Chapter 2

"You what?"

She had never seen Eli this angry before. He had indeed snapped at her once, when she had cleaned out his locker. Not knowing that he was a hoarder. This anger, though... this was something she had been expecting but not at this level. He looked like he was about to blow a blood vessel in his neck and forehead.

"I... talked to Fitz. In person last night." Clare said again, trying to keep her voice steady and sure. "He showed up at my door, Eli. What was I supposed to do? Turn him away?"

"Yes!" Eli blurted out. "Do you remember what he tried doing for the first half of the school year? And you just let him in when he showed up at your doorstep?"

"Eli will never be able to understand or forgive, Clare." The voice of Fitz said inside of her head was saying. "But you're different than him. You're a much better person. Please..."

Clare shook her head as the memory led off somewhere else. She sighed. "Eli. Please don't be mad at me. I think Fitz is sorry for what he did to you. To us. He said that he would eventually like to talk to you."

"I'm never going to talk to him!" Eli said, his voice incredibly close to shouting. "I would very much like it if you never talked to him again either!"

"He's going to be mad, Clare. I'm so sorry that he will yell at you. His temper will get a hold of him and he will try to tell you not to talk to me. He can't control what you do, Clare. I've been wanting to talk to you for so long. Please. Don't let Eli ruin it."

"I'm sorry, Eli." Clare said softly. "I won't talk to him again."

Forgive me, Lord. For I have just lied.

Eli calmed down and wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug, burying his face in her neck. "Can I come over after school today? We can create you a new email account so Fitz will never be able to talk to you again..."

"I can't hang out tonight." Clare said firmly. "I have a youth group to go to and a Bible study afterward. I'm sorry."

Eli sighed but nodded. "It's okay. Sometime over the weekend, maybe?"

Clare just nodded, her thoughts again drifting off to Fitz. "I got a job at The Dot now, since I can't go back to Degrassi. If you ever want to talk after you're done school or something... that's where I'll be."

The final bell rang and Clare wanted to dash to The Dot to go talk to Fitz but Eli had her held firmly. "I love you, Clare."

Clare faked a smile. "Yeah, love you too." She kissed his cheek and left Eli to watch her back as she left.

She made her way to The Dot, making sure that Eli wasn't following her every once in awhile. When she arrived, she saw Fitz washing some dishes and walked up to the counter.

"What can I get you?" The person, whom she didn't recognize, asked her from behind the counter.

"Can I have two waters and some time with Mark, over there?" Clare asked, smothering a smile.

The person started to frown but nodded. "Hey, Fitz. Grab two waters and go talk to the lovely young lady here."

Fitz turned and as soon as he saw her, he didn't bother smothering his smile. She waved and he held up his hand to indicate for her to wait but she had decided to go find a table away from the prying eyes of the public. He handed her a water and sat down, his grin still there.

"It's so good to see you again, Clare." Fitz said, looking down bashfully. It was something Clare had never seen him do before and her heart skipped a beat, thinking the gesture was cute.

She smiled. "For some reason, I can't keep you out of my head." Realizing what she had just said, she felt a small blush creep onto her cheeks and she took a sip of her water, thankful for the distraction.

"That makes two of us." Fitz said softly, pretending he hadn't seen the blush. "What can I help you with?"

Here goes nothing. "I have something to tell you. And then something to ask you."

Fitz nodded, sipping his water carefully. "All right. I'm ready."

Clare took a deep breath before saying softly, "I forgive you, Fitz. I hope that you feel better. I know that it makes me feel better."

Fitz's smile widened and he once more looked down, a hint of sadness creeping to the surface of his expression. After a moment, he finally said, "Thank you so much, Clare. That means more to me than you will ever know."

She reached out and patted his hand gently. "You're welcome. I'm so happy for you. That you've found redemption. And that I helped you find that path."

He wanted her to keep her hand there for longer than she did but she had moved it back to her water, the corner of her lips tugged into a gentle smile. He looked back up. "And what was the thing you wanted to ask me?"

"Oh, I have a youth group to go to tonight. And a Bible study afterward. I was wondering..." She swallowed nervously. "I was wondering if you would like to come with me. Eli never wants to go. I understand why but I would like it if someone would come with me."

He looked at his watch. "I get done in about ten minutes. Do you... do you mind waiting for me?"

Clare shook her head, lips once again curled into a smile. "We've got some time. I don't mind waiting."

"Thanks, Clare." Fitz said, taking his empty water and standing up. "Anything I can get you before I'm done work?"

"No, thanks. I'll be here when you're done." She flashed him a smile and watched him get back to work. Thinking that she was in the clear, she took out her phone and was going to text Eli to make sure he wasn't on her tail when she heard the door chime and turned to look.

And there stood Eli, his face a mask of pure, feral anger. "You lied to me, Clare!"

How did he know to come here? Clare asked herself, trying to calm herself down. She got up and approached him carefully, knowing that everyone in The Dot was now looking at them. "I know, Eli. I told you that I was sorry about talking to him before. But he's a different person, now. He found peace!"

"So now you're defending him?" Eli spat. "What kind of lies has he been telling you?"

"He's told me no lies." Clare responded calmly. "He's a changed person, Eli. I believe him when he says he is."

"Don't you see what he's trying to do?" Eli said vehemently. "He's trying to take you away from me!"

"I've told Clare exactly how I feel, Eli." Fitz said from behind Eli. Both of his hands were in front of him, indicating he didn't want to fight. "I told her that I wanted her to forgive me. And today, she did. I want you to forgive me, too. But that's more than unlikely."

"Sure, Fitz. I forgive you. For tricking me into thinking you were going to stab me. And then ruining everything for everyone else!" Eli retorted angrily. "I'm only going to say this once. Stay away from Clare. Or we're going to go back to the way things were."

"You're being too much." Clare said, finally deciding to speak up. "I've asked Fitz to join me for the evening. I don't need your approval to take a friend to something I invited him to."

If Eli had been angry when he had entered The Dot, it was now pure fury. "No! I forbid you to go with him!"

He's trying to control me. Clare said to herself. She was shocked. Fitz was right. Exactly right about him. How Fitz knew this would happen, I'll never know. I only know one thing. "I'm sorry, Eli. But you don't control me. I want Fitz to go with me. I'm sorry that you have a problem with that."

She gathered her courage and tried to walk past Eli defiantly but he grabbed her arm. She looked down at the bone white grip he had on her arm and into his fiery eyes.

"You're coming with me. Now." Eli growled.

"Don't touch me." Clare retorted, trying to pull free of his grasp. "I'm leaving."

She held his gaze, being as defiant as she could. Eli relented at last, releasing her from his terrible, angry grasp. If looks could kill, she would be dead on the spot. Ignoring this as best she could, she took Fitz by the hand and led him out of The Dot and away from an irate Eli.

Clare held back tears as Eli shouted in despair. When his cries were but a whisper behind them, she finally found the strength to look at Fitz. The person who had caused Eli so much trouble. Now that she had left with him, she was clearly worried about Eli. When she was close to crying, she felt his big arms wrap around her and pull her into an embrace. He whispered the Lord's prayer into her ears, which only reduced her to weeping openly in his arms.

He held onto her even as she wanted to rage and beat him up. He caught all of her tears onto his shirt and massaged her back until the sobbing had subsided. When she felt like she had cried her eyes out, she finally realized that she had felt safe inside Fitz's embrace. She had never felt more able to be herself. With Eli, she had to be someone who was strong. For his sake. Now, she was the weak one and she had been able to weep without judgment.

"I'm sorry." She whispered, looking at the tears on his shirt.

"Don't be. I was glad that you felt you could..."

The rest of his sentence was stopped as she cupped his cheeks and pulled him down into a kiss.