I'm going to try to update daily (fingers crossed) but forgive me if I get a little behind. I'm sorry if this chapter might get a little dry, but I have my plans. Next chapter will definitely be…exciting? Haha. Thanks for the reviews! Continue to give feedback, it's greatly appreciated!

My mom had been acting more and more neurotic lately.

She was lonely; I get it.

But keeping me from human contact wasn't by any means an effective way to solve her problems.

She'd been begging me to stay home every night this week. It was Thursday and I was going crazy.

After a day of not seeing Eli outside of school, I'd asked him to stay with me at night.

"How?" he'd asked, "Just waltz through the door, 'Hello Mrs. Edwards, I'm here to sleep with your daughter, have a nice night!'" I rolled my eyes at his sarcastic quip, shaking my head.

"No, silly. You sneak in."

This he found interesting.

There's a large tree leading directly to my bedroom window, a tree that is very easy to climb.

And so the past two nights, Eli had been sneaking up to my room and staying the night.

It was nice having him there at night. I never realized how much of a comfort he was to me.

I could see myself getting used to this.

That Thursday night, I sat in my room studying.

My mom had been too worn out for the movie she rented and retired to bed early.

After reading over the same sentence of my History book for the fifteenth time, I rolled my eyes and slammed it shut, resting my head on top of it.

I couldn't handle this.

Then I heard a small tap upon my window.

I lifted my head and jumped up from my desk, quickly moving towards the window.

I was greeted with the smiling face of the love of my life.

Sliding the window up, I let him in.

The minute his feet hit the floor, he took my face in his hands and kissed me.

It was unlike the passion-ridden kisses we had been sharing recently.

It was gentle, sweet, and loving.

I let myself melt into him as my arms snaked their way around his waist.

But we were soon pulled from the trance we were in when my mother suddenly tapped on my door.

"Clare, can I come in, honey?" she asked timidly.

We freaked, staring at each other blankly, wide eyed.

I started frantically searching for a hiding place for Eli.

"Uh, um… just a minute, mom. I'm, uh, I'm naked!" I stuttered out hurriedly.

"I wish," Eli murmured under his breath, smirking lightly.

I slapped his arm before lifting the blankets falling over the sides of my bed.

"Quick, slide under," I whispered. He complied and vanished from sight within seconds.

I sat on top of the bed and told my mom she could come in.

"Hi, honey," she said tiredly.

She had dark circles under her eyes and looked awful.

"Hi, mom," I answered, my heart racing.

She too sat on my bed and I bit my lip, nervous.

She didn't seem the least bit suspicious. Just went on and on apologizing for how tired she was and how things must not be easy on me either.

Damn right they weren't.

"I'm just happy you aren't reacting in a negative way anymore. You've really pulled it together."

She was referring to my roughly two week period of rebellion. It had been pathetic, really.

"Yeah…" I said nodding enthusiastically, wanting her to wrap up the conversation.

"Honey, I hope you don't mind me saying so, but I think it has something to do with that boy. When you stay closer to home, or spend your free time with Alli, you seem much more clear-headed. He's just not a good influence."

I tensed up at her words. She didn't know the first thing about Eli.

I held my tongue at first, not wanting to cause a scene, not wanting to rile her emotions up all over again.

But she just had to continue.

"He's not right for you, Clare. He's not who you're supposed to be with. And I'll bet it will be any day now before he starts pressuring y-"

I cut her off. I couldn't take it anymore.

"Mom, you don't know anything about him!" I burst. "You took one look at him and judged him! You're unbelie-"

"Clare, calm down," she interrupted me this time. "I'm sorry I brought it up, I just wanted to let you know my opinion."

"Well I don't give a shit what your opinion is," I said coldly, crossing my arms over my chest.

I knew she would be mad. I never cursed, and especially never in front of her.

"Clare Elise Edwards! You didn't mean that, you take that back right now!" Her voice raised and she stood up.

"Well, mom, I did mean it. And I do not intend on taking it back."

I could see the heat rising to her face.

"Young lady, you are grounded for a month!"

Before I could worsen the situation any more, she stormed out of my room, slamming my door. I could hear her stomp down the stairs.

Eli was out from under my bed and nearly shaking me before I could take a breath.

"Clare, what were you thinking!"

I looked up at him, confused.

"Why thanks, Clare, it was so sweet of you to defend me! No problem, Eli, just one of the many reasons why I'm the best girlfriend ever."

I crossed my arms and looked up at him, mimicking a common comeback method of his.

He rolled his eyes, sitting on my bed facing me.

"Clare," he said calmly this time. "While it was incredibly sweet of you to defend me like that, your mom is really fragile right now. Making her mad won't do you any good."

"Eli Goldsworthy, what a softie," I teased, "Aren't you the one that's always telling me to not care what other people think? To say and do what I want, when I want?"

"Well sorry I care about you, Edwards," he said, ruffling my hair lightly. "And I would prefer my girlfriend not be grounded for a whole month. I'd like to take her out, have a good time."

"Oh, like she'd even notice I was gone," I said softly, looking down. I then smiled a mischievous smile.

"But who says we can't have a good time here?" My eyes met his and he chuckled lightly.

"Very true," he mumbled, leaning into me and kissing me softly.

The gentle kisses were a nice change of pace.

I lay back on my bed and pulled him on top of me.

He followed suit, deepening the kisses just a bit. He held himself above me, his free hand on the side of my face.

I moaned lightly against his lips, earning even more passion from him.

I couldn't imagine a more perfect moment.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.

I had left Clare's window that morning and walked a few blocks down the street to where I'd parked Morty, with just enough time to drive back to her house to pick her up for school.

She'd told her mom she was riding her bike, I'm assuming, as she had laid it in the back.

She slid into the passenger seat, leaning in and giving me the sweetest kiss.

We didn't talk much on the short drive to school, but the silence was comfortable.

Her head sat on my shoulder and it felt right.

"Here we are at Hell," I mumbled, staring at the school.

"It'll be fine. Just go into the day thinking it will be a good one."

I just stared at her blankly, not buying the falsely optimistic advice.

"Okay, so maybe it won't work. But it never hurts!"

I laughed and kissed her cheek before getting out of Morty and heading into the building, arm in arm with my perfect girlfriend.

The day was long, but not horrible. Just tedious.

Clare was tutoring year nines during lunch, so I didn't see her until the last class of the day, our English class.

Mrs. Dawes was talking about Romeo and Juliet. It seemed like her favorite subject.

Not that I cared, I knew that play inside and out.

"The play takes place over the span of less than a week. In that amount of time, they meet, fall in love, get married, and meet their fateful ends. For such young people, why do you think they rushed the marriage so?" Mrs. Dawes perched on the corner of her desk, waiting for an answer that no one was eager to give.

"Temporary insanity?" I asked, breaking the awkward silence.

"Very funny, Mr. Goldsworthy," she said with a smile. I saw Clare shake her head as most of the other students laughed.

"But I do agree, it does seem crazy to get married after just a few days. Of course the most obvious reason to readers of the play is that the controversy around them made them feel rushed and desperate. But what most people tend to overlook is that they were also hormonal teenagers at a period of time in which sex before marriage was simply unheard of."[1]

"So, Mrs. D, you're saying they got married so they could bang?" Adam asked suddenly, earning even more laughs than my comment.

"Essentially, yes," she answered with an amused smile. "It's more of a social norm nowadays to have intercourse before marriage. What do you all think of the subject?"

No one answered, as before.

"Well I'll just have to pick someone." She searched the room as everyone avoided eye contact. "Hmm… Clare, you seem like you'd have an opinion on the matter."

She was obviously referring to her promise ring.

I saw Clare's head shoot up and I got nervous.

I wondered if Clare really was ashamed of us, as I'd suspected before.

I leaned forward in my seat to listen closely.

"Well," she started off, choosing her words carefully, "I don't necessarily believe that marriage is involved. Nearly half of today's marriages end in divorce, and even more go on forever with no love."

She paused, her voice breaking. She cleared her throat and sat up straight.

"But some people are madly in love and never get married. I believe that there is nothing wrong with premarital sex, as long as there is love."

Love. I loved Clare more than anything.

I smiled at the thought.

But my smile quickly faltered.

I loved her, of course. But I hadn't told her.

She believed that sex before marriage was okay, but only as long as love was involved.

I'm sure she thought I didn't love her. I'm not even sure she loves me.

I knew I'd compromised her by sleeping with her.

I knew she regretted it.

When the bell rang, I was out of the door before she'd even stood up.

"Eli! Eli! Eli, wait!" I heard her yell as she followed me.

She caught up and nearly took me to the ground, jumping on me to get me to stop.

"Eli, where are you going? Why didn't you wait for me?"

I couldn't look at her, I felt too awful.

"Oh, I just remembered I had something to do," I mumbled, looking at everything but her.

"Like what?" she asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I'm…" I spotted Adam and grabbed him by the back of his shirt. "I'm hanging out with Adam."

"You are?" he asked curiously. My grip on him tightened and he nodded quickly, "Oh right, you are!"

"Okay…" she said softly, clearly confused. She took my arm and pulled me aside.

"Will you be able to come over tonight?" she asked timidly, afraid.

"I don't know, I kind of promised…"

"I don't think I'll be able to sleep without you," she whispered, pleading eyes bearing into me.

I couldn't handle that look. I had to give in.

"Of course, Clare. I'd say don't wait up for me, but you kind of have to."

She smiled and I relaxed.

All I wanted was for her to be happy.

Which was why I couldn't let anything happen between us tonight.

Nothing.

A/N: That theory isn't something I just made up, it's based on a discussion I had a few years ago in one of my own English classes.