"The One" – Part 45

Summary and additional notes in part 1.

Author's Note: This is not related to my Degrassi timeline fics. (See my Author's profile for details!)

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Degrassi!

-oOo-

Robin stood up. "Wine? Jake and I brought wine."

Her boyfriend got up as well. "Yeah, we'll go get it now."

Joe sent Adam a sympathetic look. The shortness in his friend's tone had been a cringeworthy moment.

Naomi sighed as she debated what to say. She decided it was best to 'rip off the band-aid' and speak bluntly. She looked at Fiona.

"Carla and Emily are definitely not friends. In fact, they had a bit of bad blood between them over the years. Their common link is Bridget, Emily's sister and Carla's best friend. And now of course, Adam," she leveled with her.

"I'm sorry for all the inside jokes this evening. I know it's not so great having all this stuff going over your head. We're very happy that Adam is with you. We don't like her. Emily's kind of a bitch. She can be manipulative and controlling. They had this off-and-on cycle where they would fight, then she'd get him alone, and bam! They were back together. It was tiring to watch. Since that's her MO, that's why we were joking about her showing up at the reception," Naomi finished.

She had laid it all bare and she hoped that Adam wouldn't kill her for it! She just didn't want to see this issue get in the way of what he had with Fiona. Adam was a great guy and she wanted him to be happy.

Fiona blinked as she gathered her thoughts. Naomi's words were definitely a lot to take in! She could feel Adam's eyes on her, but she wasn't ready to meet his.

"I second that," Joe said cutting through the silence to back his friend up. He then darted his eyes to Adam, and gave him a small smile for support.

-oOo-

Adam shut the door behind them. They had gone to his old room for privacy. He watched as Fiona walked over to the bed and sat down. She had a pensive expression on her face and was rubbing her right temple with one hand, the other rested at her side.

He slowly came towards the bed and took a seat next to her. There was moderate gap of space between them.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly.

Fiona turned to face him. "What happened to us tonight?"

He didn't say anything and they sat there in silence for a long moment.

"You were acting kind of distant over dinner. Then with this whole 'Emily' business I've seen a side of you that I don't like," she told him. She thought this trip would be a good thing, but now she was questioning if she should have come at all. It seemed like there were unresolved issues.

Adam reached for her hand. "I'm really sorry… I didn't mean to be weird. What you asked me earlier threw me for loop. As for Emily… I got angry that they kept bringing her up. I didn't mean to snap at you. I was honest with you about her and it sounded like you didn't believe me."

Fiona looked at him. "Well, it seemed like there was more to the story. On both accounts."

Adam sighed. They need to sort through this, one issue at a time. "When you asked me about Joe, I felt like you didn't know me as well as I thought you did. I realize I overreacted, but it scared me."

"Why didn't you just say that?" she asked him.

He shrugged. "It took me time to figure it out. I didn't reach that conclusion on my own," he admitted. "And as for the other thing… Emily and I simply weren't compatible. I don't have feelings for her or any desire to get back together! To my friends it's become a punch line, but I know they're as relieved as I am that it's over."

-oOo-

Naomi came up to Joe and rested her head on his shoulder. She noticed him nervously glancing at the closed door every few seconds.

"We should have dialed back the jokes tonight," he stated.

She snorted. "That's rich, coming from you!"

Jake sighed. "I kind of feel like an asshole." He wished he hadn't made that bet about Emily showing up.

"Good! You all should!" Robin scolded them. She tried to change the subject earlier, but no one listened!

"To be fair, while we may have stirred the pot Adam isn't innocent in all this," Chris pointed out. Adam was his friend, but he was not without his faults.

The door suddenly opened. They quickly disbursed, in an attempt to make it look like they hadn't been watching the door!

Adam and Fiona shared a knowing look. He then cleared his throat, garnering their attention.

"So I was thinking… It might be nice to have a do-over," he casually announced. The evening certainly hadn't gone as planned.

His friends looked at him curiously.

The couple smiled at each other before turning back towards the group.

"Hello everyone, I'd like you all to meet my girlfriend Fiona Coyne," Adam told them.

.

tbc

A/N: Hmm, seems like there was no love lost between Naomi and Emily. Nice to know that she's team Fadam! ;-) Speaking of which, it looks like their talk yielded happy returns!

Review! You know you want to :D

In the next chapter, we learn what Joe has going on tomorrow, there's some Fadam steam, and you might find the ending surprising... (Oh come on, if I give away what's gonna happen what fun would that be?)

Off topic: I posted a short timeline fic today. It takes place in between the stories "Daylight" and "The Wedding"!