A/N: Here's Chapter 1! It's alittle slow at first but the whole thing will pick up. And Craig is being alittle guarded about his return but the whole story will come out in the end.Another characterwill appear in the next chapter so things are going to get interesting! Please review! Thanks!
Emma was finally moving out of her mother's house. Her degree in ecology, though exactly what she wanted, did not exactly pay the bills. That is until, Caitlin offered her a position as a researcher for a new children's nature show she was producing. Caitlin had moved to behind the camera in the recent years, and Emma jumped at the chance.
It was because of this great job opportunity that she could now afford an apartment of her own, a few blocks away from her mother and Snake's house. She was so excited that she thought nothing could keep her mind off of her good fortune that Saturday as she loaded up a U-Haul Van and stopped by Joey's house for a used couch he had promised her. It was then that thoughts of independence and freedom had left her mind. It was then that she saw the long lost Craig Manning swinging a duffle bag over his arm and walking towards Joey's door.
She almost didn't get out of the van. What should she say to him? They had been friends for a while, but before his departure they had grown apart. The only thing really holding them together had been his relationship with Manny. Manny-her best friend-the woman who had loved Craig. She knew that Manny would be stunned to hear of his return.
"Hey there stranger!" a smiling Craig was leaning in Emma's open window.
"Oh, hey Craig! What in the world are you doing here?" Emma stammered shocked that she had been so lost in thought that she did not see him approach the van.
"I'm back Emma!" Craig widened his smile.
"For good? As in-forever?"
"Gee, don't sound so excited!" Craig pretended to look hurt, "What's this U-Haul for? Don't tell me I'm back and now your leaving Toronto."
"Not Toronto, just my mom's house. I rented an apartment on Bayberry Avenue." Emma's mind whirled with questions. Why was Craig back? What happened? Should she call Manny?
"Please tell me your not going to move all of this stuff by yourself."
"No, Manny and Patrick are meeting me here….." Emma froze. How could she have been so dumb? Manny and Patrick had agreed to help her move and had promised to meet her in…she looked at her watch…in just ten minutes!
"Great. I'll help too. Just let me throw this bag inside. I actually arrived last night but I was too tired to lug my junk in." Craig was talking a mile a minute now.
Is he nervous since I said Manny's name? Emma wondered.
They both walked inside and Joey and Caitlin greeted them. Craig helped her lift Joey's old couch into the U-Haul van, as Emma told him all about her new job. She told him how she had lost contact with everyone but Manny and she waited for him to ask about her but he didn't. He remained lost in thought and somewhat removed from the conversation. As they finished putting the couch in, Emma noticed a familiar car pull in behind them and she knew the drama was just about to begin.
"Hey guys!" Emma rushed to the driver's side of the car in the hopes of giving Manny some kind of warning before seeing Craig standing on the pavement.
"Hey Emma-ready to move into your own place?" Manny got out smiling as Patrick waved hello to Emma. They had been friends since college, and in fact Emma had introduced him to Manny.
"Craig's here!" Emma frantically whispered as Manny emerged from the car.
"What are you talking about?" Manny asked confused, this had to be some kind of weird joke.
"I think what she means is Craig moved back." Craig said stepping towards Manny and Emma with a puzzled Patrick watching from the sidewalk.
"I can see that. How are you?" Manny did her best to stay calm. She always got flustered in front of Craig Manning but after all of this time, she had finally learned to hide the butterflies now fluttering in her stomach.
"I'm good. The band broke up. The drummer got married, the bassist went to re-hab, and suddenly I realized I'm too old to hop around run down clubs, you know? So why not come back to my roots? Joey's house always treated me good." Craig was looking at her as if no one else was around them, their conversation, though completely public seemed private and intimate.
"Hi, I'm Patrick." The shorter, brown haired twenty-three year old interjected.
"Craig, this is my boyfriend Patrick. Patrick this is Craig Manning, a very old friend."
The two boys shook hands and Manny felt faint. Why was this happening? Why now? She had not seen Craig in seven years, and now he was back, smiling like nothing had changed. But so much had, Manny finally had a good relationship with someone that loved her, and her life had no room for complications.
"Craig's offered to help me move, so why don't you and Patrick follow behind us? It shouldn't take long now that we have four people," Emma was trying to sound cheery for her best friend. If she could just pretend like all of this was ok, then maybe magically it would actually become ok. Emma always was an optimist.
In fact, the rest of the day passed quickly. The two boys lugged most of the furniture inside Emma's apartment in silence. After all, what did two strangers have to say to each other? While Emma and Manny carried the lighter boxes. There was little time to talk and once everything was moved in, Manny and Patrick quickly excused themselves, saying they were too tired for the planned celebration dinner.
"I'll eat with you Em." Craig offered as they awkwardly waved goodbye to Manny and Patrick. Manny couldn't help but feel jealous. She wished it were her who got to sit on the hardwood floors with Craig and eat Chinese food out of white containers while sipping lager from green bottles. For a minute, she wanted to run back into Emma's apartment, put her arms around him and never let go. But she couldn't let herself get caught up in that again. It was exhausting and it never worked it out in the end.
"I love you hun," Patrick whispered in her ear as he kissed her softly, "you look tired so I'll drive"
"Thanks. I love you too." Manny kissed her boyfriend back and shook away her guilty thoughts.
Chapter 2: Emma and Craig get closer as he opens up more about his return, and who is Patrick's new co-worker?