Disclaimer: I own nothing Degrassi...
I know lots of you wanted to know how Sean would react to the situation between Emma and Jay. Sorry if you were disappointed with the last chapter, but read on...
"Em?" Sean called, flying through the door of their apartment, slamming the door behind him.
"In the kitchen!" she called.
Sean entered the kitchen slowly, but instead of kissing Emma, who was stirring something in a large pot on the stove, instead he leaned against the far counter.
"Everything okay?" Emma asked, checking the digital time on the nearby microwave, and seeing that Sean was home earlier than usual. "I was just making some tomato sauce. You know, to put in the freezer. Just stocking up. I can make some noodles if you're hungry though."
Sean shook his head. "When you've finished up, I'd like to talk with you."
Emma smiled at him, realizing, as Sean left the kitchen, that he hadn't kissed her. Sean always kissed her when he got in from work. She held her breath as she covered the large pot with a lid, and left her tomato sauce to simmer. Sean had gone into their bedroom, probably to change, so she decided to join him there, wondering what it was he wanted to talk about.
They had yet to set a wedding date, neither wanting to pressure the other into something so permanent. Emma knew that Sean's proposal came more out of jealousy than love. Sean knew that Emma's acceptance came more out of guilt than love. The knowledge of this hung over their relationship, making things between them very strained.
Emma entered the bedroom nervously, offering Sean, who was sitting on the edge of the bed, staring off into space, a small smile. She sat down beside him, feet dangling off the high bed.
When Sean failed to say anything to her, or look at her for that matter, Emma asked, "You had something you wanted to talk about?"
Sean finally turned to Emma, gathering her small hands into his large and calloused ones. "Tracker came into town today."
Emma smiled. Was this what he wanted to talk to her about? Maybe Tracker needed a place to stay while he was in town? Emma breathed a sigh of relief, sure that whatever it was, everything between she and Sean would be okay.
"How is he?" Emma asked.
"He's in town for business," Sean said dryly, side-stepping her question. "Tracker and I have been talking lately about opening another location."
Emma's smile grew. "Sean! That's so great! I can't believe you didn't tell me! I am so proud of you! And how great is it that Tracker will be back here too?"
Sean shook his head. "You don't understand. Tracker wants to open a shop out west."
Emma narrowed her eyes. "Another Cameron's Custom Cars?"
Sean nodded his head. "It's something we've been toying around with for a while. Tracker's got the working capital, but he hasn't got a clue how to get things started up. I'm going to help him."
Emma cleared her throat. "So you're telling me that you're going to Alberta?"
"That's exactly what I'm telling you," Sean agreed, an unmistakable edge to his voice.
"For how long?"
"I already talked to John and he's okay with keeping things on the go with the store here. I feel confident he can run the business exactly the same way I would if I were here," Sean explained.
"How long?" Emma pressed.
Sean looked away from her as he responded. "At least six months, but could be as long as a year."
Emma grabbed Sean's arm, forcing him to look at her. "I don't understand. I mean, I need a little bit more notice for my job if I'm taking that kind of time off, Sean."
Sean wet his dry lips and, once again, took Emma's hands in his. "I don't think you should come."
Emma's mouth dropped open. What was he trying to tell her? "You don't want me to come?"
"Emma. I'm searching for a way to tell you this with the least amount of pain. But the truth is, there's no easy way to tell someone you want time away from them."
"You want time away from me?" she asked, hurt evident in her small voice.
"I do. I know this is gonna hurt, but I really need you to just listen. No Emma butt-ins or opinions, okay? Just listen," he paused. Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, did not help Sean feel any less nervous. He decided to just get on with it, however painful it may be. "You know that I love you. And I know that you love me. But we can't deny that things haven't been as good as they once were. I'd marry you tomorrow if I thought it was what we both really wanted, but it's not. Getting married would be the wrong thing, for both of us."
"Is this because of wh...what happened?" she asked, not even wanting to bring it up.
"A little. I can't say that I'm not hurt that you kissed Jay. I lost my best friend because you couldn't just be honest with me. You fell for him because you fell out with me. But I wasn't happy in our relationship long before the thing with you and Jay."
"Why didn't you say something?"
"Why didn't you?" Sean shot back. He shook his head. "At least I didn't take my misery and add another person to the mix."
Emma nodded her head, understanding that Sean needed to do this. Obviously he'd been thinking about this for quite some time now. "Did the whole thing with Jay...did that lead to this thing with Tracker?"
Sean sighed. "Yes. I need to get away from here...from you. Because when I see your beautiful face, I wanna make it work so badly, I'd settle for less than I deserve. But the absolute truth is that I don't want to be with you, much less marry you."
Emma felt the hot sting of tears as Sean spoke. He had let go of her hands and Emma suddenly felt cold and abandoned. Sean's words stung more than any slap ever could. He didn't want to be with her and their epic story had reached its disappointing conclusion.
How will Emma deal with her pain of losing Sean? Please review!