woohoo, the moment you've all been waiting for. eli's in this chapter!

disclaimer: i don't own degrassi. i forgot to do a disclaimer for chapters 1 and 5..so just clearing this up, i didn't own degrassi any of those times either D:

Adam turned the doorknob, and forced the hospital door open. Before us, lay Eli Goldsworthy in a white hospital bed, sound asleep. The blanket covered all of his body, but stopped at his neck. I shuddered when I thought of the bruises that blanket was hiding from the world. His left eye was swollen shut, and the lid was completely purple. His right eye was completely undisturbed, and his face looked beautiful-in a damaged way-as his breath entered and released from his nose.

My hands instantly left my sides in unison and covered my mouth. It physically hurt me to see somebody who had helped me through everything in such a condition, and all of a sudden, I felt a wave of guilt. I had been so selfish over the months, always complaining about my family problems. So what if my parents were going through a rough patch? Eli's father had been kicking, beating, damaging his body, and fucking with his mind. Trish had helped, too. God knows what happened to Eli's real mom, who might have even possibly been murdered by them. Then, Eli has to listen to me complain about how fat I am, and that my mom and dad yell at each other more than they did when I was younger. In comparison to him, I had the perfect life. My golden shoes were too tight and my crown didn't fit.

I looked over to see Adam's reaction, and I saw it all in his crystal blue eyes. They lacked the tears, but the sorrow was still present. I watched them as they studied Eli's presense before us, and they moved slightly after each second. After a few seconds, the pair of eyes left Eli, blinked, and met mine. We were both thinking the same thing: We both wanted Eli awake.

I walked over to the sleeping boy, and sat quietly and slowly on his bed, careful not to wake him. I felt

honoured to be so close to him, since all the drama tonight was occurring because of him. I could hear the

sound of air leaving his nose, and then returning. I wondered what he was dreaming about. Did he have

happy dreams, possibly involving a romantic date with me underneath the stars? Or did he have nightmares

involving his father and Trish?

With that thought in my mind, I decided to disturb his slumber. My hand reached forward and grabbed his

arm ever so slightly. He continued to sleep, so I shook his arm back and forth, while saying "Eli," in a

comforting voice. Slowly, his right eye opened and stared ahead of him. He saw Adam and a smile appeared

on his face, but then his eye wandered to his arm. I saw the curiosity on his face as of who the hand

belonged to that was grabbing him. His pupil rose and landed on my face, then his entire eye widened.

"Clare," He said, his smile widening, revealing his slightly crooked, yet perfect white teeth. I was at a

complete loss for words. So I leaned over and planted a big, passionate kiss on his lips. He kissed back, and

is was surprisingly even more passionate than my attempt. He could have written me a fifty page letter

about how much he missed me, but that would not have made the point come across as much as this kiss

did. Finally, his tongue left his mouth and licked my lips. I parted my lips and his tongue

entered my mouth and started to explore. I let my tongue tickle and comfort his, which he seemed to enjoy.

This continued for a few more seconds until we were interrupted by a forced cough. I

pulled away and looked at the direction where it came from. Adam stood there awkwardly, yet a little pissed

off with his arms crossed, staring at us.

"Sorry," I said, feeling the heat sweep across my face. Eli smirked.

"It's cool," Adam said, walking toward us. He stood by the bed. "But Eli, what the hell man? You're

smiling and making out with your girlfriend while your laying in a hospital bed?"

"It's not that bad.. I'll be out soon. And Clare just brings out the best in me." Eli said, looking in my eyes. I

blushed again.

"Cute," Adam said sarcastically. "But do you mind telling us what happened this time?"

"Adam, it's none of our business, and Eli.. I know about what your dad and Trish do to you. I'm so sorry

and if I knew, I never would have-" Eli cut me off.

"Clare, stop. None of this is your fault. And Adam, I want to tell you guys. So it happened when I

got home from school today," Eli began. "I walked in and everything was totally quiet. I figured

nothing was wrong so I went upstairs to my room and opened the door. Trish was sitting down on

my bed reading my journal. When she saw me, she stood up and started screaming. She kept

yelling and telling me to burn it or else she'd get my dad to kill me," Eli gulped. "So I took

the journal from her and walked to the fireplace to trick her, then sprinted back into my room and

shoved it underneath one of pieces of wood in my floor. My dad and Trish chased after me. My

dad was drunk as usual, and started beating me senseless. I guess he was trying

to teach me a lesson. But this beating was pretty much ten times worse than all of his other

beatings. He kicked me until everything turned cold and black. I thought I died, and I probably

would have if I didn't wake up in the hospital. It turns out Trish called 911 and blamed this whole

thing on my dad. She was trying to play the whole innocent step-mom act and they believed her."

Eli said, disgusted.

"Eli, we'll sort this all out," I promised.

"Yeah," Adam agreed. "I got the journal from your house."

I froze. The journal is still outside.