Author's note: okay, here's chapter ten I promised before school. I hope the last chapter wasn't too bad. I just needed there to be a different reason that Clare's parents wouldn't like Eli other than he wears all black, drives a hearse, atheist, ect so I changed Darcy's story around.

Nikole2788: No, Peter(nor Darcy) will be in this book. I just needed that storyline, but that was a great idea you had. A nice plot for a one-shot (:

At dinner, I sat next to Clare. Her mom placed a plate of chicken in front of me and then she sat down next to Mr. Edwards. They said grace while I bowed my head, not exactly agreeing with it. I'm atheist, but I didn't want to be disrespectful. And it's not like I hated Jesus or anyone that believed in him, I just wasn't convinced there was a God or Jesus.

We ate dinner in silence, with the occasional normal question. How was I in school? What was my home life like? What did my parents do? How did I know Clare?

It seemed to me like they wanted to forget about the screaming match earlier. Fine with me. I didn't want to remember that, either, but it was always gonna be a memory in mine and Clare's relationship.

When dinner was over, I said a thank you to both of them and Clare walked be out to my car.

Before I got in, I turned to look at her. "It was a nice dinner, Clare, don't worry. I'm not gonna hate you because you had an argument with your parents in front of me,"

She laughed. "Good. I don't wanna loose you, Eli,"

"Don't count on it," I laughed with her.

"Goodnight, Eli, I'll see you tomorrow,"

"Would you like me to pick you up for school tomorrow?" I fished around in my pockets for my keys.

"That'd be nice. My parents are going to work early, and I don't want to walk. Thanks,"

"Goodnight, Clare," I glanced at the window to see if her parents were watching. They had their backs turned to us, doing the dishes. I leaned in and pecked Clare on the cheek. Color rushed up and painted her cheeks.

I laughed and got in Morty. As I backed out, she watched me go.

I was really falling for her.

When I got home, I sighed closing the door. I didn't even know how to describe this day.

"Eli!" My mom called. She grabbed me when I walked through the kitchen and sat me down. "Tell me all about it. How was meeting her parents?"

My dad came in from the living room and sat next to me.

I figured I'd be honest. I said it like it was the most nonchalant thing. "Her parents think I'm gonna rape her,"

Both of my parents' faces went blank. "What?" my mom yelled.

"Her older sister got raped by her boyfriend and Clare's parents are scared that I'm going to rape her,"

"Did you explain to them-"

I cut my mom off. "Clare and I talked to them. They don't trust me, but they're trying. They actually wanna meet you both, too, next Friday at dinner,"

"Friday?" my parents exchanged a glance. "Yeah, Friday could work. But I can't believe someone would accuse you of rape. I mean, really. Eli you're like the only teenager I know who doesn't think about that,"

"I know, Mom, I know. Hopefully, they'll grow to trust me and learn that I would never do that. I respect Clare. I've even stopped her before when things got too far. But as long as they don't hate me and I'm allowed to see Clare, I'll gain their trust eventually," I shrugged and stood up.

"I'm going to bed. Night, Mom, night, Dad," I headed up stairs.

When I woke up it was seven-thirty.

After getting dressed in a dark, gray, button-down shirt, black tie, black vest and acid bleached skinny jeans, I went downstairs for some breakfast.

I ate some toast in silence and then looked at the clock it was almost eight.

While driving to Clare's, I listened to our song.

Clare climbed in the passenger seat and just like always came over and rested against my arm.

We didn't talk as we drove to school and the silence did bother us. It wasn't awkward; it was comfortable.

I got out of the car and went around to open her door. I held her hand and we walked into school. Before we reached the steps and I heard a loud obnoxious boy say my name.

"Eli,"

I let go of Clare's hand to turn and face the jerk. "What do you want, Fitz?" I asked.

"Oh, you already know what I want," he jerked his chin towards Clare.

"Never,"

"Man, you're not even gonna get some from her! Why wait? What's the point?"

"She's worth it," I stated plainly.

"Nothing on that body is worth anything,"

"If you not gonna apologize, then just leave,"

He started walking towards me. "Fine. I'm am so terribly sorry, Eli…about your nards,"

Before I could register what he said, I felt the shooting pain coming from my pelvis. It spread throughout my entire body and took my breath away.

I collapsed to the ground and Clare dropped to her knees, cradling my head in her hands. "Eli! Eli, are you okay?"

I couldn't breathe yet. Did Fitz really just kick me there? Really? Okay, this was personal. Literally. This was war.

My hand was clutching my 'area' and I was trying to ignore the pain. Please don't let me cry, please don't let me cry. I chanted in my head over and over again. My eyes were beginning to water.

"What can I do?" Clare asked.

Honestly, I forgot she was even there. She put her hand on my shoulder and even that hurt.

"Don't…touch…anything," I choked out in a gasp.

She let go of my shoulders, while I just squeezed my eyes shut and tried to push the pain of out my body.

When I was able to breathe again and the pain was fading, I attempted to stand up. Clare had my elbow and gently help pick up my body.

I stood still at first. Damn, that hurt. I was able to move now and we began walking up the stairs.

"You just wait," I warned Clare. "Fitzy Boy doesn't know what he got himself into.

I walked Clare to her locker and she put her books in. "Eli, I really think you should just let it go,"

"Are you kidding me? Fitz just kicked me in my personal package. There's no way I'm letting it go. I might never be able to have kids!"

She looked at me. "I'm serious, Eli, somebody is gonna get hurt,"

"I already got hurt!" I argued. "Do you really expect me to just let this go?"

"I want you to," she put her hand on my hip. "He won't stop until someone gets seriously hurt, Eli, I know him. Fitz doesn't give up,"

I moved closer to her, reacting to her hand on my hip. "I'm not giving up, either,"

She looked up at me with her pretty blue eyes. I was trying to be sexy and seductive; she was still looking at me with pleading eyes.

"Eli,"

"Clare," I shot back, smirking. I could see in her eyes that they were softening. I didn't want Clare to be mad at me, so I took it to the next step.

I moved one more step closer to her and put my lips against her neck. "Don't be mad. Pretty please? I just wanna show Fitz I'm not scared. I won't hurt him too bad," I whispered.

I could feel her heartbeat increase. "Um, okay?"

I pulled away and kissed her on the lips. "Thank you,"

She leaned up to me and kissed me back.

"Ahem," someone cleared their throat.

We pulled away fast, in case it was a teacher. I heard laughing behind me and I turned.

"Adam," I laughed. "Don't scare us like that,"

Clare looked back and forth between us. Adam looked back and forth between me and Clare. I felt awkward.

"Oh, right, right, right. Uh, Clare," I gestured towards her. "This is Adam. Adam," I gestured towards him. "This is Clare,"

Clare put her hand out and Adam shook it. "Hi, I'm Eli's girlfriend,"

It was the first time she said it officially. I beamed so big, it hurt.

"I'm Adam. Eli's…" he trailed off and looked at me.

I looked back confused. What did he want? "Friend." I answered. "This is my friend, Adam,"

Adam relaxed and I didn't know why. Maybe he didn't have many friend and wasn't sure if we were friends or not. I'd thought I'd help him out.

"So, Adam, you wanna get some coffee later and The Dot?"

He looked, like, really happy. "Yeah, sure, that'd be great,"

"If you wanna ride, you can meet me at my car after school. I just have to drop Clare off at home, and then we can go,"

"You sure she doesn't wanna go?" Adam asked, nodding towards Clare.

"No, no, you need your guy time," Clare wrapped her arm around my waist and put one hand on my chest. "And you don't need to drive me home, I can't walk,"

"What kind of boyfriend would I be if I let my girlfriend walk home alone?"

"Maybe I'll go to Ali's," she shrugged.

"No, I'll drive you home. Unless…" I turned away from Clare's eyes and looked at Adam. "Would you mind if dropped her off at home first. You can come, too, if you'd like,"

"Sure, I don't care. I'll meet you guys at your car after school. You drive the hearse, right?"

"Yup," I smiled. The bell rang and Adam walked down the hall. Clare turned and closed her locker.

"I'll see you at lunch," she stated before leaning up and kissing me.

"Sure thing,"

I watched Clare walk down the hall and then turned and walked to my math class.

The rest of my classes were boring. I walked into my third period health class and saw Adam.

I took my seat next to him. "Hey, what's up?"

"Nothing," he answered.

"Yeah, school is so boring. I can't wait till lunch with Clare," I laughed. "You wanna join us?"

"I wouldn't be a third wheel?"

"Naw," I promised. "It's the crowded lunch room and her friends are joining us. I need a guy friend there before I die of all the talk of make-up and Twilight,"

"Mind if my brother sits with us, too?"

"The more guys, the betters," I fist pounded him and laughed.

The class began and we tried to pay attention.

After health, I told Adam I'd meet him in the lunchroom. He needed to find his brother. I walked to my locker and put my bag in my locker. I needed one more binder for the rest of the day. I decided to walk to Clare's locker.

Clare's best friend, Ali, the short Indian girl that was with Clare the day I ran over her glasses, was already at Clare's locker with her.

"Hello, ladies," I walked up behind Clare and wrapped my arms around her waist.

"Hey,"

I rested my chin on Clare's head. I noticed Ali was looking at me. I laughed. "Since Clare won't introduce us, I'm Eli," I took my hand off Clare's waist and shook Ali's.

"I'm Ali,"

"So let's go to lunch?" Clare closed her locker. I unwrapped my arms and took her hand.

"Oh, by the way, Drew and Adam Torres are also eating with us. I kinda invited them. Hope you don't mind," I looked into Clare's eyes intently.

She blushed. "Of course not," she whispered in barely a breath.

Ali smacked my arm. "I do!"

"What?"

"Clare, would you please tell your boyfriend that I don't look presentable enough to eat with Drew,"

"Ali, you look fine," Clare argued.

"Does she like him or something?" I asked.

"Oh my god, Clare, your boyfriend doesn't catch on fast, of course I like him!"

"You know, I have a name? And I'm right here. You don't have to talk to Clare about me,"

"Fine." Ali grumbled. "Eli, how could you invite Drew Torres? I don't even know what to say in front of him!"

"Just be yourself. If he's really worthy, he'll like you for you,"

We continued to walk into the lunchroom. As we sat at our table, Jenna Middleton, Clare's friend, and KC Guthrie, Clare's ex and Jenna's new boyfriend, sat down. I don't think Clare found it awkward to have me and KC sitting across for each other, but we certainly found it awkward.

Drew and Adam joined us.

"Hey, guys," Adam said. "This is my brother, Drew,"

"KC!" Drew yelled. KC and Drew stood up and did their handshakes. Drew sat down next to KC and Ali. Ali gave Clare an 'oh-my-god-can-you-believe-he's-this-close-to-me' look. I laughed.

Adam took his seat next to me. "Man, there are a lot of people here. How do you and Clare find time to be together?"

"Simple," I answered, nodding to our hands, twined under the table. Adam laughed. "I should've known,"

As we ate our lunch, things got less weird. We joked and laughed and threw food, like we were all friends. It was so weird. I came to this school hating everybody, not wanting a single person to talk to me. Now, thanks to Clare, I had a girlfriend and five friends.

When lunch was over, everybody went their separate ways. Adam and Drew walking right, Jenna, KC, and Ali, walking left. Clare and I stood up.

I held my hand out. "English class awaits, my lady,"

She took my hand, swung her bag over her shoulder and we walked to English class.

I took my seat and she sat behind me, like always.

Before class started, I turned around and looked into her eyes. "Real quick," I leaned across the desk and pecked her on the lips, then turned around before I could see her reaction.

I felt and heard her let out a shaky breath. I chuckled.

"It's not funny. You can't do that to me. One of these days, I'm gonna pass out and you will have nobody to blame but yourself,"

I laughed harder.

She sighed in frustration and then class began.

"So I hope everybody had a good weekend, let's get down to business." Mrs. Dawes began. "I'm going to give you a partner writing assignment,"

I smiled to myself. Now I have more excuses then I need to be with Clare.

"I want you both to pick and topic. They have to be different. They won't have to be anything specific, just something you wanna write about. I want each of you write about why the paper should be about that topic. For example, if Miss Nelson wants to write about gun control and Mr. Kippel wants to write about racism, they each have to write which would be the better thing to discuss in their paper. In the end, come together and write which of the two topics you chose and why. Include the arguments you went through to decide and back-story of why you wanted to write that. Have fun with it and its due Friday. Pair up with the partners I gave you last week and discuss how you want to format it and your criteria. You have till the end of class,"

I turned around to face Clare.

"So what do you want to write about?" I asked.

"I'm not sure yet,"

"Well, I'm going to write about stereotypes. And why people make then and what tips them off to judge you,"

"That's pretty interesting,"

"No, Clare, you have to argue with me. Tell me that's stupid and that what you want to write about is better! You have to put up and argument!"

"I don't want to fight with you," she whispered and looked down.

"Why not?" I asked.

"Because my parents fight all the time. I know we need to fight about what to write about, but since we fight over that, what if we start to fight over other things?"

I cupped her chin in my hand and made her look up at me. "Clare, this is an assignment. It had nothing to do with how I feel about you. We aren't going to fight; I can't promise you that,"

"How?"

"Because every time we disagree, I'll kiss you and then you'll agree with me,"

She smiled and came back to normal. "That's not fair,"

I shrugged. "Such is life. Now what do you wanna write about?"

"People that have power over you. Like when you don't want to do something and someone kisses you until you agree. I wanna write about why that would work. Why would someone have that power?"

"Damn, that's stupid. We are writing about stereotypes. Case closed,"

"No we're not!"

"Don't make me force you to agree," I turned my eyes on full power and looked down at her.

Her gaze unfocused and refocused a couple times before she spoke. "You wouldn't,"

"Dare me to?"

She shook her head. "Not in class,"

"Hmm. So Saint Clare isn't into PDA. I see,"

"I just don't want to get in trouble. Mrs. Dawes will notice us,"

"So? That's the fun in it. We could get caught," I started to lean across the desk. I still held her gaze.

"Eli," she whispered.

I laughed and leaned into her lips.

"Ahem," Mrs. Dawes cleared her throat.

I pulled back from Clare's blushing face. "Sorry, Mrs. Dawes, just putting up my side of the argument,"

The class snickered and Clare blushed deeper.

"It won't happen again," Mrs. Dawes ordered.

"I told you we'd get in trouble," Clare whispered.

"But it was worth it and you know it. And you'd do it again, too, and you know it," I laughed.

She rolled her eyes and looked away, blushing even deeper.

The rest of the class was spent discussing whether or not we should do my stereotype paper or her 'power people' paper. So far-I think do to the power my eyes have on her-I was winning.

When the bell rang, I sighed. I had one more class period until I saw Clare again. But she was going straight home and I was hanging with Adam. That didn't bother me too much. I mean, the dude needed a friend and he seemed pretty cool, so why not?

But I was going to be missing Clare the whole time.

"Maybe after The Dot, I could pick you up and we could go see a movie?" I suggested as she pack her bag.

"Well, my mom and dad are going to a work thing until eleven. You wanna come over and just watch a movie at my place?"

"Clare, your parents would kill us,"

"Well, then I guess you'll have to leave by eleven," she pecked me on the lips. "I'll be at Morty after school,"

Then she just walked out the door.

I liked how our relationship was beginning to be more natural. I would never get over the fact how beautiful she was, or what her lips and eyes did to me, but I was becoming used to them and the butterflies they brought.

I stood up and began walking to my next class.

Author's note: I couldn't resist keeping Eli's getting kicked in the bawls in this. That episode was priceless. Anyway, I'll update when I get home from school. Preview for next chapter: Adam and Eli hang out, The Fitz plot depends, Clare and Eli get steamy (;