A/N: THANKYOU Reviewers! huggles you guys You people are the best wide grin R/R!
And Alex (divinething): I've never really thought of Marco/Dylan as slash, only because they show it on the show. What I usually consider slash is when they put two strange people together, like Craig and Spinner or something. I mean, obviously, Marco/Dylan IS slash, I've just never really thought of it that way after seeing the date eppy, which you never saw because you have no satellite in Cali shakes head sadly move back heeere! :D ANYWAY, just commenting on that and giving you a little message since I never seem to talk to you anymore Thankies for the long reviews :D You're my hero!
Disclaimer: I don't own Degrassi: The Next Generation.
"Thankyou," Emma smiled at the nurse and took the ice pack, holding it gingerly against her eye.
"Do you need to lay down here? Or do you just want to go back to class?"
"Oh, I'll be heading back now, thankyou for your help." Emma forced a smile again and pushed open the door of the clinic, walking out into the empty hall. She walked to her locker and set the ice-filled paper towel carefully on the floor.
"Oh, Emma..."
Emma turned and saw Sean coming down the hall. He had just noticed her bruise and stopped dead in his tracks.
She looked away from him, back at her locker, turning the combination. "Don't worry about it."
He walked over to her, now only a few inches away from the nasty black and blue bruise that covered her left eye. "I am so, so, sorry," Sean said, gently running his finger over the bruise. Emma flinched as she pulled her English book out.
She eyed him. His face wasn't much better. He had a cut across his bottom lip, his nose had been bleeding, and he too had a black eye.
"Don't worry about it," She repeated, closing her locker and grabbing her books. "What did you get from Radditch?"
"Well, since Jay really did more damage than me I'm just suspended for the rest of the day. Jay's got a week. I barely bruised him up." Sean then added as an afterthought, "Unfortunately."
Emma looked down at the floor and said, "I'm gonna go ahead to class. I'll see you later."
"Emma wait... please come with me," Sean offered, extending a hand.
"Where?"
"Out... out to the ravine. Somewhere. I don't care... I just want to talk."
Emma looked behind her. The halls remained silent and still. Class had 20 minutes left. "Alright, I guess."
She hurriedly got her bookbag out of her locker and followed him out of the building. Part of her told her not to follow Sean out those doors, but the other half of her wouldn't let Emma do anything but that. Emma didn't know why she suddenly was so attached to Sean... perhaps it was the fact that over all the awful things they had gone through, her feelings for him were still existent. Emma would never be able to forget the cute way Sean smiled, or the sweet taste of his lips. He was like a part of her... without Sean, Emma wouldn't be the same.
The two entered the ravine, walking among the trees. After a few minutes of silence, they had arrived at the spot they had been kissing just a few weeks before. It was strange, Emma thought, being there with him again, because their past time in the small space lingered over them. Sean sat down and Emma plopped down next to him, dropping her back next to her.
"How are you and Ellie?" The words escaped Emma. She was extremely curious.
Sean looked over at her, studying the features of her face. 'She's so beautiful,' Sean couldn't help but think.
"We're... alright, I guess. I just don't really feel... a connection when I'm around her."
"Oh."
For the first time in the ravine, they made direct eye contact with each other. Emma was now so close to Sean she could feel his breath on her neck. He looked into her eyes, gently tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear.
"Has anyone ever told you," Sean asked, his voice barely above a whisper, "That you're beautiful?"
No words in the world, no description of emotions, could describe what Emma felt right then as Sean's lips met hers.
-x-
Marco felt extremely self concious as he and Dylan strolled along the path in the park. Dylan had removed his arm from Marco's shoulders, but had then linked hands with him. They stopped in a secluded area in the park, Dylan turning to Marco.
"Hey... do you wanna go out again sometime?" He asked the shorter Italian boy.
Marco nodded enthusiastically and smiled. "Of course."
"Good.. I would like that." Dylan offered another smile to Marco, who gladly matched his expression. Marco stared up into the blonde boy's eyes and his heart thudded even faster as Dylan's lips moved towards him.
'This is it,' Marco thought, 'He's gonna kiss me.'
And, as usual, Marco was right. Dylan's lips met Marco's for a second or two, then pulled away shyly. "Hehe..." Marco said nervously, almost positive his cheeks were bright red.
Dylan laughed also, and grinned widely.
"Don't be nervous, Marco. You're a great kisser."
-x-
Ellie cursed as one of the strings on her guitar broke off. "Damn it," she said, fumbling around her desk drawer for a new string. "E...G...B...A..." Ellie pulled out her extra strings. "But no D. Great, just what I need."
She sighed. She was almost done with this song! Couldn't it have broken just a few minutes later? Ellie cursed again. What was she supposed to do now? Her mom was too drunk to drive her anywhere, and the guitar place was too far away to walk. She sighed. The song would have to wait. Then Ellie thought of something.
"Craig," she said, smiling. Craig would have an extra string, wouldn't he? He did play guitar... It was worth it, Ellie decided, she would walk the few minutes to Craig's and see if he had any.
After putting her jacket and shoes on, Ellie made her way to the Jeremiah household. When she got there, she rang the doorbell. It was Craig who answered.
"Ellie?"
"That would be me," She said, bored. "Yeah, so anyway, do you have any extra D strings?"
"For the guitar?"
"No, stupid, for the piano," Ellie said sarcastically.
"But... piano's dont have any strings?" Craig replied, confused.
"I was being sarcastic," Ellie laughed, "You're a little slow aren't you?"
Craig grinned. "Sorry... and yeah, I do, come in."
Ellie stepped into Craig's house. It was quiet, and it didn't appear Joey or Angie were home. Ellie looked around. His house was a lot better than hers at home, but maybe that was just because his living room wasn't scattered with empty vodka bottles.
"Nice place," Ellie commented, following Craig to the garage.
"Thanks," Craig smiled back at her. "We're gonna remodel sometime soon, if Joey ever gets around to it."
"Cool." Ellie returned the grin.
They walked through a door and into the garage. Craig flipped the lights on and walked over to his guitar case.
"Whoa," Ellie said, looking around. She had never been in his garage before and seen all the equipment. "This is awesome."
"Haha, thanks."
He rummaged around in his case for a few minutes. "What string did you say you needed?"
"D."
"Here we go." He pulled out the correct string and handed it to her.
"Thank you," Ellie smiled. Compared to Ashley's stories and Craig's school reputation, he wasn't really that bad of a person at all. He was actually really sweet and friendly. Ellie couldn't help but stare into his brown eyes.
"What? Is there something on my face?" Craig asked, noticing her gaze. He smiled again.
'God,' Ellie thought, 'I LOVE that smile.'
"No, there's nothing... you're just... cute. Really cute."
Ellie smiled and was almost sure redness was creeping into her cheeks.
"Same goes for you," Craig replied, the smile not fading from his lips.
Before even thinking of Sean or the circumstance she was in, with her best friend's ex boyfriend, Ellie leaned in and shyly kissed Craig on the mouth. It didn't last long, two seconds at a minimum, but all the same Ellie couldn't have enjoyed it more.
They pulled apart and silence lingered over the garage.
"Well... I'm gonna go now... thanks again for the string," Ellie said, clearing her throat. "See you... um... at school tomorrow."
"Oh, okay, um, bye," Craig said. Was what had just happened real? He watched Ellie walk out the door and down the driveway, all the way thinking, 'I just kissed Ellie Nash... and I really enjoyed it.'
-x-
AHH I hated this chapter too. Oh well, R/R please! And sorry for any errors, I didn't get around to fixing it. Sorry it was short too!