This fanfic is set during season three of Degrassi. It takes place after Manny loses her virginity to Craig. This is when Craig and Manny are talking outside of school, and Alex wants to talk to him alone. Ashley tells Craig that she loves him, but what was Craig really thinking when he said "I love you." back to Ashley.

"I love you." Ashley said to Craig as Manny watched.

What am I supposed to say back Craig asked himself. I mean Ashley is amazing, she is the type of person that I'm supposed to be with. Right? She's into music, she's different, and she is almost perfect. But Manny, she just has something about her. She makes me feel wild and free, and no matter what were doing together I'm having an amazing time. Manny's not perfect, that's clear, but still there is something about her that keeps me coming back for more.

I'm not supposed to like her, she's a child. She's not nearly as eloquent or sophisticated as Ashley. We've never actually had an intelligent conversation with one another. This fact didn't make Craig think that Manny was dumb, like many other people thought, it made him want to get to know her more. He wanted to be the one that she finally opened herself all the way to. He knew that he was already on the way to being that guy, he knew this because last night they had sex. He had sex with her, and he knew that he was her first.

It was obviously special to her, it obviously meant a lot. He couldn't really figure out if it meant a lot to him because she was also his first time, or if he just wanted it to mean more than it did. He had been trying to convincke himself since she left last night that he was in love with Ashley and the only reason he even looked in Manny's direction is because she would give him the one thing Ashley wouldn't, sex.

He wanted Ashley to be his first, at least he thought he did. They were in love. But she wasn't ready, and he was, he was ready to take that next, huge step with her. He was insulted when she didn't want to do it with him, so maybe he used Manny to make himself feel better. The thought of what they did sickened him, but he couldn't tell if it was because he regretted it, or because he knew it meant so much more than he thought it did.

He looked into Ashley's eyes, and he knew that he needed to give her an answer. Did he actually love Ashley? Was she really the one for him? All of a sudden, there was a voice in the back of his head that was speaking to him. It was growing louder with each passing millisecond. It was repeating a name over and over again. The name it was saying wasn't Ashley, however, it was Manny.

It kept saying it over and over. He had only known Manny for a short amount of time, but she always seemed like she was just a little kid. She was always around, always in his way, and it used to annoy the shit out of him. But now, it didn't seem to be a trouble that Manny was around, he actually wanted her there, and that fact scared him to death.

Ashley pulled him into a hug. "I love you, too." he said, looking straight into Manny's eyes. When he saw the look in her eyes, his heart broke along with hers. But now, it was too late.