Hello Clew fans! So, I realized that when this story premiered that it premiered in a round on it's own and thus should have gotten two chapters last time not one. Because of that I am putting up three chapters this time. Yes that's right, chapters 2, 3 & 4 are going up now.
Ch. 2 Emerald City's Gone to Hell Since the Wizard Blew Off His Command
(CLARE)
"Can I move in please?" I ask Mrs. Bhandari while looking at the bag in my hand. I was doing okay, but now that I'm here asking for somewhere to live I feel on the verge of tears. "Not forever," I add quickly, "a month or two maybe. Just until I get a job and place of my own." Saying the words, admitting that I've been essentially abandoned is tough. I swallow hard to fight back the tears pushing at the corners of my eyes.
"Oh, Sweetheart of course you can stay here. You can stay in Sav's room, as long as you need," Mrs. Bhandari says hugging me tightly.
"Thank you," I reply with relief, yet still on the verge of tears.
"Alli, Jenna, come down here we have a guest," she calls up the stairs. A second later Alli and Jenna come bouncing down the stairs.
"Clare," they exclaim together and come over to me.
"What are you doing here?" Alli asks.
"What happened?" Jenna inquires.
"Clare is going to be staying with us for a while. Can you get her set up in Sav's room?" Mrs. Bhandari requests.
Jenna takes my suitcase and Alli puts her arm around me, they take me up the stairs to Sav's room. His bed is still made and everything in the room is clean. I sit on the bed, release a breath, and all the tears I'd been holding back are released with it.
"Oh Clare," Alli says in a concerned tone sitting down next me.
"What happened?" Jenna asks.
"My dad married that woman this weekend. After he had my mom committed and her parental rights taken away. My dad got a job offer in Calgary, he was going to force me to move with them…"
"You can't move!" Alli and Jenna exclaim together.
"I'm not, I…" I pause before I tell them I married Drew, so I could stay, "I convinced him to let me stay and finish high school here. I just didn't have anywhere to go, he's selling the house. I'll get a job and an apartment, I just need somewhere to stay for a little while."
"Don't be silly Clare, you can stay here as long as you need," Alli says as she and Jenna hug me together.
"What about Jake? Does he know?" Jenna asks.
"Yes, I told him all of this and he just didn't care. He told me he was tired of my whining about my parents. We broke up."
"What a jerk!" Jenna says angrily.
"Forget him, you don't need him, you can do much better," Alli assures me and then my phone rings.
"It's Adam, I should tell him what happened," I comment. Alli and Jenna hug me before leaving the room, so I can talk with Adam. "Hi Adam."
"Drew told me he saw you in the falls, and your dad tried moving you to Calgary?"
"Yeah, that pretty much sums it up. Except that Dad had my mom committed and her parental rights taken away."
"I'm sorry Clare, that totally sucks. Drew said you're at Alli's?"
"Yeah, I'll be living here for a while, until I can find a job and a place of my own."
"I'm glad you're not moving, it would be terrible without you. If you need anything call us," Adam tells me.
"Thanks Adam I will."
I hang up with Adam feeling a little better. My two best girlfriends have me cheered up, my best guy friend also cheered me a little, between that and the shower I take I'm feeling a lot better. Lamentably, after my shower my dad calls and reminds me I need to get all the stuff I want from the house out by Saturday. At least, he offers to get me a storage unit until I get an apartment and a job. Alli and Jenna spend all afternoon with me, we spend most of it in their room, painting our nails, listening to music and talking. We hear Mr. Bhandari get home and shortly after that Mrs. Bhandari calls us down to dinner.
"Clare, I hear you'll be staying with us for a while," Mr. Bhandari comments as we begin eating.
"It won't be long I promise, I'll get a job and an apartment of my own. My dad had my mom committed, had her declared unfit so that he's my sole guardian. Then he told me he was marrying his girlfriend, that…woman he left my mom for and the reason she went crazy. Not next year, no they had to get married this weekend in the falls. As if all that wasn't bad enough he got a job offer in Calgary and he wanted to move me with them. When I told my boyfriend all this he got mad at me for whining and we broke up. So, I went with my dad to Niagara and watched him get married. I managed to talk my way out of going with them though, at least I get to finish out high school here," I rant without meaning to.
Mr. Bhandari reaches across the table and squeezes my hand, "You can stay with us as long as you need Clare."
I smile at him and feel welcomed by the whole family. After dinner I help Alli and Jenna clean up and then we watch movies in the living room.
"Tomorrow we're supposed to meet up with K.C. and Dave, but we can cancel," Alli tells me as we're getting ready for bed.
"No, you two go meet your boyfriends. I need to go pack up my stuff anyway," I reply.
"Are you sure you don't want us to help with that?" Jenna asks.
"I'll need help to move the stuff probably, but I can pack up my stuff at the condo on my own. Anyway, I'd like to get all of my stuff and be out of there before my dad and Elaine get home."
We watch another movie before going to bed. I say goodnight to them and crawl into Sav's bed. It's warm and comforting, it even still smells faintly like him which I find comforting. Just before I try and sleep I send a text to Drew asking if he'll help me pack up and move tomorrow.
(DREW)
"How was Niagara Falls?" Adam asks when I get home. I drop my bag on the floor and sit on the basement sofa next to my brother.
"Broke up with Katie, she may still be there I haven't seen her since yesterday," I confess.
"You just left her there! Drew!" He says angrily and hits my arm.
"On our romantic weekend she was getting high with some guys behind the hotel. I told her to get her own room and find her own way home."
"I still think that was pretty low to just leave her, but I never liked you with Katie," Adam says.
"Yeah, she was there when I was at a low place and I liked her, but she's lost control and she's been dragging me down too. I saw Clare there by the way," I tell my brother.
"You what? What was Clare doing in the falls?"
"Her dad went nuts. He got married to some chick and made Clare go. He tired to move them to Calgary," I inform him. I am careful not to tell him that Clare and I are married.
"She's moving! She can't move," Adam exclaims.
"She's not, her dad is letting her stay. She's living at Alli's for now, at least that's where I dropped her off. She rode back with me, so she didn't have to be with her dad and his new wife."
"I'm going to call Clare," Adam says and goes upstairs to call her. I take my bag upstairs and start unpacking, after a few minutes he comes into my room. "Clare says she's living at Alli and Jenna's until she finds a job and a place of her own. I told her to call if she needed anything."
I want to tell him that she'll be fine, that I'll make sure of it. I can't though, that would sound odd coming from me when I really haven't had any kind of relationship with Clare before this. Adam looks like he has more questions or is going to say something else. He doesn't get the chance though because Mom comes home, and we go downstairs to greet her and tell her about what happened.
"Oh, good you're home Drew, how was the trip?" Mom asks.
"Eventful," I reply.
"Oh?" Mom questions with a worried look. "How eventful was your camping trip with Owen? You weren't hurt, were you?"
"No, the campsite was full, and we ended up staying at hotel in town instead. Spent Saturday at a casino in the falls to get out of the heat," I lie. Can't blow my cover story that I was camping with Owen.
"He saw Clare there, her dad dragged Clare to the falls to watch him marry his mistress. That's after he had Helen committed and her parental rights taken away. And he was going to force Clare to move to Calgary. She convinced him to let her stay in Toronto to finish out high school here, she's living with Alli for now," Adam informs Mom.
"That's terrible, how awful for Clare to go through all that. How could her father put her through all that, having Helen committed and her parental rights taken away? I'm glad she isn't moving, she'll at least have her friends around her. Next time you talk with her Adam tell her that we're all here for her if she needs anything," Mom says.
"I will," Adam nods.
"I did find out that Katie cheated on me and was doing drugs, so I broke up with her," I enlighten mom.
"I'm sorry Honey I know you really liked her, but I'm glad you broke up with her instead of trying to stay together and fix her. Katie needs more help than you can give her. I'm sure another girl will come along soon," Mom says hugging me.
"Yeah, you've never had a problem getting girls to fall for you," Adam says with a slightly sardonic and bitter tone.
"That's because he's such a heartthrob," Mom gushes while I shoot my brother a look. "Don't worry Adam, one day one very special girl will see just how wonderful you are," Mom assures him.
"Yeah, like maybe after I've been through the hormones and surgery, if you'd let me start," Adam grumbles.
"Adam, we've discussed this you are not ready," Mom replies in a sharp tone.
"Come on Little Bro, let's go play video games," I comment tugging at his arm. This subject is one that Mom and Adam argue about frequently.
Adam and I go downstairs, and he turns on the TV. While he picks out a game I send a text to Owen to make sure our stories match up, just in case Mom checks. I basically give him a rundown of what we supposedly did while camping. Making sure to include everything I just told Mom, including seeing Clare in the falls, but not that she and I got married or were even witness to her dad getting married. Adam and I play video games until dinner, over dinner we tell Dad everything we told Mom earlier. He says he can help her with the paperwork to move out and anything else she might need with her one parent leaving and her mom declared unfit. Adam and I clean up after dinner before returning to the basement for more video games. Later that night as I'm getting ready for bed I get a text from Clare.
Clare: Will you help me pack my things tomorrow please? Everything at the condo for sure, and maybe some of the things at the house?
Drew: Of course.
Clare: Thanks.
Drew: No problem, just text me tomorrow and I'll come pick you up from Alli's.
Clare replies that she will and I set down my phone. For a while I lie on my back, arms behind my head, staring at the lights on my celling. My mind is going over all that's happened in the last few days. My romantic getaway weekend with Katie resulted in her getting high and cheating on me. Rather than having a romantic anniversary weekend and making love to my girlfriend I got married to my brother's best friend. A wedding that her father forced us into, so she wouldn't have to move. A wedding that only the two of us, Randall, Elaine and the man who married us knows about. I have a wife now, a wife that I must stay married to for at least two years. It's been quite a weekend.
I wake up the next morning to my phone ringing. Thinking it's Clare I sleepily grab my phone from my nightstand. I try to look at the caller ID, but my eyes are still blurry with sleep. It's someone in my contacts though, so I hit accept.
"Hello?"
"You fucking asshole, you left me stranded in Niagara! Marisol had to drive up to get me last night. I spent all night crying my eyes out at her house," Katie hisses at me.
"You disappeared during our romantic weekend! I then found you with a whole group of guys, cheating on me and doing drugs. I told you we were done and to find your own way home. I should have broken up with you months ago," I reply and hang up on her. I block Katie's cell number and her house number. I'm awake now so I go downstairs and get some breakfast.
It's Monday and school starts up next week so both Mom and Dad are gone at work. While I'm eating breakfast Adam comes downstairs, he says good morning and makes himself breakfast.
"Bianca's coming at eleven to take me to physio, we're going to lunch after," Adam informs me.
"You and Bianca have become really close this summer," I remark.
"I think she feels guilty," Adam shrugs.
Vince shot Adam at prom, Bianca thought it was her fault. Vince went to jail and with Dad's help Bianca struck a deal, no jail time but 200 hours of community service. When she wasn't doing community service this summer she's been at our place helping out however she can. She's spent a lot of time with Adam this summer, Katie hated that she was here so much and didn't want me hanging around Bianca. That should have been the first warning sign that something was very wrong in our relationship.
I finish eating and go up to my room to get dressed, I have text from Clare asking me to pick her up in an hour. I text back that I'll be there before getting dressed and ready for the day. I call to Adam that I'm going out for a while and leave the house, it's not time to pick up Clare yet but I thought she might need some boxes. I stop at The Dot first and ask if they have any empty boxes, they give me a few and I get a few from the drug store across the street. Then I drive to the Bhandari's house to pick up Clare. I almost get out of the car, but she comes out to me.
"Thanks for doing this," she smiles.
"What are secret husbands for?" I ask, and she giggles.
She tells me how to get to her dad's condo, I park in the garage in her dad's spot, grab a couple boxes from the back of the car and follow Clare upstairs. It's not a big condo and it's obvious that Clare hasn't been here long, there's no pictures of her anywhere. Even the room she's staying in appears to be a guest room, there's very little of Clare in the room at all. She doesn't have very much here and we're able to pack it all into her suitcases and one box.
"Should we go to your house and start packing things there? We can drop this stuff at Alli's first," I comment.
"Yes, let's take this stuff to Alli's first, everyone is gone today. Then we should go to the house, get what we can packed up, there's a lot more at the house. A lot of it will probably go into storage but I should pack everything I intend to keep, or Mom might need when she's out of the hospital," Clare says with a sad tone.
"We'll pack as much as we can today, no one's expecting me home," I tell her.
"Thanks Drew," she smiles.
We get back in my car and I drive us to Alli's house, I help Clare get her things upstairs, to Sav's old room. Then it's back in my car and we go to her house, she doesn't have to tell me how to get there because I've dropped Adam off before. When we walk into the house Clare changes, her eyes gloss over with tears, she doesn't cry though she fights them. Her face washes over with anger and sorrow, she slumps a little, bites her lip to keep from crying. It's as if she walked into a stranger's home and found a dead body rather than walking into her own home.
"Where would you like to start?" I ask her putting a hand on her back.
"Let's start down here, I'll open the blinds and windows to get some light and fresh air in here," Clare says. She opens the blinds and windows while I set the empty boxes we brought in on the coffee table.
"Just tell me what you want and I'll put it in the box."
"The pictures on the mantle," she begins and then looks at all the pictures. "Just the one of me and Darcy, the others Dad can take," she says after seeing that most of the pictures have her father in them. "I'm just going to box up the stuff in the kitchen, Mom will need it when she's out, or I'll need it when I get a place of my own."
After packing the pictures on the mantle I help Clare with the stuff in the kitchen. Some of the older or seldom used things she decides to give to charity. When we're done with that she decides to move up to her room. It's already been partially packed for her dad's condo, I see her face when she steps into her room and that she almost cries. I put an arm around her and hug her tight. I wish I could tell her everything will be okay, but I don't know that it will be.
After a moment she pulls away and just starts throwing stuff into the boxes. She's working at a furious pace, I let her keep going because it seems to be working out her anger. She continues for a while just tossing clothes and things from her desk into the box on her bed. I start taking clothes out of her closet, I don't know if she wants all of these clothes, but she can sort through them at Alli's. All of a sudden, I notice it's gotten very quiet, I turn around to look at Clare. She's gripping something in her hand so tightly it's turning her knuckles white. Tears are running down her face, she looks like she might scream or draw blood from her hand if she squeezes any harder.
"What is it?" I ask her. She opens her hand and I retrieve the crumpled picture. It's a picture of a young Clare with her dad, they look happy.
"He tried to take everything from me, how could he? He's my father, he's supposed to protect me and love me," she says and sinks to her knees as her tears become harder and filled with more pain. I sit down and put my arm around her.
"He didn't Clare, and he can't not now. You'll stay in Toronto, finish high school, be close to your mom. I know he's taken a lot, but he can't take your friends Clare. You have all of them, you have me too and my parents. Adam will probably tell you this later, but Mom said to let them know if you need anything. Dad's going to help you with everything you need to move out on your own. Your dad can't take us away Clare and you're not alone."
After a moment she wipes her eyes and gives me small sad smile. "Thanks Drew."
I grin back at her and help her up. After a couple of hours, we have most of her room packed up, we're also out of boxes and suitcases. We get what we can down to the car, returning to her room for the last of what we're taking to Alli's house today.
"Is it weird that I want to kiss you?" Clare asks all of a sudden.
"Well," I remark looking at her, "I am your husband so not really, I mean we should be able to kiss whenever we want. Right?"
Clare sits down on her bed and I sit next to her. "You know we really never talked about how any of that would work. We're married legally but we weren't even dating it was just to get me out of a bad situation. I want to kiss you but…I don't know it just seems…," she stumbles over her words, looks at me and then looks away. "What if you want to go out with another girl? Or I meet a guy? No one knows we're married but us and my dad."
"Your brilliant new stepmom and the guy that married us know," I remind her and she smiles. "What do you want to do about that sort of thing?"
"I don't know, we're really only married on paper and to appease my insane and somewhat sadistic father. I don't want to trap either of us into a monogamous marriage when we're only married on paper, you wouldn't even be married if you hadn't seen me in the gift shop at the casino."
"And if I hadn't you'd be in Calgary in a few days. I'm glad I saw you there," I tell her, and she smiles. "How about this then; as long as we're single, so to speak we take advantage of the fact that we're married, even though it's in secret. So, when we're alone together if one of us feels like kissing the other or whatever we can do that. If the other doesn't want to kiss or whatever they say no, and we won't, no hurt feelings but we are married and should be able to be intimate as long as we're both comfortable with it. Then if one of us does get into a relationship we won't do that any longer, no one needs to know we're married and no need to ignore the desire to kiss each other, or do anything else seeing as we are married and all even if it's just on paper. We should be able to take care of those desires and needs."
"I think that's a good plan, and I agree," Clare grins.
I grin back, brush a curl behind her ear and softly press my lips to hers. I honestly only expect a soft closed mouth kiss, like the one we shared yesterday when I dropped her off at Alli's. I'm pleasantly surprised when Clare's lips part just a little, I feel the warmth of her breath on my lips. I part my lips slightly, her lips open a little more, I feel her tongue almost venturing out of her lips, but then she pulls away.
"So, I guess we should get this all to Alli's now?" I question scratching the back of my head.
"Not all of it, the stuff in the suitcases and a couple of the boxes. The rest will probably go into storage. Dad will be back tomorrow and he's going to rent a storage unit. He can also pay for a truck and movers to get out the furniture. If you don't mind running this stuff to Alli's and bringing me back, so I can mark the furniture I want to keep that would be great. I'll get back to Alli's on my own."
"I'll take you to Alli's and bring you back but I'm staying, I'm not going to leave you here alone," I tell her, and she smiles.
After making sure we have all the stuff she wants to take with her today I drive us to the Bhandari house. I help Clare get it all upstairs and then we go back to her house. She takes a notepad, marker and some tape from a drawer, then starting in the living room she begins marking all the furniture. If Clare wants to keep it or thinks Helen may want it Clare writes: STORAGE on the note pad and secures it to the furniture with the tape. If Clare doesn't want it or thinks her mom won't want it Clare writes: SELL or GIVEAWAY. When she's done it's a little after four and neither of us have eaten since breakfast. I take her to a diner in Mississauga that my family sometimes go to. We go that far mostly so no one we know will see us and wonder why Clare and I are dining together and without Adam. After eating I take her back to Alli's.
"Thanks for everything today Drew," Clare smiles.
"No problem, if you need me tomorrow with your dad just text me. He does know we're married."
Clare's smile grows a little, it makes her eyes sparkle. "I will."
I watch her go inside before I drive home.
(CLARE)
I sit on Sav's bed, looking at a box of stuff we brought from Dad's condo. I haven't touched anything in the box or unpacked anything, just sat here staring at it for a while. The house is quiet, Mrs. Bhandari is home but she's reading downstairs so when my phone rings it startles me. Before I look at it I have this small glimmer of hope that it's Drew calling, even though he dropped me off only a couple of hours ago. It's not Drew it's my dad, I groan to myself before picking up the phone.
"Hi Dad."
"Hello Dear, we'll be home tomorrow are your things packed?" He asks. He sounds like he's asking his co-worker if the paperwork got scanned in, not asking his daughter if she's packed up her life.
"Yes, pretty much everything is packed. I didn't go into your room, I put notes on what needs to go into storage. There's also notes on what can be sold or given away. I moved out what I could, what I need for now is at Alli's with me."
"I'll hire some movers, rent a truck and a storage unit tomorrow after I see what needs to go into it. Everything will get moved Wednesday so make sure you have everything you want out of there."
"I already did," I reply in a sharp tone and hang up.
I scream in frustration and throw my phone on the bed. My first instinct is to call Drew, to tell him what happened, my thought is that he's my husband and he should know. Then I realize that he's only my husband on paper and he's already done a lot for me today and I don't want to call and complain to Drew. Instead I let out a big huff and fall back on the bed, I stare at the ceiling a few moments and then start looking around the room. It was very nice of the Bhandari's to take me in and let me stay, but I can't stay here long. I feel like any longer than a month is pushing it. Which means I need to start looking for a job and another place to live, finding an apartment I can afford and keep going to DeGrassi won't be easy. While I'm wallowing in my sorrow my phone rings again, and again it's not Drew, but it's close.
"Hi Adam."
"Just calling to see how you are. Your dad's coming back tomorrow right?"
"Yeah, he called a while ago, he'll rent a storage unit for me, get a truck and movers. Thankfully I don't think I have to see him tomorrow. It would be nice if I didn't feel like my whole world was being ripped apart. If not for…" I pause and bite my lip before Drew's name slips between them, "my friends," I say instead which is true, "I'd probably be in the nut house with my mom."
"Don't say that Clare, you've been through a lot because of your parents the last few months. I think you've been handling it remarkably well, and you know we're all here for you. Mom said to let us know if you need anything, and Dad's going to help with all the paperwork you need to move out."
"Thanks Adam," I smile. Of course, Drew told me all of that earlier, but Adam doesn't know.
"Why don't you come hang out tomorrow? We can watch movies, just chill and then if you do need to see your dad I can go with you."
"Thanks Adam that would be great," I reply with relief and barely manage to stop myself before I say Drew can come too.
"Cool, just text me when you're up tomorrow," Adam replies.
I say goodbye to Adam and set my phone down with a sigh. It's really hard to keep this secret from Adam, and I feel like we're lying to him.
Chapter 3 is up!