Disclaimer: Not mine...I wish.

A/N: Thank you to everyone who reviewed! I'm so happy that I got such a good response to this story, especially since it's my first Degrassi fic and it's really nerve wracking to post in a new catagory for the first time because you can never predict what the response will be. And really, this was supposed to be a one-shot but, I'm continuing because it seems as though you guys want more. Thanks again!

O.o

No way was I going to let him win this. I mean, okay, it was just a childish game of tag and if it had been anyone else challenging me, I would have rolled my eyes and resumed my regular pace of walking. But it wasn't just anyone. It was Craig. And like I said, I was not about to let him win. I don't know why, but something about running into the darkness after him really intrigued me. Okay, fine, and the fact that he was incredibly attractive. And you can't tell me that if your crush challenged you to a game of tag in the darkness that you wouldn't take them up on it.

So, where was I? Oh, right. The game.

I ran down the sidewalk after Craig. I could see the outline of his body in front of me, his shoulders within my grip. So I tapped him on the shoulder, yelled "Now who's it?", and ran in front of him, quickening my pace as I pierced through the darkness. I couldn't tell how far behind me he was, but I figured that I had at least some ground on him. Oh, how wrong I was.

The next second, I felt his arms wrap around my waist, pick me up, and swing me over his shoulder.

"Gotcha!" He exclaimed in triumph, obviously happy that he had caught me.

"Craig! Put me down!" I said, playfully hitting his back so that he would put me down.

"No," he replied stubbornly. "I caught you, and this is my prize. I get to carry you home and there's nothing you can do about it."

"We never agreed on any prizes!"

"No, I guess we didn't. Oh well," he shrugged. I could practically see the satisfying smile that he had plastered on his face.

"Craig, I'm serious! Put me down!" I whined.

"Give me a good reason."

So I hung over his shoulder for a second or two and contemplated a good reason for him to put me down. But as I thought about it. I realized that I didn't want him to put me down. But I had to say something. If I didn't, he might start to suspect something.

"Because...because if you don't put me down now, when you actually do put me down, I'm going to kick your ass, Manning."

Okay, so I wasn't that great at coming up with good reasons. So sue me.

My comment however, did make him stop.

"Is that a challenge, Nash?" he inquired.

"Maybe," I replied.

And now, I had won. He put me down.

"Okay. C'mon El, kick my ass." He said that last bit really slowly, like he didn't believe that I would actually do it. And I stood there staring at him.

"Are you mocking me?" I asked, even though I knew that he was.

He cocked his head a bit before answering.

"Maybe I am. But it's only because you're so cute when you get all mad."

I raised my eyebrow. Cute? Did he just call me cute?

"Um, okay," I answered, not wanting to get too excited. Though, I do think I felt my stomach do that little flippy thing it did when I got that mixed feeling of nervousness and excitement.

"Anyway, about the challenge," he said, reminding me. "Are you going to or not, El?"

I gave him a 'Craig, you're not serious' look and he laughed, getting closer to me.

"Okay, if you're not going to then...tickle fight!"

I felt his hands at my sides, the place he knew I was most vulnerable. I let out a giggle and poked his sides, trying to get him to stop tickling me. He laughed out loud too, flashing that amazing smile at me. I stopped fighting him for a moment to catch my breath and as I did so, he did too. Looking into my eyes, he leaned his head to the side. But once again, I guess he decided against kissing me because I felt his breath on my ear.

"I think I won, Nash," he whispered.

He was right. He did win. But I wasn't about to let him know that.

"Uh huh. Whatever makes you feel better about yourself," I replied, smirking.

"God, I've missed you," he suddenly admitted. "I've missed you a lot."

I didn't know what to say to him. This wasn't what Craig should be saying. At least not to me. He should be at Marco's telling Manny this. Afterall, she was the one that he chose.

"And you haven't missed me," he exhaled after silence had taken over the atmosphere. He looked right at me, then looked away as he said, "And I'm an idiot."

"No," I began, then said more firmly, "No, Craig. You're not an idiot. I just...I've missed you too."

Relief seemed to overflow his face and he smiled at me again. I smiled back. This was becoming a very weird night. And I didn't know what to do anymore. There we were standing on the sidewalk, Craig smiling at me, me smiling back and that's all I could seem to do. Stare at him and smile.

Suddenly though, I remembered why I was outside in the first place: I was walking home. And then he decided to walk me home. That's what we should be doing. We should be walking to my house, not standing here staring at each other.

"So...I should probably head home," I finally said, breaking the awkward silence that had set in.

It brought him out of the daze he seemed to be in because he suddenly said, "Yeah! You probably should. It's getting kind of late..." He shuffled his feet around a bit and looked up at me again. I smiled, (damn, I was doing that a lot this evening. Which was weird...because I hadn't smiled this much in so long) and turned around, resuming the pace I had before Craig had interrupted me.

I didn't hear his footsteps following me so I stopped, turned around, and this time, I cocked my head.

"What happened to making sure no mass rapists suddenly jumped me, huh?" I inquired. And then I laughed, realizing how ridiculous I sounded.

He seemed to agree with me because he started laughing too.

"I thought the outfit was supposed to 'scare him right off'."

"Well it was but...please?" I made the goofiest puppy face I could at him.

"Ellie Nash, do I sense that someone is grovling for my company this evening?"

Great, now I inflated his ego even more.

"Right, Craig. You caught me. Secretly, I'm madly in love with you and I'm just grovling to spend every waking moment with you." I crossed my arms and stared at him skeptically.

That was just on the outside, though. On the inside, I shocked myself at how true the statement I just made was. Well okay it wasn't true word for word. I wasn't madly in love, I was just...deeply infatuated. And I didn't want to spend every waking moment with him...just...most of them. I stood there staring at him, my arms still crossed, hoping that he wouldn't realize that I wasn't just kidding around.

Craig smirked back at me.

"Of course you are," he slowly replied. Shit. He knew. "Everybody is."

I let out a sigh of relief as I realized that he was joking.

"Yeah. Just keep telling yourself that, Manning," I retorted nervously. If we kept this going, I would eventually spill my guts and trust me, they really weren't that pretty.

"Don't worry, I will," he smugly replied.

I nodded my head at him and started walking towards home again, this time not really caring if he followed me or not.

After a few moments, I heard his feet shuffle behind me. He caught up with me and then slowed down his pace to meet mine. We walked down the sidewalk not saying anything. But every few moments we'd glance at each other and smile.

Oh yeah, grauduation was definitely getting better.

o.O

A/N: Good follow up? Bad? Tell me how it was. And again, characters? So should I end it here? More? Again, you choose. Review, please.