Mr. Brightside

Summary: Clare Edwards and KC Guthrie are on the road to fixing things between them in their sophmore year at Degrassi. There's just one problem. The friendship that Clare has developed with Reese.

A/N: Will contain spoilers from Heart Like Mine and Start Me Up. There will be a triangle between KC/Clare/Reese. Flashbacks in italics

Chapter One

"Alli?" KC voice asked hesitantly, green eyes flitting over to ensure that Clare wasn't coming out of the bathroom.

The girl in question looked up and settled her dark eyes on him. "Hmm?" She asked, raising a brow questioningly.

He swallowed hard and tried to find the words to speak. "About Clare and Reese....when...I mean, why did the two of them become friends?"

"That's really Clare's story to tell, KC." She told him in a hushed tone, watching as Clare walked over to the pinball machine that Connor and Reese were playing at. She didn't want to break her best friend's trust by telling her ex-boyfriend something that she might not want him to know.

KC turned pleading eyes on her. "Please Alli. I really need to know. I know that he helped her somehow. Was I the cause of whatever happened to her that he had to help her out from?"

"KC...." Alli began, eyes flitting down to the cheese fries and onion rings that sat in the middle of the table. "She was...really upset. Jenna kinda threw her "relationship" with you in Clare's face. Clare was trying her hardest to get over the breakup---and it was working. Dating guys like Blue and Dave helped her but she ended her relationships with both of them because she didn't feel for either of them what she felt for you. Anyway, Jenna began to say this stuff about her and how you broke up with her because she was a prude. Clare kinda snapped. One night she went to the Ravine and got really drunk there. Reese and Johnny had to stop her and bring her back to my place. It was a really bad time in Clare's life. She needed Reese."

Flashback

Clare Edwards sighed as she pushed her hair out of her face. Her head was pounding--obviously a result of drinking so much like an idiot. WHAT had she been thinking? She'd never drank before so of course she should've known that she wouldn't be able to hold it. "I feel miserable!" She moaned as she fell back into the fluffy pillows on her best friend's bed. She was staying at Alli's for the weekend while her parents were out on a church retreat.

"That's what happens when you drink." An unreconizable voice, obviously not that of her friend, said amusedly.

Clare's blue eyes popped open, widening little by little as they landed on Reese who sat on the edge of the bed. She pulled the covers up, a blush staining her cheeks. "Reese!" She shrieked. "What are you doing here? Where's Alli?" She asked, lowering her voice.

"She's downstairs making you something to eat. Her parents and brother are out for the day. Good thing to. There is no way I'd be aloud up here otherwise." Reese told her with a smirk on his lips, dark eyes watching her carefully.

She chewed on her lip. "How did I get here anyway? Last I remember, I was at the Ravine."

Reese's expression turned serious and he nodded gravely. "You passed out. DeMarco and I had to bring you here. You really worried Alli."

Clare felt tears feel her eyes and she sighed guiltily. "I really didn't mean to. I didn't get you guys in trouble did I?"

He was about to reply when Alli suddenly burst through the doorway with some freshly made coffee and a plate with some toast and eggs on it. The dark haired girl was quiet but Reese and Clare could clearly tell that something was bothering her.

Alli gave the plate to Clare and sat the mug on the nightstand and sighed heavily as she took a seat on the edge of the bed. She and Clare had a silent staring contest for a few moments before she suddenly threw herself forward and enveloped her best friend in a hug. Of course she was angry at her friend for worrying her and for putting herself in danger by going to the Ravine, alone and for drinking enough to pass out but she was also very thankful that Clare was okay.


"Anyway, Reese sort of became her rock. He made her feel better about herself and he helped her through that. You have to understand that." Alli told KC after she finished remembering just how Reese and Clare had become so close.

Clare walked over to them before KC could reply, eyeing her two friends suspiciously as she took her seat. "What were you two talking about?" She asked of them curiously.

KC smiled at her as Alli slid out of her seat and skipped over to where Connor and Reese were still preoccupied by the pinball machine. "Nothing really. She was just helping me with some English work."

She laughed. "But KC, we didn't have any homework for English." She told him as she looked at him with her blue eyes. Her head was tilted to the side as she looked him over.

He sucked in a breath hitting himself upside the head in his mind for using such a ridiculous excuse. How could he forget that she was in the class with him? "Yeah, I know. But....I'm doing extra credit." The lie slipped from his lips easily but Clare didn't seem to believe a word he was saying. Just like Clare to know him so well. One other thing he really loved about her.

Next Chapter: Clare and KC spend some time alone until Reese interrupts.