Part 7: Party's Over

a/n: hahaha. This is thy chapter that I have made thou wait for. So…enjoy! OH YEAH! This DEFINITELY has Craig OFF his meds…a lot. Mmmkay? And guess who pays the price? (cough, cough, Spinner, cough, cough, Sean…ahem…Joey, Snake, Marco, Jay…:eats cough drop: ahhh…) But not everyone mentioned in THIS chapter. Mmmkay? It's easy mmmkay…

It was 1:07 in the morning at the Jeremiah/Ryan/Manning residence when Joey Jeremiah was woken by someone calling. He ignored the first time the person called, but the second time, he got irritated and answered. When the person verified who he was, and told him what he needed to know, he dropped the phone.

He couldn't speak. He just sat on his bed. Caitlin put a hand on his shoulder. "What's wrong, Joey?" she demanded.

"I…It…It's…Craig. He's…he's…in…the hospital…there was an accident…he…" he stopped talking. He put some pants and a shirt on, put his shoes on, and took Caitlin's car to the hospital. He ran into the hospital, and asked what room Craig was in. The woman at the desk said that he was in room 417.

He ran all the way to the room, taking the stairs, as he was too impatient to use the escalator. He burst inside Craig's room. It was silent. Tears ran down his face as he walked over to Craig's bed. He looked at his face, which was bruised and bandaged. Blood was showing through the sterile-white bandages. There was a respirator over his mouth, and a cast on his arm. There was a neck brace around his neck. duh. A needle took up residence in his left arm.

"Craig, I'm sorry," Joey whispered. "I never should've let you take the car." Joey spent the night in the hospital with Craig. He talked to a doctor, who said Craig was in a coma, and he also talked to a police officer, who said that Craig drove into a tree, and that he had been drunk at the time.

Joey lowered his head in despair. Caitlin arrived the next morning. She said that she would take care of Angie until Craig got better. Joey nodded and Caitlin left.

Monday, Degrassi Community School

Ashley walked alone. Everyone had heard the news of Craig on Saturday morning. Everyone knew who made Craig leave the party drunk. Not even Ellie would talk to her. Manny was the one that helped him that night. She and Emma even tried to get him not to leave. Ashley doubted him, accused him, slapped him… and now she felt horrible. But that didn't change what everyone thought of her.

She ate lunch alone. People glared at her, called her rude things. She cried herself to sleep that night. She could've killed herself for almost killing Craig, accusing him of cheating on her, slapping him. Now her heart ached, and she felt sick. She wanted everything that happened Friday night to never have happened at all. Her mom had said that they needed less people like Craig in the world. Ashley said that they needed less people like HER in the world, people that judged, insulted, were rude…it was sick. She hoped to God that Craig could find it in his heart to forgive her. Something told her he probably wouldn't.

Hospital Room 417

two weeks after the accident

Joey watched Craig every minute of every day. Unless he fell asleep, ate, or had to go to the bathroom. He watched Craig, and every time Craig would take a deep breath, hope filled him, and then left as he gave a heavy sigh.

"Please be okay," Joey whispered. He leaned his head onto the bed and fell asleep. He felt someone's hand on his, and opened his eyes. He looked up and saw what he'd been waiting for for two weeks. Craig was looking down at him, sadly, but he smiled a little bit.

"Hey, Joey," he said hoarsely. Joey smiled happily.

"Hey, Craig," he said calmly. "How are you?"

"Shit," said Craig. "That's how I feel. Like shit." Joey threw his head back and laughed.

"You find this funny," Craig stated.

"No," Joey said. "You. You're what I find funny."

"How'd I get here anyway?" Craig asked.

"You got in an accident," Joey answered. "At Sean's party. You got drunk and wrecked my car." Craig was quiet.

"I'm sorry," he said. "About your car."

"Nah," Joey said. "Don't worry about it. I have insurance." He remembered the picture.

"Joey, where are my pants? The ones I was wearing the night of the accident?" Craig asked.

"They're at home. They're getting washed. The shirt was kind of ruined, because of the blood and the glass ripping it, but your pants are okay. I found this stuff in the pockets." On the nightstand by the bed, there was a pile of stuff, containing a wallet, a chain, an MP3 player, and, of course, the picture of Manny and Emma.

"Thank God," Craig whispered, picking the picture up. "Manny gave me this at the party. That's all I really remember."

"People keep calling. Caitlin sits by the phone answering calls from people at school. They want to know how you're doing."

"Me? Oh, I'm doing just great. I mean, with a needle and a cast on one arm, and a neck brace…I'm great. My chest hurts like hell, too. But, yeah, I'm just great." Joey stared at Craig.

"Oh my God, don't let me go back to jail…don't let them take me back…they'll know…they'll know…"

"They'll know what, Craig?" Joey asked.

"They'll know I'm underage and that I got drunk at Sean's, and then Sean's gonna get in trouble for having the beer and the vodka…shit…they'll take me back…"

"I already talked to the police," Joey said. "I explained your situation, and they said you're only getting a warning because nobody's pressing charges for anything, but don't do it again." Craig nodded.

"When am I getting out of here?" he asked.

"When you're ready," Joey answered. "The doctors…oh, yeah, I should probably go get the doctor…"

"No," said Craig quickly. "I want you to stay here with me until I fall asleep again. I don't want a bunch of doctors stabbing me with needles." Joey nodded and resumed his position next to Craig.

"How long has it been?" Craig asked, looking down at Joey.

"It's been two weeks," Joey said quietly. "You've been in a coma for two weeks." Craig was horrified.

"Two weeks?" he said loudly. "Oh my God, I've practically been dead for two weeks…"

"It's okay, Craig. We're gonna get you out of here. When you wake up."

"Okay, Joey," Craig whispered. He closed his eyes and his breathing became regular again. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight," Joey said back to him, watching as he drifted back to sleep. He picked the phone up from the table and called Caitlin.

"Hello?" Caitlin said in a bored voice. She must've been answering more calls.

"Caitlin!" Joey said quickly. "He woke up!" Caitlin stood up and laughed.

"Really?" she said. "That's great!"

"He was only awake for about five minutes, but we talked, and he's…okay."

"Thank God," Caitlin muttered.

Degrassi, Friday Morning

"Manny! Manny!" Emma shouted. She ran up to Manny Santos's locker so fast, she almost didn't stop.

"What? Is everything okay?" Manny asked, surprised at Emma. Emma smiled.

"He's awake!" she cried. "He woke up early this morning!" Manny sighed.

"Thank God he's okay," she whispered. "We have to tell people!" Manny ran up to a group of people, including Jimmy, Paige, Hazel, and Spinner. "He woke up! He's gonna be okay!" she said.

'Who?" Paige asked blankly. Manny stared at Paige like she was insane.

"Craig," she said. "Remember…he got in the accident, and…?"

"Oh, yeah, Craig. That's nice, Manny." Manny glared at her before moving along.

"Paige, what is it with you?" Jimmy asked coldly.

"I don't see what the big deal is," Paige answered. "It's just Craig, and he's just in the hospital. It's not like it hasn't happened before."

"God, Paige, you're more heartless than Alex," Jimmy said before leaving with the other two, leaving Paige alone. Paige sighed.

"I heard that, Brooks," Alex called from her locker. Jimmy laughed, and kept going with Hazel and Spinner. They saw Marco coming in through the front doors.

"Marco!" Jimmy shouted. "You hear about Craig?" Marco ran up to him.

"No, is he okay?" asked Marco.

"He's fine," Jimmy said. "He woke up this morning."

"Seriously? That's great!" Marco said happily.

When they got to homeroom, everyone thought about as little of Paige as they did Ashley.

"Did everyone hear the news?" Mr. Simpson asked the class while he was taking attendance. A few students asked what 'the news' was. "Craig's awake now. He's going home in a few days."

"Cool," someone said from the back of the room. Mr. Simpson smiled and continued with the attendance. "He's missed a lot of school," he muttered.

The news spread throughout the school, lightening the moods of everyone except Ashley and Paige. Ashley couldn't be happy until Craig forgave her, and Paige wouldn't be happy about him being awake until she found a reason to care. She was starting to act like she did in grade eight.

Ashley cared about Craig, but was afraid that he was mad at her, which he probably was. She didn't talk to anyone; no one talked to her either.

Ellie was mad at Sean for having alcohol in the house when she told him no. Sean said that someone must've brought it because he didn't have any, but admitted to giving Craig a drink with some alcohol in it. Ellie forgave him, and they were happy like they were before Sean moved. Ellie had been desperately wishing for Sean to come back from Wasaga, and no matter what Ellie said, she missed him. She was happy when he said he'd come back. And he did.

"Em, we should go visit him after school," Manny said during lunch.

"Manny, do you still have a thing for Craig or something?" Emma asked suspiciously.

"No, Em," Manny answered truthfully. "But me and Craig are trying to act normal around each other, especially since he's graduating at the end of this year, and there's not really much time for it after that. We have to get over the past. We're just friends."

"Sure, I'd love to go visit him," Emma said calmly. "Right after school. I'll tell Snake." Emma had only called Mr. Simpson "Snake" when she was talking to her friends, otherwise she called him "Mr. Simpson" during class or "Dad" at home or after class.

After School

"Dad," Emma said, walking into Mr. Simpson's emptying classroom. "Me and Manny are going to see Craig, okay?"

Snake looked at Emma curiously, then nodded. "Yes!" Emma muttered happily. She and Manny rushed to catch a bus toward the hospital. When they got there, they saw Caitlin about to go up the elevator. "Caitlin!" Emma called. Caitlin turned around and stopped the elevator.

"Emma! Are you two here to see Craig?" Caitlin asked. Emma and Manny nodded. "Okay, come with me."

They went up three floors, down two hallways, and got to room 417. They went in the door. Craig was laying in bed, listening to Joey talk. He looked up at the door and saw Caitlin, followed by Emma and Manny.

"Hey," Craig said quietly. Caitlin gave Craig a small smile and a wave. Emma and Manny sat on the other side of Craig, across from Joey and Caitlin. Joey and Caitlin moved to the other side of the room, talking quietly.

"So," Manny began. "How're you feeling?"

"Like shit," Craig said. "But it's not too bad in here. Joey says he hasn't left this hospital in two weeks. That's insane. If he was in a coma, I would've left. But it's not his fault he's so protective, right? I mean, really. He's trying to make sure I'm okay, and I think I can sort of understand his point of view. Poor Joey." He looked up at Manny. "How was your photo shoot, Manny?" he asked.

"Oh, it was so fun," said Manny. "The photographer was so nice, and I got to model really cool clothes."

"That's cool," Craig muttered. "What about you, Emma? Do anything exciting lately?"

"Not really," Emma answered. "School gets more boring by the day."

"Why do you think I keep getting in the hospital? I hate school." Manny and Emma nodded in agreement. "They say that high school is supposed to be the best four years of your life. Ever since I got to Degrassi, I've been going through hell. Unless I'm Satan or something, I don't think that the last three years has been all that fun."

"Life is hard," Emma said. "I think anyone that goes to Degrassi has some kind of painful history."

"Especially me," Craig pouted. "And this year…this is the weirdest year I've ever gone through. We're, what, four months into school now? I've been in a wheelchair, lied to, beaten, shot in the shoulder, considered a killer, in the hospital, in jail, drunk, and now I'm back in the hospital. Interesting."

"Paige was being a wench today," Manny said out of nowhere.

"Again? That's new to me," Craig said sarcastically.

"Well, this morning, Emma almost had a heart attack when she heard you were awake, and I told Jimmy, Hazel, Paige, and Spinner first. Paige freaked out and said that she didn't care if you were awake at all because you were just Craig and you're just in the hospital, and 'It's not like it hasn't happened before.'"

"Whoa, that is wenchy."

"I know," said Manny. "And you know what's weird? Emma thinks I still…want you." She gave Craig a look of mock disgust toward Emma. Craig laughed, and Emma turned and gave Manny a death glare.

"That is weird, Emma," Craig said, laughing. It felt good to be on speaking terms with Manny, not like he used to. It had been two years, and it was time to try letting it go.

"You know, everyone's mad at Ashley," Emma said, staring at Craig.

"Why?" Craig asked curiously.

"Because on the night of the party, you got drunk, and I had you sit down, and then you looked sick so I took you into the bathroom, and Ashley got mad because she thought we were doing something in the bathroom, and then she slapped you like four times, and she pushed me into you, and then you took Joey's car and left. That's when you got into the accident. She's the one who told you to leave, and you were drunk off your ass, and we couldn't do anything. You had the doors locked, the car was started, and…there was really nothing we could do," Manny explained. "We called Joey, but no one picked up. Nobody talks to Ashley because it's her fault you left. I was going to get Spinner to drive you home, but that didn't work because you'd already ran out of the apartment. It was too late. I'm sorry we couldn't do anything."

"It's not your fault," Craig said to the two girls. "It's Ashley's. She shouldn't have made me leave. I could be just fine right now. I'm not sure what possessed me to drink half the container of vodka, though."

"That's probably why you were so drunk!" Manny cried. "You could barely walk. You kept running into the wall. It would've been funny, but considering the circumstances…" Craig laughed.

"Thanks, you two," Craig muttered. "For taking care of me at the party."

"It was mostly Manny," Emma said. "I was talking to Sean half the time."

"Well, then, thanks, Manny," he said. "For letting me puke in front of you."

Manny laughed. "I had to close my eyes or I would've hurled too," She said. The three of them talked for about an hour, then the two girls said goodbye and left. Joey resumed him position. "Craig, the doctors said that you'll be out of here on Sunday," he said. Craig smiled weakly.

"Thank God," he said quietly.

Sunday Night, Joey's House

Craig walked into the house in which he lived. "Ah," he said. "Hopefully no more of those stupid incidents."

Angie ran downstairs when she heard Craig. She jumped onto him. "Hi, Craig!" she said. Craig dropped her onto the floor. "Not the chest, Angie, my rib's broken," he said quickly. Angie shrugged and hugged his leg.

"Craig, are you going to school tomorrow?" Joey called from the kitchen.

"Uh, yeah," Craig called back. "I'm gonna go up to my room and lay down for a little bit, okay?"

"Go ahead, it's your room," Joey said carelessly. "I'll get you when dinner's done."

"Okay," Craig said before painfully going up to his room. It actually hurt his ribs to go up the stairs. He walked into his room, and as he lay down on his bed, he stared at his guitar. He wanted to play it, but he knew holding it would hurt his ribs, and not to mention, his left arm was broken.

He dragged the guitar stand toward his bed and slowly took the guitar onto his bed. He grabbed the cable that was connected to the small amplifier sitting on the floor and plugged it into the guitar. He laid the guitar on the bed, using his right arm to play simple, open-string notes.

"This sucks," he muttered. He pushed the guitar off the bed and back onto the stand. He lay down on the bed, resting his eyes, thinking about how bad he wanted to play the guitar.

"Craig!" Joey called. "Dinner's done!"

"Joey! Could you bring it to me, please?" Craig shouted. "I don't think I can move!"

Craig heard footsteps on the stairs, and Joey appeared in the doorway. He was holding a plate and a glass of water. "Here," he said. "I'm not doing this again; you got lucky this time." Craig smiled.

"Thanks, Joey," he said. "Ah, feels like the hospital already." Joey smiled and left. Craig ate his dinner in silence.

the next day

Craig and Ashley stared at each other from across the hall. She was about to open her mouth and say something, but Craig turned and walked away. During MI, Mr. Simpson said that Craig could do something else on his computer if he wanted to because the assignment required typing, and he couldn't very well do so with his left arm. He sat there on 'paint', drawing stupid, pointless things.

Taking his time, he finally drew Mr. Simpson, who was sitting at his desk. He wrote "Mr. Simpson" in the corner of the picture, saved it, and emailed it to Jimmy, Marco, and Spinner. They all opened their emails and started laughing hysterically. Mr. Simpson looked up and said, "What's so funny, guys?" The three boys shut their inbox windows immediately, still laughing.

"Nothing, Mr. Simpson," Marco said quickly. Mr. Simpson stood up and went over to Marco's computer. He opened his inbox and saw the picture that Craig drew of him. It was actually a pretty good picture, but the deformed right eye and three hairs on top of the drawing's head made it look awkward, and that's probably what they were laughing at.

"Craig," Mr. Simpson said. "See me after class." Craig nodded, holding in his smile.

"Okay, Mr. Simpson," he muttered. He drew another picture, this time of Paige. He sent it to Hazel, Jimmy, Spinner, Marco, and Ellie this time. Ellie snorted when she saw the picture. Hazel began shaking with silent laughter, and Jimmy, Spinner, and Marco all began laughing out loud.

"Craig, stop drawing pictures of people," Mr. Simpson said. "You're distracting others." Craig glared at him. He erased the Paige picture and drew another Mr. Simpson with horns and a tail. He again sent it to Hazel, Jimmy, Spinner, Marco and Ellie.

When they got their emails, the two girls couldn't hold it in.

"Okay, okay," Mr. Simpson said. "Let me see it." He went up to Hazel's computer, looked at the picture, and went over to Craig's computer. "Craig, go to the office," he said.

"But Mr. Simpson," Craig began slyly. "You said not to draw people anymore. You do know that Satan was like, half-goat, right?" The class burst out into laughter.

"Now," Mr. Simpson said coldly. Craig straightened his back a little.

"No," he said defiantly. Mr. Simpson sighed.

"Craig," he warned.

"Mr. Simpson," Craig said back.

"Craig, please go to the office. Now," Mr. Simpson said, almost shouting. Craig looked at Mr. Simpson, and was about four inches away from his face when he said, "Make me."

The entire class looked horrified. People started whispering, staring over at Craig.

"Come on, Mr. Simpson, seriously. What are you gonna do? It's not like you can force me to go, I mean, you can't touch me and actually push me in the direction of this… 'office' you speak of. The worst you can do is… call my parents. But, seeing as I don't have these so-called 'parents', you'll have to call Joey. Poor Joey, so hard at work while Caitlin…isn't. So I guess you'll have to call Caitlin. And really, what's she gonna do? Give me a death glare? That doesn't work on me, sir, I'm sorry."

Mr. Simpson stormed over to his desk, picked up the phone, dialed Joey's cell phone, and handed the phone to Craig. Craig sat back in his chair casually. "Joey, what's up?" he said, smiling.

"Craig, what are you doing?" Joey demanded.

"I'm talking to you," Craig answered innocently.

"I mean, what are you doing calling me while I'm at work? Is everything okay?"

"Oh, yeah," Craig said. "Everything's great. Mr. S is kind of freaking out though, might have to go to a shrink or something…I don't know, I was just drawing some pictures, and he freaked out on me…fine…okay, I'll talk to you later…what?...uh…" Craig quickly hung the phone up.

"Joey says that if you're gonna be like that, then I don't have to put up with you," he said calmly, tossing the phone to Mr. Simpson, all the way across the room.

"Well, Joey's not your teacher, and Joey's not here. That makes me your authority. Why'd you hang up on him, Craig?" he asked.

"Because I figured that he had to get back to work, and he was just asking stupid questions. Joey being Joey, you know."

"What kind of stupid questions?"

"Just…stupid questions." Mr. Simpson picked the phone up and started dialing Joey again, when Craig ran up and took the phone out of his hand, slamming it to the desk.

"Joey's busy," he said. "Let him work. He's the only person working to support four people right now." Mr. Simpson glared at Craig.

"Why are you so concerned that Joey's working?" Mr. Simpson shouted. Craig turned and was about to leave when Mr. Simpson grabbed his shoulder.

"What in the hell do you think you can touch me for?" Craig said loudly. "Do not touch me." He ran out of the room. He ran down the hall and into the boys' bathroom, sliding down the wall. He sat there, contemplating whether to ditch the school day altogether and just go home, or sit in here until the bell rang.

He decided not to disappoint Joey again and sat against the wall until the bell rang. The door swung open and Sean came in and stopped. He stared at Craig, who was now in the corner.

"What're you doing in here?" Sean asked.

"Nothing," Craig muttered. "Didn't feel good." He stood up with some difficulty and faced Sean.

"Uh, about the party, I---" Sean began.

"Don't worry about it," Craig said quickly. "The party's not something you should worry about."

"I don't really like to blame people, but Ashley's the one that told you to leave. I would've taken you home if I knew you were that drunk or that she was that much of a---"

"Okay, Cameron, you don't have to talk about Ashley like that." He looked up at Sean. "That's my job."

The two laughed.

"So, really, are you sick?" Sean asked. "If you don't feel good, you should go see the nurse, 'cause I don't want you barfing on me or anyone else, 'cause then I'd puke when I saw what you'd done."

"Oh, thanks, Sean. I always wanted to avoid being sick for you. But no, I'm not really sick. I walked out on Simpson again."

"Again? Dude, you're gonna get suspended.'

"Yeah, I know. But if Simpson wasn't such a prudish ass, I might have a little more respect for him."

"And out of all the places you could think of going to avoid Simpson, you think of here?" Sean asked skeptically.

"No. You didn't let me finish. I walked out on Simpson because he was being stupid, and he was trying to put me in the office, and I told him off, so he called Joey at work, and Joey asked me if I took the stupid meds this morning, and then I hung up. Now Simpson's pissed because I won't tell him what Joey asked me about."

"Did you take the stupid meds this morning?" Sean asked.

"Why do you care? It's not like you're the insane one."

"You're not insane."

"No, Sean! Okay? I didn't take them! Happy now?" Craig shoved him into the sink. "Lay off."

"Man, don't push me!" Sean shouted. He shoved Craig into the wall. Craig used his good arm to rub his aching ribs. He punched Sean in the side of his face, making blood start pouring from his mouth. Sean turned and threw Craig into the wall. Craig stumbled back up and hit Sean in the throat with his cast. Sean hesitated for a minute, but proceeded to punch Craig in the stomach.

Craig lowered himself onto the floor, clenching his stomach with his right arm. He tried to push himself back up, but couldn't find the strength to do so. To Sean, he looked like a dying animal that had just been run over by a car. He was weak, defenseless, and in pain. He was about to turn and help him back up, apologize, but he couldn't. He opened the door, and a girl walking by looked in and said, "Oh my God, is he okay?"

She pointed in at Craig, who was lying on the floor, unable to lift himself back up. He wondered how great the bathroom upstairs must be if there was no one else coming into this one. Several students crowded around the door, and one of the members of the crowd was Marco. He rushed to Craig's side, turning him over onto his back. He was followed shortly by Spinner and Jimmy. Spinner shut the door, blocking the view from the people outside. Marco sat next to him.

"Craig, what happened?" he asked. Craig didn't answer, but he still held his stomach. He moaned.

"Guys, we have to get him to the nurse," Marco said simply. Spinner nodded. He took one of Craig's arms, helping him up. Jimmy followed the two out, making sure there'd be enough room for him to leave. Craig almost stumbled forward.

When they got him to the nurse, she had him lie down on one of the beds. "Just lay here and you can leave when you feel better," she said. Craig nodded.

Marco kneeled down next to Craig who was lying on his back on the bed. "Who did this to you?" he asked. Craig moaned again. Marco sighed and said, "I'll ask later when you can say something more."

Craig smiled weakly and closed his eyes. He heard the three boys leave his presence, and started dozing off.

He left sometime before lunch, partly because he was half-asleep the entire time. He lifted his shirt up a little and saw a bruise forming around the bruises that had already been there from the accident. Now his ribs hurt even more than they had, and it hurt to take deep breaths.

He walked into the cafeteria and sat between Spinner and Marco.

"Hey, Craig," Spinner said coolly. "Finally out of the hospital, eh?" Craig nodded. "Hey, you don't talk," Spinner added. "That's weird." Craig inhaled softly before talking.

"I talk. It hurts when I do, though," he said.

"Okay," said Jimmy. "Is there a story behind you ending up lying on the bathroom floor?" Craig nodded.

"I got in a fight with Sean. If I didn't have this lame-ass broken arm, I would've kicked his ass."

"So Sean's the one that made you end up on the floor?" Marco asked.

"Yeah," Craig muttered. "First he threw me into the wall and then he punched me in the stomach. That's the kind of thing that makes me wish I spent half my life working out."

Jimmy laughed.

"Spinner can kick Sean's ass for you," he suggested.

"I would do it myself," Craig said. "But like I said, you can't really do much with a broken arm."

"Cool," said Spinner. "I like kickin' ass." Everyone laughed, but Craig stopped and clenched his side.

"Never let your girlfriend make you leave a party," he said.

Later, when Craig was walking down the hall with Spinner and Marco, he saw Sean coming their direction. He was walking behind Spinner, alongside Marco, and Spinner glared at Sean. Sean stared up at Craig, Spinner watching him the whole time. "What?" Craig said blankly. Sean shook his head and kept walking.

Spinner stopped. "I'm sure if you have something to say, you can say it in front of me and Marco, Cameron," he said. Sean turned around.

"It's nothing," he said simply.

"It's not nothing. You giving someone a beat-down while they're injured is not nothing. It's like if I rolled Jimmy down a hill. That's not nothing. That's just…wrong. You don't roll people in wheelchairs down hills. Fun as it sounds…"

"What's your point, Mason?" Sean said loudly.

"My point is, what you did to Craig was wrong. And Craig can't even do anything by himself because his arm's broken."

"Is this information or something?" Sean asked. "Because you're making us all late for class."

"It's not information, Cameron. But I am telling you that after school, I'm taking you down. Not just for Craig, but for all those people with injuries who get beaten down because of people like you." Sean laughed.

"You. Take me down. That's funny. But if you insist, then I have no choice. I'll see you after school." The two shook hands, Spinner tossing him aside afterwards. Craig didn't say anything against the fight. Spinner was doing this on his own free will, and he wasn't going to stop him now. "I don't think I've used that many big words in one setting any time before this," said Spinner.

News of the fight spread quickly throughout the school, fortunately not reaching any teachers or other administration.

After School

"Aren't you coming to the fight?" Spinner asked Craig as they emerged from the school.

"Nah," said Craig. "Joey wants me home now."

"Joey's not gonna be home 'til six," Spinner said quickly.

"Yeah, but he'll call, and Caitlin's there, so…"

"Just call her and tell her you're running late because Simpson made you organize your locker."

"Right. Joey's friends with Simpson; I think he knows him well enough to know that Simpson doesn't care about my locker."

"Okay, tell him that Ms. Hatzilakos made you clean out your locker."

"Fine," Craig said. "I'm only staying ten minutes afterwards." He called the house phone, and no one picked up.

"Whatever," he muttered. "Who cares…" So, he stayed the extra ten minutes. The fight was pretty boring. Craig considered leaving a few minutes after it started.

It was pretty much just them trying to punch each other. Spinner left with a bloody nose and Sean a puffy lower lip, but that was pretty much it.

Craig walked off minutes after it was over. He thought about being lazy and just taking the bus, but he just walked all the way there. His ribs started hurting after a while. He sat on the curb for a minute, holding his side. He heard a car pull up in front of him.

It was Joey, in a car that he must have gotten from the lot in replacement of his other car while it was still in the repair shop. Craig stood up.

"Want a ride?" Joey asked.

"Wanna give me one?" Craig said, opening the door and getting into the car.

"What're you doing off work this early?" asked Craig, rolling the window down all the way.

"I don't know. It was slow today so I decided to just leave. You know I've been thinking…"

"About what? You can't expect me to know what you were thinking about when you say you've been thinking and then tell me nothing else."

"About all of us; me, you, Angie, Caitlin…"

"Listen, Joey, I know Caitlin's always right there, and she defended me from Ash's mom, but…I'm not too hot on Caitlin. After what happened last summer…no, I just can't think as much of her as I used to."

"Craig, you have to let that go. Caitlin and I are back together now…"

"Joey! I'm not letting it go! Caitlin treated you like crap and left you to go get a job in L.A. Then she comes back here and expects everyone to love her again! Guess what---I don't! Sue me, but I can't like her anymore!"

"Anyway, that's not what I was saying."

"Oh, well, then, please continue."

"I was going to say that I wanted you to know that even though I haven't been spending as much time with you as I have Caitlin and Angie, I still love you." Craig sighed. The car stopped in front of the house and Craig got out of the car and shut the door carefully. He went into the house, leaving the door open a little bit for Joey.

Craig was just about to go upstairs when Joey stopped him. "Craig, are you okay?" he asked, looking up at Craig. Craig stood still for a second before turning around and going down the few steps that he'd gone up. He faced Joey.

"You're like, the only adult to say that to me in…well, it's been a long time. And…I need to talk to you. Later. When I rest for a minute or two or twenty. Okay? I'll come back," he said.

"No," said Joey. Craig stared at him. "You're tired. I'll come upstairs to you." Craig nodded and smiled and then slowly went upstairs. Joey watched as his step son nearly fell down the stairs again. "Be careful," Joey said quickly. Craig nodded again and jumped up the last step and disappeared into his room. Craig unbuckled the belt on his jeans and pulled them off with some difficulty. He climbed into his bed and fell asleep.

He woke up a short while later, and lay in bed, awake, staring up at the ceiling. He heard someone come in the room and say, "Craig, are you awake?" He felt the need to say something humorous for himself.

"No," he answered, looking over toward the door, hurting his neck. Joey laughed softly and came in. He sat down on the bed. "You wanted to talk?" he said.

"Yeah," said Craig. "But you have to help me sit up first."

"Okay," Joey said simply. He put a hand behind Craig's back and slowly leaned him upward. He turned and sat on the edge of the bed next to Joey. He picked up a piece of paper off the nightstand that said,

"Things to Talk to Joey About:

- Parent Names

- Getting license/car

- Meds

- Gun Incident

- Accident"

He was proud of himself for being so organized. "Okay…" he muttered. "First of all, I need to talk to you about the words 'Dad' and 'Joey'." Joey nodded in understanding. "People keep asking me why I call you 'Joey' instead of 'Dad'. You're probably not someone who wonders about that kind of thing, but just to clear it up…okay, earlier, you told me you love me. I don't call you 'Dad' because last time I called someone that, they could've killed me. If I called you Dad, I would, for the rest of my life, think of you of the person that beat me and who basically ignored me my entire life. But you're pretty much the exact opposite. You're nice to me, and you're attentive…most of the time. But…you'll always be my dad, and even though I can't say it like that, I would rather have you be my real dad than…well, my actual dad. You'll always be Joey, the guy I live with, who takes care of me, helps me…and…loves me. And I thank you for that. And I need you to understand why you'll always be called Joey."

"I understand," Joey said.

"Good," Craig said, smiling. He took a pencil off his nightstand and crossed off the top of the list.

"Um…do you think I can take driver's ed. and get a license?"

"Yeah," Joey said.

"Okay," Craig said, marking off another. "Oh, yeah. I kind of wanted to talk to you about…the accident. You know, when I went to Sean's party. When I went, I had like, three or four beers, and then…I don't really remember much after that, as I told you before. Are you mad that I got drunk? I mean, I haven't been grounded for…having a gun or running away…or anything."

"No, Craig, I'm not mad at you. Why would I be? I used to be your age once, too, and I did things that I regret now, but making the mistakes made me learn from them, and now I'm who I am now. And I'm not going to ground you because everything you've been doing seems to have enough consequences. I don't wanna be the bad guy here." Craig nodded.

"Thanks, Joey. Uh…" Craig marked off the last one on the list, and the one above it. 'Later,' he thought. "Now…the last thing I really need to talk to you about…is the pills. First thing about them is…do you have $120? I kind of owe some people…"

"Why do you owe some people?" Joey asked suspiciously.

"When I ran away from my dad's, I knew that you wanted me to keep taking them because you want me to get better. So I had Manny and Emma and Jimmy lend me some money so I could get the pills from the pharmacy. And…I kind of owe them."

"Yeah, sure, um…I can have it to you on Wednesday and you can have it then, okay?"

"Okay. Uh…the last thing is…do you think I'm getting better?" Craig asked carefully.

"Yeah," said Joey. "I do. I really think you're getting better. I mean, before you were a little bit…out of it, but you've gotten a lot better since you started taking them."

"Well, okay, then. That's about it. You can continue whatever you were doing before you came up here." Joey nodded and stood up, ready to leave. "Joey!" Craig said quickly. "I almost forgot." He waked over to Joey and hugged him the best he could with the cast and hurt ribs. "Thanks for coming up and talking to me."

"Anytime," Joey said, hugging back slightly. Craig winced and pulled away slowly. He examined Joey's shiny head.

"Uh-oh," he said. Joey looked up at him. "I see some fuzz growing on your head! Quick! Go shave it off!"

"What!" Joey cried. Craig laughed hysterically.

"I'm kidding, Joey! I saw you shaving it this morning. It's fine. It's still shiny." Joey sighed. Craig ran a hand over Joey's head. He smiled coolly as he let Joey leave. And just like that, he was alone again. He sighed and laid back, going to sleep. He woke up a few hours later.

He got up and went into the bathroom. He got undressed and took a shower, careful not to get his cast wet. He got out and rubbed a towel over his hair, getting most of the water out. He got himself dry and put his boxers and a shirt on, going back to his room. He stood in front of his mirror, staring at his reflection.

That's when he realized it—he was alone. But he was sad, too. He couldn't figure it out. He just looked sad. Standing in front of the mirror…alone. It was something he tried not to think about, but he did, and it broke his heart. He pressed his face against the mirror, then pulled away. He stared at the mirror for a second, pulled his right arm back, and felt it as his fist collided with the glass. The mirror shattered to the floor in front of him.

Joey ran up to Craig's room. "Craig!" he shouted. "Are you okay?" He ran over to him and put a hand on his shoulder.

"No," Craig whispered. "I'm not. I'm alone."

The Next Day, Degrassi

Craig walked through the halls of Degrassi with a white bandage on his hand. The memories of the day before ran through his mind. He stopped at his locker and found a note on the front.

"Craig, please meet me after school. Ash." He sighed and ripped it off, crumpling it up and putting in his pocket. He turned around and Marco was standing there.

"Craig," he said. "I have to tell you something. I'm still gay. I'm not bi anymore. I don't think I ever really was. I know, you probably don't care about this, but I had to tell someone."

"That's cool, Marco," Craig muttered. "Can I tell you something? You have to promise not to tell anyone." Marco nodded. "I'm not taking the meds anymore."

Marco stared at him, but he just walked away.

After school, Craig stood outside, waiting for Ashley. She came up behind him. "Um, hey," she said carefully.

"Hey," he said. "So. What do you want?"

"I've been thinking…"

"Really? I didn't know you could do that," Craig retorted.

"Craig, please. I need to know if you'll forgive me for what I did at the party." Craig stared blankly at her.

"Forgive you? Excuse me? How can you ask forgiveness from me now? How could you stand there, talking to me, knowing what you did? WHY DID YOU LET ME LEAVE THAT PARTY DRUNK?" he shouted.

"Craig, God, I'm so sorry! I knew you were drunk, but I forgot all about you having Joey's car, and I guess I just went overboard, and---"

"Yeah, you did. I could've died!"

"Craig, please, I love you," Ashley pleaded.

"That's what I thought. And then you go and do this."

"I'm sorry."

"So am I." And then he left. And that was the end.

A/N: Okay, that's the end! CrAsh is over…for now. DO NOT FEAR! They WILL be back together…or will they? Okay, gotta go, my Mom's being rude. Later. RRR.