AN: Sorry this chapter is so late, I didn't have that great of a day. This chapter isn't as good as last chapter imo, but that might just be my bad mood talking. It didn't really come out quite how I wanted but oh well. :/ On the plus side it's Clare stickin' it to her mom!

This song is based on the song Criminal by Britney Spears. Love the song! I don't own the rights to the song or the characters.

"Clare, can I talk to you for a minute?" Clare's mom appeared at her bedroom door.

Clare looked up at her mother. "Um, sure mom. What did you wanna talk about?"

"Well, I wanted to talk to you about Eli." Her mom sat down on her bed. Clare instantly became nervous and just stared at her mom waiting for her to continue. "Well you see, I'm not so sure he's a good person for you to be hanging out with." Clare's mind froze. She was having trouble breathing and forgot how to blink. "Clare I can tell by his clothes he's one of those bad boy types and I know girls are attracted to that, I was young once, I remember, but bad boys are unreliable and unpredictable. Not to mention he's a teenage boy and we all know they only want one thing, and before you jump in about your vow I'll say that doesn't always stop them. Oh and the hearse! What sane person drives a hearse? He's just no good at all Clare."

Silence fell between the two as Clare took in everything her mother had just said to her. Her brain had started to work again and Clare wasn't happy. She wasn't going to just sit there like a well behaved child while her mom insulted Eli like that.

Clare stood up from her bed and turned to face her mother. "Mom," Clare took a deep breath, "You do realize that you know absolutely nothing about Eli right? First off, his clothes mom? Really? Talk about judging a book by its cover!" Her voice was rising. It softened a bit, "And he may be a bad boy, but he has a tainted heart. Unreliable!" It rose again. "Eli is the most reliable person I know! If I called him right now he'd be over here in no time, no problem. He's there for me more than you are. Oh don't give me that look mom you know it's true!" Clare shook an accusing finger at her mom.

"Now Clare-"

"No mom, I'm not done yet." She cut off her mom. "Unpredictable. Hmm? Well I guess you got that right, but that's what makes him fun. It's why I like him so much." Her voice softened again as she said this. Her mother opened her mouth to say something and Clare just stuck out her finger telling her she wasn't quite done with her rant. "You wanna talk about my vow now? Fine! Eli's ok with it. Really ok with it not like other guys who would just say that. Eli doesn't say stuff he doesn't mean. And the hearse, Morty, I love the hearse. And Eli isn't sane, so I guess the hearse is fitting in a way. He's 'no good at all'. Right again mom. He's perfect and I-" Clare stopped her steady stream of thoughts mid sentence. Was she really about to say she loved him? She thought about it, and she really did. She really did love Eli.

She looked over at her mom stunned on her bed. She continued again her voice soft now. "All reasons aside, I love the guy." A smile came across Clare's face as she said that. Before her mother could even respond to her rant-turned-confession Clare made her way over to her bedroom door. Halfway down the stairs she yelled, "I'll be back!" A few seconds later the front door closed.

Clare hopped on her bike and started to pedal her way to Eli's house. A few minutes later she hopped off her bike, throwing it down in his front yard, and ran up the few stairs to his front door. She paused for a second before she knocked to catch her breath.

She knocked and it was a few minutes before she heard someone approaching on the other side. The door opened slowly and Eli appeared in front of Clare. His eyebrows shot up, he clearly wasn't expecting Clare to be at his door. "Hey-" That's all he could say before Clare crashed her lips to his and threw her arms around his neck. The force of her attack had knocked him back and he grabbed Clare by the waist and brought her with him. After a few minutes they both needed air and pulled away.

Eli smiled at her and she smiled back. "So what inspired this visit? Was it your folks again?" His faced changed to show his sympathy.

Clare giggled. "Nope, I just wanted to tell you that I love you."