This was proof read by my partner Soon Enough (Michelle ;]). She edited a couple of things for me so some credit goes to her, she's fucking awesome! Hope you enjoy y'all.

Disclaimer- I. Do. Not. Own. Degrassi.

We stopped in our tracks in front of the art room. I looked in and saw that Eli was slouched back into his chair staring at the wall in front of him. His leg was jerking up and down and his hands were shaking. He looked irritable and uncomfortable, and would change positions every so often. One minute he would be scratching his arm until a rash formed, then the next he would be running his fingers through his hair. I wanted to feel bad for him, but he made it so hard to.

"Clare…are you okay?" Fiona asked. She rubbed her hand gently over my shoulders, trying to comfort me.

"Yeah. I'm still a little shocked I guess."

"Well, you had to know he was in here for something!" She said, stressing the last word.

While I stood speechless for a second or two, Fiona took the opportunity to move from the art room. She motioned for me to follow her and we started walking down the hallway and into a different room.

"Sorry Eli being a crack head wasn't the first thing that popped into my head." It came out harsher than I expected and I immediately threw her an apologetic look. She didn't seem to notice, though, because her eyes were on something else. Whatever it was, it was really making her nervous. She looked down quickly and began fidgeting with her fingers.

Well, this was odd. What had Fiona all nervous and fidgety? I looked over to see what had sent Fiona into that state and found Eli standing right next to me. He must have gotten up and followed us when we were walking here. He had been behind us the whole time. Eli was irked, to put it mildly. His eyes, alight with malice, were directed at me.

"Eli, not now." Fiona said firmly. He kept quiet, but his eyes still glinted malevolently through his curtain of greasy black hair. He gave us a tight smile before he turned away and set off down the hall. Now the rehab center had an angry Eli roaming around. Great.

After regaining composure and my breath, I looked up at Fiona through my bangs and saw that she was giving me a worried look. "You need to watch what you say in here, Clare. You never know who's listening." She told me half-heartedly.

I wish she would've told me before Eli overheard me calling him a crack head. I shrugged it off, nodding in understanding. Fiona was just looking out for me. "Come on, let's go to my room." She grabbed my hand and led me down the hall and into her room.

"God, I'm so stupid." I said once we reached her room. It was almost as boring and lifeless as the building itself. It was a tiny place that barely gave any room to breath. It consisted of a twin size bed and a dresser right next to it with a lamp placed on top.

Fiona laughed lightly and took a seat in the chair that was in one of the corners and picked up a magazine. "No you're not. You just have a poor choice of words... and timing."

"Thanks for putting it nicely, Fi. The guy still hates me, though." I sighed and plopped down on her hard mattress.

Fiona rolled her eyes dramatically. "Don't take it personally. He's like that to everyone, whether you know him or not." She looked over at me and noticed the doubt in my eyes. She set down her magazine and walked over to me. "Listen, its nothing to get upset over. And besides, he must have some interest in you. Why else is he always looking at you?"

My face went from white to scarlet in a blaze of chagrin. I chalked the embarrassment up to Fiona's sudden bluntness and tried to alleviate the settling silence by trying find something else to talk about. I looked around the room and my eyes landed on a collage of pictures plastered on the wall. It was the only thing that gave the room any sense of life or color. I walked over to them to get a better look. One of the pictures had Fiona placed in the middle of two adult figures. She had her arms draped around both of their shoulders. They looked familiar and I think she showed me them earlier that day so I assumed they were her parents. I looked over at her and her eyes were glued to a magazine so she had no idea I was looking through her pictures.

"So, how often do your parents visit?"

Her head snapped up from her magazine and a smile formed at the corner of her mouth. "Once a month. It's not a lot, but I take what I can get. Some of the residents don't get visitors at all; they don't even get phone calls, Clare. I feel kind of selfish, but I just miss them so much." She choked on her last part of the sentence and I gave her a sad smile.

"I bet they miss you too, Fiona. I can tell they just want what's best for you."

"I wish I would've known that from the beginning. I remember when told me they were sending me here, I was so livid I couldn't even see straight. But, maybe that was just because I was drunk off my ass when they told me." She laughed a little, and then continued, "I wouldn't talk to them for days, wouldn't even let them visit me for the first two months. It was hell, but I adjusted."

I nodded to show her I was listening but I was still looking at the picture on the wall. "That's you with them, right? Your mom is really beautiful, Fiona. You look just like her."

Her smile fell and her face became pale way too fast. I saw tears forming at the corner of her eyes and I could tell she was about to lose it. I walked over to her and pulled her into a tight embrace. I knew she needed this, but I had to leave her alone and get out of the room. Things were getting too heavy for her; we could talk about her family later, when she was ready.

"I'm going to go get a soda. Do you want one?" I asked, letting go of her and wiping away the few tears that began to fall from her crystal blue eyes.

She shook her head slowly and wiped away the rest of the tears that were starting to stain her cheek. I hugged her again and gave her hand a light squeeze before leaving the room.

"Vending machines are over here, Edwards." The voice was nonchalant, but it was so unexpected that it still startled me.

"H-how do you know my name?" I asked firmly.

"I have my ways…" Eli's voice trailed off and I looked at him skeptically. He looked over at me and smirked. "Don't worry, I saw the volunteer sheet."

After his admission, I managed to relax and slow my pace. "I'm not thirsty anymore, I think I'm just going to go back to Fi-" Before I could finish, he grabbed me by the elbow and turned my body so I was facing him. I was so close to him, I could feel my knees buckle at the proximity, but I could tell by the way he grabbed me that he wasn't very strong.

"How about we take a walk, Clare." His voice was raspy-callous almost.

He led me down the hallway and to the stairwell. We started going down the flights of stairs and I was wondering where the hell he was taking me and why we didn't take the elevator. The 'walk' was silent until we reached the lobby where the front desk was and the lady, who I later found out was Mrs. Shafer, was sitting, typing on her keyboard.

I looked over at Eli and saw that he was holding a cigarette in his hand. Then it hit me, Eli just wanted to use me as his smoke-break chaperon.

"Are you serious?" I muttered to myself, but by the way he looked over at me, I knew he heard.

"All you have to do is stand and watch me. We don't even have to talk."

I looked at him stolidly but I could feel the blood boil underneath my skin. "I can't believe you even have the nerve to ask me such a thing. Why the hell would I sit and watch you when you've been nothing but hostile towards me?" I went to walk away but he grabbed a hold of my arm again. "Don't touch me." I quickly jerked my arm away from his grasp.

Eli threw his hands up in defeat. "Alright, whatever, I'm sorry. Just please come out there with me, its just five minutes…"

"No." I said, clearly irritated.

"Clare…please?" His voice was soft now.

I know I shouldn't have given in to him this quickly but his voice was pleading and I couldn't help but feel sorry for him, even if he was using me. I gave him a slight nod and the smirk returned on his face.

"After you, Edwards."

I rolled my eyes at him and made my way to the front desk. "Mrs. Shafer?" I asked after I had made my way to the desk.

"What is it, Clare?" She asked, not looking up from her computer.

"I was just letting you know that Eli is going out for a smoke break and he asked me to watch him. We'll be back in five minutes." I explained.

She stopped what she was doing and looked up at me, smiling broadly. "I'll give you ten minutes."

"Really?" Eli blurted and we both looked at him.

"You're lucky I like Clare. But, we lock the doors after six, so I need to give you a key." She dug through the drawer and handed me a silver key. "No more than ten minutes, understood?" She directed her question at me, but she was looking right at Eli. Eli just rolled his eyes and walked toward the front doors.

"Don't worry, I'll have him back in ten." The woman nodded and I took off after Eli.

I sat down on the bench and the cold struck my nerves, making my body tense up immediately. I heard the flick of the lighter and looked in the opposite direction of the sound, avoiding his face completely. I looked over at the sun, which was just about to set. It was so early, but that's the thing about the cold weather-the sun always sets early. The colors and the intensity of the light was enough to calm me. I brought my head down, concentrating on the cold pavement below me.

"So, what exactly are you doing here?" His voice brought me out of my thoughts and I looked at him coldly.

"I thought you said we didn't have to talk?" I snapped.

"Yeah but a little conversation never hurt." He took a long puff from his cigarette and began to blow out smoke rings slowly.

"I was forced to come here. I had no choice," I said flatly.

He put his hand over his chest, feigning hurt. "You mean…you don't actually want to be in a wonderful place like this?"

"Funny…"

He leaned forward, his face earnest now, the bitter sarcasm fading. "Do you like it here?"

"Some things I like. Other things I dread." I said quietly.

His smirk reappeared as he took another drag from his cigarette. He didn't say anything in return; he just looked at me as he blew his second-hand smoke right into my face. I gave him a sour look and shifted uncomfortably in my seat. He chuckled a little and flicked the butt onto the ground. "Don't worry, I'm finished. But can I tell you something?"

"Sure." I said, not really wanting to hear what he had to say.

"You look like you would be a damn good smoker." His tone was serious and his face matched it as well. I wanted to laugh, a quiet, mirthless laugh of course, since it really wasn't that funny.

"Yeah?" I was rather unenthusiastic about the whole idea of smoking.

"Yeah. I should give you lessons sometime. I mean, if you're up for it." That smirk was back on his face and once again, I wasn't sure if he was serious or just messing around.

I got up from the bench, ignoring his statement. "Come on, its time to go in."

He gestured for me to go in before him and I obliged, walking in. The warmth of the building felt great and the numbness of my body was beginning to wear off. I checked back in at the front desk and caught up with Eli again. We walked in silence the whole way back up to the floor, but the trip was a lot quicker this time, since we took the elevator. We kept our distance most of the way, except when we bumped shoulders when we both tried to leave the elevator at the same time. I started to head down the hallway, but then I felt Eli's soft hands grip around my arm.

"You really need to stop doing that," I said, smiling slightly at his constant need to grab my arm.

He looked down at his feet, then back up to me. "You never gave me an answer."

I knew what he was talking about, but I played dumb, "You never asked me a question."

Eli sighed heavily. I was starting to get the feeling that he didn't have much patience.

"Okay, okay." I put my hands up in defeat while he glanced back down at me.

"So?"

"Probably not," I retorted.

"Well, that's better than a no."

I felt my cheeks go red at his sudden interest, but I blamed it on the cold. I looked at him and he gave me that smirk again, something I've gotten used to in the past half hour that I've been with him. I gave him an awkward wave and headed down the hallway to Fiona's room, where she was passed out, lying across her bed the wrong way.

This chapter is the longest, I think. So, I hope it lived up to your expectations. Reviews are greatly appreciated…and somewhat necessary, haha. (: