A New Beginning
Summary: The Summer drama was hard. And terrible things came from it. But good things did as well. Possible TWOSHOT
A/N: Based off of episode summaries/spoilers/speculation on the Clare/Summer storyline. Italics is flashbacks.
"Even if you can't count on them,you can always count on me, Clare." Summer Rivers whispered into Clare's small ear, hot breath fanning out against it. A devllish smirk curved her lips as she took in the girl who sat beside her with her knees pulled up. Clare Edwards was an interesting sort of girl. There was no denying that. In a way, she reminded Summer of her little sister, Autumn. She hadn't seen the girl in years. Not since she was seventeen and left home. Autumn had been thirteen, almost fourteen, at the time.
"I just can't believe that my dad wouldn't let me live with him." Clare whispered, tears dripping down her chin, burying her face into her knees. Her shoulder length, auburn curls fell around her face, like a silky curtain. She hadn't expected for her father to not want her. She knew that her parents were divorced and she knew the reasons behind the divorce. She guessed that she should've figured. After all, he'd cheated on her mother. He didn't seem to think of the consequences behind his actions. He also hadn't even tried to contact Clare in months. Maybe he was happy to finally be free of all his responsibilities. That thought hurt like hell.
"Well, you don't need him." Summer told her, wrapping her arm around the teen's shoulders. "You have me. Now come on! We've got to get you ready to go to the club, tonight. My boyfriend, Ross and his friend Freddie should be here to pick us up, soon!" She jumped to her feet, wrapping her fingers around Clare's slender wrist and pulling her up.
Clare let out a squeal of laughter as the two rushed from the room, into Summer's bedroom. She couldn't help but think that she was going to like it here, with her new friend. The woman reminded her of Darcy, whom she missed terribly.
Clare sat up in the bed, staring down at her wrists and fiddling with her hospital I.D. bracelet nervously. The sterile hospital room made her uncomfortable. She wished that Adam and Alli would hurry back, from The Dot. They'd left about a half an hour ago, to get her some food.
"Clare, honey?" A soft voice whispered from the doorway.
The teen looked over, seeing her mother standing there, looking rather worn out. "Mom, how's Jake?"
Helen smiled weakly at her daughter as she shut the door to the small room, quietly. "He's fine. He just has a broken leg and a mild concussion. But he's up and he's talking with Drew and Owen, and eating." Her dark brown eyes turned serious, as she took in how positively frail her little girl looked. "Why did you trust that woman so much, Clare? Why didn't you listen to Jake, when he told you that it wasn't a good idea?"
Clare shook her head, feeling tears sting her eyes, as she laid back down. Turning her head to the side, she murmured, "Summer made me feel wanted. She wanted me around. And with you always busy with Glen, Darcy in Kenya, and dad wanting nothing to do with me, I needed that."
The woman's face dropped a little bit, at her little girl's words. "I haven't been a very good mother lately, have I?" She knew even without Clare saying anything, that it was true. It made her feel horrible. "I'm so sorry, Clare. I guess that I've been so...busy with my own thing with Glen, that I let you fall through the cracks. I'm just glad that Jake was there for you. That you can count on him. I don't know what I'd have done, if I'd lost you."
The teen smiled a bit, at the sound of her stepbrother's name. Her stepbrother. It was still hard for her to think of him like that, when she still loved him and when she still missed their relationship. She knew that their breakup was for the best, though and she was so grateful to him for caring enough, to look out for her. "I'll have to thank him." She murmured hoarsely. Sliding her hand down the bed, she gripped her mother's hand, squeezing lightly. "You made some mistakes, mom. But you're here, now."
"When you're better. We'll talk about everything. I've got a lot of making up to do." The older woman said, leaning down to kiss Clare on the forehead. "Where did Alli and Adam go?"
"They went to The Dot, to get some food." Clare answered, smiling and nodding at her mother's words.
"That's nice. I'll leave when they get here. I need to go talk to your father about something, anyway. I'll be back, later tonight." Helen told the girl, frowning a little bit, at the thought of confronting Randall. It was something that she needed to do, though. The way that he'd been treating Clare, was horrid. She had no idea if he even realised how much his actions had been affecting the teen.
The door to the hospital room opened once again and Adam and Alli hurried in, Connor following along, behind them. "Hi, Clare." Connor said, smiling as his eyes nervously flickered over to his friend's mother, wondering how exactly to address her.
"Hey Mrs. Martin" Alli and Adam chirped in unison, peering over the bags of food that they carried in their arms.
The woman smiled at the three teens, muttering a quick thank you as she left.
"Peter and Spinner sent you a bunch of snacks, to make you feel better. They both said that they'd visit you, later." Alli told her friend, taking a seat in the chair that Clare's mother had just vacated, pulling the hospital tray over her friend's lap. She reached into the bag that she carried, pulling out a chicken sandwich, a few slices of cookies and cream pie, and some cheese fries. "There's an ice cream sundae and a green tea, in the bag that Adam has, but he's holding the sundae hostage."
Clare laughed, shooting the boy a friendly grin. "That's okay. He can have it. So, Connor, how were football tryouts? Did you make the team?" She questioned, turning her attention to the boy who sat on the other side of her, digging into the cheese fries.
Connor nodded boyishly, face lighting up and dark eyes, twinkling. "Yeah! I made wide receiver!" He told her, excitedly, sounding so proud. It was a big accomplishment, for him. He liked feeling as if he was a part of something.
She gave him a wide smile and leaned forward, ignoring the pain that shot through her, to hug him. "That's great! I'm so proud of you!" She whispered into his ear, sincerly.
"Why did your mother leave so soon?" Adam asked Clare curiously, throwing his sundae container away, walking torwards the bed and taking a seat beside Alli.
"She needs to talk to my dad about something. She's going to be back, later, tonight." Clare answered her friend, pushing the cheese fries away, once she was full. She bit her bottom lip for a moment. Averting her eyes to the blankets that covered her, before locking eyes with Alli. "Could I please talk to you alone, for a moment? It's really important."
Adam stood up from his chair, grabbing Connor's shirt and pulling him up. "We're going to go check out the gift shop." He told her simply, giving her a grin as he walked out of the room with Connor.
Alli raised one black eyebrow and asked, "What did you want to talk about, Clare?" She inquired softly.
The other girl licked her lips nervously and said, "I wanted to apologize for not forgiving you a few months ago, when I forgave Jake. I've just...I've really missed you, Alli. I guess that I couldn't let go of my anger. It almost felt as if you'd betrayed me, because you had known how I still felt about him. It hurt to think that you'd do that to me. And Jake...he was the one stable thing that I really had, in my life. I guess I just really wanted to hold onto that." She could already feel the tears stinging her eyes as she talked. "I wanted to call you so many times, Alli. But then I'd remember that we didn't talk anymore. But despite all of that, I couldn't delete your number from my phone."
The darker haired girl sniffled slightly at her friends words, throwing her long hair back from her face. "I missed you too, Clare. And I'm sorry, too. I shouldn't have ever kissed Jake. I was just...so upset. I'd found out that Dave had gotten with some girl during the summer. I didn't know how to deal with it. So...Jake and I kissed. I regretted it, as soon as it was over, Clare. I'd never meant to hurt you." She didn't say anything else as she leaned over, hugging her best friend, gently, being careful not to hurt her. "When I heard that you had been hurt, I had to come. Even if you didn't want to see me. I had to make sure that you were okay. I don't know what I'd have done, if you weren't."
Clare hugged back, closing her eyes. She didn't know what she was thinking, trusting Summer, so much. Everything about her had screamed "bad news", but Clare had ignored it, all because the woman had made her feel wanted. But here in this hospital bed, Clare realised who her true friends were. Alli, Adam, Connor, and Jake. They'd all been here, for her. And she couldn't thank them enough.
A/N: I might possibly make this a twoshot, with Clare having more nightmares, about everything that occured with Summer and Clare and her father talking, as well as her thanking Jake for trying to protect her.