Well, here we are. I've decided to make this the last chapter. I've lost interest and you've lost interest, so there's no point in dragging out a story that doesn't have any interest in it! I've had a lot of interest in Haunted, but I've wanted to finish this first, but it took me SO LONG to write this chapter. Like legit, weeks. Well, I did have finals AND graduation within the past few weeks, so that also put a damper on my time. But I'm still not happy with it.

Clare's POV

A kiss. That's all it was. Nothing more, nothing less. Eli didn't even have time to react before I pulled back. I didn't even want to look at him after, so I just looked at the ground, but after a few moments of him not responding, I glanced up just to notice he looked conflicted. He wasn't looking at me, but instead looking pretty much everywhere but me.

"O-oh my goodness. I'm so sorry. I-I shouldn't have." I stuttered before rising to my feet to try and get away from him. I couldn't believe that I just kissed him right after I told him I needed time. In what way does that make any sense? I quickly turned around to make a beeline back to the door of my house, but was abruptly stopped by Eli wrapping his hand around my wrist, but I didn't turn to face him. I was embarrassed and I hated that I had for once put myself out there, and he didn't even respond. Why would I want to face that? Tears threatened to spill out of the corners of my eyes, and nothing I tried to do made them go away.

Eli hesitantly rose to his feet and walked to be in front of me, but I still refused to look him in the eye. I couldn't. Not after he basically rejected me. Gently, Eli placed the fingers of his right hand underneath my chin and slowly raised my face to look at him. I felt him brush away a tear that I didn't even know I had let fall, and before I could say anything, he wrapped his hand around the back of my neck and pulled me closer to him, gently placing his lips over mine while his other hand went to rest on my lower back. He slowly and hesitantly opened his lips against mine in attempt to deepen the kiss, and I attempted to follow his lead because when it came to any form of intimacy, I was completely lost. I couldn't help but wonder what this meant for us. The kiss only lasted seconds, and when it was over, Eli rested his forehead against mine with his hand still cupping the side of the back of my neck, his thumb lightly playing with my earlobe, and his eyes remained shut.

"E-Eli, what does this mean?" The butterflies were racing in my stomach, but they didn't feel like butterflies. They were more like tyrannosaurus rexes fighting with each other over which was going to eat the last dinosaur, and as much as I hated the feeling, knowing that I got it from Eli made me absolutely love it. All I could think about, as terrified as I am, was how much I wanted to continue kissing Eli, and now that I had, I don't know if I could restrain myself as much as I should. Kissing him made me feel things I hadn't felt in years and honestly, it terrified me.

His eyes fluttered open when he heard my question. "What do you want it to mean?" He seemingly searched my eyes for any form of regret, but I knew he wouldn't find any. I no longer regretted kissing Eli since I now realized that he was shocked that I had kissed him, but I don't know where we go from here. No guy ever paid attention to me so I have no idea what I'm supposed to do. I've seen people holding hands while they walked down the street, am I supposed to do that? I've seen couples in the school hallways give small kisses as they part ways, and I'm certainly okay with doing that, but am I supposed to do that? Slowly, I pulled his right hand away from my face with my left hand, and held them together, as if there were a wall between us, then slowly interlaced our fingers together.

"Is this what I'm supposed to do?" I quietly asked. I felt so stupid for not really knowing, but I've been in hospitals for pretty much the last few years of my life. I was rarely around people my age and those who were, they were other patients at the hospitals. In the hospitals I stayed at, visitors were rare. Supposedly it was policy to start out separated and then slowly reintegrated into the world you once knew.

A small smile spread across Eli's face before responding, "Only if this means that you'll be my girlfriend." He glanced down at our hands, still interlaced, and I noticed a small blush rising on his cheeks. "And I really hope you will be, but I'll wait for as long as you need to be ready."

"I'm not sure if I'll ever be ready if I don't push myself," I honestly responded. "Just promise me you'll take it slow? Like snail paced slow. I don't want to rush in to anything." I secretly really hoped that Eli would be okay with that, because if he wasn't, I don't know what I'd do. I really like him, but I need to heal more without him.

"Can I still kiss you?" Eli had a slight pout on his face when he asked that question, which I have to admit was very adorable.

"I'd be mad if you didn't," I grinned at him. He pout quickly turned into a smile, and he brought me in for another kiss.

Tadaa. The end. I lost a lot of interest in this story, and so did basically everyone else. So I chose to end it this chapter. That way I can at least let the few who still read it know that I finished it.

Also, Haunted will be updated within the next few days. I'm no longer in school so the only thing that gets in the way is work since I'm now working full time since it's summer. Well, then there's Kyle, but he'll understand =)

Review? Or don't. It's okay. I know this story sucked.