Hi~

So I know I have other stories I should work on, but I just regained inspiration for this fic. No, I have not abandoned any of my stories. I have put two on hiatus, and you can check and see what those are on my profile. I hope you will enjoy this and I actually have the second chapter almost finished! :D So yay, no month between updates. I know how...impatient... some of you anons can be -_- Anyway I don't think you'll mind too much considering there's a lemon coming up. I haven't written one in a while.

This might very well be the most absurd idea I have ever come up with. But, I don't care. Because, well, I've been working on it for weeks. I HATE WRITER'S BLOCK YOU GUISE D:..anyway.

I'm sorry if this first chapter seems confusing (there will be three) but it will make sense in time, and I've left out several key things for a reason. If you want a hint of what's going to happen, listen to the song The Church and The Dime by The Dear Hunter...or The Bitter Suite I and II. You know ~ spoilers.

Disclaimer: I do not own Degrassi, or any of the songs that inspired this three-shot.

"Fuck," I breathed, urging the windshield wipers to move faster. I could barely see through the pouring rain, and I worried I might very well veer off the road. I couldn't see ten feet ahead of me, and I don't think anyone else on the road could, either. Sounds of screeching brakes and honks filled my ears, further adding to the anxiety I felt coursing through my veins. After about twenty minutes of careful driving, I was fed-up with this bullshit. I knew I wouldn't make it home in this weather. Hell, I wouldn't make it another three miles. So I had no choice—I was going to have to stay somewhere. Although, finding a place wouldn't exactly be easy, and this was proved to me as I continued into town , rain seeming to come down even harder. I could see blurs of light and fuzzy out-lines of buildings now and then, but nothing stood out that signified that it was a hotel or Inn, so I kept driving.

Soon, the lights stopped, and there were no more fuzzy outlines. I had no idea where I was, though I could sense I was no longer in town. By this point, I was tired, hungry, and about to give up and just park Morty on the side of the road until it all stopped. I was no longer in the mood to drive; my nerves were on end, my frustration boiling over the edge. I felt tears welling up, and tried to urge them away, but between this and what had happened just a few hours ago, I didn't have the strength to stop them. Thoughts swirled around my head; thoughts of Julia, thoughts of Imogen. The similarities between them were unbelievable, and soon I couldn't figure out who was who in my head. Was it Julia, or Imogen that I saw lying there, broken and bloody, dead? Was it my current girl-friend, or my old one that I truly longed for?

This had been Imogen's question to me. One that I couldn't answer, because I didn't know. I didn't know if Imogen's huge, doe-like eyes were something that I admired on her, or something that was familiar to me. I didn't know if her long black hair was strictly all her own, or if I remembered it from somewhere else. I didn't know if I truly wanted to help her, fix her brokenness, or if I felt indebted to because I was never able to save Julia. I didn't know, and for Imogen, that was probably the hardest thing for her to hear. I didn't blame her at all when she slapped me, or when she broke down and curled into a ball on the carpeted floor. I didn't blame her for the hateful words she said to me, or how she screamed that our whole relationship had been a lie, because that was probably true. I didn't blame her when she said that she hated me, because truthfully, I hated myself too. And I definitely didn't blame her when she told me to get out, and never come back.

I had only myself to blame.

I waited for the tears to stop before pulling over, resting my elbows on the steering wheel, my head buried in my arms. What had I become? What had I been all along? For years, I pretended I was over Julia. When Imogen came along, I thought I had found salvation. But now, I was starting to think that it was simply a sick way for my mind to keep Julia all along. If that was true, not only had the relationship been a lie, but the past five years of my life had been, too.

And that was simply too much for me to handle at the moment.

If it wasn't for the tap on my window, for the sound that made me jump, I probably would have had a panic attack from the situation I was in. I hadn't had one in two years, but I had started to feel the familiar tightness in my chest, the dizziness and cloudy vision. I knew it wouldn't turn out well.

All I could say was thank God that a girl with an umbrella was standing there.

I gulped, rolling down the window.

Two bright blue eyes met my own, and I felt myself stiffen at their intensity. Strong wind whipped her auburn curls around her face, hiding some of it from me. But her eyes shone through her hair like the sun through heavily-leafed tree branches. I couldn't look away. I couldn't talk, couldn't think. All I could see were her eyes. They drew me in as she continued to stare back into my own, and I felt myself struggling to break free of her gaze.

She blinked at me once, and it was enough to startle me out of my trance; bring me back to reality, where I was stuck in the middle of nowhere, and there was a pretty but strange girl standing at my car in pouring rain.

"Yes?" I managed to choke out. I was surprised at how hoarse and unsteady my voice was, and hoped the strange girl didn't notice.

"You stuck too?" She asked me, her bell of a voice breaking through the rain. It was so light, so soft. It made me feel warm. I didn't answer her, but she didn't seem to mind. "My car broke down a few miles back. Of course it would choose tonight of all night to do this to me." Swiping her hair out of her face, I could finally see her mouth, which was turned down into a soft frown.

"Um," I said, trying to gather my thoughts. "I'm not stuck, I just had to pull over. Can't see through this rain."

She smiled slightly. "Yeah, it's really coming down, isn't it? I've never seen rain like this. Where 'ya headed?"

"Toronto," I answered quietly, and her eyebrows arched.

"You must be pretty lost, then," She chuckled, and I could feel myself smile. "You're heading the completely opposite direction." My jaw dropped slightly at this, and I saw her shiver.

"Oh. Wow," I responded, running a hand through my hair. Then, like an idiot, I finally realized why she was probably standing there. "Damn. Hey, do need a ride?"

She smiled wider then, almost sheepishly. "I didn't want to sound rude," she replied. "But, yeah, that would be really nice. Um, it's just a few miles from here. An Inn."

Perfect.

"Er…get in," I said awkwardly, motioning to the passenger side. She muttered a thanks before heading around the front of Morty, and as I rolled the window up I held my breath and tried to compose myself. This girl made me feel all sorts of uncomfortable, like she could see right through me. Like she was luring me in.

Stop being irrational, I told myself. She simply needed a ride. Why I always had to turn everything into such a serious, over-exaggerated situation was beyond me. This wasn't a horror novel. This was bad fucking luck.

At least we were going to an Inn, where hopefully there was a room available. Though the rain had let up significantly, I still wasn't sure I'd be able to make it home tonight. Not when I didn't have a clue as to where the fuck I was.

The girl opened the door and got in, closing her umbrella before shutting the heavy door. My eyes widened as I took in what she was wearing. A short, black leather skirt that rode up when she sat, exposing most of her full, creamy white thighs. I tried to not to notice how long her pale legs were, leading down to stiletto-clad feet. I tried not to look at her off-the-shoulder white top, exposing a heavy amount of cleavage. I tried not to look at her face, which held her entrancing blue orbs, the ones that held my gaze, the ones that flashed dangerously as I met them when I failed at each of these tasks. Her lips smiled warmly, normally, but I could see in her eyes that I had gotten myself into something. Whether it was something to fear was still unknown to me, and I tried not to think about it as I started the car.

"Where to?" I asked her.

"It's called The Dime," she responded, her voice soft and silky.

"Never heard of it."

"Not many people have," she said distantly. "It's not a chain hotel or Inn…it's a small business."

"Family business?"

"Not in the slightest," she said, her smile turning into something else entirely, something strange. "Well, not really. I guess you could call it that if you wanted to, but it's kind of sick." Her response confused me, but I didn't continue on the subject. "Anyway, just continue up this road for a couple of miles, there should be a small side-road coming up."

I nodded and glanced at her exposed legs again, and scolded myself as soon as I did. This was not the time to be drooling over a girl, especially such a strange one.

"Do you know if they have any rooms available?" I asked her. "Since I'm apparently lost beyond belief, and tired as hell, I don't know if it's such a good idea to try to drive home right now." She smirked at me.

"I'm not sure, I'll have to speak with my boss."

"Oh, you work there?"

"Sort of," she said, her voice growing distant again.

"You're awfully mysterious," I commented, smirking at her.

"Says the boy who drives a hearse."

"Yeah, speaking of, were you not the least bit intimidated by old Morty here? I mean, not many young girls would just come up to a hearse parked in the middle of a downpour and ask for a ride."

"I'm not really scared of many things. I've seen my share of threats in life. You so obviously aren't one of them."

"How do you know?" I asked, slightly offended. I knew I wasn't exactly scary, but damn.

"I can read you like a book. It's so easy to see into you. I can't like, read your mind, but I can sense that you're more broken than anything."

I looked at her passive face, my eyebrows pulling together. "You don't—"

"Turn here."

I slammed Morty's breaks and he came to a stop with a protestant squeal, before backing up a few feet and turning down the narrow side-road, tree branches looming over us. "That light up there is The Dime Inn, just continue down this road."

I nodded and we drove in silence, a disturbing coolness settling over the car.

"What's your name?" She asked finally, and I felt myself sigh in relief as she spoke.

"Eli. Yours?"

"I'm Clare."

"Clare."

"Yep."

And then we were silent again.

Within a few minutes, we had arrived. The Dime was…shabby, to say the least. It looked old and rusted, and the 'm' in Dime had burned out on the sign. Even so, it had a certain vibe about it.

Almost electric, as if what was waiting inside went far beyond what met the eye.

Thoughts? I kind of like this but again I kind of don't...I felt that I completely butchered their characters. I'm not used to writing AU. Just so we're clear: Eli and Clare are both in their early twenties, so no Degrassi here.

And no, Clare is not going to murder Eli. No deaths in this fic :3