A/N: Hey guys, here you go! Thanks for waiting!

Eli found her hours later, slumped under the stairs. She had her hair falling over her eyes, her knees drawn up to her chest, and a couple of bruises forming on her forehead. She was reading from her English book, and Eli guessed that she was studying for Romeo and Juliet. He debated for a moment before he walked up to her, waiting until she noticed him and looked up before his fingers began to move. Are you okay? I'm sorry you were hurt. Those two sentences took only six signs, but he knew that he had captured her undivided attention by the second sign.

Slowly, Clare closed the book she was reading and raised her own hands. Why are you signing to me? Her question only took four signs, but Eli could tell that she was definitely confused, perhaps a bit impressed, and definitely on her guard.

It's easier for you than talking.

Clare just shrugged noncommittally, but they both knew that Eli was right. He had learned in his first sign language class that trying to read lips is one of the most difficult, and ineffective, ways of communication. Those who are deaf only grasp thirty percent of the sentence, and are forced to fill in the rest according to the context of the conversation. Most deaf people didn't even bother to learn to read lips. Signing was much easier.

Maybe, she signed, but it's faster than watching you sign. The barest shadow of a smile tugged at her lips as she watched the wheels turn in Eli's head as he converted the signs into English.

He smirked as well, recognizing her hesitant teasing. True, but better slow than not at all.

She smiled, obviously pleased to be using her hands to communicate freely once more. Eli asked if he could sit next to her, and she hesitated only a moment before nodding her assent. "You scared us," Eli finally said, making sure that Clare was looking at him.

"Who?" she responded, transitioning easily into speech once more.

"Adam and I. After you fainted, they wouldn't let us touch you. They took you away and we heard you'd been sent home."

Clare snorted, and the odd sound made Eli grin briefly. "Simpson tried, but the truth is, my parents don't want me to come home. They paid this school a lot of money to keep me away from the house for as long as possible." She glanced up at him, well aware that she was speaking more to this boy now than she had to anyone else in a long time. "Apparently, I cause disturbances."

"You?" Eli asked in mock disbelief. "Nah."

Clare grinned, but then her face slid slowly back into a frown. "Why are you being so nice to me all of the sudden? I thought you didn't like me."

Eli gulped. He had guessed that this question might come up, considering his actions from earlier, and those for which he had almost gotten suspended. Thankfully, Simpson was an easy person to weasel. What should he tell her? Um, well, I sympathize with you and all of the stuff you write in your blog. Oh right, that's you, isn't it? Or, Clare, you intrigue me, and chatting with you will help me ace an assignment without having to go to a deaf chat night.

He opted for the truth. "It's not really 'all of the sudden.' Actually, I'm just giving up fighting to stay away from people that could potentially become very awesome friends." He shrugged. "I like you, Clare." Too much.

Clare's cheeks tinged slightly pink. "Eh, you're not so bad yourself," she said with a laugh.

They sat together in silence for a while before Eli asked, "Why don't you come over to my house? I'll call Adam and then we can work on our project together."

Clare shook her head. "I can't. Simpson's in charge of me until five when I'm released into the wild for dinner."

Eli grinned. "Just leave that to me, Edwards."

"Not bad, Goldsworthy," Clare said appreciatively as he led her to the car a half hour later. "How'd you get him to go for that so quickly?"

Eli shrugged and waited until Clare's eyes sought his once more. "I just told him that I could take you off his hands and keep you safe, while working on our project, of course, and your parents would never be the wiser. Considering that I'm your English partner, and Adam will be hanging with us too, it was all too easy for him to say yes."

He helped her into the car and moved to the other side, and then they were gone, leaving the school, and most of their animosity towards each other, far behind them.

It was hard to carry on a conversation with someone who was deaf when you were driving, and so Eli drove in silence, not bothering to say anything to Clare until he reached a red light. Turning towards her, he asked, "Do you like music?" He would have signed it, but he wanted to keep his hands on the wheel.

Clare nodded, but chose to sign, since he was already looking at her. I love music.

"Awesome." Eli reached forward and turned on his stereo, and the music blasted through his speakers. Clare sat back with a smile on her face, greatly enjoying the loud pulsing of the bass. The last time she had turned her speakers up enough to feel the bass in her chest, an old, crotchety neighbor had come and complained to her mother about noise pollution.

Clare closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the headrest, not noticing the inquiring gaze that Eli shot her as he watched her face relax and become sedated as his screamo music pounded through the car. She was definitely not an ordinary girl, that was for sure, but Eli had to admit that he thought it was pretty cool that she found his music relaxing.

Clare could feel the moment when they arrived. Even over the screamo, she could feel the car stopping and the engine dying. She opened her eyes and grabbed her bookbag as Eli came around and opened the door for her. Thank you.

You're welcome.

Eli could practically hear her sigh of relief each time she was able to sign to him instead of speaking. It didn't take a genius to figure out that she was self-conscious of the way she sounded when she spoke. Adam was already sitting on the front step of Eli's porch, and he smiled widely when he saw both of them. "Hey guys!" he said excitedly.

Clare realized that Eli must have called him on their way to the house, and smiled as well. She waved her hello, feeling lethargic about speaking once more. Eli made it so easy to feel normal, to not feel like she was different and awkwardly out of place, and she didn't want to waltz back into the land of the speakers.

"I'm sorry about my big mouth," Adam went on while Eli unlocked the door. "I shouldn't have told everyone that."

Clare shrugged. "Don't worry about it," she told him honestly. "It was bound to come out sooner or later."

They made themselves at home in Eli's living room, since he deftly talked them out of going into his room for some reason. Cans of soda were scattered around the floor and pizza plates were tipping precariously over manuscripts from Romeo and Juliet as the three partners tried to decide how to approach their project.

"I think it's silly that Romeo dies before Juliet has time to say goodbye," Clare muttered, pushing her pizza crust around on her plate.

Eli, who had been watching her through the fringe in his hair, finally caught her eye and said carefully, "You would think that Romeo would have a few minutes before the poison kicked in."

Clare blinked and cleared her throat. "You make a, uh, valid point. He does die pretty hastily."

"Maybe we should fix that."

How?

Eli thought for a moment, and then shrugged, unsure how to sign his thoughts. After all, he didn't know everything. "Perhaps Romeo could drink the poison, but Juliet could wake up…"

"And they could have a parting moment to say goodbye," Clare agreed, not able to meet his gaze to see him nod. She knew exactly what that meant for her. She would be having this exchange with Eli, a guy that she had only gotten to know a few hours ago and had learned that he really didn't hate her. Adam wasn't available for this assignment, since he would be manning the camera.

Oh shoot.

She stood and moved into the kitchen, silently beginning to panic as she realized that any feelings she had started to feel for this boy was going to have to go away. She shouldn't, didn't like him. She was only thinking she did because he was the first guy to really pay attention to her. He only liked her as a friend, right? But as she thought back to their conversation, his eyes had looked much darker when he had told her he liked her. What did it all mean?

A shadow behind her confirmed that Eli had followed her into the kitchen, since the shadow was a little too short for Adam, who towered over her. Knowing that he wanted to talk, she stayed facing the window, but couldn't help it when he gently took her by the shoulders and turned her around.

"What's wrong?" he asked, far too close to her to be comfortable, and yet…she was struck with the insane urge to press her lips against his.

Wait, what? No! Bad Clare! You just met this guy and decided that he doesn't hate you! Just because he and his hair are really hot doesn't mean that you can like him, and just because he takes the time to sign to you doesn't mean he likes you back!

Nothing. Why do you ask?

Eli raised one eyebrow, surprised at how easily he could tell that she was lying. You're angry he signed. Why?

I'm not angry.

You're scared?

Clare's chin came up stubbornly. I'm not scared.

"Then what is it?" he asked, and then a part of her behavior clicked and he grinned. "You're nervous about the project, aren't you?"

"Why would I be nervous?" she asked, and Eli knew that her inability to hear had nothing to do with the wavering of her voice.

"You're twitching," he told her, watching as the skin on her arms jumped as he moved even closer, ignoring the voice in his mind screaming that this wasn't a good idea.

Her brows came together and Clare suddenly looked upset. "Did you just say I was bitching?" She looked seriously affronted.

Eli smirked and raised one hand, spelling out "twitching" in the ASL alphabet, a common practice called 'fingerspelling.'

"Oh," she said softly.

"But…" Eli teased, "if the shoe fits…"

"Shove it up your ass?" she asked sweetly. Eli shook his head, laughing delightedly while Clare blushed at her language. "What are you doing to me?" she muttered, pressing one hand to her forehead as though she had a fever instead of just a raging blush.

"I'm trying to relieve your nervousness," he whispered, moving even closer and smirked when she realized that she was trapped between him and the counter with nowhere to go. "Is it working?"

Clare gulped. This wasn't supposed to happen so quickly. How could people attain this much sexual tension in only one afternoon? Was she a floozy for hoping that he would kiss her? Why was he moving even closer? Why was he smirking like he knew exactly what was going through her mind? "I-I don't know," she whispered.

"Let's find out."

And then he was pressing his lips to hers, so gently that she barely felt it at first. Her arms came up around his neck after only a moment, her body betraying her before she could even think. She sighed as Eli's fingers tangled through her hair, twisting into her locks and pressing her head into his, his mouth slanting over hers in an effort to find the best angle, though still keeping the kiss soft. Clare's legs trembled, and she gasped when Eli lifted her onto the counter, easily moving between her legs. She'd never been kissed, and this was the most amazing experience she had ever felt. Who knew that kissing could be so much fun? And when he kissed gently down her neck? Oh God.

Abruptly, Clare pulled away, jerking back so quickly that she smacked her head on the cabinet behind her. What was she thinking? She didn't even know this guy!

"I ha-have to go," she stuttered, and ran out the door before Eli could say another word.

A/N: Hope you enjoyed that. I just have one important thing to say: Just because I don't update doesn't mean that I'm doing it on purpose, or that I'm disinterested. It simply means that I've had too much stuff going on at college to get the chance to breath, much less write. And despite the fact that writing is my life, school is unfortunately a tad bit more important right now. I love that you guys are so excited about my work, but demanding that I update does not make me write faster, it just makes me feel guilty. This isn't to make anyone feel bad, it's simply to explain why I can't always update as quickly as I want. Thanks! I really do love you all! :D