Disclaimer: Gosh, it gets old to write these things! I mean, come awn! I've written it on the first chapter…do I have to say it over and over again? I DON'T OWN THE CLIQUE! Must I repeat it ever so slowly? I……..DON'T…..OWN……..THE………CLIQUE. Shall I spell it out for you? I D-O-N-(apostrophe)T O-W-N T-H-E C-L-I-Q-U-E. Or maybe you want me to alliterate it. This cutie couldn't create the Clique crap. So maybe you get the picture by now, I don't own the Clique. I just write stories related to it. Thank you for your time.

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Westchester Estates

Greenburg Manor

December 17

2:00pm

"Ok, that'd be two thousand, four hundred dollars of property taxes that we have paid, right?" Dylan asked as she slipped another paid bill into an envelope and licked it.

"Yes, it would. Is the kids' naptime over yet?" Jason questioned. He was always so eager to wake up the kids and see their happy faces and hear them say, "Hi daddy!" It gave him this feeling of strength and wisdom, like a super hero almost. Man, did he love his kids.

"No….just wait a few more minutes before we must awaken holy terror and holy terror-er. I like these few hours of peace that we get during the day." Dylan practically begged. She, on the other hand, did not enjoy spending time with the twins the way Jason did, but she was the one who took care of them whenever Jason was at work. Yet, she loved them anywhere from equally to more than her husband.

"Alright, fine….but—" Jason tried to say.

"It's a no. The kids stay in their beds for now. No questions asked." Dylan laughed.

Jason mocked her in a prissy voice as he made his way to the kitchen for a bottle of beer. Dylan laughed at her husband's strange sense of humor. She loved every bit of it.

"Want a Bud Light or a Samuel's?" Jason hollered from the kitchen.

"You know, I hate it when you do that, yelling all the way from the other end of the house!"

"Sorry. Which one?"

"Gimme some scotch." Dylan asked, still finishing up the bills.

"That's hard liquor, babe, you better go easy with that kind of thing…" Jason replied, worriedly.

"Psh, just give me the alcohol!" Dylan giggled.

Somewhere completely across the country and a few hours later, someone else had downed his 3rd glass of scotch and was still asking for more, begging the Lord to give this next glass the power to ease this monotonous pain. It got old, he was sick of it, and he couldn't remember the last time he was sober within the past month. He'd hurt her, she'd hurt him, they were even. But something just didn't feel right. And he had a strange feeling that it would never feel the same again.

Cam had tried so many different things to get the damned hurt that was in his heart constantly to subside. He'd tried going back to Olivia, but that only made him feel worse. He'd tried begging Claire to get back together, but all he got was rejection. He tried going to California, which at least got him away from Claire, Olivia, and Josh, but in the long run, it didn't change anything. And now he was on plan D and even that wasn't helping.

His dark curls fell into his eyes as he slammed the fourth glass down on the bar and wobbled his way out of the chair. Maybe this drinking thing needed to stop. It wasn't changing a thing and basically, it was wasting his precious time. He needed to make up his mind to either fight his ass off for Claire or move on and find someone new. Cam's leg started vibrating. Was this a side effect of drinking? Or sadness? He touched his leg cautiously and realized that it was just his phone ringing in his pocket.

"Shello." Cam answered.

"Uhhh…Cam?" A sweet voice nearly whispered back. Suddenly, his head started aching like heck. He recognized this voice, the sweet giggle, the humble voice, the "I love you" that had come out of those perfect pink lips thousands of times before. Claire's lips.

"Claire?" Cam hiccupped, drunkenly.

"Yeah, um, meet me at Santa Monica aysap….I need to talk to you." Claire slurred. She sounded so…drunk! Had she been thinking of him too? Was this the end of the ridiculous fight he'd been suffering from for what seemed like years?

"Why?" Cam asked.

"Just come. Now." Claire sounded very serious.

Cam tried to ask something else but Claire had already hung up. After that, Cam took a taxi to Santa Monica because the bartender would not let him drive there, and opened the door to see a nervous Claire, biting her thumb nail and pacing back and fourth. She spun around as soon as she heard the screeching halt of the taxi cab. Tears were flowing from her blue eyes which looked so afraid, lines of worry had formed on her forehead, and her fine hair was pulled back into a loose ponytail, she wore Josh's USA Men's soccer team coat, she had on navy blue polka dotted Etines, super flare Gap jeans, a Hollister graphic tee on, and she looked gorgeous.

"Cam!" She nearly yelled. Her stiff posture relaxed completely. Something was very wrong.

"He's gone…they're all gone! The draft has begun, the Olympics have been cancelled…they're taking all the men and they took Josh and Derrick and Ethan and Dylan just received a phone call from the Navy. I was so worried they'd taken you, too!" Claire cried.

"Slow down….they took….the draft started?" Cam questioned.

"Yes! How come you aren't going?"

"Surgeons are required to stay here….they took Josh? And Derrick? I mean, are they ok, do you know? When did this all happen?" Cam continued to interrogate his ex.

"They took all of the guys. I have no clue if they're ok or not…they just came to our house and said that Josh needed to go. It happened on the fifteenth. He purposed to me, Cam! And…I…" Cam's stomach did a 360.

"He….he….purposed? Were you going to say yes?" Cam asked, feeling confused and upset and angry all at once.

"No…I mean, I don't think so. It was all too soon for me. He's purposed to me three times now. I'm so confused…Cam….I miss you….and I miss him. I want you both so bad! So damned bad that I..."

Cam stayed completely silent. He wanted to grab Claire and kiss her sweet eyes and tell her that she had nothing to worry about. That he would be there for her through all of this, but he couldn't.

"Cam, just hold me. Hold me and be with me, and take me home with you. I want to be with you…I want to have you near me, I want to kiss you, I want to sleep next to you through the night…I want everything to be ok…"

Cam hesitated.

"Claire…I'm so messed up right now. I'm drunk and…messed up. You don't want me. Just wait for the one you love….wait for Josh. He'll be back soon and the two of you can start a beautiful family together." Cam whispered, knowing deep down inside that he was doing the right thing. As much as he wanted to take back everything he'd just said, he stood there quietly, feeling trapped.

"I have waited long enough for the one I love. All I really want right here and now, no matter how drunk, stoned, messed up you may be, is you. I have loved you forever…I want you, Cam. And you want me. I can see right through you. I know you inside and out. You and me…we're just meant to be together. So pleaseCam, please…take me home with you."

Cam looked at Claire's worried face. She was telling the truth, she had to be serious, she wanted him. He waited an extra second and pinched his pinky finger to make sure that this wasn't a dream, then he hesitated no longer, he grabbed Claire and ran his fingers through her hair and for the first time in months, felt in the right place.

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Back at Cam's hotel room…

Some old Beatles song was blaring through the stereo as Cam and Claire shared passionate kiss after kiss. Claire gently stroked Cam's face so that he felt numb as though he was back at the bar, drinking that glass of scotch again. Claire leaned in for another kiss, and then pulled back a split second before their lips were touching. Cam reached out for her, wanting more, but Claire just teased him, laughing the entire time.

Cam wanted her so bad. He wanted to feel her skin on his just like he used to, but just when she'd come so close to unbuttoning something, she'd move back or sideways or forward or whichever way she could to dodge him from making the same move on her. So unexpectedly to both of them, he yanked her toward him by the collar of her shirt. And to Cam's surprise, Claire stopped avoiding, and started really focusing on getting his clothes off.

Things happened just the way they used to, but so much better. Cam woke up in the morning and saw Claire's peaceful sleeping, unclothed body next to him. He ran his fingers up and down her spine, giving her instant chills, and causing her to wake up and flip over so she was facing him.

"Good morning beautiful." Cam smiled big at his own words. Claire giggled.

"Morning….last night…." Claire gasped. "Was….wow! I didn't know you could do all that!"

Cam laughed nervously. "I know…that was amazing…"

"Wanna know a secret?" Claire asked while holding Cam's hand.

"What's that?"

"That was….the best sex I've ever had. It's like all of the sudden we both have mad skills." Claire exclaimed.

"Maybe we learned a thing or two while we were on that little break." Cam chuckled.

"Woah…slow down tiger, who ever said we were back together?" Claire asked, startled.

"I didn't—" Cam tried to say.

"If we're doing this, it has to be no strings attached. We aren't back together. Period." Claire interrupted.

Cam wanted to ask so many things like What has happened to you? I thought that you weren't that kind of girl. And What ever happened to the whole "I love you" thing last night? But he didn't want to ruin this. If this was the only way he could be with Claire, then he would cherish every second of it.

"Yeah, of course….no strings attached." Cam said.

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a/n: I hope you love it...I know you did :-) Review por favor!!!