Encore

Manny sat nervously on Emma's bed as she listened to her friend recount Craig's actions in the hallway. She felt terrible, and Emma noticed the change in her friend's mood, "you okay?" she asked. Manny shrugged. Emma spun around in the rolling computer chair and scooted across her room, "you're not having regrets are you?" she asked as she rolled next to the bed.

"No…I'm just…I know I made the right decision for myself and for the baby, but I didn't think he'd react that way."

"He was just upset Manny, I'm sure he'll get over it."

"He probably doesn't want to see me," Manny said upsettingly and fell back, her head hitting the pillows on Emma's bed. She looked over at the clock. " I gotta go…Mama wants me home to help cook dinner, and pretty much early curfew for a while," she said hoping for some pity she knew she wouldn't receive.

"I can understand why," Emma answered and got up to lead her friend to the door, " you might want to steer clear of Craig for a while, he's really upset, I don't know if seeing you would make it better or worse." Manny sighed and nodded her head and walked out the door.

"Call me when you get home," Emma said as she prepared to close the door.

"Hey Em?" Manny turned around.

"Yea?"

"Thanks…you know for sticking by me… I mean I know you don't agree with my choice…"

"but that's the thing Manny, it was your choice to make, not mine."

Manny smiled, "best friends?"

"of course," Emma laughed and waved Manny off.

Manny took the long way home, stopping in front of the Jeremiah home, half wishing and half scared that Craig would come out the front door. Nearly all of her wished that the situation was just a dream, just wanting and waiting for everything to reverse itself and go back to when it was simple. Craig never came out, and Manny just kept on walking home.

It wasn't that Craig didn't want to walk out that front door. He'd been watching from the window as Manny stared with frightened yet wishful eyes at the house. Part of him was ready to burst out that front door, pick her up and hold her and make her feel better about the whole mess, but the other half hated her so much for taking something that was part of him away. In frustration he kicked the wall, leaving a dent. He wanted to hate her so much but he wasn't sure that he could. "Craig" a voice whined loudly. Craig turned to his half sister and frowned as he tugged his shirt, "play a game with me."

Craig frowned, "not now Ang, I'm gunna go lay down."

"but Craig…"

"Angie, just, leave me alone," he finding himself getting uncontrollably angry.

"I just want to play…"

"ANGIE! LEAVE ME ALONE!" he shouted and slammed his bedroom door in her face. He kicked a sneaker across the room and picked up his desk chair and threw it against the wall, masking Angie's crying outside the door. He reached for his guitar and struggled not to break it and tossed it lazily on his bed before he found something he could break and not regret. It was in this stillness that he heard Angie's crying outside his door and rushed to open it. "Ang…Angie I'm sorry," Craig said as a sudden calmness ran over him as he hugged her," lets go cards or something."

Angie sniffled, "okay," she said unaware of the mood swings her older half brother was dealing with, and with that final subdue to give in Craig was led down the stairs hand in hand with a girl who's innocence rivaled what Manny used to have.

-X-

Ashley walked into Mark's room, this time he wasn't quite awake to greet her. He lay sleeping, his body in the post surgery mayhem of tubes and wires. Ashley shuddered, and her heart raced to the point where her body threatened to collapse out of stress. It was a well-known fact that hospitals and Ashley never agreed, in fact the last time she'd ever been in a hospital, (apart from her previous visits to Mark and Ellie) she was a patient, and not a happy one. The smell, the cold feel of the building just turned Ashley off to the idea of being in there the moment she came into view of the front doors. It made her extremely nervous, her heart race, it put her on the verge of having a severe panic attack, yet today, despite the conditions, and her heart racing this meeting was somewhat calm.

Mark's eye's fluttered open, and as the blurriness faded into focus, the blob with brown hair became the girl he cared about. He smiled. He opened his mouth to speak, but out of fatigue, "hey Sweets," came out as a hoarse whisper. Ashley smiled.

Ashley smiled while part of her died inside as she watched her boyfriend lying hooked up to machines. But she relaxed as she remembered that he would be okay, he had a new heart, and everything would be picture perfect, something good had to happen to them right? It was something Ashley tried to rationalize in her head, but somehow the final answer remained unknown. "git-ovah-here," whispered Mark as he waved weakly for Ashley to join him on the bed. Ashley blushed and walked over to the hospital bed and resumed the position she'd been in the day before, her head resting on his shoulder. "wanna feel it Sweets?" he asked and tugged her hand to his chest. She nervously laid her hand to rest on his bare skin, afraid to hurt him, and that was when she felt it, a strong and steady heart beat. "Now don't worry, just because I have a new heart doesn't mean I'm gunna fall for someone else," he said laughing, "cause I told Dr. E to transfer all heart-emotion attachments with me."

Ashley laughed, "you're so…"

"weird?" he asked, "yes I know."

" I was gunna go with perfect."

"Oh…well then…by all means continue to flatter me."

Ashley smiled and gently pecked him on the lips, "I'm glad you're okay now."

Mark smirked sweetly, "me too."

Despite the façade of the Ashley on the outside, the Ashley on the inside wasn't adjusting as well. In fact the Ashley inside didn't know how to adjust. Was she supposed to treat him differently? The same? Was she supposed to continue to worry? What about him? What if he had trouble adjusting? Her mind was racked with questions she wasn't sure who could give the answers to. The one major thing about hospitals that always bothered Ashley was that people went in one way, and came out another. Whether they worked, visited, or were a patient there. You'd go in with all of you, and a part of you always stayed behind. It was stressful, especially for the visitors.

Carson Jansen walked into her son's room, hoping to visit with her son post-surgery, only to find his girlfriend snuggled up on the hospital bed next to him. It wasn't that Ashley was a bad person. Carson just genuinely didn't like anyone girl who stood between her and her son. It was a maternal thing. You carry a child inside you for nine months and by god you have the right to love and cherish the live out of that child. Carson always had letting go issues, she practically sat in on Mark's first day of pre-school. She quietly turned on her heels and walked out to the reception desk on the floor and insisted that Ashley be escorted out of the room. She did so just as François walked in carrying a small box for his son. " I want that girl removed from his room," Carson insisted.

François, "what do you mean?" he asked.

"it's none of your business Frank," she said getting short with him.

"If it concerns my son, it most certainly is my business, Ashley's in there with him, isn't she?" he asked slowly figuring out the situation. He looked at his estranged wife angrily. "Are you trying to push him away? Because he's just going to hate you more."

Carson glared, "you act as if you know best."

"I'm not father of the year, but I know what makes him happy, and that girl has made him smile brighter than a child on Christmas."

"and she's not good enough for him."

'Carson, no one is good enough for our son in your eyes." She was silent. She was silent because he was right, and it irritated her. She walked out of the hospital, walked out without even seeing her son. François sighed heavily, this was making the rift in their family wider and they were all slowly drifting in different directions.

-X-

Sean had stayed after school to work on an engine he had salvaged. A bit of a tune up and perhaps enough tweaking it would make a good racing engine. Earlier in the day Mr. Ehl had called him into the auto shop office, just a small room with a computer and a desk and a chair where Mr. Ehl could talk to his students and program grades into the system.

" Degrassi has been entered into an auto-shop expo in Ottawa. I want you to go Sean." Mr Ehl wheeled out from behind the desk.

"Why me?" Sean asked, feeling a bit proud of himself.

"you put a lot of heart into your work and you know your way around the hood of a car better than several of the students past and present."

Sean smirked, "thanks Mr. Ehl."

"I want you to put together a team…you're going to completely rebuild a car." Sean's jaw dropped, he hadn't thought of doing something so serious, he was being put in charge of this entire project. "I'll get you the body, but you'll have to salvage some parts yourself. Pick a good team Sean, make Degrassi proud."

Sean pulled out a ratchet from his back pocket and was tinkered with a few of the bolts. He was still trying to think of the team he wanted to put together. "Jay's great with intake work…and with dealing with the fuel line," he said aloud to himself. "Alex is great with body work and…"

"I'm just great…" Amy said as she leaned in the door.

Sean looked up, "hey Amy."

Amy walked into the room, "what are you doing?" she asked hopping up on a stool, swinging her legs.

Sean tightened a bolt, "putting together a team to help me rebuild a car for some expo."

"come on Sean, you know I'm not that bad, I'm great with interior work," Amy begged. Sean looked up at her as if she were just using this situation as a way to get back with him. He was only half right. Amy wanted to spend time with him, and she wanted to be away from her mom, if that meant doing extra-curricular activities it was well worth it.

Sean sighed, "I'll think about it," he said as he tossed the ratchet onto the table next to him. He looked at the empty hood of the car Mr. Ehl had gotten him, and through deeply as he stared into the hollow body of the car. He looked up, "think you can salvage me up a carburetor and an alternator?" he asked.

Amy smiled, "need anything else I should shop around for?" she asked flirtatiously.

"I'll let you know later," he answered, "do you think we should go manual or automatic?"

"manual…definitely better with a stick," she said smirking.

Sean rolled his eyes, "you never change." He chuckled, "so how are you doing?" He reached for a rag and wiped the grease off his hands. Amy's face became melancholy and she shrugged.

" It could be better…I haven't seen my mom in a few days…"she said looking down at the ground.

"who's taking care of Josh?"

Amy slid off the stool, "I called my grandmother, she said if I wanted I could move in with her too."

"I would have done it," Sean said.

"She lives about two hours away," Amy answered, " I didn't want to leave, not after I got you back."

"you didn't get me back, Amy…"

"no…I did, I got my shoulder back," Amy explained, " I can't start over somewhere else."

Sean nodded in understanding, "you hungry?" he asked, "I skipped lunch, wanna stop off at the Dot and grab something to eat?"

"Will Ellie mind?" Amy asked, partly hoping she would. It didn't matter what kind of hand she was extending, Amy wouldn't take it, she just didn't like the girl. Sean shrugged and explained that it didn't matter it was just dinner between friends. Amy smiled. Even in this docile state she was still trying to get her claws into Degrassi's favorite Candy Bandit.

"You're still my friend," Sean answered, "she's my girlfriend not my brain."

-X-

Ellie did have plans. She had a meeting with Dr. Crescent, and this time, she was early. She sat in the waiting room, and looked around at the boring cream colored walls with the cheap tacky posters like the one with the cat practically dangling from a three branch saying, "hang in there…" Ellie rolled her eyes and pulled out a pen and began doodling on her journal cover. Nothing important just shapes, and then her name was called. "Ellie?" the receptionist asked, the redhead looked around the room and rolled her eyes, she was the only one here, how many Ellie's did the woman think there was?

Ellie walked into Rhonda's office that changed from the boredom of the waiting room to something of calm soothing tranquility. The walls were splashed with shades of blue and purple, there were various wire crate like shelves and a somewhat modern desk with an open lap top and comfy oversized sofas that Ellie could just sleep on all day, if given the chance. It reminded Ellie of how young Rhonda really was. Most of her patients were young, and it was something that made her patients feel more comfortable, because they felt like she understood as opposed to older psychologists who didn't seem to understand the issues that young people deal with these days. Times change as do the problems people have to deal with. Ellie flopped down on the sofa, "so is this where I tell you about my mother?" Ellie said laughing, until she realized that she would be talking about her mother, who seemed to be the bane of her existence at the moment.

"if that's who you want to talk about," Rhonda said. Ellie smirked and sat up, grabbing one of pillows on the sofa and hugging in. Ellie was nervous, new doctor's made her nervous and wasn't sure what to tell this one. Could she trust her? Maybe, but she wasn't sure. Silence fell and Ellie sat there for 15 minutes and no one said much of anything. It was nerve racking. " You don't trust me yet, do you?" Rhonda asked smiling.

Ellie shook her head, "not really."

Rhonda chuckled, "Marie said you were stubborn."

"what else did she say?"

"not much…" Rhonda answered, "what will make you trust me Ellie?" Ellie didn't answer, then again, she wasn't sure how. So Rhonda did the only thing she could do…she started talking, about herself, "Well why don't I tell you about me…" Ellie shrugged. "I grew up the youngest of three sisters," Rhonda explained, "I watched on sister starve herself, another who'd get upset and dig her nails into her arms until they bled or she'd pull out her hair, or pinch herself. The oldest ended up being very promiscuous, partly being due to having been sexually molested by the neighbor boy down the street." Ellie listened patiently. "my family was a mess, and I seemed to be the most sane, I would listen to them talk, everyone, they all came to me with what ever issue was upsetting them. I realized that when they slowly started to feel better about themselves that I'd done something good."

"so that's why you became a psychologist?" Ellie asked questionably.

"no…I did that for the money," Rhonda said seriously, and upon seeing Ellie's disgusted face she laughed, " it was a joke…"

Ellie stared, "wasn't that funny," she answered.

"Let me try an exercise with you…" Rhonda said pulling out a sheet of paper and handing it to the young girl, "I'm sure you've seen stuff like this before, surveys? They get around on the internet." Rhonda handed her a pen, " why don't you fill it out, have a bit of fun with it."

Ellie took her time looking over the sheet of paper in front of her and slowly began filling it out. Some of the questions made her laugh, others reminded her of why she cut, and the answers reminded her of who she was. Ellie looked over the sheet once more before handing it to Rhonda.

Firsts:

First Home: Vancouver, BC

First Friend: Christopher Mackafee

First Crush: first real crush? Marco del Rossi

First Kiss: Christopher Mackafee (on the cheek)

First Concert: Daddy took me to see James Taylor when I was real little, I don't remember it…

First Boyfriend: Marco

First Scar: my knee, when I fell off my bike the day we took the training wheels off

First Proud moment: falling off my bike, and getting back up and riding around the block!

First Disappointment: coming home to mother drinking after she promised not to

First Broken Heart: Sean Hope Cameron

Last:

Last time you smiled: when Sean and I got back together…

Last time you cried: when Orion left L.V… I almost cried the other night when I thought Sean didn't' want me back because I told him about me and Orion…

Last touch: my notebook….this dumb survey…the pen I'm writing with…

Last kiss: mother, on the forehead before I left…

Last song you heard: Rufio: Angel Above Me, I've been listening to it since Sean and I got back together, it's our song. It reminds me of our first real kiss.

Last thing you ate: PBJ sandwich before I left

Last person you hugged: Sean

Last person to make you laugh: Tracker, with some corny joke…about muffins?

Last proud moment: not cutting when I could have

Last disappointment: mother drinking…daddy not coming home.

Current:

Current Taste: bubble gum

Current Emotion: meh-ish

Current Favorite Song: Beautiful by the Marvelous 3

Current Thought: this is a great cure for boredom

Current Hate: vodka

Current Love: SEAN!

Current Best Friend: Marco, Orion, Jerzy, Ashley, and Tracker

Current Favorite Band: He Is Legend

Current Favorite Movie: Drop Dead Fred

Current Happy Thought: Dinner at Sean's

Rhonda looked over her answers and chuckled a bit at some and looked sadly at the paper at others, she set down the paper, "So…you're mother drinks?" Rhonda asked. Ellie looked down in shame. "Hey, hey, don't do that…why are you hanging your head, you're not the one with the problem."

"because of her I can't do the things I want…I have to take care of her." Ellie sighed, " I though when she promised me she stopped and when she started going to AA that I would get to be Ellie again, but I was wrong."

Rhonda could sense Ellie's anger, "well, how about we move onto something less upsetting."

Ellie frowned, "sure…"

"So who are all the people you talked about?"

"Like who?"

"Well lets start with…" Rhonda looked at the paper again, "Sean, you mention him a lot."

"he's my boyfriend…"

"why don't you tell me about him?"

"I dunno, he's Sean…he's just there for me, makes me happy, makes me laugh, makes me feel good about myself." Ellie was glowing as she talked about him. Even when he wasn't around he still brought out the best in her. "We don't really make each other do anything, we just support each other. He never made me stop cutting, but he always supported me when I need to talk about it, about trying not to…about urges…and he'd talk to me when he thought about drinking…"

Rhonda smiled, "he sounds like a great guy and you guys sound like a great pair"

"he is…we are"

"So who's this Tracker guy…and what's this muffin joke?"

Ellie laughed, and for the first time Rhonda saw Ellie smile just as big as she had when she spoke about Sean, "he's Sean's older brother…he's kinda like my old brother too…always there when I need him, last night he was telling Sean and I this joke about these two muffins sitting in an oven and one turns to the other and says 'is it just me or is it getting hot in here?' and the other muffin is like, 'holy shit! A talking muffin'" and Ellie burst into tears of laughter and it became infectious.

"That…is an interesting joke…" Rhonda said trying to stop laughing.

"it's so stupid it's hilarious…Sean squirt milk out of his nose…just the aftermath of the joke was humorous."

Rhonda smiled, "and who's Orion?"

Ellie calmed down a bit and smiled, "Orion was a guy I met at Lake View, he's pretty much evidence that chivalry isn't dead."

"How so?"

"he's a very deep and sensitive guy, we would have have been together, but I just cared too much about Sean to pursue it too far…"

"How did he make you cry the day he left?"

Ellie sighed and closed her eyes as she remembered that day…

Ellie stood as far away from the group of people hugging Orion goodbye as she could. She was putting distance between the two of them, because knew it was just going to cause more problems than fix them. Max slunk up behind her and gently massaged her shoulders, his fingers pushing through the fingerless gloves he wore as they blended in with the black of her long sleeved shirt. "You okay?" he asked, Ellie turned her head, she glared, her eyes obviously a blend of puff and tears, a sign that'd she'd been crying.

"I hate him" Ellie said before burying her head in his shoulder, not crying, but not caring to look as Orion walked through the doors, his grandfather leading him out with a loving hand on his shoulder.

"You don't hate him," Max said, noticing how she was forcing herself not to watch has Orion walked through the doors.

"Right now I do." Ellie turned and began to walk towards her room. Just as she turned out of the lobby Orion came rushing back inside and raced towards the redhead. He grabbed her arm and spun her around, immediately pressing his lips to hers. She melted into him as the whoops and whistles of the their friends surrounded them. Tears stung her eyes as she pushed him away and slapped him across the face before trying to rush off, he grabbed her arm again and pulled her close, holding her tightly as he whispered in her ear, "call me when you get home, let me know you're okay," he said and slipped a thick envelope into her hand before kissing her on the cheek and walking back to the opening doors. Max rushed to her side as she turned towards her room once again, and began to silently wipe the tears from her eyes before they could fall.

"Wow," Rhonda said as Ellie finished telling her the memory, "sounds like a very passionate guy."

"he is…and he's still a great friend to me," she explained, " he's very supportive of me and Sean even after we used to fight about how he didn't think Sean was good enough for me." Ellie smiled as she remembered the days she spent at Lake View and the moments she spent with Sean, all the good memories.

"So yesterday you mentioned your dad was away…"

"He's on a peace keeping mission in Kabul, he has been since grade 10, he came home for the holidays though, that was the last time I saw him…"

"You must miss him a lot."

" I miss him every time he goes away."

Rhonda frowned, "that must be hard on you and your mother…"

"Mom just drinks through the time he's away…Dad hate's leaving, but this last time she decided to get help, but obviously that stopped working for her."

"What do you mean?"

"She's drinking to the point where she's completely helpless," Ellie said, "she rarely leaves the couch, and when she does it's either to throw up or to get more to drink."

"doesn't she have a job?"

"we get money from the forces and Dad's pay to take care of bills and buy food, the normal necessities."

"so what do you mean by helpless," Rhonda asked interested.

"The other day she just…it was like dealing with a child." Ellie frowned as she thought about it, "it's like she can't take care of herself anymore, let alone me."

Rhonda frowned, "that's not very fair," as she made notes on her note pad about possibly calling child services, but changed her mind as she listened to Ellie continue.

"I know it's not fair, but someone has to take care of her." Ellie hung her head, "I almost feel bad for because I'm not home as often as I should be."

"Where are you?"

"At Sean and Tracker's usually doing homework or eating over there, sometimes I stay late, or over night."

"And your mother doesn't care?"

"she doesn't even notice I'm not there," Ellie mentioned, "I'm free to do what ever I want, but I don't…I always come home, I end up cleaning and taking care of her, I think she'd be lost without me sometimes, it's not like she doesn't love me, she does, she's just blinded by alcohol."

Rhonda nodded understandingly, " So when I read your journal I was really interested in what you were actually writing…and it didn't seem very clear to me…"

Ellie thought for a moment and tried to explain, "I was just letting loose, mostly random thoughts and a lot of scribbling."

"Why scribbling?" Rhonda asked intrigued, "because I noticed that."

"for me to let out that release, so that I'm not going to cut, it's like an alternative."

"that actually a great idea Ellie, good for you." Rhonda said pleased.

Ellie smiled, "thanks," she said blushing.

"I'm glad you're really working at this not cutting thing,…it shows you have a lot of strength and will power." Ellie blushed again as Rhonda looked at the clock, "Well it looks like you're good to go," she stood up and led Ellie to the door, "I'll see you at group," Ellie smiled and said goodbye.

-X-

"So have I told you lately how sorry I am for crashing that party for Ellie?" Amy asked, as she stirred her diet coke with a straw.

Sean nodded, "like twelve times since yesterday," he answered. "It's really no big deal Amy, we took care of it, it's all over and done with.

Amy smiled, "Are you sure that's all you're gunna eat?" Amy asked as she stared at Sean's order of fries.

Sean shrugged, "Tracker's making dinner for me and Ellie." He drowned a fry into the puddle of ketchup on his plate. Sean looked over as Amy took a bite of her hamburger, and smiled weakly. She looked different, maybe it was the fact that the usual scowl on her face had been replaced by the occasional smile. He ate the ketchup smothered fry.

"So, you and Ellie are really back together then?" Amy asked. She already knew the answer, but she also knew some things that that could either hinder or nurture his relationship with Ellie and her relationship with Sean. One thing seemed to be that Orion was more than just a friend to Ellie, the other was Sean's new found friendship in an old girlfriend. Amy took a sip of her diet coke and watched as Sean nodded.

"yea, everything's back to normal," he said thinking about it. Part of him felt like Amy was trying to be sincere with being friends and then there was the the voice in the back of his head telling him not to trust her. But that was the problem, no body trusted her, nobody gave Amy a chance. Nobody gave her a chance except for him.

Amy smiled, "that's great," she said throwing on her acting face, "really," she said swallowing. "I'm happy for you." Amy was lying through her teeth, what she truly meant to say was, "I'd be happy for you if you'd come back to me."

"So are you just staying at home then?" Sean asked thinking about her home situation.

"yea, I have the whole place to myself," she said sarcastically, knowing that her place was too small to even have a party let alone live there.

"doesn't sound too bad, a vacation from Mom, free to do what ever you want."

"it's not like I don't already do whatever I want Sean."

Sean laughed, "that's true," he took a bite of one of his fries, "but it's still something to look forward to, the apartment all to yourself and all, you could walk around naked if you wanted to."

Amy laughed so hard that her soda she'd been drinking was spit from her mouth, "not something you should be thinking about Sean."

"Hey," he said, "don't look at me like that, I was just offering ideas."

Amy glared, "sure you were Sean, and I'm sure you were imagining me naked."

"not like I need to imagine…" he said smirking.

"Not funny!" Amy said kicking Sean under the table.

Sean rubbed his now sore knee, "hey watch where you're kicking, I have some parts I think both I and Ellie would like to keep in working order down there."

Amy laughed and rolled her eyes, "sorry," she muttered.

Sean smiled, "glad to see you're enjoying yourself."

"I never have a bad time with you Sean," Amy said looking down at her drink and flirting as best she could.

Sean became slightly uncomfortable under her gaze and glanced at the clock on the wall. He shoved one more fry in his mouth and threw a few dollars on the table. "shit, I'm late, I gotta go Amy, I'll see ya tomorrow."

-X-

Ellie sat on the ratty old couch in the Cameron brothers' home flicking the through the channels on the television as Tracker cooked up some rice and vegetarian chili. "Where's your loser brother?" Ellie asked as she finally settled on cartoons.

Tracker laughed in the kitchen, "I don't know, I don't have a tracking device on him Red."

Ellie looked out into the kitchen and smirked, "Track, when are you getting a dish for this TV?"

"When I know you and Sean won't stay up watching porn."

Ellie laughed, "you know that's not what we'd be doing."

"It wouldn't matter any way Ellie, what' the point in having thousands of channels, you'd still complain that there's nothing on."

"that's not true," Ellie tried to argue, despite how wrong she was until a few minutes later he heard her mutter, "there's nothing on."

Tracker laughed as he stirred the chili.

"Lucy…I'm home," called Sean in a sing song voice as he walked in through the door, and fell down on the couch and kissed Ellie.

"Hey," Ellie said pulling away, "you taste like French fries."

Sean smirked, "I got hungry, I couldn't wait."

"Oh come on Sean, my cooking isn't that bad," Tracker called from the kitchen.

"you keep believing that old man," Sean said throwing his arm around Ellie, and pulling the remote from his hands and turned on a car show.

"Hey…I was watching that," Ellie whined, and then pouted.

" sure you were…what was it?" Sean asked.

"I was watching Looney Tunes," Ellie said, reaching for the remote, as Sean kept holding it out of her reach.

"Say…please?" Sean asked, smirking.

" Please," Ellie said still reaching for the remote.

"Say…Sean is the best looking guy at Degrassi."

"Sean is the…HEY! Sean…!" Ellie shrieked as Sean began tickling her as they wrestled for the remote on the couch. Ellie began laughing as Sean straddled her and tickled her under her arms. She squirmed underneath him as Sean held both her hands above her head and tickled her with his other hand. "Uncle!" Ellie cried out, but Sean didn't stop. Ellie kept laughing, "come Sean stop I think I'm gunna piss my …" she was cut off as Sean smashed his lips against her and straightened his legs so that they fell between Ellie's. She tugged her hands loose from Sean's grasp and kissed him back, grabbing the back of his neck and pulling him closer. She moaned into his mouth and attempted to wrap a leg around his waist as she laid beneath him when Tracker through a wet rag from the kitchen.

"Hey you two, cool it, dinner's ready," Tracker called from the kitchen. Ellie blushed and bit her lip as Sean lifted himself off her and pulled her too her feet, walking her too the kitchen, "bet you two worked up an appetite." Tracker smirked, and Ellie blushed harder as she and Sean sat down to eat.

"So where were you?" Ellie asked Sean.

"Stayed after school to talk to Ehl about the shop expo and put together a team," Sean answered in between bites, "and then stopped off at the Dot to grab a bite to eat and talk to Amy."

Ellie stayed silent for a moment, "how is she?" she asked concerned.

"Better, Amy called her grandmother, who's taking care of her baby brother after her mom ran out."

"I guess that's better…"Ellie said, still worried that Amy would use the pity to weasel her way in between them. She couldn't help it, anyone in her situation would be just as worried, but then she remembered what had happened at the party and how upset she was. "Do you think she'll be okay?" Ellie asked, concerned, though not only for her and Sean's relationship, but for the blonde.

"She'll be fine, Amy's a tough girl, she'll make it," Sean answered.

Tracker listened in carefully, "you have a bit too much faith in people sometimes, Sean."

Sean chuckled, "there are two people I'll never have faith in," he answered seriously.

"Understandable." Tracker realized he was referring to their parents. They were two people that seemed to rarely care about anything apart from how much alcohol is in the house, and each other. Their children were never a major priority. But Tracker had to admit, as his parents got older and realized that the distance between them and they're children was dredging farther and father apart they were trying to close the gap, without compromising they're everyday drinking cycle they'd become accustomed to. Tracker had spent the past few years trying to help them mend the gap, but it got harder as time moved on. "So what's this expo your shop teacher's got you involved with?" Tracker asked trying to change the subject.

"He's got me in charge of a team, that I have to put together," Sean took a sip from the glass of water on the table, " and we're supposed to rebuild a car, Ehl got us a body."

"No parts?" Tracker asked.

Ellie listened in intently, as she realized this was a challenge that Sean needed to really help him procure his future. "We're given some cash and we're meant to pretty much salvage parts, and only truly buy new if needed," Sean answered. Ellie smiled, he was really into completing this project to perfection. She could tell just by the way his eyes lit up when he discussed the project.

"So what were you working on today?" Tracker asked.

"I picked up a carburetor and was working on it today, I think I can really pull this together with my team."

Tracker nodded. "Who did you choose?" Ellie asked, interested. Majority of her knew Jay and Alex would be included in this team, and possibly Alex.

"Well," Sean said, obviously getting excited to talk about something he was totally engrossed in. "I decided to split it up according to specialty. I mean I'm great with engine work and just dealing with the mechanics of the car." He started blushing as he spoke highly of himself, "Jay's great with dealing with intake and the fuel line and really getting the car to run smoothly, Alex is great with body work, and Amy is great with car interiors."

"Sounds like a great team" Ellie said, happy to know he's working with people that have started to pick up some of his good traits, and people that got along with him and vice versa.

Tracker was still, and had always been wary of the friendship Sean had with the candy bandits. He didn't like the way Jay seemed to have a scheming look on his face, nor did he like Alex's attitude on most days. As he slowly thought about it, these people, these so called bad people for Sean, were the friends that have stuck by him the longest, and were most loyal. Everyone had their faults, and he was reminded of that every time he thought about his parents. And for once he was glad that he was somewhat wrong. "Sounds good Sean, let me know when and where the showcasing is, I want to be there."

A/N: Took me a while to really get this one how I liked it so I could start setting the mood, tone, and plot for Reprise, which is, at the moment, just a bunch of thought provoking notes, just rearing to get written down. Encore is almost over and it's kind of making me sad. Reprise will definately be the end of this little Sellie and/or Elan series. It's going to end with an epilogue.

Thanks for all the reviews and support everyone. Keep reading and keep giving me something constructive to read in my reviews.