Title: I'll Always Be There

Rating: T, for mild swearing and mentions of promiscuity.

Couple: Sean/Emma

Summary: Set during Season 3 after Pride Pt. 2. Emma and Sean's relationship hits a rough patch when it seems like all odds are against them. Will they let these circumstances break them, or trust in their love for each other? AU (No major spoilers, to my knowledge.)

Disclaimer: I do not own Degrassi: The Next Generation.


Sean and Emma started to panic as another knock was heard on the basement door. Jumping up from the bed, Emma paced around frantically, wildly looking in Sean's direction.

"Sean, get under the bed!" She said in the loudest whisper possible, her eyes darting from him to the basement door. Another round of knocks was heard a second later, causing Sean to jump up from the bed and scramble to the ground to hide underneath it. In his haste to get under, a few of her books fell to the floor, which just made more noise.

"Shhhhh! They'll hear you!" She hissed.

The knocking stopped, and she knew she only had a matter of seconds before whoever was up there decided to come down. She ran over to where Sean was hiding and moved her blanket messily over the side of the bed, making sure he was not visible. She had just enough time to jump back on the bed before the door opened.

"Emma, what is going on down here?" Snake asked as he closed the door softly. "I walk passed the basement door and I hear you making all kinds of noise. You are aware that your little brother is almost asleep in the living room, right?" He walked down the stairs and into her room.

"I'm sorry I made so much noise. I was just doing some cleaning and I guess I got carried away."

She fidgeted as she sat, glancing down to the floor every so often. She knew she had done a pretty good job of hiding Sean, but she couldn't help moving the blanket a little further to the ground while she spoke. She hated to lie, and she wasn't very good at it, but there was no other choice. If Snake found out Sean was there, he would lose it.

Snake glanced down at her blanket that was half pushed off the bed, then to her books that were scattered haphazardly on the floor before bringing his attention back to her. He wasn't sure what she was doing down here, but it definitely wasn't cleaning. With a skeptical look, he paced around the room before letting out a frustrated sigh.

"Whatever it is you're doing, would you please keep it down? I'm about to take a nap before dinner. Spike went to the store and won't be back for a while, so if Jack wakes up then you'll have to take care of him."

Emma nodded a little too quickly, which made Snake even more suspicious. Before he could comment, Emma stood from the bed and walked passed him to stand on the bottom stair, effectively averting his attention to the staircase.

"So…should I also listen out for the pizza?" She asked hastily, and Snake just ignored her abnormal behavior and shook his head.

"She's picking it up on the way home."

"Well great!" She replied, clapping her hands together. "So, you go rest and I'll make sure Jack is taken care of until mom comes home."

Snake stared at her for a few seconds before just shaking his head and walking up the stairs. Emma watched him go and waited until she heard his footsteps climbing to the second floor before moving to close the basement door.

As soon as the door was shut, she turned to see Sean crawling backwards from underneath the bed. When he stood, she walked back down stairs, stifling a laugh as he brushed aggressively at his clothes to get rid of the few dust bunnies that were stuck to him. She helped him out when she reached him, and afterward both of them collapsed on the bed.

"Well, that went well."

"No, that was a close call." She said seriously. "We can't make any more noise or he'll know something's going on."

He nodded and laid his head back against the pillow. They spent a few minutes just laying there, somehow exhausted from the last few minutes. As Sean lay, he thought about Emma's family situation. And the more he thought of it, the angrier he became. He didn't understand the nerve of Mr. Simpson practically barging in just because of a few laughs. In fact, every time he'd seen Mr. Simpson lately, the man was in a foul mood, and he knew it was because of him. But why? He knew he'd made mistakes in the past, but he was making up for them slowly but surely.

He glanced at Emma and couldn't help the peaceful feeling that came over him. She was sprawled out next to him, her eyes half-lidded as she traced the patterns on her comforter with her fingers. She looked relaxed, something he hadn't seen in a long while, and he knew that part of the reason she was so tense recently was because of what was going on at home.

He understood that things were hard right now with the news of Mr. Simpson's illness, but he also knew what Emma was like and how hard she worked herself. She would do anything to help those around her, and she willingly sacrificed her own happiness if it meant taking any type of burden off of someone else. Sean knew too well how generous and caring she was, and that was one of the main reasons why he tried his best every day to be better for her. She never admitted it, but she needed support too, and as long as he was in her life, he was going to be the one supporting her.

With that last thought in mind, he sat up. He knew just what he wanted to do for her.

"I want to take you out." He told her abruptly and stood.

She snapped her head up, staring at him like he'd hit his head.

"Sean, did you hear anything that Snake said?"

"I heard every word."

"Then you know that I can't leave the house. Besides," She gestured upstairs. "I have to listen out for Jack. There's no way I'd be able to leave him here."

"Emma, you do everything around here. Why is it your job to take on all of the responsibility even when someone else is around?" He walked over to kneel beside her and place his hands on her shoulders. "The baby's asleep. I feel like if Mr. Simpson could walk into the basement and yell at you for laughing in your own bedroom then he can easily take Jack upstairs with him."

Emma sighed. "I know how you feel, Sean, but I can't just leave." She replied, and he felt the tension in her muscles as she spoke. "I'm Jack's sister and he needs me if mom and dad aren't around."

"It doesn't make sense, Em. He's been different towards us ever since Jay decided to start talking to me. Look, I know he just got sick, but I feel like a lot of the energy he uses goes to giving you orders and talking bad about me. I get that he doesn't like me, and that's cool. But it's like every time I see him in school his focus is constantly on what the two of us are doing."

'He's just been under a lot of stress." She said quietly, not really wanting to accept the truth in Sean's words. Recently she had seen a change in Snake's personality too, especially when it came to Sean. Just like the argument over dinner, it seemed that any time she mentioned his name, Snake would become irrationally angry. He wasn't aggressive, but it was enough to see a pattern. Because of the cancer, she decided not to confront him about it, but it was becoming harder and harder the more the arguments occurred. Emma really didn't understand it.

Sean decided not to bring up Mr. Simpson any further, and instead focused on his mission.

"Well, we can always take Jack with us. We'll just go for a walk. Five minutes, I swear. Jack will get some fresh air, and we'll get a chance to just talk and have fun. What do you say?" He rubbed her shoulders as he used the most convincing smile he could muster.

She looked at him, her expression very clearly stating that his persuasion tactics were not working. After a few more seconds of silent pleading from him, she cracked a smile and heaved an exaggerated sigh.

"Alright, I'll go. But only five minutes, okay? If they find out we did this, I'll be grounded for weeks."

Sean stood quickly and gave a silent cheer before grabbing her hands and pulling her up with him. The surprised squeak she let out fell on deaf ears as he wasted no time walking up the basement stairs.

"Um…Sean?" She paused, effectively stopping him as well. "How about I go upstairs and you wait for us outside?"

Sean was confused for all of a few seconds before realization hit him and he grinned sheepishly.

"Oh, yeah. I guess it would probably help if we didn't get caught before even leaving the house, huh?"

"Exactly." She lightly pushed him toward the window. "Jack and I will be out in a few minutes."

...

...

...

About ten minutes passed before Sean saw Emma walk out of the house. She had Jack in one arm and his stroller in the other, and was managing them both without much of a problem, which surprised Sean. Once she reached the bottom of the stoop, she set the stroller down and strapped Jack inside of it. After making sure Jack was situated, she looked around until she saw Sean. He was standing under a tree at the end of the street, and she waved at him as she strolled Jack and walked over to him.

Despite the fact that the street was empty, she couldn't help guiltily looking over her shoulder every couple of steps, keeping her eyes open for any sign of anyone seeing her. She was being overly paranoid, and she shook her head and took a deep breath. Taking a walk with her little brother was nothing suspicious, and as long as she kept that thought in her mind, she knew she could relax a little.

She reached Sean after a few more seconds and they kept walking down the street. They were silent as they walked, enjoying the cool spring breeze, and for the first time in a while, Emma felt content.

This wasn't something she got to do often, and she almost couldn't wrap her brain around it. She was taking a walk, with Sean and Jack, after school. Something this small shouldn't have been this big of a deal, but it was, and she was enjoying every second of it. Every so often she would think about what would happen if her mother came home and saw them gone, or if Snake woke up and saw the house empty, and an anxious feeling would well inside of her. But anytime she felt it coming, Sean would look at her, or she would hear Jack laugh, and it helped keep her at ease.

They walked for a few more minutes until they reached the park, and decided to sit for a while before heading back. They found a spot under one of the large trees in the area, and she unhooked Jack from his stroller and sat him down before she sat down beside Sean.

"This is really peaceful. I think Jack is enjoying it, too." Emma said as she leaned into Sean, and they both looked down at Jack, whose attention was fixated on a caterpillar that was inching its way along the grass in front of them.

"See, Em. I told you this was a good idea. You really needed to get out of the house." He said as he put his arm around her and gave her a small kiss on the cheek

She smiled and looked around the rest of the park. It was filled with parents and their children. They were flying kites, playing games, talking, or just sitting on a bench enjoying the afternoon sun. A feeling of sadness came over her, then; she couldn't remember the last time she and her family did anything fun like that. Maybe she could convince her mom and Snake to bring them here over the weekend or something. She just knew it would help everyone be more at ease.

She glanced at her watch, noticing that the five minutes Sean had talked her into had turned into twenty, and that paranoia she felt when she'd left the house was kicking in again. She sat up a little straighter, jostling Sean out of his thoughts. She felt him pull her closer.

"Aren't you glad you came?" Sean whispered in her ear, and the initial panic she felt lessened as she leaned into him. Sean was right; she needed to learn to relax.

"Yeah, I'm really glad you talked me into this. I almost don't want to leave. Jack seems like he is having a fun time too."

Jack had abandoned the caterpillar and was making his way quickly back to them. When he made it within arm's reach, Sean moved his arm from around Emma and reached out and held him high, laughing as Jack squealed in delight. Emma laughed too as she watched them, and began tickling Jack when Sean passed him over to her.

When Jack eventually calmed down, Sean looked down at his watch and groaned.

"It's been way past five minutes, Em. We should probably head back now."

"Yeah, you're right." She replied. "Just let me get Jack back in his stroller and we can go." She stood and bent down to pick Jack up, but Sean reached him first, hoisting him up on his shoulder.

"Let me do it." He volunteered, and Emma couldn't mask the surprised look on her face. Sean was never one to volunteer for anything, let alone something that had to do with a baby. However, he seemed like he really wanted to, so she stepped aside and watched as he took him over to the stroller and strapped him in with very little difficulty.

When he was finished, he ruffled Jack's hair and strolled him over to Emma. He gave her thumbs up, and she smiled at him before they made their way out of the park.

The walk back to the house was peaceful, and aside from the occasional noises Jack would make, it was pretty silent. As they walked, Emma noticed how Sean took great care when it came to her brother's general safety and well-being, and she couldn't help the thoughts that crossed her mind as she observed them.

"You know what, Sean?" She asked while looping her arm through his.

"No, what?" He said as they stopped walking. They'd just reached the end of her street.

She wrapped her arms around his neck. "It's nothing. I just think you'd make a really great father some day."

Not having expected her to say that, he blushed and looked down. When he felt his face return to normal, he looked back up at her. He saw the teasing look she was giving him, and knew he wasn't going to be able to live that blush down for a while. Nevertheless, he wrapped his arm around her waist, being sure to keep his other hand on the stroller handle.

"Well, if I'll make a great father, then there's no doubt that you'd make a great mother. And, who knows?" He felt the blush come back. "Maybe, if it's in the cards for us, we'll be great parents…together."

"Sean…" She whispered, surprised that he voiced those thoughts to her at all. He was never one to talk about his family or his thoughts on the future, so she never questioned him on it, assuming that his family life made him avoid thinking about that all together. To hear him say that meant that he was opening up, and it let her know that he was growing up.

Sean broke her out of her thoughts when his lips met hers for a kiss. When he pulled back, she still had the same dazed look in her eyes, and Sean stifled a laugh.

"Come on, Em. Don't look so surprised! I know we're still young and everything, but I've been through enough with my parents and my brother to know what kind of man I want to grow up to be. And you're the only girl I could ever see having a future with. You know I love you, right?"

She nodded her head, happy that she knew him well enough to read him correctly, and also happy that he felt the same way about her that she felt about him.

"Yeah. I love you too."

"Good." He replied softly, and pulled her into a hug. They pulled apart quickly when Emma heard a front door close, and even Sean felt a little anxious. They were way past time.

"We need to get back now."

"Ok." He strolled Jack in front of her. "Call me later, if you can."

Emma waved before hastily running up the street back to her house. She could only hope that no one noticed they were gone.