Hope you guys like this chapter, it was tough for me to write. Anyways, on with the Story!

Mr. Simpson definitely kept his word when he said Degrassi would be an entirely different school. Many changes were enforced, such as all students being required to wear uniforms. Not to mention there was some sort of scanner situated at the front doors of the school. What on earth was that for…?

Clare looked down in mild disdain at the uniform she was forced to wear; a navy blue shirt and a bland beige skirt. She didn't understand why this was being required, but she wasn't that upset. Alli was sure as hell going to be, though. Being fashionable is one of the things she loved; and that freedom was taken away. She stood there by the stairs, deep in thought about what had occurred over the last few days.

It felt immensely refreshing that Fitz would not be walking through these halls. That he wouldn't be able to mock her. Even better, she had Alli, Adam, and Eli by her side. But she still didn't feel much better, in fact, she felt even more depressed. Clare definitely needed them at this time in her life, with things being even more tense, miserable, and uncomfortable at home. They were her home away from home. Her family. Clare was so deep in thought that she didn't even hear the footsteps behind her. She whipped around as a hand touched her shoulder, and she came face to face with Adam.

"Hey Clare, why the sad face?" His smile seemed to be brighter than the sun, and Clare was momentarily jealous; she wanted to be happy like that. But.. She couldn't spill the beans to Adam.

Adam knew Fitz had a knife that night, but he never found out what happened after. She went with the first excuse she could think of.

"Just missing Eli, that's all." She gave a small smile as Adam rolled his eyes at her. "Man, love is intense. Ha, Eli should be here soon though." Clare chuckled softly and shifted her gaze around, searching. Where was Eli anyway?

Adam noticed that she wasn't acting the same as she usually did, and the smile quickly fell off his face. He touched her arm and looked at her, completely serious.

"Yo, Clare, everything okay? You seem kinda, I don't know…off."

The color drained from Clare's face, and she inwardly panicked. Did he know? How would he know? Eli couldn't have told him, could he? No… maybe she should confess to Adam.

Adam watched her silently slip into freak out mode, and he tried to get her to talk again.

"Umm, Earth to Clare… you know you could talk to me if something's up, right?"

Without thinking, she took Adam by the arm and dragged him towards a secluded corner. Clare let out a huge sigh, as she prepared herself to tell Adam what happened.

After she had finished explaining, she could only stand back and observe as Adam flipped out. "He did WHAT? Fitz did that to you? But why?" His voice was laced with frustrated anger, and Clare shook her head at him, at a loss for words.

"I don't know. Probably because I got in the way of his revenge. I honestly don't know." Adam gave her a sad smile, and hugged her. And that's what did the damage. Clare immediately broke down into tortured sobs, unable to control herself. Adam dragged her down to the ground and placed an arm around her shoulder.

"Whoa, Clare. Why are you so upset? Everything's going to be okay, okay?" Clare wiped her eyes and sniffled, attempting to compose herself. A weight had been lifted, but she was still weighed down into a spiral of depression.

"E-everything has just been so… s-so bad at home. That's the first time someone actually hugged me since it happened, other than Eli. My parents are either silent or they're fighting, it's hell over there. There's no peace, and I'm miserable. I don't want to have to keep running to Eli every-time I'm sad. I can't do that to him. Oh, Adam.." She continued to sob, and didn't even notice Adam staring behind her. "Um, Clare…" he tried to say, but Clare talked over him. "Adam, I don't know what I'm going to do, I can't live like this, I tried to be strong, I really did… but when I'm without Eli… I'm afraid that I might do something."

Adam's eyes widened at this, and the person who had been behind them revealed themselves. "Clare Edwards! You are NOT thinking about what I think you're thinking about." Clare jumped in surprise and turned to see Alli stand before her.. "A-Alli, why were you listening to my conversation?" She frowned at her.

"That is not important right now, Clare! Why on earth would you want to … Kill yourself?" Alli's chocolate brown eyes gazed at her sadly. She knew what happened because she had overheard her mother talking to Clare's.

"Because! I'm so tired of living like this… I'm always getting hurt. I really don't want to have to cry to Eli when the going gets tough, but…my life is way too hard right now, and I just can't."

Alli wrapped Clare into her arms and rubbed her back soothingly. "Oh, Honey. I know it seems really really hard right now, but you have to be positive. Suicide is not the answer, okay? Just… talk to Eli. Really tell him how you feel."

Clare nodded, but she didn't respond. She didn't know how Eli would feel if she told him her true feelings; that her happiness was a mask.

She turned to Adam, who still hadn't let go of her hand.

"Adam… when I tell him, would you please stay?" She sniffled some more, willing herself not to cry.

"Of course! Anything, Clare. I'm here for you."

EPOV

Eli bounded down the steps of his house and opened Morty's door. "New" Degrassi was starting today, and he didn't want to make a bad impression by being late. Plus, he'd promised he would meet Clare before school started, seeing as they hadn't talked about what happened with her parents. He brushed the hair out of his eyes as he drummed his fingers on the steering wheel, attempting to ease his nerves.

Honestly, he was nervous of what Clare would say, because he wasn't sure how to comfort her. Eli didn't know how to relate to Clare's current home life, as his was stable. All he wanted to do was be able to say the right thing. The last thing he wanted to do was drive the one constant in his life away from him. He took a deep breath, and put the key into ignition, starting the car. The thoughts couldn't help but run through his troubled mind; if he had done what Clare said, would things be different?

Eli stepped on the gas, and made his way towards school. He couldn't wait to see his blue-eyed, curly-haired angel. He was beginning to realize that Clare was the love of his life. She was…perfect. He didn't think that at any other point in his life he was happier than now. CeCe and Bullfrog, his parents, could even tell he was happier. With Clare, everything was different. It was smooth sailing, easy, perfect. She calmed him down and made him look at the world differently. Sure, he still had some problems here and there, but Clare was there to support him. And he would sure as hell be there to support her if she damn well needed it. He, Elijah Goldsworthy, was in deep-rooted, head-over-heels, love.

He kept driving until Degrassi's parking lot came into view. Making a right turn, he pulled into one of the available spots. Noticing that the gas was running low on Morty, Eli pat the dashboard of the car reassuringly.

"Don't worry, Mort. I'll fill you up after school. See you later!" With that, he grabbed his bag and stepped out of his car. It felt good to be here, to finally see Clare. He also had to find Adam, too. They needed to catch up. He and Adam hadn't really got a chance to talk since the incident, but that was about to change. This was going to be a good rest of the year, even with the stricter school rules. He walked towards the front of the school until he saw who he was looking for, or well, people he was looking for. Eli made his way towards Adam, Clare, and Alli.

When he finally reached them, he plastered a giant smile on his face. "Hey, Adam! Alli, Clare-Bear." Alli turned to look at him, and shifted her gaze back to Clare, mumbling a "hey, Eli, um.. I got to get to class." And hurriedly left the group. Hmm. Weird, but Eli shrugged it off.

Then Adam shifted so that Eli could fully see Clare, and concern immediately washed over him. Clare was a mess. Her beautiful baby blue eyes were red-rimmed and glassy, her face was flushed and tearstained, lips quivering. "Whoa, Clare! What's wrong?" He knelt down in front of where she was sitting, and put his hand on her arm.

Clare sniffled, and her throat closed up as she tried to bet the words out. "Um.. Eli we need to….talk." Her sweet voice broke on the last word and it broke Eli's heart.

"Of course, Clare. Talk to me, what's going on?" His green eyes were full of nothing but compassion and concern.

"I don't know what to do anymore… I f-feel like I'm at the end of my rope, and I can't… c-can't…" She trailed off into sobs, and covered her face in her hands. Eli didn't know what to say because he didn't know what the exact problem was, so he turned to Adam.

Adam just gave a small nod, and began to explain what Clare told him. "Clare's really in a bad place right now, Eli. She told me that when she told her parents, it just got totally worse. Her mom started to act like It was Clare's fault everything happened,instead of supporting her. I guess that her religion means so much to her that Clare doesn't even matter. Clare feels completely lost, and…." He looked to Clare for permission to continue, who gave it. Eli was confused.

"And, what, Adam? What happened?" He became increasingly worried with every word that came out of Adam's mouth.

Sighing, Adam decided to continue speaking, but was cut off suddenly by Clare.

"Eli…I don't want to be here anymore.. I can't. I would just feel better if.. if… I didn't have to suf-"

Eli suddenly became infuriated, and he couldn't control it. He knew what Clare was trying to say, and he wouldn't have it.

"If you didn't have to suffer?!," He roared. "Suicide, Clare, really? That was your solution? I'm here for you! Adam's here for you! You could've came to us as soon as things got worse! CeCe and Bullfrog would have let you stay, no questions asked! Why didn't you talk to me?," Eli screamed, unable to contain his anger.

Clare only sobbed harder, and her hands began to shake as Eli got angrier. "I didn't want to have to burden you again, you've already been there for me so much…I didn't want to throw all my problems at you…" She sniffled, and refused to look at him.

Eli was beyond livid now, she wasn't making any sense. Did she really think suicide was the only answer?

"That's what I'm here for, Clare. To listen to you, to help you, to protect you. You can tell me anything! God, you know this! Why do you have to think like that? I won't let you be Julia all over again, I can't lose you!" He felt his own tears burning up in his eyes, and Clare reached out for him

"Eli, I'm sorry…please. I just don't know what to do…"

He shook his head and backed away, unwilling to deal with this right now. He needed air. Eli needed to fix this.

"I- I have to go, Clare. I'll…talk to you later. Bye, Adam." He turned and walked away towards his car before he had the chance to cry. He barely heard Adam shout at him, "Eli, what the hell! Come back!" as he walked on. He…just couldn't deal with Clare right now. Not until he found a way to fix it. Eli was going to Clare's house. To talk to her parents.

Chapter Three, Done. Wow, The Eli-Clare fight was really hard for me to write, and the suicide mentions. So… Eli's going to talk to Clare's parents. That will be included in the next chapter, along with a heart-to-heart between Eli and Clare. Hopefully will update by Tuesday or Wednesday… If I can get reviews to at least 10. So, read and review& the story continues!

~~Beccky3