm for once. That is until Emma saw him, unloading his things from a used Volvo and into Joey's house. He wasn't staying for a visit, he was back in Toronto for good.