A/N: Hi everyone! I'm so sorry this took so long, and I hope the last few chapters won't take this long either. I had a really busy past couple weeks filled with schoolwork, drivers ed, and trying to focus on getting this all finished. I also had this huge writers block too so I'm super duper sorry about that. But here it is, chapter 10! I'm also not that happy with the ending but hey, I tried for you guys. There's also a wee bit of smut at the end so if you're not really into smut then maybe you could skip over a bit of the ending... but if you're not into smut I bet you're coockoo bananas.

Anyway, this chapter is dedicated to Arielle because I took her computer away because she was distracting me with destiel. As always, enjoy!

Everyone on the ice hounds seemed to know about Cam, Clare, and Eli's new friendship. No one really said anything out loud about it, but what was thought was pretty much inevitable: Cam was fucking Clare and Maya Matlin. The team all found the little musical prodigy to be a cute addition to Cam's life, but they all figured it was true: he was cheating on her. Before 'sleeping' with Clare he couldn't get a girl so easily, but afterwards –ladies' man. They weren't sure whether to be jealous, proud, or disappointed. So nobody really muttered a word around him about what they thought. Well, at least no one did until Mike Dallas, the team captain, had the nerve to speak for what the team was thinking and talking to him. Campbell Saunders may have been a puppy dog, but the fact that he was now cheating on his girlfriend was just not allowed in the Ice Hounds minds.

"Cam," Dallas called, before Cam ran out the back door of the ice rink to be picked up by Clare and Eli (who at the moment were lip locked in the front seat of Eli's hearse). "I've got to talk to you about Maya."

Cam slugged his bag of equipment off of his shoulder and smiled. "Yeah? What's up?"

"You like her a lot, don't you?" Dallas questioned.

"Yeah, of course."

"Then why are you sleeping with Clare?"

Cam raised his eyebrows, a subtle laugh falling from his lips. "Why would you think that?" he questioned, and Dallas only shrugged.

"You two see each other a lot."

"So?"

"You can't hang out with her after you sleep with her. It's the rules."

"Rules?" Cam stuttered.

"Yeah, Cam, rules." Dallas slid an arm over the younger boy's shoulders, walking him in the opposite direction of the exit. "You don't talk to them after a one-night-stand, you don't fuck em' after a one-night-stand, and you certainly don't go cheating on your brand new girlfriend with them after a one-night-stand." Dallas instructed, waving his free hand through the air carelessly as if there was something he was gesturing to. "Because if Clare is a one-night-stand kind of girl, you need to leave her for one-night-stand kind of guys."

"What like you?" Cam scoffed.

"No, I'm just saying…" Dallas grumbled, something hidden deep within his tone. "Forget it. I wouldn't want to sleep with Clare anyway. She's tied onto that Goldsworthy kid and he scares the shit out of me. Speaking of him, you're hanging around him a lot as well. I mean your leather jacket? It's obvious where you got that fro-"

"Butt out, Dallas." Cam quipped, pushing the friendly arm away and walking down the hall in the opposite direction from him. "I'm out. Clare's got an art class and I'm not about to make her late."

"Cam, come on."

But Cam didn't 'come on'. In fact, he did the complete opposite, flipping Dallas the bird on his way out the back door. Approaching the hearse, Eli took notice of the younger boy and slowly pulled away from a whimpering Clare, begging with her eyes for him not to stop.

"Shh," he whispered to Clare as he flashed Cam a grin. "Campbell Soup, why so glum, chum?"

"I don't want to talk about it." Cam grumbled, slumping into the car beside Clare and throwing his equipment down onto the floor by his feet. "Mike Dallas is an ass." Cam muttered under his breath.

"Don't know him well, but you don't have to tell me twice." Eli commented, starting up his hearse and driving in the direction of Clare's art class. "What'd the big jock do today?" Cam only muttered something inaudible under his breath while Clare squealed to herself as if she'd struck gold in Eli's glove compartment.

"Two months of riding in this car, and I never noticed this?" Clare pulled out a CD, and Eli laughed softly to her. "You purchased Magical Mystery Tour; you keep getting more and more amazing by the second, Eli Goldsworthy."

"I live to please you, my darling." Eli only glanced over at her for a brief moment and kept his eyes on the road. "Are you just going to stare at the case for the whole ride or are you going to pop it in?" Clare complied literally within seconds after he had asked her, opening up the case and sliding it into the player.

"Maya and I are getting dinner tonight, you two want to double? Maya absolutely loves you, Clare." Cam chimed in, his mood slowly changing as he thought of his new blonde haired girlfriend.

"Sorry, Cam-Bam." Clare said softly, leaning back against the seat after putting the disk into its player. "Eli and I have a little date with The Yellow Submarine on blue-ray tonight.

"And my bed," Eli interrupted, "there's definitely going to be more kissing than movie watching, Edwards."

Clare snorted. "You may own my heart, Eli Goldsworthy, but the Beatles? They own my mind."

"Come on," Cam groaned, his head banging several times against the window of the car out of misery. He may have had his own girlfriend, but Eli and Clare flirted daily… hourly, even. "You two flirt so freaking much." Cam sighed softly as they pulled up to the building.

"Hey!" Eli said loudly, pointing a finger at the younger boy. "We're not in Clare's car, so I expect you to drop the f bomb all the fucking time." Eli teased, as Clare leaned forward to steal a kiss from him.

"Mister, you better keep your mouth clean all day or you're not getting anything tonight." Clare felt her cheeks turning red at her own words. "Can you get my art supplies?"

"Anything for you, m'lady. Anything for you."

…

When Clare would really get down to thinking about things, her mind and ideas would start to focus in on the future. She only had about six more months left at DU, being that her third year was supposed to be her final. Eli would be done here too, and that's what always got her thinking. Would the two of them still stay on each other's paths after this college experience? It seemed like they were attached to each other at this point inevitably. With winter holiday coming up that following Friday, she wondered how she'd even slightly be able to spend the time without Eli. He had made himself a staple in her life, and she liked that very much. Her imaginations often drifted to the thoughts of the two of them living together in a pent house in New York City. Clare a big shot journalist with her own column in the New York Times, and Eli a stay at home psychologist and every night the two of them could make love and fall asleep in each other's arms. That was, if she would finally be able to give him her virginity. They had come so close to it by now. He had finally gotten to see her topless, and the moment was quite the grand affair for the both of them. It had only been the day before, as well. And Clare could still find herself day dreaming about Eli's cold hand grasping against her warm breasts.

She even had to stop herself from thinking about it as she walked out of her art class. She needed to focus on more important things. Like how her and Eli's project was due the next day, and how the two of them had spent more time hooking up than working on the damn thing the past few months. With one day left to spare, she sure hoped that the two of them could cram hard that night and finish their assignment… though she would have much rather found out what other things his cold hands could do.

"Hey, Clare!" A voice called, pulling Clare out of her trance and back into the real world. A muscular fellow, with dark skin and a cheap grin approached her, his eyes scanning over her body momentarily. "I'm Mike Dallas. Everyone just calls me Dallas."

Clare blinked, suddenly questioning why Mike Dallas would need to speak to her probably – ever."Um yeah, I know who you are." Clare replied in a polite tone. "I'm Clare, but lately everyone's been calling me a slut."

"I've heard rumors." Dallas said casually.

"Yeah, well, c'est la vie."

"La Vi."

Clare rolled her eyes. "Nice. Solid joke. Anyway, what'd you need, Dallas?" she tried to give him a smile, but every gesture about the guy seemed so utterly fake that she didn't want to return the façade to him.

"I've got a few questions."

"Mhmm?"

"Eli Goldsworthy," Dallas started, tilting his head to the side slightly. "Is he your boyfriend?"

Clare pinned her eyebrows together, shrugging her shoulders at the same time as she shook her head. "No, not exactly."

"Okay," Dallas noted, taking a few seconds before asking his next question. "So the rumors, they are true?" Clare only nodded. She blinked for almost literally a second before his hands were placed on Clare's body, hands slipping down her waist and trying to pull her into his grasp. "Then maybe you and I could –"

"Dallas!" Clare screeched, dropping her art supplies into a heap onto the ground and pushing herself away from him. "What the heck?! You're so gross, are you kidding me!?" Dallas laughed softly to himself, stepping up to her again and shaking his head lightly.

"You're going around sleeping with people, Clare. I want in, c'mon, Clare." Without warning, he flung himself to her lips, preying upon her desperately. It took her milliseconds to process what was happening and be able to react correctly, which in Clare's mind was to step away and introduce his cheek to her hand.

"Get off of me, right now!" Clare ordered, and Dallas stepped backwards, his hand clutching his cheek in pain.

"What the fuck, Clare!" he spat. "Just have sex with me! I'm good, I swear! I'll be way better than Cammy or emo boy!"

"Dallas, I don't care if you're good or not. I'm not actually having sex with people. I'm just saying I'm having sex with people. And besides, you're revolting. Buzz off!"

Dallas stepped backwards, suddenly startled by Clare's words. It was starting to click in his mind now. That's why Cam was cool about dating Maya and hanging out with Clare all the time. Dallas raised his eyebrows. "So you're lying to everyone? Telling everyone you're fucking the entire campus so your friends won't think you're some little virgin?" Dallas spat at her feet.

"It didn't start out that way –"

"I don't want to hear it, bitch." Dallas growled. "Now I know your secret. I can tell everyone the truth if I want to. Everyone will know you're one big liar." But then Dallas paused, and the angry expression he showed began to turn into a sly grin. "But I can always make a deal, yeah? I'm always one to make a pretty girl a deal." Dallas overstepped his boundaries, stepping forward and tucking a stray curl in Clare's eyes behind her ear, causing Clare to shiver in fear. "If you sleep with me like I ask, I'll keep my mouth shut. Besides, you're not with Goldylocks, he won't mind if we fool around a little bit."

"You're disgusting." Clare mumbled.

"You'll have fun; you'll be treated like a queen. Come on, Clare Edwards, have sex with me."

"In your dreams." Clare scoffed, squirming to get out of his grasp, only to fail and have her wrists taken harshly by the boy.

"If you want to keep up with your little lie, Clare, you better do what I say." Dallas threatened.

"Let go of me!" She screeched, desperately trying to push herself away from him. "Eli will be here any minute! He'll kill you, so…let go of me right now!" And that seemed to get him to do what she told him to. His strong hands let go of her wrists and he stepped back.

"I'm going to tell everyone, Edwards, everyone. You thought you were in the clear, didn't you? Living life to the fullest and not having to worry about something like this happening to you. That your secret would get out. Well, here's your plot twist, writer girl – I'm going to tell everyone that you're a big fat liar. And not you or your 'not-exactly' boyfriend Eli can stop me. Fuck you, Clare Edwards."

And then, he was gone.

Like a dramatic strike of lightening had entered her life momentarily to cause a bit of insanity it had left in almost a flash. She had to go over the moment in her head several times to realize what had just happened. Dallas was going to ruin! Ruin her! Well maybe not ruin her completely, but still ruin everything. She'd be deemed a liar. Adam would go back to being harassed and everything would spiral out of its new normal. Clare initially didn't mind that everyone would know the truth considering she had never really wanted to be in the middle of this lie in the first place. Maybe Dallas telling everyone wouldn't actually be such a big deal…

"Clare!" Another voice called, causing Clare to jump and realize that there was a big black hearse sitting on the curb a few feet away from her. How long had she been there out of focus? "Are you okay? What happened?" he was in front of her within seconds, on his knees picking up the spilled art supplies.

"I'm okay." Clare reassured as he handed her stray paint brushes and almost empty squeezed to death paints. "There was just… it's no big deal, nothing happened."

"Are you sure?" Eli asked; a nervous look in his green eyes as he placed his hands gently on her shoulders. "You look shaken up."

"I'm fine." Clare lied, trying to smile at him. "Let's just go back to your dorm. I miss your bed and your arms and your television that we rarely pay any attention to." Eli smiled at her words, leaning forward and kissing her quivering pink lips.

"Sounds nice." Eli said softly as he lead her towards the hearse a little walk ahead of her.

The ride back to Eli's dormitory was longer and more awkward than Clare had expected. She had to keep quiet about what had happened with Dallas for a little while. And in her mind that meant a few hours… or at least until they weren't driving any more. Even with Eli playing Clare's favourite band of all time, she couldn't shake the abnormal feeling taking over her. What if this was going to screw things up for a lot of people? Alli and Jenna would never trust her again. Adam would be bullied… something would happen to Eli, wouldn't it? Something she totally didn't plan on. Clare slumped in the seat of Morty and covered her face with her hands.

"Okay, something is definitely up." Eli spoke sincerely, as he approached the parking garage near his building. "Will you please tell me what's wrong?"

"No." Clare mumbled into her hands. As the car was parked, Eli shifted his position to look at the misshapen girl. "Not yet, at least. Can't we just go inside and you can touch me again? That'll put me in a better mood."

Eli snorted, reaching his hand forward and running it through Clare's elegant curls. "Yeah, of course we can. But I sure hope you won't be sad the entire night.

"I won't." Clare promised, starting so sit up as she gave him half of a smile and Eli grinned in response.

"That's my girl." Eli stole a kiss, making Clare giggle slightly. "Shall we go up?"

Clare nodded, and the two of them sprang out of Eli's hearse and practically raced to the elevator. Good mood or bad mood, neither of them could deny that the warm embrace of each other was something that the two of them greatly cherished. Whether it was an embrace in the middle of a make out, or just the two of them cuddling on Eli's bed in utter desperation for each other, it was worth both of their whiles. In fact, it had become a daily thing. Without each other's warmth, they might as well drop dead.

Clare could always recall how the first time she had been to Eli's dorm it was a total mess. Things scattered around, a big creative bomb had exploded throughout Eli's dorm and he had been far too lazy to clean it up. But now, with Clare coming over more often (daily, even) it was almost like a duty to keep the place safe from any grime or grease or anything that might have been a turn off towards her. And as Clare walked inside to see the place spotless, she laughed softly to herself.

"You cleaned up for me, eh?" Clare teased.

"I always do, beautiful." Eli replied, wrapping his arms around her from behind. He pulled her up close against his body, rocking their hips back and forth in a dancey way as his lips moved to her ear, his teeth nibbling gently on her earlobe. "Shall we watch our film first, kiss first, or you tell me what's on your mind first?" A red tint appeared on her cheeks as he spoke – but like that was new. He always made her blush.

"I'm more into option number two, but if we get over option three first…" Clare trailed off, killing the moment softly. "I just hope that this won't ruin tonight's setting of kissing and touching and such. Though we also have a project we need to work on."

"Shhh…" Eli purred into Clare's ear, "I'll take care of everything. Just relax, tell me what the problem is, and let me make everything all better." Clare gave him a thoughtful smile as she spun herself around in his arms. Clare's hands slid back around his neck, connecting behind and playing softly with the ends of his messy hair. Blue eyes clashed with green ones, and her heart skipped a beat. "Tell me what happened, beautiful."

"I don't want to dampen the mood."

"You won't. Just tell me."

"Are you sure?"

Eli smiled. "Yeah, I'm sure."

Everything changed after that. She had told him what had happened with Dallas and he became a whirlwind of anger and utter rage. How could Dallas even try anything on Clare?! He had put his hands on his Clare. Kissed her lips and that was what had bothered him the most. She was Eli's. He was crazy about this girl too much. Just thinking about what had happened caused his blood to boil. It was as if he was about to punch a hole into the wall all the way to Liam Berish's dorm room next door.

"I'm going to kill him. I'm going to fucking murder him." Eli grumbled, pacing back and forth around his dorm while Clare sat on her usual lounge chair. "How dare he touch you – kiss you! You're mine. I want his head on a silver platter…that asshole! Threatening you like that? I'll punch his teeth out he'll be in too much pain to even speak."

"Eli… it's okay." Clare whispered.

"No, it isn't'!" Eli boomed in return. "Who the fuck does he think he is? One big asshole jock. I hate him so fucking much. I'm getting him back, don't you worry. I'll kill him with my bare hands for you, Clare."

"See this is why I didn't want to tell you yet –"

"I'm glad you told me, now I can go kill him in his sleep so that he can't spread any shit about you around this campus. You don't deserve that." Eli closed his eyes, trying to calm down, though it seemed almost impossible. "Look, I'm sorry. I just can't let anything bad happen to you. I have to take care of you. I have to get back at him for you."

Clare sighed softly, getting up from her spot on the couch and pressing a hand to Eli's chest. "Or you could lay low with your girlfriend?" she whispered, and Eli had to stop his eyebrows from raising voluntarily. He sighed in return, shaking his head slowly.

"Twist my rubber arm," Eli paused, a smirk curling onto his lips. "Girlfriend."

Was that it? Was it already official by a single word? She suggested that she was his girlfriend and not only had it cleared everything up at the moment, but it also added a lustful texture to the air. They were… official. It was nice to think that they were a couple at this point. After having to wait almost two months, Clare Edwards was all his. No one else's. So now wasn't he almost obligated to defend her when it came to the situation with Mike Dallas? Whether it was, or whether it wasn't, Clare seemed against any form of revenge and the more into the idea of the two of them making out on his bed… which didn't seem like such a bad idea. It was an amazing idea, really.

Eli's hands swept around the girls waist, pulling her into his body and his lips crashing to hers to send the mood sky rocketing and all that could be heard was the slapping of lips against each other. Her smallish hands found their place at the base of his neck while both of his hands took control of her waist, slamming their bodies together and his hands slipped to the small of her back. Both of their torsos practically danced across the space they had, constantly finding themselves in the kitchen half and then back to the wall beside his bed. And as the back of her knees hit the end of his bed, she fell backwards against the matters and desperately pulled Eli down with her. Every move now had some sort of effect on her. Before it had just been the big steps that would send her mind over the moon, but now it was different. Now it was every touch, every peck of the lips, everything. More than one Clare would have to bite down on her bottom lip to stop herself from making noises and giving him the satisfaction. As much as seeing his devious smile made her laugh and squeal mentally, she couldn't allow it in a time like this.

The green eyed boy pulled away momentarily, his dark bangs messy as they hung down in front of his eyes which were set upon her for a moment. She looked… content, yet totally flustered at the same time which was an incredible turn on to someone like Eli. His lips placed open mouthed kisses on Clare's neck, biting and licking and marking his territory with loving bruises that would appear in a matter of hours. As of the day before, most of Clare's upper body had been covered black and blue because of him, and she was required to cover her neck with a pale shade of concealer so no one would have been able to notice. While Eli's mouth worked wonders on her flesh, his large hands slithered down her body, feeling the cottony fabric of her dress against his fingers. He was going to try again. The thing he had tried to do only a few days before, that Clare wasn't totally ready for. But only yesterday he had taken off her shirt and her bra, so perhaps she could make it through another step? This would send them into a whole new world, a brand new planet that though this might have resulted in awkwardness between the two of them, Eli was willing to risk it as long as she was.

Carefully, his hands pulled on the floral fabric of her dress, it rising slowly up her body. Eli's lips never left her neck, and it was a great distraction for Clare. Of course she could notice the fact that Eli was purposefully trying to slide her dress away from her, but it was all becoming the normal to her… and in fact, she longed for it. Eli's kisses traveled south, each one of them moving lower and lower on her body. On her chest, from the exposed part of her dress. Clare shivered under his touch, swallowing hard as Eli made quite the daring move. Without warning, Eli slid his hand in between her legs and brushed softly against her through her light pink underwear. Clare gasped at the sudden sensation, causing her back to arch off of the bedding in utter bliss. Other than mildly touching herself as a teenager (which she found to be childish and rather inappropriate) she had never felt such pleasure move through her.

"Is this all right?" Eli murmured huskily, and Clare let out a girly sigh in response. Oh, it was much better than all right. It had barely even begun and it was already feeling more spectacular than she had ever quite imagined in her daily day dreams. He began to repeat his previous movements, Clare biting down desperately on her tongue to keep quite. No satisfaction for Eli – none!

But it was all too hard, when Eli pulled off her underwear, sliding it down her pale legs and tossing them off the side of the bed. His hands moved to her hips, guiding them into the air as he looked down at her. God, did she know how to be sexy without even trying.

"I need to know what I can do." Eli said seriously.

"Just… do it." Clare replied breathlessly.

"Do what?" Eli teased, inching his way down her body, his eyes staying locked on her gaze through every motion. The looks she gave him were too good to go ignored. Like she was desperate, longing to beg but not wanting to seem weak, so her big blue eyes did all the work for her. "You have to tell me what you want, Clare."

"Quit teasing me." Clare muttered through a gasp. The burning sensation that Eli had given her so many times was almost becoming an unbearable desire for him. She knew what was going on, what he was doing to do, and she wanted it to happen. Now. "Do it before I change my mind."

Eli chuckled, lowering his head down in between her legs. All that could be seen now of the boy was the top of his dark brown hair and his green eyes peeking through bangs, looking at her before him. "So nervous, so innocent. So untouched, so fearful." Eli paused, listing off the characteristics Clare had put on right now. "I can change all of that." Softly, his lips pressed gentle kisses against Clare's inner thigh, each one a delicate peck on her smooth skin. Her legs shook nervously with his touch, and he closed his eyes. Only two days before she had said she didn't want him to see her be undone in front of him and not like it, which was really almost like a joke to Eli. He thought she was devastatingly beautiful. Sometimes even too beautiful for him. More of the time he doubted that he even deserved someone so beautiful and amazing caring about him in his life, but Clare always seemed to – and he sure did enjoy her company.

And then it happened. His mouth found its place, the place she had been waiting for. The secret place – no one was ever supposed to see unless the two of them were really… that they really… did she love him? She had to have loved him if she was letting him go down on her, so to speak. She never thought that she would let someone she didn't love see her or touch her in such a way, so she… she just had to be in love. She never suspected it could take two months to fall in love with someone. Then again with constantly seeing each other on a daily basis, and finding each other's strengths and weaknesses maybe it was easy. When you are in love, you can just feel it inside of you – like just seeing them is better than anything else. Like better than an amusement park, or your favourite sports team winning the game. It's different than loving an actress or loving your best friend. It's like they're running on a treadmill and your minds the treadmill. That's all Clare could do to piece what she had been thinking together. She just had to have loved him. There just couldn't be a further explanation.

Clare bucked her hips up against his mouth, a soft angelic moan flowing from her lips as her head sunk deep into the pillow. Eli's tongue was swirling around her folds, taking in the taste of her that he had never been able to take advantage of until this moment. He wasn't about to try and describe how she could taste, but he could find himself longing to do the same actions to her again to be able to have it on his lips, or even just to hear her voice in such bliss when he could kiss her deeply down below. Clare's hands gripped the sheets of his bed, toes curling at the new sensation.

"Oh my God…" she moaned out, her eyes rolling into the back of her head as his mouth traveled southward, not just his tongue sweeping around each sensitive bit of her, but beginning to slide in and out of her, which seemed to make her pleas grow louder. "Eli…" she whimpered, her hands starting to pull on his dark hair. Eli groaned loudly, sending vibrations through Clare's center and her walls to tremble at the feeling. She had never moaned out his name in such a way before. Never like that, expressing how the things he had been doing caused her to feel such ecstasy. Her fingers pulled on his black locks, trying not to be too rough as she did the act but her mind was taking over matter.

Everything began to move so fast, like hyper speed that began to take over her body. Fingers replaced tongues and the sounds that Clare would make grew louder and louder than they had before. Clare's legs trembled in pleasure, almost as if she was about to collapse in his grasp, which she knew would happen soon enough. Her walls began to tighten around Eli's fingers, and she could feel something she had absolutely never felt before in her life begin to take over. The lower half of her body tingled immensely, her throat couldn't stop crying out for him, and the more her hands tugged on his hair the more Eli would groan for back for her. Her back arched completely off of his bed and into his touch, her hands tightening in his hair. "Eli! Oh G-God. Eli-." She let out a loud, relieving sigh as the feeling of utter bliss took over her body and she began to come down from her high.

"Clare Edwards." Eli spoke darkly, his head lifting from the spot that he had just taken over completely, and looking at her as her hair was a mess and her eyes were wide and radiant.

"You just… I just…" Clare stuttered, her head falling back onto the pillows and she laughed softly to herself. "Oh my God…" Eli just laughed softly as well, starting to slide off of the bed as he muttered something about being back in a second. He didn't say it out loud, but it was obvious that he was going to go take care of the boner he had on for the moment. He of course wouldn't bother Clare with something like that.

The girls mind reeled as she continued to imagine the moment in her head over and over again. It was all a dream, or at least she suspected it to be. Considering she had dreamt of a time like that for weeks now, yet the first time he had tried to she had said no. Why had she said no! She was kicking herself for not letting him do so two days before, but now that he had… everything felt amazing. She pulled her legs up to her chest, both of them still shaking immensely. And when he returned to the room from the small bathroom off the side of the kitchen, she held her arms out towards him with a big grin on her face. "Come here. Come hold me." Clare whispered to him, and he obliged, strolling across the room and bending down onto the ground in front of his television where he fiddled with his DVD player and made sure that The Yellow Submarine would be playing for her.

"Hello," Eli breathed as he plopped down beside her and pulled her into his body, her legs sitting on his, and his arms wrapping around her. "You smell nice." He told her, his nose sniffing through her hair. "Like coconut."

"It is coconut." Clare replied; her eyes looking towards the television as the film began to play. "We never finished our assignment."

"I'll take care of it." Eli promised.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, of course I'm sure." Eli's voice grew lighter for a moment, almost as if he was yawning and his tone had took a higher turn. Clare hummed, nuzzling her head against Eli's chest as they leaned against the wall, their eyes fixated on the movie, but their minds definitely on each other.

"You're amazing, Eli." Clare mumbled into his t-shirt, her hands grasping at the fabric. "You're protective over me, but not overly protective. You take care of me, and you make me feel so good and… and…" She stopped, her words getting caught on the way out, so all she did was breathe hot air onto his chest.

"And what?" Eli pondered, raising a hand and running it through the small girl's curls as she held onto him. "And what, Clare?"

"And I think I love you."

His eyes widened, and his head was spinning. His head was working like a word processer for a moment, making sure that he had heard her correctly. Love. She had said love. For a long time he had forgotten that word had existed in a context like that. Sure he loved movies. Sure Clare loved the Beatles. Sure Adam loved video games, and Cam acted as if he loved hockey. But no one had ever said they loved him besides his mother or father. Had Julia ever even loved him? He had never suspected so, though he was crazily obsessed over her. Eli had never even contemplated the word love when he thought about Clare, it all just came naturally that the two of them went like peanut butter and jelly. But she had just declared the probability of her love for him, and that was something he wondered if he had ever experienced before. The words lingered in the air for quite some time, neither of them speaking another word after it, and he hoped that it wasn't making Clare nervous – though it clearly was. He kissed the top of her hair, smelling the coconut once again and sighing deeply at the delicious scent.

"I love you too, Clare." Eli answered finally, the words flowing like a song he had written for her. Both of them sighed in unison, holding tighter to each other. "I'm going to New York for the holiday," Eli started, almost sounding sad about it. "For two to three weeks."

"I'll miss you." Clare whimpered.

"I want you to come with me."

She looked up at him, stars in her eyes and a smile curling onto her lips. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah," Eli laughed a little, "of course I'm sure."

"Okay." Clare grinned, her cheeks burning up. Had he really just invited her to come with him on a vacation? That meant something, didn't it? That the two of them might be really in it for the long run. He couldn't go what seemed to be a day without her, and she just loved to be by his side. "I'll come with you."

"Stay over." Eli told her, forming his question in what seemed like a statement, making Clare more intrigued than ever.

"Here? Tonight? In your dorm, on your bed, with you all night long? And when I wake up you'll still be there right beside me?"

"I don't want to go anywhere, so yes. You can fall asleep right here in my arms and I'll not move once."

Clare snuggled against his chest again, her head finding its place in the crook of his neck where she felt safe. "Alli and Jenna are going to get suspicious." She whispered, and Eli chuckled, shrugging his shoulders as he leaned back against the bed as if they were about to go to sleep that very moment.

"They're always suspicious; let them think what they want." Eli told her.

Clare hummed, running her hand up and down Eli's chest for a moment, feeling his heart beating against her palm. "I really love you, Eli."

"I really love you too."