DISCLAIMER: I don't own Degrassi. I own the made up characters though. Ha!

Chapter Two: First Kisses, Fake Smiles and One Black Eye

January 2001
Alex: 12
Jay: 13

Some things take time. It took Jay a while to open up and get back out into the world after the incident with his mom and dad. But he did. In the new year, Jay returned to school along with everyone else. It took Alex a while to remember he was no longer JJ. Just Jay.

Karen was fine, Jay informed her, but she'd needed several stitches to her lip, acquired a black eye and was treated for minor, non life threatening internal bleeding. Jay was left to fend for himself for four days while she was in the hospital. Over that period, Alex and Jay soon returned to the friendship status that they occupied before the Christmas Eve fiasco. But that wasn't to say that Jay hadn't changed. Loosing the extra 'J' wasn't the only change in him. He'd done a hell of a lot of growing up in the past month or so, and Alex wasn't quite prepared for it.

Although he refused to talk about it, even to her, Alex and Jay had a special bond now, more so than the friendship they had before. They were both victims of abuse. Jay had got a black eye when his dad had flipped out on Christmas Eve, but now two weeks later, it was beginning to toughen up and fade. The hands of the huge wall clock crept closer and closer toward ten pm, and Alex knew in the back of her head her curfew was 9.30pm, but she had no intention of leaving just yet. Her mom hadn't been round to get her – and she knew where she was – so she was staying put. She was in complete awe of Jay. At the back of the trailer was his bedroom. Small, cramped, identical to her own. The walls were off white, bordering on gray, the carpet was brown. The only color that saved the environment was the navy blue curtains and his albeit faded Superman bed cover.

"Superman?" Alex scoffed, meaning no real harm. In the three years they'd known each other, Jay had never invited her inside his house, discounting the kitchen, but that was only because it was directly off the front door - and she was learning things about Jay's home life that would give her real insight into his life.

"I've had it since I was five. We can't afford new bed sheets, we got bills to pay that are much more important." Jay explained impatiently. Alex felt bad for mocking his covers. She should have known better.

There were no pictures up in their home. No real ornaments to speak of, unless you counted a few jars and kitchen utensils are ornaments. Furniture was sparse. The smell of cigarette smoke hung in the air. Alex was unsure who was responsible for that aroma, Jay or his mom.

"Sit down then." Jay ordered, gesturing toward the empty space on the bed. Alex tentatively sat down on the very edge of the sunken mattress and looked around, feeling funny. She knew Jay like the back of her hand, but she was suddenly so nervous she could barf. Nerves gripped her like an ice cold hand, and she wished she could go home. Never in her whole life had she been scared of Jay like she was now.

He rummaged in his pocket. She waited with baited breath to see what he'd produce. He turned toward the window and battled with it to get it open. The trailer shook as he forced the old, damp frame up. He leaned out the window. He turned back to her moments later with a cigarette hanging from his mouth.

He'd been getting cigarettes out of his pocket! She smiled to herself in relief and told herself to lighten up, and calm the fuck down!

They stood in the window together. Jay was usually two or three inches taller than her, but he bent down and rested his elbows on the crumbling windowsill. Alex stood completely still. The cigarette smoke got caught up in the air and blew back toward them, defeating the object of smoking at the window. Jay had smoked it three quarters of the way down, and held out the last little bit for Alex. She hesitated, but took it anyway.

"Take a hit, then breathe in, then just blow it out." Jay instructed as newbie Alex had her first hit on a cigarette. She got the hang after two drags, and finished it off, discarding it to the ground once she was done.

They sat back on Jay's bed. The nicotine and tobacco had gone straight to her head and she was giggly and wobbly.

Jay flashed her a awkward smile. He couldn't think of anything more to say, so he told Alex it was time she got home.

She walked toward the door, and he followed close behind her. She went for the door handle and descended the steps more gracefully than Karen had at Christmas. She turned to say goodbye but found that Jay was following her out.

"I'm not gonna let you walk home alone, am I?" Jay explained as if it was logic. Perhaps it was. Alex didn't know, she'd never done anything like this before. When they use to hang out together, Alex always had to be home before it was anything like dark.

As they walked Jay remained two steps behind her the whole time. The walk to her place had never seemed to pass so quickly. Because she didn't want it to end. They came to an abrupt halt at her door. She couldn't hear any noise coming from inside but she could see her mom sat at the kitchen table with a bottle of vodka in front of her with her head nestled in her arms, resting on the table surface. "Is that your mom in there?" Jay quizzed, sounding genuinely concerned. He'd met Emily loads of times, and every time he met her, she seemed distant, troubled and on edge, but glossed over it, somewhat shoddily, with a fake smile and a fake spring in her step.

"Uh, yeah..." Alex laughed, because she knew no other way to deal with it. "She's long gone. Out for the count. Sound asleep." She couldn't stop talking. She scolded herself mentally and prayed that Jay didn't think her mom was a head-case.

"Will you be OK?" He pressed. "Is she, like safe to..." Jay didn't know how to finish that sentence.

"It's fine. I'll see ya at school then." Alex said breezily. She went to go inside, but Jay pulled her back and did something she wasn't expecting. He kissed her.

One simple kiss. Quick, painless and not nearly as daunting as Alex had imagined. He didn't say much after he left, just uttered a basic goodbye and sauntered back to his house.

Alex licked her lips and tasted his taste on her lips. She was giddy with adrenaline and happiness. It made things seem better than they were. Her mom being passed out at the kitchen table was less intense now. She knew Jay liked her now. In her own little fantasy, he would've made sure she got into the house OK, though. But beggars cannot afford to be choosers, Alex knew that all too well.

But there was something Alex didn't know. After Jay kissed her, and apparently made a swift, unexplained exit, he only got as far as the next trailer. He ducked behind it and watched in secret as Alex let herself into her house. She was home safe, his job was done. He could now go home, now he knew she was safe.

Jay Hogart did have a sensitive side. He just couldn't let it be known, he had a reputation as the bad boy to maintain, after all.

Wahoo, there's chapter two! Hope you liked it! Hows about the Jalex first kiss! Aww!

Thanks you to my reviewers for chapter one!

Please R&R, reviews mean the world to me! Stay tuned for part 3... Coming Soon!