"Sean Cameron, what brings you to this.. place?" Emma retorted, trying to mimic her old friend. She knew she sounded stupid and Manny was making it obvious.

"Nice one, Em."

He was walking slowly at first, then hustled into a slight jog. Sean's face matured while he was away; his jawline became more chiseled, his eyes became deeper, he even grew a litttle stubble along his chin and overall, he looked more of like a man than a boy. Emma liked this about him.

"Cars." Sean answered, "You know I love cars."

"Always have." Emma smiled.

"You never answered me, what brings you two here?" Sean asked again, digging his hands into his pockets. That had always been a nervous habit of his and Sean was rarely ever nervous. Emma could remember him doing that the first time they kissed. "It's not everday you see two of your old best friends in Wasaga. Kind of a long drive."

"We wanted to get out. You know, get away from the family, lay out on the beach, have a little fun. Enjoy summer."

Sean smiled and nodded, "Yea, cool. Well listen, my friend is having a bonfire tonight if you want to come. I mean, you two have your own plans, but it'd be nice if you showed up. Even if it was only for a couple of minutes"

"Yea, we'll see if we can make it." Emma assured him. She asked the address, which Sean wrote down on a tiny piece of paper Emma kept in her purse. Happily, she thanked him. "We've really got to be going though. I'll see you later, Sean. It was really nice seeing you again."

"Yea, you too." Sean watched Emma and Manny climb back into the car. He drew his breath as the engine started and began pulling away. It had been so long since he'd last seen Emma and even thinking back on how he left made him so angry. You're such an idiot Sean, nice one.

"What was that?" Manny asked, annoyed as the car rolled on toward the park where the two of them were staying. "'Oh Sean, how I love you so.'"

"I never said that."

"Em, it was written all over your face."

Emma couldn't help but laugh, "Manny I'm with Peter. Sean and I are over and we're just friends. That's the way it's always going to be. Yes, it was nice seeing Sean and he's always going to have a place in my heart, but we're just friends." She couldn't help but laugh. It was more of a nervous laugh, the laugh that Emma Nelson usually never managed. She was always confident in her decisions and something told her that this was a huge mistake; she couldn't get Sean out of her head. This had to stop though - she was with Peter and her and Sean were just friends.

They arrived at the campgrounds a short time later and found drove around until they found a square area to set up their tent. It was a nice patch of land, the ground was grassy and there was a fire pit in the corner. When Manny and Emma stepped outside of the car, they could smell the lake from their site. It was just down the road, not even a minutes walk.

The two of them spent the rest of the day setting up their tent and putting their things away or down at the beach. Once the sun began to set, they returned to their tent and got ready for the bonfire. Emma was skeptical about going, but Manny was excited; she was always the partier.

The party had already started when they arrived and the fire was blazing. Cans of already opened soda and beer littered the ground and picnic tables, and people were talking wildly around them. Manny grabbed Emma's hand and led her around the fire and toward the house. There was a familiar figure talking to someone else near the building, who Emma figured, Manny probably spotted first.

Emma took her free hand and fixed her hair nervously the second as Manny pulled her toward the boy. She looked down at herself, examining her outfit perfectly and fixing her shirt before Manny came to a complete hault. Emma's head snapped up.

"Emma, Manny," Sean said smiling at them, "you guys made it. This is my friend Alex, he owns his own car shop up here and he's been helping me out."

Both Manny and Emma said hello to Alex, who returned the greeting.

"I've got other guests to attend to, so I'll leave you guys alone. It was nice meeting you two." Alex smiled at the two girls before walking away, leaving them alone with Sean.

"Emma was considering not coming, but I told her to suck it up and dragged her along." Manny giggled.

"That sounds about right." Sean laughed; Emma slapped his arm playfully.

"Shut up, I did too want to come."

"Yea, you never could get enough of me."

Emma blushed, "No, Sean. For your information I came for the food. Now if you'll excuse me, there's a can of coke over there that's been calling my name."

She bit her tongue and turned away from Manny and Sean and made her way over to the cooler of soda. Even though she was still trying to overcome her eating disorder, she figured she wouldn't make her self look completely unstable at the moment and grab something. This was her night to have fun and let loose. Although it had been over a year since the shooting, her parents and peers continued to baby her.

"I see she hasn't changed since I left." Sean said to Manny.

"Nope, not by much."

"How has she been?"

"Good. I mean, other then getting over a little health issue last year, she's been really good." Manny dug her hands into the pockets of her mini skirt, "You don't still have feelings for her, do you?

Sean watched Emma walk over and take a sit on the other side of the fire pit. "Doesn't matter much now does it? I'm here, she's there."

"Sean, if you love her, tell her. It can't hurt"

Emma could see Sean clearly from her chair, and even while she was looking away she could see him watching her. For moments they just stared at each other from across the fire; Emma's blonde hair glowed with the rise of each flame, and Sean's eyes nearly light up each time they exchanged glances. She took her attention off of him and watched Manny walk away and mingle with a group of boys. She felt akward being alone and only hoped that Sean would come over to her and keep her company.

And he did.

Emma looked up at him like she had been waiting the entire night for him to come talk to her.

"You want to take a walk?"

"Sure." Emma got up and followed Sean away from the group of people and toward the woods.

Manny looked over at her and mouthed the words "Where are you going?" But Emma just shrugged. Where was Sean going to take her? Obviously he knew where he was going, though. He led her down paths and around trees. For a little while she thought they were lost until they broke through two large trees and a small sandy beach was exposed with a long dock sticking erect into the water.

"I come here a lot sometimes with my jet ski's." Sean said, leading Emma down the dock and taking a seat at the end. He took off his shoes and threw them behind him before putting his feet into the water. "It's really peaceful at night. It's a good place to think."

"Yea, I can see what you mean. It's beautiful out here." She sat down beside him and rolled her jeans before sticking her feet in the water beside him. The two of them were alone on the beach. Alone. Alone at the end of the dock with not a cloud in the sky, hundreds of stars overhead and nothing but clear water in front of them.

"It is, but being here with you makes it even more beautiful."

Emma felt her heart beat a thousand times faster and she felt as if her stomach was going to come out of her throat. She stared up into the sky, trying to find the words to say, but they never quite came to her. Sean was being so sweet, but she couldn't break it to him that she had a boyfriend. Not now.

"Thanks." Her voice quivered. She was nervous, but why?

"I'm sorry. I - I shouldn't have said that, but -" Sean paused and buried his head in his hands for a minute. He was speechless. He had always been emotional, but words had never really been an issue with him. Well, not unless he was dealing with Emma. "I missed you, Em. I've really, really missed you."

"Me, Sean? What about Ellie. She was your girlfriend before you left Degrassi. We were barely even talking then."

"Yea, she was, but.." Sean shook his head and looked to the left of him at the water. Obviously Emma didn't understand what he was feeling, so there was no use in explaining. "Forget it."

"No Sean, what? You can tell me."

"I can't. You wouldn't understand."

"How would I not understand?" Emma felt annoyed. If anything, she thought she would be the one who would understand best. After all, Sean used to come to her for everything. She missed that. "Now you're just going to shut me out? Sean, I'm just trying to get you to talk to me. We didn't leave on the best note and now I'm here. I'm not going to leave the same way."

"That's exactly it, Emma. I don't want you to leave." Sean felt his hands begin to shake. "Ever since I left Degrassi, all I could think about was you. When I stopped Rick from shooting you, that's when it hit me. That's when I realized how miserable I would be if I ever lost you. And of course being me, Sean Cameron, the big screw up, I ran for it because that's what I do when the going gets tough. Dammit." He kicked the water in front of him, creating a big splash that fell back on Emma's rolled up jeans.

Her fingers traced the dots of water, making designs of circles and lines going up her shins. "Sean, you're not a screw up."

"Can you prove that?"

"Do I have to? I think what I said speaks for itself."

Sean sighed and kicked the water again. Emma blinked long and hard, and began making small circles on the surface of the water with her toes. She looked at Sean, who had his head down and she placed her hand on his shoulder.

"I'm glad Manny and I ran into you."

"Me too." Sean looked up at the hand on his shoulder and smiled. "I love you Emma."

"Sean.."

"I can't help it, I really do think I'm in love with you."

"Sean.."

Before even realizing what he was doing, Sean leaned into Emma and kissed her softly on her lips. Emma kissed him back and all traces of Peter slipped from her mind. At that moment it was just Sean and her and she didn't want anything more than to stay there as long as possible. She leaned into Sean and wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing him even more passionately.

Everything seemed to slowly fall into place now for Sean. Emma was here with him and there was nothing else he wanted more. He didn't care about Ellie, he didn't care about Jay, he didn't care about his parents, or his car, or anything. It was all Emma. The apple of his eye for so many years. He placed his hand on her cheek and caressed the side of her face and smiled to himself. He never wanted to let go.

"Emma!"

Quickly Sean and Emma stopped kissing and turned their heads to the beach. Manny was standing there, furious.