Disclaimer: I own nothing Degrassi...

The lyrics come from a song called RUN TO ME by Youngstown.

Run to me when you need someone to count on

Come to me when you got something on your mind

Run to me when everything starts to fall apart

And when it's bringing you down

And no one else can be found

I'll be waiting for you with open arms

Don't be scared

Don't ever be shy

You know you can run to me when you need to cry

Never hesitate

Never be afraid

You know you can run to me and I'll keep you safe

"Are you going to tell me where we're going?" she asked, finally working up the courage to question her saviour.

Jay looked over at her, but found it hard to see her beautiful face in its present condition. He looked away, out his window, as he drove. Without meaning to, his foot had pressed down harder on the accelerator, sending the car into a speed that even Jay knew was dangerous. He lifted his foot, letting the car slow to a sensible, but still fast, speed.

"Are you going to answer me?" she pushed.

Jay sighed. "Does it matter as long as you're away from that psycho?"

Emma looked out her window. "He's not a psycho. He has it hard too, you know."

Jay finally looked at Emma. "You're defending him? He would have beat the shit out of you if Towerz and I hadn't been there."

"Solving violence with violence doesn't work."

Jay smirked. "You look like hell, Greenpeace, but you still have to try and solve the world's problems. So what did you do to him?"

"He gets a lot of flack from people at Degrassi. People are still really mean to him," Emma tried to explain. She could tell by Jay's look that he wasn't buying anything she was selling. "He just gets worried that I'll start listening to people around me and then he'll lose me."

Jay choked on his own breath and coughed loudly. "You're dating that freak?"

Emma blushed. She had been the most outspoken activist for keeping Rick out of Degrassi when he first came back. She didn't think someone who had beaten and terrorized a fellow student should ever be allowed to come back. But then she saw how Rick was trying hard to fit in and others just wouldn't let him. She saw how mean everyone was to him, even when he did nothing. Her ideas on the matter began to change, which surprised her, since Emma Nelson rarely changed her mind on any of her convictions.

So when she and Rick were both on the school's trivia team, she found herself chatting with the outcast and actually enjoying his company. Given that Sean was now dating Ellie and Chris was spending more and more time with Liberty, Emma found her loneliness subsiding when spending time with Rick.

But she wasn't stupid and knew that she had to keep her relationship with him secretive. Snake would never have allowed her to date Rick, knowing his past dating history. And this would have given Manny extra fuel for the hate fire she now held for Emma, after their falling out over her relationship with Craig. So while Emma was isolated from everyone who had once meant something to her, she found herself with more in common with an outcast like Rick than anyone else would realize.

"He's not a freak!" Emma shouted. More quietly she confessed, "I'm the freak!"

"Only for staying with some guy who beats you."

Emma studied Jay's profile as they drove along. When he turned the car onto her street she flipped down the visor and saw her battered face. "I can't go home."

Jay slowed the car down. "Why not? Simpson doesn't know the jerk beats you?"

"Please," she begged. "Please."

Jay hated the defeated look she gave him, begging to keep her dirty little secret, and he knew right then just where she needed to go. He sped past Emma's house and drove straight to an apartment complex minutes away. He pulled into the familiar parking lot and stopped the car.

"Is this where you live?" Emma questioned, looking at the building.

"Nope," he answered, getting out of the car. He opened Emma's door and took her by the hand into the main entrance.

They climbed the stairs in silence and Emma became scared as to where Jay was really taking her. When they reached the third floor, he opened the heavy, fire-proof door and they entered a brown, carpeted hallway that smelled of a variety of foods being cooked, none of which should ever be mixed. Emma held her breath.

Jay stopped in front of a door that had scratches on it and a small peep hole. He knocked three times before the door flew open and there stood Alex Nunez.

"What the hell do you want, Jay?" she asked, before realizing that Emma was standing there too. "And with her?" Alex then noticed Emma's face and winced. "What the hell happened to you?"

"I got into a fight," Emma lied.

"Yeah with a freak!" Jay added. "I couldn't take her home. Simpson would blow a gasket. Can you help her?"

Emma expected her to tell them both to go to hell, but instead, she opened the door further and waved them through. Emma looked around the sparsely furnished apartment. They didn't have much, but Emma guessed that it was a lot for them. The smell of vanilla hung heavily in the air and that's when Emma saw Paige sitting on the couch, flipping through channels on the small television set sitting against the far wall of the room.

"Hun?" she asked Alex, looking back and forth between Emma and Jay. "What's going on?"

Alex and Jay had broken up a few months ago, and he was replaced by a she, namely, Paige Michelchuk. The pairing was odd, since Paige was considered to be the Degrassi princess and Alex, the Degrassi homegirl. Neither have ever been known to sway to the other side of the dating spectrum. But they seemed happy with each other and brought out the best. Still, Jay felt awkward around them, and Emma felt mortified.

"Em? Huh, what's up with the face?" Paige asked, coming toward Emma and wincing. "Did you do this?" she asked Jay.

Jay rolled his eyes. "Sure."

"Then who?" Alex asked, directing her question to Emma.

Emma sighed. She looked to Jay. "Why am I here?"

Jay didn't want to further upset her, but felt like if anyone would understand Emma's current dilemma, and be able to shed light on the solution, it was Alex.

"Rick," he whispered, letting the name hang in the air.

"That asshole!" Paige shouted. "Did you kick his ass?" she asked Jay.

Jay smiled. He didn't know the princess had it in her. "A bit."

Paige smiled. "Don't worry, Em. We'll tell Raditch and he'll have no choice but to kick him out."

Emma sighed and glared at Jay. Alex saw the look and knew immediately why Jay had chosen to take Emma here of all places. She shook her head and stared at Emma. Of all the people, she'd be the last to expect this from.

"Come with me," she said to Emma.

"What?"

"You want to be able to go home tonight, right?" she asked. "I can cover up that eye."

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