Stand in the Rain

A/N: Thanks for the reviews!

Chapter Five

Fitz groaned as he heard the doorbell ring shrilly. He pulled the pillow over his head, covering his ears. He wished that whoever it was at the door would just go away, once they realised that Clare wasn't going to come to the door. She'd went out for breakfast with Alli, to the Dot. She hadn't seen her best friend in awhile, with the other girl being in an all girls' school and both girls being so busy, all the time. The doorbell rang again and Fitz glared in disbelief at a wall before running his hand through his hair and climbing out of the bed. He walked down the stairs, grumbling under his breath. He swung the front door open and asked rudely, "Yeah?"

Eli narrowed his eyes and snarled, "What the hell are you still doing here? I would've thought that Clare would've been smart enough to kick your ass out, by now." His green eyes were filled with disbelief as he stared at his enemy in disgust.

Fitz rolled his eyes and leaned casually against the doorframe. "Does it make you jealous Emo Boy?" He taunted, smirking down at the other boy. He loved getting under his skin like this. Eli Goldsworthy annoyed the hell out of him. He could barely stand the kid.

Eli scoffed and brushed past him roughly, almost knocking him over. "Just tell me where my girlfriend is, and I'll be out of your way. I'm really not in the mood for your crap."

"Well that's too bad because she's not here." Fitz replied coldly. "She went out to breakfast with Alli. Besides, I doubt she'd want to talk to you anyway."

"You don't know anything about Clare or her relationship with me." Eli growled, barely holding back his anger as his hands clenched into fist.

The older boy smirked back down at him evilly. "I know that you pissed her off last night and made her cry. It doesn't sound to me like she'd want to see you at the moment. I sure wouldn't."

Eli looked at him with green eyes full of hatred. "See, Fitzy, that's one thing you'll never be able to understand. The one thing that you'll never have. When two people care about eachother, they make up. They just don't let their anger take over them."

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"Clare!" Alli squealed, running torwards her friend, with a little trouble in her heels and throwing her arms around her neck. "I missed you!"

Clare laughed and hugged her best friend back tightly, eyes squeezing shut.

The two girls pulled away and took a seat at a booth, across from one another.

"So what's been happening at Degrassi since I've been gone?" Alli asked curiously, folding her arms and resting them on the table as she studied her best friend closely. "Anything interesting?"

Clare sipped her peppermint tea and shook her head. "Nothing really school related. Well, except for the fact that Adam has a crush on Fiona Coyne. It's kind of adorable." She told her. "He planned this party for her and everything."

"Aw." Alli said, beaming.

The blue eyed girl nodded with a smile curving up her lips. "Yeah, it was really sweet. She didn't show up though. Ever since then, he's been avoiding her." She shook her head sadly and sat her cup down.

"So what about you? How are things with you and Eli?" Alli asked, changing the subject quickly.

"We got in a fight last night." Clare confessed, looking down at her small, pale hands.

Alli spit out her sip of latte in surprise. "What did you guys fight about?"

Clare stared nervously down at her hands, heat rushing to her face, tinting her pale cheeks. "The night before last, someone came to the door. I opened it, and Mark Fitzgerald was standing there. His stepfather had beat him up, so he left the apartment and had nowhere to go. He didn't want to explain to his mother why he left, or well, he didn't think that she'd believe him when he told her about what his stepdad did to him. So I'm letting him stay at my house for a week."

The other girl didn't say anything for a few minutes, just stared at her best friend in complete disbelief. "And you're actually surprised that Eli's pissed off at you?" Alli cried out incrediculously, shaking her head. "I'd probably be more than a little angry too, if I suddenly found out that my enemy was living with my girlfriend for a full week while her parents were away." She cut a bit of her blueberry waffle and took a bite as she stared at her friend.

Clare let out a frustrated growl and rolled her eyes up torwards the ceiling. "Look, I know that your thoughts on Fitz aren't exactly the best, but-"

Alli scoffed, interrupting Clare mid-sentence. "Of course they're not the best! How the hell could they be? That guy is crazy! Or have you forgotten the fact that he pulled a knife on you and Eli?"

The girl in question averted her eyes, staring down at her peppermint tea, and her strawberry french toast. "Well, I couldn't just ignore the fact that he needed help. And besides, I don't think that he ever intended to hurt Eli and I. He was just...angry. Besides, it's not just his fault. You know all about the Ipecac situation." She told Alli carefully in a quiet tone of voice.

Alli rolled her eyes and shook her head. "You have a complex, Clare." She said, nodding her head.

Clare looked insulted by her comment, wrinkling her nose. "I do not!" She denied quickly.

"I'm sorry to tell you, but you do. Remember back in grade nine with the Shep and the whole Connor situation? You got us all detention because you were so upset by how the Shep was treating him!" The dark haired girl told her. "Don't even try to deny it!"

"That's because the Shep was a total jerk! Anyone would've done what I did!" Clare responded, blue eyes wide.

"Um, no they wouldn't. Nobody even made a move to stand up to him, until you decided to. And that's not the only time! How about with KC? You listened to everything he had to tell you about his group home, and convinced him that he was a good guy. Then, after you broke up, you tutored him and then for God only knows, what reason, you let him cheat off of you during the test! Then, you fell for Eli, who has a dead girlfriend, anger problems based off of what happened with Fitz, and whatever else you aren't telling me about him! And now your housing Mark Fitzgerald in your home because you feel bad for him! Face it Clare. You have this...need to help or heal everyone. " Alli said determined to convince Clare of what she was saying.

Clare didn't say anything in reply to this, knowing that it was no use. Her best friend wouldn't be convinced of anything different. After a few moments of silence, the two girls lapsed into a conversation about Alli's private all girls' school.

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Look, why don't you just leave." Fitz said irritation grating at him as he stared down at Eli, still trying his hardest to control his anger. He'd love nothing more than to kick Eli's scrawny ass, but he knew that that would get him nowhere. It would just get Clare pissed off at him for hurting her precious boyfriend.

Eli's hands shot out and shoved him back hard, knocking him into the stand where the telephone sat.

Narrowing his eyes, Fitz punched the other boy square in the jaw, causing him to stagger back a little.

Eli looked up, hands clenching at his sides before he drew back and sucker punched Fitz in the stomach, causing him to grab his ribs in pain, gasping for breath.

"What the hell is going on?"A voice cried out in outrage.

Eli's eyes widened when he saw Clare rush into the house, resting a hand on Fitz's back.

"Why do you always have to fight him?" She yelled at Eli, locking eyes with him.

The boy in the question glared hard at his girlfriend. "Why do you assume that I started it? Are you really that naive? Fitz isn't a nice guy, Clare!" He screamed at her, hand clenching his thick, dark hair as he gritted his teeth.

"Well I'm sorry if I thought that I actually thought that you cared about me and would listen when I said that fighting wasn't the answer! Fitz isn't here to hurt anyone! He had no other place to go and he needed my help. I couldn't just deny him that." Clare said, voice cracking slightly with emotion.

NEXT CHAPTER: Unwelcomed guest, threats, childhood stories.