Disclaimer: I do not own Degrassi: TNG

Author's Note: Sorry for the long wait guys. I've been soooo busy with work and a good friend of mine is home on leave from the navy so my time has pretty much been filled up. So here's the next chapter, let me know what y'all, think.

Every time I try to cut the chord,
You come crawling back with some excuse,
You forgot something.
There's nothin' good about goodbye.

-Nothin' Good About Goodbye by Hinder

"We need to talk to you, Mom," Jay said softly, Emma's hand held tightly in his own. He could feel her hand shaking within his, and he squeezed it reassuringly as they sat down at the table.

"What is it?" Diane asked, absently, already pulling her paperwork out of her briefcase.

"Could you, just, not do that right now," Jay's irritation shone through his question.

"This sounds serious," her brows furrowed together in worry and she stared at the two teenagers expectantly. Jay took a deep breath and glanced at Emma out of the corner of his eye. Her already pale face had turned an even lighter shade of white.

"Mom, Emma's...well, she's pregnant," Jay finally spit out.

The papers Mrs. Hogart had been holding fell carelessly from her grip. Her green eyes widened in shock as she stared at her son and then narrowed into a harsh glare as they fell on Emma.

"Get that slut out of my house, right now," Diane said evenly, the words causing Emma's eyes to fill with tears, at the same time that Jay was jumping up from his seat.

"YOU DON'T EVER TALK ABOUT HER THAT WAY!" The unruly haired boy yelled. He was so angry his face was red and his hands were shaking.

"Don't you get it Jason? You're rich. So the little tart got pregnant, thinking she could get some money out of us. Well to hell with that. Do you hear me, little girl? You won't be getting a cent out of us," Diane sneered at the shaking girl.

"I didn't...I'd never..." Emma tried to say, but Jay cut her off.

"I'll be out of this house by tonight. I won't live with people who treat my girlfriend this way. Ya' know I actually thought you were trying to be a mom for once in my life. I guess I was wrong," Jay whispered, his anger brewing inside of him like a storm in July.

"Jay you don't have to do this," Emma whispered, tears dripping down her cheeks.

"If that's how you feel Jason, then fine. There will be a check on the counter for you at five o'clock. That's the last thing you'll ever get from us. But know this, Jason. If you leave here, don't even think about coming back. You will be dead to me," Diane said calmly, getting up from her seat at the table.

"Fine with me," Jay sneered, slinging his arm around Emma's shoulders.

"Oh and Emma, dear, I'd be careful if I were you. It wouldn't surprise me if a couple months from now he leaves you all alone and comes crawling back here because he doesn't have any money. Oh and Jason, your name will be out of the will by tomorrow. Good luck with your bastard child," Diane said, walking crisply from the kitchen. A few minutes later Emma and Jay heard the sound of the front door slamming and a car peeling out of the driveway.

"Jay, you don't have-"

"Just don't Emma. You know I can't stay here anymore," Jay's voice wavered, and Emma could tell he was trying hard not to cry. As tough as he tried to act, he loved his mom and she'd hurt him more than she ever had before.

"I'll talk to my parents. I'm sure you can stay with us," Emma whispered, reaching out and rubbing his shoulder gently.

"Thanks, Em. I'm gonna go pack up my shit, I'll see you at your house in a few hours, okay?"

"Okay, Hogart. I love you," she said softly, standing up on tip toe to kiss him softly on the lips.

"Love you too, kid," he responded, before turning around and walking away.

"Oh mama I'm in fear for my life from the long arm of the law. Law man has put an end to my runnin' and I'm so far from my home. Oh, mama I can hear you a cryin' you're so scared and all alone. Hang man is comin' down from the gallows and I don't have very long. Woooooooow. The jig is up, the news is out, they finally found me. The renegade who had it made-" Manny belted out the lyrics to Renegade by Styx as she cleaned hers and Emma's room. She was singing so loud she didn't hear as someone made their way down the stairs. She dropped the clothes she'd been picking up and jumped up on the bed, bouncing around and playing the air guitar. It was only when she heard a loud laugh that she turned around. Her head whipped around so fast that she lost her balance and tumbled off the bed, landing in a heap on the floor.

"SEAN!" Manny screeched, her face turning a crimson red as she realized he'd seen the whole thing.

"Styx, Manny? I really didn't see you as the type," he managed to utter between laughs.

"Yeah well, they don't make music like they used to. What are you doing here?" She asked, annoyed, quickly gathering up the clothes she'd dropped and brushing past him to put them in the washing machine.

"Oh come on Manny, don't be mad at me. You actually have a really good voice, it was just...seeing you do the air guitar...that was...okay that was priceless," he snorted.

"Well I'm glad you enjoyed it," she said, trying to hide her smile behind her prickly response.

"Don't make me come over there, Santos," Sean warned, making his wriggling his fingers at her in a threatening manner.

"You wouldn't dare," Manny whispered, her dark eyes wide. Sean was across the room in two strides and attacking before she even realized what was happening. Soon the two were lying in a crumpled mess on the floor, Manny's shrieks of laughter and cries for help going unanswered as Sean tickled her. It was only when Manny's phone started to ring that the two broke apart.

"You got lucky, Manny," Sean gasped, as she wriggled out of his grip and ran for her phone. As she brought the phone to her ear she stuck a tongue out at Sean and giggled.

"H'lo," Manny said breathlessly.

"Uh, hey," a deep voice on the other end of the line replied.

"What do you want Craig?" At the mention of Craig's name, Sean was sitting up straight, listening intently.

"Look, I know you hate me, but I'm really. Oh, man, why is this so hard? I'm really trying to get better, baby. I miss you so much," Craig said softly. She could here the uncertainty in his voice, and knew that making this call was hard for him.

"You hurt me over and over again, Craig. Do you expect me to just keep forgiving you?" She replied, doing her best to sound strong, but Sean could hear in her voice that she was thinking about forgiving her ex-boyfriend.

"Please Manny. I need you. I need you so bad. Only you. I love you," the curly-haired boy whispered.

"Well, I don't need you," she said back, and slammed the phone down on the dresser.

"Manny..." Sean said softly, coming up to her, but she moved away from him. Tears were already trickling down her face as she sank to the floor.

"Just leave, Sean. Please just go away," she whispered, her voice so vulnerable and scared sounding that all Sean could do was listen to her.

"If you need anything, just call me," he said sadly, turning away and walking up the stairs. Manny just hid her face in her knees and wept.