Author's note: OMG OMG I'm so proud of myself! :D I finished this in only 2 days! I usually write a bit, then leave it for a few days, then come back to it and repeat that process. But I started this yesterday in the morning (well..sort of morning. I got up at 11 am XD) then went to a movie, came back and worked it on some more, went to bed and worked it on it ALL DAY today. I've never done that before! I feel so accomplished! ^^ ANYWHO, this is based on new promo with the Eclare scene (.com/watch?v=tZx7d4AvcgE&feature=player_embedded if you haven't seen it already). I swear, I nearly died of happiness when I saw it :D Though a lot of people are saying that it was Eli saying that to Imogen and they just voiced it over the scene. But whatever, even if that's true atleast they get a scene together. And it's on the last ep of season 11, which is SO Degrassi to just do that to us then leave us wondering for 6 month on what the hell is going to happen. But my point is, I hope you guys like it! I'm seeing a lot of one-shots with Eli and Clare where they start to rebuild a relationship without jumping right into eachother's arms. I think this is a good thing because they both need some time to themselves. And we all know Clare needs to stop being this whiny "oh poor me" 13 year old and get her life on track. So I wanted to put some of that in there too :3 So please, give me feedback!
Disclaimer: I do not own Degrassi. You would know because you wouldn't even see the other characters anymore, just Eli and Clare. I do not own "Lips Of An Angel" by Hinder or "With Me" by Sum 41. I'm just a huge fan of both songs.

The cold Toronto air surrounded Clare as she walked down the street. Shivering, she quickly pulled down her knit hat and closed her jacket around even more. As she glanced down the street, she spotted couples of all ages gleefully strolling down the concrete with one another. Clare sighed, thinking how that used to be her. She reached for her other hand and felt her middle finger through the leather gloves. No ring. Again, she sighed.
She wasn't even sure what happened. Being there with Jake at that moment, everything just felt right to her. Maybe it was the moment she was caught up in. She thought when she gave up nearly everything to him, she would be filled with joy, just about skipping down the street. But infact, it felt very different after it all happened. Clare moved her ring finger, and it felt weird. Cold and bare, even with the glove. She thought she was ready, and she thought Jake was too. But just after the day it happened, he had been acting weird. Always skidding around her, and he seemed to freeze up when she tried to get more then one kiss from him. He eventually told her that all her "together forever" talk had sent him over the edge. And once Clare had spotted him talking with Jenna all of a sudden, it made her more paranoid for her own good. She thought she was being pre-cautious about it, she defiantly wasn't when she stole KC from her. But that made Jake even more agitated then before. In the end, they both broke it off. It felt a bit different now being on her own, since she had jumped right into a relationship after the other. But maybe this was a good way to start it off. Now Clare was heading down the street to her favorite book store. A new Chuck Palahniuk book had just come out, and she was determined to get one before they all sold out.
Clare pushed open the door and heard a little jingle of the bell, smiling at the sound and smell of the old timey bookstore. She hadn't been in here for a long time. Weaving in and out of stands, she quickly reached the "New Arrivals" and spotted at least five still on the shelf. She was just about to swoop down to grab one when another hand decorated with a skull ring beat her to it.
Clare whipped her head up to be met a dark haired boy with a familiar pair of green eyes, bundled in coats and scarves.
"Eli..?" she asked "What are you doing here?" The young boy smirked at her, flipping the pages of the book between his fingers
"Oh c'mon Clare, you know I'm not that stupid to think that Palahniuk's books would still be here by the time Degrassi got out tomorrow." Clare smiled, knowing how true it was.
"You make a valued point." They stood in silence for a few seconds till Eli cleared his throat
"So, what's a lovely lady as yourself doing out here on her lonesome?" Clare's smile fell and she suddenly found her boots very interesting
"Jake, uh, he-he couldn't come..something about going somewhere important." She lied, hoping Eli would see right through it. She'd always been a terrible liar, and hopes of Eli not being able to tell were slim to none. But he simply nodded his head and she mentally sighed to herself in relief.
"Well, you can't possible want to walk back by yourself. Might I interest you in an evening stroll?" Eli smiled, a warm expression on his face. Clare thought for a minute. She defiantly didn't want to go back home yet. Jake was still home, and god knows what her mother and Glen were up too. And as she looked at the boy she once knew so well, a boy that she had laughed with, cried with, shared moments with, she realised she hadn't bothered to get close to him after his recovery. But she did know that his smile and eyes were kind, and he was offering somewhere else to go other then her home.
"I think that's a wonderful idea." And so, Clare grabbed another book for herself and the two headed for the counter to pay for their new books.

x.x.x

"Oh c'mon Eli, I did not call Miss Dawes an old cow!" Clare argued, a huge grin plastered on her face. Despite being annoyed at Eli for accusing her of such a thing, she couldn't remember that last time she had laughed this hard
"Don't you lie to me Miss Edwards, I have the memory of a super computer. We were sitting at the picnic bench on the school grounds, working on that essay about personal experiences and you were having troubles coming up with where to start. Therefore, you called Miss Dawes an old cow." Eli smirked triumphantly, spooning another mouthful of ice cream into his mouth.
"That's so not true! For the fact of one, Miss Dawes is a great teacher and two, I got an A on that essay when you only got a B-"Clare stated proud fully to which Eli just scoffed at, secretly meaning he admitted defeat. After leaving the bookstore, the two had dived into a full conversation of things they had missed since their time apart. They had even stopped for a little treat despite it being the below freezing weather of February. Normally, if her and Jake would go out for a small dessert Clare would order a small vanilla cup, feeling insecure about her weight. But with no one but Eli around she got herself a huge scoop of chocolate with sprinkles. Even Eli told her the chocolate dipped cones were fun to have once and a while. And she had to admit, it was a hell of a lot better then a plain vanilla cup.
They both finally finished as Clare popped the end of her cone into her mouth and Eli tossed the rest of his mint chocolate chip cup into the black trash can.
"Sooo," Eli started, looking down at the girl beside him "What was so important to Jake that he had to leave his girlfriend to walk in the cold by herself?"
"Well, uh, I sorta, lied about that…" Clare muttered, refusing to meet his eyes.
"Oh?" Eli said, faking the surprise in his voice. He had known she was lying the entire time, he just didn't want to bring it up right away. They had been very close after all
"We…we broke up." Clare tore her eyes off of the pavement and looked up, expecting his expression to be filled with joy. But no, instead it was filled with worry
"If you don't mind the accusement, what happened?"
"I don't mind, and uh, well we…" How on earth was she supposed to explain that to Eli? She didn't know what she would get out of him if she did either
"You what..?" His eyebrows were raised in question as he waited for her answer. To make things easier for her, Clare simply pulled off her glove and showed her hand, palm down, to the green eyed boy. But he still continued to have the same confused look etched on his face
"What? I don't…" But then his eyes grew to the size of gulf balls as he realized what was missing. He gulped, though his throat suddenly became very dry
"Eli..? You ok?" Clare asked tentavly, worried that his already pale skin had gone even whiter. He numbly nodded, not really paying close attention to what she was saying
"Oh…"
For once that night, it was awkward between the two teenagers. Eli couldn't stop staring at her naked finger, and as he did so, Clare noticed a different emotion flash in those deep emerald orbs
"Wait, he didn't break up with you right after….it, you know, happened. Did he?" Eli felt slightly wrong asking the question, but he had to know.
"No, of course not Eli! No guy who's just in it for the sex wouldn't put up with everything that happened, such as our parents' marriage. He wouldn't stick it through that long. He'd find an easier girl to go to. Besides, Jake is a genially nice guy, he wouldn't do that. It was mutual agreement." Eli nodded once more. Why would he ask that question? He had met Jake. He was a good guy. But Clare's well-being was the most important thing that came to Eli's mind first, not "Jake was too nice of a guy to be accountable for that".
"Right. Sorry."
"Its ok, you had good intentions behind that question."
Once again, there was silence.
"What about you and Imogen?"
Eli smirked for a quick second. But not in the love-struck way, but in a humorless kind of way
"We broke up."
"Why?" And just like the curly haired girl, Eli was surprised to find genuine worry in her tone
"Well, long story short, Imogen had made this painting based on mental illness to which I thought was pointing to my bi-polar disorder so I got mad at her, calling her a liar which I can imagine, got her rather mad at me. Adam told me I was blowing things out of proportion, but I had this feeling she was hiding something from me. And just as I thought, I found her hooking up with Fiona."
"Oh my god Eli…" Clare whispered as she gently placed a hand on his shoulder. But then he smiled again, directing it right at her, as if he totally wasn't bothered by it.
"It's alright. We all patched things up. I think she'll be happier with Fi anyway."
The two continued to walk down the street of Clare's suburban neighbourhood, the only noise coming from the cars driving by and the low murmur of T.V sets leaking out from opened windows (those who were crazy to open it up in this weather). Clare sighed to herself as she watched the white cloud of air disappear into the cold.
"Wow, things sure have changed huh? It's crazy how much we've all grown." She remarked, more to herself then to Eli, who chuckled at her remark
"Insanely crazy. But not everything has. Infact, I called Adam the other day to see if he wanted to hang out with us, but you know what he told me?" He grinned, and Clare let out a soft giggle, making Eli see how much he missed the sound.
"What did he tell you Eli?"
"He told me that he couldn't because he was about five seconds away from beating Bianca at Black Ops. So I said to him, 'You'd rather watch horrible graphics and play with your brother's ex-girlfriend then hang out with some of your best friends?' and he says 'Uh, yeah!'" By then, both of them were howling with laughter
"That's defiantly Adam!"
But their thoughts of their friend were interrupted as a sudden burst of music came from a house just down the street. Loads of cars parked infront and bright lights shining out, obviously some big collage house party. Clare rolled her eyes and kept walking, but Eli smirked at Clare's attitude and began to bob his head to the beat. Noticing his calm expression take a sudden turn, she stopped to give him a weird look
"What are you doing?" He grinned like a kid on Christmas day and stepped right infront of her to look her right in the eye. Her eyes widened at the sudden closeness
"Dance with me Clare." His voice was blunt and clear, but Clare scoffed and pushed past him
"Please Eli, I'm not dancing in the middle of the street!"
"Don't tell me we have to go through this again Edwards!" Eli called after her "What happened to not caring what others thought?" With that, Clare stopped dead in her tracts and spun on her heals to face a smug looking Eli
"That's still true!" she yelled back
"Then prove it!" Clare bit her lip as she wrapped her arms around her body, not sure how to take up Eli's challenge. But he spead up to her and snatched her arm away, giving Clare a twirl
"Eli let go!" Clare demanded but he refused to listen. He spun her around even more till she was giggling like she had lost all her sanity. Soon, she was moving to the fast beat and throwing her arms up in the air. Eli danced around her, enjoying the fact that he could still get the blue eyed girl out of her comfort zone. Clare stopped spinning for a moment to spot some of the families had stuck their heads out to see what all the laughter was about. A middle aged man glanced down at them before rolling his eyes and muttering to himself. But an older couple around the ages of 70 or 80 smiled at the young kids, living their life and having fun. On the other side, a pair of little kids pointed down at Eli, giggling to themselves. Clare turned in their direction and saw Eli trying to give them a show by shuffling down the sidewalk. Clare nearly doubled over laughing while watching her ex-boyfriend miserably fail at the new dance move.
"What did I tell you Edwards?" Eli shouted over the music and Clare's laughter. She didn't know what to say, but she bit her lip and nodded, happiness reaching all the way from her head to her toes. Soon enough though the fast moving song died down. All was quiet for the moment. But as Clare looked at the sky, a little speck of white started to fall down to her. She opened up her hand and caught it on her palm, but it went by all too fast as it melted into a drop of water.
It was snowing.
Clare smiled. When was the last time it had snowed? She removed her knit hat and tilted her head back again, letting the cold flakes tingle her skin
"How cliché is this?" Clare's head bolted down from looking up at the black night sky to see Eli was now a foot infront of her rather then ten down the street. She smiled at his statement. It was very true indeed. Just as she was about to advise they move on, more music poured out from the brightly lit home. Only this time it was slower, softer song and the lyrics caught both Eli and Clare off-guard.
"Honey, why you calling me so late?
It's kind of hard to talk right now.
Honey, why you crying? Is everything okay?
I got to whisper 'cause I can't be too loud"
When the two were still happily going out, this song had been one of their favorites. Eli, of course, had introduced it since Clare wasn't too much of a fan for the deep voiced bands. But once she heard it, she demanded it be played every time they went on one of their "mid-night excursions". The song brought back both good and bad memories for them, and they both didn't know what to do other then stand back and bask in the song they hadn't heard for such a long time
"Clare?" Eli's soft voice broke into her thoughts. She looked up to spot a sweet smile on his lips, spots of white snow in his raven hair, and a hand extended out "Might you give me the honor?" Clare couldn't hold back a grin as she slipped her pale, soft hand into his rough one. He brought his hands to her waist and her arms around his neck.
"Well, my girl's in the next room,
Sometimes, I wish she was you.
I guess we never really moved on"
They gently swayed to the music, and Clare could hear Eli humming the lyrics. He leaned back to give her a twirl just like earlier, only slower. Clare smiled as he brought her back into him.
"It's really good to hear your voice, saying my name,
It sounds so sweet.
Coming from the lips of an angel,
Hearing those words; it makes me weak.
And I, never want to say goodbye,
But girl, you make it hard to be faithful,
With the lips of an angel"
Memories of when Eli would blast this from Morty's speakers and invite her to dance flooded back. She was always shy at first, but would always give into him in the end. Clare shivered as more and more snow swirled around them, and Eli brought her closer to him. They stayed close to eachother till the song finally ended and Eli gave her one last twirl around.
Another pounding beat came on but neither moved an inch. Clare lifted her heard from where she was laying it on Eli's chest to look into his eyes. They were so different. All craziness and sadness that she had seen for so long was gone. It was replaced with calmness, happiness, joy and Clare was beyond relieved. Despite what others might have thought, Clare still cared deeply for Eli. Sure she was mad at him for turning the whole story of their relationship around and putting on so everyone could see, but the way he had walked around the school, all wide-eyed and on edge, she couldn't help but feel concerned. She kept it hidden well though, especially when she was riding in the truck with Jake and he was angrily grumbling about Eli turning his character to suit him.
But now that Eli was gone. The Eli she knew so well was back again. And there was no denying that there was a little spark there when they two had held onto eachother tightly. But as they had danced together, a sense of, peacefulness I guess you could say, washed over. It with the familiar feeling of being in one another's arms. Of laughing together. Of doing something crazy together.
They both missed that feeling.
Then reality snapped back and Clare released him, a red colour in her cheeks. Eli too stepped back, coughing a bit and smiling like a madman.
"So, shall we continue?" He gestured down the street and Clare just scarcely nods. This time it's different, for they don't head straight into another conversation, but instead just enjoy eachother's company.
Clare's house was appearing around the corner and Eli knew it was now or never. He wasn't the only one who felt that way while he twirled around that blue-eyed beauty, watching snowflakes catch in her curls. They were about five steps to their destination when Eli put a hand over her arm
"Hey Clare?" he asked softy and Clare turned so she was facing him. The snow had died down a bit, so it was somewhat easier to see her smile at him "Do you think we could…pick up where we left off?"
She defiantly wasn't expecting that. Eli's expression was hopeful and sincere, waiting for her answer. And as said before, there was no denying there was still that spark. But as Clare gave it some thought, she started to form a way she could tell Eli
"You know Eli, after you and I, well, broke up I thought that stepping right into another relationship was a good step forward. But I was proven wrong. This whole trip I've noticed how much I changed since then. And not for the better. All my time I was obsessed with being near Jake, I forgot how to, well, be me. I hadn't even picked up a book in ages. It's a good thing my mom still reads the paper, or I never would've known about Palahniuk's new book." She chuckled softly and Eli raised an eyebrow, though he knew there would be a point somewhere in there "I think..right now I need to get better for me, do some soul searching. You know what I mean?"
Eli grinned to himself. Why did that sound so familiar? He spent all that time with his therapist and getting rid of the scary side of himself. He looked right into her baby blue's, making sure his voice was strong enough to get rid of that doubt in her eyes, for she was afraid he would get mad at her for not saying yes to his question
"I know exactly what you mean." He watched doubtful worry flash from her face into relief.
"I mean, after Jake and I broke up I see that now I have no one. No Alli since I didn't give her a chance to explain herself after the cabin trip, I lost all contact with Adam, I ignored you for the longest time, I even stopped talking with my mom after the wedding, other then to tell her we were out of milk. I need to re-build my life. But," she stopped for a breath and took his hand in hers, both faces close together "I'm not saying there won't be room for you in the future." Eli smirked, but not in the smug sort of way most people see, but in the way of back when Clare had to pry herself off of him to get to class and he would smirk in bliss as he watched her go. He gave her hand a quick squeeze and locked eyes with her once more
"I think I can work with that." Clare giggled at the reply, same old Eli, and he was so glad he didn't chicken out on asking the question.
"Goodnight Eli…" she slowly pulled her hand out of his, and turned around to face her home. But just as he was about to turn himself around, she pressed her soft lips to his cheek, and then turned back as fast as she could. Eli placed his thumb over his cheek, grinning goofily, nearly matching hers.
Clare slowly took her time getting up the concrete steps and placed a hand over the doorknob. She didn't exactly want to go in. Jake would still be here (even thought he'd probably be asleep by now), and her mother would put her on trial as to where on earth she had been at this time of night. But as she said, she was rebuilding herself. And these were the first few steps.
Clare glanced over her shoulder, and gave Eli one last smile before heading inside.

x.x.x

As Clare closed the door quietly as she could, the first thing she noticed was that all the lights were off, which she took as a good sign. She hurriedly removed all her winter clothing and dashed up the stairs. Placing her purse on the bed, she took out her new book and put it on the dresser, excited to read it tonight. But there was one more thing she had to do. She knew it had been a long week for Jake with all that happened between them, it was most likely why he had gone to bed a bit earlier then normal. And of course we all know the older people get, the earlier they hit they hay. But Clare knew who she was calling would still be up at this hour. She found her cellphone among all the chaos inside her purse and dialed a number she hadn't in a long time. The phone rang and rang, Clare thinking her prediction might be wrong. But to her delight, an upbeat voice piped up from the other side
"Hello?"
"Alli?"
Silence.
"…Clare?"
Clare sighed as a small smile reappeared on her lips, and she sat down on her bed
"Do you have a minute? I have a lot of explaining and apologising to do."

x.x.x

And as the two girls talked, Eli still stood on the sidewalk below Clare's bedroom. She could see tears on the young girls face, but a joyful grin on aswell. Eli liked what he saw.
And so, stuffing one hand in his pocket, and the other holding on tightly to his new treasure, he spun on his heels and began his walk down to the Goldsworthy home, whistling a happy tune all the way there.

"I want you to know,
With everything I won't let this go.
These words are my heart and soul.
I'll hold onto this moment you know,
'Cause I bleed my heart out to show,
That I won't let go."

Author's note: Hmm. Well it wasn't that bad, but I still need work. I sound so monology and I use commas WAY too much then I should. But oh well, we all improve over time right?

What about you guys? Yes? No? Good? Bad? Paper? Plastic? Tell me tell me TELL ME! :D
(P.S. A free internet cookie for anyone who can guess where that line is from :3)