Clare reluctantly let go of Eli and motioned for him to follow her into the building, but Eli noticed something that bothered him: she didn't hold out her hand for him to take. It was an odd feeling for Eli, having to walk behind Clare when their fingers were not laced together.But he slowly made his way inside the house anyway.

They got up to Clare's floor, and as Eli passed by Joey's room he saw him and Dee Dee sitting on the floor playing cards. They looked up and a knowing smile crossed Dee Dee's face when he saw Eli.

"Nice to see ya again, dude," Dee Dee said.

"Yeah, um… you too," Eli said, unaware of Dee Dee's third party knowledge of his love life.

When Eli walked into Clare's room he noticed that she was already sitting on her bed on the floor. He didn't know whether he was allowed to sit next to her, or if it was better to give her space, since she didn't love him and everything.

"You can sit down, you know," Clare said, seemingly reading Eli's mind. He finally decided to sit down facing her on the floor so that he could see every facial expression of hers.

"Okay," Eli said. "Shoot."

Clare took a deep breath. "You're not going to believe me."

Eli shook his head passively. "Of course I'll believe you. You've given me no reason to doubt you before. Just tell me before you chicken out."

"Fine. Fine," she said, taking yet another deep breath, and it was then that Eli noticed Clare's hands were shaking. He wasn't sure if it would be alright to hold them to help her, but he did it anyway, earning a meek smile from Clare.

"So," Clare started. "I was dating this guy a few years ago, and… are you sure you want to know? There's no going back once I tell you, you know."

"Clare," Eli said, impatiently. "I'm positive. Now quit stalling."

Clare closed her eyes, and Eli could tell that this was a huge struggle for her. "I've never told this to anyone before. Not my parents, not Alli. No one." And he saw a solitary tear make its way down her face.

"Shhh… It's going to be alright," Eli said softly, wiping Clare's tear from her face.

Clare opened her eyes, suddenly determined to tell him, straight up.

"A few years ago," she began. "I was dating this guy, K.C. He was… nice. At first, anyway. He had just gotten out of this supposedly 'bad' relationship, and I wanted to… help him, I guess. I was so naïve. He was my first boyfriend. I was so new to everything, and I thought that we had a somewhat normal relationship. He wasn't normal, though. He emotionally abused me, telling me I was fat and ugly, dumb, mundane, anything he would say to keep me down. I didn't leave him, though. Not even when he occasionally started physically abusing me. That should've been a sign. But I just wanted it to work out with K.C. so badly. I would have done almost anything to keep him with me. I even gave up my goddamn purity vow for that bastard. But he told me he loved me, and I believed him like the idiot I was.

"After I started sleeping with him, it seemed like he got better, too. I thought that maybe we had a legitimate future together. But one night… when we stopped at a gas station… K.C. got out of the car, and I thought that he was merely walking to the gas pump, but he walked by it. He started walking towards this… blonde girl, around our age. He… h-he took out a gun, and that's when I knew something was going to happen. I sprinted out of the car, across the parking lot. Looking back now I don't know what I would have actually done if I had reached him in time. But I didn't get there. He took out the gun, pointed it at the blonde, at sh-shot her. Twice. In the stomach."

By this time Clare had tears streaming down her face in rivers. Eli was distraught. He pulled her towards him and wrapped his arms around her, rubbing her back. He quietly whispered in her ear that everything was going to be okay, that he was here now and everything was fine.

"I-I'm not done. There's m-more," Clare said, stuttering.

"You can tell me when you calm down a little more," Eli said, kissing her curls.

"I need to r-rip the bandage… I need t-to rip the b-bandage off," Clare said, ignoring Eli's pleas for her to calm down first. "I was s-so scared. He turned around and gave me this l-look. He looked deranged. I knew K.C. could be m-mean, but I never thought he was… homicidal. I ran away before - before he could do the same… to me. I automatically turned him in to the police, of course. But that wasn't e-enough. K.C. had to go to trial. I was the only witness, too. So everything c-came down on m-me." Clare's whole body was starting to shake, which only worried Eli more, he soothingly rubbed her back, trying to calm her down. "During the trial, I learned that K.C. had been cheating on me with the girl he shot- Jenna, who was also the girl he was with before me. And he got Jenna pregnant. Apparently he b-begged her to get an abortion, so that I w-wouldn't find out, but she refused. So I g-guess he performed his own, fucked up version of an abortion. K.C. was eventually locked up, but before he went, he gave me a warning." Clare's voice was barely above a whisper, and she was staring off into space, reliving the most terrifying moment in her life. "He told me… th-that I was… that I was n-next. He said he would find a way to get out of jail, and that he would… he would h-hunt me down and… kill me."

Now not only was Clare bawling, but Eli had tears escaping his eyes as well. He hugged her closer to him, hoping to protect her in some way from everything. Protect her from K.C. Protect her from the past. He couldn't let anything happen to her.

"I'm not Clare Edwards," she said softly, making Eli's eyes widen.

"What? What do you- wait, what?" Eli said, obviously confused.

"After K.C. threatened to kill me, the police put me in the Witness Protection Program. I-I'm not really Clare Edwards. I'm Elizabeth DePaul." Eli pulled back for a second, and scanned her over.

"You don't look like an Elizabeth," he said, trying to cheer her up. "You look like a Clare."

She gave him a small smile in response. "I moved away from my family, which wasn't hard to do anyway, but that story is for a different day. I picked up everything, and moved from Deline to Toronto. But… I still feel horrible."

"Clare, everything is alright now. You're miles and miles away from K.C., who is still in jail I'm assuming. You're completely safe."

"But Jenna's not. She's dead," Clare said, shaking her head vigorously. "I could've saved her. I could have saved her unborn baby. But I couldn't. It's… it's all my fault she's dead."

Eli stared at Clare in disbelief. He didn't think that she could honestly blame herself for what happened. He was about to tell her the opposite when she said, "I guess you're disgusted with me now. I'll understand if you want to break up."

Eli was even more dumbstruck once she said that. "Clare," he said, turning her face to look at him. Her bloodshot eyes looked defeated and her cheeks were red from all of her crying. "I don't blame you for what happened to Jenna. There was no way that you could have saved her. There was no way anyone could have saved her. K.C. is messed up. You shouldn't blame yourself for what happened. I love you, and I still want to be with you," he said, and added, "Even if you don't want to be with me," under his breath, hoping Clare wouldn't hear. But of course, she did.

"Eli, you think I don't want to be with you? The whole reason I told you this was because… because… because I love you. I love you Eli, more than I supposedly loved K.C.; more than I've loved… anyone really."

Eli's heart sped up at hearing those words, and he couldn't process anything else in his mind except for the one thought that engulfed him. Clare loves me. She loves me. He was overcome with joy, to say the very least. Eli immediately planted his lips on Clare's, wiggling his tongue past her lips, and he realized that there was nowhere he'd rather be, no one he'd rather spend the rest of his life with. The thought scared him out of his wits, but at the same time sent pleasurable shivers down his spine. Or maybe that was just the intensity of the kiss.

They broke apart, and Clare's dazzling smile made Eli even surer that he loved her, and vice versa. But Clare's smile soon faded, and she became very grave.

"Eli, I don't know if this has occurred to you yet, but being with me… it's dangerous. K.C. could get out of jail early for 'good behavior' and track me down. One of his many brothers could come looking for me; those assholes are like basset hounds, I swear to god. But… I don't want you to feel like you have to stay with me."

"I don't want to leave. I'll never leave," Eli said, aware of what he just promised, and he hoped it wouldn't scare Clare away. But he was rewarded with another enthusiastic smile and kiss.

"God, I'll never get tired of that," Eli said as they broke apart.

"I love you," Clare said, making Eli's heart speed up yet again.

"I love you, too."


Author's Note:

Disclaimer: I don't own Degrassi. You know that, I know that. So why do I have to keep repeating myself?

Welp, that's Clare's big spooky secret. I hope I didn't fuck it up too much. I really would love your honest opinion on that "plot twist." (oh, and Clare's real name too, I would like to know your opinion on that as well.)

Please review and let me know what you think! :D

P.S. Sorry I had to make K.C. the bad guy. I know he's probably not homicidal or anything... but I wasn't about to make Jake a bad guy since we know nothing about him anyway.