A/N: Hey guys! This is my second EClare oneshot. I decided to write it after all the overwhelmingly positive reviews I got from the first one. Seriously, you guys said words that were so beautiful and I can't honestly tell you how grateful I was for them. I wrote this one for you guys! Thanks so much for everything! :)

I started writing this after Still Fighting It Part II but didn't get to finish until now. And after watching Adam and Eli in the last two episodes, this fanfic just makes them look completely OOC -_- *le sigh*. Hopefully not too much. :P

This was originally supposed to be a oneshot but turned out to be close to 20,000 words. O_o So, I decided to give you guys the first part right here and the second will be coming really soon. Until then, enjoy!

Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing!

"One of Shakespeare's finest works, Romeo and Juliet will be at the Toronto Center for the Performing Arts for one weekend only! Tickets are now on sale…"

Clare sighed in frustration. That is literally the fourth time that commercial played within the last ten minutes. How is she supposed to be able to concentrate on her homework when the television constantly blares out advertisements for contests, plays and weight loss regimens that probably don't even work?

"Mom, does the T.V. have to be so loud? I need to work on my science paper," she whined.

Her mother rolled her eyes and turned to look at her daughter. "Clare, you don't have to work on the dining room table. Your father and I bought you a beautiful desk for your room, why don't you ever use it? You'd have all the silence you need, sweetie."

Clare sighed softly, shutting her laptop. "I know… but I like it in the kitchen. It helps me concentrate…"

Her mother gave her a half smile. Or was it a smirk? Clare couldn't figure out the face her mother made. Lately she hadn't been able to read people's faces anymore. Ever since she met her wonderful new friend in English class, smirking had taken a whole new meaning.

"I'm going upstairs," she said briskly as she walked by her mother and ascended the steps to her room. Her science paper wasn't due for another week and she really didn't want to continue it anyways. Another thought was occupying her mind anyways…

She had English tomorrow. And even though she had promised Eli she'd give him some time, it was always the highlight of her day to see him.

Clare leisurely poked Adam in the ear as she strolled to her seat. He had his arms curled on his desk, his face buried in his embrace as he hoped to catch a few more seconds of sleep before class started. He groaned loudly as he felt her poke his ear. Damn, what does a guy need to do to get a few more minutes of sleep, eh?

"Wake up, sleepy-head, Ms. Dawes will be here any minute," she said casually as she sat at her seat, setting her pile of books on her desk.

Adam groaned again as he slowly raised his head. "Good morning, Adam, how are you? I'm very sleepy, thanks for asking, Clare. In that case, Adam, I will let you sleep and not poke your ear and wake you up…"

Clare turned to face him, shooting him with her best death glare. "Ha ha, Adam, very amusing. Why are you so tired, anyways?"

Adam propped his tired head on his elbow, yawning loudly. "A new issue of The China Town Saga came out yesterday. It's 485 pages long…"

"Ah, I get it," she said, smiling at her sleepy friend. Adam and Eli would probably give their lives up for their comic books. Obviously Adam would give up a night's sleep for 485 pages of cartoon goodness.

"By the way, what did Eli need to give you anyways?" he asked, yawning loudly as he stretched his arms out in an attempt to wake himself up.

Clare froze. She had been removing a few pens from her pencil case when she stopped, her eyes widening with surprise. Give her what?

"What do you mean?" she asked, her voice shaking slightly. She tried to look calm and cool but the strain in her voice said otherwise. She wasn't sure if she should believe him or not; after all, he could be just babbling out of exhaustion. But… what if he wasn't? Adam squinted slightly, still trying to wake himself up. If he didn't answer her soon, she was going to have a nervous breakdown.

He yawned again, this time softer than before. He was almost fully awake. "I don't know. He said he had something for you when I spoke to him last night. Didn't you see him today?"

Clare shook her head vigorously, still surprised. Eli Goldsworthy had something to give to her? A million different options raced through her mind. Did he borrow her notes? No, he never has. It couldn't be a present; it wasn't close to Christmas or her birthday. She went from one option to another as the students began filling up the room and Adam decided to attempt to sleep again. He awoke abruptly to the sound of Ms. Dawes snapping her fingers beside his ear.

"Good morning, students. Look lively, today we'll be looking over last week's exam. Some of you did not meet my expectations, which is surprising. I'll be passing out your exams shortly and pay attention to the notes I wrote at the top left corner!" she said as she fumbled with her bag, lifting her head to gaze at the classroom, "Well, Mr. Goldsworthy, glad to see you could join us today."

Clare watched as Eli nodded to their teacher and casually seated himself at his usual desk in front of her, not even bothering to turn around and greet her or Adam. She furrowed her brow at his behaviour. Weren't they passed the "Ignore Clare" stage?

"Good morning, Eli," she said boldly. Well, she definitely wasn't going to accept unconventional behaviour from him again.

"Good morning, Clare," he said casually, not turning his head to look at her, "How are you today?"

Clare stuttered, slightly at a loss for words. She was expecting another cold shoulder, not an actual polite reply. "I-I'm doing fine. You?"

"Never better."

And that was it. A polite discourse and their conversation was over. Clare hadn't realized that, during her discourse with Eli, she had slightly edged herself forward. She straightened herself and turned to Adam, giving him a confused look as she subliminally asked him what was going on. Adam merely shrugged in response. So, he didn't get it either…

Clare had trouble concentrating in class today. She thought they went back to being friends again, that the evasion and ignorance was over. After they had kissed as a part of their film project a few weeks ago, Eli resorted to minimizing all contact with her and went as far as skipping class for a chance not to cross her. Needing closure, Clare confronted him, causing him to spill his dark secret to her.

I can't not be friends with you. I like you too much.

Clare replayed his words in her head over and over, trying to make some sense out of them. He admitted to feeling guilt and sadness over the death of his ex-girlfriend last year. And although Clare still felt as if there was something between them, she decided to give him the space he needed to sort out his feelings and recover. This was over a month ago. Afterwards, they were back on speaking terms and were just as close as they had been before. So then… why was he giving her the cold shoulder now? Suddenly, out of nowhere? Well… it couldn't really be much of a cold shoulder if he's being courteous, right? At least he was being polite… and vague. Very vague. What could he possibly be hiding behind his emerald eyes and lopsided smirk?

And what in the world did he have to give to her?

"Ms. Edwards?"

Clare slightly shook her head, returning to reality. The entire class had their gaze shifted towards her, some of them actually chuckling. They looked as if they were waiting for an answer from her, which she would be able to provide had she been paying attention to the question. She smiled slightly at Ms. Dawes, shaking her head in confusion.

"Pay attention, Ms. Edwards, this classroom isn't the place for daydreaming."

Clare shifted her gaze beside her towards Adam, who offered an encouraging shrug of his shoulders. Not much but sweet nevertheless. She hung her head in shame and dug herself into her work. Little did she know about the mysterious boy who sat in front of her, smiling widely and snickering at her expense.

"Could that class have lasted any longer?" Adam complained as they left the classroom at the end of the period, "I think I actually felt a few of my brain cells dying."

"I agree, exam revisions are slightly tedious and dull. Maybe it would have helped had you gotten any sleep last night?" Eli commented.

"Thanks for the observation, Eli," Adam said sarcastically, shifting his eyes, "I need to get to my next class. Catch up with you guys later."

Clare watched as Adam scurried down the hallway, obviously trying to walk on his own rather than wait for his escort. She felt bad for him. He had teachers escorting him around the school to prevent any further bullying. A part of her wished he had stayed with them. He wouldn't be humiliated again. And, had he been there, she would have probably felt a little less awkward around Eli.

Eli turned to face her, a signature smirk brightening his face. "Hey, come to my locker for a second."

Clare nodded in response. Oh, so now he's acting mysterious again? Avoiding her one instance and then acting friendly again? Does he even realize what he's doing? Maybe she shouldn't accompany him to his locker!

Stop overreacting! she scolded to herself. Last time she overreacted, she handed in an edited part of their film project that Ms. Dawes didn't accept. Maybe Eli was having a rough day. After all, she promised she'd give him space. And space is what he'll get. She took a few breaths as she watched him open his locker. Here goes nothing…

"I have something I want to give you…" he said, searching through his disorganized locker. Clare felt her heart skip a beat. So Adam wasn't babbling nonsense this morning.

She watched as he pulled out two strands of tough paper that looked oddly like tickets, handing them to her. She picked up the tickets, reading the fine print that inked the side. They were tickets for Saturday night's showing of Romeo and Juliet. That annoying commercial that played over and over on T.V. every night. She felt her jaw drop slightly as she continued reading the print that covered the tickets. These mustn't have been cheap.

"Romeo and Juliet? This Saturday?" she asked, smiling slightly.

He nodded. "I thought it'd be appropriate, what with the disastrous film project we had on it."

"Disastrous?" she asked, smiling brightly, "I think we did a good job with it. The poisoned cola was genius."

"Juliet decided that Romeo wasn't worth it so she chose life instead. Go Juliet," he quoted her sarcastically.

Clare's eyes widened. That wasn't the final version of the video they handed in to Ms. Dawes. But Eli had a good laugh at the edited version she created out of frustration over his cold behaviour towards her. He laughed as she shook her head, gazing at the tickets in her hand.

"So…is this why you were acting weird this morning?" she asked curiously, waving the tickets in the air.

"I was looking for the perfect way to ask you," he answered, his expression somewhat neutral as he gazed into her eyes. Clare both loved and hated when he did that. For one, he was always able to tell what she was thinking through her eyes, which wasn't always convenient. But, it was the perfect excuse for her to sneak a much anticipated look at his beautiful eyes as well.

"This is really sweet of you, Eli, thank you. I'd love to go," she answered, smiling brightly. She had to do everything she could to make it seem she was grateful. She really did want to go to the play with him. But a momentary lapse in judgement caused by her gazing into his emerald eyes always had the worst effect on her conversation. Forget the eyes, Clare-Bear…

Eli laughed, nodding at her. "Great. We'll have fun, I promise."

Clare couldn't help but notice a little happy chime in his last sentence. The last time she heard him speak that way, he was explaining how he got Fitz, the bully, arrested. Should she be worried?

No, she shouldn't.

"Alright. But I'm keeping the tickets until then. Your locker is a pigsty; you'll lose them in there."

Clare knew exactly what he would do next. He would scowl at her, as if in pain, and place a hand over his broken heart. Which is exactly what he did.

"Ouch, Clare, that's my locker you're talking about. Besides, pigs are very clean animals," he retorted, smirking victoriously.

Clare smiled and rolled her eyes as she waited for him to gather his books, or at least the ones he could find. Her heart beat rather unevenly as she gripped the tickets tightly. She was going to see Romeo and Juliet with Eli this Saturday. Her heart fluttered at the mere thought of them together at a play. She also agreed to give him time to sort himself out. Clare's smile fell at the thought. Maybe it would be a bad idea to get her hopes up…

"So, he gave you tickets to a play?" Adam asked with a rather surprised tone as he gazed at the tickets Clare placed in his hand. The long day had finally come to an end and Adam had come to her locker, hoping to get a glimpse of what Eli had given her. So, he really was interested!

"Yeah, for this Saturday. Just the two of us going to see Romeo and Juliet. Isn't it neat?" she said softly, trying her best to hide the excitement and giddiness in her voice. Adam didn't need to know how happy she was. Unluckily for her, even after her best efforts, the excitement was still apparent in her expression. Adam had no trouble reading her thoughts.

He nodded, his expression still confused. "Hm. I officially do not understand Eli. At all."

Clare rolled her eyes at him, still smiling. "Oh, come now, Adam. What's there to understand? He bought tickets for me and him to see a play!"

"And last time I checked, you gave him time to sort himself out. Don't tell me you forgot about that?"

Clare's smile fell. Yeah, she remembered. She had hoped that, if she was in denial about it, it would eventually go away. Obviously that didn't work.

"I was kind of hoping that wasn't the case," she admitted softly, turning back towards her locker.

Adam sighed, handing the tickets back to her. Great, now he made her sad. Well, it was better than getting her hopes up and just having them crushed on Saturday.

"Look, Clare…" Adam began, at a loss for words. How the heck do you make a girl feel better? This definitely wasn't Adam's strong point. "If Eli didn't need space anymore, he would've let you know. Maybe he was trying to be nice? Making up for avoiding and ignoring you last month instead of just telling you the truth?"

Clare pursed her lips, deep in thought. That made a lot of sense. And it didn't hurt that it made her feel slightly better. Hey, at least he was considerate?

"He did say he wanted to make up for that disastrous film project," she said, smiling slightly at him.

Adam looked away, slightly disgusted. Yeah, that project was somewhat disastrous, wasn't it? He turned to gaze at his friend again, this time flashing a small, understanding smile.

Clare slammed her locker shut, causing Adam to jump slightly from the sound. "Okay, I understand. It was a considerate gift of apology. We're going to a play just as friends. And we'll have fun."

Adam nodded. "Yeah. Exactly."

Clare smiled at him as she fiddled with the lock. Adam was right. If Eli didn't need any more time, he would've let her know by now. And the tickets were a very nice gift. They will have fun on Saturday, just like the normal friends they are. And they will enjoy the ending of the play and tease Clare's alternate ending. And they will laugh about it at school on Monday. And they will still be friends.

And Clare will not raise her hopes up. But she will look forward to Saturday night. After all, going to a play with Eli Goldsworthy must be an experience all in itself.

Clare could not believe how slowly the rest of the week had dragged on. She counted the seconds to the end of every class and even counted the seconds during the dull lunch hours she would spend listening to Alli contemplate which dress she should wear to the dance or listening to Eli and Adam disagree on the presence of stereotypes from this month's issue of whatever comic book it was they were interested in. Usually, she would pay attention to these things. But, knowing that those two tickets were resting in that tiny magnetic pouch she kept on her locker door made her anticipate the night of the show that much more. And when something exciting is coming your way, the wait leading up to that moment always seems that much longer. Even when the final bell rang on Friday afternoon and the students jumped with joy and scurried out of the halls in excitement for their next 48 hours of freedom, Clare still felt annoyed over the slow ticking of the clock in the hallway. She survived three days so far; she can surely survive another 24 hours, right?

"Hey, Clare!"

The sound of his voice startled her, almost causing her to drop the books in her arms. She couldn't tell if she was happy or not to see him. Obviously, she was always happy to see her friend. But seeing him now just reminded her that she had 24 more hours to bear until tomorrow's show.

"Hi, Eli," she answered with a smile as he came to a stop beside her. Damn, his bangs were in his face. Was it too much to ask to want to see his eyes? His perfect gemstone eyes that shined like-

Stop it, Clare. Smile politely, she told herself as she gave him a friendly smile.

Eli smirked in response. She can't hide anything from him. One look and her eyes would just tell him everything. He could tell she was distracted by something. Adam did tell him she was really looking forward to tomorrow…

"So, I was wondering about tomorrow. The show starts at 9:00. How about I pass by and pick you up at around 8:15?"

She nodded, resting her blue eyes on his gaze. "Yeah, that sounds good."

She had very pretty eyes. He couldn't even express how happy he was the day he ran over and crushed her glasses. No frame or glass could ever compliment such pretty sapphires she had for eyes. He was glad the first thing he had ever said to her was how pretty her eyes were.

"Great. I'll be seeing you tomorrow then. Oh, and don't forget, it's a play. Dress up nice."

Clare smirked, beginning to make her way towards the exit of the school. "Does this mean I'll finally get to see Eli Goldsworthy in a suit?"

He smiled in response. Clare smirking? If she wanted to pull off an Eli original, she'd have to do better than that. "Against my will. If I went looking like I do now, they'd probably deny me entry."

She rolled her eyes in response. "Thank goodness for that."

"Ouch, Clare, again?" he said sarcastically, faking an injury on his heart, "First my locker and now my clothes? Anything else repulsive about me that I should know about?"

She set both hands on the handles of her bike, smiling at him. Eli may be smart and witty but Clare was able to find ways to tease him as well. "Well, I'm hearing rumours about repulsive body odour that helped you win tickets to a concert in Hamilton a few weeks ago."

Eli laughed. He and Adam had won concert tickets from Sav by keeping their hands on a truck as a part of a contest. Most of the other competitors surrounding him had dropped out due to his lack of deodorant.

"And it was a very successful strategy, Edwards. I won the tickets, didn't I?" he replied, smirking at her as she mounted her bike.

"Strategic or not, it's still repulsive," she said, kicking the stand of her bike to the side, ready to depart.

Eli slowly backed away towards the parking lot, giving her space to take off. "Fine. I'll shower before picking you up tomorrow. Happy?"

She nodded, squinting as the sun shone in her eyes. The sun was shining directly at her, blinding her slightly. She could still make out Eli's form as she watched him back away towards the parking lot, waving goodbye to her in the process.

"See you at 8:15, Clare!" she heard him shout as he scampered across the street, cutting off a car as it crossed the school zone.

"Bye, Eli," she said softly, not expecting him to have heard her. Someday, he was going to get himself killed if he kept crossing the street without looking both ways… She smiled to herself as she took off down the street, pedalling along with traffic as her heart raced in her chest. The next twenty four hours were going to feel like a very long time.

Hope you guys are enjoying it so far. What will happen on Saturday night? Next chapter is the date! :)