Hi everybody! I really just wanted to take a quick second to thank everyone who has been following, favoriting, and reviewing this story. It really means a lot to mean that you guys like it. I'm always worrying that the next chapter you guys are going to be disappointed by it and I breathe a sigh of relief when I find out that is not the case. You guys have really been making me feel like I'm a good writer and I appreciate that more than you could ever know. I don't want to waste too much of your time, but I just wanted to say thanks. Now, on with the show!

Disclaimer: Who wants to buy me Justin Kelly and Munro Chambers? I think they should come in a set; they can't be separated. No? Okay, well then I own none of Degrassi.

"You know that can't happen again." I looked out of the corner of my eye at Eli, waited to hear some sort of threat in his voice. I heard none and faced him full on instead.

"What?"

"Meeting my parents like that. After tonight, I've made up my mind. My mom is not a good influence on you and I don't want her trying to persuade you anymore."

"You don't trust me to be around her?"

"It's not you I don't trust. It's just her." I studied Eli carefully looking him up and down. His eyes were wary and tired; his jawbone loose and unclenched. His hands held Morty's wheel softly, unwilling to clutch it; his shoulders rested comfortably far down from his ears. His back was rounded softly against the seat. He wasn't gearing up for a fight. He didn't think I'd fight back about this and he was right.

"Okay, Eli," I mumbled, leaning back in my seat. My body soon mimicked his relaxed posture. It had been a long day. I'd learned some things I didn't want to learn and I'd seen some things I didn't want to see. But seeing Eli so relaxed seemed to give me the free rein to try to wash away some of those thoughts and just relax with him. I even think I shut my eyes for a couple of minutes.

The next thing I knew Eli's hand was on my shoulder, rubbing it softly. I moaned against the tender touch and opened my eyes to see his smirk. "Time to go, my lady."

In my slightly incoherent state, I mumbled a, "Where are we?"

He chuckled. "Home, sleepy. Seems like your bed is calling you. Want me to carry you? I don't mind."

I smiled and shook my head, wiping the sleep from my eyes. I reached for the handle of the door and, again in my slightly incoherent mindset, I asked, "Where are you going?"

"Home, Clare," he said the word is if it was bitter tasting on his tongue. He tried to look away from me and I could see his mind running with thoughts of having to see his mother again. For a brief moment I was angry at her, too, for making him so sad. But I shook the thought away. She didn't really understand. She'd seen too much to think of her son and the….demon, I guess, as being trapped in the same body. All she thought was that the demon had taken over her son. I could see how, in that mindset, she could hate the very thing that she claimed to love the most.

But that hatred and that pure fear was what was hurting Eli. I didn't think he really wanted to see his mother suffer, but the demon had made her suffer. He hated that thing inside of him for that. He hated that thing inside of him for everything it made his body do. And his own hatred caused him pain. All welled up in those deep green eyes were years and years of pain.

"You could," I suddenly found myself saying. "You could stay here. If you want." I didn't mention my parents. He could handle that. It didn't need to be said aloud.

For the first time since I met him, Eli was actually in shock. I smirked a little in triumph of seeing him speechless. When he finally did speak, he only asked, "You mean stay with you, with you?"

"Well, no, we talked about that…"

He cut me off. "Right, no, sorry, I know, but you really want me here? With you?"

"Yes, of course you're welcome to stay here," I said, with a smile as I leaned away from the handle and closer to him.

"Well, you know, that didn't really answer my question. Do you want me here?" he said as he leaned closer to me, a teasing smirk on his lips.

I rolled my eyes. "Yes, I want you here."

"What about your parents?" I froze for a moment, surprised that he would mention that he would do something to them, but then I realized that he hadn't shed his teasing demeanor. "I'm sure that don't want to wake up and find a half-naked guy sprawled out on the couch."

"Half-naked?"

"I never sleep with a shirt on. It's uncomfortable."

"Really?"

"A lot of guys sleep like that. Nonetheless, I don't think they want to wake up to that." Now I saw what he was getting at, but he wasn't go to get there that easily.

"Well, you could always sleep in Darcy's room," I teased, gesturing like I was shooing away that matter, like I had just solved all his problems.

"Nah," he said, his face scrunching up like he was taking great pains to mull it over. "I just wouldn't feel right since I never met her. She'd might come home from Africa and be pissed to find me sleeping in her bed."

Darcy had been in Africa for several years. I highly doubted that when, or if, she came back, she'd complain that her bed was occupied. If she did, she'd really have to analyze her sister's conscience.

I shrugged like I understood what he was saying anyway. But I didn't offer the alternative he wanted. "We have a guest room."

"But what if you have unexpected company in the night. Maybe Alli's fighting with her parents and she needs a place to crash."

I didn't mention the fact that when that does happen, she sleeps in my room. Again I shrugged. "Ok, the finished basement."

"I'm sleeping on a pool table?"

I stifled a laugh and his eyebrows raised questioningly, all the while that smirk plastered in place. "No, smart one. We have a blow up bed for you to use."

"No," he moaned, using his hand to rub his back for extra showmanship. "Those things kill my back."

This time I raised my eyebrows. "Geeze, grandpa, okay. But that's every room in the house. Unless you feel like sharing…" I trailed off for a moment and he leaned in closely. "My parents' room," I finished off.

If his smirk faltered, I didn't see it. When Eli Goldsworthy wanted something, there was no deterring him. "No," he said, shaking his head slowly. "I believe you left out one room."

"And what room might that be? All that's left is the bathroom and the kitchen. You want to make a waterbed in the bathtub?" Okay, I'll admit it. It was fun messing with him. We both knew where this was heading.

"Come on, Clare," he said, raising one eyebrow.

I took a breath as if what I was going to say was hard for me. I pretended to steady myself. I looked at him in complete shock. "Eli Goldworthy, are you asking to share my bedroom with me?"

"Well," he said. "Since you asked so nicely, yes, I'll move in right away." He move forward and kissed me softly on the lips, quick and chaste.

"No, no, no, don't you pull that. You asked me."

He looked at me in mock shock. "Clare Edwards, how could you accuse me of such a thing? Openly inviting myself into a girl's bedroom! I'd never!"

I hit him on the shoulder and he looked up in a pout. I rolled my eyes. "Come on. My parents are probably asleep. We should sneak upstairs and try not to wake them."

He looked at me with a smile and kind, soft eyes, pushing a piece of hair behind my ear. "Don't worry about them." I tried not to shiver at his implications and I pushed the idea away from my mind. It didn't help when he said, "They weren't asleep when we got here, but, don't worry, I'm positive they are now."

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