Disclaimer: I do not own Degrassi: TNG. I have nothing to do with it. You really shouldn't bother to sue, as I'm currently broke. Honestly, it wouldn't do you any good.

The Fool

Chapter Two: The Things You Learn At Night

BREEEEP! BREEEEP!

Jay's eyes opened slowly, sluggishly. He went to hit his alarm clock, but the noise persisted. The green blinking numbers told him it was 2:27am. In his search for the source of the noise, he tumbled from the bed and landed on his ass. Hooray for late night phone calls, he thought as he picked up the cordless from under the bed.

"Hello?" Who the fuck calls at two thirty in the morning? None of his acquaintances would care enough to call, and they only had his cell phone number.

"Hi… um, Jay?" Blue eyes opened wider as he heard the whispering voice on the other end. "It's Emma…" Was this 'Annoy the Shit Out of Jay Day', and nobody told him? First Jesus-Junkie Darcy, and now Emma, the Indecisive Wonder.

"Well, Emma, do you realize that it's two thirty in the morning?" And he needed to work tomorrow, too. This so wasn't going to be good. He could feel it in his spine. Or maybe that was from falling out of bed.

"I'm sorry, I thought you'd be up… it's just… can you pick me up?" At the last part, she started crying. Shit. Shit, shit, shit. Jay really wanted to say no. No fucking way; get your own goddamned car. But she was crying. He fucking hated it when girls cried. For a moment he took the phone away from his face, covered the mouthpiece, and yelled as quietly as possible. "Goddamnit!"

He put the phone back to his ear. "Yeah, sure. Just… gimme, like ten minutes."

"Thanks…" And he hung up without saying goodbye.

"Shit." He sighed and went around his room, looking for clothes that weren't completely rank.

xxxx

When he arrived at Emma's house, she was waiting outside on the steps. From what he could see, her hair was a bit tangled, and she was in jeans and a pink t-shirt. As she approached the passengers side and got in, he could see the tears still making their way down her cheeks. He didn't look at her as he drove away.

"So, where are we going?" His question was punctuated by a yawn, and Emma sniffled.

"I don't know." She rubbed her hands on her thighs nervously. "I did wake you up, didn't I?" She kept going before he could answer. "I'm sorry, you were the only person I could call…"

Jay turned the radio down, even though it was barely up to begin with. He rolled his window down and lit a cigarette, trying to calm himself down a little.

"So, you gonna tell me why I'm driving you around in the early hours of the morning, or are we gonna sit here and bullshit?" Tired and cranky, he felt like being more blunt than usual. They stopped at a red light, and sat for a moment.

"It's Snake… Mr. Simpson. My mom kicked him out." The tears started again, and Emma tried to stifle them. "He cheated on her. But I didn't want him to leave." And for a minute, Jay saw past the things they'd done. Emma's hair was glowing golden white in the moonlight as she tried to cover her face. He saw a little girl who didn't have a dad, which was all she'd ever wanted. He wanted to say something to comfort her, but he didn't think he knew how. He'd probably only fuck it up, anyway. His mouth opened and closed a couple of times, but in a few minutes she had stopped crying.

"Let's go to The Ravine." He looked at her, and rolled his eyes a little.

"Why do you wanna go there, little girl?" He revved the engine as he sped into the empty streets, passing the school.

"I'm not a little girl! And, if I recall, you were the one who encouraged me to go there…" As she trailed off, she let her hand slide over the leather seat and rest on his thigh. He tensed. He wasn't going to do this, not again. Not with her. Suddenly he pulled over, and shut the car off. They were in an empty parking lot, save for a few broken down cars and an old drive-in movie screen. He crushed his cigarette in the ash tray.

His hand quickly covered hers. Anger rushed through him as he turned to her. "Why go to The Ravine when we can just do it right here?" The shock in her eyes didn't seem to phase him as he moved her hand closer to his crotch. "Isn't this what you wanted, Em?" Her eyes closed tight, and she started to shake. She didn't move her hand. "Huh? Isn't this what you fucking wanted!" She started shaking her head, tears flying from her eyes, and he threw her hand back at her, sitting back in his seat.

"No!" Her tears were sobs now. "I just wanna go home! Please… take me home…" He watched as tears mixed with saliva that had started to run from the corner of her mouth. Violent sobbing, hands clenched over her heart. He put his hand on her shoulder and squeezed lightly. The next moment, she had latched onto him. He sighed, and let his arms drift slowly around her.

"I'm driving you home. Where you should have stayed." At this she let go, and fell back into her seat. She punched his arm, and he barely winced.

"Fuck you, Jay." Been there, done that. And he started the car again. She wouldn't go to The Ravine, and she'd never come back to him. And that was good, because he'd just fuck with her head, like he did with Alex. Been there, done that, and he'd done enough damage for now.

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A/N: I like this chapter, but I don't. I don't know. I'm not sure I got across what I wanted to here. Jay and Emma is a hard angle for me to work, just because I don't want anybody expecting them to be a couple, 'cause that's definitely not where this is going. But that's also a big part of their dynamic, and the tension between them, so it's difficult not to. I guess, in effect, this chapter was another step in making Jay seem more human. And I'm not sure if I took too big of a step or not. Any comments would be much appreciated.