Here goes the second chapter. I hope you all enjoy it :-)

Disclaimer: I do not own Degrassi or the characters.

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"Okay man, let's get this party started," Spinner smiled while trying to hide the fact that he felt incredibly guilty for allowing himself to fall back into this trap.

"Yeah! That's my boy," Jay slapped his hand on Spinner's shoulder excitedly. "I have a couple people over, but I'll be sure to let everyone know that you have unlimited access to all the booze and whatever else you want. Tonight's your night, man."

Spinner just grinned and looked out the window. About fifteen minutes later he found himself walking into Jay's parentless house, many memories, good and bad, flooding him as he crossed the threshold.

Two hours later he was drinking straight out of a bottle of Absolut Vodka and surrounded by eight strangers. He put the lit blunt in his right hand to his mouth and inhaled deeply.

"Having fun, man?" asked Jay, taking a seat next to Spinner, beer in hand.

It took a moment for Spinner to comprehend what Jay had said. "Oh yeah, dude…a…a…a blast," he finally managed to get out after several moments.

It was about 11:30 when Spinner's cell phone rang. The caller ID read Paige.

All of a sudden Spinner's heart was beating faster than he ever remembered it beating before. He felt as if it were going to pop right out of his chest.

"Hel-hello," he stammered.

"Spinner? Oh my gosh, thank goodness you answered. Do you know how worried I've been? I mean, how worried we've all been? Where did you disappear to?" She sounds so worried, wow do I love her, Spinner randomly thought. Whoa, where did that come from?

Any rational, sober part of Spinner was rapidly slipping away. He was beginning to surrender to the effects of the drugs and alcohol entirely.

"Paige? Paige…I miss you so much."

"What? Spin, hun, are you okay? You just saw me the other day," she said confused at Spinner's odd response.

"No, no I didn't. I mean, it wasn't enough…I…you're so pretty. I mean…you sound so pretty…yeah."

What is this kid on? Paige was beyond perplexed. This was not Spinner. Oh, he isn't…is he?

"Spinner, what are you doing right now?" she asked genuinely concerned, something had to be up.

"I'm at…" he took a moment to look around and check where he was. Oh yeah! "I'm at Jay's!" He said triumphantly as if he had won some sort of prize.

"What are you doing at Jay's?" Paige's anger was rising. What is he doing with that pig?!

"I'm…I'm forgetting. I'm having fun Paige…But Paige…I'm not having fun anymore. I miss you…I want to see you. I want to see you now!" He was becoming more emotional and childlike as the minutes passed.

"Okay, hun. Just wait for me, I'll be right over and you can see me, okay?" She knew if Spinner was around Jay trouble was definitely abound.

"Alright. Wait! Paige, you can't! You can't!" Oh no, she'll see me like this, part of his mind was screaming at him to not get caught while another part was dying to see Paige…my soft, pretty friend…

He began to pout due to his conflicting thoughts, Ah man, my head's starting to hurt. He went to rub his head and, in the process, dropped his phone. "Shit," he muttered.

"Spin…Spinner!"

"Sorry honeybee, sorry. I dropped my phone. Paige…" His speech was becoming more and more slurred…and he called her honeybee? When did that start back up? She knew he needed someone to take care of him, and chances were Jay was just as messed up as he was – in no condition to take care of himself, let alone anyone else.

"Just wait for me like I said, I'll be there as fast as possible."

When she didn't get a response she demanded, "Spinner, listen to me. Are you listening?"

"Yeah."

"Go by the door and look out the window for me. Are you ready to go?"

"No, hold on." He grabbed his bottle of vodka and threw out his joint, which he immediately regretted. Hey, I wasn't done yet, he scolded himself

"Okay, I'm looking. Hey! It's raining…a lot," he said, plopping down on the floor beside the front door, sulking because of his 'stupid' decision to throw out the weed in combination with the depressing down pour.

"Spin, it's been raining," she stated annoyed and rolling her eyes, drunks can be so annoying. "Just stay there. I'm on my way."

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Paige grabbed her keys and hurriedly put on her heels.

Ellie came into the living room. Upon seeing Paige grab her purse and head for the door she asked, "Hey, where are you going so late on a Monday night?"

"I finally got a hold of Spinner. He's at Jay's, and he sounds trashed. I'm gonna go pick him up," she quickly explained.

"Is he okay?" Sure Ellie wasn't the closest of friends with Spinner, but she was worried too. It turned out, from what she'd been seeing, he was a pretty decent friend…more than decent even.

"I don't know. He's acting so strange. I have him waiting for me, so hopefully I don't have to step inside that creature's house," she gave a small shudder. "Jay just gives me the creeps. I never know what he's up to."

"Are you sure you want to go by yourself, I mean two boys who are out of it doesn't sound so safe to me," Ellie certainly didn't want Paige to get hurt.

Paige thought about if for a moment, "Well I don't want to inconvenience anyone else."

"I'll go. The buddy system always seems safer."

"Thanks Ellie," Paige sometimes had her battles with the young journalist, but it was times like these that reminded Paige how lucky she was that they were friends.

"Oh, should we call Jimmy? He was so worried," Ellie recalled earlier that night when Jimmy kept bringing up Spinner's odd disappearance.

"It's late. We can tell him tomorrow," Paige decided as she hopped into Dylan's car.

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Paige pulled up to Jay's house, squinting through the pouring rain.

"Is that him?" Ellie looked through her window at a figure standing in front of the door.

"Ugh, yeah. I think that's him." What an idiot! What is he thinking? Paige didn't have to wonder long, he came running to the car.

"Paige!" A large smile came across his face. "Ellie? Hi!" He persisted on giving her a hug through the cracked window, which Ellie lowered so he could achieve his goal.

After the sopping hug, she said, "Um…hey Spinner. You seem quite bubbly." Ellie couldn't suppress her giggle, she had never seen Spinner so lovable.

"Just get in the back Romeo," Paige instructed. "And be careful! This is Dylan's car, he'll kill me if he finds anything messed up."

"Paige, I'm so happy you're here. I thought I was never going to see you again!" he exclaimed, extremely hyper.

Ellie laughed some more, but quickly stopped at the deathly glare Paige sent her.

"What are you talking about? We see each other all the time," she said, becoming more and more annoyed with his behavior.

"No, no. Paige…you just don't understand…" he continued to mumble incomprehensible words in the back to seemingly no one in particular.

Ellie looked over at Paige, "He's pretty funny like this. I mean, you have to admit." She turned her head back to take another look at Spinner. He was still muttering, but he was also shaking from the cold rain while trying to get some more vodka in his mouth.

"No, it's not funny. Look at him, he looks pathetic. He's so totally high, and drunk. Everything he's saying is nonsense, Ellie." Paige glanced at Spinner through the rearview mirror. He seemed to be having trouble getting the bottle to stay still.

"Well he seems to be muttering an awful lot about you," Ellie pointed out.

"Yeah, well…like I said, it's all nonsense. Which is even more annoying," she said exasperatedly.

"Okay. Okay, I'll back off," Ellie put her hands up in a gesture of surrender, "I don't want any Paige-rage pointed at me."

Paige rolled her eyes, but smiled nonetheless. "Sorry El, but I just don't want to have to deal with him like this all night. I mean, I want to help him…but if he's just going to be 'confessing' how much he supposedly still loves me, I don't know if I can deal. Plus I have an eight a.m. class tomorrow."

"Well if you want, I don't have class until two tomorrow. I can take care of him, right Spin?" She smiled in his direction.

"Ellie? When did you get here?" It was official, he was completely inebriated. She laughed some more as they pulled up to the drive way.

"I don't know Ellie. I mean, he's gonna be a handful and I'm the one who volunteered to get him."

"It's no problem, Paige. I'm not so annoyed by him, I find him pretty funny actually. And this way you can rest up and talk to him tomorrow, when he's sober," the red-head proposed.

Paige took a good look at Ellie, "Thanks so much hun. It really means a lot."

Ellie shook her head, "No problem, really. I mean, he's become my friend too."

Something about that statement irked Paige, but she wasn't quite sure why. Whatever, she dismissed the feeling quickly.

"C'mon Spinner. Let's go into the house," Ellie opened the back door and grabbed a hold of Spinner's hand to help him out. Again, Paige got that irritated feeling. What's wrong with me, she's just helping.

"Ellie, you have a little hand," Spinner noted as he clumsily got out of the vehicle.

"Ha, well yeah, sure." This was quite the amusing Spinner she was seeing.

"Yeah, like the rain. Or something like that…remember that poem thing by that guy…E. cum…or something…" then he began laughing as he realized the hilarity of what he said.

"Oh my gosh, Spin. You are so wasted. And it's E.E. Cummings," Ellie laughed. She knew it wasn't supposed to be funny, what he had done was wrong. But in the moment, he was pretty hilarious.

Paige unlocked the front door, "Okay El, you're on your own now. I'm gonna get to bed. Thanks again." She went up the stairs and was gone for the night.

"I guess that leaves you and me," Ellie said under her breath. "Here, sit on the – wait, better yet just stand right there while I go get you some towels."

She made to head up the stairs, but Spinner pulled her back not letting go of her hand. "Uh, Spinner. You're soaking wet and shivering. You need a towel. You have to let me go so I can get that for you." She made sure to annunciate her words slowly, making certain that he understood her.

"But I don't want to be alone," he said it with such sincere sadness, she couldn't possibly leave him alone. Wait. I'm not leaving him alone, I'm getting him a damn towel, she shook her head as if to literally shake the thoughts out of her mind.

"Spinner, I'll be right back."

Spinner wasn't sure why, maybe it was the alcohol or pot, maybe it was the entire days' events, but he felt lonelier than he had felt in a long time, not since Jimmy told him he didn't exist did he feel this low.

"No, don't go," he stated meekly, he couldn't bear even one minute of being by himself. He needed someone, someone to keep his mind distracted. Ellie's hand in his was his only current savior.

Ellie frowned, looking directly into Spinner's eyes. She could see his genuine despair and her heart went out to him. She looked at their intertwined hands then back to his puppy dog eyes.

"Okay, well, be really quiet when we go up the stairs. We're gonna go to the bathroom and get you all dried up. C'mon." He squeezed her hand tighter and followed her up the stairs.

After much stumbling, the two finally made their way to the bathroom making as little noise as possible. Spinner had been silent as they climbed the stairs, randomly taking sips from his bottle.

"That," Ellie began saying as she took the Absolut from his hand, "is enough. Take your shirt off."

She expected him to make some stupid sexual remark, but he just obediently obliged. She began to pat his upper body with a towel, suddenly feeling extremely uncomfortable, even if he wasn't making any crude comments.

She rubbed his head, drying his hair and then rubbed up and down his arms in an attempt to warm him up. "Um, I guess you're pants are pretty wet. You can take those off too." She immediately blushed. I can't believe I just said that. "I'll…I'll get some sweatpants from Dylan's room."

He didn't look her in the face, just stared blankly at the tiled floor. He began unbuckling his belt, then looked up at Ellie. "I'm just gonna…I'm gonna get you those pants now…oh, and a blanket. I'll wait for you out here in the hall." She closed the door and quietly crept into Dylan's room, snatched the pants, and then grabbed a blanket from her room to wrap around Spinner.

She was waiting about five minutes outside the bathroom door holding onto a blue cotton blanket and gray pants. She looked at her phone, 1:00 am. She released a sigh. She was becoming sleepy, but she was determined to get her highly intoxicated friend taken care of.

She rapped her knuckles on the door quietly so as to not interrupt the others sleeping. "Spinner? You okay in there?" She whispered. She didn't get a response, so she risked opening the door and peeking in.

He was sitting on the ledge of the tub in his boxers, goose bumps covering his body. "Here, this should be better," she said as she wrapped the warm blanket around his shoulders.

She glanced at his face and his brown eyes locked on hers. She wanted to look away, but she couldn't tear her eyes off the overwhelming emptiness and sorrow she saw.

She cleared her throat and managed to move herself to the sink, now looking at her own reflection. She looked down at the porcelain sink and took a deep breath. He didn't need her sympathy right now, he needed someone to take charge and be strong for him.

"Here," she handed him the pair of gray sweatpants, "I'll leave you to change. I'll just wait for you in my room, it's right here," she pointed to the closest room to the right and walked out, closing the door behind her.

She tidied up her room, taking the clothes strewn on her bed and floor and shoving them into her hamper. He came into the room a few minutes later and plopped down on the edge of her bed, the blanket slipping to the floor. "Fuck," he said as he placed his hand to his forehead, "everything is spinning."

"That's what happens when you drink vodka like it's water."

He laid on his back, closing his eyes tightly. She looked at him and rolled her eyes. Clearly he wasn't moving any time soon. "Well I guess you can just sleep there, I'll go downstairs. Oh, there's a bottle of water on my nightstand and a trashcan here," she said as she placed a small garbage bin next to the bed.

He didn't acknowledge her statement, only groaned as he tried rolling over with no success. Ellie grabbed the blanket she had given Spinner from off the floor and took a pillow from her bed. This is gonna be a long night.

She went down the stairs into the living room where she finally found comfort on the worn-out couch. However, the comfort didn't last long.

Twenty minutes after Ellie fell asleep she was awoken by Spinner stumbling down the stairs. "Spin?" she called out groggily. She reached to turn on the lamp closest to her and saw Spinner standing at the entrance of the room with tears streaming down his face.

"Spinner. Are you okay?" she rushed over to where he stood. He shook his head no.

"What's wrong?" she knew this was more than physical pain.

"…you left. I waited and you left…"

He said it so softly she had to lean until she was inches from his face to catch what he was saying. "What do you mean Spin, I told you I was going to sleep down here and that you could take my bed. Don't you remember?"

He shook his head and stood up, "No…you left. Just like her…you're just like her…"

What is he talking about? Paige? "Spinner, I'm sorry you thought I left. But I'm here now, okay?" She wasn't going to bother asking him what he meant, she'd probably just receive another confusing, slurred answer.

Spinner furrowed his brows in deep thought. Ellie grabbed a hold of his hand and led him to the couch. "You just need some sleep. Things will be better tomorrow."

He wanted to yell at her, scream how nothing was going to be better. Tomorrow he'd wake up only to have to deal with even more problems than today. But he didn't have the energy nor did he think he could manage to spit the words out coherently enough for her to understand. So instead he settled on roughly ripping his hand out of hers and looking towards the opposite direction while taking a seat on the couch.

While Ellie was taken aback by his sudden change of mood, she decided not to push it and headed to the kitchen for a glass of water. "I'm just getting some water," she announced, looking back to the couch to make sure Spinner wouldn't become frenzied again. He was sitting up, his head bobbing up and down, obviously trying to keep awake - without much success.

"Ugh, apparently I'm the only one that knows how to work a sponge around here," she complained quietly to herself as she eyed the sink full of dishes. She originally went to wash a single glass to use for her water, but ended up washing the entire sink full. Finally, beautiful sleep, she thought as she trudged over to the couch where Spinner was curled fast asleep.

She found herself smiling as she carefully scooted him over to make space for herself. However, she soon began to think, what the heck got into him today? Obviously something's wrong. Paige? She shook her head, it's too random for that, and they've been over for a while…

She didn't get a chance to mull over the situation any further as she slipped into peaceful abyss.

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That's the end of chapter two. Be sure to let me know your thoughts and opinions. I'm also open to hearing suggestions as to where you would like to see this story go.

Special thanks to TwinkleToesToo & SurreptiousGrl for my first reviews, they are so appreciated. Thank you!