*Insert disclaimer here*

Are you guys ready for the last part of Still Fighting It- Part 2! You had better be, because here it is! Enjoy. =D

I drove Morty home with the radio on full blast- trying to drown out my thoughts. There was just so much confusion and contradiction in my head I couldn't take it. I was about to explode. My conversation earlier with Adam had made my thoughts of Clare, which I had been able to repress for the last 12 hours, come all flooding back. When I arrived home, I parked Morty in the grass, and bounded into the house.

"Hello?" I called, checking to see if my mom was still home. I heard no reply, so I assumed she was out running errands or something. Fine with me; I had hoped the house was empty anyway so I could be alone with my thoughts. Now that I was home, I was going to take this time to figure out how I wanted to handle this with Clare. Just as I was thinking that, I heard a knock on the door.

'Who the hell could that be,' I thought to myself. We didn't really get visitors often, so I walked to the door, curiosity getting the better of me, and swung it open. This left me face to face with…Clare?

My heart skipped a beat seeing her there, but then I realized she shouldn't know where I live. So how did she find out? There was only one person who would have know, and told her. "Damnit, Adam," I said out loud. He had promised. "You found me," I surrendered. "Congratulations." She was standing in front of me with a look of hurt on her face due to my still-defensive demeanor. I wanted to reach out and hug her, tell her I was sorry. But I couldn't do that just yet- I needed to hear why she had come here in the first place; then make a hasty decision that would determine the future of our relationship.

Having her so close to me was messing with my logic already; I needed distance between us. So, I walked down the steps, and leaned against Morty, giving her a pointed look. 'I'm all ears,' I thought to myself.

"You can stop avoiding me now," Clare started glumly "I've taken the hint."

And yet she was here, at my house. Somehow it didn't seem like she had taken the hint at all. I couldn't bring myself to be upset about that, though. "Then why are you here?" I asked her out loud.

She sighed. I waited anxiously for her answer. What if she had come here to tell me goodbye? I had repeatedly told myself that I would want that for her, if it came down to that, but the thought of not having Clare in my life twisted my stomach.

"I need to know," she started hesitantly, walking closer to me, "why you don't like me if we're going to be friends."

My first reaction was a sigh of relief- she didn't want to cut me out of her life. Then I realized that she was admitting out loud, to me, for the first time that she had feelings for me. My heart swelled at the idea. Then, her request caught up with me. I couldn't tell Clare why I don't like her because I did. Far too much for her own good. I wish I could tell her that without explaining the reasons behind it. So instead of answering her, I deflected, "Clare, come on," I plead.

"If you can't tell me that," she said desperately, "then I don't think I can be around you anymore."

I deflated at her words. She sounded so miserable saying it; almost as miserable as I felt thinking about my life without her in it. Then again, "Maybe that's for the best," I told her honestly, but I let the disappointment creep into my voice.

"Then we've wasted each other's time," Clare said, annoyed and upset that I was still being so mysterious. She walked over to her bike; about to get on.

But I just couldn't let her go. "Wait!" I called desperately. Decision time had arrived, and I had to think things through very quickly. Clare was being very persistent in her attempt to get through to me. That had to count for something. In fact, it showed she cared about me in the same magnitude I cared about her. Not to mention, she had taken a major leap of faith showing up at my house. Maybe it was time I did the same. "Leave your bike here," I said, deciding it was time to tell Clare all about my past. She deserved to know, and I would let her make the final decision; determine if I was worth all the risk…or not.

"Why?" Clare asked, masking her hurt with indignance.

I sighed. "I think it's time we went for a drive." She gave me a confused look, but I just pushed off Morty, and walked over to the driver's side. Thankfully, Clare moved her bike out of the way; then climbed into Morty's passenger seat.

"A drive to where?" Clare asked, still confused and angry.

"I'll explain when we get there," I told her sadly. It wasn't a long drive from my house to the site of Julia's and my fight, only about five minutes from my house. Clare and I sat in silence for the duration of the drive. I knew the route well; I had traveled it a lot right after Julia died, probably visiting this spot more than her grave because it was the last place I saw her alive, and the one place where, if I could go back in time, I could make everything different. Driving to the scene of the fight always made me nervous and sad- it was like I was reliving the moments every time I came back. I could feel Clare shooting me confused, worried glances every few seconds, but I just couldn't bring myself to look her in the eye. I was afraid of what she might see in mine.

Finally, I slipped Morty in park, but I didn't start my story; I couldn't. I was overwhelmed for a moment.

Obviously, Clare was still on the defense because she broke the silence after a few short seconds with a snide remark. "Oh, I get it," she started, sarcasm dripping heavily from her words, "this is the part where you, uh, ditch me, and I have to find my own way back home because this is going to be the funniest joke ever. You're messed, Eli."

'If only you knew,' I thought darkly to myself. "You're right," I started, staring straight ahead, "I am." Then I allowed myself to look her in the eyes. I saw my agreement sink in, and her ice-blue eyes, only made brighter by the blouse she was wearing, fill with concern. I knew my eyes were only filled with pain. This was the one place in the world that was worse than my room. "I can't just be friends with you, Clare," I started my explanation. That was true, and if I was admitting it to myself, these past two days had only proved that statement. Instead of breaking off our relationship, I had only made my feelings for her more pronounced. There was no going back now. "I like you too much," I told her sadly. "But I can't be with you; I don't deserve to!" That was truer even. I didn't deserve someone as sweet, pure, and good as Clare- at least not at the moment, when I was still so plagued by my past. Clare deserved to know about that.

So, I started my solemn tale. "This is where I killed my girlfriend."

"E-ex-CUSE me!" Clare stuttered, sounding concerned, and more than a little scared. Whoops. I should probably have clarified that I did not kill her myself, as in I was the one to murder her, rather, I simply hold myself responsible.

So, I continued on with the story, knowing Clare would understand soon what I meant by that. "Last year," I began to clarify. "We had a fight. It got messy; I said things I shouldn't have. She was really upset. Took off on her bike in the night- got hit by a car.

"I am so sorry," Clare whispered. Funny thing was I could tell she was sorry; genuinely sorry that I had gone through that. Why hadn't I told her sooner? Of course Clare would understand- she was Clare, and she was amazing.

So I continued, letting Clare in deeper. "Just like that, the closest person in my life was gone. Because of me," I whispered the last part, feeling the weight of my words crush me.

"I had no idea," Clare sounded so concerned, and upset, but I took solace in the fact that she was no longer upset because I was shutting her out.

"It's not fair," I told Clare. I was responsible for someone's death. Julia would never get to experience a lot of things because of me. I looked Clare in the eyes as I speculated out loud, "Why should I get to be happy?" She looked back, and I could feel her trying to comfort me with her eyes. At least now she understood that I liked her. A lot. She was not the problem; I was because I had to forgive myself before I could be with Clare. That is if she still wanted to be with me after the time it took for me to figure all this out.

I sighed and put the car in gear, slowly pulling away from the curb. After a couple minutes of sitting in silence I figured I had given Clare enough time to absorb and process. "I'm sorry for dumping that on you," I told her. And I was; I never liked telling people my story because it was a lot to handle. I knew from experience. "I just wanted you to know," I continued, "that I had my reasons for keeping you out like that. It wasn't fair to you though, and I won't do it again. I need you in my life, even if it's just as a friend."

Clare nodded as I pulled in next to my house, parking Morty. Neither Clare nor I moved; we just stared at each other for a moment. "Thank you," Clare said finally, "for telling me everything." She touched my arm lightly. "You can always tell me anything," Clare said with fierce earnestness. "I'm not going anywhere." A smile played on the edge of her lips.

I nodded, and smiled back. I really should have come to that conclusion sooner.

We both slipped out of Morty, and Clare headed to her bike. "My parents are probably wondering where I am," she said. "I had better get home."

"Wait," I said, remembering something, "Adam mentioned to me that Ms. Dawes didn't accept our English project…What did you do to it?" I asked, smirking.

"I may have altered the ending just a tad," Clare said sheepishly. "Juliet may have chosen life over death because she didn't want to waste the risk on Romeo…," Clare smiled at me, "but that was this morning. Since then, Juliet has realized that Romeo is definitely still worth the risk."

I nodded, pleased. "I'm glad Juliet has come to her senses."

With that, Clare hopped on her bike, waved, and took off toward her house. I went back inside, smiling to myself. True, our relationship wasn't perfect, but I had finally realized it was worth fighting for. Then again, all things are.

XXX

The next morning before school started Clare, Adam, and I went to Ms. Dawes with our finished assignment. This time it had the right ending.

"Let's watch it, shall we?" Ms. Dawes asked us after we had given her the copy. We all nodded, and crowded around her laptop. I watched as the scene before us unraveled, blushing a little when it cut to a close up of Clare's and my first kiss. I looked at Clare to find that she was looking right back at me. We both blushed, and shared an embarrassed smile. It was a little weird watching myself kiss Clare, but you could also feel our chemistry even though it wasn't in person. I nudged her with my elbow a little and she playfully nudged back. It felt so good to be on god terms with her again; I had missed her a lot.

As the scene came to a close Ms. Dawes clapped. "Well done," She told us smiling, "Some very committed performances." She winked at Clare. Huh, I wondered what that was about.

Ms. Dawes walked out of the room, and Clare turned to me. "I still wish we could change the ending," She sighed wistfully.

"What? You mean that mess you tried to hand it- Juliet gives up on Romeo?" I asked incredulously, but playfully.

"No," Clare shot back, and then looked at me, her expression soft, and her eyes full of compassion. "In this version Juliet gives Romeo some time." I smiled. I would never find anyone that equated to Clare. She was just too good to be true.

"You know," Adam said, laying his hand on my shoulder, "I can't help but notice that we're on speaking terms again." He seemed very happy about the fact that Clare and I were talking again. "What happened yesterday?" he asked curiously.

Clare shot me a look. She obviously wasn't sure what Adam knew, and if it was okay to say anything. "Nothing," she said, flustered.

I patted him on the back. "I told her about Julia," I clued him in.

"Thank God," Adam said, relieved, "I didn't know how much longer I could keep that a secret."

"Huh," Clare huffed, crossing her arms, and giving Adam a pointed look. Adam quickly left the room, leaving me and Clare alone.

I took a step closer to her, and looked down into those ice-blue eyes. "Your idea for that new ending," I told her, "I like it."

"Me too," She said quietly, a small smile on her lips.

We stood there smiling at each other and I realized that getting over Julia's death would take a shorter time than I expected now that Clare knew about it. There was just something infinitely special about Clare, and I was happy to say that I was falling in love with her. I could stay trapped in this moment with Clare forever, and that was just as long as we might have together: a whole forever.

So sad that I'm done with this episode, but that doesn't mean I'm going to stop! I need your input- I was thinking about going back to Better Off Alone- parts 1& 2, and writing that in Eli's perspective. What do you think? Also, if I did this episode, only in Clare POV, would you read it, or is that overkill? Let me know what you think. =)