Clare was more nervous that she thought she would be. Actually, she was more nervous that she should be. When she called Alli, her best friend's reaction was a lot different that she thought that it would be. Clare thought that Alli would be asking why Eli would be calling but instead, Clare was given a high pitched shriek that made her cover her ears.

"Oh my gosh! What are you gonna wear?" Alli had squealed. "What did he say exactly? Oh my gosh, this is great!"

"What are you? Sixteen again? How is this great?" Clare asked.

Alli scoffed. "Because you guys are friends and you were so disappointed and messed up when Eli decided just to be friends. You're kind of a wreck without him. You have seem like you have your act together now but I know deep down inside you've been wanting him to come back into your life."

It was during Eli's first year of college at NYU when he decided to break it off with Clare. But he didn't do it over the phone. Clare was going to New York for Eli's birthday and on the last night of her visit Eli told her the dreaded news over dinner. He knew that it was terrible to break things off with her after spending a great weekend with her but he had no choice. It was either be a douche and do it over the phone or be a man and tell her in person.

"Clare," Eli's voice turned serious and Clare looked up at him from her food. She could see that things were wrong and she immediately got worried.

"What's wrong Eli?" she asked. In the back of her mind she knew what was coming after seeing how distant he was the past few days but she hoped that it was just her being paranoid rather than what she was thinking.

"I think…umm…" he took a deep breath "Clare, I think that we should stop seeing each other."

Clare's heart dropped into her stomach. She felt like she couldn't breathe and all of the muscles in her body froze and she couldn't move at all. The one thing she was trying to do now was to control her tears that were threatening to pour out of her eyes.

What did I do wrong? she thought. Am I too young, too naïve, too tame? Did he meet someone else?

"But…why?" she choked out and covered her mouth and looked down to control herself.

While Clare wasn't looking, Eli quickly took his thumb and ran it under his eyes to wipe the tears. "I thought that the long distance thing was going to work but I see how it's taking a toll on the both of us. We only see each other twice a year Clare. We said that we'd call and Skype but we're so busy that even that we can't do. I love you so much but when you go to Banting next year, you're gonna get even more busy and we'll have less time together."

"I can't believe this," Clare whispered to herself. "Long distance relationships are supposed to be hard but you promised me that we'll make it work. You promisedme, Eli. You promised me everything."

"I know," Eli tried to reach for Clare's hand but she pulled away quickly. "I'm so sorry."

Not wanting to hear anymore, Clare stood up and headed for the door. "Clare, wait. Come on, you don't have to leave," Eli pleaded. He ran after her but Clare squirmed away from him when he tried to catch her. "Your flight is in the morning, where are you gonna go now? You don't know your way around!"

Clare grabbed her suitcase and all of her things as quickly as she could from the guest bedroom and pushed past Eli when she opened the door back up and ran down the stairs. "Clare, where are you going? You can't just leave now! It's 9 o'clock and it's not safe for you to be walking around here."

"I'll figure it out," Clare mumbled loud enough for Eli to hear and she headed towards the front door of the apartment. Before she got the door open, Eli moved in between her and the door, stopping her from moving forward.

"It's not safe, Clare," Eli said sternly. "Just stay for the night and I'll drive you to the airport tomorrow morning however early you want. You're not leaving here by yourself."

"You have no right to make any decisions for me," Clare responded with a voice so vile that it shocked Eli tremendously. "Even if we were still together. You can't tell me that I can't do something. I want to go to leave now. I want to go to the airport now and book an earlier flight. If there isn't an earlier flight then I will stay at the airport until my flight in the morning. I want to get out of here. Just let me go and I won't be in your life again. Isn't that what you want?"

"That's not what I want Clare!" Eli almost yelled. "Us being long distance isn't doing any good for us! I still want you in my life as a friend Clare and maybe once we're done with school, we can pick things up again."

Clare didn't speak for a minute and just had her arms over her chest and looked to her side. "I'm not waiting for you. If I have to wait for you to want me again, it might take years and I don't want to wait. I'm not gonna waste me life waiting for you. It's either you want me now or you don't want me at all."

Eli took a slight step back and stared at Clare. He was so surprised by her bluntness. Her words cut him like a knife and even though he didn't want to say the words he was gonna say, he knew that he didn't have a choice. "I guess this is it then."

Clare shut her eyes and pressed her lips together. "I guess it is," she said in a cracked voice.

She went to grab her suitcase again and opened the door. This time Eli didn't stop her.

"Clare, you need him in your life. You just cut him off right after you broke up and you've never been the same bubbly, spirited Clare," Alli said sadly. She made a valid point. After that dreaded day, Clare stopped being so cheery. She still excelled at school but she only talked to Adam and Alli at school and rarely left the house. At one point she went to go to the Ravine but was met with a picture of J.T. Yorke that happened to be flying in her direction. She immediately turned back to her house and never left it again except to go to school related things or go to Alli's house.

"I just fear that seeing him will…" Clare began but she stopped talking.

"…bring feelings back that you've repressed for so long?" Alli finished Clare's sentence.

"Yeah," Clare sighed. "It scares me."

"I know it does," Alli replied sadly. "You love Landon don't you?"

Clare took a few seconds to respond and that made Alli wonder. "I do."

"Then you shouldn't have to worry about anything, right?"

"Right…"

Alli could sense the hesitation in Clare's tone and Clare, although she'd never admit it, saw it too. She hesitated and her voice was unsure. This made Clare even more scared and nervous now.

"It's just like going to see Declan after a few years," Alli said. "Remember when he tweeted you when he said he'd be visiting Banting? And you guys met up for dinner and you were all nervous because you were for sure that he'd bring up the neck kissing thing? He brought it up and you guys just laughed about it. You said that it wasn't awkward at all."

"Yeah but I didn't have a three year relationship with Declan," Clare pointed out. "This is different."

"Yeah but not that much different," Alli said. "Just…go take a bubble bath and relax and get ready like you normally would if you where going out to dinner with me. Then drive to The Dot, sit at a table, and talk like adults. It'll be fine, I promise."

Clare took a deep breath and relaxed. "I guess you're right."

"I know I'm right," Alli laughed. "Now go."


Clare sat in her car for a few minutes parked a block away from The Dot. It wasn't because she was nervous, it was just the only parking space that was available. She was sad when she didn't see Morty parked anywhere nearby. Was he here or did he have a new car? When she saw that the time was 7:10, she got out of the car and walked quickly to the restaurant. Walking inside, she smiled because whenever she went back to The Dot, it always reminded her of her Degrassi days. She spent so much time here hanging out and studying and having dates and it was always a big rush of memories that came rushing back.

Looking around, she slowly tried to find Eli. When she didn't spot him she took a seat at the counter and was given a menu right away.

"Can I get you a drink?" the waiter asked. He strangely looked like Peter and it made Clare happy.

"Just an ice tea please," Clare replied.

"Make that two."

Clare whipped her head around and saw Eli just taking his leather jacket off and sitting down on the bar stool next to her and with a smirk on his face. "Sorry I'm late," he sighed. "Traffic. I live downtown now and I think there's some kind of hockey game going on and it took forever to get here. Hope you weren't waiting long."

"No, I just got here too," Clare replied. She found herself more comfortable than she thought she would be. "How've you been?"

"I've been pretty good, busy with work and all but I got the week off when I told my boss that I was attending my sister's wedding. A little lie won't hurt," Eli replied simply. Clare couldn't help but smile.

"So you used my wedding to get out of a week of work? Same old Eli," Clare chuckled.

"Hey, this is a momentous event! I think it deserves a week off work," Eli said. "I have to find the perfect outfit, perfect shoes, get my hair done, and all that lovely stuff!"

"Just make sure you don't look better than me at my own wedding," Clare joked back.

"No promises there Edwards," Eli smirked. Then his smile went away. "In a few days…I can't say that anymore, can I?"

Clare was confused until she realized what Eli meant. "Oh yeah. I guess not. It'll be Tarver after the wedding."

"That'll take a while to get used to," Eli replied, pursing his lips to the side. There was a silence between them that lasted for a minute until the waiter came back and took their orders. They both got the same thing and went back to silence once the waiter left.

"So…I'm glad we're talking," Clare said a little awkwardly. "I guess we didn't really leave on good terms."

"We didn't," Eli said sadly. "But now that we're both more mature and older, I'm also glad that we're in contact. If I had missed your wedding, I would've been really disappointed. I'm glad you invited me."

"A party would not be complete without the presence of Eli Goldsworthy," Clare smiled.

Eli smirked and looked down at his hands. "So how'd you meet…Landon, was it?"

"Yeah," Clare nodded her head. "We met through my college roommate. He's her cousin actually and he came to visit and we met and it just went from there. It's been a few years since then and now here we are."

"Yes…here we are," Eli agreed slowly.

"What about you? Any girls?" Clare asked curiously. Since Eli had asked about her love life, it was only fair that she asked him.

"Not at the moment," Eli shrugged. "It's been a while actually. But I guess I like being on my own. Get my life together now, get married later."

Clare nodded in understanding. Their food came and the two started talking and eating. They talked about their Degrassi days and Adam and who it was that he would be bringing to Clare's wedding. Clare thought that it would be Fiona and Eli believed that it would be a different girl. They put twenty bucks on it and shook hands.

"In one day I'll be getting married and be twenty bucks richer," Clare said confidently.

"Poorer would be correct," Eli shot back playfully. "Fiona's travelling the world as a charity ambassador. There's no way Adam's girlfriend would be Fiona."

"You'll see, Fiona will be coming into the ceremony in a much more expensive dress than mine and will look a million times more beautiful than me and be on Adam's arm. Just you wait and see," Clare replied confidently.

"There's no way she could look more beautiful than you," Eli said softly.

"That's sweet," Clare replied just as softly.

There was an awkward pause until the waiter came back with the check and set it in between the two. They both reached for it and when their skin touched each others, electricity shot through both and they took their hand away as if they just touched fire.

"Uh…I got the check," Eli cleared his throat. "I told you that a lady never pays."

"Fine then," Clare said awkwardly. Eli put the cash into the check and left it on the bar and they both headed for the door. Eli went faster to open the door for Clare who smiled and walked through it. Once they reached the sidewalk, they faced each other.

Clare was gonna say her goodbye but Eli began talking first. "Can I see you again tomorrow? I want to show you something that I've been working on."

"Sure," Clare said in a heartbeat. "Where and when should we meet up?"

"Here," Eli said and held out a piece of paper to her. "Take this clue and you'll see where and when we'll meet up." Clare slowly took the note but didn't open it just yet.

"Okay, well I'll see you tomorrow then," Eli said and motioned for Clare to give him a hug. Clare wrapped her arms around Eli's neck tighter than she should've and they held each other for longer than they should've. When they both pulled away at the same time, they looked into each others' eyes deeply.

"See you tomorrow," Clare laughed awkwardly and turned around and headed to her car. She really really wanted to turn around and see if Eli was still watching her but she stopped herself and just walked to her car.


In her bed later that evening, she stared at the small note that Eli had given her. The Dead Hand was playing from her iPod dock softly. Taking a deep breath, she unfolded the note slowly and in Eli's messy scrawl, the note said:

"Good night, good night! Parting is such sweet sorrow,
That I shall say good night till it be morrow."

And underneath it said:

"7 A.M. Don't be late."


Hope you guys enjoy the chapter! Please review and tell me what you think!