AN: As you can see, I still have writers block with The Clare Edwards Story. So, I'm going to leave you with a one shot! I hope you all like it. I've been working on this since 1 this afternoon and I now just finished. By the way, if you're an EClare fan... Eli's Dorm Life Part 4 is up on Youtube. I advise you all to watch it, because when I did I nearly balled my eyes out. I can't help it, I still LOVE EClare although I ship Clew.
Couple of things you should know:
1) Bianca and Drew are broken up.
2) Takes place a couple of weeks after Cam's death
One Shot: Let Me be With You
Pairing: Clare and Drew/ Maya and Owen
Rating: T
Disclaimer: Stephen Stohn owns Degrassi.
(Drew)
I watch intently as Clare blows out a huff of annoyance. She's arguing with Eli, again. She takes a moment to chew on her bottom lip and let a few drops of tears slip down her face. She angrily wipes the tears away and she watches Eli storm off. Her eyes fix upon my gaze and her cheeks redden with embarrassment. She waves at me and I walk over towards her.
"Are you okay?" I ask her.
"Yes," she says in an inaudible voice.
"You're not okay. What's wrong?"
"It's nothing, Drew. I—I have to go."
Clare brushes past me and runs down the hall. I watch as she goes into the girl's bathroom. Something is definitely wrong with her, but of course she won't tell me. The only time Clare and I speak is when she's over to see Adam.
That's it! Maybe Adam knows what's wrong with her. I walk to Adam's locker to see him talking to Imogen and Fiona. I tap him on the shoulder and he turns around, giving me a small smile.
"Wassup, Drew?"
"Hey girls, mind if I borrow my brother for a second?"
"Go right ahead," Imogen says with a smile, "Fiones and I will catch you later, Adam."
Once Fiona and Imogen walk away, I exhale a deep breath.
"What's wrong?"
"It's Clare—"
"What about Clare?" he asks in a panic tone. "Is she okay?"
"She and Eli were arguing, again; she's crying a lot."
"Oh yeah, yesterday she caught Eli cheating with some girl that gave him drugs. I guess she broke up with him."
Wow! I can't believe my ears. Eli cheated on Clare? Those two were one of the best couples in school—well, now they are. Once Eli got back on the right track and left the Emo life behind, the two were strong. What made Eli want to take drugs and cheat on Clare?
Then, it dawned on me! Eli was pretty distraught after Cam's death, because he was the one who found him. Adam has been telling me how that took a wrong turn on Eli's life. It deeply affected him. Drew felt great sympathy for him, since he was the one who found Cam, but taking drugs weren't going to solve his problems!
"I have to find Clare," I say, running away from Adam. I ignore him as he calls after me. I stand outside of the girl's bathroom door, knocking on it. I call out Clare's name, but she doesn't answer. Sighing, I look around the halls and see everyone is too busy talking to notice me. I slip inside of the girl's bathroom to see Clare sitting on the floor, hugging her knees. She's crying hysterically and her shoulders shook furiously as she does so.
I run over to Clare and sit down next to her. She flinches and looks up at me in shock. She wipes away her tears and pushes back her curls out of her face.
"What are you doing here?" she sort of blubbers out.
"Adam told me what happened, so I came to find you."
"You shouldn't be in here, Drew. What if someone finds you in here?"
"I don't give a damn about that, Clare. I need to know if you're okay."
"Why do you care? You and I hardly talk."
"Just because we hardly talk doesn't mean I don't care about you, Clare."
I use my thumb to wipe away her tears. Clare smiles at me and I can't help, but smile back. It feels kind of good to be the reason behind that beautiful smile of hers. My thumb move under Clare's chin and I bring her face closer to mines. We're just inches apart. Clare's breathing picks up a bit and she's staring at me lips, as if she's asking for me to kiss her. I slowly lean in until my lips are on hers. The kiss is slow and needy—it's like we're desperate for each other.
Clare places one of her hands on my cheek as I bring my hands to her waist. I bring her a bit closer to me. Our lips move slowly in sync. I feel my heart start to beat excitedly against my chest. I can't believe this is happening! Just a few minutes ago, I was trying to make Clare feel better, but now we're kissing! It feels very good.
The door to the girl's bathroom opens. Clare and I jump apart. She scurries to her feet and I stand up, too. She bolts out of the bathroom, mumbling an apology to me. I look at the girl who's staring awkwardly at me. I give her an awkward smile as I make my way out of the bathroom. I bump into someone and I feel my heart drop, thinking it's a teacher or even Simpson.
"Whoa, Torres, what were you doing in the girl's bathroom?"
I look up to see its Owen. I breathe out a sigh of relief. I look around and notice the hallways are empty. Clare and I were so wrapped into the kiss that we didn't notice that we missed the first bell!
"I—um, I was comforting Clare," I reply as I clear my throat.
"Oh yeah?" Owen asks, wriggling his eyebrows.
"Dude, not like that. She was crying about Eli and I found out why from Adam. I went to see what was wrong with her and we just so happened to kiss," I say in one breath.
"You and Clare?! Wow," he chuckles.
"Please, don't mention this to anyone .Well, not until I figure out why feelings for her."
"Okay, got it. Hey, are you busy later?"
"No, why?"
"Tris wants me to come with him to the Whisper Hug practice. I don't want to be there alone, so I need a friend to come with me."
"Yeah, sure," I reply as we walk to our class.
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(Clare)
I was already late for first hour, so I decided to skip the rest of it. I ran and decided to go sit up on the roof where the garden is. Thankfully, no one is up here. A sigh comes from my lips as I think about what just happened. Less than an hour ago, I broke up with Eli. He's gone insane! Ever since Cam's death, he's showed that side of them that I've always hated. The side that makes me want to shield myself from him.
Yesterday, I caught him cheating on me with some girl name Talia. I watched as she gave him a bag with pills in it. He took a few of the pills and they began kissing! I was so enraged that I didn't bother to let him know I knew right there. I was going to wait until I caught him alone to confront him.
It wasn't until lunch yesterday that I found Eli and he was still high. He was messing around with Talia, again. I pulled him away from her in screaming protests. I pulled him out on to the roof.
"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Eli yells, causing me to flinch.
"Why are you taking drugs and cheating on me with her?" I ask, feeling my voice break.
Eli's eyes widen and I see a vein from the side of his neck throbbing. He grabs on to one of my arms and pulls me closer to him. His lips come close to my ear and he whispers harshly, "What I do is none of your damn business! All you do is suffocate me, Clare! Just leave me the hell alone!" He pushed me out of the way and I stumbled and fell on my butt. Eli has never gotten violent with me, so to see this side of him completely shocked me.
Coming back on this roof today made me think of that. I felt a tear slide down my face and I didn't bother to wipe it away. I sighed sadly, thinking about what else happened today.
I kissed Drew Torres! I never thought that would happen in a million years! Would it be wrong if I said I liked the kiss? It was passionate and comforting. It made all of my troubles disappear for a few minutes. It felt so right!
I grab my phone out of my pocket to see that I've received several messages. They're all from Adam. He asked me where I was and if I was okay. I sent Adam a text, letting him know I was on the roof and that I was fine. I look at the time on my phone and see that it's almost time for second period.
I decide to go back downstairs. I go to my locker and put in the combination. I grab my books just as the bell rings. When I close my locker, I see Drew coming down the halls with Owen. I get ready to turn around and rung, but he runs to stop me.
"Clare, don't run from me, please," he pleads.
I sigh as I look into his pleading, blue eyes.
"What is it, Drew?" I ask.
"That kiss—"
"Was a mistake," I say firmly as I try to walk away, but he grips my arm a bit tight. It doesn't hurt, but it does make me wince.
"Clare, don't lie and say that kiss was a mistake, because we both know it wasn't! I felt something between us; please tell me you did, too."
I look Drew in the eyes. Of course that kiss meant something to me, too. But, I couldn't go through this, again. I shook my head and said, "I didn't feel anything. It was a mistake." Drew lets go of my arm and I run down the hall. I feel tears threaten to fall, but I don't let them come out. I can't set myself up for another heart break.
I get ready to run into second period until I see Adam waving me over. I go over to him and I run into his arms. I cry into his shoulder. There are so many emotions flowing through me.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Adam asks me.
"We kissed and I told him I didn't feel anything special when I do. Oh Adam, that kiss just spiraled everything out of control! I still love Eli! I mean, how could I not!? But what about Drew? I l—"
"Clare calm down. What does Drew have to do with this?"
"I kissed Drew, Adam! Well, he kissed me and I kissed him back. I told him I didn't feel anything for him, but I do! I really do and it scares me."
"Well first thing's first, Clare. You need to tell him how you feel," Adam tells me.
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(Owen)
"She told me she doesn't feel the same. I've never been so crushed," Drew tells me as we walk into the room where the band is rehearsing. We say hi to Adam and take our seats.
Tristan walks into the room with Maya. She looks at me and looks at Tris with an annoyed look on her face.
"What's he doing here?" she asks angrily.
"Well, it's nice to see you, too Chicken Cutlet," I say smirking.
Maya mumbles something incoherent and storms out of the room. Tristan shoots me an evil glare. Drew arches his eyebrow, as if he's saying to go talk to her. I sigh and get out of my seat. I go out into the hallway and go to look for Maya. When I spot her, I see that she's in the memorial garden. She's looking on her phone and a tear slips down her face.
I sigh sadly. I didn't mean to make her cry. Guilt shoots through my body as I make my way over towards her. I go into the memorial garden and take a seat next to Maya. She looks up at me and glowers. She shoves her phone in her pocket and gets ready to stand up until I grab her arm to keep her seated.
"Let me go!" she chokes out.
"No, not until I apologize," I say.
"I don't need your phony apology! Just leave me alone."
"No, Maya. Look, I apologize for calling you Chicken Cutlet. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings and make you cry," I tell her with sincerity.
"You think that's why I'm crying?" she chuckles dryly. "I could care less about you calling me that name. It hardly bothers me."
"Then why are you crying?" I ask, suddenly becoming confused.
"It doesn't matter."
"Tell me, please," I plead.
She sighs and mumbles an okay before saying, "I miss him."
"You miss who?"
Then it dawns on me. She misses Cam. It's been a tragic few weeks since his death. Of course it affected everyone on the Ice Hounds and it affected a lot of people in school. I hear Eli's gone wild and started taking drugs because of his death. It's the reason Clare broke up with him.
Not once did I think to realize how this has affected Maya. After all, she was his girlfriend. I saw how good their relationship was when they were in school. It was the only time I really saw Cam smile.
"Oh, Maya, I'm sor—"
"Don't apologize; it wasn't your fault."
"But it was my fault," I say. "I could have prevented him from doing that. All he needed was someone else to let him know that they cared."
"I cared!" Maya screams, suddenly becoming angry. "I was there for him! I never knew he was sick, Owen. I—I could have helped him if he would've let me."
"It's okay, Maya. Shh," I coo as I pull her into a hug. Maya fights with me at first, but she finally gives in after a couple of minutes. She wraps her arms around me and cries hysterically into my chest. I feel my shirt start to soak with her tears. She's blubbering words in my chest, but I tell her to calm down.
"I was coming to meet him so he could give me Hoot back, but when I got here he was gone! I—I was too late!"
Tristan finds us, but goes unnoticed by Maya. I jerk my head, telling him to go away. He nods at me slowly and mouths, "Is it about Cam?" I nod my head and I hear him sigh. He walks away and goes back inside the classroom.
Maya pulls away from me and I see her eyes are red from the tears. She has a bit of drool coming from her mouth, too. I chuckle as I use the sleeve of my shirt to wipe the drool from her mouth.
"Ugh! I drooled on you. This is so embarrassing," she whines.
"It's fine, Maya. You're okay," I tell her as I wipe away her tears.
"Why are you being so nice to me? You just teased me."
"I know and I'm really sorry about that. You don't deserve that. I was being stupid and immature, but I promise that won't happen again."
"That doesn't explain why you're being nice to me."
Why am I being so nice to Maya? Maybe it's because I feel pity for her. Her boyfriend just committed suicide and she had no clue why. None of us really knew what was wrong with him. Everyone was so wrapped around the fact that Cam was gone that none of us stopped to realize that Maya was deeply affected by this. She didn't seem like it until today. She's been showing her emotions differently from others. She hardly cried, but today, she just broke.
"Because I care about you," I hear myself say.
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(Maya)
Did Owen Milligan just say he cared about me? The only time Owen spoke to me was when he was teasing me. There was no way that he could care about me! He feels sorry for me, because Cam died—mostly everyone does. People who I didn't think knew of my existence talked to me to tell me how sorry they felt for me. I didn't need anyone's sympathy! I need Cam to come back!
Owen grabs me and pulls me in for a kiss. My head is spinning, but I feel myself kiss him back. This kiss feels right and yet, wrong. I shouldn't be enjoying this, but I am. I feel safe and secure. I feel as if all of my burdens are being washed away. For a second, I even push Cam to the back of my mind.
Oh no! Cam!
I push Owen away from me. He looks at me with a confused look.
"I don't need your sympathy, Owen!" I yell. "Don't pretend that you care about me, just because Cam is dead. No one, not even you, has talked to me before. Now that Cam is dead all of you want to try to and help me! All of you can go to hell!" I yell. I run away from Owen and run out of the school. I try to decide on where I want to go. I can't go home, because I don't want to face my parents or Katie, yet.
I have no idea where to go, so I just run around, trying to clear my mind. Once I see Clare wondering around, I stop running and go over towards her. When she notices me, she waves at me. I make my way over to her and stop to catch my breath once I'm next to her.
"Why were you running?" she asks.
"I was trying to get away from Owen. He kissed me and now I'm confused about my feelings for him. I love Cam, but that kiss with Owen felt so right."
"Join the club," Clare says and I give her a puzzled look. "I broke up with Eli today, because he's been taking drugs and cheating on me with his supplier. He says I've been suffocating him since, um, Cam's death. Anyway, Drew found me in the bathroom crying. He comforted me and we, uh, we kissed. I'm so confused about my feelings, because I just broke up with Eli, but Drew fills that void that was missing when I was with Eli."
"Well, what should we do?" I ask Clare.
"I don't know," she admits sadly. "I want to give Drew a chance, but I'm afraid that I'll just be setting myself up for another heartbreak."
"But what if you're not."
Clare and I look up to see Owen and Drew are standing right behind us.
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(Drew)
"Have you heard from Clare?" I ask Adam as I enter his room.
"Nope; once school was out she said she was going for a walk, but that was about two hours ago. I called and text her, but she hasn't answered. I think her phone is off."
"I need to find her."
"Drew, I don't think she wants to be bothered. She's trying to figure out her feelings for you."
"What?"
"Look, she likes you. That kiss definitely sparked something in her, but she's afraid to admit it to you. After what happened with Eli, I'm not sure if she's going to admit it so soon."
"I need to find her," I repeat as I walk away from Adam. I go down the steps and out of the door. I reach into my pocket and pull out my phone. I dial Owen's number and he picks up on the third ring.
"Hey, now isn't a good time," he says hurriedly.
"What's—"
"How the hell could you kiss Maya!?" I hear Tristan shriek on the other line.
What? Owen kissed Maya! There's a shocker there! This day just keep getting more and more surprising. I chuckle as Tristan calls Owen stupid, careless, and many other degrading names.
"Go find her!" Tristan yells.
"Drew, I have to go find Maya. I—"
"Come pick me up, please. I need to find Clare. We can kill two birds with one stone and find them together."
"Okay. Great; see you in ten."
I hang up the phone and sit on the steps. As I wait for Owen to come, I think about all of the things I'm going to say to Clare when I see her. When Owen pulls up in front of my house, I feel my heart drop. I'm not prepared to face Clare—that's if we manage to find her.
I get off of the porch and walk on the passenger side of the car. I get inside and smirk at Owen.
"So, Maya huh?" I question.
"Yep," he says popping the "p". "I don't know what came over me, but I kind of liked it. She thinks I kissed her out of sympathy."
"So, why did you kiss her?"
"Same reason you kissed Clare," he tells me.
I smile and nod my head. We drive around for a few hours. We both realize that maybe the girls are at home. While I'm calling Adam to ask for Clare's address, Owen is calling Tristan to ask for Maya's. After we get off of the phone, we decide to head to Clare's house until I notice them at a park.
"I see them! Stop the car!" I yell, causing Owen to jerk the car to a stop.
We get out of the car and practically race over towards them. When we get near them, we inch our way silently towards the girls.
"Well, what should we do?" Maya asks Clare.
"I don't know. I want to give Drew a chance, but I'm afraid that I'll just be setting myself up for another heartbreak."
"But what if you're not," I hear myself saying.
Maya and Clare turn around to look at us. Owen and I wave sheepishly at the girls. Maya is sort of glowering at Owen, but Clare is smiling at me. She walks over towards me and I feel my heart drop, once again. This girl has my emotions running wild!
"Can we talk, Drew?" she asks me.
I nod my head. She takes her hand in mine and as we walk away from Owen and Maya, I turn around and mouth "good luck" to Owen. He mouths the same to me. Hopefully this luck works.
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(Clare)
"Drew, you're a great guy and I felt something with that kiss, but—"
"Clare, if you don't want to be with me at this exact moment, I can wait. We can take things slow, but know that I do want something to eventually happen between us. I know you're probably won't be over Eli for a while and—"
I cut Drew off by crashing my lips on his. This kiss is even more electrifying than the last one. I feel my heart explode like fireworks! I haven't felt like this since Eli and I first got together.
I think about what Adam told me earlier. He said Drew is a very good guy and he's changed. I guess Adam is right, Drew did change and he seems like a good guy. Maybe I can let my guard down and try being with him. I have to remind myself that he's no Eli. He won't hurt me the same way Eli did.
I pull apart from Drew and look into his eyes. I feel my lips tug into a smile as I say, "I want to give us a try, Drew. I trust you."
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(Owen)
Once Clare and Drew are out of sight, I look to see Maya is scowling at me. Her arms are folded across her chest and I hate to admit, she looks so adorable.
"Don't think we'll work things out! You can't kiss me and think—"
I crush my lips on Maya's. She instantly melts into the kiss. My arms wrap around her waist as her hands cups my face. Once again, she tears her lips from the kiss by pushing me away from her. She uses the back of her hand to wipe away the kiss.
"No, Owen! Don't kiss me and try to mix up my feelings! You've talked about me along with the Ice Hounds! You all made me feel worthless and ugly! Cam never made me feel that way! Now that he's gone, everyone wants to show me sympathy! I don't need you fuckin' sympathy! I—"
"Maya, I'm not trying to mix up your feelings! I'm not trying to show you sympathy! I'm trying to let you know that I care about you and—and—"
"And what? You're going to tell me you like me? You're going to say after that simple kiss you started to develop feelings for me?"
When Maya puts it that way, it sounds kind of silly, but it's the truth. After the kiss that she calls simple, but I think it's much more, I started to feel something for her. I mean, I've always noticed Maya. I always thought she was adorable, but I just wanted to be accepted in the team. I never knew that calling her those names affected her so much.
"Yes," I finally admit.
"Well," she says taken back by my answer, "I—I don't know how I feel about you, Owen. You teased me along with the rest of the Ice Hounds and I'm not sure if I'm ready to let go of Cam."
"You don't have to let go of Cam," I tell her, "because he'll always be right here." I say, pointing to her heart.
"I know, but what will the school think when they see us together?"
"Fuck them," I tell her. "Their opinions don't matter and if they have something to say, they can take it up with me."
"Okay," she says softly.
"Okay?" I question.
"Okay as in I'm ready to give us a try."
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(Maya)
Owen and I walk in the school holding hands. I look around to see people point and whisper about us. Owen tightens his grip on my hand and I wince a little He apologizes and loosens his grip. We walk to Drew's locker where he's kissing Clare.
"Hey love-birds!" I yell, causing the two to pull apart.
Drew is playfully scowling while Clare is blushing.
"So, we're double-dating Sunday, right?" Drew asks.
"Yep," Owen says, "because Saturday is my date with my girl."
I blush at him saying "my girl". I never imagined dating Owen. It hasn't been completely 24 hours yet, but I already like this relationship. Last night, we stayed on the phone until one a.m. We got to know each other a little better.
"And I have a date with my girl on Saturday," Drew tells us with a grin on his face.
"I can't wait until this weekend," Clare gushes.
"Yeah, me either," I add.
Adam and Tristan make their way to our locker.
"This is going to take some getting used to," Adam says.
"Yes," Tristan agrees. "You couples are going to be the talk of the school."
"Well, let them talk," I say as Owen wraps his arms around my shoulder.