Welcome to tonight's fluff shot!

Legal ~ I own nothing but the idea.

*Clare and Owen got together in secret after she broke up with Jake.

*Clare never kissed Eli before break they are friends again and he thinks the spark is still there.

*Drew already broke up with Katie and has been dating Bianca again for a few months also Jake and Katie have been dating since November.

*Whisper Hug has been a band since September, still formed by Mo and with the same members.

Okay that does it enjoy the Clowen fluff (and angst)

Things I Try to Tell You Come Out Wrong

(OWEN)

I pull up to school, it's our first day back from winter break, my first day at school as an Ice Hound and my first day seeing Clare since…since I made the worst mistake of my life. I've regretted so much going to that party, going without Clare. I knew it was stupid but we'd been dating in secret for three months and taking her to a party wouldn't exactly have been secret. Actually it all started as a make out session, she'd just broken up with Jake, again, and she was upset and angry. She wanted revenge and apparently decided making out with me was about as low as she could get. Not that I can blame her for this thought and I'm not complaining, I mean it's pretty hard to complain when a girl finds you at school one morning and drags you to the roof to make out. It was hot until the bell rang and she made me swear to never tell anyone, she said it was a mistake and ran down the stairs and away from me. I felt used and disappointed, not that I'd ever really paid much attention to Clare but I really enjoyed kissing her.

I was pretty sure that would be the end of it that she'd just never talk to me or look at me again and we'd go back to ignoring each other. Especially after she and Jake became civil and sort of settled into the role of being siblings. Of course she was still feuding with Alli and Jenna and having other problems. So I was surprised to get a text from her one day telling me to meet her at lunch, back to the roof and back to making out. I found out she got my number from Drew's phone without his knowledge. We met in secret, at her command, a few more times to just make out because she was angry or frustrated with something. After a few times of being used this way I asked her on a date, which she agreed to under the condition it was secret. I tried not to take offense at this but Clare did point out that our friends, and likely Jenna and Alli even though they weren't really her friends at the time, would flip and think she had lost it after Jake broke her heart again. She was also fairly certain that my friends would either give me grief or give her grief for being a hookup. Not to mention that despite being real close friends with Drew now and apologizing to Adam I was the one that threw him into a door and he was Clare's best friend.

She made a persuasive argument and I agreed we should be secret for the time being. So on our first date I met her a block from her house and we drove out to Mississauga. Dinner and a movie, a simple date but we went walking after and talked a lot. There are a lot of differences between us but we shared a lot in common too. We started spending more and more time together, always in secret. Went on a few dates, hung out and got close, we were in a real relationship only no one knew about it. Didn't matter whether or not people knew about us I was happy, I really like Clare and she really liked me. In fact I began to fall for her and I was pretty sure she was feeling the same; she even began talking about telling people we were dating when we came back to school after winter break. She was extremely happy for me when I made the Ice Hounds and took me out to celebrate that night. Everything was going amazing until I screwed it up and Clare broke up with me, she would not talk to me, take my calls and even left town for the rest of Christmas break so she wouldn't have to see me. Therefor instead of being excited to tell everyone about us today I was just hoping Clare would talk to me.

When I park I don't see Clare or Jake's truck so I'm assuming they aren't here yet. Tris gets out and walks ahead of me inside, most of the Ice Hounds are here and gathered around a picnic table so I join them. Dallas arrives with Drew and Adam, Dallas comes to join us and I see Clare arrive, she's walking and didn't get a ride from Jake. She sees me and runs past me joining Adam, Drew, Dave, Alli and Jenna and they walk in together. After a few more minutes we walk in too, there's an assembly this morning we all got a letter about it. I help the guys find their lockers but they already had a tour of the school. We visit our lockers and meet up back at the auditorium, sitting together in two rows. I watch the people coming in looking for Clare, she comes in with Adam and the others and she doesn't look at me. In fact I'm pretty sure she's doing everything not to look at me.

Principal Simpson welcomes everyone and introduces the Ice Hounds, we stand up and I hold up my arms with pride. I even see Clare smiling a little, it makes me smile more but when she catches me watching her she looks away. We sit down again and Simpson says there's no more uniforms and everyone is cheering again. When I look back at Clare she's talking to Eli in the doorway. I knew they had worked on the school paper together just a few days after we broke up. I'd heard secondhand from Drew that they had become friends again but this looks like more and I don't like it. A jealous fire rises inside me, I don't like the way he's smiling at her or how she's standing. A penetrating fear that she's going to get back together him makes my heart pound. I almost go over there but Becky beats me to it, she doesn't know them so she must be asking a question. She walks off with Clare and Eli walks away a minute later. I become more determined than ever to get her back and keep her away from Eli. I know all about their last relationship and he's no good for her. We were great together and I screwed it up but I'll get her back, I'll find a way.

When the assembly ends we walk out, the assembly was before classes so everyone heads to their first period class. I spend the morning thinking about Clare, about how to win her back. I'm certain that talking to her will be useless since I've been trying to do that all through break. I'll have to show her, to make some grand gesture girls like that sort of thing anyway right?

"Hey party at my place tonight, a burn your uniform party," Dallas announces to the table at lunch.

"You mean at the Torres house," I correct him.

"Hey it's my house for the next few months, juniors and seniors only sorry Rookie," Dallas adds looking at Cam who doesn't say anything.

A party at Adam's house means that Clare will be there, if I can get her alone then…then…well I'm not really sure what but I'll figure it out. The party is right after school so after picking up some supplies we head straight to Drew's place. I help set up and watch the people coming in.

"Look at all the hot girls here I am going to love this school!" Luke grins.

"Me too this here is Cindy," Dallas says and the girl smacks him.

"My name is Cynthia," she corrects him.

"How about I just call you Sinful," Dallas responds kissing her before she can respond.

"I'm going to get another drink," I comment walking away from them.

I see Clare is here now and talking to Eli again, my fists clench and I grit my teeth in jealousy. I position myself so I can watch her without being obvious or seen and when she goes upstairs I follow her.

"Clare," I say her name and she doesn't even turn around just opens the fridge. "Clare please listen t…"

She shuts the fridge and glowers at me, "No Owen leave me alone. You cheated on me Owen, I know we were secret but that didn't mean you could cheat on me."

"I know I'm sorry I didn't mean to," I start and even as the words leave my mouth I know they were the wrong thing to say.

"You didn't mean to? You don't just accidently cheat Owen it was a decision you made. You hurt me so much it's painful to even see you," she tells me and I see tears in her eyes.

"I'm sorry it was a…"

"Don't even finish that sentence; don't talk to me just stay away from me. Go back to ignoring me like you did last year and the year before and every day up until I kissed you!" She spits at me with a tone oozing with so much venom it stabs at me.

"I can't do that Clare," I reply in a pleading tone, "I can't bec…" I stop talking when I hear footsteps running up the stairs and then Adam appears.

"Hey Clare where's that ice? Oh hey Owen what are you doing up here?"

"I needed the washroom," I tell him walking back to the washroom.

I close the door and wait a minute, hearing Clare and Adam go back downstairs I leave the washroom. That didn't go well at all but I will find a way to let her know how I feel and to get her back.

(CLARE)

"So I'll see you at school tomorrow," Eli smirks when he drops me off after Adam's party.

"Yeah thanks for the ride," I smile and get out of his car. I walk to the door and wave to Eli again as I go inside. "I'm home Mom," I call into the living room where she's watching TV with Glen.

"Hi Honey how was the party?"

"Lots of fun," I reply as I go upstairs. I change and get ready for bed, getting onto my laptop until there's a knock on my door sometime later.

"Found this on the doorstep for you," Jake tells me poking his head in the door after I call to come in. He walks forward holding out an envelope, it's Owen's handwriting and my face gets hard just seeing it.

"Burn it," I tell him.

"You don't even want to know what it says?"

In response I take the letter and tear it in half tossing it in my trashcan.

"Okay then how was the party?" Jake inquires.

"The party was great," I reply smiling again.

"Good well then I'm going to bed, see you in the morning you going to ride in with me this time?"

"Yeah I will, how was your private party at Katie's place?"

"Awesome," he grins and leaves my room.

I go to bed a short while later but thinking about Eli and Owen I don't get to sleep very easily. I wake up and shower, eat and drive to school with Jake, I see Owen's car so I go to my locker and directly to the library where I'm sure Owen won't find me. I have a spare first period or I would have gone directly to class. By staying in places I'm sure Owen won't go I am able to avoid him all day and he has Ice Hounds practice after school. I ride home with Jake after school and find half a dozen flower arrangements on the steps.

"Not even an entire garden of flowers could make up for what he did," I think to myself as I get out of the truck.

"Eli's trying really hard this time," Jake comments.

"I don't think they're from Eli, flowers aren't really his style," I reply.

"Then who are they from?" Jake inquires.

"It doesn't matter put them in your truck let's get rid of them," I respond.

Jake just shrugs and helps me get them all into the back of his truck. We take them to a senior assisted living place close by. They're happy to have the flowers and I'm happy to be rid of them. Jake doesn't say anything about the flowers to my mom thankfully and he doesn't ask about them again. Wednesday is much like Tuesday; I avoid Owen but come home to a giant teddy bear waiting at the door. Owen's apparently not going to stop so I'll have to stop him myself. Thursday morning at school I text Owen and ask him to meet me in the auditorium before classes.

"You need to stop," I assert the very second he has the door open. "Stop with the gifts, stop trying to talk to me just stop Owen. We're done, we never should have happened, we were a mistake and we are never getting back together, in secret or otherwise," I tell him in a firm voice.

"How can you say that? How can you say that we never should have happened? I don't care that we were hiding from everyone those three months were the best of my life," Owen argues in a half angry and half pleading voice.

"Then why did you cheat?!" I sort of scream and then the door opens.

"Clare are you okay? What's going on?" Eli inquires rushing into the room.

"Nothing," I answer quickly walking to Eli and pulling him out the door.

"What was that about? Why were you arguing with Owen?" Eli questions with obvious suspicion in his voice.

"Didn't you hear?" I ask and he shakes his head.

"It was nothing Eli don't worry about it," I assert.

"You've never said anything to Owen and you were just arguing with him," Eli counters with distinct anger and jealousy in his voice.

"Eli please drop it," I insist.

He grimaces a little but does drop it, "You're going to the dance tomorrow right? To support Adam at least?"

Whisper Hug was preforming at a dance tomorrow night, it would be the only Friday night until the end of the school year without an Ice Hounds game probably. Adam loved being in a band, it gave him a good outlet and he loved being on stage. He wrote much of the music and songs with Maya and I saw them play every chance I could.

"Yeah I'll be there," I nod and he smiles again.

I don't find any gifts on the doorstep this time and I hope Owen has stopped his pursuit. I don't regret my time with Owen, I was happy and he made me feel good. Far better than Eli, Jake or K.C. ever had, I felt safe with him and felt I could truly trust him. I even liked keeping him a secret, like he was something just for me, my secret happy place he just happened to be a person. We had quite a few family things in common, even liked the same music and books, I even liked when he talked about sports. I found myself totally open and relaxed with him, I could talk with Owen in a way I couldn't with anyone, not Alli or even Adam. He had such a sweet, caring, sensitive side that I never saw in school. We had fun and could just be together without speaking a word and yet sometimes we could talk for hours.

I was beginning to realize just how deep my feelings went for Owen by December. Beginning to realize that I could actually be falling for him and then I find out he cheated on me at a party. I still wasn't sure exactly what he'd done I'd only heard the next day in school that he'd hooked up with some girl. The fact that I had trusted him so much and felt so deeply for him made the fact that he cheated hurt so much, more than just heartbreak. The betrayal ran so deep and hurt so badly because I felt so deeply for him. I was so terribly hurt that it began to turn to loathing and rage, it started to depress me and I left for Ottawa to spend the rest of break with my aunt and younger cousins. I knew it would be hard to see Owen at school again but it was much harder than I had thought. I was so angry at him and yet I wanted him to hold me so badly, it was a terribly frustrating and conflicting feeling.

When I get to school on Friday despite not finding a gift when I got home yesterday I notice Owen keeping a watch on me. No one else seems to notice but he does seem to be lurking in my general area between classes and at lunch. I go home right after school to change for the dance, I choose a black dress with a pleated flared skirt and thick straps, I pair it with a dark red sweater and black flats. Jake changed into dark jeans and another plaid shirt, he drives us back to school for the dance.

"You look hot trying to impress Eli?" Adam teases when I walk into the auditorium.

"No I wanted to look good for your debut performance this semester," I respond.

"You do look great, I gotta get backstage," Adam grins kissing my cheek.

"He is right you look great," Eli says and I smile at him but the smile fades a little when I see Owen just behind Eli.

"Thanks I'm going to get something to drink," I remark walking to the refreshments table and they both follow me, Owen a few paces behind Eli.

"I've been thinking," Eli speaks up.

"Always a dangerous activity with you," I joke taking a cup of punch.

"I think that spark is still there between us and we should go out," Eli says and I almost choke on my punch.

I don't know how to respond, Eli and I have been on good terms lately and I do admit I find some of that old attraction sometimes. None the less our relationship was brief and extremely intense ending with Eli crashing his car intentionally. I'm just not sure that he and I should get back together I think we may be less dangerous to each other as friends. Not to mention that Adam would no longer be put in the middle of us. I don't know how to respond but I am thankfully saved by Whisper Hug coming on stage and starting their performance.

"Let's go watch Adam," I say quickly and take Eli's hand pulling him to the front of the stage. Owen again follows a few paces behind us; we go right to the stage and wave at Adam while Mo introduces everyone.

Whisper Hug plays seven songs and we stay at the stage the whole time, dancing a little and cheering Adam on. After their set we clap and cheer loudly, screaming for Adam, they begin to pack up their equipment and music is played on the sound system again.

"You never did answer my question," Eli reminds me and I bite my lip trying to think of an answer that won't set Eli off. Before I can answer Owen pushes past us and hops up on stage.

"Clare you can't get back together with Eli," he says into the mic and everyone is now looking at him. Well Eli's glaring at him but Owen is only looking at me. "Losing you was the worst thing that ever happened to me, I love you Clare Edwards and I will regret every day for the rest of my life that I cheated on you. Those three months with you were the most amazing of my life and the best thing to ever happen to me. I want everyone in this room to know that for three months we dated in secret and I screwed it up and I am so sorry, I can never take it back and I can probably never make up for it. I would give anything to go back to that moment and stop it from happening. Stephanie is nothing compared to you and I regret so deeply that I ever caused you that kind of pain. All we did is make out and go to second base in the hot tub but it was wrong and I am the biggest idiot on the planet for ever letting it happen. You are the only one I want Clare, I fell in love with you and I fell hard and I am never going to stop fighting for you because you are worth it, you are worth everything to me."

Owen finishes his speech and most of the auditorium erupts into cheers and whistles. I can hear Owen's friends and teammates cheering him on and clapping. From the corner of my eye I even see Adam clapping, he's also laughing but he's clapping. Eli is glaring at Owen and has a jealousy in his eyes. And me, I'm biting my lip smiling big and blushing. It's hard to hate him after that, I'm still angry that he cheated but the hate is gone.

"Did you really date Owen?" Eli questions.

"Yeah," Owen says hopping off stage and right between us, "she did."

"You really do like the grand gestures," I comment to Owen.

"Well you wouldn't talk to me I had to do something," he responds.

"Hey," Eli exclaims putting his hand on Owen's shoulder and I worry that there's going to be a fight until Fiona grabs Eli and pulls him back.

"Leave them be Eli," she says.

"I meant it Clare, every word I hate myself for what I did, I can't even tell you why. It hurt so much that I can assure you it will never happen again, I couldn't go through that sort of pain again and I would never put you through that again. I think I started falling in love with you from the first kiss and I've fallen too far to let you go," Owen asserts.

I don't say anything I'm not sure what to say, but Owen picks me up by the waist and I put my arms around his neck. Our lips collide in a long awaited kiss, mashing together with a joy of two long lost friends, Owen spins me around and everyone cheers while my heart soars!