Impossible

Summary: As hard as Jake is trying to forget Clare, he knows that it's an impossible task. Can the troubles Clare is going through bring them back together? TWOSHOT.

Pairings: Cake, mentions of Dave/Alli, Bianca/Clare friendship, Calli friendship, Jake/Alli friendship.

Jake Martin sighed as he watched a giggling Clare Edwards sitting on the dock over the lake, talking to Bianca Desousa. It was so hard to have her so close but not be able to touch her. He'd done the right thing though, letting her go. Their parents were dating. They were planning on getting married at the end of the summer. As far as he knew, his father was already moving their stuff into Clare and Helen's home, little by little. At least, that's what his father had told him on the phone. By the time the wedding approached, the house would be all ready for two new people. He felt a prescence beside him and looked to see Alli Bhandari standing next to him, dangling a can of Coke infront of him. He smiled at her gratefully, yet awkwardly and took it as he looked her over. Her hair was in a messy ponytail and her eyes were red rimmed from crying and she was dressed in a pair of baggy grey sweats and a long tee-shirt. "Thanks." He replied. "Have you tried talking to her about, you know?" He inquired, trying his best to sound casual.

Alli arched a delicate black eyebrow and looked at him. "Have you?" She bit out harshly, shaking her head. "No. I haven't. I honestly don't know what to say to her. She's my best friend and I hurt her. And the worst part is, I know how much you two both care about eachother and yet I did it anyway, because I was upset that Dave doesn't want to talk to me. I guess that I really am a screw up." She mumbled the last part, under her breath, as if she didn't want for him to hear.

He laughed bitterly at that and bit his lip, harshly. "If you're a screwup, then I guess that I'm one, too. I mean, I was there. I just...I hope that I didn't screw things up with Clare. I know that I can't be with her, but...but, I don't want her to hate me. I want to be able to at least be her friend." He ran a hand through his light brown hair and took a sip of his Coke, trying to calm his nerves. "I was trying to forget her, but it's just not possible. Every time that I close my eyes, I see her. I see her looking all sad and I just want to reach out and wrap my arms around her and never let her go."

The girl beside him giggled. "God, you are such a sap for her!" She exclaimed, grinning wildly and nudging him with her shoulder.

Jake lightly smiled at her words and stared down at his bare feet as memories of him and Clare ran through his mind. "I can't help it. She made me believe that relationships could work and that I could be happy in one. Something that I hadn't really believed since my mom and dad broke up. I mean, I was "with" girls before, but...I never dated them. It was just basically meaningless hookups. Not real relationships."

"Clare cared-cares alot about you, too. When you two were together, you really made her smile. After what happened with KC, her parents, and Eli, and what she found out about her father-it was nice to see that. I mean, I'm not saying that Eli didn't love her. But...alot of the time he went about it the wrong way. His actions scared her. Her breaking up with him really was the best thing for the both of them. And then, when you came into the picture, I got to see her smile again. It was like a weight had been lifted off of her shoulders." Alli rambled on, watching as the girl in question dived into the lake with Bianca.

Jake didn't say anything. He couldn't take his eyes off of Clare who was so busy splashing and having fun in the water with Bianca, that she didn't notice his intense staring.

Noticing where his attention was, Alli smiled sadly and reached out to squeeze his arm gently. "I hope that you two talk and work things out. It's depressing seeing you this way."

"Even if we do make up, we can't be together. Our parents are getting married." He replied in a depressed tone.

The girl beside him arched an eyebrow. "Well, do you think of her as a sister?" She inquired, knowing the answer, well.

Jake shook his head. "Not in the least."

Alli shrugged and began to walk backwards. "Well then, what's to stop you? You aren't going to be blood related and the two of you deserve to be happy." She told him casually. "Anyway, it's getting cold so I am going to head back about what I said."

Before Alli was able to step into the cabin, Jake called out. "Hey, Alli?"

She turned on her heel to look at him, puzzled.

"I hope things work out for you and Dave." He said, giving her a warm, friendly smile.

Once Alli had left his line of sight, he slipped on his leather flip flops and began to walk down the hill torwards the lake, being careful of the sharp rocks. He walked over to the edge where Clare was swimming torwards and bit his lip, wondering how he was going to go about this.

The carefree, childlike grin disappeared from Clare's lips as soon as she saw him. Climbing up onto the dock, she grabbed her towel and wrapped it around her shoulders, covering her bikini clad body. She had no idea what to say to him. They hadn't really spoken since their breakup at prom night, she'd ignored his texts about being up at the cabin, and she had been too hurt, betrayed, and angry to even speak to him after catching him and Alli kissing. "Jake..." She mumbled softly, averting her eyes and sounding out of breath as her hands fidgeted with her towel.

"I need to talk to you, Clare." Jake said, pleadingly. He stuffed his hands into the pockets of his blue jean shorts to keep from touching her, not knowing how she'd react to that.

Clare finally looked up at him with startled bright blue eyes.

He bit his bottom lip nervously and rocked on his heels. "Listen, I should explain what you saw earlier with me and Alli..."

She cut him off quickly, her eyes cold. "You don't need to explain anything, Jake. I mean, it's like you said. We can't be together. You're free to "hookup" with whoever you want."

"But it was a mistake, breaking up with you!" Jake said in a rush. "I don't want Alli! We were both upset. That's the only reason why we kissed. We wished that we could take it back, as soon as we did it. Alli wants Dave and I still love you, Clare. You've gotta believe me."

Clare rolled her eyes, too. "I was upset too, but you don't see me making out with Bianca. I really don't need this Jake." She said, simply. Her voice breaking. "I'm trying to get over you."

Just then, Bianca walked up, noticing Clare's tearstained face. Grabbing the other girl's hand and squeezing reassuringly, she glared up at Jake. Dark eyes intense and one hand on her hip. "What the hell did you do?"

He held his hands up in defense. "I was just trying to explain-"

"Yeah, well obviously she doesn't want to hear your explanation!" The curly haired brunette snarled before pulling Clare along behind her.

Three months. It had been three months since they talked up at the cabin, two since their parents got married and Jake and Glen moved in. One month since Clare began to act differently.

It started after her father had called to cancel on her, yet again. She'd hung up the phone-hard and had brushed past Jake on the stairs, on the way up to her room, nearly knocking him over. She'd been upset before, but he'd still got to see her smile and laugh and have fun with Bianca, Adam, and Eli. Then, when she got that call, it was as if nothing mattered to her anymore. She began to stay out late, going to clubs and dressing in clothes that she'd have never been caught dead in, before. Adam, Eli, and Alli had all told him about her falling asleep in class and some of the angry outbursts she had. Bianca had even worried enough to call and tell him that Imogen had seen cuts marring Clare's wrists when the sleeve of her long jacket lifted up.

It was clear that Clare needed help. And Jake intended to help her. Even if she ended up hating him more than she already did.

To be continued: Clare has a complete breakdown when fighting with Jake. Jake talks to Clare.