First thing's first this is dedicated to MakailaJaydeJac who requested it.
Legal: I do not own and am not affiliated with DeGrassi or Epitome
Important things to know before reading:
*This is an A/U story for the most part and takes place in Clare and Adam's grade 10 year a couple months into the school year.
*Clare's family is not religious and never was in this story.
* Drew and Adam are brothers by blood it's just that Drew took more after his mom and Adam more after his dad.
*Alli has never attended DeGrassi, she and Sav go to a private school. Alli and Drew began dating this past summer.
*This is all in Drew's pov
*The rest is explained in the shot so enjoy!
A Beautiful Night's Kiss
"That's Eli, see you guys tomorrow," Adam says grabbing his coat.
"Have fun at the concert," Clare calls.
"Be careful Honey, text your brother when you're leaving the concert. He and Clare can wait up for you if you won't be home by curfew," Mom says.
"I know Mom," Adam replies rolling his eyes.
Adam and Eli are going to a Dead Hand concert tonight, Adam was thrilled when he found another Dead Hand fan at DeGrassi. It's about the only thing he doesn't have in common with Clare. Our family has lived next to the Edwards since before I was born. Mom and Helen both got pregnant within a couple months of each other, I was only one and don't remember it but I've seen pictures. They even had their baby showers together. Clare and Adam have been best friends their entire lives. Of course up until this past summer Adam was Gracie. Clare and I were the first ones Adam told, about being transgender but honestly we always kind of knew it was more than Gracie just being a tomboy. We were also the first ones to start calling him Adam. Adam and I had been attending a private school and I had been asking to go to DeGrassi since last year because they have a great football team and our private school doesn't. When Adam finally told Mom and Dad that he was Adam, they did understand but they also put him in therapy, although they do recommend it for transgender kids. Adam began using a compression vest and well really being himself, his true self full time over the summer. So Mom pulled us out of private school and put us in DeGrassi where Clare goes, she was happy to have us both at school with her. Mom was worried about Adam getting hurt if we went back this year.
While she and Adam have been best friends all their lives Clare and I have been friends but in the last few years with all Adam has gone through we've become much closer. I wouldn't call us best friends but definitely very close friends, growing up next door and being at each other's houses every day it was inevitable that we'd get close, even though we have nothing in common.
"Okay we're off. We'll probably be home about midnight, you two need to be home by curfew. Andrew walk Clare there and back," Mom tells me as she grabs her coat.
"I know Mom, I'd never let Clare walk home alone," I reply rolling my eyes. Mom and Dad are going to party hosted by one of the partners in Dad's law firm. Clare and I are going to a party at Dave's, Adam was invited too but he wanted to go to the concert.
"Be safe," Dad says before they leave.
"What time did Dave say the party started?" I ask Clare.
"He told us to come by any time after seven," Clare responds.
"Well it's only six and Dave lives just down the block what do you want to do for an hour?"
"I'm going to borrow Adam's laptop but I'll watch you play a video game," she responds.
She's the only girl I've ever met that likes to watch us play video games. Some girls want to play with you but most girls just don't like video games and hate when you play them when they're with you. My girlfriend Alli is like that, I met her at the mall this summer and we've been dating a couple months now. She goes to an all-girls school so I generally only get to see her on the weekend. She's pretty and smart, she was over at the house a few times this summer and of course she met Clare. Adam's never had a steady because he wasn't comfortable as Gracie, and he's only been Adam all the time for a few months and isn't confident enough to ask out a girl yet. Clare had her first real boyfriend last year, and when he broke her heart by leaving her for another girl I broke his face.
Clare runs upstairs to grab Adam's laptop and comes back to the basement to watch me play video games while she writes. Clare is an avid writer, she writes all kinds of things, she's really good at it and she's even won awards. She doesn't need to look at the keyboard as she types so she watches me play two levels of the video game before we leave for the party. I would be on a date with Alli tonight, it is Saturday night after all, but she's out of town with her mom this weekend. I'm glad she isn't here though or Clare would have been going to the party alone, I could not have brought Alli to this I don't think she would have gotten along with the kids here. Alli can be a little stuck up and likes to be the center of attention.
"Hey Clare, Drew glad you could both make it," Dave grins when he opens the door after I knock.
"Of course dude, wouldn't miss this party," I grin as we come in.
"Food and drinks are in the kitchen and no one upstairs," Dave tells us closing the door again.
"I'm hungry, I'm going to see what there is to eat," Clare says.
"Me too," I agree as my stomach rumbles.
Clare and I grab some food and pop then sit in the living room. Clare starts talking with Holly J and I start talking to Owen about football. When Clare finishes her food I toss her plate along with mine. Suddenly the music goes low and we all look at Marisol and Dave who are standing near the stereo.
"Okay time for Seven Minutes in Heaven, first Holly J and Wes," Marisol announces.
"Oh no way," Holly J shakes her head while Wes blushes.
"In the closet or you have to accept a dare," Marisol tells her.
"Ugh fine come on nerd-boy," Holly J replies grabbing Wes by the shirt to drag him into the hall closet.
"Timer's on," Dave calls setting a timer on his phone.
Most of the time Wes and H.J. are in the closet people are discussing what they might be doing in there. Dave calls to them when their time is up, when they come out of the closet Wes has lipstick kisses all over his face and his shirt is unbuttoned a little. Holly J looks proud and Wes has a goofy smile. Next in the closet is Katie and Jake, this time most people go back to their conversations. A few more names are called for Seven Minutes in Heaven and I've all but forgotten about the game until I hear my name get called.
"Drew and…Clare," Dave calls.
"Eep," Clare squeaks next to me.
I stand up and take Clare's hand and we go into the coat closet, I close the door and it's pitch black. I still have hold of Clare's hand and try to find a light switch. Clare lets go of my hand and she finds the light switch. When the light does come on we just kind of stare at each other.
"This is awkward," she remarks quietly and then turns off the light again.
"It's sort of like the time we played Murder at the cabin and we both hid in the closet," I reply rubbing my arm and shifting side to side. The closet is only about 3 feet deep and four feet wide, Dave cleared out most of the coats but there still isn't a lot of room and we're so close I can feel her body heat.
"You were eleven and I was ten and we weren't supposed to be doing…things," Clare responds.
"Yeah I know, we were still in the closet in the dark together."
"Your time is half up," Marisol calls.
"We should probably do something before our time is up and they know we just stood in here awkwardly," I comment.
"Okay l…" she begins but I lean forward cupping her face and snatching her lips. I've known Clare my whole life but when our lips touch I feel this spark, a jolt that seems to travel through my body.
Clare freezes and I hear her gasp as her breath hitches in her throat. I slip an arm around her waist and suddenly her lips part as her arms go around my neck. Her tongue slides between her lips and slips along my bottom lip. My heart starts thumping, my body is hot, my hand caresses along her cheek and into her hair gripping at the back of her head. My lips part and I use my tongue to embrace hers. As my tongue begins exploring her mouth one of her hands starts gently stroking my neck and jaw. Just as my hands are contemplating stroking down her sides we're brought to a screeching halt.
"Time's up," Marisol tells us knocking on the door. We untangle and break apart just as Marisol opens the door. "Ooh looks like it was getting pretty hot and heavy in here," Marisol says in a taunting tone. Clare fixes her hair as we turn the corner to go back to the living room and Owen whistles which makes Clare blush.
"I'm going to get a drink," Clare says to me and she walks into the kitchen.
"So how does Clare kiss?" Owen asks as I sit down next to him again. "I always thought she would be a feisty kisser. She's quiet and brainy but she's outspoken when it matters and you just know there's a sex kitten lurking under that prudish exterior."
"You know you're basically describing a fantasy about one of my closest friends," I reprimand hitting his arm.
"Yeah so tell me how she kisses," Owen grins.
"No use your imagination," I shake my head, "on second thought don't. No fantasies about Clare."
"Man you're no fun," Owen gripes.
"Owen and…me," Marisol announces.
"Oh gross I am not kissing her," Owen comments twisting his face with his back to her as he gets up.
Marisol pulls him into the closet and I realize Clare never came back from the kitchen. She could be talking to someone in the kitchen though. I get up and go into the kitchen but I don't see her. I look through the living room but she's nowhere, and when I check through the washroom she's not there either.
"Hey Connor, have you seen Clare?"
"Yeah she went out the back door about ten minutes ago," he replies.
"Thanks."
I go out the back but she's not in the backyard. I text her but I already figure she went home so I start walking that way. I get to her house and ring the bell but she doesn't answer. She's purposely avoiding me because of the kiss but Adam and I have been climbing up the tree to her window since we were six and seven respectively. Dad even put steps like a ladder up the tree for us. I climb up the tree ladder and open her window, she sees me coming in but stays on her bed.
"I was supposed to walk you home," I remind her.
"It's half a block," she shrugs.
"You left the party early and you're avoiding me."
"We kissed. We kissed and you have a girlfriend," she responds turning her back to me.
"Are you avoiding me because we kissed and I'm with Alli or because we kissed and it was hot?" I ask her sitting on the bed in front of her.
"It wasn't…I didn't…it was just a kiss," she stumbles over her response and her voice gets softer and softer.
"It wasn't just a kiss," I argue gently holding her chin and turning her face to look at me. "It was deep and passionate, it meant something Clare. I felt it and I know you did too or you wouldn't have kissed me back the way you did."
"It doesn't matter what I felt," she disputes as she takes my hand from her face, "you have a girlfriend," she says standing up. I catch her hand and pull her back to the bed a little roughly and she kind of bounces.
"I'm going to break up with Alli, it's been coming for a while and I don't like her nearly as much as I like you. And I've never kissed Alli, or anyone else, like this," I tell her smashing my lips to hers.
She doesn't freeze or resist this time; her hands instantly rake into my hair. I grin against her lips, cupping her face gently with one hand, my other hand brushes into her hair and down her neck. My tongue licks over her bottom lip requesting access, her lips part for me and she grips the back of my neck. I stroke along her collar bone and then down her curves, Clare's tongue caresses mine and rapidly dominates it deepening the kiss. She lies back on her bed and I go with her, lying next to her but also over her a little, keeping my weight off of her though. It's a little astonishing I've known her my whole life, I never quite thought of her as a sister or anything but I never thought we'd be making out on her bed. I mean we've had sleep overs hundreds of times, of course Adam was always there. We make out on her bed for a while, it's probably a good thing that her parents are away this weekend trying to fix their marriage but eventually Clare pushes me away.
"Drew we can't do this, you still have a girlfriend," she reminds me.
"I'm going to break up with her," I reply leaning down to kiss her again.
"Andrew," she admonishes covering my mouth with her hand.
"Okay, okay let's go to my house where you're spending the night anyway. I'll call Alli and break up with her right now, and then we can make out until we go to bed," I tell Clare and she laughs.
"You know," Clare remarks as we leave the room and begin walking downstairs, "if we start dating I don't think our parents will let us have sleep overs anymore."
"Yeah they will, they'll just make Adam stay with us the whole time," I reply with a convincing grin and she giggles again. We walk through our yards which connect and go into the basement. "I'll go up to my room to call Alli and you stay here and watch TV or something," I tell Clare. She nods and sits on the sofa turning on the TV. I leave her in the basement and go up to my room to call Alli.
"Hi Drew, I'm glad you called it's so boring here," she complains.
"Sorry but I didn't call to chat. I'm breaking up with you," I inform her.
"You're what?" She shrieks. "You can't break up with me."
"I'm sorry Alli, I do like you but it's not working out and there's someone else I like more," I tell her and then hang up before she can respond. She still has to get in the last word as I get a text from her.
Alli: Jerk!
Her text comes with a bunch of angry emoticons. I don't think she's going to get any nicer so I block her number and delete her contact. I go back downstairs just as my parents come back.
"You're home early," Mom comments.
"Yeah uh the party was kind of dull, Clare and I decided to come back and watch movies," I tell them.
"Okay well we'll be heading to bed soon, don't stay up all night," Dad says before they go upstairs.
"How'd it go?" Clare asks when I come down to the basement.
"She thinks I'm a jerk," I reply as I sit on the sofa with her.
"I'm sorry," Clare says.
"I'm not," I grin brushing my fingers into her hair and capturing her lips.
Clare smiles, her hand cupping my face, her other hand reaches out and takes mine interlacing our fingers. My tongue slides between her lips and welcomes her tongue into my mouth. I let go of her hand pulling her even closer to me and then I begin tracing her curves. Just as I'm thinking of caressing her skin the basement door opens and Adam comes home.
"Oh hey Adam, we were just watching a movie," I comment and Clare pinches my arm.
"In the dark without the TV on?" Adam questions closing the basement door.
"We uh…" Clare begins.
"The party was…" I start at the same time and we both laugh.
"I saw the heat between you two months ago. I thought you'd be dating this summer but then you started dating Alli," Adam comments as he sits down on the other side of me.
"Yeah I guess I started dating Alli to avoid how I started thinking about and feeling about you," I confess to Clare and she takes my hand.
"Have you told Mom and Dad yet?" Adam asks.
"We'll do that tomorrow," I shrug.
"Just promise me I don't have to watch you two make out," Adam remarks and I laugh while Clare blushes.
"We won't make out in front of you. How about we actually watch a movie," Clare suggests.
"Good idea," Adam says turning on the TV.
He picks out a movie, I put my arm around Clare and we settle back to watch the movie. I was worried how Adam would react if I told him my feelings for Clare were changing but I guess I didn't have to be worried after all. Now I wish I'd said something this summer.
Well that does it for this shot. Hope you enjoyed it. Next updated will be You Believed in Me, Let Me be Right for You.