Title: Hot Mess
Rating: R
Chapter: 11
Fandom: Degrassi: The Next Generation
Summary: Clare uses her womanly whiles to protect Eli. Eclare. Flare. Misfits!
Comments: "Hot Mess" by Cobra Starship.
Disclaimer: I own nothing except the idea.

Alli sighed, running a hand through her hair. She had finally stopped crying, the shock setting in. "What do I tell him?" she asked, looking back at Clare.

Clare shrugged, leaning back against the wall, her arms crossed over her chest. She looked up as Drew started towards their direction. "Better come up with it fast," she said, shoving Alli forward.

Alli squealed, crashing into Drew, who blinked while grabbing her biceps in his hands to steady her. She looked up at him, smiling pathetically, "Drew…"

Drew could not help but smile at the sight of her face. His face slowly fell at the sight of her bloodshot eyes and pale skin. He frowned, furrowing his brow in concern, "Alli?"

Alli sighed heavily, swallowing the nerves stuck in her throat, "We need to talk…"

DTNG

Alli and Clare sat huddled together on a bench in the hallway; their elbows entwined together and their cheeks resting against each other in exhaustion. Clare gave Alli's hand a squeeze, taking a shaky breath, "C'mon, we have class." She got to her feet, helping Alli up as well. She turned to walked away when KC stopped her, standing in front of her.

KC held a five dollar bill in front of her face as he teased, "I heard you come cheaper than this, but…" He smirked, meeting her cold eyes, "I thought I'd give you the highest bid."

Clare looked away in pain, her hands guarding her pregnant stomach protectively. "Get lost, KC," she huffed quietly, swallowing the little pride she had left floating around inside of her.

"No," KC shook his head, starting to sway the bill in front of her eyes. "You owe me this. I spent four months with you and didn't get zilch. Now you're pregnant. You're lucky I'm paying you at all."

Drew sighed heavily, his heart going out to Clare after receiving Alli's news a few days before. "Leave her alone, Man."

KC smirked in amusement, throwing the money at Clare and hitting her right in the nose before it floated down to the floor, "Are you kidding? It's the pregnant ones who will go for low prices. They're whores."

Drew's jaw tightened, his hands clenching into fists as his friend continued to taunt the pregnant teen.

"C'mon, Clare. Bend over. Pick it up," KC whispered hotly, reaching out and grasping her sensitive breast. Clare's eyes shut tightly, letting out a small whimper, as he slowly back her up against a wall. He leaned down, kissing her hungrily on the lips.

Drew grasped KC by the shoulder, pulling him off of Clare, before throwing his entire weight into a punch. His fist connected with KC's nose, knocking his friend down on his butt. Drew stared down at KC, his breath heaving, "Don't you ever talk to her like that again."

Drew looked up at Clare, who stood against the wall shaking with sobs. He rushed to her side, gripping her elbows gently to get her to look up at him. When she did, she threw her arms around his neck, emotion shuttering through her. He clasped his arms around her, rubbing her back. "It's okay…" he assured softly, seeing Eli walking towards them down the hall. When the gothic teenager got close enough, he nodded for her boyfriend to take over.

Eli furrowed his brow in confusion, gently taking Clare from Drew. "Hey Gorgeous," he whispered softly in her ear as she buried her face in his neck. He placed his hand on the back of her head, gripping her hair with his fingers. He sighed heavily, rocking her gently from side to side. "It's okay. I've got you now, okay?" he assured softly.

Clare pulled back a little bit, wiping her eyes with her green sweater sleeve. "KC attacked me. He… he taunted me with a five dollar to pay me for sex. A-a-and when I didn't, he backed me into the wall and he kissed and groped me," she explained shakily in a whisper.

Eli's eyes went wide in anger, looking around the area, but KC had disappeared. He pecked her cheek, whispering, "I'll be back, okay, Edwards?" He pulled away from her, turning to Drew, "Look after her." He did not even bother to explain himself as stalked away, his rage taking over his whole body.

Clare stood there helplessly vulnerable as she watched him walk away. Alli clasped her arms around Clare's waist as if to comfort her, but the redhead just stood there lifelessly like a mannequin. She swallowed hard, her eyes shutting when she could no longer see Eli.

DTNG

Fitz sat at one of the computers in the library, his eyes fill with curiosity as he stared at the information on the webpage. His face suddenly turned to horror at one of the pictures on the screen.

"What are you doing?"

Fitz looked up at Eli and shrugged nonchalantly, "Learning about being pregnant." He looked back at the page, asking, "Do you know what a mucus plug is?"

"A what?" Eli asked, rounding to stand beside Fitz and leaned down, looking at the picture Fitz was pointing at. "Ugh!" Eli gagged, turning away before he could vomit. He took the mouse from Fitz, exiting the window. "We have a bigger problem than mucus plugs right now. We'll worry about that when we get to it."

"You mean when it breaks?" Fitz asked, surprised Eli knew so much so fast.

"Breaks? W-why would it break?" Eli asked in fear, suddenly horrified at the pregnancy situation.

"The mucus plug holds the baby inside of her and it breaks when the baby comes out," Fitz explained, his eyes filled with wonder by the whole situation before them.

"Clare's not breaking nothing!" Eli exclaimed, finally finding his words. "At least, not when we're done with KC."

Fitz furrowed his brow, suddenly interested in the change of topic, "KC Guthrie?"

DTNG

Clare sat in the swivel chair in the attendance office, leaning back in exhaustion. She groaned in boredom, rubbing her stomach. She thanked God that she had not thrown up all day. She shook, sitting up straight in her chair.

God. She had not even thought about God since the night she first slept with Eli. She shuttered, closing her eyes to say a small prayer when suddenly she heard chanting out the window, snapping her out of her meditation. She stood up, going to the window, and anger flared through her.

DTNG

Eli went to go throw his fist into KC's face, only to have a giant hand grip his own and crush his hand. He cried out, withering to his knees. KC hovered over Eli, only letting go when a pair of hands pulled him back. KC turned around quickly only to be met with Fitz's hand curled up into a fist.

KC stumbled back slightly, his blood rushing to his nose. He took a deep breath, pulling a knife out of his pocket, as Fitz turned to face Eli.

Eli swallowed hard from where he was kneeling on the ground. His eyes slowly going wide in realization. "Fitz!" he shouted only a moment too late.

KC jumped forward on his feet, plunging the knife deep into Fitz's side. Fitz's jaw dropped in shock, his breath hitching as he fell on his back. KC's pulled the dagger out shakily, dropping it as he ran away as fast as he could.

Eli stood up as a crowd pushed him back away from Fitz.

"Eli!"

Eli turned around at the sound of his name and Clare threw her arms around him in relief. He felt numbness take over his body as he gently pushed her away, grabbing her elbows gently to hold her back. "Clare…"

Clare's watery eyes threatened to fall out as she stared back into his hurt green ones. "What's wrong?" she asked softly.

"F-F-Fitz," Eli stuttered in astonishment.

Clare's eyebrows knitted together as she looked around for Fitz, fear washing over her. When she saw the crowd forming a circle, she rushed over, pushing through the compressed wave of bodies.

She screamed out at the sight of Fitz lying on the ground, his hands cupped lazily over the wound in his side, blood gushing out of his body. She dropped to her knees at his side, running a hand through his hair gently. She closed her eyes, tears spilling out as she broke into sobs. She laid down beside him, pulling him into her as her body shook with sobs.

DTNG

Clare gasped, shuttering awake as an overwhelming smell of cinnamon entered through her nose. She looked around, her chest heaving up and down as she wheezed to catch her breath. Above her stood an ETM, holding a small canister in his hand, causing alarm to rush through her veins. She sat up, only to quickly lay back down on the stretcher, her eyes rolling to the back of her head.

"Please, be careful. She's pregnant."

Clare calmed down at the sound of Eli's voice; it was so close, so comforting. She rolled her head to her right lazily and smiled at the sight of Eli.

Eli sighed in relief, giving her hand a squeeze, which she noticed he was holding. She gripped his hand, closing her eyes. He leaned forward, kissing her forehead. He whispered concerningly, "You passed out and when we couldn't wake you, the ETMs insisted on taking you."

Clare nodded and then her eyes shot open in realization. "Fitz…" she trailed off, her voice hoarse with exhaustion.

Eli ran his other hand through her messy curls, mumbling, "Babe, they took him long before you."

Clare's bottom lip quivered in emotion, closing her eyes as she broke into sobs. As if her world was not shitty enough.

DTNG

Clare sat numbly next to Eli at the lunch table in the cafeteria. She stared at the tray in front of her lifelessly.

Eli stabbed the bite of pizza he had cut off for her and held it out for her to take a bite of. "C'mon, Clare. You need to eat," he stated when she turned her head away from him. He sighed heavily, hating to have to use her child against her, but he had to. "For the baby."

Clare looked back at him and opened her mouth shakily. She closed her mouth in disgust when the piece was in her mouth. She swallowed it, touching her stomach. She closed her eyes, trying to feel the connection every mother talked about, yet she received no comfort – only hurt. Maybe the mother-child connection only occurred outside the womb.

Eli sighed heavily, rubbing her bicep gently to comfort her, "He's okay, Clare. The doctor said his surgery went fine. You spent all night in that chair. You had to get out."

Clare shook her head, struggling not to cry, "I miss him. I shouldn't have left him there alone." She stood up abruptly, but he gripped her wrist to pull her back to him.

"Clare, stop. We're going there as soon as school lets out," Eli reminded softly while carefully easing her onto her lap. "Now, please. Take at least like eight more bites." When she shuttered at the thought of eating, he pressed his forehead against her, locking his green eyes with her blue ones. "For the baby."

Clare pursed her lips together as she wiped her eyes. She turned in towards the table, picking up the pizza to take a bite.

DTNG

Alli screamed as she stood in a stall in the locker room.

Clare's eyes went wide with concern, knocking on the stall, "Alli?"

The stall door flung open and Alli jumped on top of Clare, screaming, "I got my period!"

Clare was taken aback slightly by both Alli's actions and words. She smiled, wrapping her arms around the smaller girl, "Alli, that's great." While she was happy for her friend, Clare could not help but feel a pang of jealousy with the new twist to Alli's life.

Alli pulled back from her, grabbing the pregnant girl by the hand and dragging her out of the locker room into the hallway. She screamed upon seeing her boyfriend, dropping her best friend's hand. She rushed over, tackling Drew from behind.

Clare smiled sadly at the interaction between the couple. She pursed her lips together thoughtfully, opening her purse, and pulled out her engagement ring Fitz has given her only a week ago. She looked at it, contemplating which finger to put it on, and finally settled on her left ring finger.

DTNG

Clare sat at in a stiff chair at Fitz's side, her hand resting on his bicep as if touching him would wake him up. She stared at him, afraid that he would die if she looked away. She leaned forward, resting her head on the edge of the bed, chewing through the healing gash on her bottom lip.

Eli sat in a chair next to hers, intensely reading Clare's baby book. His eyes went wide in astonishment, exclaiming, "Our baby doesn't have a heart!"

Clare shot up, slouching back in her chair, and rested a protective hand on her flat stomach. "Excuse me?" she retorted, sending daggers at Eli.

Eli shook his head, leaning over and placing a comforting hand on hers, "No. That's not what I meant. I mean, right now, the baby literally doesn't have a heart. The book says the heart doesn't develop until the fourth week."

Clare frowned, raising an eyebrow, as she informed bitterly, "I'm in the middle of my fourth week."

Eli choked on the air he was breathing, he laughed nervously, "Ohhh…"

Clare rolled her eyes in annoyance, turning her attention back to Fitz. She shook her head, taking his hand in hers. She leaned forward, bringing his hand to her, and pressed a chaste kiss to his palm. "I love you," she whispered against his calloused skin. She held his cold hand against her cheek, closing her eyes, as she started to cry again.

Eli watched her, his heart yearning to comfort her, but he knew he only thing that would comfort her was if Fitz opened his milky brown eyes and whispered a soft hello to her; even pulled her down and kissed her. Eli shuttered softly, not wanting to see them kiss. He reached out, rubbing Clare's back softly.

Clare shook her head, looking over at Eli, as she set down Fitz's hand carefully. "Don't. I don't deserve it. I caused this. If I hadn't slept with him, he wouldn't be here right now," she snapped through tears, her whole body shaking.

Eli sighed heavily, shaking his head, "Clare, you may not deserve much of anything from me or Fitz, but we do things for you because we love you. I love you." He leaned over and kissed her cheek. "You need to calm down," he whispered, wrapping an arm around her. "All your stress is going to kill the baby."

Clare looked up at him, horrified. "What?" she questioned in astonishment, her heart stopping, as she curled into him.

Eli nodded sadly, but he knew she needed to hear it, as he spoke, "Your stress can affect the baby to the point of death. And I know, even after like a week, you're way too attached to the idea of a child in your arms to just stress yourself out to the point of killing your baby."

Clare took in a deep breath, wiping at her eyes. She had not really even though about when her baby would come out; she had been too busy convincing the fathers to participate. But now that she thought about it, she loved the idea of holding a sweet little baby in her arms and rocking them to sleep. She nodded, biting her bottom lip. She closed her eyes, trying to calm herself down. Eli rubbed her back gently, trying to ease her.

"C-Clare…"

Clare's eyes snapped open, turning her head towards Fitz.

Fitz looked around the room lazily; he looked exactly like he was – on drugs. He blinked, looking up at her. He gave her a tired smile as she took his hand.

Clare sighed in relief, "Thank God." She leaned down, gently kissing him on the lips.

Fitz kissed her back a bit. He closed his eyes comfortably.

"No, Fitz, don't…" Clare begged, running her free hand through his hair.

Fitz blinked his eyes, looking up at her exhaustedly.

Clare felt her bottom lip quiver, trying to control herself for the sake of her child. "The last time you closed your eyes, you didn't wake up," she mumbled.

Fitz nodded tiredly, lifting his arm to reach out to touch her face. Instead, he cried out in pain, as his arm pulled at the sensitive wound on his side. He dropped his arm at his side, closing his eyes.

Clare cupped his cheek, hushing him softly, "Its okay, Babe. You'll be okay." She pressed a small kiss against his temple. He turned his face into her hand, relaxing at her gently touch, as he eased back to sleep.

DTNG

Eli and Clare sat in their bed in silence. Clare sat against the headboard, her arms crossed over her chest, staring at the wall opposite their bed. Eli was watching her, his hand gently crawling up and down her thigh. She fluttered her eyes every so often, restraining herself from moaning. She took in a deep breath, dropping her head on his shoulder and cuddling into him.

Eli sighed heavily, his fingertips caressing the crease between her thigh and pubic bones. She shuttered, taking in a sharp breath. She blinked, her eyes rolling to the back of her head. She slid back in between his legs, slouching her back against his chest, her head resting on his shoulder. He rested his hands on the part of her thong covering her most sensitive area, making her shiver with a soft moan. He slid his hands slowly up her center to her stomach and rested them there, stroking her flat skin with his palms. Her eyes fluttered closed as she placed her hands on top of his with a small smile.

He dipped his head down, breathing hot air against her ear, as he whispered, "I love you."

She sighed contently, mumbling, "I love you too."

Eli opened his mouth to say something else when he felt something brush against his hand. He furrowed his brow in confusion, taking her hand in his own. She spun around before it could hurt her arm, gripping his hand with her own. "What's this?" he asked softly, turning the ring sitting on her third finger on her left hand with his thumb.

Clare's eyebrows knitted together, laughing nervously as she pulled her hand back. She went to remove her ring, but he took her hand back in his.

"Spit it out, Edwards," Eli demanded, maintaining his calm exterior so he did not frighten her.

Clare looked down, avoiding his eyes, as she mumbled, "It's Fitz's ring." She swallowed hard, daring to look back at him. "It's not an engagement ring, Eli," she reassured quickly.

Eli laughed cruelly, his heart breaking, "Then why's it on your left ring finger?"

"Because it doesn't fit on the rest of them," Clare muttered quietly.

"It's a five cent ring, Clare. It can fit on any finger if you fix it right," Eli snapped lightly. He was tempted to take it off her finger and throw it in the trash can. But he knew she would walk out and spend the night in a stiff chair at the hospital instead of in a warm bed. She needed to stay here for the night – warm, comfortable, and happy – to maintain the baby's health.

Clare sighed, rolling her eyes, and slipped the ring off her left hand and onto her right ring finger. "Better?" she asked, lifting her hand and wiggling her fingers in his face.

Eli gave her his classic smug smirk, nodding in reply, "Yes. Much." He leaned forward, pressing a peck of his lips against her nose. He went to pull back, but she placed her hands on his shoulders, pulling him back down to her. They both tilted their heads in opposite directions as their lips touched each others' gingerly.

Clare slid her hands around to his neck, pulling herself back onto his lap. Eli gripped her waist in his hands, pulling her hips down against his in a firm grind. She moaned against his lips and he took the moment to slide his tongue into her mouth. She gasped softly at the sensation, her tongue tangling with his. She raked her nails down his chest slowly, stopping at his nipples to give them a small pinch. He groaned painfully, arching against the headboard to push her hands even closer to his chest. The vibrations from his voice echoed in her mouth, causing her involuntarily moan. Her nails slowly tickled down to his finely chiseled six pack, playing with his skin for a few minutes, before taking the drawstring of his pajama pants in her hands.

She pulled back merely an inch from him, exhaling heavily as he breathed in quickly. Their eyes locked intensely with lust; passion; love. She slowly pulled the knot in the string apart, refusing to take her eyes off of his. He shivered when the elastic around his waist loosened and fell slightly down to the bed, his ass hanging out in the cold air. She bit her bottom lip hotly, whispering, "Whoops."

He smirked at her, sliding his hands up to the bottom of the nightshirt that matched his bottoms. He slowly undid the buttons with one hand, his other hand resting under the loose fabric against the valley between her breasts, to hold her still and feel her heartbeat. He unbutton the last of the restraints on the shirt and brought his hands slowly up to her shoulders, pushing the fabric down her arms.

She shuttered as the cold air surrounded her warm skin. He ran his fingertips up her side, smiling at the sight of goosebumps rising on her entire being. He leaned forward, pecking his lips against her shoulder blade. "You're so beautiful," he whispered against her skin in awe.

She closed her eyes, sighing gently. She placed her hands on his shoulders, pulling herself closer to him. She rested her head in the crook of his neck as she shook violently. He wrapped his arms around her in alarm, rubbing her back soothingly. As he opened his mouth to ask what was wrong, he felt something wet against his skin. He frowned, sighing softly, "Clare, I'm so sorry. Whatever I did wrong…"

She pulled back from him shakily, wiping at her eyes, as her face flushed. "You didn't do anything wrong," she assured, shaking her head. "You were perfect." She smiled at him as his hands cupped her face gingerly, wiping her tears away with his thumbs. "I just… it's so overwhelming."

"I know," he nodded in agreement. "It's the first time we've actually gotten intimate before you moved in. It can get emotional." He pressed his lips against hers in a chaste kiss before pressing his forehead against hers. "You want to just go to sleep?" he offered, moving his hands from her face to the small of her back.

She nodded against his head, her eyes fluttering closed. He smiled softly, wrapping his arms around her and slowly scooted down the headboard with his head to lie back on their bed, carefully moving her down on top of him. She rested her head in the crook of his neck, quickly dozing off into a comfortable sleep. He kissed the top of her head, rubbing her back gently, hoping she would sleep through the night for the first time since their earth-shaking news.