Hey guys! I hope you all didn't forget about this story yet… sorry for the wait! School and life has been pretty busy lately but I can write in my free time thank you for the reviews, I love finding them in my inbox. They make my day! Keep em' coming! Haha. Anyways, enjoy chapter 9 of I Don't Mind!

Disclaimer: I don't own Degrassi or any of the characters!

Eli's POV

I waited at the side of Morty in the parking lot of Degrassi after school. I was waiting for Clare when Adam walked down the step and over to me. "Hey Adam."

"Hey, can I get a ride? I either get a ride from you or I have to wait till Drew is done with practice..."

"Sorry man, you're going to have to wait today. Clare is coming over to work on the English assignment" I replied with a sympathetic look.

"And I'm already the third wheel…" he muttered under his breath, looking down. "Haven't you ever heard of bros before hoes?" Adam remarked with a smirk

"Whatever man. Look, I'll give you a ride some other time… just not today" as I said this, we saw Clare approaching the herse. She smiled at Adam and said hey. She looked at us expectantly, waiting for us to fill her in on what she missed. I looked at Adam, hoping he would get the hint...

"Well... I have to umm… see you tomorrow guys!" he slowly started walking backwards before turning around. I opened the door for Clare and gestured for her to get in

"Shall we..?" she nodded and slid in the herse. I gently closed the door before heading to the driver's side and got in, starting the car. As I pulled out of the parking lot, I spotted Adam on the corner. He spun around and looked at me and Clare through the windshield.

"Have fun! Don't do anything I wouldn't do!" he yelled, smirking. I flipped him off as I drove by. I glanced over to Clare wondering if she heard. I'm guessing she did by the way she was looking down, her cheeks tinted red. I chuckled and she looked up at me with a questioning look. I simply shook my head and turned back to the road. Clare directed me to her house, in a few minutes we were there. Once I parked, I got out and went around opening her door. She got out and said thank you. I let her lead me up to the door. She bent down and grabbed the key under the mat… I laughed at her unoriginality. She stuck her tongue out at me, seemingly loosened up. We walked into her house and I looked around, noticing how quiet it was.

"Is anyone else home?" I asked her.

"No, my dad is out of town on a business trip…" as she said this her face brightened up. "You can make yourself comfortable" she told me, gesturing to the couch. She then walked into the kitchen. I took this time to look around more closely… she had barely any pictures around, just one of her and another girl that looked just a bit older than her. A sister maybe..? There were a few candles sitting on the coffee table along with the remoter to the TV, some teen romance novel, and a bracelet. I picked the bracelet up, examining it. Her name and the name Darcy was embroidered into the tattered, little rope. There was one little star trinket hanging from it. I wondered why she never mentioned this Darcy girl before. Clare walked back into the room, carrying a plate of Oreos and two glasses of milk.

She smiled at me and said "some snacks… I hope this is okay. I didn't really know what you liked."

"Perfect." I told her, returning the smile. She sat down on the love seat next to the couch I was sitting on, setting the Oreos and milk down on the coffee table.

"Should we get started?" she asked as she grabbed her binder from her bag, taking out her pencil and a piece of paper. I nodded, grabbing an Oreo and dunking it in my glass of milk. Clare gave me a weird look, but disregarded it by shaking her head and looking down.

"What?" I asked her. She shook her head again, a small smile appearing with a giggle. "Now you have to tell me, what's so funny?"

"You're a dunker." She stated simply.

"Excuse me?"

"The Oreos, Eli." She laughed. I gave her a look of confusion. "You dunk your Oreos in milk." She bit her plump bottom lip and looked up at me shyly.

"So…? A lot of people do that. What makes me so special?" I asked

"You are special, Eli." She stated quietly. I smirked, feeling the heat rise to my face. Wait, I don't blush! What is this girl doing to me? I looked back up when she started speaking again. "But that's not it. When I was a little girl, I was watching TV with my sister. We had just bought some Oreos and were sitting on the couch when the commercial for Oreos came on. My sister tried to mimic the girl on the TV who had dipped her Oreo in milk. She was being silly and ended up spilling it all over the couch and on my new school top. Mind you, we were little, so to us it was the most hilarious thing in the world. I remember laughing so hard my stomach hurt. We got in so much trouble that day and were banned from eating in the living room from that day forward." She smiled at the memory. "Now I always think of my sister when someone dunks their Oreos. Sorry, I know it's silly…"

"No, it's not. I like hearing you talk about your family. Where is your sister now?" I asked hesitantly, not wanting to be pushy, because that worked so well last time…. When she didn't answer I said "it's okay, you don't have to tell me, yet."

"No, I want to tell you" she said after a minute. "Please just bear with me here… I haven't talked to anyone about my family besides Adam, and I can't even tell him everything…"

"You can't tell me anything, Clare. I told you I won't hurt you"

"How do you know that?" she asked her voice cracking.

"Because I care about you too much." She looked up at me with glassy eyes and gave me a small smile.

"My family used to be happy. We relied on each other, we had a designated 'family night', and we went to church every Sunday and sat together. But all that changed. I'm not sure when it all started going downhill. I was too naive to realize it until things escalated. Me and my sister were very close, even with the age difference. She was a freshman in high school when I was in about sixth grade. She wasn't like all the other teenage girls at Degrassi. She was very caring and loyal to her friends and family."

"Sounds like someone I know…" I told her with a smirk. She smiled and continued.

"She started acting different though. She closed herself off from the rest of the family. Her friends started to get worried about her, saying how she was skipping school and cheer practice, so my parents confronted her about it one first she denied that something was up with her but eventually she told mom and dad th- that she… I'm sorry." Clare stopped and evened out her breathes, tears forming in her eyes. I got up from the couch, moving to the love seat and taking her hands. She squeezed my hands, a tear rolling down her cheek. "She was raped. Someone drugged her at a party."

"Damn, I'm sorry Clare."

"It's not your fault. After that my parents started arguing, became very strict and developed a lot of trust issues. The fighting escalated when my dad started 'working' later. My dad would come home very late at night, my mom waiting for him to get home, would ask him where he always is so late at night. I woke up to the sound of shattering glass in the middle of the night. Soon after, my dad started drinking. First, it was coming home drunk, and then he started drinking around the house. My mom found out he had been cheating on for almost a year, even before they found out about Darcy. We would get strange voice mails from women on the house phone. I guess my dad was either too stupid or too drunk to give them his cell phone…" I listened intently as she talked. I can't believe a man could do that to such a perfect family. My eyes were watery, listening to the hurt in Clare's voice. "My dad started to get physical with my mother during their fights. Me and Darcy would lock the door to her room and hide in the closet as our mother had told us to." Tears were streaming down Clare's face at this point. I wiped them away with my thumb, wishing I could take all her pain away. "My mom would come knock on the door after our father had passed out, a new bruise on her face almost every time. She told us everything would be okay. From that day forward we lived in fear from Randall and my mom couldn't take it anymore. She left, leaving me and Darcy. She didn't even say goodbye or leave a note. That's when my dad started taking his anger out on his daughters. The sad thing is that me and Darcy eventually got used to it. Used to coming home from school and being beat. Used to taking care of ourselves when Randall was gone for a night or two, without explanation. Darcy ran away during the middle of her sophomore year. I haven't seen her since and my life hasn't changed much. I still live with a monster I call Randall."

I wrapped my arms around Clare's waist as she sobbed into my shoulder. I hugged her tightly trying to control the shakes coming from her little frame.

Clare's POV

My arms were bound tightly around Eli as he rubbed my back soothing. He was the only one keeping me sane right now. Now he knows… this is the moment that he decides I'm too much. That he doesn't need someone like me holding him down. I'm surprised he is still here, so I cherish the moment wishing we could stay like this forever. I hold Eli tighter, hoping he gets the message. He strokes my hair and takes my face in his hands. His deep jade green eyes meet mine. His eyes are glossy and a couple tears have stained his cheeks.

"Why are you crying?" I asked him with a shaky voice.

"You don't get it Clare… I hate seeing you in pain. I wish I could take it all away. I would gladly take your place if that meant not seeing you this way." A tear rolls down the side of his face and I gently kiss it away. He pulls me into his lap and whispers in my ear. "I'm not going to let him hurt you again. I will not just stand by and watch you get hurt. I'm here for you Clare, always."

"Thank you… but you have to promise me you won't tell anyone." I look at him urgently and he gives me a look of hesitance. "Promise me…"

"Fine, I promise not to tell anyone. But that doesn't mean I'm not going to just forget about everything you've told me. Got it?"

"I wouldn't expect anything less." I said with a smile. He smiled at me and intertwined our fingers.

"What now?" he asked with a smirk.

"Well…" I started while leaning in close. I could feel his breath, my lips centimeters from his… "We should probably get started on that assignment…" I smirked, slowly getting up from his lap and sitting next to him on the love seat. I gave him a shy smile and getting up from the love seat, resting my hand on his upper thigh as support, and bent over to grab the Oreos and milk to bring them back into the kitchen. As I swayed my hips walking to the kitchen, I heard him yell,

"TEASE!" in a playful tone. I looked over my shoulder and saw he had a dazed smirk on his face. Score one for Clare…

How was it? I hope you enjoyed chapter 9 of I Don't Mind! Please leave a review and ANY suggestions you have for this story. Did you guys like the awkward Adam in this chapter? And don't worry; there will be much better scenes of Éclair cuteness in the future. I hope I'm not dragging it out too much for you guys. Again, I'm sorry for the wait. I'm horrible until next time!

-LuvD98