"Well, you have to tell him." Came Manny's matter-of-fact reply.

Emma scoffed "Oh yeah - sure Manny. 'Hey Sean. I know we haven't spoken in weeks and you basically hate me now, but well, I'm in love with you'." She rolled her eyes "No. Not an option".

Manny grew exasperated "EM. You can't just not tell him. He deserves to know."

Growing quiet and looking down Emma replied softly "I can't be rejected by him again Manny. My heart might not take it."

Sinking down on the bed beside her, Manny put a supportive arm around her shoulders "Can your heart take it if you don't tell him how you feel?"

Emma looked at her, resigned "No."

The next day, Emma could barely concentrate. Sean hadn't been in any of the classes they shared, and her nervousness about telling him how she felt had quickly turned into worry that something was wrong. By the time the last class of the day let out, she thought she'd go crazy. She rushed to the MI lab and found her stepfather grading papers.

"Dad" she blurted out, forgetting where they were "Was Sean in class today?"

Looking up, Snake's face softened "Oh… Emma… I thought you'd have heard by now, Sean withdrew from Degrassi this morning. He cleaned out his locker during homeroom."

"Wh… what??" she stammered, "Where… where was he going?"

"He didn't say, at least not to me. I'm sorry Em." he took in his daughter's panicked face and, putting it together with Sean's stricken one this morning realized that there was a lot more to the story than either of them was willing to share.

Emma began backing out of the classroom "I.. I have to go. I won't be out late. Promise."

"Emma!!" Snake called after her as she turned broke into a run. He sighed. "I hope you find him, Em" he said quietly to himself.

By the time she arrived at her destination, her heart was racing, more from nervousness than physical exertion. She placed a hesitant knock on the weathered door of Sean's apartment. Her breath caught in her throat as the door swung open. The room was empty.

Emma felt as though she'd been kicked in the chest. The air left her lungs in one quick expulsion, and she swore she felt the room tilt. She entered hesitantly, wondering if somehow she was going to wake up from this bizarre dream and find all Sean's things in their proper place. A few quick blinks told her that this was no dream, and she sunk to her knees. Burying her face in her hands, wracking sobs shook her body as she realized she'd lost him – again. And this time, he didn't even know how she felt.

"Sean, there's a…." Emma looked up as the voice trailed off, and she saw Jay standing in the doorway, with much the same look on his face she imagined she'd had earlier. He looked around the small room in disbelief. "Oh, shit. Cameron, you idiot." Jay muttered in disgust.

"You didn't know he was leaving?" Emma asked shakily.

"No. I wouldn't have let him run away like a little sissy."

"What do you mean, run away?" she didn't understand.

Jay eyed her warily. He took in her position on the floor, her tearstained cheeks and decided it was a safe bet that she felt the same way Sean did. "From you."

"Me? I don't understand. I mean I know he hates me because of my stupid idea that we shouldn't talk anymore, but…"

Jay groaned in disgust "God, you guys are trying to turn me into Dr. Phil. Look. Sean didn't leave because he hates you. He left because he loves you, Emma. And as far as he was concerned, you were never going to have anything to do with him again. Just a guess, but I am assuming he left because he thought it would be easier for everyone involved."

Emma was still trying to process what Jay was saying "Sean.. Sean loves me?"

Jay rolled his eyes "Man, you two are both stupid. A match made in heaven. YES. Why do you think he got so upset about your ridiculous no-contact rule?"

"I hadn't thought about it." A small smile crept onto her face as she realized the enormity of what she was being told. He loves me. After everything, he still loves me. However, a flash of anger quickly replaced her brief euphoria. "He loves me, and he just left!?!? Without telling me how he felt??"

Uh oh. Jay thought. This is not good.

"Jay – where did Sean go?" she asked evenly.

"I don't know, he didn't tell me he was leaving either, remember?"

"WHERE WOULD HE GO JAY?" she demanded.

"Home!" he spit out "If I had to guess I'd say he went home. To Wasaga."

"Take me there. Now!" At this point, Emma was yelling; leaving Jay to wonder exactly what he'd done to evoke such anger. "Hey! I'm not the one who left you, Greenpeace! Don't yell at me!"

Emma closed her eyes and sighed, "you're right. I'm sorry. Please. Please will you take me? I need to find him." Desperation had creeped into her voice.

With one final eyeroll, Jay relented. "Alright. Let's go. But you're paying for gas!"