Disclaimer: I do not own anything in this story. It's all fiction, and I make no profit from it.

Author Notes: Anyways, I wrote this with the song Illusion by VNV Nation in mind, just interpreting the lyrics a little bit differently to fit the situation in the fanfic. I'll talk about that at the end of the fic.

For now, basically, this is a short little snapshot of a few months into Season 10. I've got a few others in mind, including Clare letting go of her past and looking forward to being with Eli (which would take place [thinking of a time line] before this), about them being together (past this stage), and then something special to really get the water works going.


A crack of thunder and lightning rippled through the air in a violent interruption to the sound of the pouring rain outside. I let out a sigh and rolled from my bed, putting my book on the nightstand. I stretched briefly, and then headed to look closer out my bedroom window.

The sky was suffused in a dark gray color. It was dreary to look at, sending a never-ending pattern of rain and clouds for the past three days can really get at a person. I sighed again. I seemed to be doing that more and more recently, since my parents started fighting, again. It's hard, even with the noise cancellation earphones Eli gave me… I still know they're fighting. It's killing me from the inside, each and every day, wondering if it would be the last time we'd be together as a family.

I jumped, startled from a loud noise I knew all too well. It wasn't the thunder, but a more familiar sound I've become accustomed to. I tried to peer closer through my window, out past the rain. A pair of red tail lights flashed up, and I knew that my dad had just left the house… again.

I felt my throat close up a bit as I fought back a sob; my shoulders wracked, and my fingernails dug into the palms of my hand. Breathe, I thought to myself, everything will be fine. He'll come back home in the morning, just like before. H-He… He always comes back.. in the morni-

I fell onto my bed and screamed into my pillow. I started punching the bed in a feeble attempt to release all the angry emotions I felt inside, but they kept piling up higher and bigger every day, every hour, every moment. I couldn't take it!

Why does this have to happen to my family? We've been through so much, with Darcy's rape, and now this. Why do we deserve this to happen? Why…. Why do I deserve this?

My floor squeaked, and I turned my head towards the offending sound. My red-shot eyes opened wide in surprise. My mother was standing in the doorway; she held a tissue in her hand, which was over her mouth. She too was crying, tears of a broken woman, of a broken family.

"I'm so sorry, Clare," she began to say, but I was already off my bed and moving past her and down the stairs.

"I-I just.. I need to get away. I.. I can't be here right now." I mumbled, struggling to make my mouth move to form a coherent sentence. I didn't want to hear what she was about to say. Through tears and my trembling hands, I fought to quickly put on my shoes and jacket.

She followed me down stairs, and it's weird, but I could practically feel the sadness emanating from her. "It's over, honey, it's…" she trailed off, unable to finish her sentence. Another wail of sadness overcame her, shaking her small frame. Her face, filled with more wrinkles than I ever remember it having, buried into the crook of her arm as she collapsed onto the chair near the dining table.

I could still hear her, even when I closed the door and stepped out into the pouring rain. Or perhaps it was just my conscious, playing over and over again the sounds of a once proud, strong woman, reduced to tears. I had a feeling those sounds would haunt me for many nights to come.

I began walking, having no real destination in mind. I just wanted to get away from everything. Go back to a time when everything was perfect, or at the very least, not hell on earth. My thoughts drifted back to when my parents use to take Darcy and me on picnics once a month when we were little, right after church. Everyone was always so happy and carefree. Why couldn't it be like that now? What changed? Huh?

I took notice of the black hearse that pulled up beside me. It stopped fiercely, and I turned to watch as the guy I've been dating for a little over two months popped out. His hair was quickly matted down by the rain, rain that spilled off his hair and onto his gorgeous red lips, off the end of his nose and onto the awaiting pavement below. Everything about him was dark, however, his green eyes were alight with worry, and yet they were also relieved.

He pulled me close and hugged me, his body's warmth immediately seeping in to warm my being. I shivered, just noticing how cold I was, which grew worse when he pulled away, gripping my shoulders tightly with his hands. "Your mother called me three hours ago, Clare! I've been looking everywhere for you. What are you doing out here? Huh? Are you crazy?" I shot him a dark look, and he backed off slightly. "Look," he continued, "let's talk about this in a place that's not wet, okay?"

"You don't understand, Eli." I said above a whisper, yet loud enough that he could still hear. "Please, just leave me alone. I need to be alone right now, okay?" I smiled softly, and moved to get out of his grasp. He didn't budge though. He refused to let me go.

"You're not going to be alone, Clare." He said with a calm voice. "You're never going to be alone. But if we stay out here any longer," he smirked, "we're going to need a boat to get back home."

He finds this amusing? I seethed inside. "This isn't some big joke, Eli! My parents are breaking up, alright? They've been together for twenty-three years! How can you just wake up one day, after having two kids, and say you don't love the person who's sleeping beside you? They swore an oath to God! Till death do they part!" I choked back another sob. I couldn't believe I had more tears in me, but I felt them fall as I continued to spill all my pent up emotions onto him. "Is it so much to hope that my family stays together? Is it so much to hope for my friend to not stab me in the back? How am I supposed to trust anything in this world? Huh?" Our eyes locked, "Tell me, Eli, how I am supposed to trust in a world full of lies?"

He paused for a moment, studying me carefully. "You can trust me," he said simply, still holding me firmly in place. "There are nice guys out there, you know? I'm not your ex-boyfriend, Clare. I'm not your dad; I'm not the guy who raped your sister. I'm Eli, Clare." He paused, taking a step closer towards me. He leaned in, whispering, "I'm… I'm your boyfriend."

His lips pressed against mine, and I responded immediately into the kiss. His arms wrapped around me about the same time I collapsed into him. I felt so emotionally and physically drained. I couldn't fight it any more. I just… didn't have the energy. He helped me into the passenger seat, and closed the door for me. Such a gentleman, I thought as my eyelids grew heavy.

I leaned my head back against the seat, and sighed in contentment as the engine started up. As my consciousness was about to leave me, barely above a whisper, I could have sworn I heard him whisper, "I love you, Clare." before I blacked out.


Author's Notes: So it took me about an hour and a half to write this. However, I saved it until the morning so I could look at it when the sun was actually up. Anyways, a few things I want to let you guys in on.

Number one, I'm a guy, but I wanted to get the story to be from Clare's perspective. If you think I did an okay job, please let me know.

Number two, I enjoy this pairing, but, not to bash anyone, I see so many fanfics already out there that really don't do this pair justice. I will give a shout out to Darkchanter's What I'm Looking For, because for his/her first fanfic, it was pretty decent, and it really didn't mess with anything too much. I haven't read many Degrassi fanfiction, but that one caught my eye.

Number three, the most important one. The song choice. Now you're all rather intelligent people with your own song preferences, and that's fine if you play that, but give Illusion a listen to, and see if you can see what I see when looking at the lyrics compared to what I was writing. "Each time you get hurt, I don't want you to change, because everyone has hopes, you're human after all." Is said with the implied voice of Eli. He's saying to Clare that he knows it's been difficult, what her and her family has been going through, but he doesn't want that to change her, or make her more jaded. Everyone has hopes of a perfect family, or a successful job, or whatever, because everyone, including herself, is human after all.

"Please don't go, I want you to stay
I'm begging you please, please don't leave here"

Clare just wanted to get away from it all, walking over three plus hours in the rain, soaking her clothes wet. Very distraught, Eli didn't want her to just give up and shun out the world, because that's not like her. However, with everything happening with her family,

"I don't want you to hate for all the hurt that you feel
The world is just illusion trying to change you"

He doesn't want that hatred and hurt to manifest, saying that the world is just an illusion trying to change who she really is. So, the key message is to stay true to you. However, you may have a different take on things, and feel free to do so.

Reviews are always appreciated; let me know what you think – and remember, keep a look out for some more little gold nuggets coming up.

Edited on Thanksgiving, sorry, had to fix a mistake! ^^