Night Fright, Love at First Sight

This is a one-shot I wrote on the fly for ClosetDegrassiLover. I love reading her stories and it's only fair that I post a quick one for her to (hopefully) enjoy. I definitely love reading KC and Clare as well, so, someone write more! (Or if you're a fan of Glee with Tina/Arty- you should write too!)

So this is basically the present. There is a Jenna, Dave, and Alli is broken up with Johnny (good riddance). And so here is my favorite couple from Degrassi: Clare and KC! 3

There were nights that Clare would wake up in a cold sweat with chills running down her spine. Each vertebrae would quiver as she bit her lip to hide back her screams. She opened her eyes, hoping to calm herself and force the image away. She looked around the room, it was still the same as it had been in her youth; there were blue walls filled with photographs of her family, her oak desk with a black swivel chair and along with it her lifeline to Darcy. She got up and went to the computer, hoping that maybe, somewhere across the world, Darcy would be there to calm her down.

Darcy was the only one who knew about the dreams. These frights that Clare had had since her youth. They came sporadically and when they did, it felt like they would never leave. Darcy was the one who always woke up to them, a sisterly affection that she gave to her little sister. Clare had never spoken to what they were about specifically, just the pale complexion that Clare would have in the middle of the night was enough to explain that it was too scary to utter a word about.

Clare began tapping away on the computer, signing into the chat rooms that her sister frequently accessed. But to no avail, she wasn't there. Clare wrapped her knees close to her chest and gave it one last shot. She opened up her instant messenger looking for her sister. She wasn't there. Clare bit her lip and was afraid to go back to sleep. She couldn't shake the image away from her head. She was about to close her messenger and sign out and do homework when she received an impromptu message:

GutKC: Clare? What are you doing up so late?

Clare hesitated, she was in no mood to talk to him calmly. She was shaken and just needed to talk to someone who had always helped her in the past. Her boyfriend wouldn't be able to help her. KC was the one who held all the secrets to their relationship, not her.

ClareEdwards: Just some late-night HW. Biology. You?

GutKC: Couldn't sleep.

KC was able to deduce quickly that Clare was lying. Clare always finished her homework either during class or during lunch between conversations with him, Alli, or Connor. KC wasn't one to beat around the bush, so he went in face first.

GutKC: You finished that earlier, didn't you? What's really going on?

Clare paused. She figured he hadn't really been watching her that closely during lunch today, and frankly, her frenetic mind was unable to come up with an accurate excuse anyway.

ClareEdwards: I just couldn't sleep. Same as you.

GutKC: Then why the need for the excuse?

She bit her lip. She always tried to avoid conversations about her nightmares. Whatever the cost, whatever was needed to keep it secret.

ClareEdwards: Private.

GutKC: Unfair! Clare, I'm your boyfriend, you can tell me…

ClareEdwards: Private.

GutKC: Listen, Clare, you can tell me…

ClareEdwards: Private.

GutKC: Listen Clare, I know you don't talk much about your background, and I mean, I'm not one to talk either I guess…But I really care about you, honestly, and I want you to know that you can talk to me about this.

ClareEdwards HAS LOGGED OFF.

Clare sighed a breathe of relief just as KC ran his fingers through his hair. Both were staring at the computer screen. While KC spent the time figuring out his next move, Clare went straight to her bed and pulled the covers around her chin. She was still freaked.

Her phone vibrated and the screen lit up. She knew exactly who it was but paid no mind. This wasn't the time. She longed for Darcy to hold her just one more time and tell her it was alright. Sometimes she swore that she could hear a creak on the staircase or a shadow move across her window, but then her logic would appear and she would deduct its real reason for occurring. Dad was going down the kitchen for a late night sandwich that Mom would complain about in the morning. That shadow? Just the wind.

She heard tapping at the window. Just the wind. And then she heard more tapping. Just the wind. Just the wind. Just the wind.

"Clare, are you awake?" That got her. She covered her mouth to stifle a scream and looked toward her window. She steadied herself with one hand on her bed and pushed herself up sideways. Her eyes went wide when she realized it was KC hanging from the tree branch outside of her window. His black beanie and gray shirt were visible from where she laid on the bed but she couldn't make out his eyes. She pulled off the covers and then made a quick check at what she was wearing: pink shorts and an old shirt of her grandfather's full of holes and deterioration from use. She wrapped her arms around herself and went to the window. She stared with disbelief at the boy before her. She sighed and pulled her right arm away from her body and unlocked the window. She threaded her fingers through her hair and grabbed her glasses from the nightstand. When she turned around, there was KC, standing as awkward as ever.

KC was smiling at her, though, and with an impish grin, "You look good." His eyes followed the curves of Clare's body. Though he couldn't see all of it, he could imagine it. And the revealing holes of her shirt made is applicable for him to see more of her stomach and hips than he had ever seen before. Her legs shapely and met the floor gracefully. Though it was the middle of the night, Clare looked beautiful to him.

"So do you want to talk about it?" He asked.

"No," she said. Walking around him to close her door to prevent her parents from listening to them much further.

"Well, I think you do."

Clare bit her lip. Of course she did. That's why she got on the computer after all. She bit her lip again and felt blood seep through her mouth and touch her tongue. She slid onto her bed. She pulled her legs around her pretzel style and leaned her head against the headboard. She pulled her covers onto her. Though this was the place that had brought the haunting, this was also the place she felt most safe at her home. KC pulled off his beanie and pulled his fingers through his messed up hair. He wasn't sure what do. Stand? Sit at the desk chair? Go to bed with her? As much as he wanted to wrap around her and lay with her in bed, he didn't want to make her feel uncomfortable. He mentally shook himself to reality. This was the first girl that had ever brought this frenzy inside KC. And the first one to even get him to travel through the city to reach her house during the night; something he easily could've been given a warning about by being out after curfew…And that could've meant one step closer to juvie. He shuddered inside a bit.

Clare turned her head and met KC's eyes. "You can sit with me, you know." KC took off his shoes and got into bed with her and leaned against the backboard. Clare reached for his hand.

"You're absolutely freezing! Here." She pulled up some of the covers and laid them upon the legs of her boyfriend. It took her a few seconds to realize what she had done. She was now laying in bed with her boyfriend. No clothes and they would be close to having sex. She blushed.

"What's that look for?" KC responded after seeing his girlfriend's expression change from helpful to bashful.

"Just thinking."

"About what?"

"How close I am to you." She blushed feverishly again and met his eyes. They had been this close before, in school and when going to the movies with their friends or double dates with Alli and whoever she could find (lately Dave). KC took his hand and cupped it under Clare's chin and ducked his head in order to kiss her lips.

Clare could feel it. It began slowly, like a match that had just been lit. And this time her spine tingled from growing hot rather than growing fear. She kissed back. She pulled away to catch her breathe and looked at KC. God, how she loved him! She ferociously lunged towards KC and grabbed his neck so she could pull herself closer. She arched her back and kissed. KC had begun to wrap his arms around Clare and kissed her back.

They began to go farther than before. Clare was the first one to make the move. Her fingers found their way under KC's gray shirt and traced the outlines of his abs. She pulled off his shirt and explored his body even further. KC pulled gently away from Clare, "You want to do this?"

"Just a little farther." She grabbed KC's hands and placed them on her chest. Then she went back to kissing him and KC carefully moved his hands under Clare's shirt. They kept kissing and finally pulled back for air. Her bed was a mess. The duvet was now haphazardly thrown on the floor and her sheets had become tangled around her and KC's legs.

KC began the conversation. "You never told me what was going on."Clare groaned inwardly. Couldn't he just realize that she didn't want to talk to him about this! She sighed and turned her head away from him. "KC, please, just don't go there."

KC reached over to her and grabbed her hand. He held it and spoke again, "Clare, I know it's important because your making it so difficult to talk about it. I want to have a relationship with you. And I know we're not the most…telling people. But I feel that to improve our relationship to the place where I want it to be, then we should, you know…talk."

"You first."

KC looked at her and smiled. "Okay, what?"

"Tell me about Jenna."KC's eyes darkened a bit but then he turned to Clare. "Clare, there's nothing going on."

"Lie." Clare's voice was edged with disgust and she hated that she had even brought this up.

KC softened a bit. He realized that if they were to ever get anywhere, that he should just tell the truth to get through it. "I have never touched her in an inappropriate way. I'm only human Clare…""Then what were you thinking?"

"That if you wore some of the skimpy clothes that she wore you would look even better. And damn, would I tap that."

Clare wasn't sure how to respond. She was still angry, but at the same time, she couldn't help it. She giggled.

"Thank God! This whole time Alli had me so worried…""No need, Clare, I'm perfectly happy with you. Honest." He squeezed her hand gently. "But now it's your turn. What has you so worked up. I mean, when I showed up you were so freaked, I though you were going to lose your mind! What's wrong?"

Clare took a deep breathe and closed her eyes. Now or never.

"Nothing." Never.

"Clare," he traced one finger against her cheek and then held her head in his hand. "I know it's something."

She opened her eyes. "This is something I've only talked to my sister about." KC still eyed her, willing her to still tell. "It's just…these dreams that I've been having. Since, like, I was really young. I would have all of these pictures and images of people dying and I just couldn't take it. I can't take it. The first one was my grandfather all bloody and pale. A dead corpse just dead dead dead." Clare shuddered. She could still picture it clearly and clumped her shirt in her fist.

"And tonight, it was you. Oh, I was so frightened. There were silver rods poking through your chest and you were so pale and just covered in red." Clare began to cry feverishly and lost control of her breath. "Oh, God, I thought you were dead. I mean, you were dead. And when I woke up it was so hard to tell if it was real or not. I literally thought you were dead, like in actual real life. And I can't lose you KC, I can't." She cried again, "I just can't."

KC wrapped his arms around Clare's shaking body. "Shh…It's alright. I am right here, Clare, I promise I won't leave you." He wrapped her tighter and let her melt against his chest.

"I'm right here."

Clare began to grow fatigued from crying and pulled KC tighter to her. "Stay with me?"

KC pulled her down and grabbed the covers and wrapped them around him and Clare.

"Forever."