Hello! IM REALLY REALLY REALLY SORRY I havent updated in like forever! :/ Please forgive me! Anyways as you know this is the last chapter but even though its the last chapter, I have surprise for you at the end ;) Its like an apology/christmas gift. Anyways here is Chapter 10 and I hope you enjoy it! (^-^)

Eli's POV:

"Well…." I was just about to tell her when her phone went off. "It's my mom, I should probably get it." She stood up from the bench and answered her phone. After about a minute on the phone, she hung up and walked over to me. "My mom said that I have to go to the hospital with her today after school and find out how bad the cancer is." When she finished, she had a tear streaming down on her left cheek. I got up, wiped away the tear with my thumb, and took her in a hug. Once she got in my arms, she began to sob. I can't stand to hear Clare cry, it breaks my heart into a million pieces. After about five minutes of her sobbing, she looked up at me and wiped the rest of her tears. "Thank you."

"What for?"

"For dealing with me breaking down like that."

"Clare, you're going through a tough time right now. It's okay to cry." She looked up at me with her big blue eyes and had a small smile on her face. "What did I do to deserve you?"

"You were yourself", I said with a smirk. I know that sounded cliché but it's true. We were staring into each other's eyes when the bell went off. I growled knowing I can't look into her eyes for another hour. "We better get going before we're late", she said while looking up at me. I shrugged and put my arm around her shoulder. We walked up the stairs and I walked her to her art class. Once we got to the door, I gave her a quick peck and then jogged off to my science class. During science, I didn't pay attention because I was too focused on how tell Clare. I almost told her a secret I've been holding awhile. I was brought out of my thoughts when I heard the final bell of the day go off. I was walking over to my locker when I saw Fitz trying to talk to Clare at her locker. I got around the corner near her locker so I can hear what they were talking about.

Clare's POV:

Finally the day is over is what I thought as I exited my art class. I was getting bored in there because (1) was ranting off about the history of art. As I was walking to my locker, I noticed Fitz was standing there waiting for me. What could he want now? I started to speed walk so I can just get the conversation over with. "What do want Fitz?" I asked as I opened my locker. "I wanted to ask you something?" I turned around to face him. "Fine, what is it?"

"How did emo boy get to go out with you and you've only known him for a couple of months?"

"Easy, he isn't you." I started to walk away from him but then he grabbed me by the arm, hard. "What the hell do you mean by 'isn't you'?" he had anger filled in his eyes and he started to tighten his grip on my arm. "Ow! Fitz, you're hurting me."

"Answer the question." As I was about to respond, Eli came out of the corner. "Get your hands off of her." I heard the venom his voice when he said this. Fitz let go of me but then pushed me into the lockers. I winced a little because his push was hard. When I looked at Eli and Fitz, they were arguing with their fists balled up on their sides. "Real man, Fitz. Hurting Clare really shows you're a man."

"The bitch was asking for it."

"Don't you dare call her that."

"Or What?" Fitz got into Eli's face as he said this.

Next thing I know, Fitz and Eli were on the floor fighting. Eli punched Fitz in the jaw then Fitz got him back by hitting Eli in the guts. Eli got on top of Fitz and started to hit Fitz in the face really hard. I had to end this fight before it goes too far and someone dies. I pulled Eli off of Fitz and held on to his shoulders while looking into his eyes. "Eli, he's not worth it." Eli looked at Fitz who was lying on the floor with a bloody nose and a bruise on his right eye. Eli then looked back at me and formed a little smirk on his face. "Let's go." As we were walking down the empty hallway, we heard Fitz yell, "This isn't over." Me and Eli walked down the school's stairs and towards Morty. Once we got to Morty, Eli ran to the passenger side and hold the door opened for me. I smiled at him then got in the passenger seat. He closed the door then ran to the driver's side. Once he got in, he started Morty and exited out of Degrassi's parking lot. It was silence for the first two minutes until Eli broke it. "Clare I'm sorry I started a fight with Fitz. It's just…"

I cut him off early, "I know what happened Eli." I heard him sigh.

"I just hated that he was hurting you."

"I know but he didn't hurt me really bad." I looked at my arm expecting to see nothing but I saw a hand print on where Fitz had his hand. Eli stopped at a red light and looked over at me with a shocked face. "Didn't hurt you bad, huh?" he said with anger.

"I just noticed right now." He looked ahead and continued to drive until we got to the hospital. He parked in an empty parking spot and turned off the car. "Clare?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you sure you're okay?" he asked this while touching my arm. I winced a little when he put his hand on the hand print. "It hurts a little but it'll go away in a few days", I said this with a small smile. "Okay. Call me when you get home."

"Okay." I gave him a peck on the lips then got out of Morty. When I was walking up to the elevator, I remembered that Eli was going to tell me something at lunch but got interrupted by my phone call. Wonder what he was going to tell me. When I got my mom's room, she was just sitting on the bed…waiting. "Mom?" she turned around to face me. "Hi sweetheart."

"Why are you just sitting there?"

"The doctor is going to be back any minute to tell us about the cancer." I sighed then made my way to the bed to sit next to her. When I sat next to her, she grabbed my hand and gave it a squeeze. I can tell she is just as nervous as I was. After about two more minutes of silence, a doctor came through the door. "Hello, my name is . So I have the results of the cancer cell", he looked through the papers that were in his hands for a couple seconds, "the cancer has been in your blood stream for about three weeks now. But there is an eighty-nine percent chance that it will go away with the treatment coming."

"What about the other eleven percent?" my mother asked with worry.

"Unfortunately, that percent didn't make it." He looked down when he said this. I was having tears weld up in my eyes worried that my mom might be part of the eleven percent that doesn't survive. "Don't worry though because we will do everything we can to beat the cancer." was then 'beeped' to a different patient. As he was about to leave the room, he turned around to face us and said, "If you just have faith in yourself, you may beat the cancer." As soon as he closed the door behind him, my mom told me we should leave. I looked at her like she was crazy because she was acting so calm. "Mom…"

"Clare, come on. We have to get home so you can finish your homework and so I can make dinner." She rushed out the door so fast that I was almost lost her.

~*~*~*~The Next Day~*~*~*~

I woke up the next morning feeling exhausted. I still can't wrap my head around about what said about the results. I shake my head so I don't have to think about the negative thoughts. I jump out of my bed and quickly run to the bathroom. Once I finished, I took my uniform out of my drawers along with leggings. I put my bra and underwear on then put the uniform and leggings on. I put on my black converse then went down stairs to get some bagels. Once I entered the kitchen, the first thing I noticed was a note on the counter.

Clare,

After school, you won't see me because I'm going to be spending at most three days at the hospital for treatment. I don't want you to come because I'm scared that you will cry and I hate seeing you cry; it breaks my heart to see you in tears. Please try to stay out of trouble, even though I know you're always behaving. I put $50 under the bills on the coffee table. See you in three days, sweetheart.

Love,

Mom

I put the letter down and thought for a second. I'm kind of offended that she didn't want me at the hospital at all. I mean I'm her daughter for god sakes! But I know she's right when she said that I would cry. But at least I know that she's getting help and I will pray for her while she's gone in hopes that she will beat the cancer. I shrugged it off and looked at the clock on the kitchen wall. 7:25, school started at eight so I had about thirty-five minutes to kill. I eat my bagel and when I finished, I grabbed my bag on my way to the door. I walked to Degrassi to see a familiar hearse in the parking lot. I walk over to Morty and see Eli leaning against the driver's side. "What are you doing?" I asked as I approached him. "Keeping a lookout for Fitz."

"Why?"

"Because he said this isn't over and I'm scared he's going to come after you again." I leaned against Morty, right next to Eli. "You'll keep me safe if you walk me to class because then if he sees me with you, he'll back off." Eli thought about the idea for a moment before nodding his head in agreement. He wrapped his arm around my shoulders while mine went around his torso. As we walked up to my locker, we saw Fitz and a group of his friends looking over at us. I looked up at Eli to see him shooting daggers at Fitz while Fitz just…smirked? What could he be smirking about? I shook the thought out of my head and closed my locker when the bell rang. Eli walked me to my homeroom class and told me to be careful. Once I got in my seat and everyone else, Sav came up on the monitor.

"Good morning Degrassi students. President Sav here with your morning announcements. Have any plans this Friday night? Well if you don't, come to A Night in Vegas. It will be starting at seven to nine-thirty. And be sure to collect a lot of chips for your chance to win a new flat screen. Other announcements…."

I was pulled away from the other announcements when I saw Kanani trying to get my attention. "What?"

"So are you and Eli going to Vegas night?"

"Honestly, I'm not sure. He hasn't asked me but probably not because a dance isn't really his scene." It was true because Eli told me a while back how he has never been a fan of school dances. "Well, I think you guys should go."

"Why? What would we do there?"

"Have fun and you guys can hangout with me, Shelby, and Natalie. We're all going." I thought about it for a second, what's the worse that can happen? I turned my head to face her and nodded my head 'yes'. She smiled then turned her attention back to the monitor.

~*~*~*~*~*Lunch~*~*~*~*

It was finally lunch which meant some alone time with Eli. I walk out of art class to see Eli waiting there patiently for me. "Ready to for lunch?"

"Yes", I responded as me and him walk down the hallway towards the Degrassi entrance. Once we got to the picnic table, I sat down next Eli and started a conversation. "So Eli, what are you doing Friday night?" I looked up at him to see him staring back down at me. "Uh-h…nothing. Why do you ask?"

"Well, I was wondering if you wanted to go to Vegas night with me?" I was blushing like crazy as I waited for Eli's response. "Clare, you know I'm not a big fan of school dances", I looked down at the table when he said this, "but for you, I'm willingly to make an exception." I smiled up at him and pecked his lips. "Thank you Eli." He just smirked but then it dropped. "Clare I need to tell you something."

"Okay. Is everything alright?"

Eli's POV:

"Yeah, everything is fine but I need to tell you something." I've wanted to tell her since she was honest about her dreams. "Tell me Eli. You're starting to scare me."

"Since you've been honest about your dreams, I feel as though I'm ready to tell you something I've been holding for awhile." She shook her head telling me to continuing. "Ever since Julia died, I've always had nightmares that I would die or someone I love, deeply. But that all stop one day", I looked into her blue eyes, "The day I met was the day the nightmares ended. Ever since I met you, you've always end up in my dream and when you did, they would be like us together on a date or us….getting married." I was blushing a little when I said that last part. I looked at Clare and she was smiling. "Really?"

"Really. And when you told me about your dreams, I was shocked by the fact that you and I have been doing almost the exact same thing. Only you dreamed of me before you met me, which I found adorable." I pecked her nose. "Is this what you trying to tell me the other day?"

"Yeah it is. So what do you think?"

"I think….I'm really glad I met you." As soon as she said this, I jumped out of my seat, picked her up, and spin her while kissing her. I stopped spinning her and put her on the ground without breaking our lips apart. We kissed for five more minutes before we heard someone clear their throat. At first I was freaked out that it was a teacher but then smiled when I saw that it was just Adam. "Sorry to break this love moment but I need to talk to you guys." Clare and I just looked at Adam but then joined him at the picnic table with our stuff there. "Okay so….Fiona said that she's ready to take things to the 'next level'." Clare and I just looked at each other for a moment but then turned our attention back to Adam. "But I'm not ready because well, I'm in a girl's body. I don't know what to do."

Clare was the first to speak up. "Adam, if you're not ready for that 'next step' then you need to tell her that. I think you should wait awhile before you've become more comfortable with your own body." Clare is so smart when it comes to giving advice. "I agree with Clare. Dude just wait and tell Fiona instead of just avoiding it."

"Yeah, you guys are right. Thanks for the advice." All three of us got up because the bell rang. As we were walking down the hall towards English, Adam was telling us how he and Fiona are going to Vegas night too. Clare asked him if him and Fiona wanted to join me and her. We all got in our seats as he said yes to the offer. "Good afternoon brilliant minds of the future", said as she entered the classroom.

~*~*~*~*~School ends~*~*~*~*~*Clare's POV:

Eli offered me a ride home and since he knew that I was going to be alone at my house for three days, he said he would stay with me until he has to go home. As we pulled up in my driveway, I got a text from my mom reminding me where the fifty dollars is. When I entered, with Eli dragging behind me, I went to the table that had the fifty dollars on it and put it in my wallet. "What's with the money?" Eli asked as e saw me put the money in my wallet. "It's just some money my mom left me while she's gone", I look up at him, "want to go up stairs to my room to work on the essay for English?"

"Sure." He grabbed his bag from the front the door and as I was about to pick mine up, Eli's hand stopped mine. "I got it." He smirked when he looked at me. What did I do to deserve a guy like him? He's perfect. We walk upstairs to my room I pulled out my laptop and started working on my essay. "Clare, are we really going to work on our essays?"

"Yeah, I said it downstairs."

"You were serious?"

"Yes. Why? What did you think was going to happen?"

"I was hoping that 'essay' was code for 'make-out session'", he said this while smirking and wiggling his eyebrows. I walked up to him until our lips were inches apart from each other. "Do you want to make-out?" I asked trying to sound seductive and smirking. He didn't answer with words; he just pressed his lips to mine, softly. Our lips moved softly against each other and Eli started walking me backwards until my back hit the bed. He did this all while not breaking our lips apart. He put his hands on my hips while mine went around his neck. We did this for about ten minutes until I broke our lips apart so I can breathe. "Eli, we better stop before we go too far."

"Okay." He looked up in my eyes and then brought his hands to the side of my face then started playing with one of my curls. He pecked my lips one last time. "Let's start writing our essays." He sat on my bed with his laptop and I went to my desk to my laptop. Our essays were to write about a time when we had to go through a tragedy and how we got better after. I know one I want to write about, I thought as I started to type about it.

~*~*~*~*One hour later~*~*~*~*~

I just finished typing my essay and I'm happy to say this is one of my favorite pieces I've written. I looked up at Eli to see he has also finished his paper, too. "Ready to edit my work?"

"Sure, Blue Eyes." I walked over to him and handed my laptop to him while he gave me his.

Eli's POV:

Once I grabbed Clare's laptop, I started to read her paper:

A tragedy I went through was when my father died when I was eight. I was upset because now I knew that I wouldn't be able to come home to both parents; I'm coming home to only one. I tried to get through his death with my mom, but she shut me out. She wouldn't talk or look at me at all after my dad died. I know they got divorce before the accident, but she knew that he was my father. We recently started talking again and everything was going good up until about two weeks ago. I found out that she has cancer. I was scared because I kept thinking that she's going to die and then I won't have anyone else left in my family. But only one person has kept those bad thoughts out of my head. He's my editor, my best friend, and importantly, my boyfriend. I couldn't have gone through this without Eli. He was my rock and still is. I'm lucky to have a person as caring and thoughtful as Eli, in my life. I hope he stays in my life for a long time because I love him with all my heart.

I noticed I had a tear running down my right cheek. I can't believe she wrote about me. I especially love that last sentence in her essay. I walk up behind Clare, she was sitting in a chair and her back was towards me, and hugged her from behind. I felt her jump in my arms when I did this. "I'm guessing you liked my essay?"

"I didn't like it", I saw her face drop for a second, "I loved it." She smiled and got up from her chair before hugging me. "And I love you, too." I whispered in her ear and kissed it lightly. Our hugged had to break because I heard my phone go off. I grabbed it and noticed it was a text from my mom telling me to come home. As I was about to text back, I thought for a second before speaking. "Clare, do you want to come over for dinner tonight at my house?"

"Sure, I mean if you're sure that I'm not going to be a problem."

"You can never be a problem", I told her while smiling. I texted my mom back:

Eli: Can Clare come over for dinner? Her mom isn't home I sent the text. I waited for about two minutes before Cece responded:

Cece: Sure! I would love for her 2 come over I looked over at Clare and nodded my head 'yes'. She smiled and I grabbed my bag before leading Clare downstairs. She grabbed her jacket before closing the door. Once we got into Morty, Clare spoke up, "Eli, I'm really glad you loved my paper. I meant every word I said about you. And your paper was good too." I couldn't help but smirk at her comment. "I'm really glad I met you, Clare." I kissed her cheek then drove off to my house.

~*~*~*~*~*~*Two days later~*~*~*~*~Clare's POV:

It was finally Friday which meant that it was Vegas night. I got my dress yesterday after school and Eli has been begging me to tell him what color my dress is but I told him I wouldn't tell him, he would just have to wait until tonight. School just ended so that meant I have about five hours to get ready. When I got home, I decided to call my mom to see how she was doing:

Mom: Hello?

Clare: Hey mom.

Mom: Hi sweetheart! How is everything?

Clare: Good. I just got home and I'm about to start getting ready for the dance.

Mom: Dance? That sounds fun, are you going with anyone?

Clare: Yeah, I'm going with my boyfriend, Eli.

Mom: That's nice. So what color is your dress?

Clare: It's a black-and-white polka dot dress I didn't want to tell her its mid thigh.

Mom: That sounds cute. Well I got to go, sweetheart. Take some pictures.

Clare: Okay mom. I'll see you tomorrow?

Mom: Yes you will. Have fun!

Clare: Alright mom, I love you.

Mom: Love you, too. Bye.

Clare: Bye.

I closed my phone and looked over at the clock. 3:06, I should probably call Natalie, Shelby, and Kanani over right now. I opened my phone and went to my contacts to call Shelby:

Shelby: Hey Clare!

Clare: Hey Shelby. Hey do you, Natalie, and Kanani want to come over right now to start getting ready for the dance? I heard some muffling on the other line before she answered:

Shelby: Yeah! Natalie and Kanani are here so we'll head over there right now.

Clare: Okay.

Shelby: See you in five minutes. Bye.

Clare: Bye.

I closed my phone and ran upstairs to my room so I can lay my dress out. I then heard a knock downstairs. I ran down the stairs and opened the door to see my three best friends with their dresses and make-up in their hands. I invited them in and we all ran upstairs to my room to lay out all of our stuff. "So I'm going to jump in the shower and I should be out in about fifteen minutes, okay?" They all shook their heads and ran into the bathroom to take a shower.

~*~*~*~*~*6:55 p.m. ~*~*~*~*~

I looked at myself in the mirror to see the results. I had on my black-and-white polka dress on with black leggings. I had my hair curled like usual with a headband that has a black bow on it. I had black eyeliner on my top and bottom lid, black massacre, and a little gray eye shadow on. Then I was wearing black flats to bring the dress together. "Wow….you look amazing Clare", said Natalie.

"Not as amazing as you three."

Natalie was wearing a white dress that had stop right above her knees and there was some lace in the top area. Then she had white two inch heels on. She had her hair straighten out and she had black massacre on with eyeliner on her bottom lid.

Shelby was wearing a dark purple dress, which also stopped above her knees, with white leggings on and black flats on. Her hair was curled up and she had a small purple bow on the left side of her head. She had light purple eye shadow with a small amount of black massacre.

Finally, Kanani was wearing a black, shinning knee length dress that fit her perfectly and she was wearing dark gray ankle boots. Her hair was in a side ponytail and her make up was…amazing. She had clear lip gloss, massacre, and a dark gray eye shadow on.

"Guys we got to take a group photo right now." I agreed to Natalie's idea and so did everybody else. We wall went to the mirror in the bathroom, since the mirror was huge in there, and took the shot of us smiling. "Alright, well we better go right now. Clare, where do you have to meet Eli?" asked Kanani.

"He said to meet him at his locker."

"Well….let's go to that dance!" We all went out the door and piled up in Shelby's car. We got to Degrassi and as soon as we got out of the car, I could hear Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F) from Katy Perry playing. "Hey I'll see you guys later. I have to meet Eli."

"Alright we'll see you later", said Natalie as she hugged me. I hugged her back then let go five seconds later to go find Eli. Once I got into the school, I walked fast to Eli's locker to see if he was there already. When I was going down the hallway, I saw Eli standing there by his locker holding a corsage in his hands. "Is that corsage for me?"

Eli turned around and smiled at me. "Why, yes it is." He grabbed my hand and slipped on the white rose corsage on my wrist. "Since I didn't know what color your dress was, I just thought that white goes with everything so I got this."

"It's beautiful."

"But not as beautiful as you." I blushed at his comment then leaned up to kiss him. When we pulled away, we looked in each others eyes for a moment. "Why don't we head into the gym and some fun?" He put his hand out for me to grab. "Of course." I grabbed his hands we started walking. When we were about to go around the corner, we heard a familiar voice behind us. "Well…don't you look cute together?" Eli and I turn around to see Fitz at the end of the hallway with something shining in his hands…..a knife.

*Gasp* That's right...the big surprise is that I'm going to right another chapter then ending the story right now. Anyways I'm glad that you guys are still reading this and I have a Twitter now so you can follow me if you want. My name is MarissaChambers and if you follow I will probably tweet when the next update is and for new stories ;) 70 reviews before chapter 11 is posted so REVIEW! until next time-NamilovesDegrassi