This is mainly a venting piece that I wrote today during my 7th period class after I've done a lot of Degrassi thinking. The title and line at the bottom comes from the Celine Dion song "That's the Way It Is". Contains spoilers for Nowhere to Run, so if you haven't watched it, don't read this. Read, review, enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Degrassi or Celine Dion.

That's the Way It Is

Jake, Clare, and I were driving back to town in Jake's truck the morning after that eventful night. Jake and Clare were sharing flirtatious looks back and forth the whole way, almost forgetting that I was in the car at all. I appreciated that Clare open-heartedly offered for me to ride with her and Jake, but I was forced to look out the passenger window the whole time while the couple lived in their own little world.

After a twenty minute drive, we stopped at a gas station to fill up the truck. Clare went into the building to use the bathroom while Jake pumped the gasoline into the truck. Wanting to stretch his legs a bit, I climbed out of the car and leaned against the driver's door while Jake put in the gas.

"So . . . you and Clare . . .?"

"Yeah," Jake answered with a small grin, clearly understanding what I was implying. "We're back together."

"Isn't it a bit weird to be dating your stepsister?"

"We were in love before that, so we're declaring the sibling relationship null and void."

Blood boiled angrily through my veins. Clare was giving this guy, who didn't really seem to care about her as much as I did (and still do), a second chance even though they were technically related now. Surely there was something in her religion that opposed that . . . right?

Whether it was or wasn't, Clare had surely changed a bit since we broke-up. Did this mean she was going to take off her purity ring and have sex before marriage? Was she going to go against something she stuck to throughout our relationship? I started feeling slightly nauseous knowing that it could be a possibility that could lose her virginity to her stepbrother.

None of this seemed right to me. Jake broke her heart, put her in an awkward situation at their parents' wedding reception, left her out of a party, and he kissed her best friend but she was giving him another chance without a second thought?

I had changed my ways since the Love Roulette incident and Clare saw that, but she had never called me or anything, let alone considering giving our relationship another try. It was as if I was made or air. She knew I was there, but never acknowledged. It killed me because I was still in love with her and I knew she would never love me the same way again. It broke my heart knowing that I mean that little to her anymore.

I heard her tell Jake that she was only thinking about kissing me last night to get back at him to get back at him for kissing Alli (for the record, I don't care what he said to Clare; I refuse to believe that Alli made the first move). Despite that and everything else that has happened over the last few months, I still cared for and loved Clare deeply. My feelings for her have never shifted or faltered. They were strong and consistent.

I care for her, so I wasn't going to go back to my old ways and try to break-up her and Jake again; nothing good would come of that and I knew it wouldn't work. I wanted Clare to be happy and, whether she was with me or not, I wanted her to love again and never feel broken.

Yes, she was dating a member of her family and my even end up losing her virginity to him. Hell, she might even marry the guy one day. It was a beyond sickening thought, but I knew the possibilities and I couldn't change any of it. Plus there was the fact that I refused to go against her happiness again. I knew that if she was smiling and laughing somewhere in the world, I would be alright somehow. And as long as I see her smiling face if she became Clare Martin or Clare So-and-So, I would be alright because that meant I would still be a part of her life in some way; I would be one of those people who would see her first kiss as a married woman. I believed I could live with that.

All I care about was Clare's happiness (if no one sees that by now, they're morons) and I wanted Jake to get that message.

"I'm happy for you guys," I then said with almost complete honesty . . . almost.

"Thanks," Jake replied, putting the pump back.

"But, if I ever find out that you hurt her, make her cry from pain or sadness, break her heart, cheat on her, break-up with her, or do anything to make her angry or upset, her tears will be the least of your problems."

I return to the car, my heart smiling while I leave Jake there with something to think about.

I know I would move on one day, maybe with Imogen or with a different person completely. It may be someone I know or someone I have yet to meet. I don't have the slightest clue who the next person to capture my heart will be if they had the power in them to do so, but I do know that a piece of me would always love Clare with all my soul . . . and I hoped that a part of her would always love me.

Ten years later . . .

A part of her always did. She told me so on our second (and final) first date.

Before that night, I had been out with a few girls every now and then, but none of them met the standards I had set since I met Clare, so I kept holding on to her memory and the miniscule hope that she still loved me.

Two years after that day at the gas station, I found out that Clare had broken up with Jake. A year after that, she got in contact with me and that changed our lives forever. We met again, became friends again, and, eventually, fell in love again. My heart was whole for the first time in almost three and a half years.

After two years of dating, I was satisfied seeing her at her wedding . . . mainly because I was the one who gave her the first of many kisses as a wife.

Tonight, I was standing in a hospital room. Clare was sleeping in the bed while I held our six-hour-old daughter, Ella, in my arms. It was astonishing to believe that a decade ago I thought I lost Clare forever, but now we shared a surname and a little miracle that we were proud to call our child . . .

Yes, love comes to those who believe it and that's the way it is.

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