Welcome to Short Story Month! We're kicking it off with a brand new story which is dedicated to Christlove88 because she put in the request a while ago.

Legal: I do not own and am not associated with DeGrassi or Epitome. This story is for entertainment purposes only.

Important things to know before reading:

*Begins the night of the EClare breakup in Ray of Light

*Fitz still works at The Dot he never left

*Because this is a short story and not a long story there will be some time jumps, not major ones just a couple months at most

*Clare will not get cancer and Adam will not die and there is no Paris trip in this story so Alli never meets Leo

The rest is explained in the story so I hope you enjoy!

Ch. 1 Everything Means Nothings & Tonight Everything Is Mine

(CLARE)

"I know you," Owen slurs as he stumbles over to me. "You're…you're…you're purdy," Owen laughs when he can't remember my name. It makes me laugh so hard I snort and then we laugh harder.

"You're so so hot yourself," I giggle trying to lean on him and only end up spilling my drink. "Whoopsies I shhpilled my wee drinkie," I laugh.

"I'll get you another wee drinkie purdy girl," Owen says.

"I think I maybe, might've possibly had enuffs drinkies. I thinks we want to not be ssssssstanding."

"I know where you can lie down purdy girl," he comments kneeling down and picking me up with one arm around my legs and I squeal. "I know this place like the back of my head," Owen remarks and I giggle running my hands through the hair at the back of his head.

Owen takes me to a bedroom, closes the door and puts me on the bed. He lies down next to me, my hand grips the back of his neck and our lips attach. If I wasn't totally drunk and had any sense right now I wouldn't be kissing a drunk Owen, at a party thrown by a kid I've never met before. But I am completely drunk and I don't have any sense right now and Owen's lips feel good in my drunken state.

Events that brought me here started a few nights ago with Eli going to a rave and taking drugs and then finding Cam's body. He lost it and we broke up, it was brutal and I was very hurt, so when some kid told me there was a party I came to escape reality for a short time. I came, I drank, I'm kissing Owen. It's been a hell of a night.

I can only assume Owen is here drinking to excess because of the recent loss of his teammate. I'm sure he's also been comforting his brother and Maya because they were both close to Cam. Whatever the reason he's here we're now on a strangers bed making out.

Owen's tongue licks over my bottom lip and my entire body tingles, I part my lips and allow his tongue in. Without thinking I pull his shirt up and feel his skin. He's got muscles, lots of them and my fingers dance around his abdomen and up to his chest. My hands frolicking in the playground of his muscles under his shirt. Owen suddenly breaks the kiss and takes his shirt off quickly. Before his lips reattach to mine he grips my dress and rips it open, buttons pop off going everywhere and it makes me laugh. Owen grins and then his lips take mine again. I open my mouth and our tongues meet, Owen opens my bra with one finger and takes it off lying us down again.

He turns me to my back staying locked in the kiss and his hands cup my breasts, squeezing gently bringing forth a moan from my lips. I continue caressing his chest and abdomen, every time my fingers get near his belt his stomach muscles tighten. When my fingertips graze his belt he moans. Instinctually I pull at his belt and next thing I know we're naked, our divested clothes in a pile with our shoes at the foot of the bed. Our lips are locked again and I'm on my back, Owen is over me, his weight off of me but he's between my legs. I feel this tickling, tingling rush through my body and this sudden desire for Owen to touch me! I move my hips toward him and I feel him penetrate into me. At first it's an odd pleasurable feeling and then it's pain and then pleasure again and then pain. This goes on for a while but I keep kissing Owen and he's playing with my breasts the pain starts to melt away and then…and then…

And then the next thing I remember I'm waking up naked in a bed. I look next to me and see Owen asleep in the bed and naked. I gasp but when he stirs I stop moving, I don't want him to wake up and know I was here. I suddenly get a flash of making out with Owen on this bed and liking it. I'm partially thrilled and partially disgusted. I slip out of bed slowly and quietly looking around the room for my clothes. I find my bra and panties but my dress is ripped so I open the dresser in the room and find a shirt big enough to be a dress on me. I leave my torn dress and put the shirt on and my shoes and quickly sneak out of the room. I walk home and begin to remember things about last night. I was in emotional pain and got drunk rather fast, I remember Owen and I flirting and being in the bedroom kissing and that's it everything else is fuzzy.

"Where were you? What are you wearing?" Jake asks when I walk in the house.

"Alli's, dress got dirty borrowed a shirt Sav left behind," I reply quickly before running upstairs.

"Good because I told your mom you were at Alli's. Should I wait for you we need to be at school soon?" Jake asks following me up the stairs.

"Not going to school," I respond before going into the washroom and turning on the shower.

I get undressed and get in the shower, I have no idea what happened with Owen, or how far I went. I remember kissing and I remember flashes of other things. I'm terrified that I lost my virginity last night and don't remember it now but I convince myself we were too drunk. I feel sick and throw up in the shower, my head is pounding I guess this is a hangover. I turn off the shower and go to my room getting into pajamas and into bed and stay there the rest of the day. In the late afternoon there's a knock on the door and I peak down to see Adam at the door so I walk down to let him in.

"Are you sick or hiding from Eli?" Adam asks.

"Just didn't feel like school," I reply going back to my room and Adam follows me.

"You missed an interesting memorial service, Maya kind of freaked out but it's understandable."

"I didn't know Cam at all and after Eli found him I…" my sentence drifts off and Adam gives me a slightly worried look.

"I brought your homework, are you coming tomorrow or should I bring your homework until you're ready to face Eli again?" Adam asks handing me my homework.

"I'll be back tomorrow I just needed a day."

(OWEN)

I wake up with a yawn and stretch, and then I realize I'm naked in a bed that isn't mine but then I remember the party and most of all being with Clare. I look in the bed but she isn't here, I see her dress but not her bra or panties or shoes so she must have left. I get out of the bed and pull on my jeans and boxers and get out my phone, it's almost eight I don't have time to go home and change before school. I pick up Clare's dress and find it torn with all the buttons ripped off, I remember doing that, all the buttons popped off and we laughed. That's not all I remember we had sex last night, we were drunk and we had sex I remember it all now.

I get dressed, borrow some deodorant and hair gel from Tony, he had the party last night and this is his house, Clare and I had sex in his bed but I see him in the living room. He's sleeping on the sofa with a girl in his arms. I get in my car and drive straight to school, my backpack is still in here from yesterday. When I get to school I put Clare's torn dress in my backpack and get in just as the bell rings for first period. I go to the locker room and put my back in the locker when I get out my gym clothes to change for exercise science.

"Where were you this morning?" Dallas asks as we're changing.

"Went to a party at an old buddie's house, slept there and slept late," I reply.

We change and go out to the gym, Dallas doesn't say anything else but he works out hard. Losing Cam was a blow to all of us but Dallas took it very hard. We shower when Armstrong blows the whistle and return to the locker room, after changing back I grab my backpack and start walking the halls. The bell rings before I can find Clare and I head to my second period class. I'd ask Eli where she is but they just broke up and I have her torn dress in my backpack and knowing Eli he'd punch first and ask questions later. Of course if he found out I had sex with her he might just kill me. Even if he didn't see the dress or find out we slept together he'd wonder why I want to know where Clare is when I've had no interest in her before this.

The teacher pairs us off for the assignment in class and I get paired with Drew. We begin working but my mind is not on the assignment it's on Clare.

"Hey wake up in there we need to work," Drew grumbles hitting my forehead with his pencil.

"Sorry," I apologize looking at my notebook.

"After Cam I can understand you being distracted," he shrugs.

"Yeah," I nod slowly, "after Cam."

"Something else on your mind?" Drew asks.

"Nope," I shake my head, "just Cam."

If it were any other girl I'd tell him, even if I'd hooked up with Bianca last night I would tell Drew. Not that I'd ever hook up with B as she's like a sister to me. Any other girl and I'd tell him but not Clare. We finish our project and when the bell rings for lunch I look for Clare but I don't see her. I can't ask anyone where she is because they'll want to know why I'm asking and I can't tell anyone. I don't see her all afternoon and after school is Cam's memorial, all of the team is going and a lot of the school is here. Maya freaks out but I'm not surprised Cam's death shocked us all and she was dating him. After Maya's little freak out the memorial pretty much breaks up and I decided to go home. Tris is sleeping at Tori's again tonight so I go home and shower. I do my homework and try to get Clare off my mind but it's hard. I get to school early the next morning and wait for her near the entrance. She comes in with Jake so I don't approach her at the entrance but I do follow her to her locker.

"Clare about the other night," I start but she turns to me with a death stare.

"Don't ever talk about that night again. Don't talk to me, just leave me alone Owen and go back to ignoring me like you always have," she says to me with a sharp tongue and venom laced in her voice. It hurts, hurts more than Anya turning me down.

"You want your dress back?" I question taking it from my backpack.

"No I don't just go away Owen, nothing happened the other night," she whispers tersely and slams her locker shut. She turns on her heel to walk away from me in the opposite direction but when she sees Eli at the end of the hall she freezes. He looks at us and Clare turns again and runs down the hall.

She avoids me the rest of the day, the rest of the month, and the next month, and the next. She won't so much as look at me, not that it's hard to avoid each other because we don't travel in the same circles. I keep telling myself to let it go but I can't. When she runs for student council president next year against Drew I see how it's affecting her, how he's playing dirty and I want to hold her when she looks like she might cry. It hurts like hell that she avoids me, that she won't even look at me and it hurts wondering what she might think of me. Does she think I forced her? Her ripped dress might give her that impression. It also hurts that I can't stop thinking about it and I'm determined to get her to talk to me before graduation.

Saturday is prom and I know it's my last and best opportunity. I have a tux just no date, I go stag with about half the Ice Hounds but Luke goes to dance as soon as we're in. Dallas brought a flask and he and I stand in a corner watching prom and sipping from the flask. When I see Clare come in it's like a walking vision, she has this incredible dress and she looks amazing. I have the biggest desire to run over and just kiss her. Dallas has pretty much the same look on his face when he sees Alli come in, her arm linked with Clare's.

"It's my last night of fun, full time Daddy duty after tonight for the rest of the summer," Dallas sighs looking at Alli.

"Last year the hottest girl in the school was my date. This year the one I want won't even look at me. But I'm going to make her talk to me, I'll find a way," I comment taking one last sip from the flask and handing it to Dallas.

I watch Clare but I'm not the only one Eli is doing the same, he watches her but he stays back. He seems to want to talk to her too but I want to talk to her first, knowing their history and her weakness for him if Eli talks to her first I'll never get the chance. When Clare greets the Torres brothers and their dates, Becky and Bianca, I see my way to get my chance. After Clare says hi to them she goes to her table with Jenna, Connor and Alli.

"Drew can I talk to you?" I ask approaching their table.

"Be right back," he tells Bianca kissing her before getting up. I take him to a corner away from the table where Adam can't hear us. "What's up?" Drew asks.

"I need to talk to Clare, if I ask her to dance she'll turn me down. You'll be running student council together next year she'll listen to you, convince her to dance with me."

"Why do you need to talk to Clare?"

"I just do, please just convince her to dance with me so I can talk to her," I beg.

"I'll see what I can do but I'd still like to know what you could possibly have to talk to Clare about," Drew replies before walking back to his table.

I go back to Dallas and watch as Drew goes over to Clare who's now eating. He says something to her and the two of them get up. For a moment they talk in the corner, Clare looks annoyed at first but her face softness after a minute and then she looks at me before walking over.

"One dance," she says holding out her hand and Dallas chokes on the sip of whiskey he just took.

I smile taking her hand and we go to the dance floor thankfully just as a slow song comes on. She puts her hands on my shoulders, I put my hands on her waist and we begin swaying to the music.

"Clare about that night, I didn't force you."

"I know that," she says looking away from me.

"You do?"

"I remember I was drunk; I remember kissing on the bed. I remember pieces of what happened. And I I know in the moment that I wanted it."

"If you know that then why have you been avoiding me for the last three months?"

"Because," she replies moving a little closer to me and lowering her voice, "it was my first time and I was too drunk to remember most of it. I did something stupid, I felt ashamed and…dirty."

My heart sinks when she says that and we stop dancing. Her arms fall form my shoulders and she looks at the floor.

"Clare I didn't mean to make you feel any of that," I apologize.

"I know Owen it wasn't you it's just how I felt."

"Look I know we were both drunk and you don't remember very much but that night meant something."

"No the night meant nothing Owen, we were hurting, we got drunk and we made a mistake."

"It did m…"

"Time to announce the prom royalty," Fiona says loudly into the mic and interrupting me, "your queen is Clare Edwards and your king Eli Goldsworthy."

Clare kind of stops breathing and then Eli comes over taking her hand and glaring at me. He begins dragging her to the stage and I resist the urge to punch him.

"Come on Clare we won," he says excitedly pulling her up the stage steps.

I watch them get crowned and then they begin their slow dance. He puts his arms around her waist, hers go around his neck and they dance so close there is no space between them. When they begin talking I turn away, he's talking to her, they have a history, he's won. I walk back to the corner but Dallas is gone I see him talking with Alli now. I sit at my table and get some food but it's too painful to watch Clare and Eli dance so I scarf down my cake and look at it instead. When I look back at the dance floor Clare and Eli are gone. I look all around the dance floor for her but she's vanished and Eli looks despondent and is talking with Fiona.

"Luke you see where Clare went?"

"Yeah she left, ran out mid dance with Eli. She probably went home. I saw you dancing with her I didn't know you had a thing for Clare," he kind of laughs.

"Neither did I," I reply and turn walking away from him, "until we made love," I whisper. I go over to Drew and Bianca who are dancing. "Where does Clare live?" I ask them.

"Uh-uh I did my part I got you a dance. Have you seen Clare pissed off? I'm not getting on her bad side when we're going to be running student council together next year," Drew shakes his head.

"B you picked her up before going to Jake's cabin right?"

"Yeah and I'll give you her address if you tell me when you got interested in her," Bianca replies. They're no help so I run over to Jake who's talking to Mo at their table.

"Jake where's your house?"

"Why?" He inquires looking up at me with a curious but worried look.

"Because I need to talk to Clare."

"I think my sister is better off not talking to you, aren't you going away to college next year anyway?"

"No I got accepted to U of T and I'll be here next year. I just want to talk to her I wouldn't hurt Clare," I plead with him.

"Even if I did tell you where we live I doubt she went home," Jake tells me.

I give up trying to get someone to tell her where her house is and just leave. I spend about an hour driving around trying to find Clare but I never see her. So I go home, my parents are in bed and Tris is at Tori's place he's been spending a lot of time there because her family is moving in a couple of weeks. I change out of the tux and get ready for bed but I can't sleep. Grad is tomorrow and then Monday I leave for Santa Barbara, California and to attend All-Star Sports Camp. I'll be gone all summer, I had my chance to talk to Clare and it was a disaster. I get one more chance if she goes to see Jake graduate tomorrow. And only if I can somehow get her alone. If I can't I won't see her all summer and so much can happen in a summer. Maybe a summer away will be a good thing, maybe I'll forget about her and meet some California beach babe. Still if I see Clare tomorrow I have to find a way to talk to her.

(CLARE)

"No the night meant nothing Owen, we were hurting, we got drunk and we made a mistake," I insist but I'm not being entirely truthful with him or myself. I've been afraid to talk to him since that night and I've been doing everything I can to forget that night and not look at Owen. Mostly because when I looked at him I think about that night and with a whole torrent of emotion that came with that night and after it. I'd convinced myself the night was a mistake and meant nothing just to save my sanity.

"It did m…" Owen begins but is interrupted by Fiona on stage.

"Time to announce the prom royalty; your queen is Clare Edwards and your king Eli Goldsworthy," Fiona says and I freeze. I'm sure I heard her wrong but Eli comes over taking my hand and pulling me from Owen.

"Come on Clare we won," Eli grins dragging me on stage and we get crowned. After we're crowned we go down to the dance floor for our spotlight dance.

"I can't believe so many people voted for us," I comment as Eli and I begin dancing.

"Correction some people voted for us," Eli replies with a smirk.

"You fixed the votes?"

"With some help from Fiona. I had to talk to you it's our last night I leave for New York tomorrow."

"Talk about what Eli? You leave tomorrow, we're not getting back together and there's nothing more to say."

"Yes there is, Clare. But before we talk about us what did Owen want with you?" Eli asks and his jealousy is only thinly veiled by concern.

"It doesn't matter," I shake my head.

"Clare it's our last night together tomorrow I leave for New York tonight should be special for us. I know I messed things up, I was messed up after Cam and I screwed things up," Eli says and he continues talking but I don't hear him anymore. When he talked about finding Cam all I could think of was my drunken night with Owen. I begin to feel slightly ill and in desperate need of air.

"Excuse me," I whisper pulling away from Eli and then I run. Weaving through the crowd to the stage and into the back and then through an employee door. I know Eli will follow me so I keep running until I simply can't run anymore and then I stop. I have no idea where I am now, I ran a few blocks but I don't care where I am just that I'm away from prom, Eli and Owen. I can't stop thinking about that night with Owen now. How I felt in the moment and how I felt after. I was kind of a mess for weeks after that but I hid it pretty well, or people thought I was a mess because of Eli. When my period was late I was so panicked but I took a home pregnancy test and it was negative. A few days later I had a light period but I was happy to see the blood because my period came. It didn't make it any easier to see Owen though. Since then my periods have continued to be light and irregular but at least I'm having periods.

"Clare?" Fitz's voice knocks me from my thoughts and I look over at him. He takes off his zip-up hoodie and puts it over my shoulders. This small tender act of chivalry makes me smile and I pull his hoodie around me. "I was going to ask why you aren't at prom but it looks like you were, what happened?"

"I never should have gone, I didn't have a date and I knew it would be a disaster. I don't think I've been to a single DeGrassi dance that didn't end badly somehow."

"I'm responsible for one of those," he says with a regretful tone.

"Not entirely, Eli holds some responsibility for that too. He couldn't just let it go. Anyway you weren't responsible for tonight that was all Eli and…" I pause before I say Owen's name because he's Fitz's friend and I don't really want to explain what happened with me and Owen to anyone, "and that I shouldn't have gone."

"Well maybe I can make up a little for ruining Vegas Night even if I was only partially responsible. At least I assume you don't plan to go back to prom?"

"No I don't want to go back," I shake my head.

"My car is this way," he smiles putting his hand at the small of my back. We walk to his car and he opens the door for me. He drives us to The Dot but asks me to wait in the car so I look at my phone. I ignore the texts from Eli but text Jenna back that I'm okay and will call them tomorrow. Fitz returns to the car with a small brown bag and two to-go cups in a carrier. He sets the bag on the floor in the back and hands me one of the cups. "Cream, extra sugar," he says and I smile because he remembered what I order.

He drives us to a spot that overlooks the city, gets a blanket from the trunk putting it on the hood and then helps me onto the hood. He gets the bag he picked up at The Dot and his coffee, I'm already holding mine. Fitz sits next to me and opens the bag, handing me a small to-go container and a fork. I grin even more when I see that he got me my favorite pie. We don't say anything just sit there on the hood of his car watching the city lights and the stars. He doesn't need to ask what happened with me and Eli because he still works at The Dot and I know he's heard the rumor. And he's still friends with some students like Owen and Bianca, he's even sort of friends with Drew now. Not that my relationship with Eli is the talk of the school, Eli running naked through the school was though.

We stay out there all night, just watching the stars moving across the sky. When I shiver he puts his arm around me. After watching the sunrise we get back in the car and he stops at a 24-hour diner where we eat breakfast and then he takes me home. Opening the car door for me and walking me to my front door.

"I can't thank you enough, you saved my night Fitz," I smile taking off his hoodie and handing it back to him.

"Well how about a proper date? Tomorrow night? I have the night off again. I'll understand if you don't want t…" Fitz stops talking when I stand on my tiptoes and kiss his cheek.

"I'd love to, pick me up at five," I tell him before walking into my house. I look back at Fitz through the glass and see him smile, touching his cheek where I kissed him. I lock the door and he waves before walking back to his car.

"Oh good you're home I was thinking I was going to have to call the cops. Told your mom you were at Alli's for the night."

"I'm fine Jake," I smile.

"You comin' to watch me graduate today?" He asks and I pause on the stairs.

Do I go watch him graduate and risk getting cornered by Owen and Eli or do I play coward and not support Jake, hiding at home so I don't have see them?

It's not a bad cliffhanger, besides it's short story month and the update is this Sunday! I'll pick up with the grad ceremony and then jump a bit.