A/N: Here is the second half to the second chapter as promised. It is a little shorter, but that's probably because it's mostly dialog, so pretty much just the same amount of stuff happens. Enjoy!
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At four thirty the students of Degrassi were dismissed from their last period classes and Ellie went outside to find Spinner standing by the fences. Once he saw her approach him he smiled while saying "Hey, how was your first day?"
"Pretty much went as expected. You?"
"It was brutal, so you can say that it went as I expected too. You heading home?"
"No, Marco got back about an hour ago, so I was going to meet him at 'The Dot'."
Spinner's face fell in disappointment, but he tried to erase it before Ellie noticed. "Oh, that's cool. Tell him 'hi' for me, if he'll let you."
She caught on pretty easy with the tone of his voice, so she decided that she wasn't going to let him get away that easy. "You should come along. I think I can get Marco to sit down with you and once he sees how bad you feel about last year I am sure that we can get him to come around."
"Naw, dude. I don't think that's such a good idea."
"It couldn't hurt to try. You are going to need more people on your side this year." She put her hand on the side of his arm as reassurance.
"Sure, I guess. But if he flips then I bail, alright?"
"Okay, I can work with that." Just then Ellie's cell started to ring so she quickly went to pull it out of her back pocket and answered. "Hello? Hey Marco. Yeah, I am on my way now, give me five minutes. See you in a bit." she concluded the phone conversation and snapped her cell shut before returning it to her pocket. "Let's go." She ushered Spinner to start walking.
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As soon as Ellie walked into 'The Dot' a bright smile appeared on her face when she saw Marco sitting at their usual table. It was nice to have something that she could be genuinely happy about again. She missed Marco so much over the summer that it felt like she had lost an arm. But now he was back and all she could do was give him a huge hug.
"God, I missed you." He said, so captivated in her embrace he didn't notice Spinner walk in behind her.
"Same here." She slipped out of his arms to take a look at the friend she had been away from for three months. "Wow, you look really good, Marco."
"And what about you, El? You look amazing! I don't know what it is, but you just look so different."
"Yeah, well I guess you could say that I am different." Ellie saw that she threw him a little saying that, so she just decided to change the subject and turned to see Spinner standing awkwardly beside the door as if he wanted to run. "I uhhh... I brought someone with me"
Marco looked toward the direction she was referring to and his face fell with further confusion and annoyance. "Hey El, you do know that we aren't talking to him, right?"
Ellie rolled her eyes as she went to sit down. "You might not be talking to him, but I am. Come and sit down Spin."
"Maybe I should just get going. I don't want to ruin your big reunion or anything."
"Just sit." She sharply yet calmly demanded and he did as she asked.
"Can you please tell me what this is about?" Marco sat across from the two of them as the curiosity grew over his voice.
"Spinner is here because I want him here. I also want the two of you to become friends again."
"Woah, where on earth did this come from? And since when did the two of you have anything in common?" He was now just trying to understand. He didn't really care who she suddenly chose to be friends with, he just wanted to know why.
"He's here..." She sighed and looked over at Spinner again. "...for support. Marco, I need to tell you about something that happened to me."
"Okay, now you are freakin' me out. What is it?" His face was struck hard with concern.
" I don't really know how to say this, and I know that you have a right to be freaked, but I need your help with this." Ellie wanted nothing to do, but to stall. And that thought definitely sounded 'd use the excuse that she wanted to avoid the after school rush of kids that should be here by now, but it seemed thin because when she looked around 'The Dot' still seemed a bit dead. Ellie took that as a sign that she should probably just get this over with. He was just the first of so many people that she had yet to tell. It was like ripping off the first of many band-aids."I'm pregnant." She took a big gulp and felt it being uncomfortably pushed down her throat and into the pit of her stomach.
"What? You can't be." The shock on his face was undeniable and she didn't know how to explain it further to him.
"But I am." She nodded. "I mean, I haven't had it confirmed by a doctor yet, but I think that you can tell that it's real when you've taken three tests and they all came out positive."
"I don't understand how this happened to you? Who did this?" He took a strong silent pause until he came to a conclusion and glared furiously at Spinner. "It was you, wasn't it?"
Before Marco could get a chance to tear his guts out Spinner put his hands in defense. "Dude, no. I didn't partake in anything leading to a baby. Like the girl said, I am here for support only."
"Then who?" He turned his attention back to Ellie, not fully convinced.
"It's Craig."
"As in Craig Manning? Your best friend's boyfriend? The one who broke Ash's heart with the same thing a year and a half ago? That Craig?"
"The same. And please don't lecture me on how immoral or irresponsible I am because I already understand all that. I just need your help." With the stress bubbling under the surface she went straight for the rubber band around her wrist and snapped at it.
Marco allowed himself to calm down before asking "Could you please explain to me then, how this happened? I thought you didn't even like Craig that much?"
"The only time I ever didn't like him was when Ashley didn't. Other than that we had a lot in common. And then we both got bored being alone all the time during the summer, so we started hanging out. After a while I just ended up falling for him."
"Your in love with him? You didn't tell me that." Spinner said taken aback. Marco looked just as stunned.
"Yes, no. I don't know. Uhh...I have no idea what to do." Ellie let her head fall down on the table in her frustration.
"Dude, that's rough."
"Have you told him yet?"
She looked back up at him again."About the baby or the fact that I feelings for him?"
"Both."
"Neither, but I plan on telling him about the baby tomorrow."
"Hey, do you guys want some sodas or something? I'm buying." Spinner said suddenly before getting up. He seemed to want to just make the moment a little easier for them.
"Yeah, thanks Spin." Marco said making Spinner smile as subtly as possible after hearing his voice being less aggressive towards him.
"So, you gonna lay off Spinner?"
"I guess, if you really need me to. But don't expect things to be all buddy-buddy between us. Why are you suddenly talking to him anyway?"
"Since he works at the pharmacy now he was there when I found out and was really nice about it. I see what his mistake last year did to him and he is genuinely remorseful."
"But Jimmy can't walk because of him. How can we ever forgive him for that?"
"Oh yeah, so Spin brought the gun and pulled the trigger on Jimmy and Rick." She scoffed. "Rick was the one who snapped and that was everyone who harassed him's fault. And was anyone supposed to know that he would shoot someone?"
"Yeah, but..."
"No but. Can you please just accept the fact that he is my friend? Please?" Ellie stared at him hard until he caved.
"I said I would, it's just a little weird." Marco hoped that that would be enough for her, so she decided to give him a break and stopped pressuring him about it. "Now can we get back to the original issue here? What are you planning on doing with the baby?"
"I considered getting rid of the problem all together for no longer than a minute, but then decided against it." She said as Spinner came back with the drinks, as if he still worked there, and took his seat next to Ellie again.
"So are you considering adoption then?" Spinner asked.
"I have pretty much decided on it. I just don't know how to go about finding some good parents."
"I might know of somebody." Marco said causing Ellie's eyes to widen.
"Really? Who?"
"Dylan and I befriended a couple at a pride benefit last year and I know that they are trying to adopt a kid. Their names are Justin and Andrew."
"What do they do?" Ellie suddenly lit up. She didn't think that she would have a couple just thrown on her lap like this, but it was surely a relief. At least she could get one thing figured out about this pregnancy.
"Justin is just starting starting out in photography and Andrew is some kind of Chef at a restaurant in the city."
"Can you give them a call and see if they are still looking? I would really like to talk to them."
Marco smiled. "Yeah, I am sure they will be thrilled. They have been looking for someone for like...years."
"Tell them I am willing to meet with them any time as long as it's not tomorrow. I figured since tomorrow is Craig's birthday we should maybe throw him a surprise party in Joey's garage or something."
"That dude is going to be getting one hell of a birthday present." joked Spinner.
"You got that right." Marco added.
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A/N: The next chapter will probably be posted up some time next week, so I can get ahead again in writing future chapters. Reviews are awesome!
