Welcome to this new short story! Two in a row don't you love Short Story Month?

Legal: I own nothing but the idea

Important things to know before reading:

*Begins just before Clare leaves for her Columbia interview

*Adam did not die in the crash but he is in a coma

*When Adam crashed Becky stayed in Florida and the Bakers moved back there so Luke never raped Zoe and nothing at all has happened with Drew and Becky

*Owen goes to Ryerson and still hangs out with Drew and Dallas a lot

*Things have been tense between Drew and Clare since he told her he wouldn't be a rebound

*This story is mostly fluff but there's a little drama as well

That should do it I hope you enjoy!

Ch. 1 The Shadows of the Love We Made

(DREW)

"Okay I think that's it meeting adjourned enjoy your weekend everyone," I say calling the student council meeting to an end.

"When's your flight leaving Clare?" Jenna asks her as we begin gathering our stuff.

"Flight? Where are you going?" I question feeling a slight pit in my stomach that she is leaving, and especially because I didn't know. Things haven't been good between us but I couldn't deny my feelings for Clare and was hoping to make amends with her this weekend and hoping that we still had a chance. However if she's leaving this weekend I might be missing my chance.

"She's leaving us for the glamours of New York this weekend," Alli informs me.

"It will be a fast weekend my return flight is late Sunday night but I am excited," Clare grins with a hopeful elation that breaks my heart. Not that she's happy and excited but the possible reason for her feeling that way.

"Are you going to see Eli?" I ask but I'm a little afraid to hear her answer.

"No I have an interview at Columbia, I didn't tell Eli I was coming and if he does find out it's not from me. I have no intention of seeing or speaking to Eli while I'm there," she replies with an annoyed huff and I admit that makes me smile. "I do have to run though I still need to go home for my bag and call for a shuttle or taxi to the airport," Clare adds.

"Don't do that I can take you to the airport," I speak up.

"You can?" She questions with a slightly suspicious tone.

I can't really blame her with things being so strained between us recently. I was heartbroken after Bianca and then more heartbroken when Clare didn't want me and stayed with Eli after he cheated. I healed my pain with Zoe but it didn't keep me from wanting Clare and falling for her. Then just before break she broke up with Eli and we made love, it was incredible and then everything fell apart. She hated me after break, we sort of made amends but things have still been tense.

"I'd like to take you," I affirm and she smiles. Alli and Jenna are giving me a suspicious look and Dallas is winking at me.

"Okay then we need to go," Clare says.

She waves to Alli and Jenna and we walk out to my car. We ride to her house in silence and she runs in and grabs her bag putting it in the backseat.

"I'm sorry for the way things have been between us lately. I'm sorry for hurting you and listening to Dallas when he told me you were probably using me as a rebound. I was scared I think, scared to be with you, scared that I would never mean as much to you as Eli did, and scared that I could never be enough for you. So when Dallas said that and it offered me a way out I took it, I took the coward's way out but I should have talked to you. I should have stuck around while you were talking to Eli. I should have done something because I really do like you and care about you," I apologize.

"You're not the only one to blame. We should have talked instead of sleeping together the day after I broke up with Eli. If we had talked and you knew how I felt, if you were sure of it then it wouldn't have mattered what Dallas said. I didn't help matters behaving the way I did after break it just hurt so much. Seeing you every day, wanting to be with you and also partially hating you for how you were treating me, how you'd just left me and after I told Eli how much you meant to me and how much you'd done for me."

"You told him that?" I ask and she nods. "Maybe I could pick you up when you get back and we could have that talk about us that we never got to have. I'm not ready to give up on us just yet," I comment and Clare smiles.

"Talking would be nice," she says just as I pull up to departures at the airport. Clare gets out and opens the backdoor to get her bag, I get out to say goodbye.

"I'll text you with my return flight info so you know when to pick me up," she says holding her bag.

"Will you let me know your flight landed safely too?"

"Yes," she grins.

"I know you went in for a blood test yesterday to see if your cancer has come back have you heard yet?"

"Not yet I probably won't hear until Monday although I might hear on the trip. I'll let you know the results."

"Thanks," I smile.

"I have to run, thanks for the ride Drew," she says and stands on her tiptoes to kiss my cheek before rushing into the airport.

I touch my cheek where her soft lips were and grin to myself before getting back in the car and driving home. Dallas is out with Alli but I eat with my parents and go down to the basement. Adam's monitors are beeping away and I go sit with my brother. I know if he was conscious and he knew everything that had happened with me and Clare since the beginning of the school year he'd be upset. He's not conscious though he's still in a coma, they don't know if he'll ever wake up. Mom and Dad made the decision to move him home after Thanksgiving and he has home care nurses a few times a day. Because it would have been difficult to have his hospital bed and all the equipment upstairs we put him in the basement where Dallas used to be and Dallas is now in Adam's old room. We pray every day that Adam will wake up, even if he does wake up we have no idea if he'll be functional at all. I don't care how functional he is I just want my brother to be conscious again.

"I know you'd be so mad at me and at Clare if you knew what we'd done and how we've treated each other. We both screwed up but she's willing to talk, we might just have a chance. I hope that you wake up and come back to us Adam, I hope that you get to see how much I truly care about Clare."

(CLARE)

I arrive on Columbia's campus and look around with a sense of awe and excitement. The thought that I could be attending here next year has me giddy. I arrived last night and caught the last shuttle to my hotel but it was hard to sleep I was so excited. I start walking toward the office when my phone rings; I pull it out because the hospital might call about my blood test. Instead I find Eli's name and picture flashing on the screen and I sigh. I didn't tell him I was coming to New York but he still found out somehow and he's been calling all morning. I put my phone on silent and head into my interview.

The interview goes very well, the woman is very nice and we talk a lot about my battle with cancer and chemo brain. She nursed her mom through cancer so she's very empathetic. I leave with a great sense of accomplishment and excited for the future. I begin walking toward Central Park, I'm so happy I feel like I'm walking on air and now all I want to do is explore. That's why I decided to stay the whole weekend so that I could explore Manhattan and get a feel for where I'd hopefully be living in the fall.

I walk a few blocks thinking about the future and smiling to myself. I almost call Drew just to share the news and my ecstatic attitude but I decide against it. We only just decided to talk and I'm sure he'd be happy for me but I don't want to talk about our relationship over the phone. I do however text him to give him my return flight info, and turn up the volume on my phone so I can hear if it rings. I doubt my parents will call but Alli probably will, the lady from Columbia might and the hospital might. I see that Eli has called four more times and sent a text asking to see me while I'm in town. Drew sends a text back saying he'd be there to pick me up and includes a smiley face. I grin and put my phone back walking another half block and going into vintage clothing store to look around.

While I'm in the store it begins to rain, I've seen dark clouds all day so I'm not surprised it's raining but nothing could darken my mood right now. I actually did check the weather report and brought an umbrella so I open it and keep walking. I see a little café up ahead and stop for some tea and something to eat; I sit down inside and watch the rain while I envision Drew and I eating here in the fall. While I'm eating in the café I get two more calls from Eli and I ignore them both. Just as I'm leaving the café my phone rings again, I huff with annoyance thinking that it's Eli once again but when I look at the display I see that it's the hospital.

"This is Clare," I answer.

"Hi Clare it's Dr. Blair I have good news you are still in remission no signs that the cancer has returned. I did want to call you myself and I didn't think it should wait until Monday because your blood test revealed something else."

"Something bad?" I question with a tinge of fear in my voice as I begin to dread what they found.

"I suppose that depends, the test revealed that you're pregnant," he tells me and my heart stops, my feet freeze I'm so shocked but he's still talking. "Approximately ten weeks pregnant. I wanted to tell you because you've been on maintenance medications and were still on them when you conceived it's quite possible that the medications were harmful so you should make an appointment with an OB/GYN as soon as possible."

"Uh-huh," I mutter but I'm still grappling with the fact that I'm pregnant.

"When you make an appointment they will probably call me for medical records. If you have any questions or concerns call me back."

I don't respond I just hang up; I don't have a response I'm just in shock. Even in my state of shock it's not hard to do the math; if I am ten weeks then the baby is Drew's! Eli and I haven't had sex since November so it's highly unlikely that the baby is Eli's. It doesn't really matter whose baby it is I'm beyond shocked that I'm pregnant. All my happiness and plans for the future are becoming derailed; I'm going to be a teen mom. Drew wanted to talk about us when we got back and now I have to tell him he's going to be a dad!

My heart is pounding and my stomach feels like a deep pit but also like it's tied in knots. Everything I was hoping for, planning for and excited for seems to be disappearing. I start walking again just out of instinct but realize I've dropped my umbrella. I don't even care I'm just in this fog of shock and I start walking back toward my hotel thinking I'd better go home early so I can discuss the baby with Drew.

I step off the curb to cross the street but I'm not paying attention and nearly get hit by a car. HOOOOOOOOOONK the car horn startles me just before I step in front of the vehicle and I step back, trying to step onto the curb but only half my foot gets on and I lose my footing on the sidewalk with rainwater rushing down it. I gasp as I start falling backward, instinctively I begin to turn to catch myself on my hands but I don't make it, I hit first with my arm and then my head hits against the cement with a cracking thud! I feel myself go numb and then everything goes dark.

(ELI)

"Clare it's me you can't just ignore my calls I know you're in town please just come see me I want to talk. If you're going to school in New York then I think we can make it work. Call me back please," I beg leaving another voicemail. It's only the second one because up until now she's been declining all my calls.

I should be doing homework for Monday but I knew she was in town and I couldn't let her leave New York without talking to me. I wanted her back; I had to have her back! I'm actually going a little crazy in the apartment so I leave to go to campus, I can do my homework in my favorite coffee shop and continue trying to get a hold of Clare.

"What's with you?" Adrienne asks as I sit at a table. She's in my sound image class and we were working together on a project last week.

"My ex is in town."

"Trying to avoid her?"

"Trying to find her, I've called a bunch of times she won't pick up."

"If you're going to be that stalkerish why don't you just track her phone?"

"I hadn't really thought of that," I admit. I open the locator app on my phone and tell it to find Clare's phone. It takes a minute before zeroing in but when I see where she is I start to get worried. "I have to go," I say to Adrienne and leave the coffee shop. I begin walking to the subway while using my phone to look up the number for St. Luke's Hospital which is where the locator app said she was.

"St. Luke's Emergency," a woman answers.

"Do you have a Clare Edwards admitted?" I ask and hear her typing on the keypad.

"Yes we do she was brought in by ambulance half an hour ago. I can't give you anymore details unless you're family."

"I'm her boyfriend, I'm on my way I'm just getting on the subway," I tell the woman and hang up.

I get on the subway worried about why she was taken by ambulance to the hospital. It feels like the subway ride takes forever and then I have to run a couple of blocks to the hospital. I go into emergency and up to the admissions desk.

"I called a little while ago about Clare Edwards," I tell the nurse.

"One moment," she says and picks up a phone, "Dr. Conroy Clare Edwards boyfriend is here." She hangs up the phone and looks at me, "Please wait there for the doctor."

I nod and wait anxiously until a doctor approaches. He looks to be in his early forties, with a square jaw and brown eyes.

"I'm Doctor Conroy please come with me," he says. I follow him to the elevator and we go up one floor to intensive care.

"What's wrong with her? How bad is it?"

"When the ambulance brought her in they said they were told she lost her footing in the rain and hit her head. It was fairly serious, she had major swelling in her brain and we had to operate to relieve the pressure on her brain and reduce the swelling. We removed a portion of her cranium to relieve the pressure and she's currently under observation. She's unconscious but hopefully when the swelling and pressure go down she'll wake up. This is Clare's room; prepare yourself before you go in."

I nod taking a deep breath and open the door to Clare's room. I saw her in the hospital when she had cancer, I saw her with a shaved head and weak but nothing could have prepared me for what I see. Her head is wrapped and something is over her eyes, her arm is wrapped and on a splint and she's hooked up many machines and an IV with several bags.

"Will she be okay? What happened to her arm? What's on her eyes?"

"We don't know right now, if the swelling goes down and she regains consciousness hopefully she will be. We don't know the extent of the brain damage and we won't unless she wakes up. The trauma was significant a decompressive craniectomy is a drastic measure we take when there are no other options. When she fell she must have come down on her arm first she has a small fracture. Cooling packs are on her eyes to reduce swelling because of the surgery."

I nod having heard all he said but terrified about what it all means. Sitting down in a chair at Clare's side I take her hand in mine.

"Her phone was smashed when she fell and we haven't been able to track down any of her family."

"I'll…" I start to tell him I'll call her family but the thought of Helen here sickens me. I also know that Helen has been leaving with Glen a lot now that she works remotely and she travels with him on jobs. I decide it's better if I'm the only one here and I'm the only one that truly loves Clare. "I'll try to get a hold of them but she doesn't really speak to her parents."

"Does she have anyone?"

"Only me I'm all she needs."

"I'll give you some time with her but you'll need to fill out some paperwork," the doctor says and then leaves the room. He's gone for about an hour before returning with paperwork for me to fill out and then a woman comes in pushing another machine.

"What's that? Is something wrong?"

"It's an ultrasound machine," the lady says.

"An ultrasound machine for what?"

"I'm sorry I thought you knew," Dr. Conroy remarks, "as a matter of routine we took her blood for routine testing and it found that she was pregnant."

"Pregnant!" I exclaim as the ultrasound technician puts gel on Clare's belly and turns on the machine.

"We're doing an ultrasound to check on the status of the fetus," Dr. Conroy tells me.

"The fetus is fine, no damage, looks healthy but we'll continue monitoring based on Clare's condition. However it looks to be a perfectly healthy ten week fetus," the technician says turning off the machine.

"Ten weeks?! We haven't had sex in m…Drew! The baby is Drew's," I come to this realization silently but the shock must show on my face.

"We'll give you some time and return for the paperwork later," Dr. Conroy says leaving the room.

"You had sex with Drew? You're having a child with him?" I say to Clare's unconscious body when the doctor and technician are gone.

I'm angry now and have so many questions but I don't want to leave her. I stay with her all night and all of Sunday, I hardly leave her side to eat or anything. I just sit there holding her hand and hoping she wakes up. A doctor or nurse comes in about every half hour to check her vitals, brain activity and her swelling. For a day and a half she's all but lifeless and then finally late Sunday night a sign of life as she gently squeezes my hand!

"Clare?"

Her eyes flutter and open slowly, the cooling packs were taken off yesterday when there was no more swelling around her eyes. She blinks her eyes a few times and looks at me with a bewildered expression.

"Eli?" Her voice cracks hoarsely.

"I'm here," I smile.

"What happened? I don't feel very well. Did my cancer return? Is that why you came to Toronto?" She questions with much confusion and I realize she doesn't remember falling or even coming to New York.

"Clare what's the last thing you remember?"

She rolls her lip between her teeth as she thinks a moment, "I'm not sure. I remember you called to tell me you were coming for Thanksgiving. Drew told me we were doing a dinner for needy families."

I realize she doesn't remember anything after Thanksgiving! That means she doesn't remember my cheating, she doesn't remember anything that happened with her and Drew in the last few months. She doesn't remember breaking up with me or having sex with Drew! I can write the last few months of her life and I can fix everything for us.

"It's March Clare, you turned eighteen last month. You came to New York to live with me because we found out you were pregnant. Ten weeks pregnant with my child and we're going to move in together and get married."

"I'm pregnant?"

"Yes and we're both very happy about it but don't worry about that now you fell in the rain and hit your head. You had some head trauma and I didn't know if you would wake up. I'm so happy you did but I need to go find the doctor and tell him you're awake," I say and give her a soft kiss. I walk out to find the doctor; things couldn't be working out better I get to shape everything. Okay so there will be a lot of lies to cover and take care of but I'm wonderful at spinning tales I have no doubt that I can do it.

The update on Thursday, March 21st will pick up in Drew's pov as he's worried about Clare not returning. How long can Eli keep up his lies and keep Clare from the truth?