A/N: Iffy about this chapter. As I always am, though. Sorry it took me so long to update - I've been struck with the flu! The beginning and the middle of this chapter were all right, but the ending is just pure blah and me trying to set it up for chapter eleven, which I can't promise when it will be updated because I literally feel like I've swallowed a brick right now. Enjoy my sickly writing. There might be some mistakes though but all fanfiction has some mistakes riddled within it's greatness.

Rating: There's no smut but you can pretend that there is.

Disclaimer: I own Clare's new-used leather jacket, but not Degrassi.

"Silhouettes caress without feeling. Who'll be your mercenary?" Mercenary | Crystal Castles

I had woken up the next morning to Eli Goldsworthy lying beside me with an arm behind his head, and his other literally stuffed inside his boxers as if he was getting off in his dreams, or something. I yawned slightly, and turned over on my side to look at the time. It was way past nine, which surprised me. My father hadn't tried to say good morning to me, and Eli hadn't left for summer school. Didn't he want to see the mayhem he had caused? To see the look on my father's face and try not to laugh his ass off, which I knew would be difficult for him. I watched him sleep for a little while. I watched as his bare chest rose and fell, and how his lips still curved into that adorable crooked smile of his even in his sleep. I wondered what he was dreaming about. Maybe me. Or maybe he knew he was going to sleep in and skip summer school, and so he was dreaming about my father getting what he deserved. Whatever it was, I liked this watching him sleep thing. And I wished I had woken up earlier on other days so that I could watch him now.

I reached forward, and brushed some of his dark bangs out of his face so I could look at his closed eyes. The way they moved every once and a while, indicating that he was dreaming. The way his eyelashes were just the perfect length against his eyelids. I wouldn't want to overlook every detail about him, because I was afraid I might never find a single flaw. His teeth weren't even yellow from smoking so much, and that got to me. Where were his flaws? He hid them so well from me, and I wondered how he did it.

"Eli." I whispered, hoping to gently stir him from his sleep. But when whispering his name a few times wasn't working, I reached for his wrist, pulling his hand out of his boxers and I let it fall by his side. I crawled onto him, a leg on either side of his body as I stared down at him from above. He still looked so peaceful and perfect. "Eli," I said again, but this time my voice was emphasized so that he might hear it even from his dreams. He stirred slightly, turning his head to the side, the bangs I had played with falling in front of his eyes again. I let out a sharp breath. "Eli!" I said loudly, my voice almost a sort of whiny tone.

Eli's eyes popped open, and a grin spread across my face as I found that he had woken up to see me.

"Good morning, handsome."

Eli groaned, raising his hands up behind him in a stretching manner. I giggled slightly, bending my body down towards him so I could steal a kiss from his lips, and he yawned stale breath into my mouth.

"Gross." I cringed at the foul taste of his mouth. "Someone needs to brush their teeth."

"Yeah, well," Eli began; his voice a husky-groggy tone. "Someone else is sitting on me."

I beamed, pressing another quick kiss to his lips, trying not to taste the dead-animal taste of his lips. I left a trail of kisses down his neck and to his chest until I finally rolled over onto my back beside him, staring up at the slanted ceiling above our heads. I sighed, and then Eli mimicked me by sighing as well. We turned our heads, looking at each other, and terrible smelling breath being breathed on each other, but I toughed it out, and I guess Eli did too.

"Get dressed." Eli told me, nodding his head upwards as if telling me to go to my closet and pick out something to wear. "I'm going to take you somewhere today." I smiled shyly.

"Like what?" I asked him. Eli reached forward towards me, and placed a hand on my waist, and tugged to pull me up against him. I mimicked him, running my fingers along Eli's side. My fingers brushed over the four little lines on his side. That was something about him I was always too afraid to ask, and sometimes I was just too drunk the night before to remember in the morning to ask about it. Eli had four little lines, almost like tally marks tattooed onto each side of him. There was nothing special about either of them. Honestly, they were both just four little lines tattooed to his sides. There must have been some meaning, but I never asked.

"I'm going to take you out on a date."

Expecting he was going to say some witty remark telling me to be patient, I had opened my mouth – but as I had been caught off guard by his words, I bit down on my tongue. A… date? This was unusual, especially for Eli. He had never taken me out on a date before, just taken me places. And sure, sometimes I had suspected they were 'dates' but neither of us had made the comment on it being a date. We'd been silent about it always. But now, he wanted to take me on a real date.

"This is unexpected." I said, puzzled.

"Really?" Eli snorted, rolling his eyes. "Fine, it won't be a date."

"No!" I laughed, pushing my hand on his chest gently. "No, no I want to go on a date."

Eli smiled, pressing a final kiss to my lips before he said: "Go get ready."

An embarrassing girly squeal fell from my lips as I jumped out of bed to get ready. I had no idea what we were going to do, but I was overly excited for whatever it was. I knew it would be amazing. I knew it would be fun, I knew it was going to be fantastic no matter what he took me to do. I showered and blow-dried and curled my hair. I put on my makeup, and I dressed in what I appropriately thought would be good for a day out with Eli. A sun dress and flip flops. And when I appeared at the bottom of the stairs in my light blue sun dress and flip flops, Eli smiled.

"You look cute."

"Just cute?" I teased, walking towards him as I held out my hands for his hands. "I don't remember the last time I went out on a date." I said honestly as our lips met for a quick peck. "Jake and I used to go on dates, but then after a while we just stopped. We hung out at home and shit and that became easier when our parents got married. So the dating thing just stopped." I paused. My teeth nibbled gently on my bottom lip. "So I'm really nervous and excited to go on this date with you."

"Technically, I've only been on four dates ever." Eli told me. "So if that helps, you're number five."

"Doesn't help. Just like how I'm number seventeen." My eyebrows rose up and down as I tried to emphasize the word seventeen.

"Can't you let that go?" Eli laughed, letting his arm rest around my shoulders as he always did, leading me towards the door. "You know you were the best."

I jokingly scoffed, glancing up at him as we exited through the front door, closing it behind ourselves. "I bet you said the same thing to fifteen and sixteen."

"Yeah I definitely told Fitz he was the best shag I've ever had." Eli snorted, a laugh following after. "Really, beautiful, you are far better than anyone else I have ever hooked up with or dated or anything. You have substance."

"Oh that boy's a slag," I clapped my hands as I sang. "The best I've ever had." I stomped my feet. "The best I've ever had is just a memory. And those dreams aren't as daft as they seem. As daft as they seem, my love when I dream them up."

"Oh look, you also have impeccable taste in music." Eli complimented me as I had finished singing an Arctic Monkey's song Eli would constantly play in the car, though I did mix it up a little for my own way. Eli opened the door to Morty for me, and I climbed inside, reaching into the glove compartment for a cigarette.

"Lighter, please!" I said cheerfully as Eli nodded, reaching into the back pocket of his jeans for his lighter. I lit up a cigarette for each of us, stuffing the thing back into my mouth and taking a deep breath. "Where are we going?" I asked as Eli started up the hearse and tapped his cigarette into the little ash tray we had placed on the dashboard.

"Main Street. I meant to take you there weeks ago, but I forgot." Eli shrugged his shoulders. There had actually been a lot of places that Eli had yet to take me too, which was surprising. I hadn't been to the Pacific View Mall, which was literally down the street from my house, or Golf n' Stuff, or honestly anything that my father had suggested we do when I had first arrived. Eli told me on the way there that Main Street was basically the highlight of Ventura besides the harbor and the beach. I took a long drag on my cigarette, and suddenly realized how fast I had finished one. Was I becoming like Eli? Like how he smoked so quickly and could finish an entire pack in a day? I was hoping that it wouldn't come to that, but I also believed that by the end of the summer – it might just happen. Especially if I continued on the downward spiral that I was on.

Eli parked the hearse in a small parking lot behind a small thrift store, and then proceeded to tell me that today was going to be the fucking most fantastic day of my entire life. I laughed, linking my fingers with his as we strolled down the street. It was a strange feeling. Like the buildings belonged in a movie, or that the entire street was part of a film set. Nothing looked real, and at first glance I thought I might be dreaming. The street lights looked as if they belonged in the twentieth century. The buildings all looked old, yet totally new at the same time. And on every single corner laid a thrift store or Goodwill just waiting for me to spend my money there. Or, at least that was what I had in mind and not Eli.

"Eli, stop!" I giggled, grabbing onto his leather jacket as he held up a matching leather jacket to my arms. "It's fine, you don't have to buy me one." I insisted.

"Ha." Eli laughed, rolling his eyes at me as he began to search the coat for the price tag. "As if I'm going to buy it." I watched his hands as his fingers ripped the tag clean off of the clothing, and waved it in front of my face. "Put it on." I did as he told me too, stretching my arms out and sliding them into the sleeves of the leather jacket. He led me in front of a mirror, and smiled. I watched his reflection mostly instead of staring at my outfit. How he looked me up and down, admiring me almost. I felt his lips gently graze my temple, and I could feel my cheeks burning up with a hot sensation. "Look at you. You look like Eli Goldsworthy property."

"Yeah?" I asked, finally staring at myself. The black leather did make it seem as if Eli and I matched each other. Like the two of us were a pair, and technically I suppose we were. "We do look like two peas in a pod."

"Hell, if I saw us, I'd assume we were dating."

I rolled my eyes. "We are on a date, you know." I clarified, and as I looked in the mirror at Eli's expression, I could see him fighting a smile. He looked so cute, trying to hide a smile by turning around so I couldn't see him. Our fingers linked with each other's, and Eli pulled me down the aisles, as if we were admiring the other clothing up for grabs. "Can I ask you something?" I said to him. He stopped, and fished through the racks. He turned his back to me, and each of us looked at the clothing on the racks opposite of each other.

"Go for it."

"Why do you call me Clare Diana?" I asked. I grazed my hand across the clothing, walking to the other side of the rack Eli was looking at so I could see his face.

"I dunno." He shrugged his shoulders. It was obvious that he was avoiding eye contact with me. "It's like – I try to forget the fact that your Dad is my teacher. So if I don't have to call you Clare Edwards, then I don't have to think about it. Besides, Clare Diana is much more beautiful to say." He smirked lightly, glancing his eyes up at me for barely a second. "Then I also don't have to tell the Fantastic Four that you're Randall's daughter, too."

"Are you embarrassed of me?" I asked, and Eli quickly shook his head.

"No, of course not." He snapped. He pulled out a short-sleeved black and white striped shirt and pinned his eyebrows together. "Do you like this?" he asked, and I nodded. "Cool." And without any warning, he took off his leather jacket, laid it on the racks that separated us and pulled on the shirt. "It's so fucking hot, though. So we have to leave before I pass out from heat exhaustion." Eli joked, slugging his leather jacket back on and ripping the tag off of the sweater. "I'm not embarrassed of you, though. So if that's what you think, unthink it, okay?"

"Okay." I answered softly.

Eli leaned forward over the clothing racks between us, and placed a quick peck to my lips. "I could never be embarrassed of someone as great as you." He murmured against my lips. And then we were off. He snuck us out of the thrift store with the stolen post-given-away clothing on our backs. He dragged us back to Morty so that he could drop off his new sweater, and then he took me out for ice cream, which, surprisingly, he paid for. I got mint rocky-road and he got the same. He held my hand, and we walked up and down the street, and I realized after a while, that this was the exact same place that we had gone to the theater. The night we had first hung out – the night that basically brought us together. Our first fuck. Our first kiss. First dance. The first drug. The first everything, really, and chills of nostalgia ran down my spine as I saw the Ventura Theater in view as Eli took me to a surprise place.

"Where are we going?" I asked him finally, getting impatient with him keeping secrets with me.

"I'm going to duct-tape your mouth shut if you ask me one more time where we are going." Eli threatened playfully, squeezing my hand. "There." He pointed across the street as we approached a crosswalk. "We're going there"

Across the way was a small parlor with the words that read MAIN STREET TATOO in big bold letters. My heart stopped for almost a few seconds, because I wasn't sure where Eli was going with this whole idea. Did he expect us to get matching tattoos? Of course I had incredibly strong feelings for him, and every single time he called me Clare Diana, my stomach would churn with nerves, but I couldn't go as far as to get the name Eli Goldsworthy tattooed on my ankle or something. And if he thought he was going to get something with my name on it, he was definitely not thinking right.

"A tattoo parlor?" I asked curiously.

"Yeah." He said plainly. "It's where I get all my tattoos done."

And by all my tattoo's I assumed that he meant the four tally marks on his sides that didn't make much sense to me. I'd seen Eli inside and out, and those were the only marks of ink I could ever find on his body. "Are you getting a tattoo today, or something?"

"Yep."

He was giving me such vague answers, and truthfully it was beginning to piss me off. I pressed my hand against his chest, pushing lightly in an almost joking matter, but of course I was secretly entirely serious about it. If he was planning on getting a tattoo that had to do with me I would have to talk him out of it. Because when I left at the end of the summer, I didn't want him to have to look at it and remember me. No matter how cute the idea of him getting the words Clare Diana tattooed on his hip bone seemed.

"What of?"

"A tally mark." He told me, as the crosswalk sign turned green and he pulled me gently down the sidewalk and into the street. A tally mark. That's all it was. Just a simple tally mark to go along with the other little lines on his sides. It would change either one of them, or maybe even both of them into fives instead of fours. "I'll tell you what it means when we get inside." So I didn't ask any questions, and I followed him to the miniature tattoo parlor. When we arrived, I was subtly surprised. While I had expected it to be filled with heavy metal posters, intense gothic designs, and employees with eight or nine piercings – it was normal. There was old music playing on the loud speakers, and a man with messy brown hair at the front desk. But his arms showed the tattoo parlor part of the mix, as they were inked from his wrist all the way up past the sleeves of his shirt. Eli told me later on that a tattoo like that was called a 'sleeve.'

"Woah, Eli." The man chuckled slightly. "I honestly had no suspicion you would be back after Imogen."

"Can it." Eli demanded. He pulled me a little closer to him and though I wasn't looking at his face, the way he spoke my name I could tell he was smiling. "This is Clare Diana." The man stepped out from being concealed behind his desk and walked out towards me, giving my hand a sturdy shake.

"Hello, Clare Diana. I'm Rudy." I smiled in return. "One question though, what's a girl like you hanging out with a bastard like him?"

"Did I say can it, or didn't I?" Eli argued, but it was easy to see this was mostly just a playful banter between two old friends rather than Eli being actually upset. "You're going to lose some pretty great business if you don't shut your fucking mouth."

"All right, all right!" Rudy held up his hands in defense. "I'll shut up. I'm guessing you'll be wanting the usual?"

"The usual."

I sighed, still utterly confused.

"Sweet. I'll get everything prepped." Rudy turned on his heels, but then suddenly stopped and turned towards us. "Does she uh," he paused awkwardly, "does she know?"

Eli shook his head. "No." he spoke calmly. I looked up at him to take a look at his face, and I caught a glance of him chewing on the inside of his cheek. "I was thinking I'd tell her right now."

"Okay, you guys take your time or whatever. I'll prep super fucking slow like. You two can sit on that bench." He pointed to the other side of the room, where there was a long reclining chair sort of thing. Kind of like at the dentist when they shine the light down on your face and you're almost forced to stare into your hygienist's eyes no matter how much you'd rather not. Eli pulled up a small stool for me to sit on, and sat down on the tattoo chair, his legs dangling off of the side.

We were silent for what seemed like a long time. Like, Eli was going to tell me something, but was searching for the right words to use. Like that if he said something wrong he might mess everything up. He started to speak a few times, but fumbled on his words and then shut himself up. And I decided not to push, this time. Maybe I had in the past, gotten him to spit out the words when he wasn't ready, or that he hadn't come up with the right way to say it. But this time, I was going to. So this time, I sat there completely silent.

"I need to tell you about the tattoos."

I nodded. "Okay, tell me about the tattoos."

"I can't tell if you're going to love this, or hate it. Because Bianca hated it, but Imogen loved it. Every girl is different, so I can't really tell with you. I can never really tell anything with you." Eli paused, and then suddenly lifted his shirt half way up his body so that I could see the little tally marks on his sides that I had never had courage to question in the past. "I get a tattoo on my left side every time that I fall in love with a girl."

I was hoping he was going to start rambling uncontrollably or something, keep talking so that this moment wouldn't have to be so awkward or uncomfortable. And it wasn't because I didn't love him back. Truthfully I didn't know if I was in love with him anyway. I only stared at him, trying to think of what else to say. There had to be something for him to add, or something for me to reply with. And it couldn't be me saying I love you too because what if I didn't?

"What's the right side?' I finally asked, breaking the silence between us.

"Every time that they break my heart."

It became quiet again. I knew I'd be on the right side soon. I knew that once I would leave for Canada, there would be no more Eli and Clare Diana. That would break his heart. He wouldn't stay hooked on me. He wouldn't still be in love with me like he said he was now.

"So you're getting a tally mark today. You're getting a tally mark with me…" I chewed on my lips momentarily. "That means…"

"That means that I'm in love with you." He sounded so serious when he said it, too. It wasn't the sarcastic Eli that I had come to know. It was sincere. And certain things were beginning to make sense now.

"Why didn't you tell me?" I asked. "Why are you telling me like this?"

"I did tell you."

I furrowed my eyebrows. "When?"

"Friday night."

"But Friday night was the concert. Friday night we both got drunk. We were both wasted – we passed out. We –"

"No," Eli interrupted. He shook his head slowly. "You blacked out. I remember all of it. I just told you that I blacked out, because I didn't know if I should have said what I did. I was drunk. It is a little fuzzy, but I remember everything that I told you. And maybe it's good thing you don't know everything I said, and maybe it isn't. But here we are now, and you know." Eli paused, and let out a shaky breath. "I also told you last night before you fell asleep. I whispered it into your hair. I breathed it on your skin. I said it maybe a thousand times, but you were too tired to hear me."

Everything was starting to make sense now. I was putting together the puzzle pieces in my head. The way he treated me that Saturday morning. He made me pancakes. He called me beautiful more. He took me on a date. The way his arm would drape over my shoulders and hold me close to him. How he wanted to keep me safe. It was like someone had begun to shine a light on everything, and I realized it. Eli Goldsworthy was in love with me. And his subtle loving ways were the most magical things you could imagine.

"You don't have to say it back. In fact, unless you really mean it I'd prefer that you don't. But that's how I feel about you."

I stopped speaking, and I suppose Eli did too because Rudy reappeared with purple gloves and a tattoo gun in his hands. I didn't say a word as I watched Eli take off his shirt and Rudy tattooing the fifth tally mark that crossed through all the other four. I liked that, for some reason. Whether or not I did feel the same way about Eli, it made me feel like I was better than the rest. That he was crossing out the other four and I was the fifth. The most important. I was Eli Goldsworthy's fifth. And then I understood why he had only been on five dates. Five dates to tell five girls he loved them.

That had confirmed my Imogen Moreno, Eli Goldsworthy dating theory. That he had taken her and she had loved the idea. But I had never suspected that he would have dated Bianca DeSousa. It almost made it seem like a possibility that he could have dated Katie of all people. But I suspected no, Katie Matlin seemed like a hookup rather than a I love you. Actually, wait. Let me rephrase that because he didn't just say that he loved me. He said that he was in love with me. And there is a difference when it comes to saying things like that. You love your mom and dad. You love your pets. You love your favourite television show, but you're never in love with these things. When you're in love with someone they're your night and day.

I remember I loved Jake Martin. But I was never in love with him. Maybe if we had been in love with each other we would have lasted. Maybe things would have been different if Jake had taken me to a tattoo parlor and told me that he wanted to get a tattoo dedicated to me because he was in love with me. But this wasn't Jake Martin, thankfully, this was Eli Goldsworthy. And I preferred Eli over Jake any day.

It didn't take too long, and when it was finally over, Eli smiled. He thanked Rudy, he paid him, and our hands linked again and we walked out. I expected Eli to say some sort of witty comment to change the strange mood between us into humor, but he didn't say a word. I wondered if he expected me to say it back, or if he hoped that I would or something. But I didn't. Because I couldn't. Not because I didn't want too. Because trust me, I would have loved to see the excited look on his face when I would say, Eli Goldsworthy, I'm in love with you. And then think of all the love sex we would have afterwards. The kisses. The touches. The everything that would happen if I could just say that I loved him too. But I couldn't. Because I didn't know if I did and just like he asked, I wasn't going to say it back unless I really meant it.

"So," I broke the silence, swinging our hands back and forth as I stared at him with bright eyes. "Anything else exciting and relationship changing happen while I was drunk as shit?" Eli snorted.

"Only that you said I could live with you."

I snapped my fingers in realization. "So that's when I said you could live in my closet, huh?" I giggled softly, and leaned my head onto his shoulder. "I do like you living with me, as much as I would like to see your secretive man-cave home place that you apparently hate so much."

"You'd hate it too, if you had to live there."

"You know, Eli, I've never even met your parents." I had tried to keep the mood light hearted. Something we could both bounce back and forth at each other easily, but the topic changed drastically, and Eli stopped dead in his tracks, and looked at me. I couldn't tell if the expression his face was showing was disappointment in my choice of statement, or if he was trying to figure me out. "Sorry." I whispered, staring down at my flip flops in embarrassment. "I crossed the boundary, didn't I?"

"No," One of Eli's fingers slipped underneath my chin, tilting my head up to stare at him. Our eyes met, and there were fireworks going on between our eyes. The way his green daggers peered into mine, the way our gazes held with each other's… it caused my heart to beat a little bit faster. "You didn't cross a boundary. I'm just being an asshole. I want you to meet my parents. I don't know when, but I do."

"And maybe…" I whispered, my teeth beginning to tug at my bottom lip nervously. "Maybe you could have a proper dinner with my dad and I. And you could meet him the right way, and I could try and show you how cool he was back in 2009."

Eli laughed out loud, and slid his arm around my shoulders again to pull me against him. His lips kissed the top of my head repeatedly. "Ah, Clare, you're so cute. But that idea makes me want to vomit up my mint rocky-road."

"No, really!" I laughed back. "It could be fun – it could work out. Come on, please, please, please! You both like The Clash! I'm sure if you got to know him outside of Mr. Edwards the French teacher, you'd hate him only a little less!"

"C'mon, Clare Diana. You know that would never work out. He wouldn't even let me cross through the threshold without beating me to death or calling the police or sending you away. And I'm not risking it for the third option." Eli said quickly, and I groaned in response. "Don't be like that; you know it would never work."

"It could work." I argued. "Think of him not as Mr. Edwards. Think of him as Clare Diana's father. Some old man that you want to impress. If he wasn't your French teacher, would you want to impress my father?"

Eli shrugged his shoulders. "Yeah, I guess."

"See!" I pointed my fingers at him, and grinned barbarically. "Come on, Eli – we could go get an early dinner with him right now."

"Clare –"

"No buts. Let's go."

…

I had to put up with Eli's protests nearly the entire ride back to my house, but I flashed him a pouty sort of face, and he gave in. I knew how easy it was to get him to give in to me, and that was one of the things I loved about him. When we had arrived at my house, Eli slumped back against the seat of Morty and crossed his arms. It was clear that he was trying to avoid having to meet with my father. That he was trying to avoid going inside the house in general because the garage door was open – and sitting in the garage door was my father's dark blue Sedan. I hated that car, and the way it smelled and the way the music played loudly and how the music was The Clash. But now I liked The Clash. Because Eli liked The Clash.

"My palms are sweating." Eli said finally. He held up his hands into the air, and he wasn't lying. His fingers and palms were glistening with a wet substance that clearly appeared to be sweat. "Why am I nervous? I know your dad."

"No," I shook my head, reaching forward to grab his hands. "You know Mr. Edwards. You don't know my dad."

That shut him up. Like, really shut him up. He opened the car door, and walked out, towards the front of my house without even bothering to open my car door for me. Which was fine, because there was this way he was walking – like he was determined. Like he knew now that him meeting my dad was important to me. Because technically, it was. Jake had met my father when the two of us had first begun dating, back before my parents ever divorced and way back before Mr. Martin and my mother ever married each other. They met, and my father loved Jake.

I wasn't so sure if he would love Eli the same way.

I shuffled through my new-used leather jacket's pocket for the key I had placed there and whipped it out, shoving it into the lock. I glanced slightly at Eli, and his hands were shaking. His hands were shaking again. Why were his hands shaking so much?

"Eli, calm down." I smiled. I left the key halfway into the lock, and leaned forward to kiss his cheek. "Everything will work out fine. You don't need to be nervous. I'll be there with you and I'll hold your hand the whole time." I promised, and Eli's lips curled into a half smile, which I would take.

"I'm only scared he's going to go ape shit when he even sees me."

"I won't let him." I laughed, and finished turning the key into the lock, pushing the door open.

"Randall!" A female voice laughed, and as I stepped through the front door, my eyes laid upon a woman. I didn't know her, in fact, I'd never even seen her before. Eli stood behind me as we both watched. They were sitting at the breakfast nook table. The one Eli and I had eaten pancakes at. She had short black hair, glasses, and she looked young.

"…Miss Oh?" Eli coughed, and both adults eyes turned towards us in the doorway. Their laughter ended quickly, which I was thankful for. Was she his girlfriend? Surely he would have informed me if he had found himself yet another new lover, or whatever the fuck he wanted to call this woman. "What the hell, that's so weird."

"Clare, what is he doing here?" My father finally spoke. "You know how I feel about Eli Goldsworthy."

I couldn't speak, though. The sight of him with another woman had made my tongue get stuck in my throat. My entire mouth went dry and I couldn't seem to process it.

"Who's she?" I blurted out.

"That's Miss Oh, the computers teacher at Ventura." Eli whispered into my ear, filling me in on the details my father would probably leave out. Eli cleared his throat, and I couldn't see him, due to the fact he was behind me – but I could imagine him straightening out his back, almost as if he was going to be sizing my father up. Like he was preparing for battle. Like he was going to protect me. "Clare Diana wanted me to come to dinner."

"Well, isn't that wonderful!" 'Miss Oh' said cheerily, bringing her hands together in front of her. "The four of us could go out for dinner together. I was thinking we could take Clare out tonight, anyway. I thought she should be able to meet me."

"Whinnie, I –"

"Yeah dad. The four of us could go out for dinner. I'd love to meet your…" I paused, trying hard to bite my tongue and not let the sardonic words slip from my mouth. "Whinnie."

"Cool." Eli murmured. I felt his arm sliding around my waist, trying to remind me that he was right there with me. Instead of me having to coax him through all of this, it all seemed to be reversed. And then I remembered something – he loved me.

"We can take your car, dad." I told him, and my father nodded slightly. It was three against one, and I suppose he wasn't about to argue against his new… his new Whinnie or whatever she was. I was too nervous to ask. I'd find out at dinner. I'd find out everything at dinner.

Eli squeezed my waist, and I looked up at him. He could tell I was nervous. His hand brushed against my cheek. They weren't sweaty anymore. But mine were. Mine were sweating up a storm.

"Why am I nervous?" I asked softly.

"Everything will work out fine. You don't need to be nervous. I'll be there with you and I'll hold your hand the whole time." Eli repeated what I had told him moments before, which were suddenly feeling like hours. I nodded.

Everything would work out fine.