wgirl910; xD Not random. This is an eclare story, after all.

brown eyed girl.713; XDD Hahaha. I'm glad it was better. A little less tired when I wrote that chapter. I like yummy, too… Especially when it involves Eli, haha! Not yet, though. x3 But yummy scenes are coming, I promise. How could I possibly resist?

tweety09; Wait no longer, wonderful reader! It has arrived! Your screen name is cute. It makes me smile.

zeldaskeeper; Haha, we all know that deep down Clare is totally a badass. XD

Princesakarlita411; Glad you liked it, thank you for reviewing x3

ToriTrueBlood; True Blood is a good show btw. Thanks for reviewing! Here is ze update

somebodyisme10; Glad you're enjoying it! I was actually inspired to do that by A Bright Dark Moment, written by ShowTime. It's a really good story, be sure to check it out. I hope I made the scenes different enough, though? But I really think it's important for her character… she has had a lot of bad male figures in her life.

Yuuki Sakurai; Haha, I LOVE writing wonderfully dorky speeches for Eli xD It's my first time writing a fanfic with a character that can totally use them. I'm so glad you enjoyed it, hahahahaha. I'm planning on doing a lot of things like that for him, this chapter included. Thank you! XDD

People that review make me happy. Definitely the reason I write. Thanks to everyone adding it to the story alert, too! It's been a really fun 24 hours. XD I feel such a connection with all of you. It's really deep and stuff. XDD

ON WITH THE STORY! AND THINGS! YEAH. I feel like a silly.

I Don't Feel Like I'm Falling

Chapter 4: Finding Ground

It had been a long night. Clare's dad came home a little later and drunker than usual, so her mother was furious. She didn't want to get on the computer right now… Even if Eli was online, it wasn't enough. She really wanted to be held. To compensate she wrapped herself into his jacket, which he was still unaware about, and was playing more instrumental music through his headphones. It wasn't the same as having him here, but it was the closest she could get.

'I bet if I asked him to, he'd come over,' Clare thought to herself with a little smile. She pulled her cellphone out of her pocket and contemplated sending him a text… but what would she say? Clare couldn't actually ask him to come over. It was already really late, and if she got caught, it would be so much trouble. As for calling him… It still didn't feel like it would help much.

She didn't want to talk, she just wanted a hug. A really nice, warm hug.

Clare cuddled a little more into the jacket and turned up the volume on her MP3 player. She'd just have to fall asleep for the time being. There wasn't anything else to do.

The following day when she got to school she was tired. It had taken longer than usual for her to fall asleep, obviously. She had the MP3 player and headphones in her bag just in case she found a way to not go back home that night.

Her mom didn't even mention the fight this morning.

Alli noticed her friend's behavior immediately. "What happened? Is it your parents again?" Clare nodded and rubbed her forehead. Just thinking about it gave her a headache. "Sorry… It's Friday, so we're hanging out as usual, right?"

This is why they were friends. Alli tried really hard to be a popular, ordinary, relatable person, but she was a lot more special than that. Her main talent was her ability to read people, just like that. They were strict, but Alli's parents raised two great children.

"Of course we are," Clare responded, smiling. "You were wrong, by the way. Eli made the second movie and asked me on a date."

"That boy," Bhandari laughed, "He really is a weird one. You've got your hands full, huh?" They joked around throughout the day. Clare was honestly excited to have some time with her best friend. As great as it was hanging out with Eli, she didn't want to throw all of her issues on him; especially not this quickly.

Of course, before English Eli went back to his normal habit of waiting by Clare's locker. "Miss Clare Edwards, lovely to see you this morning," he winked. "I missed you last night. Do I get to see you tonight?

'My hands full,' she thought, 'You really have no idea, Alli.'

"A little late," Clare responded, sarcastically upset by this development, "Alli already claimed rights to me tonight."

He looked honestly upset by this but shrugged with a cute pout. "I suppose BFFs take priority over BFs. The extra 'f' makes a world of difference."

That was probably the lamest joke he ever made… honestly, who makes fun of acronyms like that? It was really lame, but Clare's attention quickly jumped from the lameness to the fact that he definitely just called himself her boyfriend. Her face instantly lit up with a huge smile… Just like that, every thought of last night was completely gone.

She was falling for this boy, fast.

Of course, she couldn't let him have the pleasure of knowing that. "That was a stupid joke," Clare laughed, "And here I thought you were better than that."

He held his hand over his heart, as if he had been shot. "So cruel, so cruel… I see how it is. You hate me, don't you? That's why you won't kiss me! Oh, for shame, leading me on so heartlessly… You are a cruel mistress, Clare, but alas, it is too late… My heart is already yours, albeit shot with Cupid's arrow and bruised by your harsh words…"

… Wow.

Clare really couldn't respond to that one.

"You win," she started laughing hysterically, "There is no way for me to respond to that."

He wore a cheesy grin and said, "It's a wonder that I'm not in the senior English class… Then again, I wouldn't have met you. Must be fate." Clare rolled her eyes. If he wanted to be a dork, she might as well let him. "So I won't get to see you tonight? I guess I'll have to see if Adam is free, then. To English class?"

"Sounds good!" she smiled.

The day went by quickly enough and eventually Alli was at Clare's house. They were currently watching a really awful soap opera on TV and making fun of it.

"God. So much has happened over the past few weeks, huh?" Clare laughed.

"Definitely. Stuff started happening between Drew and I, and now there's you and Eli…"

"Mhm. How are things with him, by the way…?"

"They're… alright…" Alli sighed, "He's not interested in dating, you know? It's really hard, but. I'm working on it. He'll give in. What's going on between your parents?"

"Well. Dad is gonna be at a hotel until he finds someone he can stay with while he and Mom 'work things out'…"

"You don't think they're going to?"

"No… They're probably gonna be divorced…"

"Clare, I'm so sorry…"

"It's alright…" Clare shook her head, "I'm sad, but. Things have to change sometimes I guess… if they aren't happy together, then I don't want them to be together… Whatever helps…"

Alli scooted closer to her friend and wrapped her arm around Clare's shoulder. "You'll get through it. You're a really strong person, Clare-bear. Seriously, it amazes me. Whatever you need, I'm here for you."

Clare smiled and hugged her friend tightly.

"Same to you Alli."

Clare really loved the people in her life. All of them, her Dad included… They were all wonderful. She was so incredibly lucky and appreciative. Right now in particular, she felt like she was overflowing with some kind of growing affection.

The rest of the night they did each others hair, makeup and nails, and all the other girly things. Late that night they finally crashed and were in the process of falling asleep when Clare felt her cellphone vibrating… A text message?

She checked and saw that it was from Eli. Her heart fluttered before she even read it.

From: Eli

Hope you had a fun night. I still miss you.

She decided not to respond… Instead, she just fell asleep smiling, holding her cellphone close to her heart. This boy was going to be the death of her.

If not for the fact that she was keeping his jacket in the closet so Alli wouldn't tease her about it, Clare would definitely be cuddling with it again tonight.

ENDDDD

Another chapter down, hehe.

Read and Review, it's my fuel!