I Do Not Own DeGrassi
Thanks for all the reviews
Ch. 36 Going Home
(CLARE)
She blinked her eyes open, the heavy hotel room curtains were drawn but she could see soft dawn light peeking through the bottom. The clock said it was just after seven but she had fallen asleep pretty early, on Eli's lap on the sofa while they watched a movie with everyone but Bianca and Drew of course, as they were in their own room consummating their wedding. She yawned and stretched a bit, as much as she could manage, her staples were sore and she scrunched her face in discomfort. Digging her palms into the bed she managed to move into a sitting position without waking the boys but getting her water and pain pills meant leaning over a sleeping Eli. She tried not to wake him but he awoke as soon as her pajama top glided across his nose.
"Mmmmm Morning Beautiful." Eli smiled.
"Morning," she smiled back before leaning down to kiss him.
"What do you need?" He asked sitting up and wrapping an arm around her.
"Pain meds and water please." She requested.
He reached over and took out two pills and handed them to her with her water bottle. "What hurts?" He inquired and she could tell he was trying not to sound worried.
"The incision and staples are really sore that's all, don't worry." She assured him.
"Will you be okay if I go shower?" Eli questioned after she'd swallowed her pills.
"I'll be fine I have Adam, who's doing a terrible job of pretending he's still asleep." She giggled and poked Adam in the side.
"I'm trying to go back to sleep it's too early to be awake." Adam retorted sleepily. "Go shower Eli she'll be fine. I mean if I fall back asleep I'm sure she'll just wander to Owen and K.C.'s room or something." Adam yawned.
Eli scowled a bit, picked up Clare's pillow and THWAP brought down on Adam's side. Adam only groaned and turned on his other side hiding under the covers and Clare was laughing hard.
"Ow laughing hurts." She grimaced but couldn't stop laughing.
"Stay with sleepy there I'll be out in a few minutes." Eli told her when her laughing had reduced to a slow chuckle.
He kissed her softly and got out of bed and she watched him go into the washroom.
"You wanna go down to breakfast when Eli gets out?" Adam asked after he'd rolled over and emerged from under his blanket.
"Yeah I should eat." She said giggling softly since Adam's hair was all messed up.
"What?" He inquired with a yawn.
"You have terrible bed head." She said using her fingers to comb his hair a bit.
He smiled sleepily. "Speaking of bed head." He said and reached over to get his phone from the nightstand. Clare squeezed her eyebrows together a bit as she watched him call someone; she heard it ring twice before a sleep graveled voice answered. "Hey if you two can unwrap from each other long enough to eat, we'll be going to breakfast soon with anyone else whose awake." Adam said into the phone.
"Adam!" Clare admonished hitting his arm lightly but he ignored her.
"Cool see you in a bit." Adam said into the phone and then hung up. "Drew and Bianca will meet us downstairs in twenty minutes. I'm going to see who else is awake, or you know wake them up so we can all go to breakfast. Do you wanna get up and move a bit since your stiff in the mornings?" He asked.
"Yeah good idea." She nodded turning to sit on the edge of the bed.
Adam got up and came around to the other side but he let her do it on her own. As she straightened to stand she winced and faltered a bit, between sleeping, the staples and laughing her sides were rather painful and the meds hadn't yet kicked in. Adam caught her, one of his arms around her upper back for support, his other arm taking her arm. He helped her straighten all the way, waited a few seconds until she was stable under her own power and then released her. Deep breaths still hurt so she had learned how to take slow shallow ones, for a minute she just stood letting her muscles wake up. When she was ready she started to walk and Adam was at her side, they went out to the living room and she sat on the sofa while Adam knocked on the door of Owen and K.C.'s room.
"Hey we're going to breakfast in twenty, get up." He called through the door.
He did the same to Fiona and Imogen and then she got up from the sofa and went back to their room just in time to see Eli come out of the washroom, mostly dressed.
"We're going to breakfast soon, I should get dressed." Clare told him.
Eli smiled and waved her into the washroom so she could get clothes from the closet and he went in after her to help her dress. When they were ready they went out to the living room to let Adam get ready and one by one the others came out of the washroom or their rooms ready to eat. When they got down to the restaurant Drew and Bianca were at a table happily wrapped in each other's arms and gazing at each other but pulled apart long enough to wave her and the others over.
"So Mrs. Drew Torres you ready to move into the loft?" Fiona inquired when they'd all ordered.
"Very very ready." Bianca replied.
"So uh what exactly or when exactly are we telling Mom and Dad?" Adam questioned.
"Honestly I don't know." Drew said looking just a little despondent. "Dad will probably be okay with it but Mom will flip out."
"Don't worry about it now enjoy spring break." Imogen said.
"Yeah if I'm not dealing with anything until after spring break you guys don't have to either." Clare said.
"Check out is eleven but we don't have to be at the airport until four so what do you guys want to do?" K.C. inquired.
"We only saw a portion of the boardwalk yesterday we could take a cab to the far end and walk around." Owen suggested.
"Sounds good, we can pack up and check out as soon as we're done eating. They should stow our bags behind the desk for us and we have plenty of money on our cards still to pick up a few souvenirs." Fiona stated.
(ELI)
"Drew and Bianca seem to be happy. Happier than I've ever seen them anyway, although I really hadn't spent too much time with them before…" Clare's sentence trailed off and her face twisted a bit and he could tell she began thinking about less pleasant memories.
He stopped walking, putting his other arm around her and ensnaring her lips in a soft but passionate kiss. They had all been walking down the boardwalk but the others had gone ahead to a nearby wax museum. He and Clare would meet them there but this was probably the only time they'd fit in their walk alone today. The wax museum was about a block ahead and he figured that was about as far as she would get before he had to carry her.
"They are very happy and very in love. I know how Drew feels." He told her when they broke apart from the kiss.
She smiled blissfully her cerulean eyes sparkling. "I love you Eli." She said softly, her arms still around his neck.
"I will always love you Clare." He assured her and he meant it.
They had been through a lot in their relationship as friends and a couple. Her parents' divorce, his hoarding, his dealing with Julia's death, his breakdown over feeling like he was losing her; ironically in the end he drove her away. Jake, another break down on his part culminating in a terrible play; she'd kept her distance after that afraid she would set him off. That's when he'd learned he was bipolar and tried a very short lived relationship with Imogen, they were better as friends and she and Fiona were very happy and good together. Then after spending time together again she'd kissed him and his heart had soared but after everything he'd come through he'd been afraid to chase her, he still loved her, he'd always loved her but he was afraid to chase her now. She had come after him though, Adam's burn your uniform party had ended for him in the best kiss of his life. Then just as they were perfect again she'd been broken, even now he felt guilt for not protecting her, for not being there when she needed him most. She'd gone distant, a little crazy, pushed him away, clung to him, nearly died and started healing and through it all only one thing had ever remained true to him; he would always love her.
"Eli," her gentle voice broke him from his thoughts as they began walking down the boardwalk again and he looked at her. "Do you think I could cover the scars with a tattoo?" She queried. He followed her gaze to see a woman with tattoos covering the better part of her arms and chest. He began to picture Clare covered in tattoos and scrunched his face a bit but she was still talking. "Not all of them of course, there's too many but their initials at least. Those bother me the most, well those and the bite marks but I don't want a tattoo where the bite marks are. I know I can't see them and you swear they don't bother you but I know they're there and they bother me. The initials bother me most because they branded me, marked me, disfigured…"
She was beginning to ramble and he could just see her begin to get agitated, with tears at the corners of her eyes as she thought about the cuts on her back that nearly healed into scars. To calm her and keep her from getting any more agitated he cut her off with a gentle and loving kiss.
"They'll have to be completely healed into scars but if you really want a tattoo to hide them then I'm sure you can get one." He assured her. "Do you know what tattoo you want?" He asked after they'd walked another couple minutes.
"No," she shook her head, "but I have time to think about it. I couldn't tell my mom she'd never let me get a tattoo."
"You're seventeen you don't have to tell her." He told her as they passed a tourist shop. "You want to get a souvenir before we meet the others?" He asked pointing into the shop.
She nodded and they went inside and began looking at all the stuff, most of it was your typical tourist fare, snow globes, shirts, hats and magnets that said Atlantic City. Clare picked out a purple tank top, matching ones in pink and yellow to bring back to Jenna and Alli and a magnet. She paid for them with her prepaid card and they continued walking down the boardwalk. She made it all the way to the wax museum walking on her own with only his arm around her, but by the time they met the others in the gift shop her legs were beginning to shake. He could tell she was trying to hide it but she couldn't he was already holding her bag and of course her oxygen, he was going to pick her up but K.C. beat him to it. He both liked and hated that he had so much help to carry her; there was a part of him that still got jealous whenever any other boy, aside from maybe Adam, picked her up or anything. He knew they were only helping of course and it was just a small part. They paid the entrance fee and went into the museum.
"This is kinda creepy, they look so real." Imogen commented as they came into the first room filled with stars of the music industry.
"They're just wax, it's not like they're going to attack you." Owen said before poking both Imogen and Fiona in the sides, earning him a squeal and subsequent slap on the arm from both girls.
They went through a few more rooms with famous actors and actresses, most of whom were now dead and then came into a room that had every movie and TV vampire ever.
"Ooh look I want my picture with Edward and Jacob." Clare said pointing to the display.
K.C. started walking that way but Eli caught his shirt and stopped him.
"No way." Eli stated flatly.
"Eli they're made of wax you can't be jealous of wax figures." She said scrunching her face at him.
He grimaced at her but gave in, K.C. set her down and Fiona snapped a picture of her. As soon as the picture was taken Eli scooped her up and kissed her.
"Your mine." He said when they broke from the kiss.
She smiled laying her head on his shoulder. "Forever and always," she replied.
They walked through the whole museum, he carried her most of the way but Owen took her at the end when he started getting a little tired. She even went in the house of horrors part after many assurances from him and the others that nothing would jump out at her. She did keep her head buried in Owen's shoulder the entire time though.
"I want to go on the beach and put my toes in the water, we haven't done that yet." Imogen requested when they left the museum.
Everyone looked at Clare to see if she was up for it. "Fine by me but one of you has to carry me across the sand. I'm certainly not strong enough to walk through sand yet." She said.
"My turn," Drew said taking her from Owen.
They walked out to sand together but Clare didn't want to go in the water so Drew set her down on the beach close enough that she could see the water. Eli sat down with her, she leaned against him and he wrapped his arms around her. Everyone else took off their shoes and ran out to the edge of the water. For a minute they watched the others run in the shallow water, the guys kicking water at each other. Clare giggled, sighed happily and then turned her head up and smiled at him before bringing their lips together.
(CLARE)
They were standing at K.C.'s gate, his plane was about to board and he was saying goodbye to everyone. He hugged Drew and Bianca, Fiona and Imogen hugged him together. K.C. bumped fists with Owen and Adam and shook Eli's hand. Then he turned to Clare, she released her grip on Eli and threw her arms around her first boyfriend and now good friends neck.
"Hug Jenna and Alli for me." He requested.
"I will." She nodded.
"I expect lots of updates and no more trips to the hospital." He told her.
"Promise." She nodded. "Have a safe flight, text one of use when you land so we know you got there. It was good to see you K.C." She said kissing his cheek.
He smiled at her and kissed her forehead lightly as Eli took her back in his arms, K.C. waved to everyone and got on the plane. When K.C. was no longer in sight they walked to their gate, it wasn't far so she actually walked on her own, with Eli's arm around her of course.
"I know when we get back it'll still be spring break but I kinda don't want to go home." Imogen complained.
"Spring break for you guys I have to go back to work tomorrow." Drew grimaced tightening his grip on Bianca.
"I have to go back to packing my room at my aunts and moving my stuff to the loft." Bianca said nuzzling into Drew a bit.
"Hey we're helping." Imogen said for her and Fiona.
"I've got 4 hour hockey practices every day and games on Wednesday and Friday nights. The games are great, even when I don't get to play but four hours of practice is tiring." Owen complained.
"I'm not sure how we're going to fill the rest of spring break. I'm not really strong enough to do much of anything yet." Clare said from her spot on Eli's lap.
"We'll be working on getting you stronger for the rest of spring break." Eli told her.
"You think my mom will keep her promise and not pester me to write the stament until after spring break?" She asked.
She had no real desire to return to life either, this little respite from the rest of the world had been lovely. She'd come a long way with Eli, able to kiss him and feel him and him alone. No more of Ben and Trevor sneaking in to her mind when he tried to touch her, no more feeling them when he kissed her. Now that things were all better with her and Eli she mostly worried about her mother, it didn't matter to her that her mother meant well, she didn't understand and the more she pushed at Clare the more Clare withdrew from her. At this point her mother had inadvertently alienated herself from her own daughter. Really though she shouldn't have been too surprised, she had done the same thing with Darcy after her rape. After two years of being apart and Darcy being in Africa they had seemed at least comfortable with each other when Darcy had been out to visit. Clare hoped that it wouldn't take two years and 7500 miles for her to be in a good place with her mother again. Particularly since Eli would be leaving for NYU in a few months, and at some point before he left she was going to have to let Eli and Adam go home to their families and stop sleeping in her room. She didn't want to, not one little bit, at this point she didn't know if she could get to sleep or stay asleep without them by her sides. Like when you're little and you had that one blanket or stuffed animal that you absolutely had to have before you could get to sleep and if you didn't have it or couldn't find it you'd throw a fit until it was found.
"You look awfully deep in thought." Owen's voice pulled her from her mind and she smiled at him.
"Sorry just lamenting that we have to return home, like the rest of you." She told him.
She put her arm around Eli's neck and kissed him, while he was in midsentence talking to Adam but she didn't think they'd mind.
"You okay blue eyes?" He inquired when she pulled her lips from his.
She just nodded and smiled, but now that the thought had entered her mind that he would be leaving for New York in a few months it wouldn't leave her head. She could feel tears at her eyes and buried her head on his shoulder so no one could see her. She swallowed her tears but now that she was thinking about it she couldn't stop. It wasn't just Eli either, although he was the one person she didn't want to leave her side ever again but Imogen, Fiona, Owen and Bianca would all be graduating and that meant they too might be leaving. Of course if Bianca moved to go to University somewhere else Drew would surely go with her, they were married now. She'd have Adam of course and Alli, Jenna and her other friends but still the thought of not having Eli right there when she needed him, not having her friends a few minutes away, it made her chest tight. She wiped an escaping tear on Eli's shirt and gripped him a little tighter.
"Clare what's the matter?" He asked and his voice was full of worry now.
"The staples hurt." She lied quietly.
Adam tilted her chin up to look at her and scrunched his face, he was giving her a knowing look and she knew he could tell there was more going on than she was saying.
"We should get some water bottles anyway. I'll go grab some and then you can take your pain meds. Also you should eat something so you can take your other meds; I'll pick up some snacks." Adam said standing up.
"We'll come with you." Fiona said standing up and pulling Imogen up with her.
Clare watched them walk off down the airport, quickly becoming lost in the crowd. Eli kissed her head and hugged her a little tighter. Not long after Adam, Fiona and Imogen returned it was time to board and she had to get into the wheelchair. She spent the whole plane ride between Adam and Eli clinging to them both and trying to look like she was fine, while they talked about comic something or other. When they got off the plane she didn't want to use the wheelchair and made it to baggage claim just fine. Dallas picked them up in Mrs. Torres' minivan, they piled all their luggage in the very back and she sat on Eli's lap in the back seat with Adam and Owen as the minivan only sat eight. They told Dallas all about the trip and he assured Drew and Bianca that the Torres parents had no idea why they'd really gone. They dropped her, Eli and Adam at her house first. Everyone got out of the van to hug her goodbye. Drew and Bianca thanked her again for making it happen and everyone promised to come by tomorrow or the next day to see her. Eli and Adam got all the bags and they walked inside.
"Welcome back, how was the trip?" Jake asked, helping Eli and Adam with the bags.
"Great, the trip was wonderful." Clare said.
"Did you kids eat?" Her mom asked.
"Yep we ate at the airport." Clare told her as the boys took their bags up to Clare's room.
"Any problems? I mean were you okay?" Her mother asked as the boys took the bags upstairs.
"I was fine mom I walked as much as I could and when I didn't want to walk anymore Eli and the guys carried me. I'm getting a lot stronger; I was able to walk pretty far on my own." Clare told her mother and Glen who was listening from the dining room table.
"That's wonderful Clare." Glen smiled.
"That's great sweetheart." Her mother smiled.
"Right now I'm a little fatigued, from the travel probably." Clare said.
"Of course why don't you go lie down." Her mother suggested, hugging her before she went up the stairs.
"Well at least so far she's keeping her promise." Clare thought on her way up the stairs, passing Jake in the stairway. He stopped to hug her and told her he'd hear all about the trip later. She smiled at him and went into her room, where Eli and Adam seemed to be unpacking; well separating dirty clothes from clean ones anyhow.
"I'm a little tired." She said when they both looked at her as she came into the room. "I'm just gonna lie down and watch some TV."
Adam smiled at her and continued sorting clothes but Eli came over and kissed her gently before she went to lie down. She sat on the bed and turned on the TV, when Eli and Adam were done sorting laundry, including hers, they took it downstairs to start a load. When they came back upstairs they sat with her on the bed, Eli wrapping her in his arms and that's how she fell asleep.
…"No Eli don't leave me." She called but it was too late he faded into the shadow, disappearing. Then the others disappeared one by one, Drew, Bianca, Fiona, Imogen, Owen, Adam, Alli and Jenna. Suddenly she was alone in the blackness but she wasn't alone, she heard laughing, maniacal laughing. "Who's there?" She called in a whimper to the darkness. "Hi sis," came one cruel voice. "Miss us?" The identical tone taunted. "No no leave me alone don't touch me." She screamed trying to run from her stepbrothers but she couldn't find her way in the black dark, not alone. They caught her, pulled her back to them. She saw their faces now, sadistic and evil and smiling at her in a way that sent chills down her spine. "We told you that you belonged to us, we even marked it on your back so no one else would ever want you." He said in the most menacing voice she'd ever heard. "And now there's no one to stop us from hurting you again." His twin said producing a rope he began binding her wrists and she screamed but no one would hear her she was surrounded only by darkness. Tears fell from her eyes as they finished binding her and began to laugh malevolently…
She jolted awake tears streaming down her face her breathing coming in terrified gasps. Moving so fast she actually managed to sit up a little despite being trapped under the blanket. Automatically Eli and Adam were awake as well; Eli had an arm around her as Adam switched on the light. She turned into Eli, hiding in his chest and crying on him as she gripped onto him desperately with one hand. She reached back for Adam with the other, she had to know they were both there, that she wasn't alone, that they weren't about to disappear. Adam took her hand squeezing tightly and rubbing her back softly.
"It's okay baby we're here; we got you it was just a nightmare." Eli soothed her kissing her head.
She nodded into his chest but her tears didn't slow, it wasn't just a nightmare, not entirely.
Update Soon
Shout out to WeShouldGetJerseys for the tattoo idea and for helping me decide what it will be.