I am SO sorry for taking like, months to update. I didn't know how to finish this story, but I knew it was coming to a close. I hope you enjoy it, this is the last chapter of it. Hope you enjoyed the entire thing, actually. Everyone who left reviews, you guys are seriously wonderful. -C

By the way, I seriously really like Jake, but I just CANNOT wait for Eli and Clare to get back together. I mean, they are gonna get back together, right? RIGHT? Gah. The Degrassi writers are really killing me here.

Eli and I sat on his couch. He had his arm around me, and for just a few moments, the world was perfect. Of course, the phone had to go and ring and ruin it.

"Do you want me to-," Eli started.

"No, go answer it, I'll be here waiting." I told him, smiling.

Things had been different since we'd seen his dad. For some reason, I thought it might make him withdraw even farther away from me, but it didn't. Weirdly enough, it had the opposite affect. He seemed to be sweeter, closer to me.

I couldn't help but think that he was afraid I was going to leave him too, and this was his way of making sure that if I did, it wasn't because of something he did.

Eli came back in, running a hand over his face and looking lost.

"Is everything okay?" I asked, standing up and resisting the urge to pull him to me and protect him from whatever he was bothered by.

"That... that was my dad." He said quietly, his eyebrows drawn together.

"How did he get your number?" I asked, grabbing his hand and steering him back to the couch. He sat there and stared at the screen while I fiddled with his hair, wrapping it around my fingers.

"I don't know." Eli said, sighing. "I mean, I didn't give it to him when we went to see him and I pretty much told him not to even try to see me again."

"What did he say?" I asked, giving his hand a squeeze with the hand that wasn't tangling itself in his hair.

"He wants to have dinner with me. With us, actually. Tonight." He told me, and despite how angry he was at his father for everything, he couldn't quite hide the smile in his eyes.

"So I guess you said yes?" I asked him, a smile on my own face.

I could tell that everything with his father really bothered him. He'd just wanted him to be there for him,and he wasn't. Maybe now was his time to make it up to Eli, to be the father he really needed.

"Do you want to stop by your aunts before we go over?"

"Sure, I'll see if she has anything dressy that I can borrow." I told him.

Fifteen minutes later we were knocking on my aunt's door.

"Chrissy?" I called, turning to Eli, who just shrugged.

"Is it unlocked?" He asked, trying the handle. It popped open. "She really shouldn't leave her door unlocked, not in a city like this."

"I know. That's really odd." I told him, pushing open the door. "Chrissy?"

Again, no answer. I peeked in the kitchen and no one was there. The livingroom was just as empty.

"She's probably just out doing groceries." Eli said, putting a steadying hand on my arm as if he could tell just from looking at me how worried I was.

I leaned against him and sighed. "You're probably right."

"Wait," Eli said as we walked past the kitchen again. He entered the room and picked up a single sheet of paper that was lying on the table.

He handed it over to me without reading it.

Clare,

I didn't have time to call you, and hopefully I can get a hold of you once I'm at the hospital. If not, and you're reading this, your mother had an accident. I hope to see you there.

Love, Chrissy.

"Oh, God." I said, leaning on the kitchen table for support.

Eli put a hand around my waist to hold me up, and plucked the letter out of my hand with the other. After quickly scanning it, he put it back on the table.

"Do you want to wait here, or do you want to go see her?"

"I-," The words stuck in my throat. "I hate a lot of the things she's done, but I still... I still love her, you know?"

"Okay, I'll take you there." He promised.

And this is why I needed Eli. The two of us were both so broken, we both needed someone to be strong when we couldn't. We both needed someone who could actually understand us.

"I love you." I said quietly, for a second letting him hold up some of the weight that was on my shoulder.

He kissed my head. "I couldn't live without you."

One Year Later

"You look lovely, Clare." Merry said as I stepped into her beautiful house.

Eli's father smiled when I came in, the baby he was holding was stretching its short, chubby little arms out to me. "Isaac thinks so too, don't you buddy?"

"This is my aunt, Chrissy, and my mother." I said, gesturing towards the two of them.

Chrissy looked cheerful and friendly, instantly taking a liking to Mary, who was probably around her age. My mother stood in front of the door, looking slightly awkward.

That night at the hospital, Eli and I arrived to see her bloodied and bruised, attached to a bunch of different tubes. I'd nearly passed out, probably would have if it wasn't for Eli.

Jack and her had a fight and my mother told him that she didn't want to be with him anymore. Things got bad, and he got violent. If the neighbours hadn't called the police, things might have been a lot worse.

Instead of going to stay with Chrissy after being released to the hospital, she checked herself in to a rehabilitation center. She was still struggling, but things were so much better.

Things started looking up for Eli, too. I told him to go ahead without me that night to dinner with his father. Surprisingly, they didn't fight at all. Things had been tense, but Eli and his father both loved each other, deep down.

I wasn't at all surprised when Eli announced that he was going back to live with his dad, at least until he graduated. We were both too young to live on our own. I went back to stay with Chrissy and my mom.

"You really do look beautiful." Eli told me, grabbing my hands and dragging me into the basement when no one was looking.

"You know what I miss the most about you living on your own?" I asked, leaning towards him, breathing in the deep, slightly spicy, slightly sweet smell of him.

"What is that?" He asked, wrapping his arms around me and planting a kiss on my neck.

"Privacy." I told him, finally pressing my lips against his after what felt like years but had only been a few hours. We'd seen each other at school not long before.

"They're busy enough right now. I mean, dad has Isaac, and your aunt and Mary are distracting each other. Plus, dinner isn't going to be ready for at least half an hour."

"Really?" I asked, smiling against his lips as he led me towards his bed.

Eli never really got over the living alone thing, and had convinced his dad to let him set up his own little apartment in the basement. It wasn't as private, but it was better than nothing.

I sat down on the bed and pulled him down with me, unable to resist sliding my hands up his shirt to grip his strong back as he laid on top of me, propping himself up on his elbows so he didn't hurt me.

Eli moved his one hand to my hips, sliding a finger across the top of my jeans.

"I wonder if I'll ever stop finding you irrisitable." He said, his voice low, husky.

"I hope not." I managed to get out.

"Eli!" His dad called, cutting off our romantic moment. Eli growled something out and pushed off me. "I love you." He said as we walked back up the stairs.

"I love you too."

The End