I'm so excited for Season 12 but now that Direct TV doesn't have Teennick anymore, I have to resort to livestreams and waiting for the episode online. :( But nonetheless, I'm so excited. The Eclare reconciliation happens in the first episode so yesssss!
Anyways, this is a one shot and was inspired by the fact that I remembered that Eli will be graduating and he and Clare are getting back together this late in their school year so...yeah.
Thanks for reading and please review!
Today was the day Clare looked forward to yet dreaded the most. It would be the start of a new, different time but she would be afraid of how it would pan out. The next school year would be completely different because now, starting today, Eli Goldsworthy would no longer be attending the same school. Today, he was graduating Degrassi.
Clare put on her new navy blouse and a white floral skirt, added some mousse to her hair because it would most likely frizz in the humidity, and put on some comfortable flats. Outside of her room she could hear her mom and Glen getting ready for the graduation as well, since Jake was also graduating. And although Clare was happy to see her step-brother walk across the stage and graduate, she couldn't help but feel anxious.
Of course she was proud of Eli. He was graduating with honors, produced two (controversial, yet successful) plays for the school, and was offered a scholarship that would cover all four years of university. When Eli received his acceptance letter and scholarship, no two people in the world were happier than Eli and Clare. He brought the letter to Clare's house, wanting to open it with her holding his hand, and the two spent the afternoon celebrating, first starting with a cozy and innocent session on Clare's bed.
But after the excitement settled and Eli began planning when he would visit the college for orientation, what things to bring with him to his dorm, who his roommate would be, and so on, along with the school work he still needed to get through in order to graduate, Clare found herself dreading the day Eli would officially be gone from Degrassi.
She didn't want to lose him. They had already lost so much time during the beginning of the school year, between the breakup, dating other people, the bipolar diagnosis, the divorce, and all of the other obstacles thrown their way, it was months of separation and unresolved tension that finally ended at the impromptu Torres house party where they agreed to reconcile and take their relationship slowly.
Things were finally as they should've been. Eli and Clare, happy and together. But as Clare sat in the backseat of Glen's car, she started to think that they would be Eli and Clare, together but apart. She knew what the likeliness of long distance relationship success was and she knew that she and Eli are as happy and in love as they could be, but they've never had miles and miles of separation.
When Clare, her mom, and Glen got to the school, they took the closest seats they could get. Just at the end of her row of seats was Adam's family, there to cheer on Drew, and Clare waved to Adam when she got his attention.
She had already expressed her anxiousness and somewhat sadness to Adam about Eli's move and Adam did his best to be as helpful as possible, assuring her that Eli would rather lose a limb that lose her again. As graphic and weird as it was, it was only slightly reassuring.
Clare tried to focus on the ceremony; Simpson giving the welcome speech, the salutatorian and valedictorian speeches, and when the calling of names began, she couldn't think of anything but her and Eli.
How they first met. "You have pretty eyes."
Their first rebellious experience. "Scream. At the top of your lungs."
Their first kiss. "They could share a final kiss." Which would definitely not be their last.
Eli's confession about Julia. "This is where I killed my girlfriend."
Clare attempting to protect Adam and Eli with the stinkbomb. "I knew it was you!"
Vegas Night. "Then I can't be with you."
The Grundy Awards. "Could I convince you to stay out for some contraband kissing?"
Eli's hoarding. "When it's ready, and you are."
Adam's secret party. "The stars are out."
Lover's lunch. "Especially you."
Fitz's return. "I just feel like you're slipping away."
The fallout. "You ripped my heart out!"
That moment, that scary, terrible, heartwrenching moment that she wishes she could change, when she lost Eli, that moments makes this moment even more unbelievable. She didn't even need to remember the rest of it.
They managed to overcome secrets and mental problems and hurting each other back and forth all to culminate in the best relationship either of them had and the happiest time in their lives, from the last few months to this moment as Clare watched Eli walking on the stage.
"Elijah Goldsworthy."
And so Clare screamed for her boyfriend as loud as she could, but still it wouldn't be as loud of Cece and Bullfrog. She caught his eye for a moment and he smiled at her and she gave him the proudest, widest smile she could manage to show how proud she was of him. Truly, there was no other emotion in her at all now other than genuine happiness and pride.
The graduation seemed to drag on and on from that point. Clare was practically bouncing off of her seat, waiting for the moment she can find Eli and congratulate him to no end. She clapped for the seniors she knew, joined her family in cheering on Jake, but once the mortarboards were in the air, Clare was out of her seat to find Eli in the crowd.
The graduates and the audience were quickly mixed, making it difficult for Clare to find Eli. She sighted Fiona with her family and waved to her. She saw Drew trying to find his family and she pointed him to the direction of where the Torres family was sitting. She was bumping into people left and right until finally she weaved through the crowd and found Eli standing right at the steps of the school.
He was looking at his diploma, a slight smile on his face, and when he looked up, Clare immediately ran to him. Eli opened his arms and hugged Clare to him tightly, swaying their bodies slightly on the spot.
"Congratulations," Clare said happily as she tightly had her arms around his neck. "I'm so proud of you."
"I graduated high school, I didn't win a Pulitzer," Eli replied jokingly, obvious by the smirk on his face when Clare pulled back. She leaned in for a brief kiss but Eli moved his hand to the back of her neck, holding their kiss for a little while longer.
Once they pulled apart, Clare couldn't stop smiling. As she stood there in his arms, in the midst of celebrations, she looked up at him and said, "We're going to be okay, right?"
Eli raised his eyebrows. "What do you mean?"
"I mean, when you go to college, we'll be okay right?"
"Clare," Eli said, tilting Clare's chin up. He smiled before saying, "I didn't spend so much time trying to win you back for nothing. We'll be okay. I'm not letting you go this time around."
With his arms securely around her waist as they stood at the front steps of the school that brought them together, he definitely didn't let her go for a long long time.