Author's Note:
Blah~ I am starting to feel shitty about this story. But I don't want to like, stop..again. So, I'm going to keep going. I wanted this chapter to be longer, because I want to explain a little bit about the fight.

x-x-x

The walk to Fitz's house was quiet, and slightly awkward. Both of them seemed to be tense; their body language was definitely not that of friends. But they weren't..right? Clare had a puzzled expression on her face as she contemplated her intentions.

Why exactly was she actually going to Fitz's house? She knew the kind of person he was. Or, atleast she thought she did. He was supposed to be some sort of monster, but she knew it wasn't true. The fact that he actually seemed sincere about wanting to help her was proof of that.

Clare spent most of the walk looking at him thoughtfully. She was still trying to decide exactly what it was that she saw in his eyes; exactly what it was that made him different. The more she studied him, the more it became apparent to her. Yeah, he was still Fitz, but he seemed almost..human.

Fitz gave her a quick sideways glance, noticing her eyes on him, and smirked ever so slightly. Upon being caught, a small smile grew on her face, and her cheeks turned a soft shade of pink.

"You're blushing." He stated nonchalantly, keeping his eyes on her as he walked. This caused Clare's cheeks to turn a deeper shade of pink, and she stuttered out a hardly coherent "N-no, I'm, uhh.. No I'm not." Something Fitz had to admit, was that she was cute when she was nervous. But that was nothing out of the ordinary. Clare Edwards was cute all of the time.

Fitz's smile grew as the curly haired girl stumbled over her words. "Whatever you say.." She bit her lip in nervousness as they approached his house. Fitz lead her into the livingroom silently; there was a blank look plastered on his face as she looked around.

The house wasn't what she had expected, at all; it was much like her own in the way it was decorated. Fitz motioned to the couch before he started to walk away, and Clare responded by sitting down.

"Want a drink?" Fitz's called from what Clare assumed was the kitchen, "Oh, sure." After a few moments of clicking bottles, and Clare sitting alone awkwardly, Fitz returned with two beers. At this, she wrinkled her nose. She wasn't going to drink..was he even being serious?

"It's all we had." He explained simply, setting one of the bottles on the coffee table in front of her. Clare stared at the drink in front of her, but did nothing to show that she would drink it.

"So..what happened?" Fitz finally spoke up, giving her an interested glance. Clare sighed; still not sure if she could trust him with such things. He took a swig of his beer while she gathered her thoughts. He gave her a questioning look one last time, and she opened her mouth to speak, but he cut her off. "You don't have to tell me."

She nodded, acknowledging what she already knew. "I want to." With a smile from Fitz, she was encouraged to tell him everything. At first, her words were slowy and unsteady, but the look on his face seemed to be gentle and understanding, which made her feel more at ease.

"A few weeks ago, I, uh, found out he was..well, getting high, I guess." By he, Fitz could assume she meant Eli, and he had an almost uncontrollable urge to laugh. Eli, getting high? It was a funny thought to him. But somehow he refrained from doing so, and nodded once, as if to tell her to continue.

Clare was fiddling with her fingers, biting her lip, playing the the hem of her shirt, and anything else she could think of to calm herself. "He told me he'd stop.. But then today, he was high. Again."

Her eyes began to grown with tears as she told him what had happened. To prevent from seeming even more vulnerable aroudn him, she closed her eyes, taking a deep breath before continuing. "I tried to talk to him about it, but he was so..unlike himself."

She opened her eyes again in an attempt to gauge his reaction; but he seemed emotionless, which somehow made her feel worse about the situation. "He just..snapped." The grip of her teeth on her lower lip tightened as she held back the inevitable tears. "I can't be with someone who does drugs!" She almost yelled, the tears finally spilling from her eyes once more.

Her body was shaking with silent sobs; she was desperate for him to reach out to her, or anything. All she wanted was to be comforted in this moment. Unfortunately, comforting was not Fitz's strong point.

"Are you going to say anything..?" She mumbled, now irritated by the fact that he had offered to help, but was not helping at all. Fitz scratched at his head nervously for a moment before finally speaking up. "What was he on?" His voice didn't sound insistent, just a little curious.

Clare looked up at him, wiping her eyes before giving him an answer. "Ritalin." A small smile of recognition grew on his face, and he nodded slowly. She frowned at him, her eyebrows knitting together in the process.

"Why are you smiling?" Her voice sounded demanding and hurt; which was expected. She had just spilled her heart out to him, and now he was mocking her. Forget him being different, some people just never change. "No, I'm sorry.. I was just thinking about- nothing." Fitz frowned apologetically at her, and sighed in frustration.

Could he even do anything to help her? The two sat in silence for a moment before Fitz spoke up. "Seems to me that you really could use that beer after all, Edwards." Clare looked troubled for a minute, unsure of how to answer. "Fitz, you know I don't drink."

With a nod, he finished off the rest of his beer. "Things change." It was a simple statement, but Clare knew that he meant so much more than what he implied. He was right, though; things did change.

She wouldn't have thought that Eli would do drugs, but he did. She wouldn't have thought that her and Eli would break up, but they did. And she wouldn't have thought that she'd be talking to Fitz, let alone sitting alone in his house, but here she was.

Clare grabbed the bottle sitting near her and twisted the cap off slowly. She lifted it to her lips and took a small sip, instantly frowning at the taste. Fitz smirked at her and got up to get another beer for himself. "Feel free to turn on the TV." He said softly, walking away from her.

She nodded at him, but didn't acknowledge the television. Instead, she kept taking small sips from the new liquid in her hands. It wasn't exactly a pleasant taste; but she was learning to accept changes. Maybe it was time for her start making changes in her life.

By the time Fitz was back, half of the beer was already gone. "Not so bad, eh?" She frowned at him at first; but it was quickly replaced with a smile after realizing why he was teasing her. Clare Edwards was alone at Fitz's house, drinking. That's definitely not something she would normally do. But hey, everyone needs some spice sometimes..right?