For a brief minute, Emma didn't know what to say or how to react. The three people the knew her best in the entire world were standing on her front door step in the snow looking at her as if she was going to break like glass right in front of their eyes.
Manny looked at her with guilt and tears forming. Jay scratched the back of his head and avoided eye contact. Sean cough awkwardly and stood with his arms crossed over his chest, his expression was blank. Emma probably looked like a deer in headlights to them but she couldn't seem to find her words.
"Em…" Manny was the first to speak although it was obvious she didn't know what to say either.
"What is this?" Emma questioned, trying in vain to keep the venom out of her voice.
But like she said before the three of them knew her better than anyone, they weren't fooled.
"Cool it Sprout, we come in peace." Jay was always the first to make a joke out of her pain and Emma scoffed at him.
Jay held his hands up in mock surrender and Manny had all but burst into tears.
"Well, come in." Emma moved aside to let her friends in and they looked grateful.
What did they think she was going to yell at them and then leave them out in the snow? She might not have known what was going on but she was trying to keep her cool until she found out.
Manny, Sean, and Jay shuffled awkwardly into the Emma's house and they sat together on the couch. Emma at across from them in her mom's favorite overstuffed green chair.
"Cold night out." Jay tried to start conversation but it was met with a death glare from Manny and a "dude seriously" look from Sean.
Even Emma looked at him like he had lost his mind.
"Just trying to break the ice…" Jay muttered awkwardly.
Jeez, his friends were so damn dramatic. It's not like Sean had killed her puppy or anything. The two of them had supposedly ended things on good terms. Emma should be happy to see him!
"What's going on you guys?" Emma couldn't take it anymore.
They were all acting weird as hell and it was about damn time she found out why.
"Em, I know this is weird...us coming here like this.." Sean started but Emma cut him off.
"Weird? Try Twilight Zone, Sean. Is this even real right now? Am I high?" Emma actually looked over at Jay for an answer as if the two of them had just been tripping on her couch and she was just now coming to.
Jay snorted.
"This is as real as it gets GP."
Emma nodded taking it all in. She still didn't really know what to say.
"Well?" She crossed her arms over her chest and waited for a response.
Sean opened his mouth to say something but Manny finally broke down and cut in.
"Em, we were worried about you! I know things have been hard since you dropped out of school. And even though I haven't been home much since Niagara, I know you've been...coasting." Manny looked helplessly at Jay for answers.
Jay rolled his eyes. Ugh, did he have to do everything?
"Look, Em, what she means is that the fire you used to have in your eyes? It's gonzo. Has been for a while. We're all worried about you. You're drinking more than you should be and when's the last time you went a night without needing a joint to sleep?" Jay wasn't about to sugarcoat it all.
Emma rolled her eyes and gave her three friends death glares from across the room.
"Is that what all this is about? I'm fine! I'm more than old enough to drink and it's not like I go out partying every night! I just drink here at the house or with you Jay. And so what about the pot? I'm not doing anything wrong! It's an herb for christ sakes!" Emma huffed.
Leave it to Jay and Manny to bring home Sean for an Emma's losing her mind intervention! She was fine!
"Em, come on. Things haven't been the same since.."
Emma saw Sean stiffen on the couch and instantly knew her friends had told them about Spinner. Emma saw red and her temper flared.
"You told him? Really? What the hell is wrong with you guys?" Emma looked at Manny as if it was the worst betrayal that had ever happened to her and tears instantly squeezed out Manny's eyes.
"As I was saying! You haven't been the same since we got back from Niagara Emma. Something is wrong. And you've been known to check out in the past. We just want you to know we are here for you." Jay tried to keep things on point.
Emma felt her eyes burn with tears and didn't know if it was out of shame or anger at her friends.
"Yeah you guys are really here for me. You not only told someone else that Spinner and I got married but you told the one person you knew I wanted to never find out!"
Emma instantly realized her mistake when she saw the hurt in Sean's eyes.
Jay sighed.
"We didn't Emma. We told him you guys hooked up but that's it I swear! It was only between the four of us...until now.."
Jay and Manny looked over at Sean afraid of what he would do next but Emma took the opportunity to avoid eye contact. Sean's face was frozen into a scowl but they all knew he was only trying to mask the hurt they saw in his eyes.
"Married?" he grit out between his teeth.
Emma's eyes finally locked with his. She let her pain show and so did he. They were both taken back by what they saw. Sean didn't know if he wanted to pull her into his arms and comfort her or go beat the shit out of Spinner. Could he get away with doing both?
"By...accident.." Emma managed to say.
Sean snorted and rolled his eyes.
"Accident? How does that work?"
Manny put her arm on Sean's to remind him of why they were there. Sean softened a little bit but his anger was still visible.
"We were in Niagara gambling and drinking and before Spinner or I even knew what happened we woke up in bed together married. Neither one of us even remember it. We got it annulled the second we got back in town." Emma admitted.
As much as Sean wanted to let the old him come out and get angry as hell at her and storm out of here he knew he couldn't do that. He wasn't that guy anymore, and Emma didn't need that right now. None of them needed that right now. So Sean did the only thing he could do...he nodded his head and changed his expression back to neutral.
His friends all looked at him like he had gone mad. Even Jay was shocked he didn't have to hold Sean back from going apeshit on poor Spin.
"That's it?" Emma asked him with disbelief dripping off her words.
Sean nodded.
"That's it."
That stunned Emma into calming down a little bit and the four friends all took a sigh of relief.
"Ok, so no one has yet to tell me what the hell is going on! What is this some kind of intervention?" Emma looked at them with mistrust.
"Not exactly…" Jay said.
Emma looked to Manny for more but she was silently crying. Sean was the one that finally spoke up.
"We're here for support."
Emma laughed.
"For support? What so I won't smoke pot anymore? Jeez ok mom!"
"Not exactly…" Jay said again and Emma looked at him with annoyance.
"Ok then what exactly?" Emma mocked him.
Sean opened his mouth to explain but Manny once again cut him off.
"Your parents called me two months ago in LA. They got a phone call they thought I should know about. " she burst out.
"okayyyy…" Emma was so confused.
"It's about Rick." Sean explained.
Emma froze. Rick? WHAT? They hadn't spoken about him in years.
"He's alive Emma." Sean choked out.
WHAT? Rick was alive? Emma felt dizzy as she jumped to her feet.
"Oh shit, she's gonna pass out." Jay yelled.
And that's the last thing Emma heard before her world went black.
-X-
Spinner was still back at The Dot, finally done closing up and ready to leave. He turned off the lights and walked out, locking the door behind him. Spinner barely had a minute to breath a sigh of relief when he heard footsteps.
"Spinner!"
Spin froze in his spot and sighed. He didn't have to turn around to know who it was. Jane. He hadn't seen her in six months and when he turned to face her he gasped. Her hair had been cut into a short bob around her chin and lightened a honey blonde. Her makeup was lighter than usual but she was dressed the same. Nose ring, black nail polish, skinny jeans, combat boots, leather jacket. IT was her alright.
"Jane." he breathed.
What should he say? What should he do? The two of them just kind of stood there awkwardly staring at one another until Jane finally broke the silence.
"Can we...talk?" she said to quietly Spin almost didn't hear her.
HE opened his mouth to yell at her and tell her to get away from him but the words sputtered and died in his throat and he found himself nodding a silent yes. Jane looked relieved and for a minute, Spinner almost believed she still cared about him. But he'd spent the better part of the past six months convincing himself that she never cared. That they were just friends that got confused about their feelings and their love wasn't real.
But the way Jane was standing there staring at him, had him confused. Maybe he had been wrong all this time? Maybe she genuinely did regret cheating on him. Spinner hated to admit it, but he had really missed her.
"Can we go back to your place? I'm staying at my mom's and we won't get much privacy there." Jane admitted, avoiding his eyes.
Spinner finally found his voice and spoke to her after six long months of silence.
"Yeah, let's go."
She followed him to his car and they both got in. It was awkward. Neither of them knew what to say but they were both glad to just be near each other again.
"So...what's new?" Jane joked as Spin pulled out of the parking lot and headed towards his apartment.
Spinner laughed.
"Same old, same old. How about you?"
Jane began to fill him in on her life in Stanford and the awkward feeling they had just encountered minutes before began to melt away. Maybe things would be ok afterall?
Before Jane had a chance to tell him about her weird roommate back at school, they were at his apartment. Ok, it was weird again. Spin led her upstairs and before either of them knew it, they were alone for the first time since their breakup.
"Jane, not to be a dick here but what's going on?" Spin couldn't take it anymore.
Jane looked at him confused.
"Going on?" she asked.
Spinner sighed.
"Why are you here Jane?"
-X-
When Emma opened her eyes she saw Jay, Manny, and Sean all standing above her arguing.
"She needs water, Jay!" Manny yelled shaking a water bottle in his face.
"No, she needs to wake up! Just shake her or something!" Jay yelled back.
"No she needs space!" Sean put in his two cents.
"What Emma needs is an explanation." Emma croaked out, her throat feeling dry.
The three of them jumped back as if she had scared them before they all instantly went into mom mode. Manny shoved some water at her while Sean tried to help her sit up and Jay shoved pillows around her.
"I'm fine!" Emma snapped sick of all the fussing.
That seemed to snap them out of it and they sat down. Sean on the coffee table facing her, Manny right next to her on the couch and Jay next to Manny.
Emma looked at Sean and their eyes locked.
"How could this happen?" she whispered and Sean felt himself melt.
None of them deserved this, least of all Emma. Jimmy may of been shot that day, but Sean was willing to bet that Emma had lost the most. She once told him she thought she lost part of her soul that day in the hallway and Sean knew the shooting still took it's toll on her emotionally.
"I don't know." Sean said softly. And he didn't.
He'd been just as shocked as anyone.
"He was dead, Sean. We saw it."
Manny squeezed her hand and she felt Jay's arm touch her shoulder for support but Emma barely felt it. The only thing she could focus on was Sean's eyes. No one but him could understand how she felt right now. And that must have been why Manny and Jay had brought him back to her. She owed her friends a huge apology in the morning.
"Apparently not. After they got us out of the hallway, the paramedics rushed Rick to the hospital and managed to save his life. He's been in a coma this entire time. He woke up two months ago." Sean was telling her all the facts trying to keep his emotions out of it but it was hard to do.
"Why did nobody tell us?"
Sean shrugged.
"The detective in charge of the case felt it was imperative to put Rick in witness protection. After what happened with Terri and how badly Rick was bullied at school, they made the decision along with his parents to put him in protective custody in case he woke up. And at first the doctors thought he would."
Tears streamed silently down Emma's face.
"So he's awake. Why are they telling us now?"
This was the hard part. Sean opened his mouth to tell her but Manny cut him off and for the first time all night he was grateful for it.
"Because he wants to see you Em." she said.
Emma almost choked on her own spit.
"What?" maybe she heard Manny wrong?
"He's been asking for you Emma. He wants to see you."
-X-
AN: So I just kinda started writing and went with it! This is what came out! RICKS ALIVE! Muahahaha. Ok, I'm done. REVIEW!
