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Clare

I grabbed the headphones out of the mailbox. It was at least 10:00 at night, and I couldn't hear my parent's talking so I assumed they had finished. I was a little nervous as I opened the front door and stepped inside the front room.

"Clare?" I heard my mom call softly from upstairs.

"Yeah, I'm home." I said.

There was no reply as I climbed up the stairs and knocked softly on my parent's door. I waited a few seconds before opening the door. I gasped and burst into tears.

"Oh no." I said, covering my face with my hands and stepping inside my parent's room, dropping Eli's headphones and rushing over to the huge bed in the middle of my room and hugging my mom. My mom was a wreck, her hair was a mess and her makeup was smeared all over her face. She was sitting in the middle of the bed, with a box of Kleenex and there were used tissues scattered all over the bed.

My mom just cried hysterically into my shoulder. I awkwardly rubbed her back as I too cried. Then I looked around the room and noticed the mess. All of the suitcases and duffel bags we owned we're laying on the floor, with my Dad's clothes and belongings were spilled in a messy pile next to them. I bit my lip to stop crying.

"Clare?" my mom said, sitting up and blowing her nose with a fresh tissue.

I nodded as I too grabbed a tissue from the box.

"Dad" she choked on the word "is not going to be around much anymore."

My eyes filled with fresh tears. "Can I know why?" I asked quietly.

"I f-found out why he's b-b-been working o-overtime at work." she said, trying to keep from crying.

"Oh no." I said, staring at the white comforter on the bed and covering my face with my hands. All this time he was having an affair?

"That lying, cheating bastard!" my mom cried, jumping off the bed and throwing the pile into the suitcases. She was hysterically crying now as she violently threw the various things into the suitcases.

I jumped off the bed, and timidly approached my mom. I hugged her from behind, and she stopped throwing things. She turned around and wrapped her arms around me, and started sobbing into my shoulder again.

This is going to be a very long night, I thought, as I wiped a tear from my cheek.

...

At around midnight, after two very long hours of crying together, my mom finally said she needed to be alone. I left her room and closed the door, then I sunk to my knees and start bawling, right in front of the door. I was so confused, about everything. Nothing seemed sense, this was never supposed to happen! I regretted pushing my mom to talk to him now, even though I knew this was going to happen whether or not I asked my mom to talk to him. I knew I wasn't going to sleep at all tonight, but I changed into my comfiest pajama's, soft blue short shorts and a black cami, and went downstairs to find some comfort food. I made myself some hot chocolate and went and sat down on the couch. Then I looked over at the dull black computer moniter and went over and hit the On button. I sat down in the computer chair and an IM popped up on the screen.

e-golds49: Didn't know you were such a nightowl, Edwards.

clare-e25: Can't sleep.

e-golds49: Neither can I. so whats up?

clare-e25: *sigh* nothing good.

e-golds49: care to explain?

clare-e25: ... i'd rather explain to you in person.

e-golds49: well you can wait till tomorrow, but since we're both wide awake why don't i just come over?

clare-e25: r u serious? it's after midnight!

e-golds49: that it is.

clare-e25: well, i mean i guess you could come over.

e-golds49: thanks for the invitation!

clare-e25: just get over here. but dont ring doorbell, my mom is home.

e-golds49: see ya in a few.

e-golds49 is offline.

I shut the computer down and placed my mug in the sink and grasped the sink and leaned over it. I can't believe Eli was coming over at this hour! Was Eli a friend? I guess so, because I guess true friends do come over to your house at midnight when you're in the middle of a meltdown. I did the dishes nervously, while I cried a little bit, then I heard a soft knock on the door. I ran over to the door, composed myself a bit and then opened it quietly.

"Hi. Come in." I said as I moved out of the way.

Eli looked at me, in what seemed a sympathetic way. Eli, sympathetic? No way!

Then he gently cupped my face and wiped away the tears with his thumb. I immediately felt the sparks again, even though that sounds so cliche. He frowned.

"Your parents?" he asked softly.

I nodded slowly as I felt tears spring in my eyes. "Uh, l-let's go up to my room."

He followed my up the stairs, then we quietly walked past my mom's room and walked down the hallway to my room. I opened the door and motioned for him to come inside. He stepped inside and closed the door.

"So, do you wanna talk?" he asked. "I know what it's like. My uh, parents got divorced when I was 5."

The tears that filled my eyes spilled over without warning as I buried my face in my hands. I didn't even know Eli came over and sat down next to me on my bed until I felt is arms wrap around me and pull me into his chest.

Eli

I wasn't exactly the comforting type, put honestly seeing Clare in pain made my own chest ache. She cried into my chest, as I held her. Then I gently laid back on her bed, bringing her with me. Soon enough, her tears slowed.

"Ssh, it's okay." I said. Definately not words that came out of my mouth often.

She stopped crying and sat up and looked at me. I felt a little embarrassed as I too sat up. Then she reached for my hand, and intertwined his fingers with mine. She smiled a little, her face still wet with tears.

"Thanks for coming Eli. It uh, means a lot." she said, her voice still thick with tears.

I reached across to her bedside table and grabbed a tissue from the box and handed it to her. "No problem."

She blew her nose and then looked down. "Oh gosh, I'm wearing my pajamas." she said, embarrassed. She then got up and walked over to her closet, opening the door and grabbed a bathrobe from off a hook.

I had to admit it to myself, she did look good in her PJ's.

"You look fine." I said, smiling at her.

She looked at me for a few seconds, and then put the robe back on the hook and shut the door and came over and sat down next to me.

I leaned a little closer to her. "So what is this? Some kind of sad slumber party?" I whispered flirtaciously, my face just inches from hers.

"Only if you want it to be." she said, staring at the bedspread.

I put two fingers under her chin and lifted her head so she was looking at me. "Am I allowed to stay the night?"

She nodded shyly as I kicked off my shoes and tucked my feet under myself.

I decided now was a pretty good time to tell her I liked her. I grabbed her hand, feeling pretty confident as I looked into her sparkling blue eyes, that I could see perfectly even though it was rather dark in here.

"Clare" I breathed "I like you, a lot. You're like no other girl I've ever met. You're different."

"A good different or a bad different?" she asked, smiling at me.

"An excellent different." I said.

She smiled, as she pulled the sheets up and got under them and then motioned for me to lie next to her. I shyly took off my black blazer and threw it next to my shoes as I got under the covers.

"Well you're an excellent different kind of person as well." she smiled as leaned closer to me.