So, I decided to write this after watching "Ray of Light" of Degrassi. I'm a big Eclare fan, and I was deeply upset to see them break up. This one-shot helps me somewhat.

Disclaimer: I do not own Degrassi. If I did, Eli and Clare would be together forever!

THANKS FOR COMING

"Hang in there, honey." Said an unfamiliar voice in a hurry.

Clare Edwards was in the worse pain imaginable. Her eyes couldn't clearly make out anything; eveything was a blur. They were nothing but fuzzy masses of color. She couldn't move. She felt frozen, immobile. Nor could she talk. Every word she attempted to say came out as a gasping squeak.

"Everything's going to be alright." That voice said.

Clare began to feel lightheaded and dizzy. She tried to recall what may have occured, only to come up blank. The background noise of sirens and voices made her head hurt more than it already was.

One voice strayed away from the others. It sounded panicked and out of breath. By now, Clare couldn't make out the words being said. She couldn't stand it anymore. Her eyes fluttered closed and she drifted away into unconsiousness, but not before she felt something grip her hand and hold it.

Beep…beep…beep…

Her eyes opened in a very slow motion. Her sight was still blurry, but this time was coming into focus. Her head didn't hurt as much, though she was still dizzy. She didn't feel weightless like before. She felt…stiff.

Am I dead? That was her first thought. All she could see was white. After a moment, the white began to take a different shape, and soon Clare knew. She was in the hospital.

She was wearing a hospital gown and not her regular clothes, which seemed wet and sticky when she last had them on. There was an IV in her arm. Her breathing came easier now, though it hurt somewhat.

What am I doing here?

Clare felt extra weight on the left side of her bed. She turned her head as carefully as she could, and was surprised.

Eli Goldsworthy sat in a chair next to her, his head rested in his arms on her bed. His hand held hers.

But what was he doing here? Speaking of which, what was she doing here? What happened to her that she needed medical attention? Clare tried to search her memory to find the answers to her questions, but only received a massive migrane, causing her to whimper in pain.

Eli sturred. His head lifted from his arms and his eyes were slightly ajar. They blinked a few times before landing on the girl in the bed and shooting open.

"Clare! Thank God! Are you alright?"

She only gave him a confused look. "I'm not sure. What's going on? What happened?"

"You don't remember?"

She solemnly shook her head, and Eli sighed.

"Alright, just let me get a docter first, okay?"

He walked out of the room, leaving Clare to herself. She spent that timesthinking of the possible events leading to thins outcome.

Maybe a fire. A house fire? If so, Clare hoped that it was only her that got hurt. Not her mother, or Jake, or Mr. Martin.

Or perhaps I tripped. But where was she when that happened, and how could it have happened? Clare wasn't usually clumsy.

The next thing she knew, in walked a man in a whitge lab coat, Eli trailing behind him.

"Clare Edwards." He states and flips through a chart. "How are you feeling?"

"Okay, I guess."

"Any trouble breathing?"

"Um, no, not really."

This man continued to give her these questions to which she would reply with unsure answers. It took Clare's mind a while to comprehend that this was her doctor. He soon excused herself, for he had to check on another patient.

Eli sat in his chair next to Clare's bed. "You sure you're alright, Blue Eyes."

"Just tell me what happened."

Eli nodded. "Adam decided to throw another party, and Jake offered to have it at his place in the woods. You can imagine how reluctant we all were at first." He gave his signature smirk. Clare loved that smirk. "But anyway, we ended up going. You and Alli rode with Jake. I would ask you if that was awkward, but you obviously don't know."

Clare mentally laughed. She could imagine herself, Alli, and Jake all sitting in uncomfortable silence.

"The party was fun, at least until things began spinning out of control. Some kids were drinking a little too much. An idiot decided to smoke and accidently dropped the lighter; almost set the whole place ablaze had Drew not stopped to catch it.

"You and me hadn't had any contact the whole night, so I overheard Alli tell Dallas that that you left to avoid any more accidents. Typical of you, but a smart chioce." He paused, looking deep in thought.

"Well then, what happened after that?"

Eli only looked down and kept quiet.

Clare grabbed his hand and told him to look at her, to which he reluctantly did. "Come on, I know I didn't end up in here for simply walking out on a party."

Eli sighed. "Alright, well, I decided to follow you. I just wanted to make sure that you made it home okay, seeing that you were walking alone and all. You were so far ahead, so it took me a while just to find you." He displayed a pained expression. Clare knew that he was reaching the climax of his story. "But I eventually did and uh…" He took a deep breath, building up the couage to finish, but with difficulty. "I-it was a mess."

Clare wasn't sure, but she couldv'e sworn that her ex was tearing up.

"Eli, what exactly happened to me?" she asked for the final time, but in a quiet, careful voice.

"Remember that guy who decided to smoke? Well, apparently, he shared the same idea of leaving. Excpept he wasn't walking." Eli grit his teeth. "The retard was drunk driving." He growled. "What's worse was—was that he didn't even stop to help. He just kept going, that—"

"Eli," Clare's eyes connected with his furious ones. "He hit me, didn't he."

He grimly nodded. "Like I said, it…it was a barely had a pulse. I tried to keep it together, Clare, I really did. I didn't know what to do. I called 911. It seemed to take them forever to get there. God, Clare, you were bleedig so much—"

"Eli, breathe."

But he continued. "And there was this moment, this one moment, when your heart stopped."

Her eyes knitted together in confusion.

"I lost it. I freaking lost it. I started doing CPR like crazy."

Clare didn't notice before, but her chest was sore.

"Then an ambulance finally showed up. It took a lot for me to convince them to let me come along."

"You held my hand on the way here." It was no question.

He nodded. "Yeah."

"So how bad was it?"

Eli chuckled some. "As always, Clare Edwards mustr know all the details. Your skull got cracked open. Also, your tibia got broken. And uh, you have a couple of cracked ribs, courtesy of me. I'm sorry."

She gripped his hand a little tighter. "No, it's fine." She assured him.

"You had a lot of internal bleeding. Some of the blood entered your had quite a surgery."

After that was a silent moment between the two.

Finally, Eli mumbled, "It was like Julia all over again. Except I couldn't even be there for her."

At first, Clare felt a wave of anger. Like she really needed to listen to him cry over his ex at this moment. AS if she seriously wanted to hear him compare her to Julia. But she couldn't blame him. It ust've been a painful experience both times. Plus, Clare did get hit by a car, much like the deceased girl. How could he not bring Julia up?

The most Clare could do now was be grateful. "Well, thanks for your help. And thanks for coming. You don't have to waste your time here anymore, I'm sure my mom will be here soon."

The boy looked at her as if she had grown two heads

"Clare,"he said, "sorry if I offended you. I didn't mean it like that. Just… don't make me leave."

"Well, why would you want to stay? Eli, you shouldn't feel obligated to be here. Go. Enjoy what's left of your night. I'll be fine."

"Obligated. Clare, I don't feel obligated to do anything. I'm here because I want to be."

Clare found this hard to believe. How long ago was it that he decided that being around her wasn't good for him. It was already complicated enough to be alone with the boy that broke her heart—a little harshly, if she may add. It made it worse for him to be so determined to stay. It was embarrassing, the way he was looking at her. A very small part of her was wishing that she hadn't suvived the accident.

Eli saw how hesitant she was being, and his next move surprised them both. His lips came onto hers. Pretty soon, they were both moving in sinc. A rush of emotions flew through the two teens. Their hearts were beating a little faster. At last, they broke apart catching their breaths.

"Eli…" Clare was speechless. So instead of saying anything, she reacted in the best way. She slapped him—hard.

"OW! And what was that for exactly?!"

"You're kidding me, right? Seriously?" She slapped him again.

"Jesus, Clare! Calm down!" His cheek began morphing into a deep shade of red.

"What is wrong with you? I can't do this with you, Eli! What do you want? If you're in love with me, great! But if you're not, give it to me straight. There is no in between. There is no back and forth. Make. Up. Your. Mind." She tried to hit him again, but this time he caught her hand.

"Look, I'm sorry, okay? Honestly, I miss you. And Clare, I am in love with you."

Clare sighed in frustration, but calmly replied, "Way back when, you told me that we couldn't have a relationship if I wasn't in it a hundred percent. Now I'm telling you the same. Do you really want this? Me?"

Eli once again gave his smirk, knowing it would work in his favor.

"Does this answer your question?" He moved in to kiss her again.

Clare, though a little reluctant at first, happily kissed back.

So that night, the renewed couple layed on Clare's hospital bed. Eli's arms were wrapped around her. Smiles were on both of their faces.

"So let's run through this again," said Clare. "If we argue…"

"We take a breather and work it ." Eli responded with a roll of his eyes.

"Andif one of us is constantly irritating the other…"

"Then that person is just going to have to accept that they have to put up with it."

Clare looked up at him with a flirtacious smile. "And if one of us says I love you…"

"Then the other returns the favor."

Satisfied, she layed her head back into ner boyfriend's chest. Boyfriend. It felt good to say that again. Before drifting off to sleep, Clare told Eli, "Seriously, thanks for coming."

Her only response was a lazy, "Mm hmm," and soft snores.