CRISIS OF FAITH

Eli watched in concern as the red headed sophomore in front of him ripped off the crucifix she always wore around her neck and threw it across the school's parking lot. "Clare… What are you doing?"

"What am I doing?" She screeched turning to face him, her short red hair momentarily obstructing him from seeing her clear blue eyes. "What is He doing?" she pointed in the direction of her abandoned cross "What good has He ever done for me?"

"Clare." Eli stepped forward from where he was leaning against Morty. He laid a hand on her arm, which she promptly shrugged off. "You can't just give up on your beliefs because your parents are getting a divorce."

"A divorce… You think this is all because of my parent's stupid divorce?"

"Well-"

"It's pretty screwed up for God to have my dad cheat on my mom with his freaking 21 year old secretary like some cliché teen movie, and how about how He let Darcy get raped? Her virginity was the single most important thing she had… What was he doing when my boyfriend was stolen by a slutty blonde cheerleader pretending to be my friend? How are any of those things benevolent?"

"Bad things happen to good people?" Eli offered lamely as he wrapped his arms around her.

"And the road to hell is paved with good intentions, and Rome wasn't built in a day," Clare retorted, laying her head against his chest, "I'm not looking for platitudes Eli." He tightened his hold on the distraught fifteen year old girl and ran a hand through her hair. "I just want… I want to know why. I've never done anything stupid or wreckless, I listen to my parents, I go to church every week, I never swear, and I never do anything fun…"

"Ouch," he smirked, trying to lighten the mood "are you calling me un-fun?"

Clare smiled against her will and leaned back in his arms slightly so she could look him in the eye "I've never done you."

Eli's eyebrows flew up in shock at her bold statement "No. No you haven't."

Suddenly she shifted onto her tip toes and planted a kiss on his lips. Eli let go of her, momentarily stunned, but he regained his senses quickly and deepened the kiss. Clare moaned and locked her arms behind his neck. Eli buried his hands in her silken red hair. When they both needed air Eli drew back and rested his forehead on hers.

"Let's do it." Clare said, pecking his lips briefly.

"Do what?"

"It." Clare repeated "Sex. Let's have sex. Right now."

The junior quirked an eyebrow, as he tended to do, "We're in the school parking lot."

Clare mimicked his action and lifted one of her own brows. "So?"

He closed his eyes "Clare, we can't."

"Yes we can."

He shook his head and backed away from her "We can't. You have a purity ring for fuck's sake."

Clare angrily twisted the ring off her finger and threw it in the same direction as her necklace. "There. No more ring. Let's do this."

Eli smiled softly and pulled her to his chest "No." Then he held Clare at arm's length and walked away.

"What?" Clare threw her hands up in the air and kicked at the ground. "Seriously, Eli, I thought teenaged boys were supposed to be raging hormones who only think about sex."

The dark haired boy started walking back towards her and smirked when he heard her assessment "We are."

"So?" she asked "What's the deal?"

"The deal," he answered as he dropped both her necklace and her ring into her hands "is that you're not you right now. You're mad and that's okay. You're having a small crisis of faith and that's okay too."

She sighed and put her necklace back on "The point?"

"The point is when we have sex, and we will," she blushed and ducked her head, he smirked again "you will be 100 percent Clare, all will be right with your world and you will be begging for this."

She laughed as he gestured to himself "Begging? Really?"

Eli smiled when she punched his shoulder lightly. Then he pulled her against his side and kissed her temple "There's my Clare." He murmured into her hair.

The red head wove her fingers through her boyfriend's and looked up at him through her lashes. "Thank you."

He opened the car door and leaned against it while he watched her settle into the passenger seat. "For you? The world."

Clare rolled her eyes "Cheesy."

"You love it."

"Temporary insanity?"

"You wish." Eli scoffed as he got into the driver's seat. "You want me."

"Only for your modesty and humbleness." She deadpanned.

"You mean there's more to me than my awesome hair and dreamy smile?" Clare snorted and Eli grinned as he watched her from the corner of his eye.

When Clare smiled at him again his grin widened into a full blown smile. It seemed her little crisis of faith was over. His Clare was back.