A/N ~ Hey guys! Okay, so I think that this is like the longest chapter so far!(:
It's getting a little more intense in this one, but I'm trying to keep the cute Eclare fluff, because I like it:D
Yeah, so enjoyy!(:
P.S. Thanks so much to everyone that has reviewed, or favorited my story, it's means a lot! Keep it up(:
7:25 am-
Clare stands at the top of the stairs, and she can see the shadows of her parents. They stand in the kitchen, and they don't even notice she's there. She can here her mother crying. That's all she seems to do lately.
"I don't understand. You don't have to go, why can't we just work it out?" Clare can hear her mumble through her tears. "we are still a family, damn it! And we are going to act like one, for Clare's sake."
"I don't give a damn about this family." Her dad is drinking again, Clare can tell.
"That's not fair!" She says, and her voice is loud now. "Not to me, and especially not Clare! I love you Randall!"
"I'm done with you all."
Clare watches as he walks to the door, and it's already half open when he stops.
"Well, your still coming to the annual church banquet tonight, right?"
He laughs, and takes a few staggered steps over to her before talking. "Are you an idiot? Why the hell would I go to the Church banquet with you?"
Her mouth gapes open for a few moments. "I'll be so embarrassed if I show up alone."
"I don't give a damn." He turns then, taking a swag of his bottle before reaching for the door, but she steps in front of him.
"Move."
She places her hands on her hips. "No. I want to talk to about this Randall."
"Move, damn it!"
"No!"
"You bitch!"
Clare watches with an open mouth and tears in her eyes as her father grabs her mother by the wrist and threw her against the wall with a thud. And then he was gone. She lingers there for a minute, and then slowly slides down to the floor.
"Mom!" Clare calls as she runs down the stairs. She tries to shake away the tears in her eyes. "Are you okay?"
"Clare," She mumbles as she struggles to her feet. When Clare reaches for her mothers hand, she can feel her trembling. "Yeah I'm fine."
7:34 am-
They sit across from each other at the kitchen table, and Clare doesn't know what to say. Her mom is distraught, with tangled hair and red eyes, and a big red mark on her arm.
Clare can't take her eyes of the red imprint along her mothers fragile arm, and she wants to cry right ten. "Mom.."
"Don't worry about it Clare." Her mother tries to smile. "It was an accident." Clare looks up at her mother's unconvincing face, she stares at her hard in the eyes, and she wants to tell her so many things. "It won't happen again."
Clare could say what she really wanted to say. She could tell her mom that it wasn't an accident, and it was going to happen again. She wanted to say that her father's changed, and he's not the same man that she had fallen in love with. He's different now, and that they will be fine without him.
Instead, she nods, looking down at her un touched breakfast.
"So the church Banquet's tonight." Her mother spoke up. The church banquet was a big deal. Everyone dresses up nice and shows up with there handsome dates and dances and has a good time, and all the money for the tickets go to charity. Clare barley listens as she goes on about the decorations and the music, just poking at her scrambles eggs with her fork.
"I think it's about time you brought a date."
Clare's head shoots up at that comment. "A date?"
"Yeah." She smiles. "what about that Charlie boy from youth group? He seems nice."
"Mom." She rolled her eyes. "Charlie's 12, and he picks his nose."
"Well, are there any nice boys at your school that are acceptable to go with?"
Oh gosh.
"Um, maybe?"
12:24 pm-
Clare wasn't used to it. She wasn't used to the holding hands, or the looks that people gave her as they walked down the hallway, and she was definitely not used to the kissing. They walked outside Degrassi, on there way to the lunch table that they sit at everyday, hand in hand, and Clare could feel people looking.
"Eli," She says, and she waits for him to look down at her before continuing. "People are looking."
Clare can feel Eli grip her hand harder. "Awesome."
They sit across each other at lunch, and he pulls out an apple from his bag. Halfway through his second bite, he realizes she isn't eating. She looks down at the wooden table, and she is picking the pale pink nail polish of her pinkie.
"Where's your lunch?"
"What?" She looks up, blinking. "Oh, I guess I forgot. I was kind of busy this morning."
"What happened?"
Clare looks at him for a moment, and she watches as Eli takes another bite of his apple. "They were fighting," Clare hesitates, and she's not sure if she should tell him, but then Eli looks at her with his deep emerald eyes, and she feels safe. "And then he hurt her."
"What?" Eli leaned forward, placing his elbows on the table. "He hit her?"
Clare rubbed the back of her neck, and no matter how hard she tried, he could feel tears crawl up in the corner of her eyes. "He threw her against the wall."
She looked down, and she didn't hear Eli say anything. She didn't want to cry, she wanted to be strong. But she hated the thought of her parents, who's fights were now turning Violent. She hated the thought of her father, who wasn't even her father anymore. He wasn't the same person who had read her stories at night, who had given her piggy back rides in the park, who was there to take pictures of her when she got the best attendance award in 4th grade. She especially hated the thought of her poor mother, who has being hurt by the very man that she loved.
It took her a few moments to realize that Eli was hugging her. He had made his way over to her, gathering her in a tight hug. She closes her eyes, and she let her tears fall.
"She said it won't happen again." Clare finally says, when Eli releases her from the hug.
"are you sure?"
"Yeah." She lies.
"Okay." Eli smiles at her, and he hands Clare his apple. "We can share my apple."
2:15 pm-
"So you want to go to the dot after school?" Eli asks over his shoulder in the middle of English, as ms. Dawes turned her back to the class, writing on the chalk board.
Clare smiles, and is half way through yes when she realizes she can't.
"Um, I can't." She says, shrugging. "There's a banquet at church tonight, it's like a big deal."
She blinks at him. She needs a date.
"My mom wants me to go with this nasty little boy from youth group. He's like 12." She laughs to herself.
"You need a date?" Eli turns completely to her now, his eyebrow raised. "Why didn't you ask me? I mean that's what boyfriends are for, right?" He smirks.
Boyfriend. That was first time he had said that. "Uh…" She smiles, letting out a nervous giggle. "I think my mom would have a heart attack if she saw you."
Eli nods, turning back to face the front. "I'll be at your house around 7." Clare can see Eli run his fingers through his hair.
"And don't worry, I'll look pretty for your mom."
3:57 pm-
Clare comes home to find her mom, crying at her vanity table. She is holding onto both her arms, and she watches herself cry in the mirror. She mumbles something to herself, but Clare can't make out the words.
"Mom?" Clare asks as she walks into her mothers room, gripping onto the school bag that hung off her shoulder.
Her mother's head snapped up, and she quickly wiped her eyes. "Clare?" She stood up, running her fingers through her hair. "I was just deciding what dress I should wear tonight. Come here!"
Clare took a few slow steps over to her mothers bed, where two dresses laid. "Should I wear the little black one?" She picked it up, pressing it against her body. "Or the blue one?"
Clare looks at her mom for a minute, and she watches as the tears dry on her cheek. "I like the black one." She finally says, with out even looking at it.
"Me too."
"hey mom," Clare began, looking down at her feet. "I, uh, found a date for the banquet."
"Oh really?" She asked, looking at Clare through the mirror where she was now brushing her hair. "What's his name?"
Oh boy. Tonight was going to be a long night.
"Elijah."
6:57 pm-
Clare watches through the peep hole of her front door, waiting for the famous hearse to pull up. She dressed in her favorite blue gown that fell right at the knee, and her black ballet flats. Her mother stood in the kitchen, trying to call her father on the phone for the 4th time.
"If you get this message," Clare could hear her mother say as she walked into the kitchen. "The banquet starts at 7:30. I really wish you would come." She hangs up the phone, turning to see Clare. "Where is this date of yours, Clare?" her voice is sharp and tense, and Clare is surprised.
"He's on his way."
"What's he like?" Her mother asked, taking a seat at the kitchen table. "You didn't tell me much about him. Does he make good grades? He is a gentlemen? Does he do any after school activities?"
This was a bad idea, Clare thinks to herself, letting out a breath. "Yeah." She smiles. "He the captain of the," She pauses, she was always a bad lair. She looks down at the table, where a brochure for the trip to Mexico that Clare's family had been planning before all the fighting starting sat. "Spanish Club."
She nods, obviously unimpressed.
"He also," She speaks up, and Clare's mother looks at her with hope in her eyes. "He's also a classically trained pianist."
Oh gosh. This was not a good idea. Not a good idea at all. Clare just sat there, a crocked smile on her face, waiting for her mother to speak up.
"Well, that's sounds lovely." Clare sighed. "Maybe he could play a song at the banquet."
"Yeah."
No.
This was definitely not a good idea.
Then the door bell rang.
Oh, gosh.
"Oh there he is, Clare!" her mother exclaims, standing up from her seat. Clare sat there, and her heart was pounding so hard she thought her mother could hear it. "Are you going to answer it?"
"Um yeah?"
Her mother laughs, "Why are you so nervous? This boy must really be a catch."
Clare stands, smoothing out her dress before walking to the door. "He is."
There Eli stood, wearing a tuxedo, with hair combed back. No chains, no scary rings, and no black sharpie on his nails.
"Oh my gosh." Clare covers her mouth. "Eli?"
He smiles, winking at her. "It's very nice to see you again, Clare."
"Hi, I'm Mrs. Edwards." Clare's mother says when Eli walks into the room, and they shake hands.
"It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Elijah Goldsworthy, Clare has told me so many nice things about you."
"Oh really? Well Clare tells me you are a classically trained pianist."
Eli smiles, nodding. "It's really just a hobby. My real dream in life is to become a brain surgeon, so I can save lives."
Clare blurts out a loud laugh then, and when she catches her mother's eye, she purses her pink lips together, looking down at her feet.
"What's so funny Clare?" her mother says, and Clare can hear the sharpness of her tone.
She looks up, and she can see Eli shoot her one of his signature smirks.
"Yes, Clare. What's so funny?"
7:46 pm-
They all sit at their reserved table in the middle of the ball room, and one of the chairs are empty. Clare and Eli talk and laugh, and her mother looks at the door every few minutes and she hopes that he will come, even though she knows he won't. She takes a deep breath to keep from crying, and turns to Clare and Eli.
"I would love to hear your piano playing, Elijah." She starts, and Eli and Clare look at her at the same time. "The piano is right over there."
"I'm not sure if that's the best idea," Clare starts, her eyes flashing to Eli.
"Nonsense." Eli says, turning to Clare. "I would love to."
"what?" Clare watches as Eli stands up, placing his hand on Clare's shoulder.
"Clare just doesn't want me to brag." He laughs, sneaking a wink at Clare before walking across the dance floor to the piano.
Oh boy.
8:00 pm-
They stand in the middle of the dance floor, and his hands are on her hips. Neither of them are very good a dancing, so they just sway back and forth, and they look at each other.
"why didn't you tell me you could play the piano?" She asks, her arms wrapped tight around his neck.
Eli smirks. "Because that look on your face was priceless."
She laughs, looking down at there feet before talking again. "Well what did you expect?"
"I took lessons when I was like, 11." He says, and he pulls Clare closer to her then, and there noses brush against each other. "I guess I never forgot."
Clare looks at his dark green eyes, and she can feel his breath on her lips. She wants to kiss him. "Thanks for everything." She says, wide smile on her face. "But I think you might of over done it, just a little."
"Me?" Eli says, raising his eyebrows. "Never!"
"Brain Surgeon?"
They laugh in unison, and then he leans down, just barley brushing his lips against hers. Clare can't believe that she still blushes when he does that, but she does, and then she kisses him back. Then they just look at each other, and Clare can't wipe that goofy grin off her face.
He opens his mouth to talk, but closes it suddenly, looking past Clare. "This is not good."
"What?" Clare asks, and she turns around, and she can't even talk. Clare watches as a man stumbles across the ball room, a green bottle held to his mouth.
"Isn't that your dad?"
Clare knew this was going to be a long night.
8:12 pm-
"Randall?" Clare's mother looks up from her unfinished dinner to be greeted by her extremely drunk husband. "What the hell are you doing?"
"You wanted me to come, right?" She talks so loud, nearly half the room turns to him. "Well I'm here, you ungrateful bitch!" He takes one last swag of his bottle before dropping it, and it breaks into pieces on the ground.
"Randall, please." Clare's mother is already covering her mouth, and she is holding back tears.
"You wanted to talk!" He is ever louder now, and Clare and Eli stand a few yards away, and she holds onto him tight, silently crying into his sleeve. "Let's talk!"
"Please, can he we talk at home?"
"You always want to do things your way, don't you?" He screams at her, and then in a split second the table in front of him was flipped over, and a scream had escaped from her mothers voice. Everyone was watching, and now everyone knew what was going on.
Eli could feel grip onto his arm harder.
"Daddy."
9:04 pm-
After countless minutes of screaming right in the middle of the churches annual banquet, Clare's mom had finally talked her dad into coming home. The car right was silent, and Clare and Eli sat in the back, holding each other's hands tight. They sat at the curb in front of Clare's house now, and they could still here the screaming.
"I'm really sorry you have to deal with this, Clare." Eli finally says, after minutes of silence.
Clare sits next to him, staring at the cement road in front of him. Her eyes are blank and distant, and Eli wishes that he knew what she was thinking. She doesn't say anything at first, just laughs to herself. "He's always at work because he's having an affair with his secretary." She closes her eyes, but no more tears come out. "He even told my mom about it, and she still denies it." Clare pauses, and she takes a moment to stare up into Eli's eyes. "She still loves him, and I feel bad for her, so don't apologize to me. Apologize to her."
Eli nods, and he tries to crack a smile. "I better go inside," Clare insists, and she rises to her feet.
"I don't know if that's such a good idea." Eli stands up after her, placing his rough hand on her fragile shoulder. "What if what happens this morning.."
Eli doesn't finish his thought, and he watches as Clare get on her tip toes, pecking him on the cheek. "I'm going to be okay, Eli. I'll call you if anything happens."
Eli nods and let's her leave, but he knows something's wrong. He can feel it.
9:17 pm-
When Clare walks in the house, her mother is on the ground. She is breathing heavy, and her hair is falling in front of her face. She coughs a few times, and Clare can see drops of red fall from her mouth.
"Mom!" Clare screams, loud, and she takes a few fast steps toward her mom, but stops before she gets there.
No. He wouldn't. He wouldn't do that to his own daughter. She finds herself on the ground, tears falling down her face. She clutches her cheek, and she can't even think anymore.
Clare's own father hit her.