Author's Note: Well... I did it. For at least 5 years, I wanted to write a Degrassi oneshot. Never quite found the inspiration for it though. See, I've watched this show since the beginning and noticed it started really going downhill. Until this season 10 marathon they have now, which is spectacular. Anyways, after watching the part in Better Off Alone pt. 1 where Clare and Eli are so DAMN CLOSE but get awkward and shift away, I thought to myself: "WHAT? Are you KIDDING ME?" and got the idea for this story. ^.^ Plus, Eli x Clare stories seem to be popping up like daisies. I mean, come on! They're totally in love with each other and don't even know it yet. But I digress.

Allow me to apologize for any grammar or punctuation errors. Most of this story was written in the early hours of the morning. Proofreading also took place around 3:00 am. No the best time to proofread. ^.^

Warning to all of the readers of my Kingdom Hearts series: This has NOTHING to do with the series! Just a little oneshot I felt like writing. No worries, the series is still in progress. ^.^

Disclaimer: I do not own Degrassi, anything revolving around the show or any of its affiliates.

Enjoy ^.-

eli-gold49: more public embarrassment tonight?

clare-e23: is that an invitation?

eli-gold49: do you want it to be?

Clare sighed as she heard the distant footsteps of her parents in the other room. Arguing again... like always. She listened as they came closer, their feet shuffling getting more frantic and their chatter slightly angrier.

"I've been planning this fundraiser for weeks!" Mrs. Edwards spat at her husband, grabbing her coat from one of the kitchen chairs.

Clare's mother was dedicated to her fundraisers, or pretty much any event she planned for the church. Her father used to be supportive. That's the key word here: used to be. Now it just seems like a chore for them to even look at each other.

Mr. Edwards hastily put his shoes on, grabbing his car keys off the kitchen table as he made his way to the front door.

"Mark my words, this will be the last fundraiser..." he muttered under his breath as he opened the door and exited the house. Mrs. Edwards sighed in frustration, searching for her shoes.

"Everything okay, mom?" Clare asked shyly from the other room, peeking her little sapphire eyes above the rim of her laptop. Mrs. Edwards stopped her search and watched her daughter, her eyes filled with mixed emotions.

"Yes, sweetie. Your father would have preferred to work tonight but... I persuaded him otherwise. After all, he did know about this, I've been telling him about it for weeks, and he even helped me with the..." her voice trailed off as she picked up a pair of black, suede heels from the kitchen floor, not bothering too ask herself how her shoes got there in the first place. Clare gulped silently. Maybe they won't argue as much if they were out in public together?

"Oh, Clare, don't worry about your father and I. It's not your concern, sweetie," her mother said softly as she pulled the sleeves of her jacket, "We'll be there for a while so don't wait up for us alright?"

Clare nodded. Her parents used to spend nights at church fundraisers and leave her and her sister alone. But now, Darcy wasn't there to keep her company.

"Okay. Good night, sweetie. Love you."

Clare watched as her mother stepped outside and shut the door behind her, locking it in the process. It wasn't long before Clare saw the headlights of her father's car light up the driveway through the living room curtains and slowly back out of the driveway. She watched as the headlights grew fainter and fainter, until her parents were really gone. Wow... so this is what it felt to be in a house all by yourself. For some reason, Clare felt especially lonely at this moment. She could do homework... but somehow that didn't seem to appeal to her. In a way she kind of wished she could talk to Alli. Not the new and improved, Power Squad, obsessed with Drew and being popular and parties Alli. She wanted the old one. Although Alli was her best friend and most likely always will be, speaking to her right now wouldn't exactly help her feel a little less lonely. C

lare sighed and turned to her laptop. Her eyes widened in shock as she saw the screen. She must've forgotten about him... maybe it wasn't such a good idea. Or maybe he could help her feel less lonely? Elijah Goldsworthy, her partner in English, was waiting for a response. Was she up for more public humiliation tonight?

Yes. Yes she was.

clare-e23: yes, I do

eli-gold49: be there in half an hour

eli-gold49 is now offline

Wow, that was fast, she thought to herself. Yet, she couldn't help but smile. Clare was happy when she spent time with him. She liked the faces he made when he reviewed her papers for English. He made her do things she wouldn't normally do. St-Clare, skip class? NEVER. Yet, she did it today without a single hesitation. Yes, she and Alli are the best of friends. But lately, Alli's been obsessed with popularity and party invitations. She rarely asks her how she is anymore. It may be just a phase but, while Alli lives out her phase, who said Clare can't hang out with some other friends of hers? Maybe an interesting proofreader from her English class? Clare shook her head. No crazy thoughts now. After all, that incident at lunch was just a mistake...

When Eli and Clare skipped class to work on their assignments, Eli accused her of caring too much about what other people think. Clare proved him wrong by screaming at the top of her lungs in a public area. Public embarrassment, as he called it a few minutes ago. She was kind of upset when he didn't follow suit. Long story short, they got much too close for comfort. Clare would rather not think about it. Yet, how could she not? Even if they got too close to each other, it kind of felt... ok. And it's not as if he fought her back.

The doorbell rang.

Clare almost jumped out of her seat. It had only been twenty minutes, and Eli wasn't the type to be on time, let alone early. She skipped to the door and opened it cautiously, peeking through the slit in the doorway. For all she knew, it could be a home invader.

"What are you doing, Clare?" Eli asked casually, watching as one sapphire eye examined him from top to bottom behind the door.

"You're ten minutes early," she mumbled, opening the door fully.

Eli sighed. "Well, Morty is amazingly fast."

Clare peeked over his shoulder and gazed onto the street.

There was a hearse parked on the street. In front of her house. It's not as if he borrowed the car from anybody; no, it was his car. He worked and raised money to buy his very own... hearse. And named it Morty.

Somewhat creepy.

"Cla-are?" he asked softly, adding a little chime in his voice. She had been staring at his car for the last twenty seconds. It was a great shot for his ego, he had to admit. It's not every day you find a girl admiring your car, especially in his case. Yet, the way her mouth dropped slightly open as she remained fixated on his vehicle was enough to make him smile.

"Um, yeah," she said, breaking her gaze from the strange car, "I'm ready to go."

She smiled brightly at him, fumbling for her house keys in her pocket. Eli smirked in response and began descending the few stone steps that lead to her house, advancing towards the car.

Tone it down, she told herself as she shut and locked the door behind her. She was a little embarrassed. She felt she looked way too excited for another night of public humiliation. Besides, it wasn't real public embarrassment, right? It didn't feel real this afternoon with him. It probably won't feel real again.

Clare made her way to the passenger seat as Eli started the ignition. She sighed heavily as she shut the door and fastened her seatbelt. Public humiliation, bring it on.

Very faint, hard rock music was heard trickling through the stereo as Eli began driving the car down the street. He loved his music but knew better than to put the volume at full blast when Clare was in the car with him. Although it gave him such a thrill to tease her, very loud rock music seemed inappropriate.

He stole a few glances at her from the corner of his eye, watching as she examined the car's interior. Her eyes had a quizzical look to them as she inspected every little detail, as if she was searching for some sort of fault. Eli rolled his eyes. She has obviously never been in a hearse before.

"Find anything interesting, Clare?" he asked, keeping his eyes on the road.

"No, I'm just half expecting for there to be a body in the back," she replied, grinning widely. He wasn't the only one who can come up with witty responses. Yet, she seemed to have an easier time coming up with them whenever he was around.

"There are two shovels as well," Eli answered casually, "One for you and one for me."

Clare's eyes widened. "Shovels?"

"Of course! Why do you think I asked you to come out with me tonight? I'll need some help burying the evidence."

"What?"

"I murdered Ms. Dawes!" Eli exclaimed in a cynical voice, widening his eyes and fixating a malicious gaze onto her.

Clare gasped. "Eli!"

"Clare, I'm kidding!" he said swiftly, sniggering under his breath as a wide smile spread across his face. Seeing her face after teasing her was just so worth it!

Clare chuckled as well, shifting around in her seat to a more comfortable position. "I knew you were. After all, you wouldn't murder her if you were dating her right?" Direct reference to his statement from this afternoon. Got you back, Eli.

He frowned in disappointment and shook his head slowly. "Things just... weren't working out between us. We both agreed it was for the best."

"Sounds like she dumped you," Claire answered with a giggle. Now it was her turn to tease him.

Eli's jaw dropped as he placed one hand over his heart. "Ouch. Very hurtful thing to say, Clare, especially after a break-up."

Clare smiled, letting a few chuckles escape her lips as she began twiddling her fingers. Why was she getting nervous? She couldn't afford to be nervous now. Eli was putting up a good fight and she needed her full attention to outsmart him. Eli stole another glance at her, smiling as he saw her fight back a few laughs. If there's one thing he enjoyed more than teasing her, it was when she teased back.

Eli pulled into a wide parking spot, positioning the car parallel to the side-walk. Clare looked out the window, confused. They were at the park. A somewhat deserted park. How were they supposed to publicly embarrass themselves here?

"The park?" she asked quizzically.

"Unless you know of another place with a wide enough parking spot to fit a hearse... then, yes, the park," he answered, smirking.

Clare couldn't understand what made him smirk the way he did. Already, his mouth seemed to be disproportioned slightly to the left. So, whenever he'd flash her his famous smirk, it used to always come out perfect. She could sit there forever, wondering what made that smirk so perfect every time.

"Come one, let's go publicly humiliate ourselves," he said quickly, opening his car door and stepping outside.

Clare took a second to calm her heart rate as Eli slowly made his way around to the passenger's side, smirking at her the entire way. She couldn't afford getting lost in his green eyes and crooked smile. She had done it for a brief second this afternoon, when they laughed and teased at their fearlessness of public humiliation, his hands tied lightly around her wrists, their faces had come so close and their lovely gemstone eyes fixated on each other. That one perfect moment… how she wished she could have frozen time. She would stand there forever, merely centimeters away, gazing into the complexity of his emerald eyes, wondering what he could possibly be thinking about.

"Clare, are you coming?"

Clare jerked her head in his direction. He stood at the foot of the passenger seat, one hand holding her car door open and the other reached out towards her, waiting to help her out of her seat. Clare cursed at herself in her mind. She had let herself get carried away again!

Eli smiled at the confused look on her face. Tonight, she seemed to have a lot on her mind, judging by the fact that she seemed to have frequent lapses in concentration. Although he loved to tease her and laugh with her, he wished he knew what she was thinking about. He wished he knew why she would gaze into the distance, why she would smile and why her beautiful sapphire eyes would flash with joy on a few random occasions. A part of him wished she was thinking about him, that the flash of joy that crossed her gemstone eyes was because of him. But Eli knew better. Clare was classy, sophisticated and set in her ways. He may convince her to skip class once in a while and even may convince her to scream at the top of her lungs in public. But he was pretty sure she wouldn't have much place in her mind or heart for him. Still, spending even a minute with her always seemed to be the highlight of his day. He could have his hearse ruined and his face bruised by that idiot Fitz, the stuck-up school bully, and, in the end, hearing her laugh and seeing her smile just makes it all worth it.

He felt calm as Clare gently took his hand and climbed out of the car, keeping her pretty eyes on his gaze. She had very pretty eyes, the kind that he could easily spend the entire day looking at, wondering what secrets she was hiding behind those perfect sapphires. Since the moment he first saw her, the first thing he noticed was her pretty eyes, and ever since then, they have always captivated him whenever she gazed at him. Luckily for him, Eli had no trouble hiding his thoughts. And unluckily for Clare, her eyes gave away some of the thoughts she was hiding.

"So, how are we supposed to humiliate ourselves in the park, Eli?" she asked, tucking a stray red curl behind her ear. Eli. She liked saying his name.

Eli smirked. "Clare, how could we not humiliate ourselves here? Can't get more public than a park."

"I refuse to scream again, so if you had any plans for that, it might be wise to lose them," Clare chuckled as they began to walk side by side towards the park. It wasn't as full as it usually was during the day, yet there were still a few people roaming around, sitting on benches or walking their dogs.

Eli sighed in disappointment. "And here I thought I could get you to scream for me again..."

Clare laughed. It was so easy to tell when he was being serious or sarcastic. His entire tone of voice would change. Clare knew exactly when to laugh and when not to.

"I see you think it's funny, Edwards," Eli said roughly, scowling at her, "I will make you scream again. And you will fall right into my trap."

Another joke, Clare was certain of it. Eli may be witty but Clare was incredibly smart. It had always been hard for him to fool her. But Eli had a way with words. She would sometimes walk right into his traps without even noticing.

"I'd like to see you try," she giggled.

She'd like to see him try, eh? Eli felt it was probably time to work some of his magic. He abruptly spun around and stopped in front of her, staring dead into her eyes and stopping her in her tracks. Clare's expression shifted from playful to surprised quite suddenly as he watched her eyes fill with wonder at what his next antic would be. Eli smiled. Good, she was right where he wanted her.

Eli was no fool. Public humiliation wasn't the reason why she came out tonight. He knew her too well. She would only resort to embarrassing herself when her pride was involved. This afternoon, she had tried to prove him wrong, and she did, maintaining her pride intact. Yet, tonight, she had no reason to fight for her dignity. She came out with him for a completely different reason. Eli didn't think of the worst; perhaps she came out because she enjoys their time together. Whatever the answer was, he was ready for it. And whatever answer he got, he would always be ready to fool her into public embarrassment.

"You couldn't care less for public humiliation; you know I'm not scarring your dignity tonight. So why did you really come out with me?"

Clare felt her breath shorten as her jaw slightly dropped. This was... abrupt. And slightly uncomfortable as well. Every second that passed, he inched ever so slightly closer to her. Eli was smart; he knew this would intimidate her into talking. But a part of Clare wanted her to just keep her mouth shut. Maybe if she didn't speak, he would inch closer and closer, and close the gap between them. Maybe he would let her wrap her arms around him and maybe he would look right into her eyes as he presses his lips onto hers...

Clare gasped, looking directly at the ground. That's it; she's taking a hiatus from vampire fanfiction. It's turning her into a... well, it's not allowing her to act the way she hoped to. The way she always did. The cautious, careful Clare, the one who never let herself go or give in to strong feelings. Maybe that's why her relationship with K.C. ended. She was too cautious, too afraid to go the extra mile. These thoughts she was having about Eli... those belonged in her vampire stories. She never thought they'd stay in her mind after she uploaded them onto the Internet for the whole world to see.

On the other hand, Eli snorted lightly, smiling at the ground. His plan had worked; he was intimidating her. Part of him hoped she wouldn't say anything and let him just inch closer until there was no more space between them. But Clare... she was special. If he was going to try anything tonight, he'd have to help her out of that protective shell she built around her emotions. He did it this afternoon. Why else would she have screamed in public for him? After she answered his question, after their public embarrassment... then he would maybe try something. Maybe.

Clare gathered up her courage and a few extra breaths for luck before responding, "Um, is it wrong to what to hang out with you?"

"No, I was merely under the impression that the one thing that ticks you off most in this world was your English partner. Oh no, wait – that's me," he said sarcastically, flashing a small grin. See, Clare? He can directly reference this afternoon too.

"Well, I guess you're not that bad," she responded answering to his crooked smile with one of her own. She had a sweet little smile. A perfectly sweet smile to fit her perfectly sweet demeanor. Eli wondered how she could be so adorably sweet all the time, without even trying.

She raised her gaze to look at his face, her blue eyes staring directly into his. There they were. The thing that struck him about her the second he laid eyes on her for the first time. Her pretty blue eyes. The first thing he'd ever said to her was that she had pretty eyes. Yet, the ones he gazed into now didn't seem to be the same as the lovely blue orbs that pierced him when they first met. These ones were sad.

"Hm," was all he said.

Clare frowned slightly, confused. "What's wrong?"

"You have pretty eyes, Clare," he said softly, inching slightly closer while gazing into them, "Something's bothering you. What's wrong?"

Clare slightly widened her eyes at his statement. She mustn't be a very good actress if her eyes can't hide the hurt she felt when her parents argued. Maybe she should stop letting him look at her. Perhaps then she would be able to keep a few secrets from him.

"There's nothing wrong," she said quickly, keeping her eyes transfixed onto his as she tried to subliminally tell him she was alright. After all, he could read her eyes. Hopefully she was making her point clear.

She was not.

"You're a terrible liar, Edwards."

She couldn't help but scowl at him. "It's none of your concern."

She tore her gaze from him and moved slightly to her left, walking away from him. Eli laughed before turning around and following her. She had a tough shell tonight. He needed to help her crack it a little more.

"So, that's it?" he retorted, "Am I supposed to drop it? You were the one who wanted us to publicly humiliate ourselves, after all."

Clare came to a complete halt, almost causing Eli to smash into her and knock them both over. He secretly wished he did.

"Me? You're the one who invited me!" she said angrily, scowling at him as she pointed a dainty index finger at him. Eli smiled. She was cute when she was angry.

"Technically, no. You asked if this was an invitation and I asked if you wanted it to be. You're the one who confirmed it."

Damn, he had a good memory. Clare's scowl softened as she realized he was right. Still, he shouldn't badger her like that! She should be able to keep a few personal things... well, personal! Already, she had spilled her heart to him this afternoon when he told her about her troubles at home. And as much as a part of her wished she could spill all of her emotions and all of her secrets to him, her conscious convinced her not to. Some things are meant to stay personal. She watched as Eli's gaze shifted. He wasn't playfully smirking anymore. He looked serious.

"It's your parents, isn't it?"

Damn her eyes! They've deceived her again! Clare nodded softly, keeping her expression neutral. If her eyes were just going to ruin everything for her, there's nothing her expression can do anyways.

She couldn't understand the way he was looking at her. He, too, held a neutral expression. Yet, the way his eyelids hung over his emerald eyes convinced her that maybe he was slightly saddened. Saddened by her misfortune. Clare felt her heart skip. Eli Goldsworthy cared about what she was feeling.

She nodded softly. "They went out tonight... pretty much by force. The arguments get worse every day, Eli. Maybe I thought my parents would never break up but now... it just seems so inevitable. And when it does happen, I don't know what I'll do. It's the waiting that's annoying me! I wish they would just tell me what's happening instead of avoiding the fact that something's wrong."

It struck him when Clare decided to spill her feelings out to him. Well, he got what he wanted. Her shell was cracked. Yet, it felt like more than just a mere crushed shell. It felt as if she really trusted him, trusted him enough with personal secrets she wouldn't tell anyone else. He would never let her know, but it pained him to see her in such a sad state. He definitely liked the happy Clare much more than this one.

"Why don't you do what I suggested this afternoon?" he replied, "Write your paper on it. You'll get it off your chest and you'll have captured the emotion Ms. Dawes wanted you to write about."

"Eli, we discussed this, it's personal!"

He scoffed, smirking at her. "It's personal? Yet you jump at the chance of public embarrassment with me. Do you really care what others think of you?"

Clare abruptly looked away, scowling at the pavement. No, she didn't care! Maybe a little bit, on some occasions. But when their last principal decided to defile her by calling her rude, derogatory names, she didn't care what he had said. She stood up to him. She can stand up to a principal yet she can't face her problems at home. Exposing the principal would've been in everyone's best interest. Her parents' marital problems on the other hand... nobody needed to know that.

"No, I don't care what people think. My parents' situation has nothing to do with them. It's just personal."

"Fine, have it your way. It's personal. Who else is going to be reading it other than you, me and Ms. Dawes? You might have to present it to another twenty or so people who never really listen during presentations anyways. No one else will ever know about it. Still too personal?"

She examined his smirk. He'd been doing a lot of smirking lately. She just wished she knew what was so damn funny. Her not wanting to reveal her personal problems to the public didn't seem so funny to her and she didn't imagine he felt any differently. As if he would reveal his personal problems to the public with that signature smirk painted on his perfect face. As if there was no problem.

Eli sighed under his breath. He knew he was winning the argument. She just needed a little push. And just a little more convincing. He inched slightly closer to her, closing a bit of the gap between them. He was almost as close as he was this afternoon. Just where he wanted to be.

"Do you feel any better after having told me about it?" he asked softly. He didn't want to sound too demanding. He may scare her away.

Clare raised her eyelashes, resting her pretty blue eyes on his gaze, her jaw dropping slightly. In fact, now that she mentioned it, she did. It felt so clear, so easy to just tell him everything on her mind. She felt liberated of her problems, as if he had just taken a huge weight off her shoulders just by listening to her. She knew he wouldn't judge her. It was so easy to be herself around him, to pour her heart out to him as that magnificent boy hung on every word with a playful smirk that somehow always cheered her up. She nodded quickly in response to his question.

His smile grew wider. "You'll feel even better if you write about it. I promise."

He promised? Wow. The way he smiled at her, the way he gazed into her eyes... She knew she could trust him.

"You promise? Really?" she asked softly, smiling lightly.

He nodded, keeping his eyes on her perfect face. The prettiest eyes he had ever seen had the prettiest smile to compliment them. They weren't unhappy anymore.

"Yeah, I promise."

Clare had run out of things to say and it seemed Eli had as well. They were frozen, almost for a moment, gazing into each others' eyes. Neither said a word and the only sound she could hear was their shallow breathing. She half prayed he couldn't hear the way her heart raced in her chest. This moment was perfect. That perfect moment she had imagined so many times as she wrote her vampire fanfiction. Never did she think it could be so real. And never did she think it could feel so perfectly right to just stand before him, so close yet so far away, and let his emerald gaze pierce through her beautiful blue eyes as they reached the very depths of her heart. She couldn't care less what happened next. Because this moment, this one moment she spent staring at the very definition of perfection, would stay with her forever.

"So much for public embarrassment..." she said softly. The real reason they were standing in this park, their eyes locked in an everlasting gaze... was because of public embarrassment.

Eli laughed, tearing his gaze away. "Oh, Clare. Sweet, innocent, Clare. I haven't forgotten. You will be publicly humiliated before the night is over."

Clare smiled in response. "You can't make me scream again, Eli."

Eli grinned, slowly backing away, a twinkle of mischief in his eye. "No. But I can."

He wished he could break out in a fit of laughter. She watched so innocently with a flawless smile on her face, so oblivious to his plan. She was going to punch him for this. Eli was wondering if he would like it a lot more than he should. With a deep breath, he placed his hands around his mouth, hoping it would help the sound echo louder.

"Clare Edwards writes vampire fanfiction!" he screeched.

At least four pigeons in the pond were startled by his voice. They flew away in a frenzy, their feathers splattering pond water all over the grass and people that edged too close to the pool of water. A few people seated on the benches almost jumped out of their seats in surprise. A child, carefully riding his bike beside his mother, very nearly fell off his training wheels. A few innocent bystanders glowered at the teens, muttering something about how the youths of today are disrespectful. Many of them simply stared with perplexed expressions. None of these people had any idea who Clare Edwards was. But they did know she wrote vampire fanfiction.

"Eli!" she called, half laughing. She tried so hard to be angry. She wanted to be angry with him. She wanted to glare at him with all her might and let him know he had crossed the line with her. But the way he smiled, the way he laughed as he teased her foolishness for falling into his trap... she couldn't stay angry. She had to laugh with him.

"You made it clear I couldn't make you scream again, Clare. That's not going to stop me from letting you have the public embarrassment you seem to crave," he said slyly. Technically, he was right. The only person who seemed to bring up the topic of public humiliation tonight was Clare.

"I will make you eat those words, or so help me, Eli!" she replied, balling her dainty little hands into fists. She wasn't upset. She was giggling at the end of every sentence. He laughed at her responses and her actions which made her giggle that much more. She couldn't remember how long it had been since she had this much fun.

Eli stopped laughing. He smirked his signature smirk and held his hands out, provoking her to give him her best shot.

"Come get me."

Clare accepted his challenge. She scurried towards him, laughing the entire way. He effortlessly stopped her, locking his grip around her wrists and stopping her from advancing any more. Wow, this seemed familiar. This is exactly what had happened this afternoon. Yet, this time, the awkwardness was gone. It was replaced by laughter from both parts.

"And Clare Edwards just can't seem to keep her hands off me!" he yelled again, causing the bystanders to jump and stare in surprise for a second time.

Clare gasped. "How dare you! How dare you even say such a –"

She abruptly stopped struggling. Eli wasn't sure what just came over him. One moment, they were laughing and struggling at each others' expense and the moment they found themselves under a dimly lit street lamp, he stopped. The laughter subsided and he watched in confusion as her smiling face fell into an expression of perplexity. She let her hands relax but he still kept his hands locked around her wrists. He felt he needed to stop her from backing away, stop her from leaving. She backed away this afternoon, and he had let her. Now, he couldn't find the strength to let her go. She needed to stay, here, close to him.

Right here, under this street lamp, he had seen a side of her he'd never seen before. The way the soft light reflected off her rosy cheeks, the way she blinked as her perplexed gaze attempted to figure out what he would do next... but mostly her eyes. The beautiful sapphire eyes that captivated him the day they had met. They sparkled with beauty and intensity in the soft shimmer of the street light. He had never been happier to have broken her glasses. Eyes like hers were pure gemstones and did not deserve to be hidden by cheap glass.

No... he wouldn't let her leave this time. He was merely inches away from the most beautiful thing he'd ever laid eyes on. He felt his heart beat as he inched closer to her, closing the gap between them.

He felt her sigh as their lips met. She obviously wasn't prepared for him to kiss her. Truth be told, neither was he. But the way her perfect eyes glimmered as the soft light lit up her perfect face, he had to have her. He needed to have her. He needed the perfect way to let her know what she had done to him, how she had managed to leave a mark on his heart.

He couldn't force her anymore. She needed to make her own decision as well. He loosened his grip from her wrists, freeing her completely. If she let him go, if she broke their perfect moment, she didn't feel for him the way he did for her. If she stayed, he'd probably be the happiest guy in the world.

And stay, she did.

She wrapped her arms around his neck, closing the extra space between them. He smiled for a moment as he felt her heartbeat go wild in her chest. So this is what it felt like to hold perfection in your arms. It was much better than he ever could have imagined.

At that moment, neither of them cared about the public, how the bystanders would stare or chatter about the two teens who had no problem publicly humiliating themselves. The distant noise and lights didn't matter anymore. All that mattered was that they had each other. They were at the center of their very own universe and nothing would ever tear them away from that perfect moment.

Clare locked the door to her house. She had written her letter for her English assignment and had just read it to her mother, who decided to have a talk with her father. Even though they were upset, Clare couldn't help but feel better. At least now they were acknowledging the fact that there was a problem.

She felt her heart almost stop as she saw a hearse parked in front of her house. Wow, she really needed to get used to the fact that Eli drove a hearse; otherwise she'd get a heart attack every time she saw him.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, descending the steps of her house.

"Why hello, Eli, how are you doing today? I'm doing fine, Clare, so nice to see you."

"Hi," she said briskly.

He smiled in response. "Look, if you don't want to tell your parents... then, I respect that."

"Too late."

She descended the steps, crossing her arms as she smiled at Eli's perplexed look. "I read her the letter. She wants to know what's wrong as much as I do. My parents are talking right now."

"So, what you're saying is... my plan worked," he said slyly, giving her a look that clearly expressed that he had told her so.

Clare rolled her eyes. "Can you be more smug?"

"Of course!"

She laughed in response. Guess he was back to his old, sarcastic self again.

He removed the headphones that hung around his neck and handed them to her. "Here, you may want to borrow these. They're noise cancellation, in case things get to crazy or the arguing gets too loud."

He softly propped them in her hands and smiled as she nodded in response, thanking him without words.

"And I'm sorry for interfering. Promise not to do it again."

He nodded to her, gazing slightly into her eyes before turning around and opening his car door. Before he had the chance to climb into the driver's seat, he felt her soft touch atop his hand. He quickly turned around watched her as she smiled in response, her hand on top of his preventing him from leaving.

"You can interfere every once in a while. But I'm still going to do whatever I want."

Eli smirked. She was never going to change. He'd never want her to.

"Wouldn't expect anything else from you."

He kissed the tip of her nose and climbed into the driver's seat, taking one last glance at her before driving the car away. Clare waved goodbye as she watched the rather peculiar choice of car make its way down the street before turning the corner. He may be gone for now but she'll see him again. Gazing at the headphones in her hand, Clare smiled vibrantly. Never did she think that public humiliation would be one of her favorite things in the world.

It was so hard to channel these two and reduce as much OOC as possible! I also stink with romance, lol. And yes, some elements that happened in the show weren't mentioned here. But, I did my best to make it work. I had quite a hard time but, in the end, I hope you guys enjoyed it. I know I enjoyed writing it very much. ^.^