Eli x Clare
This story was inspired by Katy's Perry's song, "One of the Boys". I'm so excited for this story. I actually have a complete other word document filled with ideas for things to happen. Nerd, I know.
[I don't own Degrassi, or any of it's characters. I don't own the song from which the title is derived from, Katy Perry's label does.]
T for now but it will rise up to M in future, just warning you.
This first chapter may or may not make you cry.
Italics = Flashbacks
Read + Enjoy + Review.
Chapter 1:
"Are you excited?" Eli asked. He and Clare were huddled together on Eli's roof. Something they did whenever something big was about to happen. They were laid out on a big blanket under the stars.
"For what?" Clare asked turning to him, while wrapping her arms around herself. It was starting to get colder.
"You start high school tomorrow, why aren't you more excited?" Eli said shaking Clare.
"I don't see the big deal. I mean, I'm just happy to be able to see you every day again," Clare replied honestly. Clare and Eli had been best friends since they could remember. They were always together, inseparable. That was until Eli had to go to high school and Clare was left half alone back in grade eight. They hated being a year apart.
"Aww! Somebody loves me," Eli joked pulling Clare into a bone crushing hug.
"Ugh, you wish," Clare retorted but contradicted her words by squeezing him back.
"So are you excited to start high school tomorrow?" Eli asked again.
"You're so annoying," Clare replied.
"And you're so avoiding the question. Spit it out Edwards," Eli pushed.
"It's just…," Clare said quietly. Eli began to get worried.
"What?"
"What if nobody likes me?" Clare whispered seriously. Clare was never the type of girl to care about what others thought of her. She had thick skin. The words that had just been uttered by her worried Eli. The concerned look that etched across his features made Clare burst out laughing, breaking her fake seriousness.
Eli glared at her playfully.
"Don't worry Clare, you'll have your best friend Bhandari there," Eli mocked and Clare stuck out her tongue in disgust.
"I think I'd rather drink spoiled pickle juice," she said gravely.
Eli laughed, "C'mon, I've got to walk you home before it gets late."
"I can take myself home, thank you very much," Clare said crossing her arms over her small chest.
"Yeah right," Eli laughed and got up from the roof. He climbed down carefully over the side of the roof and felt for the ledge of his window pane. He let himself drop down and waited for Clare, who was nowhere to be seen.
"Clare?" Eli asked, poking his head out of his window.
"What?" Clare said from above.
"Are you coming down anytime soon? I have to take you home," Eli said tapping his foot impatiently on the dark hardwood floor.
"I'm coming," Clare shouted and Eli snickered.
"Don't be perverted Elijah!" Clare yelled not from above, but from the tree branch outside of his window.
"How did you manage to get there without killing yourself?" Eli asked amazed.
"To be honest, I don't really know," Clare shrugged and swung over the branches working her way down. Unfortunately, the last branch was high off the ground.
"Clare hold on I'll be right there," Eli yelled, almost having a heart attack watching Clare stumble multiple times.
Eli quickly ran down the stairs of his house and past his parents, who were watching television in the living room.
"Where's the fire Eli?" His mother, Cece, asked.
"Clare's hanging off the tree branch," Eli said slightly out of breath.
"Oh my god she could get hurt!" Cece shrieked.
"Exactly, I'm trying to go help her but you stopped me, so if she falls it'll all be your fault," Eli accused, ran towards the door and opened it, smacking right into Clare.
"How did you get down?" Eli asked surprised.
"I jumped, you dork," Clare said poking his chest.
"But how –," He started but Clare cut him off.
"I don't like your tone," Clare said irritated, "just because I'm a girl doesn't mean I'm helpless."
"She's right Eli," Bullfrog, Eli's father, said from the living room, "Clarabelle's got more fighting power than you." He started laughing and Clare joined in.
"He's right," Clare laughed and punched him in the shoulder; Eli wouldn't admit that it actually did hurt.
"Oh really," Eli said threateningly and punched Clare back in her shoulder.
"Yeah really," Clare said punching him again.
They glared at each other and seconds later they were on the floor kicking, smacking, punching, and playfully hitting each other.
"You can't hit me, I'm a girl," Clare yelped after Eli hit her particularly hard on her thigh.
"You just said you weren't weakened by your gender," Eli replied after Clare smacked him back in the back of the head.
Clare and Eli stopped rough housing when they saw a black feminine boot tapping impatiently by them.
They looked up to see Cece staring down at them with a small smile on her face, holding an aluminum covered tray.
"He started it," Clare said at the same time Eli said that Clare started it.
"Eli stop fighting Clare and get up off the floor," Cece reprimanded Eli. Clare smiled triumphantly at him.
"But mom," he started.
"But nothing," Cece said, "now both of you get up off that floor and Eli take Clare home before her father worries."
Eli jumped off and offered his hand to Clare, pulling her up.
Bullfrog walked up behind Cece, "I heard the ruckus stop so I figured Cece came to kill the fun. Clare did you get in a couple of good swipes?"
"Sure did," Clare said smirking at Eli and high fived Bullfrog.
"Here you go sweet cheeks," Cece said handing the tray of food to Clare and gave her a hug.
"Thanks Cece," Clare said.
"Will we be seeing you soon?" Cece asked.
"Most definitely, Eli here can't get enough of me," Clare joked bumping her side into Eli's causing him to jostle.
"Oh yeah," Eli said sarcastically, "I can't live without her."
"Oh well off you go and don't be home late you little brat," Bullfrog said ruffling both Clare and Eli's hair.
Eli and Clare turned and walked out of the house, they were halfway down the front path when Bullfrog called them. They turned swiftly and expectantly.
"Hey Clarabelle, beat up Eli in school tomorrow for me yeah?" Bullfrog laughed.
"Will do!" Clare promised and turned to laugh at Eli.
"Let's go," Eli said irritated. He turned back to glare at his father, who only laughed at his reaction.
They walked silently to Clare's house, which was only a few blocks away. The only sound heard was Eli's laughter every time Clare almost tripped.
"I don't want to talk to you anymore," Clare huffed after the seventh time she almost fell, and Eli, instead of helping her regain her balance, just stood there laughing.
"Clare, we both know you can't live without me. You can't get enough of this," Eli said gesturing to himself.
Clare rolled her eyes, "No thanks." But a warm feeling spread over her entire body when she saw Eli that betrayed her words.
They walked in silence the rest of the way and Clare silently thanked God that she didn't trip anymore times. They reached Clare's porch and she handed the tray of food to Eli. She felt around for her key but didn't find it.
"Damn, I left my key again," Clare said and started banging on the door yelling "Dad" but he never answered.
"Must not be home, I wonder where he is," Clare whispered.
"Where's the spare?" Eli asked.
"I'm trying to remember" Clare said motioning for Eli to be quiet.
"You don't remember?" Eli asked exasperatedly.
"Hush," Clare said smacking his thigh. After a moment she jumped, "I remember where it is!"
"I hope you didn't do any serious damage to your brain while you were thinking," Eli mocked.
"Shut up, put that down and help me," Clare demanded.
Eli did as he was told, "Now what?"
Clare pointed to the little roof above her porch, "It's taped there."
Clare climbed on the railing of her porch and pulled herself up to the roof.
"Dumbass, you're going to kill yourself," Eli said from the ground, "Who the fuck puts a key there anyway?"
"Fucker, it's so that no one finds it, breaks in and steals my shit," Clare told him like he was stupid.
"You're retarded," Eli said.
"Found it," Clare yelled triumphantly and started to climb down but she over estimated the height of the railing, fell off the roof and onto Eli.
"Aww, Eli, thanks for breaking my fall!" Clare said in a mock girly voice and kissed his cheek.
Eli made a fake horrified face, "Get off me Edwards," he said shoving her off of him and onto the ground.
"Ouch, what a gentleman," Clare retorted.
"I know. I make you swoon with my suave moves don't I?" Eli spoke running his hand through his hair.
"Yeah, you're a regular Casanova," Clare said pulling herself up after Eli exaggeratedly declined to help her up.
She opened the door to her house and set the food on the kitchen table. Eli followed behind, making himself completely at home.
"Why yes, dear husband, get comfortable, I'll make you dinner and feed you," Clare said in a dainty voice when she saw Eli put his feet on her coffee table.
"Damn right you will woman," Eli said in a false macho voice, "you'll cook, clean, and meet all of my needs." He raised his eyebrows suggestively.
"Don't be gross Eli," Clare chastised, smacking the back of his head lightly.
"Ouch! You really are like my wife," Eli said rubbing the back of his head, "an abusive one at that."
"Damn straight. Someone has to keep you in check," Clare said sitting next to him on the couch.
Eli turned on the television and flipped through the channels quickly, knowing it annoyed Clare. He wondered why she hadn't snatched the remote out of his hand yet and turned to see a worried expression on her face and that she was biting her nails.
"What's wrong?" Eli asked curiously.
Clare shrugged, "I wonder where my dad is, he's never out this late."
"I'm sure he's fine Clare, don't worry," Eli said reassuring her.
"What if something bad happened? What if he's –," Clare started but Eli cut her off.
"Knock it off Clare, don't think like that. Your dad is going to waltz in here any minute," Eli pulled a now crying Clare into his lap and hugged her tightly as a painful memory crawled into the forefront of their minds.
Clare's mom had stormed out of the house after a fight with her dad in the middle of the afternoon. Clare remembered chasing her mom out of the house after the fight.
Clare's tiny seven year old body struggled to keep up with her mother's fast pace.
"Where are you going mommy?" Clare said tugging on the bottom of her mother's yellow sundress.
"Mommy's just going for a walk," Helen Edwards replied picking Clare up and holding her in her arms.
"Can I come with you?" Clare asked shaking her head, her tiny red ringlets bouncing wildly.
"Sorry baby, mommy needs some alone time. Go back to your daddy and we'll bake cookies the second I get home, okay?" Helen put her daughter back on the ground
"Promise?" Clare pouted waving her tiny pinky finger in the air.
"Promise," Helen wrapped her pinky finger around Clare's and squeezed.
"Okay, bye mommy. I love you," Clare turned around and went to look for her dad. Maybe Eli could come over and play while she waited for her mom.
It was half past nine when there was a loud knock at the Edwards' door. Eli and Clare raced to answer it.
"Look through the window first!" Randall Edwards called after them
"Okay," they shouted back.
Eli pulled the curtain open and peeked out.
"I can't see anything!" Clare said stomping her foot on the floor. She was still too short to look through the high windows.
Eli came up behind Clare and pulled her up as high as his own weak eight year old little body could, but it was enough for Clare to be able to see over the window pane.
"Daddy! It's the police!" Clare shouted when Eli put her back down.
Randall came to the two frightened kids' side. "Go upstairs and play," he said lightly
Clare felt Eli pull her hand at once, dragging her up the stairs to her room. When they reached the top of the staircase she yanked her hand out of Eli's and put her finger to her lips.
"You're dad said to go play, c'mon Clare," Eli said tugging on her arm.
"Can we please stay? Clare asked, "Maybe they'll pull out their guns or handcuffs!"
For eight year old Eli that was enough, "Okay!"
Clare put her finger to her lips once more and crouched down to sit by the railing so she could see the police and her dad without them seeing her. Eli sat down excitedly next to her.
They watched the police say something to Clare's dad but couldn't hear what. All of a sudden they heard a choked sob come out of Randall Edwards' body.
Clare turned to look at Eli with a scared look on her face.
"What happened?" she asked quietly.
"I'm sure everything is okay," he replied taking her tiny hand in his.
Randall's sobs were heard all the way upstairs.
"What happened?" another voice interrupted the police officers' which Eli instantly recognized as his mom's.
The police turned to Randall and he waved them off dismissively. The officer turned to Cece and Bullfrog and must have told them the same thing he told to Randall because Cece let out a shocked gasp before starting to cry. Eli and Clare could see Bullfrog pulling her to him and hugging her tightly.
Eli mimicked the act with Clare.
The police stayed a few more minutes before turning to leave, taking their hats off in sorrow in the process.
The three adults that remained went into the living room. Eli and Clare slowly tip-toed down the stairs and hid behind the wall listening to the grown-ups talk.
"Oh my god," Cece said choking on another sob, "how could this have happened?"
Even Bullfrog was wiping tears away from his eye, and when Eli saw that he knew something really bad had happened. The only time Eli had ever seen his father cry was at his grandmother's funeral a few months ago. He looked down at Clare who also had noticed Bullfrog's cries and paled in color. He squeezed her hand tightly in his own.
"How am I supposed to tell her?" Randall said running his fingers through his hair.
Clare walked into the living room, pulling Eli with her, "Tell who what daddy?"
"Clare, how long have you two been standing there?" Randall asked quickly wiping his tears away.
"Why were the police here Daddy?" Clare asked.
"Come here Clarebear," Randall said patting his lap. Cece made the same motion to Eli.
Clare and Eli let their hands go and went to sit in their parents' laps.
"Now baby. There's something I have to tell you, it's about your mommy," Randall started.
Clare looked up innocently at her dad, "When is she coming home? It's late and she promised me we were going to bake cookies."
Randall started crying again. "Baby your mommy….your mommy," he started and began choking on his sobs again, "baby girl you're mommy was in an accident."
Clare's eyes widened, "Is she at the doctor's hospital getting fixed?"
"No, sweetheart, your mommy was hit by a car on her way home," Randall said gently, tears still streaming from his eyes, "she died sweetheart."
Clare was quiet, confused. She didn't know what being dead meant. She was only seven after all. She looked up through her short red bangs and looked at Eli, who was frowning. Eli, having attended his grandma's funeral a few months before, had been explained what death was.
Randall started heaving again and Clare hopped off of his lap. Bullfrog stood up and took Randall to another part of the house but Randall's sobs resonated throughout the entire house. Clare went to sit on Cece's other leg.
"Cece, what does died mean? When is my mommy coming back?" Clare asked innocently.
"Oh baby," Cece started off quietly, "I'm so sorry sweetheart, but your mommy's body stopped working before the doctor's could patch her up."
"So being dead means your body stops working? When does it start working again?" Clare asked.
"Sweetie, when you die, your body stops working forever. And it never starts working again," Cece explained, squeezing Clare.
Clare's scared blue eyes bore into Eli's as she asked the next question, "So my mommy's gone forever?"
"I'm sorry honey, but yes, she is. She's up in heaven with God and all the angels," Cece didn't believe in God but she knew the Edwards' religion, which is why she told Clare that.
"Oh," Clare said quietly, finally understanding.
It was in that moment of realization that tiny, seven year old Clare Edwards started crying, she felt Eli's small arms wrap around her as she cried.
The funeral was three days later. Clare remembered sitting by her mother's casket in her little black dress and hat during the wake and Eli in his black suit sitting next to her the entire time, holding her hand.
She remembered when they lowered her mother's body into the ground.
The weeks after the funeral had been the worst. Randall was a walking zombie who couldn't even look at his daughter without being reminded of his wife. That was why he called Cece and Bullfrog and asked them to take Clare for a few weeks while he pulled himself back together.
Clare pulled herself away from Eli's chest and wiped away her tears, "Sorry," she said feeling guilty.
"For what?" Eli asked confused running his fingers down her face and wiping away a few stray tears she'd missed.
"For all of this," Clare said waving her hand in her direction and then pointing to Eli's soaked shirt.
"Clare," Eli said softly, "you have nothing to be sorry for."
Clare leaned back into Eli's embrace and took a few deep breaths, steadying her heart rate.
"You should get cleaned up. You don't want your dad to see you like this. He'll worry," Eli mentioned gently.
Clare nodded, standing up and walking to the bathroom adjacent to her room upstairs. Eli followed close behind and stood in the threshold watching Clare as she washed her face. When she was done she leaned on her arms against the edge of the sink and stared at herself in the mirror. All the traces of tears were gone. She turned to look at Eli.
"Feeling better?" he asked, smiling softly.
"Much," she replied and walked over to him. He immediately opened his arms and beckoned her in an embrace. She leaned her head against his chest.
"Thank you," she whispered.
"Don't mention it," he responded rubbing her back.
Clare pulled away, "Your shirt is all wet from my tears."
Eli shrugged.
"C'mon I have a dry one somewhere in my room from when you've slept over," she tugged on Eli's hand and pulled him back into her room.
Eli plopped on Clare's bed and watched her maneuver around her closet looking for his shirt.
"Here," Clare tossed a clean Dead Hand shirt at Eli's face.
He peeled the wet shirt off in front of Clare.
"My virgin eyes!" Clare fake shrieked.
"Please, Clare, you totally want this," Eli laughed and put on his clean shirt while Clare laughed.
He tossed the dirty, wet one into Clare's hamper, "Wash it for me, okay wife?"
"Oh gladly sweet husband," Clare replied sarcastically, "Anything else I can do for you?"
"Well," Eli pretended to be deep in thought, "you could make me a sandwich."
"I'll get right on that," Clare threw a pillow at Eli's head with perfect aim.
Eli retaliated by suddenly tackling Clare onto her bed. He had her pinned beneath him. Clare struggled, trying to push him off, but he took her wrists and held them above her head.
"Dear sweet wife, you're going to have to stop abusing me, because it hurts me right here in my heart," Eli explained in a mock serious voice staring straight into Clare's blue eyes.
Clare looked into Eli's eyes and felt a flutter in the pit of her stomach, which she pushed way. She gave into Eli and stopped thrashing underneath him.
"That's my girl," Eli smiled down at her and Clare felt herself lose her breath.
Luckily, in that moment, Clare could hear the front door open.
"Clare?" Randall Edwards called out.
"Upstairs dad!" she yelled back.
Eli slipped off of Clare and lay next to her on her small bed.
"Hey honey. Hi Eli," Randall said surprised, "What are you guys doing up here?" He eyed them wearily.
"Beating Clare up, of course," Eli joked and Randall laughed quietly, retreating back down the stairs.
Eli turned to look at Clare, "Did you hear the implication in his voice? It's like he thought we were doing something bad."
"I know," Clare agreed.
"That's weird. We do this all the time" Eli said scratching his head.
"Yup," Clare agreed.
"Ew," Eli finally said and for some odd reason Clare felt her heart sink a little bit, "You're like my wife. Everyone knows that married people don't have sex."
Clare laughed faintly, "You should go home, Eli."
"You're kicking me out Clare? I didn't know I was such a horrible husband," Eli feigned hurt.
"Of course not," Clare said quickly, "Bullfrog told you not to be home late."
"Relax Clare, I was kidding," Eli stated, "I should be getting home."
He jumped off of her bed and went downstairs. Clare followed, walking him out.
"Bye Randall," Eli beckoned to Clare's father, who was in the kitchen.
"Bye Eli thanks for walking Clare home. Say hello to Bullfrog and Cece on my behalf," Randall called back.
Eli pulled open Clare's front door and swiftly turned around making Clare smash into his chest.
"What?" Clare asked.
Eli looked down at her tenderly, "You okay?" He whispered.
Clare nodded slowly, looking at him.
"Good. I hate seeing you sad," he leaned down and kissed her cheek, dangerously close to her lips.
"I'll pick you up tomorrow for school," Eli murmured against her skin.
"Okay," Clare replied a little breathlessly.
"Bye Clarebear," Eli whispered in her ear and Clare felt her eyes drop closed. She opened them quickly and saw Eli's figure retreating in the distance and shut the door.
Clare ran up the stairs two at a time and slammed the door of her room and leaned against it, sliding to the floor. She placed her hand over her wildly beating heart and wondered what the fuck was happening to her.
Tell me what you think, m'kay?