Eli's surprise love

by Nasious Cordova

Alternate take on season 11. After a chance encounter with Fitz, Eli seduces Jake in an attempt to break up his relationship with Clare only to find an unexpected love. Warning: Multiple man/man love scenes and graphic depictions.

The morning after prom:

Dressed in his favorite black jeans and grey v-neck t-shirt, Eli Goldsworthy stood waiting for the bus. Although it really wasn't cool out, he'd also put on a faded black jacket with gold trim that made him look like the pasty skinned leader of a demonic marching band. His appearance, as usual, earned him several sidelong glances from passersby. Each noticed glance only deepened the crooked grin he wore on his face. Eli was a good-looking kid that went out of his way to be different.

For some time Eli had been obsessed over getting Clare Edwards back. He'd told himself that it had been because he loved her and knew that deep down, she loved him in return. He'd told himself that they were like star crossed lovers, destined for each other and no one else. He realized that he'd told himself a lot of things about his relationship with Clare however that didn't necessarily make any of it true. After his breakdown at Love Roulette, Eli had realized that it had been something he'd told himself because he couldn't stand not getting what he wanted.

In an empty corridor at the hospital after Adam's shooting, Eli had at long last truly forsaken the last bits of his obsession with Clare and had embraced a new love. An unexpected love. Now Eli knew who he really wanted and it surprised him. It wasn't what he'd always thought he'd wanted.

Hell, if that jackass Fitz had his way, all of Degrassi would have known what Eli Goldsworthy wanted. He was determined to not let that happen. Not on Fitz's timetable at least. A long time ago, Eli had pegged Fitz for a dimwitted creature of habit. Although Fitz had gotten the upper hand early on, Eli's wit and willingness for self sacrifice had changed that playing field. Now Eli had the power to end the game that they'd been playing since the day they'd met.

Eli got on the bus, still going over the plan in his head. He hated himself for having let the situation with Fitz get this far out of control but he was also oddly thankful. If Fitz hadn't forced himself on Eli, then he would have never had his eyes open when true love had looked his way. So, in a twisted way, Eli Goldsworthy owed his former bully a debt of gratitude. Of course that didn't mean that he was willing to let Fitz continue the game he'd been playing either.

Eli thought again about all the things he'd done in his quest to get Clare back and felt a tinge of guilt ripple through him. Jake Martin had turned out to be a nice guy. He was simple and straightforward but still a really nice guy. Eli felt bad that he'd played Jake for a pawn in this game. On the same note, Eli had nothing against Imogen. Sure, she'd been stalking him from the shadows the whole time he'd been at Degrassi but Imogen was harmless. He'd used her affection for him as a weapon against Clare too.

He wondered if he was any better than Fitz when it came right down to it. There were too many shades of gray in their situation to simply say yes or no. The truth of the matter was that he'd broken three hearts already in this game.

Three weeks earlier:

Eli got out of his father's classic Mustang and walked with a pronounced limp toward the entrance of Degrassi. With each step, he leaned on his cane as if his life depended upon it. As he approached the school, he saw Fiona and smiled. She'd stopped, so he picked up the pace a bit to catch up with her. Although he didn't need his cane to walk any longer, he still used it and to reduce the dull pain that echoed up his leg with each step.

"Hey, Fiona," he said, flashing a grin.

"Eli," Fiona smiled back. Her gorgeous face was alive with anticipation as she asked, "Do you have finished script for me?"

With a laugh, he answered, "It's almost there."

She looked at him and he flashed his signature crooked grin at her. As they started down the hall to their lockers, she shook her head and laughed. Although charming, Eli Goldsworthy did not do it for her. No boy did it for Fiona Coyne. "You do know that you can't use your charms on me, right?" She asked. "I like girls, Eli."

"What a coincidence, so do I," he laughed. Fiona was incredible like that. She's could cut right through his games like no one else. Well, almost no one else. Getting a wicked thought, his mind started scheming and he muttered, "But what if I didn't?"

"Plan on switching teams?" Fiona asked with a chuckle.

Without answering, Eli grinned again and told her, "See you at rehearsal, Fiona."

Several hours after his conversation with Fiona, Eli found himself thinking about what he'd said while sitting across a table from Jake Martin at The Dot. Copies of the latest draft of the play were lying on the table in front of them and Eli had just finished telling Jake about his character's motivation. As his current rival, Jake knew that he was playing the part of Eli's former rival for Clare's affection in this play. He also knew, of course, that this was all part of some mind game Eli was playing to drive a wedge between him and Clare. Jake, however was laid back and easygoing. He didn't plan on letting a weird guy that wore eyeliner pull him into a mind-fuck.

"So, you have to keep in mind that you are the villain," Eli stressed. "Everything about your motives is suspect."

"Everything about my character's motives," Jake pointed out. The friendly smile never left Jake's face as he made the point.

Coolly, Eli smiled and said, "Of course. I'd never confuse you for him. What with your fine Christian values and all."

"Clare told me that you were an atheist," Jake acknowledged. With a smile, he added, "I hope my faith doesn't bother you."

"Of course not," the play write smiled. His hat was off to Jake. He thought that he could play the same game of cat and mouse that Eli was playing. Isn't that adorable, he mused to himself as he watched Jake take a sip of his coffee. You think you're the cat. Seeing that his rival was onto him, Eli decided that it was time to step up his game to the next level. Their eyes met and Eli smiled as if embarrassed for having been caught looking at Jake's eyes.

Suddenly, Jake got the distinct feeling that Eli was flirting with him. He shook it off since he already knew that the smaller boy was still hung up on Clare. That had, after all been the purpose of this game today, hadn't it? To get the upper hand back in their rivalry for her affection. Unfortunately for Eli, Jake knew that Clare thought that he was a psycho. Sure, Jake knew that his girlfriend had some residual feelings for the guy but she also knew that he had more than a few screws loose. Clare would never give him another chance.

"Refills?" A familiar voice asked, pulling Eli's attention away from Jake. He looked up to see his former bully towering over him. Eli flinched and a bit of a smile tugged at the corners of Fitz's mouth. With the hint of satisfaction in his voice, Fitz said, "Sorry. I didn't mean to startle you, sir."

"Aren't you supposed to stay at least a hundred feet away from me at all times?" Eli asked sounding just a bit catty.

"Eli, I'm working," Fitz said with a tone that expressed his frustration with his former rival. "It's all over between us. I just want to move on. I wish you did too."

"Whatever," Eli said dismissively. "You can take these away," he said gesturing to the empty mugs. Why should he forgive and forget where Fitz was concerned? This guy had cost him the love of his life and had been the reason for Morty's demise. Fitz shook his head, picked up the empty mugs and walked away. Eli glared at him for a moment before turning his attention back to Jake. He grinned at the other boy and in an almost flirtatious tone he asked, "Now, Jake, where were we?"

"Actually, I should get going," Jake said as he stood up. Disappointment bloomed across Eli's face, reinforcing Jake's curiosity in the guy's interest in him.

Eli stood too and softly asked, "Do you have to go?" He locked eyes with Jake and looked into his soul, seeing his confusion. As if embarrassed for having shown his vulnerability, the dark haired writer pulled back emotionally and said, "I mean, I hope it wasn't anything I said. I really enjoyed spending time with you today, Jake. I think we got off on the wrong foot and I just want us to be friends."

Jake felt it again. Eli did have some kind of interest in him. It didn't make sense. Jake knew that Eli wanted Clare. Or did he? Was his pursuit of a girl he couldn't get to go beyond first base maybe all a ruse to cover some secret he had deep inside?

As a fellow Friendship Club member, Jake knew that Clare wore an abstinence ring to show her commitment to wait for marriage before having sex. Clare had told Jake that one of the challenges in their relationship had been the fact that she'd known that Eli had certain needs. He'd led Clare to believe that he'd been sexually active with his former girlfriend but Julia was dead. Eli could have said anything about her and she couldn't have disputed it. Although Clare had felt the pressure to have sex, she had admitted that Eli had never pressured her about it.

"No, it wasn't anything you said," Jake assured him. "It's starting to get dark out and my dad is taking us out for dinner. Me, Clare and her mom. I just want to change and all before we go."

"Well, you already look great," Eli said with a friendly smile. "Can I walk you to your truck?"

Again feeling pursued, Jake stammered and said, "Uh, sure."

Eli had made conversation with Jake as they'd walked to the car and stood there at the edge of the parking lot, watching him go as he rode away. He was pretty sure that Jake had picked up on the vibe he'd been putting out. He wondered if he'd sparked any curiosity in his rival and also wondered how far he himself would be willing to go in seducing him. Jake had become quite off his guard which could have hinted at his own curiosity over Eli. Sure, Clare claimed to be put off by his erratic behavior but it was possible that Jake might find it exciting. All he needed was for Jake to show a little interest in him and he could break the two of them up.

"So, what was that all about, emo boy?" Fitz asked from behind him. Eli turned to see Fitz standing there, sans his apron. "You sure seem interested in your replacement. If I didn't know better, I might think the emo boy was switching teams."

"Are you stalking me?" Eli asked with a smug grin growing across his face. "I've already got one stalker, Fitzy. I don't think I need two."

"Maybe you need my fist in your face?" Fitz asked, stepping a little too close for comfort. Eli could feel his hot breath on him as he refused to surrender ground. "Or maybe you'd like that. I always wondered why you shot your mouth off so much. After watching you chase golden boy in there, I think I've figured it out."

"What have you figured out, Neanderthal?" The dark haired boy asked with a dismissive tone welling in his voice. "Square peg goes in square hole; round peg goes in round hole?"

"Cute," Fitz snickered as he reached up and grabbed Eli by the hair on the back of his head and pulled sharply. "I think you liked me kicking your ass because you liked the contact. Boyfriend in there looks like he could be my brother."

"You think I like Jake just because he looks like you, Fitz?" Eli asked, practically laughing in Fitz's face. "Wow. And people call me a narcissist."

Fitz tugged harder at Eli's hair, getting a gasp out of him. Seeing the look of pain cross the smaller boy's face, the bully smiled. He moved his face in closer to his victim and asked, "Like that, huh? I bet what you'd really like is my lips against yours."

"Get over yourself, Fitz," Eli laughed dismissively even as he stood at the bully's mercy. He wondered if perhaps he should incite Fitz to kiss him. If Eli was going to convince Jake that he was interested in him, kissing the guy would be the least of the things he'd have to do. Eli was still uncertain how far he'd be willing to take the pretense but he figured that kissing Jake would most certainly be required. Although the thought of kissing Fitz was even less appealing than the thought of kissing Jake, Eli figured that he couldn't flinch when it came right down to it if he was going to sell Jake on his attraction to him. Playing into Fitz's game, Eli challenged the bully saying, "It sounds like you're the one looking to lock lips. Don't project your…"

Before Eli could finish, Fitz pulled him from where they stood at the edge of the parking lot, over to the building, behind the dumpster and away from prying eyes. Again Fitz moved his face in close and locked his angry blue eyes on Eli's but didn't make his move. Tired of waiting, the smaller boy took the initiative and lunged in for his bully's mouth, surprising Fitz with the kiss that he'd lost his nerve to deliver. Thinking that he had the upper hand, Eli kissed him like he would have kissed Clare if he could have. He quickly lost the upper hand however when Fitz returning the kiss, invading his mouth with his warm tongue.

At first Eli wanted to pull away. He'd already gotten more than he'd bargained for in this kiss but he stopped himself. Instead he let go of his own inhibitions and pushed his tongue into the bully's mouth. Shocked, Eli felt Fitz's engorged member pressing against his pelvis as he pressed up close and whispered, "God, I knew that you wanted me, Eli."

Eli pulled away from Fitz and asked, "What?" He hadn't expected Fitz to kiss him back, much less get aroused by it. Actually he'd expected a fist in the face.

"Don't fight it, Eli. This was meant to be," Fitz said. He lunged back in, kissing and biting at the freckles on the side of the dark haired boy's neck. "I'm going to make you forget all about Clare's new boyfriend."

Eli tried fighting it but he was actually turned on by the feeling of Fitz's teeth biting at his neck. Realizing that Fitz had actually called him by his name instead of some insulting nickname, he grabbed Fitz's head, pulling him closer as he moaned, "Don't stop, Fitz. I do want you."

Panicked, Eli wondered if he'd actually meant it. This was just an experiment so that he could bring himself to lock lips with Jake when the time came. He wasn't doing this because he actually wanted to be with a guy. Much less a guy that made months of his life a living hell.

For his part, Eli's permission meant that Fitz wasn't satisfied just kissing him anymore. He pushed Eli to his knees and unbuttoned his jeans. When Eli looked up it fear, Fitz was certain that he was going to bust. He'd had his share of girls. He might have been an asshole at Degrassi but Fitz was a good looking guy. Bianca and a few of the more promiscuous girls had taken more than a few trips to the boiler room with him. Bianca was an expert at giving head but he was so much more turned on by the idea of the emo kid sucking him.

"I'm not ready for this, Fitz," Eli said in hopes of stopping what he knew was coming next. That didn't stop Fitz for going for the zipper. "Please," Eli pleaded. "I don't want to…"

Before he could even finish the bully had his cock out and ready for Eli to satisfy. Precum glistened as it dribbled out of the slit and Eli realized that he had no choice. He was going to have to follow through with this. He pushed away the nagging thought that he'd surrendered so easily because on some primal, masochistic level he wanted to do it. Some twisted part of him was actually getting off by submitting to his tormentor. Embracing that part of himself, Eli lunged forward and took the full length of Fitz's cock into his mouth. Eli felt the bully pull at his hair as he hungrily thrust it in and out of his mouth as if his life depended upon it. At that very moment in time, making the hated bully have the best orgasm of his life was all that mattered to Eli. He realized that Fitz now owned him but he didn't care. He knew that even if he wrestled Clare away from Jake, it wouldn't matter. After this moment, not only would Fitz be able to hold this over his head but Eli would also be forced to admit to himself how much it had turned him on to submit to another man.

Fitz moaned as his former victim put every ounce of himself into sucking his cock. Although he was not attracted to Eli because he was a male, Fitz was attracted to him because he'd been so defiant. He realized that with the absolute desire he felt coming from Eli, the kid was broken. Although they might still spar, never again would the emo kids resist or deny him. Fitz now had the upper hand and he planned to use it. Just knowing that built his desire to the breaking point. Fitz shoved his cock deep into Eli's mouth and let his orgasm loose. He grunted loud without caring if they were overheard as he shot a huge load of sperm directly down Eli's throat.

For his part, Eli feared he was going to choke because so much sperm gushed down his throat. Fitz hadn't given him any choice but to swallow the massive load, making him feel more than a bit dirty. When Fitz pulled his cock out of Eli's mouth, he collapsed against the wall behind him. Eli looked at the cock he'd just sucked and realized that he enjoyed knowing that he'd caused such an all consuming feeling in the other boy. Feeling like his legs were going to collapse beneath him, Eli stood and looked Fitz in the face.

"You were the best I've ever had," Fitz told him, again making him feel dirty. He saw the grin on Fitz's face and shuddered because he knew that it was his sexual submission that had put it there. "How does it feel being a cocksucker?" He taunted.

"I didn't want to do that," Eli protested more for his own benefit than for Fitz. He didn't want to admit how much he'd enjoyed the act because he knew that for the other boy it had been about humiliating someone he disliked. "You forced me."

"And?" Fitz growled angrily flashing his teeth. "If you wanted to or not, the bottom line is, you did it. You submitted to me. You can say whatever you want but we both know that at a certain point, you truly enjoyed that. No matter what happens in the future, you have swallowed my sperm and that makes me part of you. You can never get away from me. You have to live with that."

Fitz leaned forward and kissed Eli one last time before walking away. As he left the alley he called back, "See you soon, cocksucker."

The morning after Prom:

It was a slow morning at The Dot as Imogen sat alone at a table with her laptop in front of her. A box had just popped up on the computer's screen that said delete and upload. Her finger slowly moved the cursor between the two buttons as she tried to decide which one to hit. She'd been attracted to Eli Goldsworthy since the first day he'd showed up at Degrassi yet she'd been too shy to approach him until halfway through the year. When he'd signed on to write the school play, she'd made her move and got the female lead where she'd be playing opposite of the object of her desire. It was a play about an event that happened to him the semester before and in true narcissistic fashion, Eli had cast himself as the embattled lead. His smugness was one of the things that attracted her to the beautiful brooding boy in the first place.

Of course that was all before he'd broken her heart. Sure, Imogen knew that Eli was still hung up on former squeeze, Clare Edwards but that was over. All he needed was enough time to have that fact sink in and then he'd be open for a new love. One that had been under his nose the whole time. Knowing this, Imogen had positioned herself close to him. How much closer could she have been? She was playing the object of his desire in the play. She'd figured that he'd have to take notice of her.

Of course, Eli had taken notice and had, on several occasions, invited her for coffee at this very table. With her dreams seemingly coming true, Imogen had pretended to not notice that Clare had been there each time with her new boyfriend Jake Martin. She'd pretended that he had really cared for her when he'd kissed her but once again, Clare had been present on each of those occasions. Worst of all, she'd pretended not to notice how his affections had faded as soon as they would leave and Clare Edwards was no longer around.

Imogen could have ignored all those facts but then she'd witnessed one final fact that she couldn't look past. When she saw Eli kiss someone else for real, she'd lost it. She'd known that the kisses he'd shared with her had been to make his ex jealous but this had been a secret kiss. Eli had gone out of his way to not be seen kissing this person, so she knew that it had meant something to him. He'd secretly gotten over Clare and still hadn't noticed her affection.

No that wasn't true.

Eli had noticed Imogen's attraction to him and he hadn't returned it. As close to the dark haired writer as she'd remained, he'd had absolutely no interest in her beyond the need to make his ex-girlfriend jealous. Seeing this guy passionately kissing someone else, another male at that, had been the last straw. Imogen had secretly snapped several shots of his stolen kiss with her cell phone and had uploaded them to one of the computers in the lab. Now she sat looking at the pictures wondering if she should expose Eli's dirty little secret. It would serve him right but also destroy another student's reputation in the process. Although she didn't really know this student, he hadn't ever done anything to her personally.

Still, he was having a secret illicit affair with the guy she loved. That would be enough for someone like Eli. She knew that if he had pictures like this that could hurt Clare, he'd use them and consider the other guy unfortunate collateral damage and his reputation as a star athlete would be expendable.

The question was; could she be as cold and heartless as Eli Goldsworthy?

One week earlier:

His face still sore from his latest encounter with Fitz, Eli sat with Fiona watching Imogen and Jake performed the words he'd written. Although he hated himself for it, Eli allowed his eyes to scan over Jake's body. What he'd started as just a way to win Clare back had become something more. Initially, Eli had not been keen on the things he may need to do in seducing Jake but over the past several days he'd warmed up to the idea. After his third encounter with Fitz, Eli had to admit to himself that he really did not dislike performing oral sex on another guy.

Actually, if it wasn't a guy that had bullied him the way Fitz had, he figured he might describe the experience as pleasurable and even empowering. Of course with Fitz it had become more of what he'd call humiliating. Fitz would force Eli to his knees and make him service his needs and then walk away. The first time Fitz had kissed him and actually built him to a point where he thought that he felt desire. Their second and third encounters had just been the humiliating act of Eli servicing Fitz's cock and nothing more. Fitz hadn't kissed him or touched his body at all. He'd simply followed Eli into the bathroom at The Dot and forced him into a stall. Although he'd felt like a total masochist the first time when he'd wondered if there was some sort of twisted love between him and his bully, he felt filthy in just servicing the guy the times that had followed.

"No, no, no," Eli said, snapping out of his self destructive train of thoughts and focusing on the action happening on the stage. Standing up, he addressed Imogen saying, "That's all wrong. Clara is manipulating both of them. You need to think sneaky. You're trying to seduce him here." Looking over at a puzzled looking Jake he added, "You're doing great, Jake."

"Thanks but I thought my character was the villain," Jake said in confusion.

"We're going a slightly different direction," the dark haired boy explained. "Clara is the real villain."

Getting up, Fiona addressed the group, "Everyone, let's wrap for lunch."

As everyone started walking away, Eli stopped Jake by gently grabbing his arm. "Jake, could you hang back?" He asked. Jake nodded and Eli approached Fiona. "Isn't it a bit early for lunch?"

"Maybe but it will give me a chance to look over your latest round of changes in the script," she explained with the sound of exasperation creeping into her voice. "We open in two days."

Eli watched for a moment as she walked away before turning his attention back to Jake. "Sorry about that. So, do you want to grab lunch together? We can talk about your character."

Jake caught something almost hopeful in Eli's voice. "I think we've already talked about my character enough," he said. "Something tells me that you don't want to have lunch with me to have some superficial conversation about the play."

Shyly, Eli smiled, making eye contact with Jake before looking to the floor. Jake's face cracked into a grin as he realized that once again Eli was flirting with him. Over the past couple weeks Eli had repeatedly made these kinds of gestures towards Jake. He knew that he should tell the green eyed boy that he was not interested in other guys but he didn't instead he smiled back at him as if he was flattered by the attention. A few times he'd wondered why he was actually encouraging this.

"Well, you're right," Eli confessed. With a crooked grin he explained, "I do want to talk with you about more than just the play. I just thought that, since Clare thinks so highly of you, and regardless what she thinks, I still think highly of Clare I'd like us to be friends."

"Clare still thinks highly of you, Eli," Jake said somehow caring that the dark haired boy may be suffering. "She's just been through a lot lately. You should give her some time."

"In the meantime, can we be friends?" Eli asked with a hopeful sound in his voice.

Jake smiled. "Of course. Listen, I was going to meet up with Clare but I'll call and cancel. You and I can go shoot some pool or something."

With another grin, Eli said, "I'd like that."

Eli nodded a hello to Sav and his friend Peter who were standing at the bar when he and Jake walked into Above The Dot. He'd met Peter once or twice in passing and remembered how Sav had mentioned that they had been in a band together at one time. Still missing those times, Sav had told Eli how much fun it had been.

"Grab the pool table and I'll get us a couple of Sprites," Eli said to Jake as they walked across the nearly empty room. Jake nodded and started setting up the table as he walked over to Sav and Peter.

"Hey, what's up?" Sav asked, extending his fist for a bump.

"Just killing some time," Eli said bumping him back. Turning to Peter he ordered two Sprites and looked over at Jake. As he racked the balls on the table, the other boy looked over and caught Eli's eye. A smile grew across his face.

Sav furrowed his brow and asked, "So, doing a little bonding with the ex's new beau?"

"Who's to say that break ups can't be civilized?" Eli asked flashing his lopsided grim

Sav chuckled and said, "You're talking to the king of civilized break ups. I just never saw you for the type."

Intrigued, Eli raised an eyebrow and asked, "Really? What type did you take me for?"

"The type that would do anything to get in the last word," Sav said in a matter-of-fact tone. Eli was caught off guard but quickly recovered with a tilt of his head as he raised his right eyebrow in mock intrigue. Sav laughed and offered, "Deny it."

"You make me sound like a monster," he said ironically.

"You're a friend, Eli," Sav said with an easygoing smile. Thinking back to some of the things Allie had told him, Sav told Eli, "But Clare is my sister's best friend. I don't like the idea of seeing her go through even more drama. She's a good kid, you know?"

"The best," Eli said with sincerity. "I'd never do anything to hurt her." Peter returned with the drinks and Eli paid him. Still smiling as if he didn't have a hidden agenda he said, "Well, my table is waiting. See you at school, Sav."

Sav nodded a good-bye and turned back to his conversation with Peter. Meanwhile Eli joined Jake at the pool table. "You ready to lose?" He asked as he handed Jake his soda.

"You think you can beat me?" Jake asked. I've been playing pool since I was ten."

"My dad has a pool table in our basement," Eli responded. With mocking modesty he shrugged and added, "I've played once or twice."

"Have you now," Jake asked with a good-natured chuckle. As if Eli needed reminding, he repeated himself saying, "I've been playing since I was ten."

"Let's make it interesting then," Eli quipped.

"What kind of wager did you have in mind?" Jake asked. "I mean, I don't have any money to put down."

"Playing for money is so ordinary," Eli said with a plan formulating in his mind. "How about the loser has to take on any dare the winner wants?"

Jake gave him a dubious look. Eli gave him a playful raise of his eyebrows in return. Although Jake knew that Eli would have the opportunity to make any request he wanted if he won but was intrigued. If Eli was attracted to him, would he use his dare to get some kind of cheap thrill? "Fine. It's a bet," Jake agreed. "I'll even let you break."

"You sure?" Eli asked as he moved into position to take the shot.

Jake laughed, "It looks like I better be." As Eli struck the white ball, Jake asked, "So, what do you think of Imogen?"

"She's no Clare," Eli answered as they watched the green striped ball fall into the corner pocket. With a grin Eli declared, "Looks like I'm stripes." Realizing how his response to the Imogen question had most likely sounded he added, "By that, I mean, everyone knows that Clare was my inspiration for Clara and Imogen is playing Clara."

"I knew what you meant," Jake laughed without even the slightest sound of jealousy in his tone. He watched Eli walk around the table to line up his next shot and had to admit that the shorter boy was not a bad looking guy. "Reason I asked is because I think she has a crush on you or something."

"She's been stalking me since I started at Degrassi," Eli said sharing with Jake as he made his next shot. Again, he sunk a striped ball.

"Stalking you?" Jake asked with laughter in his voice. "Wow. I guess you'll have to get used to girls stalking you if you're going to be a famous writer."

Lining up his next ball, Eli laughed and said, "I'm equal opportunity. I wouldn't mind a couple male stalkers too."

Again a ball went into the hole but Jake barely noticed as he processed Eli's last remark. When he saw a crooked grin grow across the dark haired writer's face he started laughing. Eli was certainly getting more and more bold. Oddly enough, Jake also realized that he was becoming more and more intrigued by the idea of Eli putting a move on him. He'd actually started hoping that all the flirting hadn't been in his mind.

Within minutes worth of conversation Eli had washed the table with Jake. It had gone so fast that the taller boy had been left in awe. Eli sank ball after ball after ball. Jake never even got the chance to take a shot and the game was over.

"And you're sure you're not a pool hustler?" Jake asked. He remembered that Eli had been shooting pool with Adam the night they'd first met and resolved that if they ever played again, he'd break.

"I might have under exaggerated about my ability," Eli laughed. "Come on, let's go."

As Eli led the way down the stairs toward the dark parking area, Jake thought back to their bet and wondered what his green eyed friend had in mind. "So, you won," he said before asking, "What's your dare?"

"Let's get in your truck," Eli said as they walked past Fitz who was emptying the trash. Eli ignored him, focusing on getting Jake alone. Shaking his head in disbelief, Fitz watched them go.

Inside the truck, Jake drove, still waiting for Eli to tell him what he expected. He followed his friend's directions and ended out on some road running through an empty part of town. Most of the buildings were businesses, so no one was around at this hour. "Stop here," Eli instructed when they came to the ruins of what looked like an old church.

"Where are we?" Jake asked.

"Someplace private," Eli explained. Without wasting time, the emo boy told his friend, "Listen Jake, I'm just going to say it. I find you attractive. I know that you like girls and all, so do I but neither of us can deny that there is something going on between us."

Jake swallowed hard and bit his lip. Numbly he heard himself say, "Eli, I'm with Clare…"

"I know but this is bigger than that," Eli said in the hopes of drawing him in. "You wanted to know what my dare is? I dare you to kiss me. Not some little peck, I mean a real soulful kiss where we share ourselves with one and other."

Jake felt like a deer caught in the headlights as he looked into Eli's seductive green eyes and felt hypnotized as under his spell. He had to admit that since Eli had started flirting with him, he had found a morbid curiosity in seeing what it would be like to taste his lips. This was the perfect opportunity. The dare had given him a get out of jail free card. He could always tell himself that he'd had no choice.

Eli looked Jake in the eyes and could see the anticipation he felt in his own heart mirrored back at him. His flirting had awoken a curiosity in the other boy just as being forced to give head to Fitz had done to him. After having realized that he'd enjoyed sexual contact with another male, Eli had done some research into human sexuality and had read that most men and women experienced a measured amount of desire toward members of their own gender even if they were primarily attracted to the opposite gender.

Without protest, Jake leaned in and gently pressed his lips to Eli's. Slowly they started kissing more and more passionately. After a moment, Jake turned in his seat so that he could get closer to Eli and get a better hold on his face. To Jake's surprise, Eli forced his tongue into his mouth. Even more surprising to him was how welcome he was to accepting it. He ran his fingers through Eli's long hair, and wrapped his fingers around the back of his head. At the same time, Eli's hands found their way inside Jake's shirt, slowly exploring the tall boy's slender form.

With a sense of passing guilt, Jake thought of Clare and how he was cheating on her by enjoying Eli's touch as much as he was. He'd never dreamed it possible but he wanted something more to happen with his new friend. Jake wasn't sure how far he'd be willing to let things go with Eli but he found himself intrigued.

Suddenly, Eli made his move, reaching for Jake's bulging crotch. Jake pulled back and swallowed hard. "I don't think we should…" he started before Eli put a finger over his mouth and quietly shushed him.

"Just let it happen, bro," Eli told him. There was something forceful in his voice that made Jake just comply. Jake sat back, silently giving the dark haired boy permission to continue. He'd wondered how far he'd go and at this moment he'd resigned himself to go all the way if need be.

Gently, Eli traced the outline of Jake's bulge before fiddling with his button and zipper. Within moments Eli had liberated Jake's erect penis and had started stroking it. Jake moaned as his friend slowly worked his hard cock. Without warning, Eli suddenly dipped down and engulfed it into his mouth. Jake put up no fight at all as Eli slowly worked his cock. After several minutes, Eli came back up and kissed his mouth again. Their eyes locked on to one and other and Jake felt as if at one with Eli. Suddenly he felt a desire that he'd never felt in his life. He had to make Eli his. At that very moment, looking into his eyes, Jake saw a life with the dark haired boy that he desperately wanted. There wasn't anything he wouldn't do for Eli.

Feeling the need to make the other boy feel it back, Jake moved his hand over Eli's crotch and felt the outline of his erection through the fabric of his jeans. Eli gave him an encouraging grin and undid his own pants for Jake. Biting his lip, Jake hesitated before going down. He mused over the fact that Eli's was a bit smaller than his as he wrapped his lips around the head of it. When Eli let out a moan, Jake proceeded to slide the full length of it into his mouth. Slowly, he worked Eli's cock wondering if he should feel ashamed of himself for enjoying this as much as he was.

The headlights of a passing car ended their fun. Afraid of being seen, they moved back into their seats and fixed their pants. "I guess we should get going," Jake muttered not really wanting to go. He really wanted to finish what he'd started. What had begun as an embarrassing curiosity had turned into full blown attraction. As he started back down the road, Jake looked over at Eli and their eyes met.

"Come over and spend the night at my house," Eli invited with the deepest look of desire imaginable showing in his eyes. If his goal had remained to only break up Clare's relationship with Jake, he realized that he had more than enough ammunition. He really didn't need to take it further. Eli realized that he wanted to take it further with Jake. Hoping that Jake wanted the same, he carefully explained, "My parents are out of town for some broadcasting convention and we'll have the place to ourselves."

Without a word, Jake drove to Eli's house and they quietly went into his bedroom. Within minutes, Eli had Jake's clothes stripped off him and in a heap on the floor. Seconds later his clothes joined the pile. Again, Eli started kissing Jake, slowly moving him over to his bed.

"I've never done anything like this," Jake mumbled. "How are we going to do this?"

Reassuringly, Eli brushed his fingers through Jake's short hair and promised, "Don't worry. I'll be gentle." Lost in Eli's eyes, Jake laid down. Eli continued to kiss him as he reached for the bottle of lotion in the top drawer of the nightstand. "Roll over," Eli gently commanded.

Without hesitation Jake complied.

Eli smeared lotion down the crack of Jake's ass and proceeded to slide his middle finger into him. Jake moaned louder and louder as each knuckle disappeared into him. Slowly, Eli started moving the finger in and out until he felt that Jake was ready for a second. With his index finger joining the middle finger, Eli continued to slide the two fingers in and out, gently spreading them apart as he progressed. When he felt that Jake had had enough warming up, he moved into position and smeared some of the lotion on his erect penis.

"I'll be gently," he whispered into Jake's ear as he inserted it into Jake's waiting hole.

Jake moaned as the full length of Eli's cock entered him. Once it was in, Eli kissed the back of Jake's neck and started pumping it in and out. Jake moaned in rhythm with Eli as he picked up speed. Only when he heard Jake begin to moan his name did Eli see beyond the pleasure to feel a bit of guilt for having seduced him as a way of getting even with Clare instead of because actually having had feelings for him. Still, that did not stop him from continuing to make love to Jake.

Meanwhile, Jake thought he was going to go mad with the intense mixture of pain and pleasure Eli's penis was bringing to his body. Waves of pleasure washed over every part of him with every thrust the smaller boy made. Suddenly, Jake moans reached a climax, so Eli reached down to stroke him just as a flood of semen shot out, all over Eli's bed sheets. Feeling his lover's body quiver in joy, Eli suddenly had his orgasm too.

He moaned, "Oh shit, Jake," before he pulled himself out and collapsed. Jake rolled over and the two boys lay side by side panting as their bodies relaxed.

"That was amazing, Eli," Jake muttered as he basked in the afterglow.

"Stay with me," Eli asked as he snuggled up close to Jake, wrapping his arms around him. As Eli drifted off to sleep he resolved to not tell Jake why he'd seduced him. Originally Eli had planned to split up Jake's relationship with Clare and then reveal to him how he'd seduced him just for that purpose. Before he'd started actually liking Jake, Eli had planned to take pleasure in his humiliation. Since getting to know him, the dark haired play write had changed his mind. Jake was a sweet guy and Eli didn't want to hurt him like that.

The morning after prom:

"Eli, its Jake. Call me when you get this message. I'm just concerned," Jake said leaving what had to be his hundredth message. Well, maybe not hundredth but it sure felt that way. Ever since everything had blown up at the prom, Eli had been MIA. Of course, Eli was good friends with Adam and had gone with him in the ambulance but that had been the night before. Having had his whole life get turned upside down by the bipolar emo kid, Jake should have been torn on how he felt. On the one hand Eli had ruined everything for him with Clare. With their parents getting married, that would have happened anyway. There was no way that Jake planned on dating his stepsister. Thanks to Eli's aggressive pursuit of him, instead Jake wanted to date a nearly psychotic emo guy. Trouble was, after everything that had happened Jake realized that that was impossible. And now Eli Goldsworthy was nowhere to be found.

Jake walked into the kitchen and saw Clare sitting at the table. He smiled a hello but she only shot daggers back in return. Obviously she was still angry with him. He wondered if she was just as pissed at Eli. It didn't matter because Eli didn't have to live with her.

"Hey sis," he said as he sat down at the table across from her.

She shot him another icy glare and growled, "Don't call me that."

"Well, you will be my sister once our parents actually tie the knot," he insisted.

"Then call me it at that point," she said with ice water running through her veins. "Until then, do me a favor and try not to call me anything."

"So, have you talked to Eli at all since prom?" He asked with a hopeful sound in his voice.

"Not since I left the hospital," she said containing herself. When she saw the look of disappointment that crossed her ex-boyfriend's face her anger boiled to the surface. "He's not going to call you Jake. He only slept with you to break us up. Eli is a bitter psychopath. If he can't have me, he won't let anyone have me. He didn't care about you. You were just in the way."

Jake shook his head. "I never realized how jaded you are Clare," he said feeling sorry for the way she seemed to blame Eli for everything that went wrong in her life. "I know that Eli and I aren't going to date. He is my friend however and I care about the guy. You used to too, if you remember. I'm going looking for him."

Two days earlier:

Although he'd had an emotional breakdown during his performance, Eli's play had been an overwhelming success. Fortunately the audience had taken his meltdown as part of the play. Before his breakdown, Eli had become manic. No longer wanting to see Jake as a villain, he'd fired him and replaced him with the first guy he'd come across. That happened to have been Riley. Not the best choice but probably not the worst. Imogen had made her move on him and Eli had relentlessly shot her down, forcing Fiona to pick up the role of Clara when the heartbroken girl had failed to show up for the show.

Most of the audience beyond his direct peers had believed that Eli's on stage rant had been scripted, so the performance had been hailed as brilliant. Of course Eli's father had known different and had asked his son how long he'd been off his meds. Without trying to deny it, Eli had confessed to having stopped taking them more than two weeks earlier. That had landed Eli in the psych ward for the past week but now he was medicated again, feeling more grounded and back at school.

Several students avoided making eye contact with him as he went to his locker, making Eli feel like even more of a leper. He really didn't care. He'd earned himself the reputation as the school psycho with his repeated antics, so he'd expected to be shunned. He almost enjoyed it as much as he'd enjoyed their praise the night of the show. Seeing him alone, Fiona walked over and bumped hips against him before she tossed herself up against the locker next to his.

Even after the nightmare his constant rewrites had been, Fiona had enjoyed Eli's company and felt a certain kinship to him. He was intense and deep and in some ways, Eli reminded her of her beloved twin brother Declan. Like Declan, Eli was highly intelligent, knew what he wanted and was driven. Of course in even more ways Eli was more like Fiona herself because he was deeply flawed, overwrought with personal demons and had a self destructive streak that ran nearly a mile wide. Fiona often imagined that Eli was the person that her and Declan would have been had they not been born as twins.

"Welcome back," she said glancing over at him with a sparkle that almost covered the sadness in her eyes. "You're looking relaxed."

Fiona had been one of the few people that had come to see Eli while he had been out of school and in intense therapy. Knowing the torment he'd put her through, the dark haired boy had apologized to her. Having nearly alienated all her friends on more than one occasion herself, Fiona had understood and had forgiven him.

Eli flashed his familiar crooked grin at her as he pulled his science book out of his locked. "You'd be relaxed too if you were as heavily medicated as I am," he said with only a hint of self deprecation in his voice. With a bit more mirth he grinned again and added, "But you've always been more of a fan of self medicating, huh?"

"My days of self medicating are over," she said with a smile. Fiona knew as well as anyone that Eli wasn't the only one at Degrassi battling personal demons. She too had faced her fair share of struggles and lived to talk about it. "I learned my lesson. So, prom is tomorrow."

"Ahh, prom," he said with a sardonic tone in his voice. Just months earlier, he'd laughed off Clare's desire to go to the spring fling dance as fooling and juvenile. Looking up, Eli saw Jake watching them from across the hall. He could see the concern on Jake's face and felt a pang of guilt for not being able to feel what he wanted to for the guy. He'd known that Jake had feelings for him although he'd manipulated those feelings to come to surface. It had been obvious the night they'd slept together. Part of Eli wished that his heart returned Jake's affection. It would have made sense of what he'd done. Now that he was thinking straight, he knew that he didn't deserve Clare getting her through such a deceitful way.

"You could do your leading lady a favor and take me," Fiona said flashing a sad smile in his direction.

"I didn't think I was your type," he replied with a hint of humor in his voice.

"I was supposed to go stag with Anya and Holly J but they've gone and got themselves friend dates," she explained. Eli looked away from Jake and back to Fiona and watched a hopeful smile spread across her face. "I thought we could do the same. What do you think?"

"I would but I've already weaseled my way is with Adam as a server," he said feeling thankful that Adam had beaten her to him. Although Eli had formed a close bond with the wealthy girl, the idea of taking anyone to the prom didn't impress him. Other than the fact that he was tired of being alone, he would have probably passed entirely.

He glanced back over at Jake. The look on his face said that he wanted to give Riley and Zane a run for their money and register for prom king and king. He remembered how he'd alluded to his secret relationship with Jake during his breakdown. He'd stopped at the time because the look of horror he'd seen on Jake's face had warned him off. It had been bad enough that he'd used him the way he had. To publicly humiliate him on top of that would have just been vicious.

"Well, that doesn't leave me many options," Fiona joked as she rolled herself across several lockers. Eli chuckled as he closed his locker and leaned himself up against it.

"I've got a novel idea," Eli said with irony as he mimicked her move, ending out standing next to her. "You could find a real date to bring. Maybe a certain scooter riding girl? Her name rhymes with gnarly?"

"Now there's something to think about," she said as the bell rang. "Well, see you at lunch."

Eli nodded at her and headed toward his class. Jake ran to catch up with him. "Eli, we need to talk," he said, catching Eli's attention. The dark haired boy looked over at him. "Ten minutes into class, meet me in the washroom. Please, Eli."

"Fine," he said. "I've got to go."

As Eli headed off to his class, Jake headed off in his own direction.

When Eli walked into the boy's washroom Jake was already waiting for him. Without waiting, Jake threw his arms around Eli and hugged him. "I was so worried when your dad said that you were in the hospital," he said.

Looking concerned, Eli pulled away and asked his lover, "When did you talk to my father?"

"The day after the play," Jake said without registering the concern the other boy had in his voice. Finally seeing it, Jake defending himself and explained, "Eli, I was worried about you."

Sounding paranoid, Eli asked Jake, "What did you tell him?"

Insulted that the guy he loved sounded ashamed of him, Jake puckered his face and said, "I told him that we're homosexual lovers and I needed to see you. What the hell, man? What do you think I said? I simply told him that I was a friend from the drama club and that we were all worried about you."

Eli's worried faces softened and he said, "Sorry, Jake. I've just been through a lot lately. I do appreciate that you care about me like that."

"I care a lot about you, Eli," Jake told him. "I know that we talked about keeping our relationship on the down low but I realize that I feel happy when I'm around you. I want to feel that all the time."

"Jake, you're with Clare," Eli said, again feeling a guilty pang twist through his stomach for having seduced his taller friend. It had been so much easier when Jake was just some jerk going after his ex. As he'd gotten to know Jake, Eli had realized that he really liked him. Part of him wished that he liked Jake just a little more than he did. If he could return Jake's feelings, Eli would actually date the guy for real. Of course he also refrained from telling Jake any of this because he really did like him and wanted to spare him of the pain of having been his pawn.

"I don't have to be," Jake said, almost hopefully. If Eli had still been off his meds he would have kissed Jake right there. That had been exactly the action he'd been planning for in seducing him. Now he wasn't so interested in hurting Clare. "I mean, if you ask me to, I'll tell Clare that it's over and that there's someone else."

"Don't do that, Jake," Eli said trying to sound selfless. Expanding on his lie, he explained, "I'm really not good for anybody right now. You and I should focus on being friends. I need that more than anything right now. Stay with Clare and just be my friend."

Trying not to show his rejection, Jake only nodded. His face burned with embarrassment at having been rejected by the guy he was willing to change his whole life for. Putting on a brave face, Jake told Eli, "Well, I'm happy you're better. We better get back to class."

Eli watched him leave and again felt badly for the mess he'd created. He figured that it would be better this way anyway. Jake could stay with Clare and eventually he'd forget Eli and they'd both be happy. Eli could spend a little alone time and learn to love himself so that when the right one came alone he'd be good enough for them. Before he'd submitted to Fitz, he would have said when the right girl came along. Now, if he was honest with himself he knew that it could be the right girl or it could be the right guy. Privately, Eli had embraced his own bisexuality.

Although he'd only enjoyed aspects of his encounters with his former bully, he had fully enjoyed his fling with Jake. Having sex with Jake had been every bit as pleasurable as having sex with Julia. He'd felt safe and satisfied wrapped in Jake's loving arms afterwards as they'd lain together in his bed. Thinking about that night, Eli stared into the washroom mirror for a long time before heading back to class.

"Which washroom did you go to?" Adam asked when he finally returned to class. Caught off guard Eli crumpled his face in confusion. Adam laughed and told him, "Dude, you were gone for more than half the class."

"Oh," Eli covered, realizing that his secret was still safe. "It must have been that breakfast burrito."

Adam laughed and pulled his chair several feet further away from Eli's. His friend laughed. Even when he was down, Eli could count on Adam's sense of humor to put a smile on his face.

"So, I was talking with Clare yesterday and she asked me if I'd seen you since the night of the play," Adam said with a sparkle in his eyes. When Eli only returned a blank stare, Adam frowned. "I thought that would make your day."

Eli shrugged. "I'm glad that she doesn't totally hate me after all the crap I put her through," he said. "I've accepted that she's with Jake. He's really a good guy. Seriously, I wish them well."

"What the hell did they put in your meds?" Adam joked. "This is Clare we're talking about. The Juliet to your Romeo."

"Look how things turned out for those two," Eli said giving his best friend a quick glance. "I've accepted that we're not good for one and other. I mean, I'd rather us be Billy Bob and Angelina than Sid and Nancy."

Adam laughed and said, "That's good."

The rest of the day went just as slowly for Eli and he couldn't wait to leave when the final bell rang. Carefully, he avoided all the friends that wanted to check up on him and hopped on the bus. He did appreciate that people cared but right now he just wanted to be by himself. Unfortunately, that was not in the stars for him. As he walked down the street to his house, he heard a familiar voice call out.

"Haven't seen you in a while, emo boy," Fitz said from behind him. "Been too busy with your new boyfriend to stop by?" Eli stopped, turned to face him and the bully frowned when he saw the weariness in his face. "Are you alright? You look like you just got diagnosed with cancer or something."

"Why, would you miss me, Fitz?" Eli asked in an emotionless tone as he waited for the other boy to walk over to him.

"I'd miss that sweet mouth of yours," Fitz said with a laugh. Eli didn't even try to fake or force a smile. Sensing that there was something different with his former rival, Fitz asked, "So where have you been anyway?"

"In a padded room," Eli said frankly.

"And here I thought you were avoiding me," Fitz said, mistaking it for a joke. "I need it really bad. I'll be quick. I promise."

"Fitz, I'm really not in the mood," Eli said with a slight whine in his voice.

Anger flashed across the bully's face and he growled, "I don't care if you're in the mood or not. I own you, so if I say suck me, you suck me. Understood?"

Eli sighed. "Fine. You can come in but if my parents are home, deal's off."

Fitz had been happy to see that no one was home when Eli led him inside and to his bedroom. Looking around he could see stacks of record albums among the books and other belongings in Eli's room. Up until now, Eli had never really been a person in Fitz eyes. He'd been a smartass that had pissed him off in front of his friends with his mouth. He'd been a thorn in his side at school, challenging his right to beat up on smaller kids. And of course most recently he'd been a good time when he needed a quickie and was too lazy to find a girl to fuck. Seeing Eli's things, the dark haired writer became a person in Fitz eyes.

"I wouldn't have taken you for a vinyl collector," the bully said as he flipped through several of the titles. Seeing Pink Floyd's The Wall, Fits laughed. "I shouldn't be surprised," he said.

"What were you expecting?" Eli asked.

"I don't know," Fitz laughed. "The history of underground emo on vinyl."

"Witty," Eli said with a lack of amusement in his tone. Without being ordered, Eli got on his knees and started fiddling with Fitz's belt.

"What are you doing?" The bully asked, confused by the other boy's lack of apprehension. He liked it when Eli put up a little bit of a fight and he had to force him to do it. Other than the fact that Eli was a sure thing, feeling his reluctance was half the draw for Fitz. It turned him on knowing that the dark haired boy was not really enjoying himself. "Have you been sucking the golden boy so much that sticking my cock in your mouth is no big deal anymore?" He asked remembering how he'd resisted in the past.

"You aren't leaving until I do it, so I might as well get it over with," Eli explained, still lacking any emotion in his tone. Looking up at Fitz's face he asked, "Can I just do this?"

That's when Fitz noticed the pill bottles on the night stand. Confused, he looked down at Eli and said, "Stand up." Eli stood and looked at his with the same dulled expression. "You weren't kidding about the stay at the nuthouse, were you? How much shit do they have you on anyway?"

"Enough so that I'll suck your cock without a fight, Fitz," he answered.

"And here I thought you were just starting to like me or something," Fitz joked. Eli just looked back at him without saying anything. Seeing the kid that he'd hated for so long broken should have excited Fitz but it didn't. He leaned in and kissed Eli's lips. "Get undressed," Fitz commanded. "You're going to cum this time too, Eli."

As Eli peeled off his red uniform shirt and khakis, Fitz removed his own clothes. Once they were both naked, Fitz started kissing Eli again. He reached down and took a hold of Eli's swollen cock, stroking it gently. Fitz saw the bottle of lotion beside the pill bottles and grabbed it. He turned Eli around and gestured for him to get on the bed. As he squeezed a blob of lotion into his hand, the bully told the dark haired boy, "I never planned to do this, you know. I was just going to keep you around for head. I'm not a faggot but I can see you need this, so I'm here."

Without another word, Fitz lined the head of his swollen cock up with Eli's asshole and started to slowly push. Painfully, the head of Fitz's penis started to enter him and Eli tried to struggle but it was no use. Fitz was bigger, stronger and he had Eli pinned down so that there was no escape.

Quietly, Eli whimpered, "Please don't," in a last ditch effort to get him to stop.

Fitz heard Eli's plea but he didn't stop. He knew that the smaller boy would enjoy it once they started, so he pushed the full length of it into him. As it entered him, Eli let out a loud groan. The pain was indescribable as Fitz started plunging it in and out at a faster and faster speed. As he did, Eli moaned louder and louder as Fitz pumped harder and harder.

Suddenly, Eli felt Fitz' hand fondling his erect cock and he realized how he could use this to end the bully's hold over him. He heard himself moan, "Fuck me Jake, fuck me harder." With a loud moan, Fitz released inside of Eli. The force of Fitz's orgasm triggered Eli's as Fitz stroked his cock. Spent, Eli sighed, "Oh, Jake."

Fitz pulled his cock out and started to dress while Eli turned over and made himself comfortable in his bed. He looked up and saw the angry expression on Fitz's face. "What's wrong, Fitzy?" he asked already aware that he'd just won the head game he'd played with the bully.

Fitz just shook his head. "I came in here to get sucked off," he said with anger in his tone. "I saw that you're going through shit and I thought I'd make you feel good this time."

"You did," Eli said feeling strangely torn over what had just happened. On the one hand, he'd done the fucking when he'd slept with Jake, so it had preserved his sense of masculinity. On the other hand there had been an extreme sense of pleasure in surrendering himself for penetration. The only part of it that he hadn't enjoyed was the fact that it had been Fitz that had been providing the pleasure.

"Yeah, and you moaned out some other dude's name while I was doing it," he said with rage burning in his eyes. "I just gave part of myself to you, Eli. I had no intention to do anything with you but let you service me."

"It isn't like you haven't casually fucked girls before, Fitz," Eli said in the hopes of making the bully feel as used as he'd made him feel. He hadn't wanted to get fucked, especially by Fitz. Still he pretended that he'd wanted it and said, "I'm sure some of them have just used you to get off too. Since I couldn't get it from the guy I wanted it from, I let you service me and just thought of him."

Now it was Fitz that felt dirty. He hated himself for having jerked Eli off while he'd fucked him because in doing so, he'd surrendered himself to his former victim. He no longer owned Eli. Now Eli was his lover. Any time they got together in the future, Eli wouldn't be just a mouth but a guy he'd connected with. He was a real person with a cool vinyl record collection and a bookshelf of Chuck Palahnuik books. He'd used Fitz since golden boy wasn't around.

This had ruined everything for Fitz.

Eli grinned as he thought to himself about how he'd just leveled the playing field with his former tormentor. Even having been stoned out of his mind on medication he had outwitted that fool. He was already formulating a plan that would stop Fitz from ever wanting him again in the future. With a wide smile of satisfaction spreading across his face, Eli drifted off to sleep.

The morning after prom:

Still dressed in his tux, minus the bowtie and jacket, Drew Torres sat at the side of his brother's hospital bed, watching him sleep. Although Adam hadn't been hurt badly, Drew felt guilty because the bullet his brother had taken had been meant for him. Drew was the older brother. It was up to him to look out for Adam, not the other way around. Lately it was like he'd become a walking disaster zone. Wherever Drew went, pain, suffering and even death seemed to follow.

He remembered how it had all started several months earlier when he'd rescued his girlfriend from a gang member. In taking blame for the guy's death he'd ended out the target of Vince, the gang's leader and had been beaten so savage he'd nearly died. He'd been out of school for nearly a month while recovering. He smiled to himself thinking of how, during that time Adam and his friend Eli had really been the only other kids he'd had around. Since he'd not really left the house and all of his own friends had been too busy to stop by, he'd played a lot of video games with Adam and listened to Adam and Eli talk while they read their comics together.

Since he'd recovered, Drew had been waiting for the gang members that beat him to return and finish the job. He'd been frightened so bad in fact that he'd gotten involved with underground fight clubs in an attempt to build his ability to take a punch and still fight. His brother's shooting had been the last straw however. After being certain that Adam was on his way to the hospital, Drew had taken care of Vince for good by convincing his ex-girlfriend to turn him in to the cops. When he'd arrived at the hospital however, his girlfriend Katie had dumped him since all of this had started because of his relationship with a different girl. Considering that his brother's life had been spared, he thought it was a fair trade.

Truth be told, Drew hadn't given their relationship too much more time anyway. Drew Torres went through girlfriends like other guys went through clean pairs of underwear. He would always pursue a girl with all his heart and then lose interest once he had her. It had become a pattern that he knew he needed to break. He smiled to himself thinking of the unexpected kiss that he'd had in the early hours of the morning that he thought was destined to break his string of bad relationships. Drew had always felt desire for the girls he'd dated but usually that was the desire to have everyone see him with an attractive, popular girl and wish that they were him. This relationship would be different because with this person he felt was the desire to become part of someone's life.

Twelve hours earlier:

Everyone at Degrassi had been looking forward to prom and it was finally here. Although his friend Fiona had asked him, Eli had passed on going with a date, instead opting to go as a server with his friend Adam. He didn't know why but Adam was really excited. As far as Eli was concerned it was just another dance and the last big dance he'd actually attended hadn't ended well for him. In a way, it had been the beginning of his downfall with Clare. She'd really been upset when he'd spiked Fitz's drink. In retrospect he had to admit that it probably hadn't been one of his wisest moves since it had led to the bully threatening him with a knife. For a moment, Eli had actually thought Fitz was going to kill him. Of course he'd chosen to skip the following dance in favor of crashing his hearse, so he had to wonder what this dance held in store for him.

Eli brushed away the malaise of those memories and pressed the doorbell. The door opened and for only a moment a look of confusion washed over Drew's face.

"You're not Katie," Drew muttered.

"No, not the last time I checked," Eli said with a straight face.

Drew looked at him for a long moment before determining that it had been a joke. When he finally laughed, Eli's face blossomed into a smirk. "Funny, Eli," Drew muttered as he fidgeted with his tie. Without bothering to invite his brother's friend inside, Drew started to walk away, calling to Adam, "Yo, Adam. Your date is here."

Eli took the opened door as his invitation inside and entered. Mrs. Torres rushed by and helped Drew with his tie, slapping away his hands since they weren't doing it any good. Eli chuckled as Adam came downstairs. Eli grinned at him.

"Looking good," the dark haired boy said.

Adam grinned back, his eyes bright with anticipation. Since Adam and Eli were both serving, Mrs. Torres had offered to drive Eli with her two sons and Katie, Drew's flavor of the month. Drew had asked Adam to stop calling her that but the younger of the two brothers found it amusing. Like a lot of the girls his older brother dated, Adam had been interested in Katie himself but it hadn't worked out. Although she'd claimed that the transgender thing didn't bother her, it had and Katie had covered it up by saying that she'd been more attracted to Drew.

Adam had been disappointed but hadn't been surprised. About the only girl that they'd both courted that had showed more interest in Adam than his brother had been Fiona. Gorgeous Fiona Coyne. Unfortunately for Adam, Fiona had been attracted to him because as a transgender she could date a boy that was really a girl. That hadn't settled well with Adam and they'd broken up. Soon after that Fiona had come out of the closet and the whole thing had made more sense.

Looks like we're twins," Adam said in reference to their identical server's outfits.

Eli laughed.

"Are you boys ready?" Mrs. Torres asked. "We have to leave in the next few minutes if we're going to pick Katie up." She'd met Katie and although she knew that the girl wouldn't be around for long, she had liked her a lot more than the last two her son had dated.

As they piled into the van, Adam hopped into the front seat, leaving Drew and Eli to get into the back. Politely, Drew opened the door and stepped aside so Eli could get in. As he passed, Eli grinned, making eye contact with Drew. The football player was caught off guard, feeling his heart skip a beat but smiled back. It was just anticipation of picking up his date. He was certain that the dark haired emo boy hadn't made him flutter like that. Still, as they drove, Drew sneaked a quick peek in the rear seat at Eli.

Again their eyes met and Drew felt some kind of connection.

He was just being nervous. He was sure of it. Drew had known Eli the whole school year, since transferring to Degrassi but hadn't even had a conversation with the guy. They were in the same grade and Eli was good friends with his brother but Drew ran in a different circle than Eli. Actually, Drew wasn't sure if Eli actually ran in any circle at all. Outside all the time Eli spent hanging out around Adam, Drew really felt like he barely knew the guy. Eli was strange and had kind of a reputation for trouble.

Trouble was one thing the two seemed to have in common. Unlike Drew however, Eli's troubles didn't find him, he found them. Sneaking another quick over his shoulder, the jock remembered several of the spectacles that the self proclaimed outsider had engineered over the past year. Eli had excelled at stirring up trouble with bullies. He'd crashed his car in what everyone had figured was an emo style fake suicide attempt and of course there was all the drama around Vegas Night. Drew had had his share of drama that night too but Eli had nearly been murdered. Listening to some of the things Adam had told him, Drew had to wonder if the emo kid hadn't had some kind of death wish.

Drew hoped he didn't. Although he didn't know Eli too well, Drew was impressed by the guy's intensity. Drew remembered the play and Eli's intense performance. He know that his brother's friend had also written the materiel but still, Drew had gotten chills watching the tormented character he'd portrayed. Eli had something special inside of him and Drew hoped he'd be able to express it with allowing it to consume himself in the process.

Pulling up at Katie's house pulled Drew's thoughts away from Eli and back to his own planned evening. He hopped out of the van, went to Katie's door and rang the doorbell. Drew's mouth dropped for just a moment when he saw his date.

"Can I take that as a compliment?" She playfully asked.

"Huh? Oh, yeah," Drew stammered. "You look… you look amazing." He cursed his limited vocabulary, wishing that he could have come up with something more original to have said. Adam was always better at expressing himself than Drew. Sometimes he wished that it would rub off on him but so far it hadn't. He put out his arm and said, "My mom is waiting for us," as he led her to the van. "Just so you know, we're riding there with my brother and his friend, Eli."

Getting into the van, Katie said hello to Mrs. Torres and Adam before glancing back at Eli. In a friendly gesture he smiled a crooked grin at her. It took Katie a moment to decide that the grin had been intended in a friendly way. Smiling back she said, "Eli, I don't think we've actually met. I run the paper and we did several stories on your play."

"Yes, I met with Clare several times to talk about it," Eli said politely making conversation.

"Her review after the play was probably one of her best articles," Katie said feeling willing to offer the persistent girl praise since she wasn't present to hear it.

"Really?" Eli asked with the same smirk-like crooked smile on his face. "I think I missed that issue."

"Don't read the school paper?" She asked trying to not sound defensive.

Furrowing his brow ironically, Eli explained, "I missed a few issues while I took a bit of a breather."

Not easily embarrassed, Katie nodded politely. She'd forgotten that after his onstage meltdown Eli Goldsworthy had been hospitalized for several days of observation. Without showing her embarrassment, she told him, "I'll have to find a copy for you. Clare actually gave you an incredible review. Don't quote me, however I seem to remember her using the term genius somewhere in the story."

Eli raised an eyebrow and said, "In that case, I'll have to read it."

From the front seat Adam laughed.

Eli looked around the room at all the work that had been put into making everything seem festive and frowned. What was the point? Looking around, he wondered if Clare was here yet. He didn't see her but he did see Jake wandering around the punch bowl. He looked depressed too and Eli wondered if that was his fault. Another wave of guilt washed over him as he thought of how far he'd gone to break Jake and Clare apart. He was constantly doing things that created havoc around himself and never learned from it.

He remembered the last dance he'd gone to and how he'd been jealous that Clare had gone with Fitz. The rational part of Eli had known that she'd only done it to try to broker peace between the two of them but somehow he'd allowed the paranoid side to convince him that she'd done it because she wanted Fitz instead of him. That had led to his attempt to humiliate his rival which in turn had almost led to Fitz driving a knife into his gut. Perhaps if he'd played his hand differently Clare would still be his girlfriend instead of Jake's.

Eli walked over to the table for some punch and nodded hello to Jake. Nodding back Jake took his punch and wandered off into the hall. Eli noticed that he looked pretty depressed. The two of them had talked and Jake had resolved to not rock the boat with Clare. So, if Jake wasn't pining away for him, Eli realized that there had to be something else going on. Eli followed Jake into the hall where he found him sitting alone in a corner. Eli sat down next to him.

"Hey, what's wrong?" He asked.

Jake grimaced and explained, "Just before I left for the prom my father and Clare's mother got us all together for dinner to tell us that they're getting married."

Eli's expression betrayed his surprise. "Wow, Jake. I'm sorry."

Jake nodded.

He surmised that their relationship had reached the stumbling block that he'd tried to create by having seduced Jake in the first place. The irony was not lost on him and if things weren't so fucked up he would have laughed. After all his scheming, Eli had realized that he didn't deserve Clare. If he'd just let things play out the chances were that he would have won her back on his own. Now the situation was far too complicated and he'd realized that he was not the person he'd thought he had been. Not only had he seduced and slept with Clare's boyfriend but he'd also realized that he'd enjoyed the act of being with another man.

"Maybe there's a chance that the two of you can find a way to make it work anyway," Eli said, not having believed it himself. The last thing any level headed guy wanted to do was date a girl he had to live with. What happens if they have a fight or when they eventually break up? No, Jake was smart enough to know that it was finished. Eli realized that. Seeing him so despondent, Eli put his arm around his friend. Jake looked over at Eli and feebly smiled. He leaned in and kissed Eli's lips. Passionately Eli started kissing him back when a familiar voice interrupted them.

"You've got to be kidding me," Clare said in disbelief from where she stood across the hall.

Terrified at having been caught, both boys jumped up immediately. "Clare, this isn't what it looks like," Eli said quickly. Trying to think up an excuse that wouldn't cost both of them Clare's friendship he started to explain, "We were just…"

"You were just making out," Clare said as she shook her head in disbelief. "My ex-boyfriend and my current boyfriend. At the prom no less?"

"I was just comforting him and…" Eli started before Clare cut him off.

"And your tongue just slipped into his mouth?" She cried. Suddenly memories of kissing Eli herself flooded through Clare's mind. She remembered how passionate and intense he could be. In a twisted way she couldn't blame Jake for having fallen into Eli's trap.

"It just happened, Clare," Eli explained. "Jake was suffering and I just took things too far."

Clare sighed, letting out an angry hiss. Accusingly she spat, "You expect me to believe that after all this crap you put me through trying to get me back?"

"Come on Clare, let's talk about this like three adults," Jake said trying to get her to keep her voice down. "Can we please?"

"How long?" She asked. They both remained silent and she realized that this had been far from their first tryst. Amazed at what had been going on behind her back, she asked, "Seriously? Were you carrying on while you were working on the play?"

The guilt in Eli's eyes betrayed the truth he didn't want to admit. "Clare, it's all my fault," he admitted. "I went after Jake. I kissed him."

Clare put her hand over her mouth as she realized that this had been Eli's plan all along. He'd tried to break them up and when he'd failed he'd set about seducing her boyfriend. "Oh, god, this goes way beyond kissing, doesn't it?" She asked. This time it was Jake's face that confirmed her suspicion and Clare grimaced. "You seduced Jake all in the name of hurting me, Eli?" She asked.

Ashamed by what he'd done, Eli couldn't even look Clare in the eye. "I'm sorry," he muttered.

Shaking her head she said, "You pretend that you better but you're sick, Eli. You really need help."

Clare stormed away and Jake quickly took off after her. He might be forced to break up with her because they were about to become step siblings but he still did care about her.

"I'm sorry," Eli said as he left but got no reply.

"Clare, stop, please," Jake said as he pursued his future step sister through the crowd. Of course he was afraid that she'd expose the secret of his relationship with Eli but he also felt terrible for having hurt her. He really hadn't intended any of this. "We need to talk about this."

"About what?" She cried. "About how you're sleeping with my ex-boyfriend or about how we're going to be siblings by the end of summer?"

"Keep it down," he said looking around to see who'd overheard. "What happened between Eli and I happened. We can't change that. But honestly Clare, I'm not dating my sister. Eli or no Eli, we were destined to break up."

"So, that makes it alright?" She asked appalled by the careless way he brushed away his cheating on her with Eli as just one of those things that happens. "Just leave me alone, okay? I've got to get out of here."

"Listen, these are your friends," Jake said. "You should stay and I'm going to leave."

Twenty minutes after the confrontation in the hallway, Eli was on the dance floor trying to act like everything was fine. If he hadn't, Adam would have known. Knowing Adam, he would have hounded Eli until he confessed. Admitting that he'd had a sexual liaison with a guy would be less difficult than admitting that he'd done it to create a rift in his ex's new relationship. Eli doubted that even Adam would have stood by him if he knew that truth.

He'd looked around for Jake but he was nowhere to be seen. Clare was dancing with Allie, giving him two reasons to keep his distance. Adam, Dave and a couple of the other guys were hanging in a group, so he'd joined them. Eli laughed when Bianca came over and started dancing with Adam. He knew that his transgender friend had been attracted to the troubled girl towards the beginning of the school year, so he had to be happy to dance with her.

Suddenly the fun spirit of the dance was broken by an angry gang member confronting Adam's brother, Drew and Bianca. Eli was impressed by Drew's agility when he efficiently dispatched the thug through a series of moves straight out of an Ultimate Fighting movie. Eli remembered how earlier in the year, Drew had come to Adam's aid in a fight with Fitz and had been pounded. He'd come a long way from that and Eli was impressed.

As someone who'd been dealing with bullies all his life, Eli had to admire Drew. Where he'd gone the intellectual route, rubbing his bullies noses in their stupidity and further angering them, Drew had learned how to defend himself in a way they could understand. He admired that.

Suddenly the whole situation changed and the danger of Fitz's knife at Vegas Night was echoed in the gun that the gang member pulled out and haphazardly aimed into the crowd. Two shots were fired and everyone went down. When the dust settled the cowardly gang member had split and Adam lay bleeding on the floor with a red flower growing on his shoulder.

Everything was happening so fast. Eli remembered screaming to call an ambulance while wondering where all the chaperones were hiding and the next thing he knew, they were at the hospital, waiting for a doctor to patch Adam's shoulder. Even on a stretcher with a bullet lodged in his shoulder, Adam managed to crack jokes. Eli noticed that it took Drew a little while to show up at the hospital and when he did he had Bianca in tow. Not really part of the conversation, Eli overheard that Drew and Bianca had followed the gunman and turned him into the police. In the aftermath, Katie had had enough of Drew's drama and had left, leaving Drew in the hallway alone.

Since he'd come in the ambulance and asking Mrs. Edwards for a ride home had been out of the question, Eli had remained at the hospital. After Adam had drifted off to sleep, he'd wandered out into the hall where he found Drew sitting alone, crying. Earlier he'd been impressed by Drew's ability to dispatch the bully but underneath it all, he was just as scared as the rest of them. Eli's heart went out to the guy and he walked over to him.

When Eli sat down next to him on the bench, Drew started to compose himself. He really didn't want his brother's weird emo friend seeing him cry. Trying his hardest, Drew smiled at Eli and said, "I didn't know that you were still here. I thought everyone else already left."

Eli shrugged and explained, "I called my dad but he's already at the radio station."

Drew nodded and remembered how Eli's dad was a disc jockey on the classic rock station, a fact that really impressed Adam. "Thanks for riding here with my brother," he said looking Eli in the eyes. Again he felt something odd when his eyes connected with the other boy's eyes. "I wanted to but I had to…"

"You were really brave, Drew," Eli said softly.

"So brave that I nearly got my own killed brother," Drew said trembling at the thought of how much worse it could have been.

Eli put a comforting hand on Drew's shoulder. In a soothing voice he said, "Drew, it was not your fault. I know. I've been there too. It's easy to blame ourselves when things like this happen but neither of us can control what other people are going to do."

Drew looked over at Eli and let some of his guilt slip away. He'd heard all the rumors about Eli. About how he'd gotten his ex-girlfriend killed, the problem with hoarding and how he'd tried to kill himself by crashing his car head first into a wall. Of course Drew had been there firsthand to see the spectacle of the school play where he'd had an emotional breakdown onstage for all to see. Emotionally, Eli Goldsworthy was a train wreck. Still, looking into Eli's green eyes Drew saw something other than all the problems. He saw someone that seemed to care about a near stranger. He saw someone who lived a life touched with even more darkness than he'd seen and yet was still surviving.

"How do you do it?" Drew muttered.

"Do what?" Eli asked looking deep into Drew's blue eyes.

"See the stuff you have and find the will to go on," Drew heard himself say.

"What choice do we have, Drew?" Eli asked. Looking again into the other boy's weary eyes, Eli explained, "I find a way to alienate nearly everybody that loves me yet somewhere deep inside I hold the hope that someone will see me through all of this and just love me."

"People look at me and expect the dumb jock," Drew said.

"I know that you're more than that," Eli told him.

"You barely know me," Drew said unsure of his brother's friend.

"Drew, I can see it in your eyes," Eli said. "You're deep and you're special. I can see it even if no one else cares enough to. That's their loss."

Before he realized what he was doing, Drew found himself leaning in close to Eli and pressing his lips against his. Without hesitation, Eli kissed back, gently taking hold of Drew's face in his hands. Drew couldn't help himself as he kissed his brother's friend. This was nothing he'd ever thought of doing yet somehow it felt so right.

Alone in the hallway, the two boys kissed each other for what seemed like forever. Until there was a loud noise that brought them both back to reality and they separated. Suddenly Drew became self conscious again.

"I don't know what I was thinking," he muttered. "I'm sorry."

"Its okay, Drew," Eli said reassuringly. "No one saw us."

"I can't be here," he said as he got up. Kissing another guy might be okay for a guy like Eli but it wasn't okay for a guy like Drew. He was a star athlete. There were certain expectations he had to live up to. Eli tried to follow but Drew stopped him and said, "No. This isn't me. I can't Eli. I just can't."

Drew slipped away, leaving Eli sitting alone. That little spark he hadn't felt with Jake had been there when he'd kissed Drew. Suddenly he realized that Drew Torres was the one. Eli was certain that Drew had felt it too. He hoped that Drew would have the courage to admit it to himself too.

The morning after the prom:

Eli walked into The Dot to see Fitz clearing one of the tables. Forcing a friendly smile on his face, he walked up to the bully. Seeing the guy that had, only days earlier, sexually used him soured Fitz's mood. He'd not been looking forward to seeing Eli again. Using him for a quick release had been one thing but actually having had sex with him was still weighing on the bully's mind. Whatever happened to the good old days when their relationship had been about the two of them mutually antagonizing one and other?

Sure, pounding another dude with his fists could be a bit homoerotic but to him it was about making someone hurt. Forcing Eli to give him head had been rather similar at heart. Sure, there had been a sexual release involved however the most important aspect for Fitz had been the fact that he was bullying Eli into doing something he seemed less than happy to be doing. Now everything was different. The last time he seemed to be looking forward to it. To complicate the situation even further, Fitz had satisfied him in return.

Eli might have been a fag but Fitz knew that he was not. He was one hundred percent hetro. No creepy emo kid was going to mess with his head and try to change that.

"What are you doing here?" Fitz asked with a cold tone in his voice as Eli got closer to him. Fitz looked around as if afraid that people would see them together and know that they were lovers.

"I thought I'd swing by and say hi," he said cheerfully as if he thought that Fitz would be happy to see him. Naturally, he knew that he was not. Where Eli was opened minded to the varying degrees of his own sexual desires, he knew that Fitz was not. After his performance days earlier, he realized that Fitz would probably never want to see him again. Eli wondered how many girls Fitz had tried to screw over the course of the past two days just to prove to himself that he'd not enjoyed screwing another guy. Eli knew different. Fitz's body couldn't lie and Eli knew that the bully had thoroughly enjoyed having sex with him. He might have even admitted it if Eli hadn't intentionally made him feel used.

Of course when dealing with a personality like Fitz's there was always the chance that things could backfire and the bully would try to murder him. Although he'd shown once that he hadn't had the guts to go through with it, Fitz had only been confronted with his embarrassment at the time. This may have been an entirely different situation that Eli was walking into.

"Why?" Fitz asked using the same cold distant tone.

"I went to prom last night and was thinking about you," Eli said innocently.

"Well, stop that," the bully growled. "Stop thinking about me. As far as I'm concerned, you and I are finished. You win emo boy. I don't need to get in the last punch. You don't need to apologize. I just want you to pretend like we've never even met, okay?"

"If that's the way you want it," Eli said without hinting at how pleased he was. He'd feared that he was going to have to go another round with the bully before convincing him to write him off, so this was a most welcome surprise. "From now on, we don't know each other."

Eli turned to leave and saw Imogen sitting alone at a table and walked over to her. Seeing him, her expression soured much like Fitz's had. Remembering the hurtful things he'd said before and during the play, Eli grimaced but bravely asked, "Can I have a word with you, Imogen?"

Imogen just looked up at Eli, turning her laptop computer so that the screen pointed away from him. "I think you made yourself quite clear the day of the play," she said.

"I said some very cruel things that afternoon," he admitted with a tone of sincerity in his voice. He earned her attention, so he went on to tell her, "I want you to know how deeply I regret having said some of the things I said. I might have been off my meds but I was cruel and unnecessary and I don't have an excuse for myself. I don't expect you to forgive me but still, I want to apologize."

"I gave you everything you asked for, Eli," she said thinking of how intensely she'd wanted to be with him. Of course after seeing what she'd seen the night before at the hospital, she had no illusions that that could ever happen. "I gave you my heart and you broke it."

"I want to make it up to you, Imogen," he said. "Please let me try. I might not be your prince in shining armor but I can be better."

After a moment's thought she smiled and hit the delete box on the screen of her computer. "I'll let you buy me coffee sometime," she said releasing the anger that had spurn her desire for revenge.

Eli smiled. "Deal," he said.

"Right now I can see that you're in the middle of something," she said.

"I'm headed to see my friend, Adam," Eli said thinking about how he'd probably also be seeing Drew. Although he was concerned about Adam, having been shot and all, Eli was most excited to visit his friend because of the moment he'd shared with his brother Drew. It had come as a surprise to Eli because he'd barely known the other boy. Sure, Adam was Eli's best friend and Drew was in his grade but their interests were so different that their paths had seldom crossed at school.

"At the hospital?" Imogen asked, remembering how she'd gone to see her mother at the hospital after the prom and stumbled upon Eli's secret tryst with that football star.

"No, at home," he answered. "Adam is being released as we speak, so I'm just going to head over to his house."

Adam's house was only a half mile away from the Dot and the bus didn't come close to his street, so walking was Eli's best option. Again he regretted having crashed Morty. He'd been desperate to make a gesture to Clare, showing how deeply he loved her and it had seemed like a good idea. Of course, Clare's reaction had been the exact opposite of what he'd expected and hoped for. Since his return after spring break, Eli had been aware that the whispers behind his back had increased. Anyone else may have felt like an ass or would have wanted to run and hide but not Eli Goldsworthy. Like every other challenge he'd faced, Eli had put a crooked smirk on his face and ignored them. The dark haired writer was no stranger to the scrutiny of whispers and rumors behind his back. His parents had always allowed him a lot of freedom and he'd developed his own style at an early age. The rumors of his obsession with death had only increased after Julia's death and driving a black hearse surely hadn't helped.

He really hadn't cared what any of them thought beyond Clare. Even when Adam joked about some of his crazier antics, Eli had just laughed it off. He'd really figured having Clare understand his motives had meant that he loved her. He hadn't seen that his obsession over her had spawn from her rejection of him.

Deeply engrossed in his own thoughts about how destructive his relationship with Clare had been on his well being, he was startled by the sound of the horn blaring next to him. Jumping back, he noticed that it had come from the red truck that had pulled up next to him.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you," Jake said from the driver's seat. A friendly smile cracked his face as he explained, "I called your name but I don't think you heard me."

"I missed it," Eli said.

"You want a lift?" Jake asked. "Hop in."

Eli got in and thanked him. He explained how he was going over to visit his friend Adam, who'd been released from the hospital that morning. After giving Jake directions, they started driving again.

"Listen, Jake, about last night," Eli started. "I hope I didn't screw things up with Clare. I wasn't trying to… I mean, now that I'm back on my meds."

Jake laughed. "Clare is going to be my sister, dude."

"I plotted against you, Jake," Eli confessed. "It doesn't matter that I changed my mind part way through it."

"I like you, Eli," he said not seeing the sense of getting upset over something that didn't even matter anymore. "Me and Clare would have broken up eventually anyway."

"Man, I wish I could be more like you," Eli said impressed by Jake's ability to let go of things. "I always have to have the last word. I wish I could just let things go like you."

Jake laughed and shrugged. He was an easygoing guy. "After watching my parents get divorced, I rarely start a relationship without knowing that it was destined to end eventually," he explained.

"And I can't get my brain to let things go," Eli said.

"It's why we should stay friends, Eli," Jake said. "I know that you don't want to date me but I really like you."

"I really like you too, Jake," the dark haired writer said honestly. "Maybe if we're friends some of your easygoing nature will rub off on me."

"Maybe but let's hope not too much," Jake replied with a chuckle. "Your intensity is part of what makes you so interesting."

After thanking Jake for the ride, Eli Goldsworthy walked up to the Torres' front door and rang the doorbell. He secretly hoped to see Drew but he figured that the star athlete would avoid him. He was pleasantly surprised when it was Drew who answered the door. Seeing the older Torres brother brought a smile to the smaller boy's face.

"Hi, Drew," Eli said with a cocky grin.

Drew's eyes sparkled with excitement and he smiled when he first saw that it was Eli but he quickly dropped the expression from his face. His voice cracked when he asked, "Eli, what are you doing here." He glanced over his shoulder as if afraid that his mother might catch them together.

Hiding the hurt he felt at Drew's reaction to seeing him, Eli muttered, "I'm checking up on Adam. You know, your brother. My best friend."

"Oh, he's in his room," Drew said feeling the sting of shame burn across his face for having thought that the dark haired boy had come just to see him. He wondered if a little part of him had hoped that Eli would pursue him the way he'd so publicly pursued Clare Edwards for most of the school year. Stepping aside he said, "Come on in."

Eli Goldsworthy was not the kind of guy that was easily deterred from pursuing the things he wanted but chasing Drew felt different. Drew Torres was a star athlete. He also knew that Drew could be as ruthless as he had been in getting what he wanted. While working on the school play with Riley Stavros, Eli had learned that before Riley had come out of the closet, Drew had learned his secret and had blackmailed him into stepping aside so that the younger player could be starting quarterback.

Drew was obviously just as driven as Eli to get the things he wanted however that was not the writer's motivation to not pressure or trick Drew into being with him. The truth was, Eli had learned the value of honesty in his single-minded pursuit of Clare Edwards. In the end he'd realized that he could never have a perfect relationship with Clare because it would have been based on lies and manipulation. If he hoped to have anything with Drew, it had to be honest.

Drew watched as Eli went upstairs, tempted to follow. Although he'd tried to, he couldn't deny his attraction to the pale skinned play write. He told himself that in had to be his head playing games with him but that wasn't true. The attraction he felt for Eli went deeper than what he'd felt for the girls he'd dated. Sure, he'd dreamt all night about being with Eli and kissing him and touching his body however it had been more spiritual. With Bianca, Katie even with Alli, it had always been visual. He'd imagine them naked or stripping for him. They'd been objects to look at and touch. His mind would imagine the parts of their bodies he hadn't seen and how satisfying it would be for them to offer those visuals to him.

Dreaming about Eli had been different. He'd imagined the feel of Eli's arms around him and the sparkle in the smaller boy's green eyes when their eyes had met. He'd dreamt about how Eli's lips had tasted and the way his mouth had burned with desire after they'd parted. He'd imagined Eli's crooked smile and how it would feel to touch it again with his own lips.

Suddenly, Drew realized that he was standing in the living room with a full erection as he remembered the erotic dreams he'd had of his brother's best friend. Although alone, he quickly put his hands over his crotch and ran up to his room. He cursed himself because he knew that he liked Eli in a different way than usual and that it wouldn't be easy to just ignore this. He figured that Riley would laugh his ass off if he ever found out about this. Drew had never been a homophobe however he had threatened his teammate with the humiliation of exposure to get what he wanted. To this day he knew that Riley held a grudge against him and he could barely blame the guy. Drew realized that beyond the fact that he was terrified by the idea of anyone figuring out that he was madly in love with Eli, he was also terrified by the realization itself. Drew didn't want to be in love with another guy, just as he realized that Riley hadn't wanted to either. He'd told himself that he'd done what he had to do to get what he'd deserved but the truth was he'd trampled over his teammate for his own selfish ends.

As Drew resolved to go see Riley and apologize for what he'd done to him, there was a knock at his door that startled him. "Yeah?" He asked, too lazy to get off his bed. A moment later he did just that because it was Eli's head that peered through the crack in the doorway. "What is it?" He asked keeping the standoffish tone in his voice.

"Sorry to disturb whatever you're doing," the other boy said. "Adam is pretty out of it, so I figured I'd take off. Could you let him know that I stopped by?"

"Yeah, sure," Drew muttered. Watching Eli turn and leave, he suddenly felt a resurgence of attraction tingle through his body. "Eli, wait," he heard himself call out, not certain what to say or do next. When the other boy actually did stop Drew wondered if he'd made a mistake.

"What is it, Drew?" Eli asked.

"Close the door and come in," he instructed. Eli did as he was told and silently walked over to Drew. "I don't know what I'm doing," Drew admitted before blurting out, "I just think… I'm in love with you." Realizing how pathetic he'd sounded he tried to regain a bit of his dignity and added, "Or something."

Eli cracked a smile and told him, "I get it, Drew. I think I love you back." Flashing his crooked grin he too added, "Or something."

Drew laughed. "It's just, this isn't who I want to be," he explained. "I'm looking at being the captain of the football team in the fall and I really don't think Degrassi needs two gay football captains in a row."

"Are you gay?" Eli asked.

"Dude, I just admitted that I'm in love with you," Drew said with a bitterly ironic tone in his voice. "Last night we had our tongues halfway down each other's throats."

"I'm just saying, why do we need labels?" Eli asked. "I love you, Drew. Not because you're a guy but because you're a special, sweet person that gets me. Before I discovered feelings for you I loved Clare. Before Clare, I loved Julia. Last night, you seemed pretty into Katie."

"Yeah, before she dumped me," Drew said with the sting of her rejection still fresh in his mind.

"Well, not everybody can love you flaws and all," Eli said in a matter-of-fact tone. Remembering the pain Clare had caused him, Eli told Drew, "I've realized that very few people are willing to look at your dark side and love you unconditionally."

Drew remembered how Adam had told him about Eli's possessiveness. He understood because he'd become possessive with girls in the past too. Drew just figured that it was a guy thing. "So what happens when we become possessive of each other?" The athlete asked. "Girls are going to flirt with me. I mean, I will be captain of the football team."

With a shrug, Eli said, "And I'll laugh because I'll know that they can flirt all they want. It's my arms that will be around you after the big game."

"You seem much more comfortable with all this than I am," Drew said.

"I wanted Clare back really bad, Drew. I tried everything I could to break up her relationship with Jake," Eli explained.

"So you and Jake?" Drew asked.

"I was in a weird place, Drew," Eli said in his own defense. "I was off my meds and Fitz had forced himself on me, so I figured, what's the big deal? I thought it would get Clare back and that was all I could see."

"Wait a minute. Back up," Drew said. "Fitz forced himself on you?" Drew asked in horror. After his near death experience being beaten by Vince's gang, Drew was horrified to think of Eli having been dominated in that manner. "Did he rape you, Eli?"

"No, Eli admitted. "After he nearly killed me at Vegas Night, I was too afraid to stop him. I was outside The Dot when he got off. I think he was just horny and I was there, so he made me get on my knees and…" Eli trailed off without finishing. A look of shame crossed his face admitting aloud what he'd been through. Clenching his jaw in anger, Drew got the picture. Knowing that he'd probably just made himself sound like a spineless victim, Eli explained, "I figured after having already pulled a knife on me, this guy would kill me if he could."

"I'm going to kick his ass," Drew vowed. Just knowing that someone had done something so terrible to the person he loved tore Drew up inside.

"No, it's fine," Eli said. With a twisted smirk he vaguely explained, "I've taken care of him. He'll never come near me again. Anyway the point is, after Fitz made me… I figured, why not just seduce Jake and let Clare find out. Dude, I was totally off my meds and in a really dark place."

"I get it," Drew admitted remembering how he'd nearly beaten a guy to death while cage fighting. Silently wondering how Eli had taken care of Fitz in a seemingly permanent manner he told his friend, "I've done my share of crazy too lately." Drew put his arms around Eli, still angry to know that Fitz had hurt him as he had. Muttering he said, "Sometimes you wonder if you even know who you are anymore."

Leaning in closer to Drew, Eli quietly asked, "Do we ever really know who we are?" Gently he pressed his lips to Drew's and started kissing him. Passionately the two boys kissed long and hard. Catching his breath, Drew eventually pulled back where he looked Eli into his beautiful green eyes. They burned with such an unbridled intensity that Drew was both drawn to and frightened by him at the same time.

"I don't know how we're going to do this, Eli," Drew started softly, his face only inches away from Eli's.

"We can take it one day at a time," Eli told Drew. Gently, he kissed the tip of the other boy's nose, causing a playful grin to crack his face. Seeing the excitement in Drew's face, Eli flashing his own crooked smile, shrugged and said, "We've got the whole summer to ourselves before we have to start worrying about senior year."