AN: Apologies, apologies, apologies! I am so sorry for these long updates…and that this story has been slightly off recently!
I was pretty nervous about school starting but now that we almost it, I'm getting better. It doesn't help much that I don't get home until 5:30 due to volleyball practice but still, sorry!
Since FF is allowing shout outs anymore, if you have any questions feel free to email me and ask them (my email address is on my profile), once again, so sorry for the slow updates!
On a different note, I just got The Click Five's CD and wow…it is so good! I love every single song on it! Lol…yes, that had no purpose but oh well, hehe.
Once again, beyond sorry for the long update! I feel so bad!
Hope you like this chapter!
R&R and please, no flames!
Lotsa love, degrassichick
-x-
Chapter 24
-x-
Emma's eyes slowly fluttered open as the sun shone and hit her face.
She noticed that Lanie's letter was still in her hand and she was still dressed in her outfit from last night.
She got up and stumbled groggily towards the shower.
-x-
"Emma! Jay's here!" Spike called down the stairs almost an hour later.
Emma was now sitting at her computer desk, her hair now had mousse in it and was scrunched up, sending waves down her shoulders and she was wearing a pair of simple flared blue jeans and a maroon tee shirt and socks on her cold feet.
She hurried up the stairs and smiled at Jay who was in the kitchen.
"Hey." She said with a smile, walking towards him.
"Did you get the letter?" Spike asked from where she was feeding Jack.
Emma nodded.
"What letter?" Jay asked confusingly.
"From Lanie, she's my new roommate." She said with a smile, "C'mon." she said and took his hand, guiding him downstairs.
-x-
"So this is really happening." Jay stated, sitting at the foot of her bed.
Emma sat in her computer chair, one of her knees hugged up to her chest, her foot resting on the seat, "Yep…"
"Well you've still got a month here anyway."
Emma nodded, "Yep."
"You okay?" he asked.
Emma nodded once more, "Yeah, why?"
"You seem upset…"
"I'm not."
"You're lying."
"I am not."
"You are too. You can't trick me."
Emma sighed, "Everything just seems so real now, you know?"
Jay nodded, "Yeah, I know."
"I'm going to miss you." Emma said softly.
Jay smirked and took off his hat, placing it on her head before getting up and placing a kiss on her forehead and walking upstairs, but not before telling her, "I'll miss you too."
-x-
Emma sat on her porch swing a few weeks later, reading the latest letter that Lanie had sent her.
Emma…can't wait for you to get here! I'll meet you in front of the apartment at noon on Saturday the first. Can't wait!
-Lane
She sighed and folded it up, placing it in her jeans pocket.
"Emma? Are you ready to go?" Spike asked, beginning to walk down the stairs of the porch, towards the car.
Emma sniffled and nodded, hopping down and beginning to walk down the steps as well before turning and looking back at her old house.
Snake placed a comforting hand on her shoulder as the three of them, along with Jack who was holding Emma's hand, and Manny, who had come along to see her best friend off, made their way to the car.
Emma climbed into the middle row of seats in their SUV, Manny in the middle and Jack sitting next to her in his car seat while all of her luggage was piled in back.
Snake glanced back before slowly pulling out of the driveway.
She sighed and glanced out the window, noticing a familiar Civic on the other side of the street, Jay's Civic.
Jay glanced over at her from his open window and gave her a playful smirk.
Emma could feel tears welling up in her eyes as she waved at him before turning away and bowing her head.
Jack had been glancing over as well and began to squeal when he saw Jay, "Jay!" he exclaimed, "Let's stop!"
Jay gave Jack a wave and another heartwarming smirk to Emma.
"Stop the car!" Emma exclaimed, not being able to take it anymore.
Snake stopped almost suddenly.
Emma hopped out of the seat and raced towards Jay's car while he climbed out of his as well.
As soon as he came into perfectly clear view, she flung her arms around him and began to cry onto his chest, "I'm going to miss you so much." She cried softly.
Jay wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer, "I'm going to miss you too." he whispered into her hair.
"I don't think I want to leave, I want to stay here." Emma mumbled into his tee shirt.
Jay broke away from her and glanced down at the blonde, "No…you have to go. You wanted to get out of Toronto; this is your chance Em. You can leave; we'll still see each other sometimes. I promise you."
Emma shook her head, "I can't go, Jay. I love you. I know I've said that before, but I really, really mean it Jay. I love you and I don't want to leave you."
"This is hard for me too Em, but-"
"See? I can't go!" Emma exclaimed.
"But…" Jay started once more, "you have to leave…Lanie might be upset."
Emma rolled her eyes at him, "Not funny, Jay."
Jay shook his head, "You know I'm kidding. But you know I love you Em, you know I'm going to miss you; you know I don't want you to leave, but you have to. This is right for you."
Emma sniffled before pulling him into another hug, "I love you Jay." She whispered.
Jay, for once in his life, had to fight back tears as he hugged her back.
-x-
Emma sat in the car, her headphones blasting to the song Until the Day I Die by Story of the Year.
She was continuously glancing over at Manny, who was making funny faces with Jack.
She sighed and stared out the window at the passing scenery.
Soon enough, they arrived in front of the apartment in Montreal.
Emma and Manny hopped out and opened up the trunk, taking out her bags and room decorations.
"You must be Emma." A voice said happily.
Emma spun around and was face to face with a tall and slender girl with pixie cut light brown hair, tan skin, a big smile, and bright green eyes; she resembled a cheerleader on so many levels.
"I'm Lanie." She said happily, holding out her hand.
Yep, she sounded like one too.
"Emma…" Emma replied coolly, holding out her hand as well, the two shaking.
Lanie smiled at her once more before walking towards her parents and beginning to talk with them.
Emma slung her duffle bag over her shoulder and Manny hauled a few boxes towards the apartment.
They walked towards the elevator and Emma pressed in the floor button, her heart beating rapidly, this was her life now.
-x-
"Well it sure is…bright." Manny stated, glancing around the retro-esqe apartment.
The walls were painted orange, the floor was polished wood with white shag carpeting, the couch was bright blue, the plush chairs were white, the window seating in the living area had a lime green cover on it and the kitchen was white with different colored appliances on it.
Emma walked off down the hallway and glanced at the two bedrooms, one was already decorated in bright colors and the other was plain white, the white one was obviously her bedroom. She stepped inside and glanced around it before flopping onto the twin bed and sighing.
"You can decorate at least…" Manny drifted, walking into the room as well.
Emma nodded glumly.
"Already having regrets?" Manny asked nervously.
Emma nodded once more.
Manny sat down next to her at the foot of the bed, "Don't worry, Em. It'll be fine."
"How can you say that Manny?" Emma mumbled, "Everything already isn't fine. I was so stupid to actually want to graduate early."
Manny shook her brunette head, "You weren't stupid; you were suffocating in that place."
"What about Jay?" Emma asked.
Manny laughed, "He's not going anywhere, Em."
"That's not what I mean. What if he finds someone else?"
Manny rolled her eyes, "Then he's an asshole."
"Manny!"
"Relax, Em. He probably won't find anybody else. I mean who would actually want to date Jay? Besides you, I mean."
"Shut up."
Manny sighed and reached into one of the boxes, pulling out two things that she had put in them earlier and sitting them on Emma's lap.
Emma glanced down and saw two picture frames.
She picked up the first one, it was of her, Manny, JT, and Toby at Emma's party, each had their arms swung over one another and they were all smiling and laughing, the other one made Emma's heart stop for a few seconds.
It was of her and Jay from New Years Eve, it was the kiss.
"Oh my God…" Emma murmured, glancing at the frame.
Her arms were swung over his neck and both had their eyes closed, the frame read 2Gether, 4Ever and made her tear up.
"Manny!" Emma exclaimed sadly.
Manny laughed, "This was supposed to make you happy!" she cried out, putting her arms around her.
Emma cried onto her shoulder, "I'm going to miss you."
Manny sighed and hugged her back, "I'm going to miss you too."
-x-
"So are you going to be okay?" Snake asked as he and Spike stood at the doorway of Emma and Lanie's apartment.
Emma nodded and rubbed her hands over her eyes, wiping away the last bit of tears, "Yeah, I'll be fine."
Spike's eyes welled up with tears as she pulled her daughter into a hug, "I love you baby."
Emma hugged her back and sighed, "I love you too mom."
Then the exact same ritual happened with Snake.
The two broke apart and then Emma glanced over at Jack, who was eying her sadly.
"What's happening, Emmy?" he asked nervously.
Emma could feel tears welling up in her eyes once more as she scooped up her brother and hugged him tightly, "I love you Jack." She murmured into his hair.
"I love you too!" he squealed as she broke away from him and gave him a peck on his temple and handed him to her parents.
"We love you Emma." Snake said softly.
Emma sniffled, "I love you too." she stated quietly as the three walked away.
Manny remained at the door before grabbing Emma into a hug, telling her goodbye and walking away.
-x-
"Close family." Lanie declared, flopping down onto the couch.
Emma shrugged, "Not too much. My dad had cancer."
Lanie's eyes widened, "Oh…my God…I'm sorry."
Emma shook her head, "It's okay, he's in remission now."
Lanie sighed, "Well that's good news."
Emma nodded, "Yeah, he gets in remission and then I tell him I'm leaving, perfect huh?"
Lanie laughed, "My parents freaked out when I told them I was leaving."
"Didn't they already know?" Emma asked confusingly.
"Well yeah, but it still freaked them out." Lanie confirmed.
Emma laughed, "My mom didn't even remember me telling her, I mean, it's not like I can very well blame her but still…"
Lanie nodded in understanding before changing the subject, "So hey, I was in your room for a second and I saw this really hot guy in a picture with you, there were two, one of you guys kissing and the other of you two smiling."
Emma's heart lurched, Jay. She missed him more than both of her parents right now.
Emma nodded, "Yeah…that's my boyfriend, Jay."
Lanie grinned, "He's gorgeous. What does he fall in to? Is he a bad boy, prep?"
Emma almost laughed aloud at the sound of 'prep', "He's more of a bad boy. We actually used to hate each other."
"Those are usually the best romance stories."
Emma nodded, "Yeah well, back in grade nine, I had this boyfriend, Sean. And he started hanging around with Jay and his crowd, and I just hated them so much, they stole, they had sex, they just did everything. Plus, they broke Sean and me up. Then in grade ten, we had a school shooting and Sean saved my life but got shot in the arm during the process. So he wanted us to take him home, to his hometown. So it was me, Jay, Sean, and Sean's girlfriend, Ellie-"
"So you guys got together during the trip?" Lanie intercepted confusingly.
Emma shook her head, "So anyway, we all hung out that day but I still didn't like Jay. But then later on that year, I was under all this stress and we wound up having oral sex…and I got an STD from it."
Lanie's eyes widened, "Holy…"
Emma nodded, "And then this year, I was really wanting to graduate early so I offered to tutor Jay to help pay for college. And during the process, I fell pretty hard for him."
Lanie's eyes were getting teary and she looked like she was about to choke up, "That is…so romantic!"
Emma laughed, "He's a really cool guy, Jay…as long as you get past the rough texture."
Lanie smiled, "That's really cool. My boyfriend Brad and I don't have anywhere near as romantic of a story. We went to junior high together, he moved, we met back up in college last year, started dating a few months later."
Emma shrugged, "Still slightly romantic."
Lanie sighed, "So, moving on…first night here, what do you want to eat? Dinner's on me."
-x-
"So how is it?" Jay asked later on that night over the phone.
Emma fell onto her bed and sighed, "It's okay…but I really miss you, Jay."
"I miss you too, Em." Jay reassured, "I actually went to your house a few hours ago and hung around with Jack for a bit, then stayed for dinner."
Emma's eyes widened, "You stayed for dinner with my parents?"
Jay chuckled slightly, "Yeah, quite entertaining actually, Jack started flinging food."
Emma laughed, "I miss you Jay."
"You already said that." Jay laughed, "But it's nice to hear it again."
Emma smiled into the phone before beginning to listen to some conversation Jay was saying.
She glanced over at the other picture of her and Jay; it was from when he had been at her house one time earlier that month. Manny had been over as well and had captured a picture of Emma and Jay sitting on her bed fighting over Jay's hat, both had laughing smiles on their face but neither were looking at the camera, it was one of Emma's favorite pictures.
Emma continued to listen to Jay's deep voice, not caring if he talked about robbing a bank for the next twenty-four hours, as long as she could hear his voice, she was happy.
-x-
"Hey Emma, get up!" Lanie shouted the next morning.
Emma's eyes flew open and she glanced up at her clock, 6 AM.
What the hell?
Wow! An early bird!
Oh cram it!
Emma got up and stumbled into the living area where Lanie was in a white sports bra and pink track pants with a Tae Bo DVD playing.
"Morning sleepyhead!" Lanie chirped, not even looking away from the television.
"Lanie, I'm not sure if you're aware of this or if my clock is set wrong or what, but it is barely six in the morning." Emma noted, glancing outside, where it was still gray out.
Lanie nodded and began to lift her legs up and down, throwing punches to the air, "Yeah, I know. I figured I'd let you rest, I'm always up and going at five."
Emma sat down on the couch, "Are you serious?"
Lanie nodded and continued to practice the kickboxing-like aerobics.
"Five AM?"
Lanie nodded once again, "Get up, get dressed, brush teeth, brush hair, make protein shake, do Tae Bo for an hour, shower, get dressed once again."
Emma's eyes widened at the sound of that, "Oh…"
"What's your schedule like?" Lanie asked.
Emma sighed, "Well during the summer, it's pretty much sleep in, eat breakfast, shower, brush my teeth and hair, put on a new pair of pajamas and lounge around the house or hang out with Jay or my friends."
Lanie glanced back at her for a split second, "Where do you fit in your workout?"
"What workout?" Emma asked confusingly.
The only time she ever "worked out" was during gym, and she hated gym.
Lanie turned around to face her, jogging in place, "You don't workout?"
Emma shook her head, "Nope, sorry."
Lanie sucked in a deep breath and smiled happily at her, "No worries! You look like a kickboxing person to me, it's so much fun!"
Great…
Don't make me exercise!
Like I want to!
Emma shook her head, "No…that's okay. I'll just make me some toast."
Lanie shook her head and paused her DVD, jogging over to the kitchen and pulling a bottle out of the fridge, handing it to her.
Emma glanced at it.
Disgusting, revolting, eww!
"Um…what is this?" Emma asked nervously.
"It's breakfast, silly!" Lanie answered obviously.
Emma was not sure if "breakfast" would be the choice word she would use.
"Well go on, have a taste, it's really good." Lanie pushed.
Why didn't she act like this yesterday?
Mom and dad were here.
Emma lifted the top off of the bottle and pressed it to her lips, taking a slight swig.
It took her all to not spit it right back out.
It was disgusting!
"Um…what's in this exactly?" Emma asked, sitting it back down and glancing up at Lanie.
Lanie grinned, "Protein powder, grinded seeds, nuts, raw egg whites, and soymilk."
Okay, now Emma really had to hold it back in to spit it out.
"Oh…" she stated nervously.
"Good huh? Really gets you pumped."
More like puked.
Pfft, that didn't make sense.
Emma nodded, "Mmm hmm…I can really feel the burn. I'm going to go…shower or something…" she stated before turning and hurrying off down the hallway.
"I'm going to the gym around eight, do you want to-"
"NO!" Emma hollered back as she hurried into her bedroom and closed the door.
It was official; she was living in a crazy house.
-x-
Yep, another crappy chapter of mine! (Sorry, I'm not trying to throw a pity party for myself but I seriously think my past few chapters have been horrible)
Well I hope you guys liked it!
R&R and please, no flames!
Lotsa love, degrassichick