Disclaimer: I own nothing Degrassi...

Two more months went by, quickly for some, like a a turtle crossing the highway for Emma. All she wanted was to get on with her life, but no such luck! Everywhere she went, there was one of her exes, flaunting his happiness with another right under her nose.

First there was the announcement that Sean and his wife were having baby number 2. But surprisingly enough, this news wasn't what sent Emma over the edge. She actually found the news relieving; Sean was happy with his family and she had to put aside her old hurt and find a way to be happy for him.

Since that awful night months earlier, when Jay had stood Emma up and she'd found herself alone and depressed, Emma suddenly realized that it wasn't Sean she was mad at. It was the fact that Sean had everything that Emma wanted. He had the spouse, the beautiful home, and the family. Emma found herself desperate to have all of that too. It's just that maybe she wasn't meant to have it with Sean after all.

And then came some more shocking news...

FLASHBACK

"I got here as soon as I could. Is everything okay? You sounded kind of frantic on the phone," Emma commented, taking note of Manny's flushed face and shining eyes. "Manny? What's wrong?"

Manny broke into a smile and thrust her hand across the table. Emma's eyes widened as she saw the rock sitting atop of Manny's ring finger. "Who? What? How?"

Manny bit into her lower lip. "Emma, it's wonderful, isn't it?"

"The ring?" Emma asked, stunned. "Whose is it?"

Manny rolled her eyes. "It's mine, silly! I'm getting married!"

Emma's mouth dropped open. "You? You're getting married? Sure, you are! Have you been having a liquid lunch today?"

Manny shook her head. "Nope! I'm not drunk or high or out of my mind. I'm getting married!"

"To who?" Emma asked, realizing that Manny was being completely serious. "You're not even dating anyone!"

Manny hung her head, refusing to meet Emma's eyes. "I've been dating someone for a few months now," she whispered. When she raised her eyes, staring into Emma's, she saw that her friend's look of shock was turning into one of anger. "I'm sorry that I didn't say anything to you. In the beginning, we just wanted to keep things quiet, until we knew if it was going to work out or not. And then I really wanted to tell you, but you seemed so...depressed. I just didn't know how to break the news."

Emma saw fear in Manny's eyes and hated that. Her best friend felt like she couldn't tell her about a relationship? Was she really that pathetic? Thinking back on how Emma had been spending the last two months, wallowing in her own misery, it was no wonder that Manny hadn't wanted to tell her that she was seeing someone.

"I'm so sorry that you felt like you couldn't confide in me, Manny," Emma apologized. "Please forgive me. So? Tell me everything. Start with who this lucky mystery man really is."

Manny swallowed. She took a long sip from her glass of ice water. Emma knew a stalling technique when she saw one.

"Manny! Manuela Santos! What are you trying to hide?"

"It's...it's Toby, Emma. I'm getting married to Toby," she whispered.

Emma coughed, but composed herself quickly. "Toby? Toby Isaacs? How did that happen?"

"Okay. The truth is that Toby and I started talking at that party you ditched me at a few months ago. We went out for coffee and I didn't stop laughing the whole time. So we went out a few more times and the thing is, I really, really like him. I think I might even love him, Em."

"You're that crazy over Toby?" Emma questioned.

Manny nodded her head. "He's sweet. I can totally trust him. He never lets me down. And we have fun, just doing stupid stuff together. And then there's the look."

Emma giggled, happy for her friend, but giddy over the fact that this was Toby they were talking about. "The look?"

"You know. The look. The look he gives me that makes me feel like I'm the most precious, beautiful thing in the whole world. Toby gives me that look all the time. And I melt." She finished with a shrug, twisting her new ring as she spoke.

"Well then I'm really happy for you guys!" Emma smiled, reaching across the table to pull Manny into a hug. "But don't you think two months isn't a lot of time for an engagement?"

Manny shrugged, not once removing the happy smile from her face. "Time is just numbers, Em. When the feelings are right, they're right. And I couldn't think of a single reason to say no. So? What do you really think?"

"I think that I'm so incredibly happy for the both of you! Omigod! We get to plan a wedding!" Emma shrieked.

"So you're really okay with all of this?" Manny asked, scepticism in her voice.

"Manny! Of course I'm happy! You and Toby are two of my oldest friends. And now you're getting married! It's great. I really mean that," Emma avowed.

Manny's smile changed. She dug into her purse and pulled out a huge binder. Emma's hand flew to her mouth and she grabbed the white, lacy binder. "Where did you find this?" she asked.

"My mom brought some boxes over to my place. This was in the bottom of one of them. Do you remember when we made this wedding album?"

Emma thought back to the day when she and Manny had been bored and began watching a TLC marathon of A Wedding Story. They were hooked on the idea of getting married forever after that day. And so came about the wedding album. Emma stole a binder from her mother and worked hard cover it with white, lacy material. Manny and Emma had spent that entire summer gathering pictures of wedding dresses, sample menus from various halls, and writing their very own, personalized wedding vows.

"I can't believe that you kept this!" Emma exclaimed.

"And look at this!" Manny said excitedly, flipping through the pages, until she found what she was looking for. "Do you remember this?"

Emma stopped smiling. There was a piece of lined paper in the back of the album, where both Manny and Emma had written the names of all of their potential grooms. Manny's list: Craig, JT, Spinner, Craig, Damien, Craig. Emma's list: Sean, Chris, Sean, Peter, Sean, Damien, Sean.

"Wow! What losers we were," Emma commented dryly.

"And who we always came back to."

Manny wished she could have taken the words back, but it was too late. She watched Emma's face, but was surprised not to see the reaction she had expected. Manny had thought that Emma would be crushed, remembering back to the times when she had had so much hope for her relationship with Sean. What she saw was something like peace.

"Em?" Manny asked.

Emma raised her eyes and smiled. "You're so better off with Toby, Manny. He'll treat you just the way you deserve to be treated."

END OF FLASHBACK

So Manny threw herself into planning a wedding that even her parents could be proud of supporting, and she dragged Emma along for the ride. It all just served to remind Emma how alone she really was. Everyone she knew, everyone she was close to, everyone, had moved on with their lives...so why shouldn't Emma?

Please R&R!