Disclaimer: I do not own Degrassi. Stephen Stohn does. I am just a mere Degrassian letting out her imagination on this website.

A/n: I'm finally getting a chance to sit down and start writing the second chapter. I've had very hectic school weeks the past few weeks. Let's just say the workload is pretty overwhelming. I wanted to update last Friday but I got distracted so I'm sorry for the late update. However I hope you like this chapter, and I'm glad that everyone enjoyed the last one.

Did anyone manage to find out why I used the number 1810 for their dorm room number? If not then you'll find out at the end of this chapter =).

Before I start I have some people to thank though.

Thank you to my lovely twin for proof reading for me. If she didn't proof read it who knows how many mistakes you guys would have to put up with while reading this. Love ya twin!

Also thank you to one of my favorite fanfiction authors as well as one of my twitter friend's kadabrafreak890 for always urging me to write. I probably wouldn't have finished this chapter this past weekend if she hadn't. You guys should check out her fanfictions too because they're really good!

And last but certainly not least thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far.


Clare couldn't believe he was actually standing in front of her. Eli Goldsworthy was their fourth roommate, and Alli had known all along. She looked back at her best friend and narrowed her eyes slightly. Clare was not pleased one bit by how Alli had decided to leave out the fact that he of all people was going to be their roommate.

Alli mouthed the word 'sorry' to her through the guilty smile that seemed to be permanently engraved on her face. Clare held her glare for a few seconds before facing Eli again.

"Hey," he smirked slightly, "It's been a while, hasn't it?"

Clare averted her eyes quickly as that familiar feeling of unease set in. "Yeah, I guess it has," she muttered before she whisked past him and quickly entered the room.

It wasn't completely Eli himself that made her feel that feeling of unease. It was mostly the fact that she had originally been ecstatic about going to a school so far away from home because it was not only a fresh start, but an escape. It was an escape from certain things. It was somewhere she could well put the past in the past. And if Eli could show up, then who knows what else could happen. It felt ominous.

There was something else though; when she saw Eli it instantly made her thoughts turn to Adam. Adam was Eli's best friend, and now because of her Adam was in the hospital in a coma. Clare honestly didn't think she would be able to see Eli everyday without having this overwhelming sense of guilt running through her.

Eli's expression faltered and was replaced by a mask of confusion. "Did I say something…?" He glanced at Alli only to see her shrug, and look after her friend with worried eyes. "What's wrong with Clare? She seems," he struggled to find the right word, "different."

"To tell you the truth I don't have a clue," Alli answered before continuing, "Well, I mean I know part of the reason why, but I don't know any specific details."

"You're her best friend, though. She doesn't talk to you?" he asked as he glanced at Clare who was sitting on a bed rummaging through her bag.

"We do talk but only about insignificant topics. Anytime I bring up certain topics like home, prom, and Adam," they both flinched slightly at the mention of Adam, "she just shuts me out and distances herself. It's been that way since after our senior prom."

"I'm guessing the only other person who knows these details is the one person we can't communicate with at the moment," Eli sighed and ran his fingers through his hair.

"Exactly. And the one person who we can talk to isn't going to talk to us about it," Alli agreed as she watched Eli watch Clare. Even after all this time he still had that look in his eyes when he looked at her.

"You still look at her the same way you did when we were in High School," Alli acknowledged as Eli turned his head back to face her again.

"What do you mean?" His face held a perplexed expression.

"Someone still has feelings for my best friend," Alli teased smiling.

"What? No, I don't!" Eli replied defensively.

"Sure you don't," she laughed emphasizing the sarcasm a bit which caused Eli to roll his eyes.

"I just noticed something; this is the first actual conversation we've had," he pointed out seemingly surprised, "I expected an automatic 'if looks could kill' glare and maybe some mocking."

"Yeah, Clare explained to me about the whole bipolar diagnosis a while back and how I should stop dangling everything that happened over your head. I've changed a lot over the past few years. Think of it as a fresh start. I'm willing to put the bad feelings in the past if you are." Alli smiled and held out her hand, "Plus, we seem to have a bigger problem on our plates at the moment."

Eli took her hand and shook it in agreement. "On one condition though," Alli spoke up causing Eli to raise an eyebrow in curiosity, "You have to admit to me that you still have feelings for Clare."

Eli narrowed his eyes which caused Alli to laugh, "I am not admitting anything. Conversation closed!" With that Eli turned around and strode into the room.

"Conversation so not closed," she whispered to herself and laughed as she trailed after Eli, making sure to close the door behind her.

Clare looked up at the two curiously as they entered the room. Was it just her, or were they actually getting along? They seemed to be except for the fact that Alli had an oddly amused look on her face while Eli glared at her. She wondered what Alli had over Eli that he didn't want anyone else to know.

"You two seem to be getting along," Clare spoke as she looked back down at her bag.

"We buried the hatchet. Decided that if we're going to be roommates we might as well get along," Alli smiled as she walked over and took a seat beside Clare.

"Hey, wait a second. Why are there only three beds?" she questioned as she surveyed the room.

There was a single bed which herself and Clare were seated on and then there was a bunk bed directly across from them, but no other bed was in sight. The room was really spacious and not at all what she had expected their dorm room to look like. In between the single bed and the bunk bed was a window that had two medium sized dressers beneath it. Then when she looked directly left from the bed they were sitting on there was a small couch that sat in the middle of a completely empty space. There was also a set of counters with a sink which Eli was leaning against that were left from where the couch sat. In all honesty it looked more like a small apartment than a dorm room.

"I found out that there was a small room with a bed attached on to our dorm. I figured I would sleep in there." Eli suggested.

Alli was about to agree with him when suddenly the door swung opened. "Eli you're never going to believe this! Smithdale has this cute little café right on campus, and the coffee here is way better than what we're usually served at The Dot. If you can even call what they serve coffee to begin with." Fiona shuddered as she came to a stop in the middle of the room and looked around.

"Oh I see your roommates have arrived." Fiona's eyes landed on Clare and Alli. "Wait a second. Clare, Alli? You two are Eli's roommates?" Her eyes grew wide as she looked over at Eli only to meet a calm face.

"It's a small world indeed." Eli shrugged with a smirk on his face.

"Don't forget Jenna," Alli added. "She's around here somewhere."

"Wow, so you're all three of Eli's roommates. Interesting," Fiona pondered the thought for a few seconds before continuing. "Anyway, Eli, you might want to come down and get the rest of your things. I have to start heading back to Toronto if I'm going to make it back in time to visit the Hospital tomorrow morning before I leave for New York."

Clare tensed up and suddenly stopped what she was doing. Alli felt the sudden shift in Clare's demeanor. "Hey Clare, are you okay?"

Clare shook her head as if trying to clear away a bad thought. "Yeah, I'm perfectly fine," she muttered before resuming what she had been doing before. Eli noticed the exchange between the two and looked over at Clare with worried eyes. Either Clare was lying or she had forgotten the definition of the word fine, and Eli knew it wasn't the latter.

"Earth to my emo amigo," Fiona called waving her hand in front of Eli's face, "Are you coming or do I have permission to sell those comics that you have stashed in that box?"

"You wouldn't dare," he narrowed his eyes at her.

"Try me," Fiona stated simply before turning around and walking out of the room. Eli shook his head and chuckled lightly as he followed her.

"Today has been very strange," Alli sighed as she leaned back against the wall behind the bed.

"Tell me about it," Clare remarked as she sat her bag down and began taking her things out of it.

"Wasn't Jenna supposed to be back by now?" Clare asked as she pulled out a pillow and fluffed it.

"She's probably still cemented to the floor of that music room. Which reminds me…" Alli's voice faded out as she jumped up and ran over to the bunk bed, "I call the top bunk!" She exclaimed as she slapped her hand down near the top of the bed.

"Really?" Clare looked up arching her eyebrow slightly.

"What? I wanted to make sure I called it before Jenna got here," Alli replied innocently.

Suddenly a certain perky blonde strolled into the room carrying a black guitar case and a big duffle bag. "Speak of the devil," Clare said casually as Jenna sat her things down.

"I see you were finally able to tear yourself away from that room," Alli teased before dropping the bad news. "Too bad it has cost you the chance to choose your bed."

"Seriously?" Jenna's expression fell but then became confused as she studied their room, "Aren't there suppose to be four beds? Wait, does Clare know about…?"

"Yes, I know about Eli being our roommate. I don't know why it had to be this big secret," Clare glowered at the two of them before she continued to unpack her things, "You guys make it seem like I would have flipped out or something if I had known before hand."

"You would have," Jenna and Alli stated at the same time causing Clare to roll her eyes.

"Where is the man of mystery at anyway?" Jenna asked curiously as she made her way over to the bottom bunk.

"He went down stairs to get the rest of his things from Fiona's car," Clare answered as she surveyed the mess she had created in her haste to unpack all of her things.

"Well I say we leave this stuff on the floor and finish unpacking tomorrow," Jenna announced as she sat down on her bed and laid back, "I don't know about you guys but my feet hurt and I'm exhausted."


Eli was stuck in deep thought as he walked alongside Fiona as they made their way to her car. "What's up with you Mr. Broody? You're more quite than usual," Fiona inquired, breaking his train of thought.

"Nothing's really wrong I was just thinking about a few things," Eli replied stuffing his hands into his pockets, "Today has been one of those odd days."

"I'd say so; Clare, Alli, and Jenna as your roommates? That has to be the biggest coincidence I've ever seen," Fiona agreed sounding just as shocked as she had been earlier.

"It's not that, though I have to admit that is a pretty big coincidence. It's Clare. There's something off about her," he sighed and ran one of his hands through his hair like he always did when he was worrying about something.

"People change over time?" Fiona offered as an explanation to why Clare was acting strange.

"No, Fiona, it's more than an 'I haven't seen this person in a while' different," Eli struggled to find the right explanation for it but came up shorthanded, "Look, I can't explain it but something isn't right."

They came to a stop in front of a metallic purple Mustang, otherwise known as Fiona's expensive dream car. She pulled out her keys, clicked a button, and with a slight beep of the alarm the trunk opened to reveal the last bit of things Eli had to get.

"Eli," Fiona stressed his name letting worry fill her voice, "Maybe you shouldn't let yourself get all caught up in this?"

Eli knew what she was hinting at and shook his head in response, "Look, it's not like that. I'll tell you the truth; of course I still have feelings for Clare. I probably always will, but this has nothing to do with what feelings I do or do not have. This is about the fact that there is something really wrong and I'm going to get to the bottom of it."

Fiona shrugged, knowing that there was nothing she could do to change his mind once it was set on a certain path. "Well, here's a little piece of advice I've learned that might help you; if she wants to talk about it she will. Just give her some time. Oh, and be careful."

"I'll make sure to commit that to memory," he promised with a genuine smile, "Wait a second; when did you become so wise, Ms. Coyne?" Eli feigned surprise which caused Fiona to roll her eyes and laugh.

"I'll have you know that I have always been wise," Fiona replied seriously as she crossed her arms to emphasis it.

"Well, oh great wise one, are you going to help me get my stuff out of the truck, or are we just going to stand here all day?" Eli arched his eyebrow questioningly.

"Yes, I'm going to help you, but we need to hurry because I really do need to start heading back to Toronto," Fiona answered as she looked down at the time on her phone.

"When you make that visit to the Hospital could you say hi to Adam for me?" Eli asked as they started taking his things out of the trunk of the car. "I mean I know that he can't exactly hear you but it would make me feel better about not being able to be there," he added sullenly as he looked up at her.

"Sure thing," Fiona smiled sweetly.


Eli struggled to maintain his balance as he walked up the steps that lead to the dorm room. He was juggling two boxes and two bags, and wasn't sure exactly how long he could keep up this circus act before something decided to tip over and fall. Fiona had had to leave as soon as they finished taking his things out of her car, so now he was trying to haul everything up to the room at once on his own. He wasn't even sure if he would be able to get the door open once he got there, and now he realized that it would have been smart to have had a third person come with them.

However, by some unknown miracle he was able to make it safely up the steps and to the door without dropping anything or injuring himself. The only problem now was getting the door open without making too much sound. Eli was sure that the girls had fallen asleep already and the fact that it was around eleven at night made that possibility even more likely. So he slowly set his things down on the floor and then gently opened the door, and sure enough it was completely dark in the room aside from the light that filtered in through the open door.

"Now all I have to do is move my stuff from the hall to the room," Eli whispered to himself as he turned back around to look at the boxes and bags that sat on the floor. "Great. And now I'm talking to myself." He shook his head and began moving each item into the room making sure to make as little sound as possible.

Once he finally had everything moved into the room he realized how exhausted he was and decided that he would just leave everything where it was and finish the rest of his unpacking in the morning.

Eli tiptoed stealthily toward the small room that was attached onto their dorm and hoped that his moving adventure hadn't woken anyone up. He entered the room, making sure to close the door behind himself, and made his way over to the bed.

He stared up at the ceiling, lost in thought, as he lay in the bed. He could feel himself slowly drifting toward unconsciousness when suddenly he heard a small tap on the door. Eli looked up curiously wondering if he had just been imagining the sound, but sure enough the tapping sounded again.

"Eli, are you awake?" An upset voice called out half muffled by the door.

The voice made Eli get up quickly, rush over to the door, and throw it open, "Clare, what are you doing up? I thought…" Eli's voice faded into silence as he took in the scene before him; Clare stood in front of him with her arms wrapped around herself and tears streaming down her face.

"What's wrong?" Eli's voice took on a slightly panicked tone but Clare didn't reply. Instead she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him letting out a sob she had been holding in.

Clare didn't even understand why her legs had carried her to Eli's room when she had woken up from that horrible nightmare. All she knew is she couldn't shake this dreadful feeling that was overwhelming her.

Eli looked down at her as she sobbed into his chest, and wrapped his arms around her shaking frame. He was completely taken aback by what he was witnessing. Eli had never seen Clare so fragile or terrified before in all of the time he had known her. Right now the girl he held in his arms seemed like a completely different person from the confident, strong, and sometimes stubborn girl he had come to know.

"Shh, Clare, it's going to be alright," Eli whispered rubbing her back slightly trying to comfort her.

The only piece of information Eli didn't know though was the fact that Clare didn't just have some made up nightmare. She had just woken up from a nightmare where she had to relive the moments she'd hope she'd never have to relive again. Those moments included the car crash that was responsible for Adam's currant state. It was also the car crash that she blamed herself for.


A/n: This took me forever to write! 3,000+ words which is the longest chapter I've ever written for anything. I feel as if I really drew out some of the stuff in this chapter too much. If anyone thinks I did then please tell me so I can refrain from doing so in the future.

I want to apologize for making Alli and Eli a tad OOC. I had to find some way for them to be able to get along because the plot needed them to have buried the hatchet and since they're in college now I figure both would be able to put aside their differences.

I'm not exactly sure how I feel about this chapter only because I feel as if I dwelled on some things and drew them out too much and then rushed other points, but I really want to get to the main thing about this story. However, I hope that everyone enjoyed it.

Oh and the answer to why I choose the number 1810 for their dorm is because August 18th, 2010 was the air date for Still Fighting It Part 1. So I took the numbers 18 and 10 and put them together! I'm kind of thinking I should have used the numbers 818 now though.

Oh and to anyone who wants to see what the car that I based Fiona's off of looks like you can check on my profile because I'm going to be posting the link to it on there.

Anyway; Reviews are greatly appreciated! That includes criticism as well.

Twitter: MunroCNation

Tumblr: deareli

-Love, Lina