Lights Will Guide You Home

Summary: With the disappearnce of Alli, Jenna and Clare's friendship is mended.

Clare got the call sometime after she came home from school, the day after Eli had told her of his brilliant ending for his "Gothic Tales" submission. She'd been shocked at the news. Her best friend could act before thinking. She could be positively dramatic, but Clare had never thought that she would take it that far. Sav hadn't told her much in the phone call. Only that he'd said things that he shouldn't have and that Alli had run away. They had no idea as to where she would've went and that worried Clare beyond belief. She had been hoping that Alli would at least try to call her. Then she could get some kind of hint as to where her best friend was at. She was sitting on her sofa, staring down at her cellphone in her hand as her hands shook with nerves. She chewed on her bottom lip nervously, silently begging for her phone to ring when the doorbell rang.

Her head shut up and she stood and walked to the door, opening only to be faced with a red faced Jenna.

The blonde was shaking rather badly and one of her small hands rested comfortingly on her bulging stomach. "Hey Clare." Jenna said trying to smile, weakly.

Clare gave her a small smile in return and opened the door farther, allowing Jenna to come inside. "Hey! So, I'm guessing that you heard about Alli?" She inquired as they both walked into the living room and took a seat on the couch.

Jenna nodded and sighed. "Yeah. I was out babysitting a kid with KC, but when I got back, Kyle told me that I had gotten a call from Sav. Do you think that Alli's alright?"

Clare chewed on her bottom lip as she looked into Jenna's hopeful blue eyes with her own. She nodded. "She has to be. Alli's a strong girl. She's stubborn and she's fierce. She has to be okay." Clare realised that her effort to comfort Jenna was also to comfort herself. Worst case scenarios ran through her mind at a frightening pace. What if something bad had happened to her? What if someone had kidnapped her, what if she was lying in a ditch somewhere, what if someone had taken advantage of her the way that Darcy had been taken advantage of more than two years ago? She squeezed her eyes shut, breathing heavily as she clenched her fist.

Jenna gazed at her wide eyed before reaching over to take her hand in her own. "Calm down, Clare-Bear. It's like you said, right? Alli's strong."

The other girl nodded in agreement and calmed her breathing. She brought her hands up and rubbed her eyes as if to get the horrid images out of her mind. "Right." She murmured softly. "I'm sorry. It's just that...Alli's my best friend and usually whenever she would have a problem, she'd call me. Now she's not saying anything to give me a clue as to where she is or if she's okay. I can't lose her."

"I love Alli, too. She and I may not be best friends like you and her are, but she's important to me. I'm worried too. You aren't alone with that." Jenna said, scooting closer and wrapping a comforting arm around the other girl's shoulders. It was a bold move. While the two weren't exactly enemies, they weren't exactly on the best terms, either, not that Jenna could blame Clare after the thing with KC last year and then the rumors.

Clare twisted slightly at the waist and hugged Jenna back, tightly. As strange as it was, Jenna's words gave her comfort. It felt good to have someone reassure her. To have them be there for her. Usually, she had to be strong for everybody else and hide her own thoughts and feelings and her fears. "You're gonna be a good mom." She whispered softly, pulling away to give Jenna a sincere smile.

Jenna grinned at her, face brightening at Clare's words. "I'm glad that you think so and I hope that you're right."

Clare squeezed Jenna's hand softly. "I know that you will be." She assured firmly, smiling right back.

The End