A/N: Sorry it's been so long. Lots of reasons, I swear, but the truth is your probably don't care. I'm working on the next chapter as soon as I post this, so read, review, and enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Degrassi. If I did, I wouldn't allow promos like the ones we've seen. -_-

Special shout out: Thank you, floorplanhobo, for helping me with this. I'm using one of her ideas, and as anyone reading this is bound to know, she is an amazing author. That's right, "amazing" without the damn "y."

Clare

"Clare…wake up." The sleeping girl opened her eyes and looked up from the couch to see her sister hovering over her.

"Darcy!" The younger Edwards immediately awoke. "What are you doing out of bed?" She frantically moved to get Darcy to sit down.

"Calm down, little sis, I feel okay this morning." Despite these words, Darcy looked tired as she sat.

Clare rolled her eyes and ran upstairs to gather Darcy's meds from the bathroom. On the way, she peeked in on her mother, who was passed out on her bed. "Of course…" Clare mumbled, entering her destination. Her reflection caught her by surprise. She stared straight ahead, wondering who the stranger was looking back at her. Clare, once healthy and happy with a curvy body and bright skin, now looked sickly and just…sad. Her clothes hung off her shrunken frame, little to no curves to speak of. She'd always been on the pale side, but now her skin bordered on alabaster white with the exception of purple rings around her now grey eyes. Shaking her head, Clare splashed some cold water on her face and grabbed Darcy's meds.

Clare heard shuffling on the couch as she pounded down the stairs. "Darcy?"

"Yeah, Clare?" Darcy was hunched over, looking intently at something.

"What are you looking at?" Clare asked on her way to fill a glass with water.

"Your phone." Darcy spoke calmly, as if she wasn't invading her younger sister's privacy.

"Excuse me?" Clare asked, disbelief lacing her tone. "Put it down and take these." She shoved the pills and water towards Darcy, who obeyed. Clare grabbed her phone back, and saw that Darcy was reading a text Eli sent an hour or so ago.

You said you'd call, so I thought I'd text to remind you. Don't be mad, but we REALLY need to talk. –Eli

Oh, no.

He had finally grown tired of her shit. The distance, the making love to him and running with no explanation…it had only been hours since their tryst in Morty, and he already didn't think she would call.

Maybe he was right.

Clare was scared of so many things. But the thing that terrified her most was the thought of Eli leaving her.

I can't do this.

"Are you feeling okay?" Clare asked Darcy, standing up frantically. "Really?"

"Yeah, Clare, I'm fine, why?" Darcy stood as well.

"Mom's asleep upstairs. I have to go, okay?" Clare kissed Darcy on the cheek and grabbed the suitcase she had been living out of.

"Clare, where are you going?" Darcy tried to chase her to the front door, but was just too weak.

Clare slammed the door of her car and roared the engine to life.

She had to get out. Never in her life had she been so overwhelmed and…suffocated.

Eli, the next day

"God DAMMIT," Eli groaned as he slammed Morty's hood.

"Whoa…Eli, chill, man." Peter was at Eli's, attempting to help him fix the hearse (despite the fact that he knew next to nothing about cars).

"Sorry," Eli muttered as he wiped his hands. "I'm not in the best of moods. It's not cool of me to snap like that."

"It's fine. Why don't we take a break?" Peter offered.

"We?" Eli scoffed. "I think you've been taking a break since you got here. No offense." The two boys laughed.

"Yeah, when I said I'd help, I really meant I'd just stand here and keep you company," confessed Peter. "To be honest, I don't really know SHIT about cars."

"Really?" Eli asked, sarcasm dripping with the two syllables (good, good for him). He motioned for Peter to follow him up to his place.

"So what's got you in this funk, kid?" Peter asked, following Eli into the kitchen. Eli sighed and grabbed two cokes from his fridge, offering one to his guest.

"It's…Clare," Eli admitted, hopping on his counter. "Something is wrong with her, she won't tell me what, and it's kind of wrecking our relationship."

"What do you mean?" asked Peter, sitting on a bar stool.

"Well, she hadn't let me touch her since spring break." He took a swig. "Until about a week and a half ago."

Peter raised his eyebrows. "Go on…"

"Well, it wasn't just that. She'd been…distant. And 'busy'." Eli made air quotes with his fingers.

"She did seem kind of out of it at our shows," Peter offered.

"Exactly. I mean she let me kiss her and she hugged me goodbye but…well, you know what I mean." Eli shot Peter a meaningful look. "Anyway, the other day, she just shows up and attacks me. I mean, this is CLARE we're talking about. She's always been shy when it comes to sex, and we're closer than anyone I know."

"Oh man, it just registered we're talking about 'Saint Clare' here." Peter made a face. "To me, she's always going to be the twelve-year-old girl in a Catholic school uniform."

"Believe me, that night she wasn't so saintly," chuckled Eli. "She basically fucked my brains out. She stayed over and everything seemed fine, but she wasn't here when I woke up the next morning."

"Ha! She hit you and quit you?"

Eli narrowed his eyes. "Really, Dude?"

"Sorry." Peter turned his attention back to the soda in his hand.

"It's fine. Anyway, she showed up at Donkey two nights ago after not talking to me for a week. Seriously, she didn't answer when I called, respond to my texts, nothing. I was kind of pissed, but then she looked at me and…"

"…and you're whipped." Peter laughed.

Eli scowled but didn't deny it. "Whatever. She summons me to the alley, attacks me with her lips, then goes down on me right there, in PUBLIC."

Peter spit his drink out. "WHAT?"

"Clean that up," Eli snapped, handing him a towel. "But yeah. I took her to Morty. When we were done she ran off again, swearing she'd talk to me the next day. Obviously she didn't. Hence my bad mood."

"Have you tried calling her?"

"No. I'm not going to. She needs to come to me. I sent her one text, but that's it." Eli's phone started vibrating in his pocket.

"Maybe it's her," Peter offered.

"Holy Shit, it is!" Eli's face lit up at the name flashing across his screen. "Hey, Baby. You finally decided to speak to me?" He tried (and failed) to keep the excitement out of his voice.

"Hi, Eli, this isn't Clare…" The voice wasn't one Eli recognized.

"Um, okay? Who is this, then?" He was terribly confused.

"It's Darcy, Clare's sister."

Eli frowned. "I thought you were in Africa?"

"It's a long story. Look, I'm sorry to bother you, but is Clare with you?"

"No, she's not…why?" A ball of nerves formed in Eli's stomach.

"She just took off yesterday. We thought she just needed a break, but…"

"A break from WHAT?" Eli interrupted.

"She's just gone, Eli. We have no clue where she is and were hoping you could help…"

Eli hung up immediately and turned to Peter. "Dude, I need to borrow your car."

A/N: Sorry for no smut, but there will be a rather…IMPORTANT smut scene in the next chapter or the one after it. So review