Disclaimer: I own nothing Degrassi...

"You know, this whole night out thing was a really good idea, Sean, but wasn't this also about cheering Jay up a bit?" Paige asked, pushing the red umbrella aside as she sipped her fruity drink.

Sean looked down the table, where Jay was slumped over, obviously drunk, but looking more than a little depressed. He looked over at Spinner. "What should we do?"

"No wonder he's depressed, man. Listen to what's playing on the jukebox," Jimmy told them, pointing his index finger straight up into the air.

As the group listened, they heard:

How do I get through one night without you?

If I had to live without you

What kind of life would that be?

Oh and I, I need you in my arms

Need you to hold.

You're my world, my heart, my soul.

If you ever leave

Baby, you would take away everything good in my life.

"Someone should ask him to dance," Ashley suggested. "You know, to get his mind off the words in the song."

Everyone faced Emma. She gave them all a curious look. "Why me?"

Paige spoke up. "Because, hun, he's a total crab around everyone, except you. Look, we'll all get up and dance so it won't look too weird."

The table stood up and paired off. Emma gave Sean an apologetic look, but he pushed her toward the end of the table. She approached Jay slowly, leaning over his back and asking, "You wanna dance."

He looked up with tears shining in his red eyes. He gave her a sad look and shook his head.

Emma sighed. "I'm not taking no for an answer," she vowed, grabbing his hand and pulling until Jay was on his feet.

He followed her to the dance floor and allowed her to wrap his arms around her small waist, as she placed hers around his neck.

How do I live without you?

I want to know.

How do I breathe without you

If you ever go?

How do I ever, ever survive?

How do I, how do I

Oh, how do I live?

"I should go," Jay slurred.

Emma pulled back until she could see Jay's face. "We're here to have fun, remember? You're not doing so well in that category. How can I help?"

Jay stared at Emma. "Bring Manny back."

She smiled sadly at him. "I would if I could."

"Okay then can you make me forget?"

"You don't really want that."

Jay steadied himself, leaning slightly against Emma. "I'm barely holding it together, Nelson."

Emma hugged him tightly and was surprised when Jay returned the gesture. "You'll get through this. You're ten times stronger than you were a few weeks ago," Emma reminded him, whispering in his ear.

"Only because of you," Jay whispered back.

Emma found herself shivering from Jay's whispered confession. She pulled back a bit and shot a look over to Sean, who was sitting with Jimmy at the table, staring at her and Jay on the dance floor. She smiled at him and he smiled back, but Emma knew the gesture from Sean was forced and not sincere.

"Sean said you made it to work early today," Emma said, deciding to change the subject.

Jay grinned. "I actually had things pretty together this morning. It felt kind of good. God! When did this happen? When did just getting out of the house on time become something to get excited over?"

Emma laughed. "When you became a daddy. How is my little girl, anyway?"

Jay smirked. "She's...she's an angel. I hope she's okay with your parents."

"Are you kidding? My mom was so excited when Sean called her. I figure if you let her have Emily every couple of weeks, she can stop asking me when I'm going to get married and have babies of my own," Emma admitted, with a giggle.

Jay's handsome face became serious, revealing his chiselled features. The small amount of stubble covering his chin and above his lip, made the look more appealing, and suddenly Emma was struck by just how handsome Jay really was. Manny had told her time and again how sexy she thought Jay was, but Emma had never seen it, not even when she herself had a brief affair with him. Well she saw it now!

Her breath caught and Jay noticed, even through his inebriation, that she was flushed. "Are you okay?" he asked, eyeing her up.

She smiled. "I'm fine. Um, I think the song is over," she said, stumbling over her words.

They both looked up. Their feet had stopped moving and they were standing in the middle of the dance floor, just holding each other, finally realizing that the song had changed to a fast, hip hop, dance song. Their friends were staring at them, and Emma suddenly felt incredibly embarrassed. She pulled away from Jay, not turning back, as she made her way back over to their table, sitting down beside Sean, and snuggling up to his side.

Jay watched her walk away and wondered why he was feeling so abandoned. Emma had every right to go back to Sean; he was her boyfriend and Jay was nothing more than an obligation...

Hope you like. Stay tuned for some major Jemma action...