A/N Please read first: Hello, all. I'm obviously new over here. I've been trolling Eclare fics for the past few days and after seeing Try Honesty Pt. 1 I had the sudden urge to write my own. So here I am, days and days later after my two day anti-spam waiting period finally expired, ready to share my thoughts with you. It's not really going to be a full on story, just a collection of fun one-shots about a more grown up Clare and Eli. It's going to jump forwards and backwards a lot. This one and the four I have already half written were inspired by the song Mine by Taylor Swift.

I have to make it abundantly clear, though, in no way do I think this is going to happen on Degrassi. And I really hope I don't offend anyone with the liberties I take with Clare. I do think that her parents divorce and having Eli is going to change her (I mean, it's Degrassi, the good girls don't stay good forever) but, again I don't think anything like this is going to happen.

Living In Sin

When Clare Edwards woke up in her big, cozy bed with the light streaming in from the window warming her bare back, she couldn't have felt more content with life as it was. She fell asleep smiling last night and that's the way she woke up, lips softly turned up at the edges. In this bed, in this home. . .this is where she was most comfortable, most herself. And mornings she woke up there always gave her hope for all mankind. She was, at that moment, filled with a delirious kind of happiness that completely obliterated reality.

She was seventeen, young, in love and she'd just spent another glorious night with her wonderful boyfriend, Elijah Goldsworthy.

This was not the way she imagined her life would be, but she really couldn't wouldn't change it. Her life was good.

Technically, the studio apartment was his, and only his. His name was on the lease and all of the utilities were in his name, but it was their home. She pitched in for bills when she could, put the apartment's address on all of her forms, and listed Eli as her emergency contact. She had more than one drawer of clothes in the dresser and had laid claim to roughly half of the closet-not that she really needed to given that most of Eli's clothes, dirty and clean, lived on the floor of the bedroom area. She had books on the shelves and her laptop was plugged in right next to his. She even had a surplus of tampons under the bathroom sink.

Her mother thought she was staying at Alli's or 'Gracie's' house, never mind that 'Gracie', for all intents and purposes didn't even exist. Her mother didn't need to know that. If she'd known from the get-go that Adam was physically female. . .well, Former Mrs. Edwards probably would've had an opinion about that. But, no, Clare had found out a while ago that the less her mother knew, the better her life was, the happier they both were.

The summer before junior year, Helen had married an accountant named Michael and he and his two young daughters moved into the house. Clare had realized that she could do pretty much anything her heart desired early on, as her mother had two new daughters to play with and mold. Sometimes it felt like she was trying to have a re-do on Darcy and Clare. It used to hurt, but it had become a numbness in Clare's life. A moot point that she could work around.

Clare's faith was already about to topple over the edge when her parents announced their it was official and her father celebrated by immediately moving to The States to pursue business and a young redhead, Clare snuck out for the first time. When she saw her mother's wedding rings on the bathroom sink, she skipped her first full day of school. The breaking point had been when her mom came home with a new engagement ring on her finger and a relatively good looking, yet balding man in khaki's on her arm. That's when she actually started dating Eli.

And those events, that was what solidified her new state of mind.

When she was younger, she believed what she believed because she was taught to obey her parents and that's what they always told her was right. They gave her her purity ring when she hit puberty and told her, no ifs ands or buts, that only sinners had sex before marriage and if she wanted, she could decline the offer to be pure. But, she'd go to hell and they'd disown her for it. So twelve year old Clare put that ring on her finger with a smile. She thought it was the right way, the only way.

When she was fifteen she started to think that maybe if not even her parents could obey their own rules, the rules they said God set for everyone, she shouldn't have to either. She thought that if God wanted to split up her parents and throw her life into turmoil even though she'd done everything she was ever asked without protest, maybe her parents had it wrong.

Maybe there was a God, or maybe there wasn't. But either way, as long as you're a good person you'll be okay.

That was the philosophy she lived by now. Not 'Will God Hate Me For This?' but 'Will I Be Able To Live With Myself After This?', if the answer was yes, she did it. And sometimes she made a mistake but life always went on and she could always look herself in the eye in the mirror.

It wasn't long before she realized how much happier, how much lighter she felt, without the pressure of the world bearing down on her.

With Eli's help she'd become a normal teenager. She went to parties sometimes, occasionally skipped school, took risks and, in time, perfected the art of lying to her mother. Because she did kind of secretly live with her boyfriend and that took some regular storytelling. But that was a small price to pay for her freedom.

She sensed she was alone in the apartment before she opened her eyes, but that didn't really disappoint her. She was used to Eli already being downstairs at The Dot picking up morning shifts on the days he didn't have classes.

She groaned, stretching the sleep out of her arms and legs before rolling onto her back and wrapping the comforter around her body. Clare looked out from the bed, into the kitchen, through a large archway that was in place of a proper door to make goo-goo eyes at a banana and a box of Poptarts. She was starving, but she was feeling way to heavy in her contentment to get up and feed herself.

Wondering if Eli was due for a break anytime soon she turned her head to check the time and saw that the alarm clock on Eli's side of the bed was blank. There was a sharp jolt in the back of her mind attempting to bring her back to the reality where time and date mattered. She pulled herself over to the edge of the mattress, searching for the electric cord. It came up without protest. That jerk unplugged the alarm clock. She rolled back over to her side and felt around for her phone.

Thursday morning. 8:02.

She was missing homeroom and had to be at her first class in fifteen minutes.

"No, no, no, no. Not today." She said to herself, hanging off the side of the bed, reaching for underwear and a bra.

Thursday: Calc test, AP Chemistry review, English papers due, etc. She could not miss this day.

She stood up on the bed, still hooking the clasp behind her back, to jump off the end, hurrying through the kitchen, around the breakfast bar, behind the couch and into the bathroom. She ran her fingers through her short auburn curls and washed her face free of any of yesterday's make up. The only thing she had time for was brushing her teeth.

Clothes were a slightly more difficult feat. There were a pair of jeans draped over the back of the couch but no shirts to be found. All of her clothes had disappeared. Long sleeves and sweaters were the only thing of hers in the closet-not ideal for May weather-and the only other clean clothes were a stack she'd done for Eli last night on the dresser.

On a whim she hurried out the door and into the laundry room in the hallway outside, completely unmindful of her state of dress. There, she found her clothes, sitting idly, drenched in the washer.

"Come on, Eli. Seriously?" She growled in frustration. Half of those clothes were clean. He was the one who taught her that just because they were on the floor didn't mean they were dirty.

Back in the apartment she had no choice but to rifle through the stack she'd left out for him earlier, grabbing the smallest shirt she could find. A faded black concert T-shirt from when he was in high school.

She leaned back to check the microwave clock from the bedroom. Ten minutes.

She grabbed a banana off the counter, threw it into her school bag and snatched the first pair of shoes she saw.

"Today is not my day," She mumbled when she saw the keys to the hearse weren't in their usual spot on the table by the door. That meant she had to stop in The Dot and get them from Eli.

She needed her own set of keys to Morty. Better yet, she needed her own car. She may love Morty but he was Eli's and borrowing him for school or errands was awkward. She not not now, nor would she ever be, the hearse driving type of girl.

Clare hustled down the apartment complex's dark stairs as fast as she could without the straps of her backpack getting caught around her bare feet. She barreled out the main door, took a right and ended up at the entrance to both her and Eli's place of part time work.

Clare came stumbling into The Dot, her bag hanging off the crook of her arm, barefoot. Eli stopped wiping down the counter to stare bemused at the sight she made: disheveled, flushed and dressed half in his clothes. Her hair was fluffy and she was barely keeping her balance trying to slide on her shoes.

Finally she huffed, dropped her bag in the middle of the floor and leaned onto a nearby chair to assist her. When she looked up and saw him staring at her, he expected her to glare or say something witty.

But she just marched up to him, breathless, hand outstretched saying, "Keys. I need Morty's keys."

"Good morning, Eli. I slept well, how about you? You hungry? Why yes, Eli, thank you. I would like some breakfast." He mocked, leaning both arms on the counter between them, smirking as usual.

"Cute. But seriously, I have seven minutes to get to school, stop at my locker and have my butt in my seat for first period."

"You're already gonna be late. Just sit down and have some breakfast." This is why she loved Eli, he was the devil on her shoulder that meant her no harm. If it weren't finals season she probably would have listened to him. But. . .

"I can't because someone unplugged the alarm this morning and someone forgot to put the load of clothes in the dryer and someone-"

"Yeah, yeah. Fine. I get it, Eli's the Antichrist this morning." He took the keys out of his pocket and made to hand them over, jerking them back and over his head when she reached out for them.

"Eli, come on. I don't have time for this." She was exasperated, and he knew she wasn't in the mood to play with him so, instead of being a pest, he gave in.

"Kiss," He said pointing at his lips, keeping the hand with the keys far out of her reach.

Clare hopped up, one knee on a stool leaning over the counter to peck him on the lips, stretching for the keys as she did. As quick as she'd done it, she hopped down, spun in a three sixty and was heading for the door.

"You comin' home after school, right?" He called after her.

"Yeah," She yelled back absently, quickly shouldering her bag.

"Have a good day! Love you!" He managed before the door swung shut behind her. Even though he meant it, he was joking with her. He found their Ricky and Lucy quasi-home life downright hilarious on most days. Today was one of those days.

He smiled to himself as he watched her go. He loved mornings like this when she was all bothered and running behind. She'd probably yell at him later and they'd make up over pasta on the stove and she'd fall asleep tucked into the corner of the couch watching a made for TV movie even though she swore up and down that she had to spend the night at her other home tonight. And with any luck, they'd do it all over again tomorrow.

xxx

It was common knowledge that Eli Goldsworthy and Clare Edwards were dating. It was also common knowledge that Eli wore a black and red Dead Hand band T-shirt almost everyday during his time at Degrassi. The same T-shirt that a very unkempt, frazzled Clare was wearing when she ran into the school Thursday morning.

To the kids in the halls, it looked as if Clare was finally participating in a walk of shame. Which, of course, elicited catcalls and shouting such as, "Woo! Baby Edwards finally gave it up!"

She had a strict rule about wearing his clothes to school for this reason exactly. It wasn't their business and no matter what changes she had gone through in her private life, she didn't want to flaunt anything. Hence, private life.

Clare just shook her head, and kept walking. She learned long ago how to let people's idiotic comments roll off her back. She had to, being with someone as fearless as Eli. It made her a stronger person and gave her boosts of confidence to spare. Not to mention, at the moment she didn't even have the time to care.

If she wasn't in such of a hurry she might've been amused, actually. Was there anyone even at this school who still remembered why she was Baby Edwards?

Then she felt someone fall into step beside her and looked over. It was Alli, positively beaming like the cat that ate the canary.

"Isn't that Eli's shirt?"

Clare glanced down, hurrying down the hall towards her locker, "Yeah."

"Ah, so we had a sleep over last night," Alli nodded understandingly, "What, may I ask, was wrong with your clothes this morning?"

"I woke up late only to find all of my clothes sopping wet in the washer. His clothes were the only things not dirty," She said simply, unloading her bag and reloading her arms.

Alli looked at her skeptically, poking at the short sleeve with her pen, "And you're telling me that's clean?"

"Yeah. Of course. I just took it out of the dryer last night." She slammed her locker shut and hurried off in the opposite direction, towards first period.

Alli followed at her heel, giving Clare a disbelieving look, "You do Eli's laundry?"

Clare was exasperated, blowing her hair out of her eyes as she sat down in her seat, "Well, someone has to. Lord knows he won't until he realizes he's been wearing the same thing everyday for a month."

Alli was shaking her head, holding in a laugh. "I never realized you were so domestic."

Clare rolled her eyes, finally having time to catch her breath. Today was going to be hell. She'd gone from zero to sixty in no time flat. Not twenty minutes ago she was asleep, "Ugh, I can't wait for this day to be over so I can go home and shower."

"Which home?" Alli enjoyed teasing her friend about her unbelievable living situations. If you would have told her three years ago that by senior year her best friend, Christian Girl Wonder, would be regularly shacking up with her older boyfriend she would have asked you what drug you were on. She was happy for her though, a little proud and a pinch jealous.

Clare just gave her one of those looks. And Alli laughed.

"Think your mom's gonna notice you're slowly moving all of your stuff into chateau Goldsworthy anytime soon?" She asked.

Clare snorted, "It's been going on for over a year, Alli. Don't count on it."

xxx

By the time Clare made it to The Dot after school that day, she found it hard to believe that for a whole five minutes this morning, she was in utter bliss. She had homework out her ass, finals coming up and all day she got comments about her choice of attire. To top it off she didn't have time for lunch, so she'd been starving all day. Oh, and she smelled.

And then she saw Eli, still working away behind the counter, and her day got marginally better.

He was so pretty and he wall all hers. He'd just had his nineteenth birthday last week. Other than being older, the only real changes in him were minor. He'd grown a few inches from when she first met him and he no longer colored his fingernails with Sharpie markers when he was bored, but he still wore tight pants. Black still dominated his wardrobe but he had a lot more white and grey now. Sometimes he even pulled out an actual color.

She didn't mind, though.

She didn't mind when he didn't cut his hair for six months or when he deferred school for a semester to work full time and build a savings or when he suddenly showed up with a tattoo on his shoulder blade. As long as he was still Eli underneath it all, she could accept him in anyway he came to her, and she knew he'd do the same for her.

Above all else, he was still the boy she loved who loved her back. The boy who saw her through the scariest time of her life and made sure she came out the other side, not only intact, but stronger than ever. The boy who'd helped her come into her own. He never pushed her to a place she didn't want to go. He never held her back.

When she had a bad day, seeing him was the best thing that could happen to her. She sighed with a soft smile, walking up to him.

"Anything happen at school today that I should know about?" He asked after she tiredly kissed him hello and plopped down in front of the coke he had waiting for her.

She gave him a funny look, "No, Dad. Why do you ask?"

"Because these random kids have been coming in all day trying to high five and congratulate me," She raised an eyebrow at him, "Oh! And. . .some pasty little preteen tipped me a condom."

Now she knew he had to be joking, "Yeah right."

Both of his eyebrows raised as he reached into his back pocket, producing a foil wrapper. He held it up in front of her eyes, daring her to contest him now.

Her head fell forward, resting on the faux marble, groaning, "Oh God."

He chuckled, amused, "What happened?"

"You unplugged the stupid alarm clock!"

xxx

Later, Eli came into the apartment after his nearly twelve hour shift to find take-out on the counter and Clare packing some clothes in with her school books. He hated when she had to leave.

"Already? Just say you're with Alli again."

"I have to go home sometimes or else my mother will think I'm dead."

"Aw, come on, Clare." She hated when she had to leave too, but she hated it even more when he started to whine.

"Please, don't." Today was a long day for her. And it showed all over her face and in her voice, "You know I'm not allowed to stay out two nights in a row during the week."

"Just tell her, already. I'm getting sick of going back and forth," He grumbled, setting the Chinese cartons on the coffee table.

"And I'm getting sick of moving back and forth. Lying to my mom every other night. . .," She took a breath, running a hand through her hair to calm herself before she started had this argument all the time. She understood his position and he more than understood hers, but it was frustrating, "Only a few more weeks, Eli. Graduation is next month. We've made it work this long I think we can wait a little while longer."

She ended with a sigh and he flopped back on the couch, "I know. Trust me, I know."

Clare slowly curled into his side, leaning her head on his shoulder, staring at their entwined hands in her lap, "I'll be back for the weekend tomorrow after school, okay?"

"Better be," He kissed the side of her head and they sat there cuddling in comfortable silence, occasionally reaching over for a spoonful of rice.

There was nothing she wanted more than to move in with him officially. She was already a pretty happy girl, she could only imagine what life would be like when she could stop lying and be free to be with her boyfriend whenever she wanted. Which was all the time. Maybe she was naive. In fact, she knew she was, but that was okay.

This life was hers and this was the way she wanted to live it.

A/N: Thoughts? If you read and liked it even a little, please review. If not I'll probably just keep the ones I already have written for myself and I'll be sad.

Also, if you have any ideas feel free. Anything you'd like to see but think Clare is too…well, Clare to do? Any cute little everyday coupley scenes you want to see Clare and Eli in? Even if it's a serious subject matter or a question about Eli you want me to attempt to answer, leave them in a review and I'll more than likely try to write it.