What if...Spinner and Emma DID get their marriage annulled?
AN: Ok so basically everything that's happened so far in Degrassi history has happened EXCEPT for Spinner and Emma staying married in the movie. They actually DID get the annulment and neither one of them wanted to stay together. They just got drunk and stupid one night and they left it at that. They both wanted the annulment and got it with Jay and Manny's blessing. Emma's parents never found out and neither did anyone else. The four of them kept it a secret and this story takes places six months after that. It's currently Christmas break at Degrassi which means Manny is home on break from shooting her tv show, Jane is visiting from Stanford (she and Spinner never had their closure of their relationship ending. Jane went straight from New York to school and this is the first time she will be back home), Emma and Spin are co-workers at the newly re-built Dot (it's not awkward they're good friends now. He's manager, she's just a waitress), Emma is still living back with her parents, ignore the newer generation like Connor and all those guys they're not important to the story so Connor doesn't live there, Jay and Manny are engaged and happy as ever even though he's still living in TO and Manny is in LA shooting her tv show, Sean and Emma have talked briefly through post-cards or quick phone calls while Sean's been in the army, he hasn't been back home to visit since he came Emma's senior year, they're friends (and family) but things are still slightly awkward between them, Sean and Jay are still besties, again NO ONE but the Jay/Emma/Manny/Spinner know about what happened in Niagara Falls. I think that just about covers it. Here we go!
-X-
Emma Nelson was officially done with today! Done with it! She'd been at The Dot since it opened that morning and because Spinner had been so short staffed due to the holidays, Emma had reluctantly given in to his desperate pleas and puppy dogs eyes to get her to stay until closing that night. She'd barely had an hour for a lunch break and her feet were killing her more than usual. Emma had quickly learned after her first shift at The Dot to wear comfortable shoes but there was just no saving them today! She'd been there for almost twelve, yes TWELVE, hours and she currently didn't even have a car to get herself home. When The Dot first got re-built, it was still summer and Emma didn't mind the short walk from her parent's house to her new place of employment. In fact, for a while she came to really enjoy the twenty minutes of silence to destress after a long day slinging Spinwiches to the local masses. But now that December was in full swing, with Christmas only a few short weeks away, Emma had to admit that she needed to just give in and buy a damn car already! Not that she could afford it. All of her paychecks were currently going to pay off her steep student loans from just one year at Smithdale University even though she had dropped out and hadn't wanted to go back since. And anything she had leftover was going to pay the monthly fee to the annulment lawyer she and Spinner had to hire six months ago. Thankfully that was almost paid off completely and in a few short months, she would never have to think about it ever again! Emma hated to think that getting drunk and marrying her friend in Niagara was the one damn reckless thing she had ever done. It drove her nuts to know that she never took chances and the one time she had it had blown up in her face and she had paid dearly for it. Emma was just thankful no one had found out. Thankfully Jay and Spin, who were worse at keeping secrets than she and Manny even, had kept their lips sealed. For a while, working with her ex-husband...oh god...curse those assholes at the chapel that let Spinner Mason become her ex anything, had been really awkward. But Spin wasn't leaving anytime soon and Emma needed the job, and once they sucked it up and forced themselves to get past it, working together hadn't been a problem since. In fact, they'd become pretty good friends over the past months and Spinner had quickly become one of Emma's confidants. With Manny and Liberty gone, Emma was left to mostly hang with Jay and Spinner during her off time. She and Jay had fallen into a very comfortable friendship over their mutual depression of Manny's departure to LA...and of course..Sean. Emma's heart fluttered just at the thought of him. Whenever Sean skipped town, Emma and Jay always somehow found a way to each other to help get them through the void they felt when he was missing. As much as Emma hated to admit it, Jay was a good guy and no matter what had gone down between them in the past she considered him one of her absolute best friends. They spent most of their time discussing his and Manny's relationship and Jay was the only person in the entire world who knew just how much Emma found herself missing Sean. Emma was sure Manny and Spin suspected her unhappiness this past year had a lot to do with the fact that she hardly ever heard from him and he hadn't been back to visit.
Speaking of Spinner…
"Ugh, can we close now?" Emma whined into his ear while he counted money at the register.
They were supposed to stay open until ten o'clock but they'd been noticeably dead for the past two hours. Literally not one person had been in and Emma had done him a huge solid by not only staying late but getting most of his closing prep-work done. The only thing he had left to do was count the registers down and finish up some paperwork. He didn't need her for that and she was more than ready to go!
Spin sighed.
"We're supposed to stay open until ten Emma. You know what happened last time we closed up early, I got my ass handed to me!" Spinner argued back even though he was dying to close up as well.
He heard from Peter that Jane was back in town and Spinner wanted nothing more than to go home and drink until he numbed out the pain of missing her. It had been six months since the two of them had talked and he knew for a fact that she hadn't been back home since she left for New York. Jane's brother Lucas now worked at Tony's with Jay and his bro was always keeping tabs on Jane for him knowing how hard it would be for Spin to have to see her again.
Emma rolled her eyes.
"Come on, Spin it's only fifteen minutes. I'm dying here! And I still have to walk home..in the snow!" Emma reminded him, wiping down the counter for the bajillionth time in the past few hours.
She'd gotten all of the dishes and closing work done already. She'd even cleaned the cappuccino machine, much to her disgust. Spinner had obviously been avoiding the task for quite a while.
Spinner couldn't help but chuckle in her direction. For all the crusading she did for women's rights, Emma sure could be a whiner when she wanted to be.
"Em, come on! Jay told you he'd fix up Snake's old car for you if you got him the parts but the damn thing's been sitting in your driveway for months!" Spinner reminded her.
Emma rolled her eyes. Did he have to bring THAT up? Snake's old 1960's mustang he drove in high school had been sitting in their driveway for years now. Snake had finally broken down and agreed to let Emma have it since he knew Jay could get it running for a good price for her, but Emma had put off doing it until the last minute. Spinner and Snake bugged her about it on the regular but no one seemed to understand why she just couldn't find the motivation to get it fixed up. One day Jay had figured it out completely by accident. He'd remembered that while Sean was staying at Emma's after his stint in jail, he and Snake always talked about fixing it up for him. It was supposed to be their pseudo father/son project that never even got started. Sean couldn't find it in her heart to drive the car herself even though it would was given to her for free and Jay basically would fix it for hardly anything. But it almost broke Emma's heart to do that. She felt pathetic about it, but she secretly hoped that someday Sean would come back and everything in her life would return to normal. Like he would just show up at her door and suddenly her life would stop spinning out of control and everything would snap right back into place. She wasn't ready to give up yet even though it had been two years since she'd seen his face, months since he'd made one of his short phone calls from god knows where, weeks since she'd received his last postcard. The postcards never said much usually just a hi I'm thinking of you or I hope all is well or her personal favorite where he only signed his name and nothing else. Emma had only known where he'd been the past few years because almost weekly like clockwork she would receive a new postcard from a new place. Not once had he sent her one from the same place. He'd been travelling weekly and Emma would be lying if she said she wished his postcards would give more information. His phone calls usually lasted no longer than fifteen minutes and he spent most of the time asking her how she was. They were pretty sporadic at best and he usually lost service and their calls were cut short anyways. The only thing Emma could count on from him were the postcards. She kept every single one of them in a box under her bed with other various items from their past...photos, old notes, long letters he'd sent her from the few months he'd spent in jail, long letters she used to get from him when he first joined the army, old cards, and of course the one worldly possession Sean dared to leave at her home (the one place he considered his home to be) an old cigar box filled with a few things. Mostly they were photos of him and Emma and a few other things. Emma had never dared go through it knowing that it wasn't her place. She only kept it for him because he'd asked her to. He trusted her and she wasn't going to break that by going through the tiny amount of things he had kept even though most nights she was dying to.
"I'll get it fixed eventually, Spin. I just haven't had the extra cash. Maybe after I finish my payments to the lawyer I'll have enough."
Spinner shut his mouth at that. Emma knew he felt responsible for their marriage and even though she felt guilty for using it against him, she just wasn't in the mood for the interrogation tonight. She'd been in a worse mood than usual for the past week and it seemed like nothing could snap her out of it!
Spin coughed awkwardly and looked around. He had to admit, Emma was right, they were dead. It was time to call it a night.
"Alright, go ahead and go. Just don't forget to lock the door on the way out."
"thankyouthankyouthankyou!" Emma squealed, clocking out quickly and making her way towards the exit.
She gave Spin a big sloppy kiss on the cheek on her way out.
Spinner ughed and pushed her off laughing.
"Yeah, yeah get out!" he joked.
Emma laughed back.
"See you tomorrow! And Spin, don't call me in early!" she warned before turning off the open sign and locking the door on the way out.
Spinner was left in silence and for the first time since Peter had given him the news on his lunch break did he let himself really feel it. Jane was back in town. Shit.
-X-
Jay whistled the tune to jingle bells as he pulled the civic into a rare prime parking spot at the airport. He was finally going to see his girl after three long devastatingly celibate months. He could hardly contain his joy, or his raging hard on, as he screeched to a stop and got out of the car. Jay wasn't usually a lovey dovey kind of guy but he had to admit he missed cuddling with Manny more than anything. There was just something about that girl that turned him into a big pile of mush! He continued to whistle happily during the long trek inside, not even letting the freezing weather bother him...that is until his phone vibrated in his pocket.
Jay knew without even looking that it was Emma calling him. She'd be getting out of work right about now and it was their usual routine to chat on the phone while she walked home. Emma would never admit it but she was terrified of walking alone at night...probably some kind of PTSD from the shooting...or from that creep she met on the internet when she was twelve that tried to make a kiddie porno of her before selling her to the highest creepy bidder online. That was a shocker when Jay had found out about it a few months ago from Manny. Once a year, Emma got into a funk around the month of August when it had originally happened. Jay was being particularly harsh with her that week, just bugging her like he always did but this time Emma had burst into tears and locked herself in her basement bedroom and refused to speak to him. She had never done that in all the years he had known her, even before they were friends. And Manny had to explain it to him and then he felt like the biggest asshole in the world! She hadn't stayed mad for long, but Jay was beginning to understand her better after all this time. And as much as he didn't want to answer her call right now he knew he had to or Emma would get herself worked up into a panic. The slightest chance in routine could set that girl's nerves off like no other! And once Emma found out he was lying to her, she would already be pissed why make it worse?
"Hey GP how's it hanginnn?" Jay sang into the phone, avoiding going inside the warm airport.
Once in, he would likely lose service or Emma would hear all the background noise and immediately know something was up. Emma and Manny were like freaking detectives when it came to finding things out! Keeping secrets was hard around them! Not that Jay kept a lot of secrets or anything…
"I hate Spinner. We aren't friends with him anymore." Emma's sarcastic voice sang through the phone and Jay couldn't help but laugh.
It surprised the shit out of him that he and Emma had become such close friends but now that it was done he couldn't see it any other way.
"What did he do now? Make you clean the rank ass capp machine?"
Emma giggled from the other line and Jay's stomach dropped. She sounded like she was in good spirits and he couldn't help but feel a little guilty. Since when did Jay Hogart feel guilt? Must be that damn Manny. She softened him like a stick of butter.
"More like made me work almost twelve hours today...and I volunteered to clean it. Remind me not to do that again!"
Jay kept up his part of the conversation while still trying to rush her off the phone. He didn't want her to suspect anything but he was running late!
"Look Greenpeace, I gotta bounce."
He heard her hesitation over the phone and felt like a jerk. She'd been having such a hard time lately and here he was about to make things even worse!
"Why got a hot date or something?" She joked.
Even though Jay knew she was actually trying to find out what he was doing. He rarely made plans without her or Spin these days and she had every right to question him. He only wished they could have had this conversation before he was running late!
Jay snorted.
"Yeah with my left hand, wanna listen?"
He heard her disgust through the phone when she "ewwwwwed" him and he had to laugh. Nothing better than freaking out Cause Girl. He'd been doing it for years and still hadn't tired of it.
"I'll take that as a no?" he joked.
Emma snorted.
"Take that as a hell no you perv!"
Jay laughed.
"Call me later?"
Uh oh, she must have been having a really bad night. She usually didn't ask Jay to call her later which was almost always code for come over later and we can get drunk and mope about Sean. Ugh, he so didn't have time for this.
"Yeah, sure. See ya." he didn't give her a chance to argue before he hung up.
She definitely knew something was up by now but he just didn't have time! Jay ran into the airport and didn't waste time running up the escalator to the right terminal. By the time he reached baggage claim, he was out of breathe and scanning the crowd like crazy. Manny was going to kill him!
"Told you he would be late." Jay heard his best friend's voice before he saw him.
"Guess I owe you a drink." Manny joked as Jay turned around and saw the love of his life standing next to his long lost best friend Sean Cameron.
"Booooo!" Manny squealed before jumping into his open arms.
"Dimples!" he breathed in the scent of her hair and Jay swore he felt at complete peace.
Manny was the only person in the entire world that could do that for him and he was so damn happy she was finally home!
"Ugh, I don't think I'll ever get used to seeing the two of you together." Sean joked, holding his bag over his shoulder and guarding Manny's four suitcases while her and Jay kissed and hugged and whispered sweet nothings.
Sean felt a pang in his heart...he wished Emma was here to greet him at the airport. But idiot that he was didn't tell her he was coming.
"Get over it dude." Jay finally put Manny down and made his way over to Sean.
Sean basically looked the same as he had last time Jay had seen him. His muscles were a little more defined and his hair a little shorter than he usually kept it, but it was the same old Sean.
"Cammmmm!" They slapped hands and hugged and Sean found himself laughing along with Jay at nothing per usual.
"Some things never change." Manny singsonged from behind them.
The boys finally pulled apart and Jay grabbed half of Manny's bags and in one arm and her hand in the other before leading two of his favorite people towards his car.
Sean grabbed Manny's other bags and the three of them joked and laughed the entire way to the parking garage.
"Still got the wife I see," Sean pointed to Jay's Civic which was in just as good condition now as it had been the day Sean met him.
Manny swatted Sean's arm and Jay just laughed giving Sean a "yeah like I'd ever give up my baby" look when Manny wasn't paying attention.
The boys spent a good amount of time getting Manny's luggage piled into the car just the way she wanted it before they finally loaded in and were on their way. As they got closer and closer back home the air in the car changed and the three of them were suddenly tense as hell.
Sean finally snapped, he couldn't take avoiding it any longer!
"Does she know?" he breathed out.
Jay immediately tensed up in the front seat and Manny avoided eye contact, looking out the window like her life depended on it.
"NO." Jay responded simply.
There was no way to sugarcoat it.
"Sean...are you sure it was a good idea to do it this way?" Manny whined from the front seat.
If Emma knew what was going on, she would kill them. Manny hated it when she and Emma fought. And the three of them had all been on the receiving end of the Emma Nelson wrath at one point over all the years they had known each other. This wasn't going to be pretty.
Sean sighed.
"It's too late now."
The three of them took that in an agreed. It WAS too late now. There was no going back.
"She's going to hate me." Sean murmured so low, Jay almost didn't hear him.
"Maybe at first," Jay agreed before Manny slapped him on the arm and he yelled in protest.
"OW what the hell?"
Manny gave him her mom look.
"Not helping boo."
Jay snorted.
"Well I'm not gonna lie to the man. I told you on the phone yesterday that Emma hasn't been herself in months. She's gonna be pissed. We all knew that going into it."
Manny shut up at his words knowing he was right. There was no going back now. They were in it to win it.
"How long to do you think it will take her to get over it?" Sean asked, already knowing the answer.
"Get over it?" Jay snorted.
The three of them shared a small laugh. Emma didn't get over things easy, ever. They were gonna be in the dog house for a while.
"Do her parents know?" Sean couldn't help but ask.
He'd been missing Snake almost as much as Emma even though he hardly ever got the chance to talk to him anymore. That was the risk he took when he left town and didn't bother to update them on where he'd been. But he had to do it, not just for him but for all of them. They would understand eventually why he'd done what he had to do. He hated running away again after all they had done for him, but he didn't feel like he had a choice at the time.
"Yeah, they know. Her mom wasn't happy about lying to her but Snake has been running around all week excited as hell." Jay admitted meeting Sean's eyes in the rear view mirror.
"Really?" Sean squeaked instantly excited.
It still amazed him that Snake was such a good father figure to him even after all this time. After all he had done and Snake welcomed him back with open arms every time. Every. Damn. Time. That gave Sean more hope over the years than he could ever explain to anyone.
"Aw come on Cam you know you're his favorite kid!"
Manny and Jay laughed from the front seat and Sean couldn't help but crack a smile. Snake only had one biological child but he'd adopted Emma, Manny, and Sean as his own for all these years and the three of them were better human beings for it. Archie Simpson was the greatest man Sean had ever known and he couldn't ask for a better father even if it wasn't by blood.
The three of them let the silence wash over them for a minute before Sean spoke again.
"Maybe I shouldn't be doing this to her?" he wondered aloud.
Jay and Manny shared a look of annoyance before Manny turned to face him in the back.
"Now isn't the time to doubt yourself, Sean." She told him sternly, giving him her evil mom glare.
"Damn." Sean muttered under his breath.
Jay laughed.
"As much as I detest the Manny Santos mom glare, she kinda has a point dude. We planned it this way for a reason." Jay reminded him.
Sean nodded.
He knew. He just hated to barge in on Emma's life like this. He'd been doing it for years, just dropping in and out and raging through her emotions like a storm. Every time he left something horrible happened and he was grateful for the fact that Jay had been keeping an eye on her for him. Luckily nothing horrible had happened this time but they all knew Emma wasn't happy. She hadn't been for a long time and Sean was done trying to stay out of it. When Manny had called him months ago and told him what was going on, he knew it was time to come home. He wished he could have timed it a little better but truth was that his time was up in the army. He could have chosen to do another few years or get out now and instead of staying like he originally planned, Sean knew he needed to come home to Emma. He needed to be there for her. He couldn't believe that Emma never told him what was going on! She'd dropped out of college after she'd almost gotten kicked out for smoking a shit ton of weed and passing it around at a dorm party in edible form. She blew up The Dot. She got drunk and fucked Spinner in Niagara, which by the way he was still pissed about. And now she was working as a waitress spending her days smoking down with Jay and Spin and drinking more than she would probably like to admit. That wasn't like her at all! Her life had fallen apart and then her parents got that damn phone call two months ago and that had changed everything. Everything. Emma still didn't know. Her parents and Manny and Jay were too afraid she would fall apart completely and knowing her past, they couldn't afford that. Sean finally snapped out of it and realized he needed to step up and finally be the hero that Emma deserved. Problem is...would she let him be? Especially after she found out she'd been lied to by the people she loved for months?
"Well here we are, home sweet home." Jay said grimly as they passed the sign letting them know they were entering Degrassi.
Sean sighed and looked out the window. The snow was falling rapidly and even despite the car's heater the back windows were fogged up.
Sean raised his hand and drew a sloppy tornado symbol in the frost with his finger. Emma always had called him hurricane Sean it was only fitting. He was about to whirl back into her life and tear it all apart again. He only hoped that this time Emma wouldn't hate him as much as what he deserved.
-X-
Emma had just gotten out of the shower when she heard her phone ringing from her bed where she'd dumped her purse the minute she walked in the door. She immediately kicked off her sneakers and stripped off her clothes and indulged in as long of a shower as she wanted. The entire time of course her conversation with Jay had nagged at her. He sounded weird as hell but Emma couldn't figure out why. Was he keeping something from her? And if so, what? Since when did Jay lie to her about anything? Their friendship had it's flaws but their one rule was complete and total honesty. He better not be screwing around on Manny or Emma would make sure he didn't live to see another day.
Emma rushed into her room and dug through her purse for her phone.
"H'lo" she answered breathlessly, barely catching it before it hit voicemail.
"Damn Greenpeace you're out of breath. Am I interrupting something?" Emma heard Jay's laughter from the other line.
"Ha, ha very funny. You're the one that told me he had a date with his left hand tonight." Emma joked back wanting to be pissed at him but also incredibly glad he called.
The nights lately were the worst on her. When Jay came by with a little weed to calm her nerves, Emma could usually get at least a few hours of sleep unlike most nights when she got hardly any.
"Turns out my left hand is cheaper than Amy was."
Emma laughed at that, a true hearty laugh and she sat down on her bed.
We towel be damned.
"So when are you stopping by? Mom and Snake are still out for their date night and Jack's at a friends. If you get here soon we can smoke in my room without having to go out in the freezing ass cold."
Jay sighed. This wasn't going to be easy.
"Already here GP. In the driveway."
Emma was confused. Jay never showed up unannounced.
"Ok, just let me throw on some clothes I'll meet you at the door."
Jay hung up without another word.
Emma threw on some sweats and one of Sean's old sweatshirts from his Tony's Auto Shop before she ran a quick comb through her hair and jogged up the stairs. She didn't need makeup or perfume around Jay it's not like she was ever trying to impress him. They were friends. She turned on the living room lights and threw open the front door.
Her heart dropped into her stomach and Emma felt like she was going to pass out. Jay wasn't alone at the door. Standing next to him was her oldest friend in the world Manny Santos...and the guy who had broken her heart more times than she could count, Sean Cameron.
Sean was home.
-X-
AN: So I originally planned this as a one-shot but it kind of took on a life of it's own and I'm making it into a short story now. As the first chapter it's kind of a long one but I wanted to explain a little about what's been going on with the characters. REVIEW! I also want votes on what you guys think the big secret should be! Should I make this story more emotional or more scary? Maybe a little mini christmas thriller? Or maybe just something emotional that hits you right in the feels? What do you think? REVIEWS PLEASE!