(Clare's POV)

Hugs

They can make you or break you

Whether it is a hug hello, hug goodbye, or a hug for showing affection

They hold more meaning than most understand.

Growing up, hugs for me were a symbol of showing you care. For example, up until I was 10 my mom and dad would give me a hug goodnight. It was to show me that they loved me and they would see me soon in the morning.

When my grandmother passed away, I found myself in a sea of hugs. All of them were for sympathy. For nights my older sister would lay with me on my bed, hugging me tight while I cried.

When I was in Middle school I would only receive hugs from my good friends (which were only girls) usually in sympathy or to say they will see me soon. I would never hug boys-ever. To me it was unnecessary and weird. Why hug a boy? What would they ever do for you? At the time I couldn't even stand the thought of talking to boys. They are stupid and mean and all they do is act immaturely.

Once in the 6th grade, while walking home one afternoon, I remember hearing a whisper of voices and a pitter pattering of feet behind me. When I whirled around to see who it was, I came face to face with nothing. After standing there for a moment I turned back around and continued on home. Once the 'whispering' turned into loud snickering voices I stopped dead in my tracks. I could recognize that noise from anywhere. Once I pivoted on my heel, I saw the one person in the world I could say that I truly hate. K.C Guthrie, and his group of friends. I don't know what I ever did to him, but he seemed to love to make my life miserable-and I hated him for it. It is either spreading vicious rumors around the school that I like to make out with every boy I hang out-which is a lot worse than it seems….once all the guys start hearing that….a line starts, wanting to 'hang out', or tripping me in the hallways. He made me want to do so many mean things to him….I should be ashamed of what he does to my temper. Once he realized I caught him in his tracks, his face flashed with shock. What happened next made me want to crawl under a rock. He ran up to me and shoved me, hard. I fell to the ground and my backpack spilled all of my things out of it. K.C and his little posse started laughing as they ran away.

"You're such a loser Clare!" He yelled, voice slowly fading away.

I sat there stunned. When I started to feel a shooting pain in my back I started to sob. I quickly started to gather up all of my books. I noticed a second pair of hands shoot out and pick up the rest of my things. When I looked up my blue eyes crashed with emerald ones. I slowly stood up and took in the appearance of the boy in front of me.

He was a little taller than me, he had black hair and strikingly green eyes, but what struck me the most was his attire. From head to toe he was dressed in black. Well that's new…I thought to myself. But without a doubt it would be an understatement to say he was good-looking.

Snap out of it Clare!

"I'm sorry about what those boys did to you-they seem like real big jerks." Mr. Mysterious Boy said to me, handing me my books.

I looked at my feet, not able to meet his gorgeous eyes, "It's fine, it happens all the time" I could start to feel the tears pricking my eyes once again. He must of noticed, and he did something that shocked me the most out of all the things that have happened to me today.

He pulled me into a hug.

I had never been hugged by any other boy besides my dad. Before I knew it I found myself wrapping my arms around his neck while is grip on my waist tightened. I started to sob into his chest. After a few minutes my heavy crying turned into sniffles. I step away and looked at him with awe. For the first time in a long time I felt as if things would get better from here.

"Thank you, I think I really needed that."I whispered.

"Sometimes we all need a little support from others. I'm Eli by the way." He said, his mouth pulling into a smirk.

"I'm Clare." My own smile started to twitch at the corner of my mouth.

And just like that, a hug began my life's journey.

Present Time

I twirled around the kitchen cleaning up the dishes from dinner, and putting away extra ingredients. As I was setting a plate into the sink I felt two arms snake around my waste. I yelped in surprise, but I soon relaxed when I recognized the feel of the warm body behind me. I spun around my eyes clashed with the most beautiful emerald in the whole world. I smiled as I wrapped my arms around Eli's neck and placed a chaste kiss on my husband's lips. His hands softly caressed my very big and growing stomach.

"Hey honey, I was just wondering when you were going to finally come to bed…it is very hard for me to sleep….yea sleep….without you…." Eli smirked almost in a suggestive tone. I just rolled my eyes at him. Of course he would think of things like that. You would think that after being together for 10 years, being married for four and me already being pregnant would make him have something else on his mind.

"Oh so you just want to go to sleep? That sounds good to me, I am pretty tired…" I said jokingly. He took me by the hand and led me into bed.

Once we got settled Eli pulled me tight to his chest and wrapped his arms around my waste with my back facing him.

He leaned down and whispered in my ear, "I love you Clare, and I love our baby."

My heart melted. "I love you too Eli, I always will."

I slowly flipped around to face him. I snuggled into him, hugging him tightly to me. His breathing started to slow, falling into a slumber. I sighed; there were many, many things I loved about Eli. The thing I loved most?

His loving hugs-they make everything seem right.