I've Got You

Relationship Pairing: K.C. and Clare

From: Degrassi: TNG

ONE-SHOT.

Clare looked into her gold, oval mirror and analyzed the replication of herself that she saw. Over these past few years she had finally grown into the "family genes" and had filled out nicely. She had grown a few inches as well, elongating her body into a more desired height. She was no longer squatty, but more…feminine. She was definitely thinner after having spent so many sleepless nights in her college dorm room studying (she wouldn't have had it any other way).

She pulled on her blue jeans and a plain white v-neck. She slipped on a pair of black converse sneakers and grabbed a hoodie for the library. With one last look at herself, she pulled her wavy locks into a hair-tie and wrapped her tresses into a small, loose bun. She grabbed her backpack and her myriad of college textbooks and was off in a hurry.

She passed the elevator and instead headed for the stairs. Sitting in a chair for numerous hours a day had forced her into a physical routine that included as much activity as she could fit in to her day easily; taking the stairs, running, taking the long route to class. She jumped off the last two steps and hit the concrete floor with a light thud. Her black-rimmed glasses slid down the bridge of her nose just slightly and she gingerly pushed them back up with her index finger. And with that, she headed out into the brisk morning.

She was usually the first one at the library. It was so common that the elderly woman who checked in the books regularly knew Clare by her first name and often offered random book selections that she thought Clare would enjoy in her spare time. She opened the door and gave a slight nod with a gentle smile in the woman's direction and headed to her usual corner in the back of the library near the obscure medical texts.

It was no surprise to anyone that Clare had gone into medicine. She was naturally smart and gifted in the sciences; and her parents naturally expected nothing except her succeeding in some sort of field. With her sister Darcy having come back from Africa and headed to New York for a fashion internship, Clare felt the need to follow her instincts by reverting back to whatever was the opposite of Darcy. Hence, nerd.

She pulled the hood of her sweatshirt over her head so she could create a mental block of sorts around her. Pushing herself to ignore the outside world and physically trap herself in her own concentrated mind. She looked at the first page and grabbed a blue highlighter. She took in a deep breath, and then began.

K.C. Guthrie had rarely gone into the library. He was more of a doer, a "figure-it-out-through-life-rather-than-by-textbook" kind of dude. But after his roommate began telling him about the random hot girl who was always in the library studying, K.C. was looking for some action…And not of the studying kind. He was always told that the most…active ones were the most studious. And he was willing to test it out.

His right hand pulled his backpack onto his shoulder again as he went through the crosswalk. He wasn't usually up this early in the morning. But after receiving a call from his father last night, it was really no wonder at all. His father, the one who placed him in foster care after deciding it would be a good plan to steal money from a bank teller at gun point, was looking for a hand out. But Guthrie had none to give since going to college on a full scholarship due to playing basketball for the team (that was largely due to the fact that Coach Carter became like a step-father to him a year later after the…gun incident).

He let out a small sigh and rubbed his left hand through his hair, shaking it slightly. His long legs had him walking at a brisk pace along the sidewalk; his defined arms beginning to swing into tempo. He jogged up the library steps and entered, merely glancing at the old woman behind the counter and giving her a curt nod. He walked through the library slowly; he looked up and down the shelves. He wasn't sure if he should just begin right off looking for her or just bide his time. He caught sight of the latest Economic reference texts and thought that maybe, or at least just this once, it would be good for him if he studied a bit. He grabbed a chair at a table near the medical textbooks and sat down quietly.

He barely noticed the girl sitting just one table away who was facing him with a blue highlighter in her mouth with a concentrated expression on her face.

After her sophomore year of high school, Clare had had enough of Degrassi High. For her personal sanity, her parents had transferred her to a boarding school for girls and she had cut off all ties to her past. It was just a dark period in her life that she never really enjoyed remembering, so she just shut it off like a light and let it all fade with time.

She tapped her foot on the ground for a few seconds and pulled down her hood and threaded her fingers through her hair. She was giving up, at least for the moment. She looked up and caught sight of the guy studying at the table near hers. He had to be at least a sophomore here, he looks tall…Probably plays basketball because of his legs. Never mind. She mentally shook her head to stop thinking about muscles and to go back to other medical information. Blood, white cells, A, B, O Positive.

K.C. was mentally pulled away from reading the chapter about global trade when he felt a pair of eyes looking at him. At first he rationalized that maybe it was the old woman attempting to kick him out for something he didn't do; but then he mentally kicked himself for thinking that was rational. He had grown up a lot since high school. He wasn't the "gang banger" that many thought he was. He broke up with Jenna and began taking responsibility for his actions. He began with Clare, his ex-girlfriend who he decided was still the best thing that ever happened to him.

But the time he apologized and thanked her was also the last time he talked to her, because she was never at school again following his confession. Whenever he talked to his counselor, he was adamant in blaming himself for her being gone. If maybe, just maybe, he hadn't said anything, she would still have been there. It was childish to think that he was the catalyst for all her problems. But what else could have explained it? Alli had no idea where she went, nor did Connor for that matter. Dave was no such help (regardless of his connections with the Degrassi Gossip Columnist).

When he felt the pair of eyes grow stronger upon his face he round up the courage to meet the eyes that were peering at him. He raised his eyes and his gaze fell upon the girl with the blue highlighter in her mouth with her eyes closed in a pensive manner.

God, she's beautiful.

Clare grabbed the blue highlighter out of her mouth sharply and placed it into her textbook. She could feel the guy watching her and she just could feel her body shivering in electric anticipation. She closed her spiral that she had laid out earlier in a studied haze and placed everything into her backpack. She couldn't concentrate anymore. She pushed her glasses up once again closer to her eyes and quickly walked out, silently praying to God that she didn't do anything embarrassing.

She waved a kind good-bye to the elderly woman placing books back into a bin meant to be re-shelved and exited the library in what she hope wasn't a mad dash. She looked up for one short moment and lost her footing going from the first to the second step down and felt her ankle wobble. She mentally tensed and felt her body begin to give when she felt a pull on her right shoulder.

One of her books dropped from her delicate fingers as her pulse quickened after feeling the strong hand holding her to balance. She turned to meet her anchor and gasped quietly to herself.

It was the muscular guy from the library. But upon closer inspection of his blue eyes and dirty blonde hair, it couldn't be, could it?

"K.C.?"

When K.C. saw the girl leaving he felt the need to follow her. Some electric current of sorts seemed to be pulling him to her and he desired to go off and at least figure out what her name was. He hurried to pack his bag and headed off toward the glass doors when he saw her wave to the woman behind the desk.

He lagged behind slightly until she had just exited so that it wouldn't be to obvious that he was following her. He hoped that maybe three steps behind wouldn't be considered stalking…He watching the ground in what he hoped was a nonchalant manner until he saw her foot wobble and he grabbed on to her in order to steady her.

He heard a small gasp that must have left from her parted lips in a tiny flurry of shock. She turned around and for a moment, all he could see was her blue eyes. He knew those two eyes from anywhere. Her faced turned into one of recognition. And as his name left her lips, hers did from his.

"Clare?"

She paused for a second. She had only a few split seconds to figure out what to do. It's go time Clare, acknowledge or don't. "Y-yes?"

He enveloped her into a warm hug and drew her head into the curve of his neck. He rested his head upon the top of hers and pulled her in tighter. "Oh, Clare. Thank God it's you."

Clare had yet to fully give herself into the hug. She felt her body's desire to wrap her arms around his torso, but she just couldn't bring herself to do it. Something just felt so off about it. How could she so warmly welcome someone into her life that she had rudely blown off? Her therapist and her had never really talked about the possibility of this ever occurring because she had gone off to a boarding school in the states; a far off place from Canada. But for someone to end up at an American school with her? Unheard of. She was in a slight state of shock; of both seeing K.C. again and upon being unsure as to what to do.

"Clare, are you with me here?"

She blinked twice. "Yep, it's me." She smiled meekly and looked at the ground. Her neck began to grow hot with a guilty embarrassment. She bit her lip and felt the blood moisten her parched tongue. She felt his arms around her once more.

"Are you going to hug me back, Clare? We have so much to catch up on! I've wondered where you've gone off to! I haven't seen you since…since…sophomore year at Degrassi!" Clare nodded silently at K.C.'s feverish words of excitement. She saw the spark in his eyes and she knew she was a goner.

"Yep," she replied slowly and carefully.

"Listen, Clare," he said as he began to pick up on the barely noticeable tension on Clare's calm exterior, "I would love to catch up with you. Want to walk with me?" He swooped up Clare's textbook off the ground and in another gentle swoop wrapped his other arm around Clare's shoulder. Clare took one small step forward and with that, K.C. began to walk along side her. "It's been so long…How've you been?"

"Fine."

"We were all worried after you left. One of the teachers said you were off to a better place but we weren't really sure what to make of that phrasing…God, I'm so glad I found you after all of these years! So you're a sophomore here, right? I'm judging by the giant textbook and the fact that the title involves blood categorizing that you're in pre-med? Always figured you would be a nerd all throughout college."

"Yep."

"You have no idea how absolutely flabbergasted I am by the fact that you're here! Seriously! I thought that maybe I was the only Canadian here; and the only Canadian here not on scholarship for hockey, too. I'm here for basketball thanks to Coach Carter. You know we actually won the conference senior year. Did ya know that?"

"No."

"We did. I made a three pointer and it scored me a full ride. Kind of all unbelievable. I'm studying business; kind of different, I know. But that would definitely explain why I didn't see you last year during frosh year. But I'm glad I found you now in our sophomore year." He turned down at looked at her pale face that was deeply focused on the ground near her feet. "You have no idea how happy I am to have found you," he remarked softly.

"Hm."

"Clare," he spoke softly as he continued to look down at her. Her eyes had yet to even move from peering at the ground intently. "What's up?"

Clare tensed and stopped in the middle of the sidewalk. She took a deep breath and pulled the façade. "Nothing much. Just really focused on upcoming exams. Which I'm sure you understand a lot about. I'd love to chat more, but I really need to get back to my dorm. I have a paper, more like a short reflection due tomorrow that I should probably finish. Nice chatting with you!" She turned sharply and began to walk off.

"Clare! Not so fast!" K.C. shouted jogging up to catch up with her. "Your book." She turned to grab it from him but he held it just out of her reach. She made a slight noise of disbelief.

"K.C. we're in college, not elementary school."

He smiled at her. "Doesn't mean that this technique isn't just as effective now as it was then. Now really, Clare, what's going on? Aren't you at least glad to see me? I mean, ever since our last talk...I've been worried about you."

She was. How could she not? He had poured out his whole heart to her the last day she was in Canada. He said he wanted to be with her, and after all this time, Clare still believed he was the best thing that ever happened to her. Regardless of what had happened, he had "manned up" and Clare was intensely glad for that. She just…couldn't face the truth. Her psychiatrist told her it was good for her to face what happened; but Clare was still a coward. She didn't want to bring it up ever again. Talking about it with her psychiatrist was enough. Having to talk about it to one more person, even years later, was just daunting.

"Clare, please. Cut me some slack here. The last time I ever spoke to you, you left. What was I suppose to think? What am I suppose to think? Can't I just get some honest answers? Or even if I can't…Can you at least hug me back like I know you mean it? I just want to know that this is real. You're real. You're here at this better place, and with me for the moment. God, Clare, I still love you."

Clare looked deep into his eyes and felt blood begin to pool on her tongue again. "It's not that easy, K.C."

"What isn't?"

"Talking to you."

"Why?"

"It's just…something happened that night. After talking with you. And I just, I just never felt…like I could go back to Degrassi. So I left. I felt horrible about it; I truly still am, K.C. Just please forgive me. Please." She looked away toward the street. It had begun to grow lighter and the street lamps flickered off silently. She felt K.C. put his fingers underneath her chin and lift her gaze up towards him.

"I'll forgive you on only one condition. You have to tell me what happened."

She looked at him with mix of fear and loathing. She closed her eyes so she could will herself into darkness. "Rape," she whispered.

In a whirlwind Clare found herself tightly bound in the arms of K.C. as she began to lightly sob. Her legs gave underneath her and K.C. was steadying not only himself but her as well, now. He felt her tears began to soak through his shirt as they began to lightly touch his stomach.

"I just couldn't deal, K.C. I thought about killing myself and my parents found me in the bathroom that night and it was just…too much. After the hospitalization I was given a choice. Degrassi or boarding school in the states. I didn't want to go back. I wanted a new start. You have to at least understand that.," she shook her head against his chest in bitter agony. "You of all people should know how starting fresh is so important!" She cried bitterly into his chest as she leaned further and further into him.

K.C. wrapped her tighter around him. "I've got you. I got you."

After Clare calmed down enough that tears were not flowing as freely anymore down her cheeks, K.C. took her backpack and walked her over to a nearby step so she could sit down. It had begun to get lighter and now more students had begun to exit their dorms and head for classes or other buildings around campus. He traced his thumb underneath her eye and wiped away a few of the tears that had shed. He looked away towards the street for a moment.

K.C. heard a few deep breathes exit out of Clare and he turned to look at her. Her cheeks were stained, but she was still as beautiful as ever.

"K.C. I'm still, still really sorry for leaving."

"It's okay, Clare, really. We can talk about it later." He swung his arm around Clare's shoulder and brought her in closer to his chest. She smiled warmly at him and laid her head against his shoulder. He kissed the top of her head sweetly. "Listen, I have to go to class. We'll chat later, right?"

"Right," she said factually. She pulled a strand of hair away from the front of her face and watched K.C. get off the bench and head towards class.

"K.C.! Wait!" She rushed up behind him and pulled at his hand. "I forgot to tell you something."

"Yeah?"

She smashed her lips forcefully against his with wild passion. She placed her hands behind his neck, pulling him closer as he grabbed her waist towards his own. After a few seconds of not breathing, she pulled her head away.

"I love you, too."

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