Title: Group Therapy

Characters: Craig, Ashley, Emma, Paige, and Spinner.

Summary: sometimes, talking it out can help. Even at the end of the world.

Author's Notes: This is the edited version of the story, the original will be available at my website ASAP. Otherwise: Okay, okay. I decided to continue "Group Therapy" a little more. Just possibly. I mean, what would it hurt? Besides, we all want to know what happens to the five remaining Degrassi kids when things go from being all Waterworld-like to freezing cold. The devil made me do it, I swear. Okay, the devil in the form of Frank the Bunny from Donnie Darko. Oh hell, I am just doing this because I'm going to see The Day After Tomorrow again when my friend gets back in town on Monday. Yeah. (Jake Gyllenhaal has pretty eyes, yo. But that's irrelevant. Or not… ahhh.) And, as always, the title comes from The Breakfast Club, the movie the Degrassi ep "Take on Me" is based on.

"Holy crap." Spinner stood in front of the window, mute. "I can't believe this."

Craig rubbed his eyes. "This can't possibly be real," he mumbled. He knew that was probably the dumbest thing he'd ever said, considering that he was stranded in his school with four other people because torrential downpours had flooded the first two floors, and that event in itself was crazy enough to make one believe that anything was possible. "It's snowing."

Paige laughed. "Man, Americans would love this," she responded. "They seem to be under the illusion that it's always snowing here."

"And that there are Mounties everywhere," Spinner responded.

"And that we say a-boot," Craig joked. After the first two or three days of being trapped and going through the seven stages of grief, he'd somehow managed to slightly accept his plight of being stuck. "Can't believe it's snowing, though."

Ashley walked into the classroom that she and her friends had been holed up in for the past few days. "I found some food," she said, dropping an armful of brightly wrapped packages onto a desk. "It has next to no nutritional value, but it'll keep us going for a little bit."

Spinner jumped at the mere mention of food. "Thank whatever invisible force up there that is still possibly watching over us," he said, dashing over to the desk and picking up a package of Hostess cupcakes. "It's not a cheeseburger, but at this point, anything is good."

"Guess I better get something," Emma said. She picked up two packages of peanut butter crackers and opened the cellophane. Craig, Paige, and Ashley each picked up miscellaneous packages and sat in silence, chewing. "Crackers?" she asked, offering the last two in the package.

"Gladly," Spinner said, reaching out for the crackers. Paige slapped his hand, and he snatched his hand back, whimpering. "What? I'm hungry!"

"We have to save food, Spin," she said.

Emma sighed and looked at the dismal scene outside. "And we need to find a way to stay warm," she said, rubbing her hands together. The day the school had flooded was a chilly day, so all five of them were wearing jeans and coats, but if the temperature ended up dropping more… "Maybe we should move to the teacher's lounge. They have a stove in there, right?"

Ashley nodded. "Yeah, but the stove's electric, Em."

"Well, there goes my idea," Emma said. "We just need a controlled fire in something."

"How about we just cross that bridge once we get to it?" Craig asked.

"Because frankly, I don't feel like freezing to death," Emma commented. "Do you? I mean, I don't mean to sound like Paige…"

Paige scowled. "I heard that."

"…but really, it could get colder. And if it does, I don't think what we've got on is going to cut it."

The other four teenagers sat, an awkward silence among them. "She has a point," Ashley finally said. "Let's see if we can find anything." She smiled wanly at Emma. "Or, for that matter, anything to start a fire with."

"Look what I found!" Spinner shouted, rolling the garbage can he'd found in one of the upstairs washrooms down the hall and into the teacher's lounge. "It's perfect! We're going to be like real New York bums now, if we've got any lights."

Emma grinned once she saw the metal can. "Spinner, if you didn't have a girlfriend, I'd kiss you right now," she exclaimed.

"I found lighting fluid in one of the labs," Ashley said, waving the small can of fluid over her head. "And matches."

Craig and Paige came in the door, each carrying an armful of textbooks. "Reading material?" Spinner asked, scrunching his nose in disdain.

"No, genius." Craig rolled his eyes.

"Hon, we're burning them," Paige smiled. She wagged a geometry textbook in front of her boyfriend, then tossed it into the trash can. "This is kind of like that book we read in Mrs. Kwan's class. You know, the one where there was that law passed and they burned all the books."

"Fahrenheit 451," Ashley finished. "Ray Bradbury." After Paige and Craig dumped the last of the books into the garbage can, Ashley poured the lighter fluid in. "I believe we're currently reenacting one of Spinner's favorite dreams."

Spinner laughed.

"And, because of that, I say that we let him light the match."

Emma handed the box of matches to Spinner. "Don't burn down the rest of the school," she warned.

"Hey, don't worry about it!" Spinner exclaimed. He struck the match, and as it flamed up, he added, "I'm not one of those people who like to watch things burn. A… pyromaniac." He flicked the lit match into the can, and with a whoosh, the books inside the can were consumed with fire. "That's much better."

Craig and Emma huddled closer to the fire. "Well, at least we won't freeze," Craig whispered, sticking his hands closer to the can.

"I'm grateful for that much," Emma responded.

That night Craig decided to stay up and watch the fire. Actually, it hadn't been much of a decision; it was due to the fact that he couldn't sleep. He hadn't had a good night of sleep in so long. He sat up, looking out the window as the snow kept falling, occasionally ripping out pages from a chemistry book to crumple up and throw into the fire.

"Craig?" Emma was awake too. She moved over to him and wrapped her arm around his shoulder. "Can't sleep?"

"I have chronic insomnia," he joked. "It's so weird. What if we're stuck here 'til… until…?" He didn't want to finish the sentence. "I'm trying to have hope about us getting found and getting out of here and everything, really. I mean, c'mon, someone has to be out there, right?"

"I'm hoping the same thing," Emma responded. She closed her eyes for a second, then hummed a familiar old song. Craig hummed with her, then spoke. "You know what would be really crazy?"

"What?"

"If we were like, the last people on Earth."

Emma rolled her eyes. "I don't even want to imagine that prospect." She leaned her head on Craig's shoulder, then sighed. "This isn't… bad for you, is it?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean… you and Ashley aren't exactly freezing each other out anymore."

Craig turned to face Emma. "If we want to survive, we've got to be civil to each other," he said. "We're cool now. But I don't know if, you know, any romantic prospects are open right now, what, with the water and the snow and everything." He reached for her hand and entwined his fingers with hers. "Don't worry about it."

"Are you sure?" Emma asked. She hadn't noticed how much closer Craig seemed to her, that he was attempting to make eye contact with her. It was only when he gently tilted her head up towards him.

"I'm really sure," he whispered before gently kissing her.

"Craig—" Emma slowly broke away. "I… it's so weird."

"Weird good, or weird bad?"

"Ahem."

Craig and Emma turned around, to find Ashley behind them, smiling. "I'm sorry," she apologized. "I… I'm just going to the bathroom, okay?"

Craig stared vacantly at her. "Um, okay," he said, watching her walk out the room. "Man. Awkward."

Emma nodded in agreement. "Totally. Why'd you do that?"

"Kiss you? Because… I wanted to." He nervously ran his fingers through his hair. "Besides. You can't keep feeling kind of miserable now and everything. And, well, because what's really wrong with a little kiss… at the end of the world?"

Emma found herself laughing softly, in spite of herself. "Even if it isn't the end of the world, I'm okay with it." She leaned closer to Craig, and, for the first time in days, she found herself feeling just a little safer and at ease with whatever the coming days would bring.