A/Ns: Legally I do not own or have any affiliation with Degrassi or its characters or Epitome.

I have permission and approval from the original author of Secret Romance, Halawen to write and post these extension/alternate chapter sections.

To understand these chapters you will need to have read all of Secret Romance previously, or get to the parts where each of these sections begin, and then read this first section extension before returning to the previous story and reading to the end before reading the alternate ending here.

Chapter 15 – extension

(LUKE)

"When they're ready to talk to you Owen and I will go with you since your mom doesn't want to have anything to do with it," I tell Clare.

"That's not surprising, I'll have to be careful how I act at home or I'll be shipped off to Zimbabwe or Haiti or something," Clare says with a sad yet sardonic tone to her voice.

Everyone else at the table either looks super confused or questions "Huh?" All of us that is but Adam who's sitting on the other side of her, he hugs her tightly and squeezes her hand as a show of comfort.

"We won't let her ship you off anywhere and if she even tries then we'll come find you and bring you back. Although if she even threatened I'm pretty sure Owen would just kill her," Adam said.

"Damn right I would, never letting you go again," Owen said kissing her softly again.

"See so you act however you feel like acting around us and around your mom, although if you get the desire to go up to the roof let me know so I can send Owen with you," Adam says.

This comment makes Clare smile a little and nuzzle into Owen a little more. There's obviously some story or inside joke that's lost on the rest of us, including Owen.

"Ok," says Maya from beside me. "I must be missing something. Why would your mom send you to Haiti or Zimbabwe, and why does Adam need to know if you have a desire to go to the roof so he can send Owen up there with you? What's so special about the roof?" she asks the questions we've all been wondering.

We all look to Clare and she bites her lip nervously as she looks at Adam and then up at Owen before taking a deep breath, while he tightens his arm around her slightly.

"I've only told Adam and Eli about this," she tells us before a pause to breathe again, "but the year before I started grade 9 at Degrassi, my sister Darcy was still a student here and went away on the Degrassi Ski Trip over winter break with her boyfriend Peter and a few friends, and lied to my parents about going away. She stayed overnight and was at a party."

She stops to take a breathe, and looks at Adam again. "Her drink was drugged and she was raped, although when she awoke the next morning she thought she and Peter had had sex, although she had still been a virgin at the time."

"Why would she just assume it was Peter?" Bianca gets in before Clare can continue.

Well she woke up naked in bed beside Peter, and didn't know what happened," Clare answers before continuing. "It took some time and learning there had been a roofie rapist up around the ski lodge that brought back some of the memories. She had a lot of anger and devastation and she took it out on those around her. She accused Mr. Simpson of sexual harassment, and learned she had chlamydia. She attempted suicide once in the girl's showers by cutting her wrist," she says pointing to the school before continuing, "and then took Johnny DiMarco up to the roof to make out, only to be stopped by a friend and almost tried jumping off the roof. This is why Adam wanted to know if I felt the desire to go up there so he could send Owen," she tells us looking up at Owen.

I know we all looked shocked, but Clare has more to explain.

"My parents hadn't wanted Darcy to be with Peter at all, and when they learned that she had lied to go away with Peter and her lies about Mr. Simpson, her anger and her suicide attempts, plus her STI, they sent her to a camp that deal with troubled teens. She healed some from that, but they then suggested she go to Kenya to helped build schools to make up for her behaviour. They weren't supportive and hardly listened when she attempted to talk to them. Just made up their minds about her and made her leave to go to camp, and then made her leave for Africa," Clare finishes with a deep breath.

No one, including Owen knows what to say. He sits in a state of shock for a moment, before tightening his arms in a hug around Clare and kissing her cheek.

"My parents were so busy trying to deal with Darcy and her issues, and they didn't want me to know what was going on, as I was just 12. They were the type of parents who didn't talk about sex, or deal with answering questions on any subjects not related to school or church, very well. Because they kind of left me by the way side, Peter, when he wasn't helping Darcy, along with Darcy's ex-boyfriend Spinner and his friend Jay kind of became like surrogate older brothers to me, and let me hang out with them, even though I was so much younger. They taught me to play poker and pool, took me to the Break Room, the ravine, plus the diamond…" Clare tells us, and Bianca sits with wide eyes but a huge smile.

"I didn't know you knew how to play pool," Bianca laughs, "guess we'll have to play sometime." Clare smiles, and then turns in Owen's arms a little.

"There's a lot you don't know about me, but there's plenty of time to learn." Clare smiles, and then very quickly the smile fades again. "Especially if my mom kicks me out," she comments quietly.

"You have all of us and Owen to lean on always, just tell us if something is bothering you, and you have our support no matter what your mom does." Adam tells her as he takes her hand looking right in her eyes.

We all smile at her and nod our heads in agreement with Adam, then Owen leans down turning Clare's head and gives her a quick but passionate kiss.