Disclaimer: Not mine

A/N: Thanks to everyone who is reading.

O.o

I'm back where I started. I hated gradution. I hated it, and I was pissed.

I was pissed that Manny kissed Craig right in front of me like that.

I was pissed that Craig had followed me out the door earlier.

Mostly though, I was pissed at myself. I was supposed to be over Craig Manning.

All of this passed through my mind as I pulled out my iPod, stuck the headphones in my ears, and blasted an angry, bitter song. Maybe that would make me feel better.

I started walking down the sidewalk again, this time concentrating on nothing but the lyrics in my head.

"Ellie! El, wait up!"

Somehow though, I still managed to hear Craig's voice calling behind me. Damn it, I hadn't turned it up loud enough. This time though, I would let him keep calling. I wasn't going to turn around. No. I wasn't going to give in.

"Damn it, Ellie! Stop walking and wait!"

Suddenly, I turn around, facing him. It caught him off gaurd because he took a step back as if he was afraid I was going to slap him or something.

"Why, Craig? Why the fuck should I wait, huh?" I screamed back at him. My own voice surprised me. I didn't want to scream. I didn't want to give him a reaction. But here I was. What happened to my plan of not turning around?

He seemed really taken aback by my sudden burst of anger. I didn't blame him.

"Because...because you just randomly ran out! What the hell was that about?"

What was it about? Was he honestly asking me that?

"Like you don't know." I was sick of playing this game with him.

"No, actually, I don't. Enlighten me, Ellie."

I glared at him, hating the way he was talking to me. I wanted him to yell at me, get mad, something. But no. He was just standing there, looking at me with pleading eyes.

"I...just..." My voice was caught inside my throat. I was so used to playing this with him that now that he wanted me to be completely honest, I didn't know what to do.

"Look, I'm sorry, okay?" I said, finally finding my voice.

"Sorry?" he questioned, apparently confused. "Why are you sorry?"

"For running out like that. For screaming at you. For--" Luckily I caught myself before the rest of that sentence came out. My response though, made him even more confused.

"What was that last one?"

"Um, nothing. It was nothing." Shit.

"Ellie, you've always been a bad liar."

Damn him being my best friend. He always knew when I was lying.

"How do you know I'm lying?" I guess I was going to keep playing a bit longer. But then again, I was a bit curious.

"Because, you're doing that thing with your hands," he pointed out, calmly.

I suddenly got very self concious and looked down at my hands. My right hand was pulling at those damn rubber bands they had given me in therapy to stop cutting. I didn't even notice that I did that when I lied.

"You also do the same thing when you're uncomfortable, or don't know what to say."

"No I don't," I shot bac at him, glaring.

"Yes, Ellie. You do," he replied, taking a step closer to me.

"How would you know?" I kept a bitter tone in my voice, not wanting to let him in.

"Because, El, I know you. I know what your favorite color is. I know that you're afraid of the dark really late at night, and why you started playing drums. And I know that right now, you're scared. Because now you've gone from doing that thing with your hands to crossing your arms in a protective sort of way." He took another step towards me and put his hands on my shoulders.

I stood there not knowing what to say. Keeping my arms where they were, I looked away from him. He was really close to me now and if I kept looking into his eyes, I might just start crying. Because he was right. He did know me. And I knew him. And that's why I thought we would have worked. But he didn't choose me. He didn't want me. And I couldn't bear to look at him knowing that.

"Ellie, look at me."

I shook my head. Tears were staring to well up in my eyes and it was proving really hard to keep them in.

"Ellie, look at me," he said again but this time, I felt his finger underneath my chin, bringing my face up to his. I could feel the tears just ready to fall if I blinked, so I tried my hardest not to. The next thing I knew, Craig's lips were on mine. I closed my eyes and the tears spilled down my face, some getting on his cheeks. Parting my mouth a bit I felt his tongue slither inside. I got caught in the moment and kissed him back but as I did, I suddenly realized what we were doing and pushed him off.

"Craig, we--" I began.

"No, it's okay," he said, cutting me off.

"But, Manny--"

"No, I'm not with her anymore."

His statement shocked me.

"What?" I coudln't believe what I was hearing.

"We broke up. Well, I broke up with her."

"But, you two were completely lovey dovey in there," I pointed out.

"Yeah. But that was all for show. I came back not only for graduation, but to break up with Manny in person. And we didn't want to tell anyone. Or, rather, I didn't want to tell anyone because I didn't want to bring any drama tonight," he explained.

"But she was just macking on you like you are together."

"Yeah, but that's only because of the reason I did break it off."

Now I was confused. What the hell was he talking about?

"That being?"

He looked down at the ground for a moment and swept his hand through his hair.

"You, Ellie. I broke up with her because of you."

My mouth dropped to the floor. Okay, not literally because that would defy the laws of science but, you get what I mean.

"Me? Why, me?"

He smiled at me.

"Because, while I was in Vancouver, recording, doing press, all that music stuff, I wasn't thinking about Manny, or Jimmy, or Marco, or God knows who else. No. The only person I could think about was that red headed girl back in Toronto. Ellie Nash. And that's when I knew, I shouldn't be with Manny. I should be with the girl who's laugh I know from miles away. The girl who spent every afternoon with me trying to get me to study for exams. The girl who understood me like no one else did. You, Ellie."

I smiled, not knowing how to react to his words. Thankfully though, I didn't have to because Craig just wiped my tears away and said, "And El?"

"Yeah?"

"I so won that game of tag."

I smiled. "Yeah, I guess you did."

"And so, I get to choose my prize." He then looked into my eyes and kissed me. Slowly and softly at first, and then making it more passionate.

I pulled away after a few moments and whispered, "Bet ya can't catch me again."

He smiled at me in that Craig-smirk-ish sort of way and said, "Ellie, you've got five seconds to run."

I ran into the darkness laughing, knowing he would catch me, and definitely wanting him to.

In the end, graduation really wasn't so bad.

And in case you were wondering, when he did catch me, he swung me over his shoulder and this time, I let him carry me home.

o.O

A/N: And that's it folks! My first Degrassi fic over. How'd I do? And I might write a sequel...or another Crellie...keep on the lookout! Thanks for reading...so now, please review!