Chapter Eight

Disclaimer: I do not own Degrassi or A Walk to Remember

Jenna, Bianca, Adam and Fitz snickered in the corner behind a giant wheel during the Vegas Night Dance. They all were slightly buzzed from pre-drinking, Fitz moreso than any one of them, but they all had their eyes on their prey. None of them mentioned anything to Eli, but it wouldn't matter, he'd be totally cool with it. Earlier that day when they were scanning over the photos of the play that Jenna took when Jenna came up with a master plan to prove to the entire school that little Saint Clare may not be entirely saintly.

Lucky for them, Clare showed up to the final dance of the year with some of her "I love Jesus" friends. She was currently dancing off to the side with her friends. Fitz and his friends laughed at her. She was dressed like she was going to church, and with the amount of skin many of the girls were showing, Clare stood out.

From behind the stage, Eli had his hands on Wesley's shoulders trying to calm him down. "Are you ready for this?"

Right after Eli, Sav cut the music announcing a special performance to a special someone. Wesley gulped and looked like he was about to slip into a panic attack. "No, I'm not ready."

Eli smiled understandingly and took the freshman under his arm. "It's all right man. You will be."

Wesley felt a push from Eli as he stumbled on stage with his guitar and a bright white light in front of his face. He looked to Eli on the side in dismay, but Eli just had a fake look of shock that was quickly followed with a smirk.

The crowd silenced as the small, awkward freshman moved a hand in front of his eyes to block the light. "Uhh."

Wesley took a breath and was about to strum a chord when he locked eyes with Anya MacPherson. He gasped out loud as his fellow freshman crush watched him curiously. Before long, a loud "You suck!" came from the back of the room, and the voice was all too distinguishable as Fitz. The crowd laughed as Wesley blushed a dark crimson. He was about to run off-stage and puke when the beginning chords of Tonight I Love You began to play.

Wesley looked down at his guitar in confusion, but his eyes widened when he saw who was actually playing. Eli was hidden backstage playing along as he mouthed "go". Wesley took one look at Eli's threatening eyes and began playing on his own. Eventually Eli stopped playing, and Wesley began to sing the song, "It's a beautiful night and I'm opened up, the look in your eyes says so much, nothing can touch us out here."

The crowd started bobbing their heads. Eli smirked as he watched their reaction, and as he watched his little prodigy sing to the girl of his dreams. He grinned when Anya only looked at Wesley.

"Interesting tutoring skills," a familiar voice said behind Eli.

"I like to really jump into my work," Eli smirked turning to face Clare.

"For a second there, you looked like a rather pushy tutor," Clare challenged.

"Oh, the things I do for love."

"They should change your name to cupid." Clare grinned in spite of herself.

There was a comfortable silence between them as Wesley wrapped up his song and Anya went on stage to hug him with a huge grin plastered on her face. Clare smiled sweetly at Eli. "That was really nice of you."

He just shrugged non-chalantly. "Save me a dance?"

"I wouldn't want to ruin your reputation," She responded with a smirk of her own.

He grinned and said, "Just don't forget about me."

She winked playfully before walking away, "That's near impossible."

The night progressed smoothly. Little by little, Fitz was getting more wasted, Wesley got more confident with his new girlfriend, and Eli and Clare watched each other from afar, though neither of them knew it.

Near the end of the dance, Sav decided to slow things down and end the night special for the couples out there. Everyone knew it was just his excuse to dance with his girlfriend, but no one minded it. In fact, it was the perfect opportunity for the plan to be in action.

"You got it, baby?" Bianca rubbed Fitz's shoulders as took a final swig of his alcohol-laced punch.

He looked hungrily at Clare who was talking to a group of girls in the corner. In his drunken state, Fitz noticed just how curvy Saint Clare was. She wasn't half bad. He grinned finally understanding Eli's motives. No wonder he wanted to kiss her. Hell, Fitz wanted to do more than that.

He pulled Bianca off of him and sauntered across the floor to his target. Jenna, Bianca, and Adam laughed to themselves. They would give anything to see Saint Clare lose control.

"Hey," Fitz said, slurring his words, "Wanna dance?"

The rest of the girls sighed dreamily at Fitz while Clare's eyes widened and she squeaked. "Me?"

"Of course beautiful," Fitz took Clare's hand and led her to the middle of the dance floor. He shot a subtle grin at his friends before brushing Clare's knuckles to his lips and weaving them to the back of his neck.

Clare tried to keep her distance as she shifted back uncomfortably. She didn't necessarily say yes to Fitz's offer, but her father taught her to always give everyone a chance. She took another small step back to put more space between them when she felt Fitz hold her hips and press her body against his. He grinned down at her and said, "Tryna get away?"

She blushed nervously, "No, just dancing."

They swayed together, Clare pressed tightly against Fitz. She was starting to relax a bit when she felt Fitz's fingers leave her waist and trail further south behind her. She inhaled sharply, "Can you stop?"

Fitz just grinned and gave her backside a squeeze, "Stop what?"

She gasped and removed her hands from his neck and gently pushed against his chest. "Please stop."

Fitz just laughed and held her tighter and said in a loud, exaggerated voice, "God, Clare why can't you keep your hands off me?"

The room stop to look at Clare as she was pressed firmly against Fitz, her palms on his chest, while Fitz had released his hands an instant before. The crowd of people started to snicker at Clare's position. Who knew Saint Clare was so aggressive?

Clare stepped back from Fitz trying to distance herself, but the crowd just kept laughing and whispering.

"She was too good to be tr-"

"So much for Saint Cl-"

"He has a girlfr-"

Clare started to hyperventilate. She stood frozen in place as she saw the laughing faces. Laughing at her. It was humiliating to be caught in a position that was totally against her faith. She could feel the tears start to come and turned to go when she felt a pair of warm strong arms wrap around her.

Eli's voice whispered words of reassurance in her ear, "It's okay, it's okay. I'll take care of it."

Clare just nodded as she held herself when Eli released her. He approached Fitz with a sneer on his face and his fists clenched. All that moron did was laugh as Eli approached. Fitz put a hand on Eli's shoulder and laughed saying, "I can see why you made out with her, man. Girl's got a nice a-"

Eli shoved Fitz away from him hard. That sure shut Fitz up. His laughter was replaced with a look of shock and anger.

"What the fuck is your problem man?" He pushed Eli just as hard. He closed the gap between him and Eli, opening his mouth to speak when he felt a ring-clad fist connect with his jaw.

Fitz fell back into Bianca who was trying to sooth him, but he pulled her off of him and pointed menacingly at Eli. "We're through."

"Fine with me." Eli turned his back on Fitz and wrapped a protective arm around Clare. Jenna, along with the rest of the school, was completely baffled watching Eli walk out with Clare.

"We are through forever, Eli!"

Once outside in the cool night air, Eli took Clare's face in his hands. "I'm so sorry. Clare, are you okay?"

She had been quiet on their way out, but she covered one of Eli's hands with her own and held it. She nodded, still clearly shook by the incident. "Thank you."

Eli smiled softly. He enveloped Clare in a warm hug and almost lost himself when he inhaled her scent of lavender and cinnamon. "Let's get you home, okay?"

Eli's hearse pulled up into Clare's driveway. He knew how uncomfortable she was to be driving in a hearse, so instead of his usual metal music, he opted for the comfortable silence that they shared as they linked hands. He grinned inwardly when she didn't immediately let go of him or get out of the car when they stopped.

She smiled softly at him absent-mindedly stroking his hand with her thumb. "Thanks again."

"Anything for my Juliet," he answered with a smirk with which he was awarded with a blush.

He loved being the person to make her blush, and strangely, he wanted to keep it that way. "So, you owe me that dance."

She giggled just as her watch alarm went off. She closed her eyes in disappointment. "Sorry, but it's curfew."

He nodded understandingly. "But uh, can I see you again?"

She smiled softly and nodded. "I'll see you at school."

She had the car door partially open when she felt Eli tug on her dress. "No, I mean, do you want to go on a date? With me? Saturday night?"

Her eyes lit up briefly before she averted her gaze to her feet. "I can't."

He hid his disappointment. "Are you busy?"

"No, I mean I can't. As in, I'm not allowed to date." She offered him a soft apologetic smile.

Eli didn't see. A plan was already in motion.

"No."

"Reverend, I really think you should reconsider." Eli pleaded to the reverend when he caught him prepping for his homily.

"I have made my decision, Mr. Goldsworthy. You can show yourself out." Randal turned his attention back to his bible, but when he looked up, he found that Eli was still standing in front of him.

"Sir, I know I haven't treated Clare the way I should have, but I promise you, I will be respectful and treat her like the wonderful girl she is. So all I'm asking you is to have what you teach us every Sunday at church. Have faith."

Clare laughed as Eli drove them to The Dot. "I can't believe you asked my father for permission."

Eli grinned and held Clare's hand. "You make me sound like I'm a Neanderthal."

She smirked, "Am I wrong?"

A/N: Hope this chapter was up to par! Your reviews have been awesome! On that note, don't forget to review =)