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Chapter Text

“The alumni will be showing up any minute,” Jack Simpson said to his father as they sat in his office. “Dan said that the last group of freshmen just showed up for orientation.” He stated as he put his phone down on the desk. Dan, Derek Wheeler’s son, was Jack’s best friend and his VP.

“Why did we have the alumni event and new freshmen orientation on the same day again?” Principal Simpson said as he placed both hands over his face.

“It would get the freshmen excited for the new school year seeing some of these famous faces. The alumni could give a first hand account of the clubs and classes at school. Plus it’s the last week of school and we needed to fit both of the events in.” Jack said with a laugh as he picked up his phone and stood up.

“I’m glad they voted you class president. You will definitely be very helpful next year.” Principal Simpson said with a smile towards his son. “Now let's go.”

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“Welcome to Degrassi,” Simpson said as he greeted the incoming freshmen. “I’d like to introduce you to Ms. Nuñez, our guidance counselor. We have an open door policy for whatever you need.”

Alex stepped up to the microphone and smiled at the freshmen as they looked up towards her, “Good morning. My name is Alex Nuñez and I will be your guidance counselor for the next four years. I also was a student at Degrassi and have been where you are. Please remember that everything you tell me is kept a secret and I am here to listen to you no matter what the situation is you’re going through.” She smiled one more time before finishing her speech, “The rest of your teachers are around the school. Please get to know them and prepare yourself for September when we get started! I can’t wait to meet each one of you and help you to reach all of your dreams!” She walked back to where Principal Simpson was and he walked back to the microphone.

“We have plenty of Degrassi volunteers walking around to help you look around the school.” Principal Simpson smiled as the group began to walk around the school.

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“Hey Alex! How are you enjoying your first week at Degrassi?” Liberty asked as she walked with JT over to their biological son.

“Great actually because you’re friend’s brother and his friends have been hanging out with me. They’re really nice.” He smiled at his biological parents. For years he wondered what they were like and now he’s standing with them in the school where they met.

“We’re so glad to hear that!” Liberty said with a relieved smile.

“We know you mentioned that you wanted to get to know your biological family more so your Uncle Danny and Aunt Chantay will actually be here for alumni day. If you’re interested,” JT said with a hopeful grin.

“Yeah that would be cool.” Alex said before beginning to walk away, “I have to go give a tour even though I know nothing about this school.” He laughed with a shrug. “That kid Jack signed me up. I’ll meet you guys here at 5? I’d be happy to meet your family and friends!” He waved as he ran off to meet up with Jack who was his partner for the tours.

“I can’t believe we’re actually getting to know our son.” Liberty said as she looked at JT. It felt as though all of their dreams were coming true. They could never stop worrying about how their son was.

Chapter Text

“Oh my God was that him?” Emma and Manny squealed as they rushed over to Liberty and JT as Jay and Sean followed behind them.

“Yes that’s our son.” Liberty said with a huge grin on her face. It felt so unreal that after all these years of wondering what he was like here he was.

“He’s so handsome.” Manny stated as she nudged JT.

“That’s why Aria said that her friends were in love with him already.” Emma laughed as she looked at Manny with a shrug.

“Did she really say that?” JT asked with a raise of his eyebrow.

“Please don’t encourage them,” Jay said as he reached the group.

Manny playfully slapped Jay and shushed him before turning around to see Christine Nelson approaching.

“Can you believe you’re alumni now? It feels like just yesterday you guys were helping me set up for the reunion.” Christine said as she approached the group and put both her arms around Emma and Manny. “Next your kids will be going here.” She said before looking at Liberty and JT, “I heard your son already is.” She smiled.

“Hello party people!” Peter said with excitement as he approached the group with Darcy by his side.

The tension grew as Sean made eye contact with Peter. Although they had spent years together because of Manny and Emma’s friendship with Darcy, Sean still did not like Peter. Emma grabbed Sean’s hand because she sensed his tension.

“Darc,” Manny started, “You just missed JT and Liberty’s son! His smile literally screamed James Tiberius Yorke.”

“Can’t wait to meet him!” She said with a smile. “Chantay texted me and said that her and Danny should be here any minute!” Darcy exclaimed.

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“Excuse me?” Amelia Farrell quietly approached her very handsome tour guide.

Alex turned around to see the beautiful blonde girl smiling up at him. He felt himself getting nervous. It was only his first week of school at Degrassi and he did not have many answers to any of the niners' questions.

“Are we going to get a break during the tour? My mom keeps texting me that her and my aunt are here and they want to see me.” She said kind of embarrassed as she noticed his smile growing.

“Yeah I think we only have about five more minutes and then you can see your family.” He said with a smile, but then noticed she seemed to be embarrassed. “I was just talking to my parents before I started this tour. They want to introduce me to everyone they’ve ever met.” He said with a light laugh to make her feel better.

“Great, thanks!” She said with a bright smile as she pushed a piece of blonde hair behind her ear.

The group continued to go on their tour as Alexander tried to bring all of their questions Jack. He really barely knew where his own classes were at this point. He walked past a group of girls and heard some giggles. He looked and noticed the blonde from earlier was being stared at by the rest of the girls. He smiled slightly before continuing on.

“He is so cute,” Everly Rivera whispered to Amelia. “I can’t believe you actually spoke to him. What did he say?” She asked as Mackenzie and Makayla Thomas huddled around them.

“He just answered my question. It wasn’t a big deal.” She answered nonchalantly.

“Well we definitely have two of the cutest tour guides. Future president over there is adorable too.” Mackenzie said as she motioned towards Jack.

“We’ve met him once at one of our parents parties, but I don’t remember him looking that good.” Makayla said with a grin.

“That is the end of our tour and I hope we answered all of your questions! Please feel free to continue looking around on your own and try and speak to some of our Alumni! They can tell you everything you need to know about our wonderful school.” Jack announced to the group before he pulled Alexander away to go meet up with his friends.

“Thanks for the help, man. I want to introduce you to my VP, Danny. I think you’ll like him.” Jack whispered to Alex as they were heading out the door.

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“Fiona Coyne?” Arianna Dexter shrieked with excitement as she rushed over to her. “I am your biggest fan.” She tugged on the dress she was wearing with a gigantic grin, “I’m wearing one of your designs!!!” She couldn’t even contain her excitement. Her favorite designer was standing in front of her and all she could think about was how she wanted to interview her for the Degrassi Daily.

“Oh it looks lovely on you,” Imogen commented with a smile.

“She’s right you look amazing in it! Love the jewelry you paired it with.” Fiona said with a friendly smile as she reached for Imogen’s hand.

“You are both the sweetest.” Arianna said with an excited smile. “Would you mind if I interviewed you both for the Degrassi Daily? We were hoping to run an article on successful alumni for the final issue.” She asked eagerly.

“Look at that, we're successful,” Fiona said with a giggle to Imogen. There was a time when she wasn’t sure she would ever get her life in order. “We would love to! Thank you for considering us.” She answered Arianna with a genuine smile.

“Great!!!” Arianna said enthusiastically as she ran off to her friends.

Fiona and Imogen stood in the hallway of Degrassi and looked around for a moment. It feels like no time has passed since they were working on carnivals and helping Eli with his plays. They were both lost in thought when they heard a familiar voice.

“Look at this picture your mom sent us,” Holly J was waving her phone in Fiona and Imogen’s face. “Aren’t the kids so cute.”

“The cutest.” Imogen said as she looked at their children playing with their cousins.

Fiona took out her phone and noted that she didn’t receive a text message, “How come I didn’t get any pictures?” She raised an eyebrow.

“Oh well I might’ve called her a few times to check on the kids, but it’s just that they were really sad when we left them.” Holly J noted.

“The kids are fine, babe. We won’t even be gone that long. We’ll see them in a few hours.” Declan said as he joined the group. He looked at Fiona who was trying to hide her smile.

“I know.” She said as she placed her phone back in her purse. “I just worry sometimes.” She shrugged and then looked back at Fiona. “Drew and Bianca were looking for you. He said that Adam and Becky were gonna be here any minute and they wanted to have a Vegas reunion.” She said with a small shrug.

“Oh great! We’ll be right back.” Fiona said excitedly. “Also if you see Eli and Clare can you tell them we were looking for them? Thanks!” She leaned in and hugged her sister-in-law, and best friend, before running off with Imogen to find their friends.

Chapter Text

“Michael Dallas of the Toronto Maple Leafs?” Jonathan Campanelli questioned as he stood in front of his favorite hockey player. Dallas started his career right after graduation in Tokyo and then managed to get himself in the NHL. He was literally living Jonathan’s dream.

Dallas turned to see the kid standing in front of him, “Hey man. How are you?” He asked with a smile as he stood next to Alli who was catching up with Jenna and Clare.

“Great!” Jonathan exclaimed as he tried to comprehend what was going on. Was he really talking to his idol? “I’m a huge fan.”

“So am I,” Alli said with a grin as she grabbed Dallas’ arm.

“Hey if you need any advice you can tell your coach to reach out to me. We used to be teammates,” Dallas said as Jonathan walked away excitedly.

“Hey I’m gonna go say hi to Jimmy Brooks,” Connor said to Jenna before kissing her gently on the cheek. “Do you want to come with me, Dallas?” He questioned with a raised eyebrow.

“No, I think I’ll stay here with Alli. Thanks for the invite though.” He said to his friend before turning to see Drew, Bianca, Adam, Becky, Fiona, and Imogen approaching.

“Vegas reunion!!!” Drew said with a grin as he got next to Dallas.

“I didn’t go to Vegas,” Dallas said with an exaggerated sigh before laughing.

“Neither did I,” Becky said with a light chuckle.

“Well you were there for our actual wedding so that’s all that matters,” Drew said as he placed his hand on Dallas’ shoulder with a smile as the group began to greet each other.

Clare and Eli rushed over to Adam and the three picked up exactly where they left off. They still make time to see each other as often as they can, but never back where their friendship started.

Dallas and Drew were chatting about their plans for the rest of the day as Bianca, Fiona, Imogen, Alli, Jenna, and Becky discussed the excitement of being back in Degrassi.

“Everyone looks so serious.” KC said as he approached the group. He smiled brightly as he saw his friends again for the first time in years.

“KC!” Jenna said as he motioned for Connor to come back over to them. “I heard you were teaching here now.

“Yes I am.” He said before getting hugged by Connor. “Hey man. Long time no see.” He said as he hugged Connor back gently.

“We’ve missed you.” Connor said before going back to stand next to Jenna.

“I’m so glad you’re back,” Clare said with a smile as she looked at her first real boyfriend.

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“School counselor?” Paige said with a smile as she approached Alex. Although their relationship had ended on a bad note the two women made up over the years. Alex helped Paige to discover who she truly was and for her she will always be grateful.

“Yeah who would’ve thought?” Alex said with a laugh as she saw her first love standing in front of her.

“I know that you’ve been through so much and I think you would be perfect to help these kids get through anything.” Paige said with a supportive smile before hugging her gently. “I truly am so proud of you.”

Alex hugged her back before she was pulled away by a future student who wanted to talk to her, “Thanks.” She managed to get out before she had to get back to work.

“I always liked her,” Hazel said with a smile as she approached Paige with Jimmy and Spinner following close behind.

“No you didn’t!” Paige said with a laugh as she shook her head.

“Oh right.” Hazel joked with her best friend.

“Should I be jealous, Honeybee?” Spinner asked as he wrapped his arm around his wife’s waist. Spinner and Paige had been married for years, but he did know how important Alex was to her.

“No, Honeybee, I only have eyes for you. You know that.” She said with a grin before kissing him gently.

“We can’t take you two anywhere can we?” Jimmy said jokingly. “It’s like we’re back in high school again with you two making out in the halls.”

Hazel grabbed Jimmy’s hand as she laughed along with him, “Don’t mind him he’s just upset because one of the kids asked him if he was some guy named Drake.” She said with a shrug.

“As if.” Paige said with a laugh.

“Jimmy Brooks is obviously the superior rapper.” Spinner said, supporting his best friend.

“Paige, please tell your brother to stop stalking me. I’ve been married for five years now.” Marco said as he made his way over to the group. “I literally had to hide out in one of the classrooms because he would not stop asking me to hang out.”

“Hun, I’m sorry I’ve told him you’ve moved on so many times. I guess you’re just the one he let get away.” She shrugged as she put her arm around Marco’s shoulders.

“In other news I saw Jay and he was asking about you, buddy.” He said as he nudged Spinner.

“Yeah I told him I would meet up with him a little later.” Spinner said before he stopped abruptly.

“What’s wrong, hun?” Paige asked as he glanced around to see what he stopped him. Oh my god it couldn’t be. “Why didn’t Holly J warn you that Heather Sinclair would be here?” She said as she tried to not cause attention to them.

“I thought she was living in Europe trying to make it as a model.” Marco noted as he noticed her. “Looks like she got an upgrade on the nose job too.”

Terri rushed past Heather Sinclair and then wiggled her way into the middle of the group, “I haven’t been here in years.” She mentioned before continuing, “Ash said she was sorry she couldn’t make it and missed you all.”

“I think she’s avoiding me,” Ellie said as she approached the group with Craig by her side. “You’d think she would be over her high school boyfriend by now, but she’s been so distant to me ever since we started dating.”

“Oh don’t mind the ice queen. She’s always mad about something.” Paige stated with a shrug.

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Isabella finished her last tour of the day and then went to the cafeteria to meet her parents who were waiting for her.

“Hey sweetheart,” Lucas said as he pulled Bella into a hug.

“Dad, not at school.” She stated as she pulled away from her father’s embrace.

“Remember when she used to love hugs from us and now she’s too cool.” Mia said with a sigh as she took a seat on one of the tables.

“I’m not too cool for hugs, but literally everybody is here right now, and it’s kind of embarrassing.” Isabella shrugged before motioning to the sea of people who were piling in for snacks.

“We’re just kidding, Bella. We were your age once. We understand,” Lucas smiled at his daughter and then towards his wife.

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“Is that Chantay Black famous celebrity blogger?” Darcy exclaimed with a grin as she ran up to hug her friend. “We’ve been waiting for you!”

“Sorry Danny had to get here early and I had to drop off the kids at his moms before coming.” She hugged her friend back and then looked around. “Where’s everyone else?”

“The cafeteria,” Peter began, “They’re apparently serving snacks.” He rubbed his belly gently to make it clear that he was hungry.

“Well let’s go then! Danny texted me as I was coming in and said that he was saving us some seats.” Chantay said before grabbing Darcy’s hand and bringing her towards the cafeteria.

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“Thanks for getting me some cookies, babe.” Anya said before giving Sav a quick kiss on the lips. Sitting in the cafeteria with Holly J, Chantay, and Fiona it felt like they were back in high school for a moment.

“Anything for you.” Sav answered before turning to talk to Peter about possibly starting up the band again.

“I was in the band too, remember?” Jane said as she approached the table with a small smile. Everyone got up to greet her before continuing on with the conversations they had before she had arrived. Jane was a lawyer who didn’t return to Toronto and barely kept in touch with people from high school. She had kind of progressed past that point in her life.

“Can you believe we’re back here? What’s it been like 9 years?” Riley asked as he approached the table before taking a seat next to Anya.

“Feels like just yesterday we were at prom,” Zane said as he took a seat next to his husband. “Now we’re alumni and there’s a whole new set of kids here.”

“Way to make everyone feel old,” Leia said as he walked past their table to grab another snack.

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“We have to visit the garden before we leave,” Jake was thrilled to see how they maintained his masterpiece. He had worked so hard on it and so did Katie and they were thrilled to be back where they fell in love.

“Babe, I told you so many times, yes we will visit before we leave.” Katie said with a small chuckle as she looked over to Marisol. “I swear sometimes I think these two are married.” She motioned to Mo and Jake who were excitedly discussing the garden and all of the exciting things they did together in high school.

“It does feel like that sometimes.” Marisol said with a grin and a small eye roll. “We should’ve seen it coming.” She shrugged.

“We can hear you,” Mo said as he playfully tapped Marisol.

“We know,” Katie and Marisol laughed as they answered at the same time.

It felt so great that the four of them are still as inseparable as they were in high school. They knew that they would be in each other’s lives forever and it was all they could have asked for.

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“Cheesy!” Tori exclaimed as she saw Cam walking towards them. She was standing with Maya, Zig, Grace, Jonah, Tiny, Shay, Zoe, and Rasha waiting around for the rest of their friends to leave the cafeteria.

“Tori Santamaria, famous tv star.” Cam said as he hugged his girlfriend before greeting the rest of the group.

His hug lingered on Maya for a moment, lost in the moment, before he let go with a smile, “I listened to your EP, it was amazing.” He smiled brightly at Maya. So proud of how far she had come.

“Thanks, cheesy.” She said with a light laugh before holding on to Zig’s hand.

“Hello party people!” Lola exclaimed as she entered the group with Miles on her side. She put her arm around Shay as she appreciated being with her best friend again.

Winston and Goldi smiled as they chatted with Miles quietly making plans for what they would do once alumni day was over.

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“Everybody wants something they’ll never give up,” Joey sang along with Snake as they reminisced on their youth and all of the trouble they used to get into.

Caitlin and Spike laughed at them as they discussed their children along with Erica, Heather, and Lucy. Bronco and Yick stood quietly next to Lucy before joining in with Joey and Snake as the final members of the Zits.

“They’re still singing that same song?” Stephanie asked with a raise of her eyebrow as she greeted her old friends. She smiled as she thought about the time they had spent together and knowing that their children were now friends. It felt as if they had truly come full circle.

“Always,” Alexa said with a laugh as her, Simon, Michelle, and BLT joined the group. “Simon is always singing that song and it gets stuck in my head.” She laughed lightly.

“I can’t help it, Alexa, it’s catchy.” Simon retorted.

Michelle and BLT giggled as they held hands. Alexa and Simon have been their friends for the majority of their lives, but sometimes they still find their dynamic funny.

“Shane!” Spike called out to her ex-boyfriend who was walking by them. He had healed pretty well from the accident and he was almost back to normal.

“I just saw Emma,” Shane said with an excited grin. She told me that she would bring the kids over sometime this week.” He was thrilled that he was healthy enough to live on his own and finally get his life back in order.

“That’s great!!” Spike said with a smile as she wrapped her arm around Snake who was done performing with the boys.

A few hours had passed and everyone was heading in opposite directions once more, but they would always have Degrassi to fall back on. No matter the drama or the fights they could all agree that Degrassi was their home away from home and they would love it no matter what.

Chapter Text

Alexander woke up to the loud sounds of his parents cooking in the kitchen. He could hear them laughing and smell the delicious bacon they were cooking. He smiled as he thought about how lucky he was to have such supportive adoptive parents. When he told them he wanted to look for Liberty and JT they encouraged him and even drove him to their house the first time. Instead of having two great parents he had four incredible ones.

He was distracted from his thoughts when he heard his phone ring. He reached over to it and saw a text message from his best friend from Seattle, Allison Jones. He opened the text to see her asking if he wanted to hang out. “You’re in Seattle…” he responded and hit send.

After a few exchanges back and forth between the two he discovered that she was actually in Canada. Apparently she had a big fight with her parents, something that had been going on nonstop for years, and she decided to fly out to see him.

Allison explained to Alex about her abusive parents and how she managed to get herself emancipated from them. He was thrilled that she was safe in Toronto, but worried about where she would stay. He asked his adoptive parents, but they turned him down immediately. He then decided to reach out to Liberty and JT. It only took a few minutes before they agreed to have her stay with them for as long as she needed.

“I’ll meet up with you at the Dot in five and bring you there?” Alex typed and then hit send. He rolled out of bed and got ready to go out for the day.

Five minutes later and Alex was face to face with Allison. She was standing in front of him with a small smile. Although she was trying to put on a happy face he could tell that she was upset. Her parents always did that to her. “I can’t believe you’re here.” He said as he held on to her tightly in their embrace.

“Yeah I just needed to get some space between us, and you know you’ve always made me feel the safest.” She said as she pushed a piece of her light brown hair behind her ear. She looked down for a moment thinking about all he has done for her over the years.

Allison and Alexander met each other in the second grade on their first day of school. She tripped on her shoelace and scraped her knee. While her classmates were laughing at her, Alex rushed to her side to take care of her. From that moment on the two were inseparable.

Alex reached for her hand and squeezed it gently. Something he has been doing since they were kids, “Are you ready to meet my birth parents?” He questioned with a raise of his eyebrow and a huge grin on his face.

“Always.” She said as she followed him to Liberty and JT’s house.

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“The kids are upstairs playing.” JT said as he came down the stairs to see Liberty tidying up the living room. She did that when she was nervous.

“They didn’t seem upset that she would be staying here, right?” She questioned. She stopped briefly before continuing, “It didn’t look like they were.”

“They were fine. They were actually excited.” He said with a light laugh. “Someone else to play with.” He shrugged as he reached out and grabbed her hand, squeezing it gently. Just then the doorbell rang.

Liberty opened the door with a smile as she saw Alex standing there with Allison. “Welcome!” She said as she stepped aside to make room for the kids to come in.

“Thank you so much,” Allison began to thank them for opening their home to her. “I really don’t know what I would do if you didn’t let me stay.” She said, kind of embarrassed that she had not come up with a plan before flying to Canada.

“Allison is the best.” Alex said with a smile as he looked from JT to Liberty. “She only needs a few days before we find somewhere else for her to stay.” He said hoping not to bother them too much.

“Oh don’t worry about that. You can stay as long as you need,” Liberty said with a comforting smile. “I remember JT and I struggling to find a place to stay when we were your age.” She paused for a moment thinking about how that caused them to give up Alex for adoption. “I wish there was someone who was willing to open their home to us.” She finished as she looked towards JT.

“The kids are upstairs playing, but they cannot wait to meet you,” JT said with a smile as he turned his attention back to Allison. “But you have some big shoes to fill because when we said that you’re Alex’s friend they immediately decided that you’re the coolest.” He laughed lightly as he watched the girl become a little less tense.

“Well I would love to get to know them.” She said as he looked from the adults across from her to Alex standing next to her. His smile was contagious and actually looked exactly like his father’s. She barely knew them, but she knew that she would be comfortable with Liberty and JT. Something she had not felt growing up in her own home.

Chapter Text

Emma walked into her backyard and looked at the decorations with a smile as she touched her pregnant belly. Manny and Liberty were throwing her and Sean a baby shower. “It looks amazing!” She said as she walked towards her friends as they excitedly continued their decorating.

“You’re not supposed to be out here until it’s all finished!” Manny shouted as she tried to block the decorations behind her. Liberty couldn’t help but laugh at the two of them. Emma and Manny have been inseparable since before Liberty met either of them.

“I was just coming out here to tell you that JT is here and he brought the kids, Alexander and a very pretty girl who I’m assuming is Allison?” Emma questioned with a raise of her eyebrow as she looked over to Liberty who was being hugged by her children, Samantha, Savannah, and Aiden.

Liberty nodded to Emma as JT approached them with the two teenagers following closely behind him. “Emma, Manny, I would like you to meet Allison Jones. She will be staying with us for a little while.” She smiled a comforting smile at Allison.

Allison nervously brushed a piece of brown hair behind her ear as she smiled at the adults, “It’s nice to meet you.”

“It’s nice to meet you too,” Emma and Manny exclaimed at the same time.

Emma looked down at the kids with a smile, “Uncle Sean and Uncle Jay are upstairs with the rest of the kids if you want to go play.” She watched as they excitedly nodded and then ran off to play with their friends.

“Is there anything we can help with?” Alexander asked as he looked at his birth mom. “Allison is great at decorating.” He said as he playfully pushed her.

“Oh stop.” She said with a light giggle.

“Here why don’t you two come help me,” Manny said with a grin as she grabbed the kids hands and pulled them towards the part of the backyard that still needed to be decorated. “And make sure she goes back inside!” She shouted to Liberty and JT.

“You heard the boss,” JT said with a laugh as he walked back inside with Emma and left the women outside to finish decorating.

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The guests had begun to arrive and the baby shower was officially started. Emma smiled as she walked around the backyard greeting her friends and family. It had been so long since they were all in one place and she was going to take advantage of the time she had with those she loved.

Allison and Alexander were standing by the donut wall and discussing the party. Neither one of them had ever been to a baby shower and they also didn’t know that many of the guests.

Allison felt slightly uncomfortable being at a party with a bunch of strangers, but Alexander was totally enjoying himself. He loved meeting new people and experiencing new things, while Allison was more reserved than him.

Emma hugged her brother and his girlfriend, Aria, “I’m so glad you’re here!” She smiled as she held on to them tightly. “Alexander is over there and he brought his friend. She seems very nice. You should go meet her,” She encouraged with a smile as she pointed towards the pair.

Jack knew that meant they needed to go say hello to Alexander right now or Emma would keep bothering him until he did. He was about to tell Aria that they should go when Aria smiled at Emma and then grabbed Jack’s hand leading him towards the couple.

“Hey!” Aria waved at Alexander and Allison with a cheery smile, “I’m Aria and this is my boyfriend, Jack. His sister is Emma, the beautiful woman over there with that adorable baby bump.” She laughed lightly as she looked from Alexander to the pretty brunette standing next to him. She thought about her best friend, Ava, for a moment. Ava had mentioned that she wanted to get to know Alexander better. She couldn’t help but wonder if this was his girlfriend.

“Nice to meet you,” Allison said with a shy grin. “I’m Allison, Alexander and I grew up together in Seattle.” She added as she looked at Alexander. He always helped to make her feel comfortable when she was feeling nervous.

Jack smiled, “Nice to meet you too.” He went to add something, but was cut off by his very excited girlfriend.

Allison looked down at her phone and pressed a button before looking back up to the couple in front of her.

“I am so happy that there is another girl around our age here. I thought I would be stuck with Jack and Dan all night.” She said with an overexaggerated huff. “Oh Dan is Jack’s best friend and kind of my brother?” She raised her eyebrow, “My dad adopted him after his dad passed away...” She knew she might have been oversharing, but she didn’t want things to be quiet.

Emma made her way around the party greeting her friends with Sean by her side. They stopped briefly to talk with Darcy, Peter, Chantay, and Danny who were sitting at one of the tables. Emma glanced over to see Jack and Aria smiling and laughing with Alexander and Allison. She was so happy that things seemed to be going well between them.

The backyard was filled with laughter as Sean and Emma’s friends gathered together along with her parents’ friends to celebrate their son. Emma hugged Christine, Archie, and Shane as she talked with her parents friends about the joys of parenthood. Joey and Caitlin walked up to Emma and gave her a hug, congratulating her, followed closely behind by Angie and Dan. Emma thanked them for coming with a smile.

“Craig isn’t here yet?” Joey asked as he looked around the backyard for his son.

“No but they did say they were in some traffic,” Sean said to Joey before he kissed Emma on the cheek. “Emma was talking to him a little while ago when he stopped for gas.”

“Oh alright.” Joey said as he walked over to join Caitlin with Lucy and the rest of their friends.

Craig was with Ellie and the kids out of town for the weekend because of a show, but he said he would make it back in time for their baby shower. Joey couldn’t help but think it was weird that he wasn’t there yet, but he shook the feeling.

As Dan approached the group Aria whispered to Allison, “This is Jack’s best friend and my sort of brother.”

“Hey,” Dan said as he greeted his friends, but focused on the unfamiliar face, “I’m Dan.”

“Hi Dan! I’m Allison.” She smiled before looking towards Alexander. He told her before they came to the party that everyone had been really nice to him so far, but she was relieved to see he was right. Although she wasn’t completely comfortable meeting new people she couldn’t deny that everyone was being super friendly.

The group of teenagers stood there in front of the donut wall attempting to get to know each other. It became immediately clear that Alexander and Aria were the most outgoing of the group, while Dan, Allison, and Jack were more reserved. Aria and Alexander would take turns starting conversations and the rest of the group would join in. From the outside it seemed as if they had known each other their whole lives, and for Dan, Aria, and Jack they had.

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“It’s time for the gifts!” Manny and Liberty announced as they got the group's attention.

Emma and Sean took their seats in the middle of the backyard as Manny and Liberty began bringing them gift after gift for them to open. Everyone was laughing and making guesses as to what would be in the box when Allison’s phone rang for the tenth time.

Panic came across her face as she answered the phone. She tried to whisper to the person on the other end that she was busy, but it was clear that didn’t stop them. She continued trying to hang up the phone and from the fidgeting that she was doing Alexander knew who was on the other line. Finally Allison had enough and she shouted, “Leave me alone!” She hung up the phone and then looked at everyone around her. They were all staring at her. Embarrassment came over her as she ran through the house to try and leave. Alexander followed after her to make sure she was okay.

Liberty was going to check on Allison when Manny shook her head, “I’ve got it. You take care of the gifts.” She smiled as she rushed off after Allison. Manny had been through horrible fights with her parents that ended up with her moving out. She could maybe be helpful to Allison.

“Let’s get back to the gifts!” Manny could hear Liberty saying in the distance as she approached Allison.

Manny quietly stood in the doorway as she listened in on Allison’s conversation with Alexander. “They have been harassing me since I got off the plane. They want me to come home, but that’s not my home any more. I’m emancipated. I never have to see them again if I don’t want to.” She paused for a moment as Alexander held on to her tightly and rubbed her back gently. “I just don’t know what to do. I don’t know why I can’t have parents that love me. They say they do, but if they did they wouldn’t treat me this way.”

Manny cleared her throat to let them know that she was there, “I’m sorry to interrupt,” She watched as Allison and Alexander turned to face her. She could tell that Allison had been crying. “Do you mind some unsolicited advice?”

Allison nodded her head gently to allow Manny to speak. She wiped a tear from her face and reached for Alexander’s hand to calm herself down.

“I know that we just met and you can tell me to mind my own business if you want, but I think coming here was the right decision for you. When I was growing up my father and I did not get along at all. He was very strict and I managed to get myself in trouble, a lot. Things became so bad between us that he kicked me out of the house and called me a horrible name.” She paused for a moment thinking back on how horrible she felt after her father called her a slut. “I felt like I had nowhere to go especially since I was in a fight with my best friend at the time.” She looked back at Emma who was outside happily opening presents.

“Emma?” Allison questioned.

“Yeah and even though we were fighting she took me into her home and got her parents to agree to let me stay. I never felt safer or more at home than I felt staying with Emma’s family.” She looked at Allison with a small smile, “Liberty and JT are great people. They are exactly who you need right now. Enjoy your time with them and with the kids. Embrace the safety that you are feeling there. If your parents cannot be supportive and loving then that’s their loss. You have your own support system here now. We have all been friends since we were kids and we’ve become a family and that means you both are a part of our extended family now. Whether you like it or not you’re stuck with all of us now.” She said with a light laugh as she walked over to Allison and Alexander and hugged them gently. “Take your time and when you’re ready come back and join the party.”

Allison watched as Manny walked through the house and back outside to join the rest of the party. She turned to face Alexander who was smiling at her. “She seems nice.” She said as she felt herself calming down. She knew that Manny was right. She could already feel more welcomed here than she ever did at home with her parents. “Thanks for introducing me to your family and their friends.”

“Of course,” Alexander said with a smile as he motioned to the party, “You know you’re the most important person in my life. Want to go back outside?” He questioned.

“Let’s go.” She said as she followed his lead back out into the backyard.

When she stepped outside she thought she would be met with awkward stares, but instead Jack, Aria, and Dan were waiting with cake. “We didn’t want you to miss the cake!” Aria said excitedly as Jack and Dan were shoveling their own pieces of cake in their mouth. “I told them to wait for you to eat it but…” Her voice trailed off and she shrugged after handing off the cake to Allison and Alexander.

“Thanks,” Allison said with a smile as she took the plate from Aria. She glanced over to see Alexander quickly finishing his own peace of cake.

Aria, Jack, and Dan were listening intently as Allison told them stories about her life in Seattle. As Alexander listened to Allison’s stories he looked around the room to see Liberty standing by herself for a moment. He thought he would take advantage of it and went over to talk to his mom, “I’m really glad that I met you.” He said as he looked at Liberty who had a gigantic grin on her face.

“We’re so happy that you showed up at our house.” She felt like nothing could take the smile off of her face. “And your friend is a sweetheart. She can stay as long as she needs.” She motioned over to Allison who was smiling and laughing and enjoying herself.

“She feels safe in your house. She hasn’t felt safe in a really long time.” He said as he looked at his birth mother. He loved his adoptive parents and he’s so glad that they are so supportive of him, but being at a party with his birth parents is something he always dreamed about. His parents always told him that he was adopted, but it still felt unreal as he stood here. He looked over to his birth father who was laughing with Sean, Toby, Jay, and his Uncle Danny. Alexander truly felt like this is where he belonged.

“Where is Craig? He should’ve been here by now,” Emma questioned as she approached the group of guys. “Have you talked to him, Sean?”

“No, I haven’t heard from him since he called you.” Sean said as he stopped his conversation with his friends. “Maybe ask Joey if he’s heard from him?”

Emma nodded to Sean as she walked over to Joey who was standing with Archie and Bronco, while Caitlin was talking to Christine, Lucy, Erica, and Heather. Before she had the chance to question Joey his phone rang.

“Hello?” Joey answered before the tone of his voice changed. He was pale as a ghost as he listened to the person on the other end.

Caitlin noticed that Joey looked upset and she excused herself from her friends to go to him, “Is everything okay?”

“It’s Craig.” That was all Joey managed to get out as he tried to take in the information that was coming from the other side of the phone.

Chapter Text

Angela and Aria were pacing the hallway while Joey and Caitlin were inside with the doctors. All they knew was that Craig had been in an accident with Ellie and their three kids.

Dan sat quietly in the waiting room trying not to think about the last time he was sitting in this chair, the day that he lost his father. He nervously started to bounce his leg up and down.

Everyone turned when they heard someone approaching, hopeful that it would be their parents with good news. Jack, Olivia, and Ava were walking down the hallway with coffee and snacks in their hands as Archie, Christine, Emma, and Sean followed behind them.

Aria quit her pacing once she saw Jack walking towards her. She wiped the tear from her face and ran into Jack’s arms, “We don’t know how bad the accident was yet. My parents are in there with the doctors now.” She said as she pulled away and looked up at him. Their height difference was noticeable especially since she was still wearing her sandals from the party earlier.

In that moment Joey and Caitlin walked out of the hospital room with a look of relief on their faces, “Everyone is fine.” Caitlin began as she noticed all of their family’s eyes on her. “They want to keep them overnight to run some tests, but the doctors said it could’ve been much worse.”

“Everyone was wearing their seatbelts luckily. Craig has a minor concussion and he broke his leg but they don’t expect any long term complications.” Joey finished as he watched his family hugging each other in celebration. When the hospital called him saying there had been an accident he truly thought of the worst scenario. His gut kept questioning why Craig was running that late to the shower and now he knew why.

—————————————————-

“Mom, I’m going over to Liam’s!” Arianna shouted on her way towards the front door.

“Not so fast,” Alexa said as she walked into the hallway where Arianna was standing. “Will Stephanie be home?” She asked with a raise of her eyebrow. Stephanie Kaye was Liam’s mother, and an old friend of Simon and Alexa.

“Yeah.” Arianna said with a sigh. Honestly she had no idea if Liam’s mother would be home, but she’d never tell her mom that. “Can I go now?”

“Sweetheart, Stephanie is going through a very difficult time right now with the divorce so remember not to give her too much trouble when you’re over there.” Alexa said to her daughter in a very serious tone. Everyone knew that Stephanie was getting divorced because of her husband’s infidelity and Erica said that she wasn’t handling it well.

“Yes mom.” She said with a smile as she kissed Alexa on the cheek and ran out of the house. Liam only lives a few blocks away so she was just going to walk there.

—————————————————-

“Tristan, how do you feel about your two friends working together on the new West Drive reboot?” The paparazzi asked as he shoved the microphone towards Tristan.

Tristan stood there next to his celebrity boyfriend and plastered a fake smile on his face, “I couldn’t be happier for my two oldest friends.” He then walked away from the paparazzi.

“You handled that well,” His boyfriend, Lawson, said to him with a genuine smile.

“Are you kidding me? How dare they ask about Tori and Zoe? What about me? I’m so sick of everyone else in my life getting everything that I want. It’s just like high school all over again. My boyfriend couldn’t even decide if he liked boys or girls and was always with Maya or Lola when he was supposed to be strictly on boys.” He continued to rant on and on.

“Tristan, your ex was bisexual.” Lawson said with a disappointing tone. He had not seen Tristan behave like this before and he didn’t like it.

“Whatever.” He said as he looked over Lawson's shoulder to see a man with a camera. “What are you doing?”

“Selling this video to TMZ.” The paparazzi said with a smirk as he walked away leaving Tristan shocked.

“What am I going to do?” He said with a sigh.

—————————————————-

Angie was the first person to go in to see Craig. She had always been the closest to Craig because she grew up with him. Even when he was on tour he always made a point to come visit her and her parents. “Hey,” She said with a smile as she walked in. She wasn’t sure how he was going to look but was pleasantly surprised when she saw him laying down while Ellie watched the kids play games on her phone.

“Hey kid.” He said happily as he saw his sister walk through the door. “Why do you look like somebody died?”

“Craig!” Ellie yelled as she slapped him gently. “I told you no jokes like that in front of the kids.”

“Sorry, sorry.” He said as he put his hands up with a laugh. He then turned back to Angela. “We’re fine they’re only keeping us because they want to be extra careful after dad and Caitlin came running in here screaming about how they need to make sure we’re okay.

“The accident really wasn’t that bad. Some guy ran a red light and crashed into us, but look…” Ellie motioned to everyone around her, “We’re all here and that’s all that matters.”

“I was so scared.” Angie finally said out loud as she looked from Craig to her beautiful nieces and nephew who were laughing and playing. “I thought we might've lost you guys.” She said as she looked down and started twirling a piece of her hair, a nervous habit she had picked up over the years.

“Angie, we’re not going anywhere. Dad said we can stay at his place for a while so you’ll be seeing a lot of us.” He said with a smile as he reached out to comfort his sister.

“Good because they’re doing renovations on my apartment this month so I’m staying with dad too. It’ll be all of us Jeremiah’s under one roof.” Angie said with a relieved smile. She didn’t want to have to say goodbye to Craig again. Not right away.

“We’re actually Manning’s, Aunt Angie!” Sadie, Craig and Ellie’s four year old daughter, said back to her aunt. She looked up from the phone briefly to correct her before going back to her game.

Angie, Craig, and Ellie all burst into laughter as Craig joked, “Yeah, Aunt Angie.”

—————————————————-

“Hey beautiful,” Liam whispered before he greeted Arianna with a kiss. He wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly for a moment just enjoying being with her.

“Well hello to you too,” She grinned at him as she enjoyed the feeling of being wrapped up in his arms.

“My dad moved the rest of his stuff out today.” Liam said with a sigh as he looked down at the floor. His parents divorce was completely unexpected and he was not handling it well.

“Liam,” She reached for his hand and squeezed it gently. “I’m so sorry. I know that this is really hard for you.” She brushed his face with her free hand and smiled, “I have an idea!”

“And what’s that?” Liam asked with a flirtatious smirk.

“A pool party!!!!” She exclaimed with excitement as she rushed over to the couch and pulled out her phone. “Your mom is out tonight, right?” She questioned with a raised eyebrow and a devilish grin on her face.

Liam laughed as he walked over to join her on the couch, “She’s going out tonight with Erica and Heather because they’re old friend Voula is back in town for a couple of days.” He said with a shrug as he looked towards the backyard where their pool was glistening in the sun. “It could work. Dan has baby Derek for the night.” He said thinking about how his sister shared custody of her son with his father.

“Well then let’s throw a party. It’s exactly what you need.” She smiled as she started sending out texts inviting their friends.

—————————————————-

Within an hour the video of Tristan’s biphobic rant had been shared over a million times. “#TristanMilliganisoverparty” is trending worldwide, while fans continue to search for the ex-boyfriend Tristan mentioned in his rant.

Tristan looked down at his notifications on Twitter to see people tagging Zoe Rivas, Tori Santamaria, and Maya Matlin in the video of him. He was horrified. He didn’t understand why people were getting so upset about what he said. Everyone is always trying to tear him down and he was sick of it.

His phone rang and it was his agent. He answered the phone to hear screaming on the other end. His agent was furious with him. How could he be so stupid as to get caught saying horrible things about the people he was supposed to be friends with.

As his agent yelled at him Tristan scrolled through his trending hashtag. He stopped when he saw people tagging Miles Hollingsworth III. Looks like they found his ex-boyfriend.

—————————————————-

Angie left Craig’s hospital room to find that Charlotte, Dan’s on-again off-again girlfriend, had joined them with little Derek, their son.

Derek hopped off Dan’s lap and rushed over to Angie with a big smile on his face, “Auntie Angie!!!” He jumped towards her forcing Angie to react fast. She caught him with a smile as she hugged him.

As Aria and Dan went in to see Craig, Ellie, and the kids the rest of the family stood in the hallway. Angie, Joey, Caitlin, Archie, and Christine were playing with Derek as Jack, Ava, Olivia, and Charlotte discuss the party they were just invited to.

“I cannot believe I’ve been out of the house for an hour and my brother is already throwing a party and inviting the entire school.” Charlotte said with a sigh as she rolled her eyes.

“I think it’s gonna be fun. People are already posting pictures from it. Looks they’re all having a great time,” Ava said as she held up her phone so that her friends could scroll through the pictures from the party posted to Instagram.

“We have to go! There hasn’t been a party in months.” Olivia added as she looked towards Ava.

“We can go but someone is going to have to watch Derek for the night.” Jack said as he looked over to the little boy playing on the other end of the hallway.

“We can’t let the adults know because they might tell my mom, which would ruin the entire party.” Charlotte said. She was worried because she was left in charge of Liam.

“I’ll watch him,” Angie said with a smile as she walked over to the group of teens. “Go have fun.”

—————————————————-

When Arianna mentioned a party she envisioned a few of their friends coming over, going in the pool, and drinking some beers. She did not expect the amount of people that showed up to Liam’s house. She rushed over to Liam who was drinking beers with some of the football team in the corner of the backyard, “Did you invite more people?”

“Yeah! Isn’t it great?” He asked with a laugh as he threw the beer can into the recycling bin, something that Arianna had drilled into him at the start of their relationship.

“It’s getting a little out of control, babe.” She said as she looked around to see massive amounts of people drinking and dancing in the backyard.

“Relax, it’s fun!” He said as he kissed her gently and then went back to drinking with his friends.

Arianna was getting worried because this was unlike Liam. He didn’t even really like most of the people that are here. It’s like he’s trying to avoid his feelings by getting drunk and hanging out with strangers.

“This party is so fun!!!” Jade, Yick Yu’s daughter, said excitedly as she rushed over to Arianna. “I can’t believe you two had it in you.” She laughed as she jokingly teased her friend. Arianna was not the kind of person who would throw a wild party, and Liam is definitely not a people person. The only person he actually likes all of the time is Arianna.

Violet, BLT and Michelle’s daughter, approached the girls with a smile, “Hey.” She had grown up with Arianna and the two were always close, but Violet and Jade were more like acquaintances.

“Is that the guy you’ve been seeing?” Arianna asked casually motioning to the stranger at the bar on the other side of the backyard.

“Yeah, I’m not sure about him though.” Violet said with a sigh. “He seemed nice at first, but I’m noticing some red flags now.” Her parents were always teaching her and her sisters about how they should be treated in a relationship and the signs to look for if things might turn dangerous. She was so lucky to have such a close relationship with her parents.

“Always trust your gut.” Jade said with a smile before walking away. “I’m gonna go grab another drink.”

—————————————————-

“Did you see what’s trending on Twitter right now?” Lola looked up from the couch at Miles who was standing by the bar in their apartment. She held the phone out to him so that he could look.

“Is that Tristan?” He questioned as he walked towards her and took the phone from her hand. He scrolled down as he watched people talking about his old relationship and his friends, Zoe, Maya, and Tori.

Before he could say anything else there was a knock at the door, “I’ll get it!” Lola said as she jumped off the couch and rushed over to their front door. Esme and Frankie were standing there surrounded by paparazzi questioning them on Tristan. “Oh my god, come in!” She said as she ushered the girls through the door.

“Can you believe Tristan would say such horrible things? And everyone thought I was the worst person we went to high school with.” Esme said as she took a seat on the couch.

Frankie couldn’t help but laugh at the comment Esme made. Even when she was stressing over her brother and the crowd of people outside their door Esme always knew how to make Frankie smile. “Babe, this is serious.” She smiled as she saw Esme give her a grin. “We came as soon as we heard people talking about you and Lola. Stans all over Twitter are finding our old tweets and posts and someone even found an old video of the play you wrote about Lola. It’s getting crazy, Miles.”

Lola walked over to Miles and grabbed his hand. They had moved on from the drama with Tristan years ago and now these random people on the internet are bringing it back up. This is why Miles decided to release his first book under a pseudonym because he didn’t want everyone judging it because of who his family and their history is.

“Zoe and Tori just released a statement. They said that although they don’t wish any bad will on Tristan they have not continued their friendship with Tristan after high school ended.” She finished reading the comment then noted, “Harsh.”

“I don’t think we have to make a statement,” Miles said as he looked towards Lola for confirmation. He couldn’t believe that Tristan was still harboring such anger towards him after all these years.

“I think you both should post a picture of the two of you together and that will show everyone that you have moved on. You don’t need to have a long discussion about your ex-boyfriend. Especially when it is so clear that he’s still bitter after all these years,” Frankie said in support of her brother and her best friend. “We just wanted to make sure you were okay.

“We’re fine, it’s Tristan that seems like he’s in trouble.” Miles said as he squeezed Lola‘s hand.

“I can’t wait to see Tristan’s ridiculous notes app apology.” Esme said with a laugh and a shrug.

Chapter Text

Jack, Aria, Dan, Ava, and Olivia walked with Charlotte into her backyard. They looked around as people were drinking, dancing, and some of them were even swimming. The party was definitely more wild than they had anticipated. The backyard was full of drunk teenagers doing things they shouldn’t be doing.

“I don’t even know some of these people,” Ava stated as she looked at the unfamiliar guys who were playing beer pong in the far corner of the backyard. “Do they go to Degrassi?”

“I don’t think so.” Olivia responded as she searched the backyard for one particular face. She had been seeing this guy for the majority of the summer and things were starting to get more serious. She texted him when they left Aria’s house to tell him to meet them at the party.

“If my mother finds out about this she’s going to kill us,” Charlotte said as she scanned the backyard looking for her brother. “Liam doesn’t even like people, what the hell is he doing having a party this big?”

On the other side of the backyard Arianna is standing with Violet. She was visibly upset as she began rambling to her best friend, “This has gotten out of control. I don’t know how I’m going to stop it.” She looked around the backyard as she saw plastic cups thrown around the floor and a broken chair in the corner. “They’re destroying the house.”

Violet followed her gaze to see the destruction happening in Liam’s backyard. It was definitely going to be a lot of work for them to clean it up before his mother gets home. Her eyes landed on the back door as she noticed Liam’s sister and her friends. She motioned towards her and looked at Arianna, “Charlotte is here. Maybe she can help you get this place under control.” She said with a small shrug.

“Yes!!” Arianna exclaimed with excitement. “Great idea!” She paused for a moment as she looked around the backyard one more time, “Can you do me a favor? I can’t find Jade and she seemed drunk earlier. Would you go find her for me?” She begged her friend with a smile before running off to Charlotte for help.

Violet glanced around the backyard. She tried to think back to the last time she had seen her. She realized she hadn’t seen Jade since they talked about that guy she’s been seeing. Come to think of it she wasn’t able to find him either.

Violet searched the entire backyard but she was nowhere to be found. It was odd because everyone she asked said they had not seen her in a while either. She was beginning to get nervous. Something just didn’t feel right. She made her way into the house to see if maybe she came in to use the bathroom. Maybe she was feeling sick. Violet didn’t hang out with Jade all of the time, but she did know that she doesn’t drink that often.

She approached the open bathroom door and checked to see if Jade was in there, but it was empty. Where could she be? Suddenly she heard a noise coming from Charlotte’s bedroom. She quietly walked towards the door and knocked on it lightly before walking in. Shocked, she screamed, “Get away from her!”

—————————————————-

“Addie,” Fiona shouted up the stairs towards her daughters, “Aurora, we’re going to be late for dance class.” Fiona gathered her phone and her keys as she heard the girls rushing down the stairs.

Adeline and Aurora stood in front of Fiona in their matching tutus smiling up at her. “We’re ready for class!” Addie said with an excited grin.

“Mama did our hair. Do you like it, mommy?” Aurora asked as she pointed towards their signature Imogen Moreno hairstyle.

“You girls look just like mama.” Fiona said with a smile before looking up to see a beaming Imogen standing on the stairs behind them.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

“We’ll get it!!!” The girls rushed to the front door before Imogen and Fiona could stop them. On the other side was Brooke and Harper standing in front of Drew, Bianca, Adam, and Becky. The girls excitedly greeted each other as the adults gathered around.

“My mommy said that there’s going to be a new dance teacher today,” Brooke said nervously before she looked back at Bianca for validation.

“That’s right, sweetheart. We better get going or else we’re going to be late.” Bianca smiled at her daughter and put her hand on her shoulder.

“Let's get going,” Becky said as she grabbed her daughter, Harper’s hand before walking to the car.

The girls looked out the window at the houses that they passed on the way to class. The world seemed so much bigger in the eyes of a child. They would point out the houses of their classmates or their parents’ friends' houses. They giggled as they joked about growing up and living in a big house all together. A smile formed on their parents’ faces as they took in their children’s friendship.

—————————————————-

“Welcome friends,” Zoe said as she opened the front door to her apartment. She had been looking into buying a house with Rasha, but they couldn’t seem to find anything they both liked.

Maya, Zig, Tori, Cam, Miles, and Lola walked through the door and took their seats at the dining room table. Zoe invited them over after everything that happened with the video of Tristan. She thought it would be helpful for them to get together and talk about what they’re going through. Although most of Twitter is saying positive things about them it’s still hard to think about somebody you used to be incredibly close to saying such horrific things.

“Miles, how are you doing? I know that this must be the hardest on you.” Maya said as she looked at her ex-boyfriend and friend. She knew how it felt to take the brunt of Tristan's anger and she hated to see her friends suffer.

“We haven’t spoken since I left for college and honestly he said these same things to my face while we were still together.” He trailed off for a second thinking about the countless times that Tristan would invalidate him. Compared to how his father would treat him Miles barely noticed Tristan’s subtle, and not so subtle, attacks. Now that he is with Lola he was able to see how unhealthy that relationship was. “I’m fine. Things with Tristan ended so long ago, and I’ve honestly never been happier. Yeah it sucks that information about my old relationship is trending on Twitter, but there’s nothing we can do about it.”

Lola instinctively reached out and took Miles’ hand. She would do anything to stop him from hurting. Although he would never admit it, Lola knew that this was hard on him. How could it not be? Old pictures are being posted online. People are commenting on his old relationship. Things were very dramatic right now and it would be impossible for him to feel absolutely nothing.

“Maybe we should change the subject,” Lola mentioned as she glanced at Zoe. Lola and Zoe became really close after she started dating Miles. They would go on double dates with Zoe and Rasha and talk about their plans for their future. Lola even went house hunting with them a few times.

“We’re starting promo on the reboot this week,” Zoe said, changing the subject to the West Drive reboot she was starring in with Tori.

“It’s so exciting!” Tori exclaimed as she looked from Zoe to Cam who was sitting next to her with his arm around her shoulders. Falling in love with Campbell Saunders was not something that Tori expected when she told him she would go to one of his hockey games. She always thought he was cute in high school, but he was clearly interested in Maya so she forgot about it. That is until they ran into each other again at a hotel, while he was at an away game and she was filming a movie. All it took was one invitation to see his game, and a year and a half later here they are more in love than they’ve ever been.

Rasha stood up from the table with a smile, “I’m going to go get us some snacks.” She said before she rushed off to their kitchen. Rasha knew how important Tristan was to Zoe in high school, and she also knew that Zoe deserved a better friend than him. Although she wasn’t happy that Tristan was suffering it was nice to know that Zoe finally had a group of friends that would drop everything and gather together to take care of each other. Zoe deserved the world and Rasha was planning on giving her it.

—————————————————-

Kyle, the guy that Violet had been seeing, jumped off the bed and scurried out of the room. Violet’s first instinct was to chase after Kyle and give him a piece of her mind. How dare he invite himself to this party and then try and take advantage of somebody who was clearly drunk. She was about to leave when she saw Jade crying on the bed curled up in a ball looking disheveled. All her thoughts about making him suffer ended as she rushed over to Jade to take care of her, “I’m so sorry. If it wasn’t for me he wouldn’t have been here.” She paused for a moment then questioned, “Did he?” She wasn’t able to get the words out, but Jade knew what she was asking.

“No,” Jade said quietly as she shook her head. “He tried though.” She managed to get out before she buried her head in her hands. She let out a light sob before speaking once more, “It’s not your fault. You didn’t even invite him.”

She pulled Jade into a hug as she tried to comfort her. She didn’t know what to say or what to do, but she knew that she didn’t want her to feel alone. All she could think of is that she wanted to make sure that Jade was okay.

“What happened? I saw Kyle run out,” Arianna questioned as she rushed into the bedroom. Her eyes met with Violet’s as she saw her and Jade sitting on the bed. Her stomach dropped as she watched the tears rolling down Jade’s face. She took a seat next to them on the bed as she thought about what to do. It took only a few minutes before she realized she didn’t know what to do.

The girls sat in silence for a few minutes before they heard the front door slam. “Liam? Charlotte? I heard the music from down the block!!” Stephanie Kaye screamed as she walked into the bedroom expecting to see one of her children. “Arianna, what’s going on here?” She questioned as she saw the three girls wrapped in each other’s arms comforting each other.

Arianna began to speak before she was interrupted by Jade, “A guy I’ve never met tried to rape me.” It was the first time she fully comprehended what happened to her. Speaking the words out loud made it real.

“Why don’t you send everyone home, Arianna? I think the party is over.” Stephanie motioned for the girls to leave the room. “Jade, do you mind if we talk a little bit?” She questioned as she took a seat next to the girl on the bed.

Jade nodded her head as she watched Arianna and Violet rush out of the room to kick everyone out.

“Would you like for me to call the police? If you know who this guy is you can go after him for sexual assault.” Stephanie said as she reached for the girl's hand. “If you do not want me to say anything I won’t. It’s your life and I want to make sure that you’re taken care. I don’t want to rush you into something that you’re not ready for.”

“Please don’t tell my dad. I don’t want him to worry about me. I’m fine. Violet stopped him before he could do anything to me.” She said as she wiped the last of her tears from her face.

“I won’t tell Yick anything, but please know that I’m here if you want to talk about it. I had a similar situation when I was in college.” She paused for a moment, “It was this guy I had classes with. I remember blaming myself for a while about it. It took a few years for me to realize that it wasn’t my fault. I hope you know that the blame is on him and only him.”

—————————————————-

The girls rush into their dance class with bright smiles on their faces. They started getting their dance shoes on as their parents walked in behind them. Imogen stopped in her tracks as she made eye contact with their new dance instructor. Could that really be…?

“Moreno? Is that you?” Jack Jones asked with a friendly smile as she approached her ex-girlfriend. She moved away from Toronto shortly after graduating from Degrassi and only returned a few weeks ago.

Fiona looked from Imogen over towards the beautiful blonde woman on the other side of the room. Her eyebrow raised as she realized who was standing there. Jack, Imogen’s ex-girlfriend from the year they broke up. Fiona and Imogen made sure that they didn’t have any secrets from each other. They felt a healthy marriage was based on trust and honesty. They made sure to tell each other everything that happened during their missing years because they never wanted the other to feel blindsided.

“Hey Jack. Didn’t know you were back in town.” Imogen said as she walked next to Fiona and grabbed her hand. Although she didn’t hold any hard feelings towards Jack they were certainly two vastly different people.

Fiona laced her fingers through Imogen’s as she introduced herself to Jack, “The girls are so excited to start dance class today.” She notes as she nodded over towards the four girls playing in their tutus.

Jack greeted Fiona and then walked away to teach her class. The group stood in silence for a minute before Becky noted, “Well that was awkward.” Becky had been friends with Jack during her relationship with Imogen. “I never really liked her anyway. Okay that’s not true I did like her, but you two are meant to be.” She beamed happily as she pointed to Fiona and Imogen.

“I’m not jealous, Becky. You don’t have to do all of that.” Fiona said with a laugh as she took a seat next to the rest of the parents in the lobby.

“Anyway,” Bianca said with a shake of her head as she sat down next to Fiona. “What is new with everyone?” She questioned looking from Fiona over to Adam.

“We actually have some pretty big news.” Adam said with excitement in his voice. “Becky and I are adopting a teenager.” He watched as his friends’ faces dropped in shock.

“You’re adopting a teenager? From where?” Fiona questioned. Becky and Adam had always been the kind of people who would go out of their way to help others, but this seemed kind of extreme.

“Her name is Marissa and she goes to our church. Her parents died in a car accident and she has no known family. She is being put into the system, but we’ve done everything we need to do and we’re approved for adoption. She is such a sweetheart and Harper adores her cause she is a volunteer at her church group.” Becky beamed with pride as she thought about the joy this new addition will bring to their family.

“This seems like it’s happening very fast.” Drew said, worried about his brother and sister-in-law. “Do you even really know this girl?”

“We’re doing it, Drew. We’ve already made up our minds.” Adam said sternly.

Bianca could sense the tone of Adam’s voice and immediately reacted, “That’s wonderful. You’re going to make such a difference in her life.” She thought for a moment about her aunt who took her in. She knew that Becky and Adam would be a positive influence in her life and give her the love that she deserved. She couldn’t help but think if someone who cared took Bianca in as a teenager maybe she wouldn’t have gotten involved with Vince and his gang.

“Thank you!” Becky exclaimed with a smile and then leaned on to Adam. “I can’t believe we had to sign the girls up for such a late dance class.” She sighed as she checked her watch to see what time it was. 8:00. What kids dance class even happens this late?

“That’s because we waited too long to sign up. It was so difficult to find a dance class that could fit all four of the girls.” Fiona said as she glanced over to see the girls pirouetting across the dance floor.

The joy on their daughters’ faces was enough to fill all of the couples with love and happiness. It felt like just yesterday they were walking through the halls of Degrassi, trying to discover themselves, and now their children are growing up together. The group sat around discussing their lives and what their plans are for the end of the summer. Finally Jack returned with the four girls following behind her, “We will see you all next week!” Jack smiled and then looked over at Imogen. “Great seeing you, Moreno.” She smirked as she twirled around and skipped off to talk with her co-teacher.

—————————————————-

Rasha returned from the kitchen with snacks for the group. She smiled brightly as she placed the chips on the table for the group to enjoy. She looked over at Zoe’s phone that was lighting up with a phone call...it was Tristan.

Zoe looked from her phone and then up to the group who was staring at her. “This is Tristan. What should I do?” She questioned in a panicked tone. “I really don’t want to talk to him.” She looked up at Rasha who was standing over her shoulder with a supportive smile.

“I think you should answer or else he’s just going to keep calling. You know Tristan. He’s always like this,” Tori suggested to Zoe. Tristan was relentless when he wanted to get his point across and instead of admitting that he’s wrong he usually doubles down.

Zoe clicked accept on the phone and put it on speaker so her friends could hear, ‘Hi Tristan.“ She wasn’t sure what he could possibly have to say to her. It’s not like they even stayed friends after high school. Once he made a full recovery and became kind of famous he no longer needed Zoe.

“I cannot believe that everyone is blowing this out of control.” Tristan began rambling the same nonsense he had been saying for years. He was always too busy blaming everybody else for his problems instead of taking accountability for his actions.

Miles was becoming increasingly more frustrated as he heard Tristan’s excuses. The same excuses he used throughout his entire relationship with him. Before he had a chance to excuse himself Lola spoke up, “Tristan nobody wants to hear your sob story. We’re all adults now and if you haven’t grown since high school that’s your problem, but leave Miles out of it.” Lola stood up from the table and gathered her things.

Zoe picked her hand up to stop Lola from leaving and began to speak to Tristan, “You know what? Lola is right. We have all moved past high school and if you haven’t I feel sorry for you.” She paused for a moment, “But I don’t want to talk to you any more.” She hit end call and placed the phone back down on the table. She let out a relieved sigh and looked up towards her friends.

Zig put his hand on Maya’s knee as they listened to the disagreement with Tristan. He knew that confrontation like this always made her uncomfortable. Even though Cam survived his attempt on his life that day changed Maya forever. She was always more aware of the people around her and their feelings. He knew that even though she was no longer friends with Tristan she would still worry about him.

“That was incredible. I am so proud of both of you,” Rasha said with a smile as she took a seat next to Zoe and grabbed her hand.

Lola smiled at Zoe before looking at Miles. She saw the look of relief on his face, but she could still tell that the events of today took a toll on him. “Listen thank you so much for having us over, but Shay’s cousin Taylor is watching Hope and we told her we’d be home early.” She smiled as she walked around saying goodbye to her friends with Miles following closely behind.

Maya and Zig and Tori and Cam left shortly after Lola and Miles did, leaving Rasha and Zoe alone to discuss the day. They curled up on the couch and took a deep breath, “Today was exhausting. I really feel bad for Miles and Lola. They’re just trying to move on with their lives with Hope. When will Tristan just move on?” Zoe said with an exasperated sigh.

“Tristan will always be like this, Zoe. All we can do is not let him drag us down to his level. Tonight was a good chance for all of his old friends to get together and take care of each other. We’ll need to do it more often.” Rasha smiled before gently kissing Zoe’s head.

Zoe smiled, enjoying the feeling of Rasha’s arms around her. She leaned up smiling brightly as she gently placed a kiss on Rasha’s lips. “Yes we have to do it more often.”