A nice long, juicy chapter just for you, yeah you! :3

It had been a few weeks since Drew and Clare's night at the Dot. They hadn't actually made plans outside of school yet, but in school, they had become pretty good friends. Clare was aiming for 'acquaintances' but he had used their names plus 'friends' in the same sentence multiple times so...she decided to just go with it. She kept trying to convince herself she wasn't letting her guard down but...
Who was she kidding?
No one.
More of a hitorical question but whatever.

They now sat together at lunch, acknowledged each other in the halls. And Drew took this into account as an asset he had gained by quitting the team. He knew he would never even think of sitting with anyone other than his football buds during lunch and that it'd be almost impossible to acknowledge her in the halls without his friends ripping on him about it.
But he was a different person now. He no longer cared about keeping his reputation and since he had quit the team, the guys had kind of distanced themselves from him. So now he mainly stuck with Adam and his friends during school.
And then there was Clare. Sure they were just friends. They were together a lot during school. They'd talk casually about almost anything. They'd even talk about some pretty deep stuff if the timing was fit.
They'd text all day if they could.
And she was a really chill girl.
But he was starting to think of her as more. And he had no problem with that. It's not like he had anyone to rip on him about it. And his social status/reputation was just about on her level now, and frankly he just felt so free now. Free to be seen with whoever he wanted, free to sit with anyone of his choice, and...free to date anyone he liked(under the condition that they liked him back) and to him that was the very best part. However, he had just one little problem.
Did Clare like him, too...?
He could never tell with her. He could tell she had some boundaries, especially when it came to guys. And she had shared with him her troubles with letting people in. So he knew there may have been a possibility she liked him, but refused to show it...willingly, that is.
However, he was pretty sure she did show it. She just didn't realize it. The way she'd smile at his subtle flirting. How nervous she looked when they were left alone together. They way he could swear she looked in his eyes the same way he did their first time hanging out. But maybe that was just his eyes playing tricks on him..
Either way, he knew there was a high possibility that she felt the same way. And that's all he needed to know. Just that possibility made him happy and gave him the confidence to continue trying to get close to her and eventually make his way into her heart.

Drew now sat in his Jeep, driving to Clare's house during his luch period. She was home from school today. She sent him a quick text the night before, telling him not to wait for her at her locker that morning because she was too sick and doubted she'd be making it to school.

So now here he was, going to check up on her and bring her a little get well present he had picked up on the way.

He parked his car in front of her house, and walked up to the front door, ringing the doorbell. After standing there for a few moments, he rang the doorbell again.
No answer.
He sighed, and hoped he hadn't come here for nothing.

Clare lay in her bed, feeling miserable; her head aching.
She tossed and to take a nap. She had woken up a couple of hours ago from her early alarm she had forgotten to turn off the night before so she could sleep in. That just went to show how miserable she'd been feeling.

Suddenly the doorbell rang. She groaned in frustration. Would she ever get back to sleep? Realizing there was no one else home to get the door, she began struggling to get up to go see who it was.
Failing at sitting up straight and rising from her bed, she instead rolled off her bed and onto the floor, groaning again in frustration.
The doorbell rang again.
She pushed herself up off the floor, left her room, and made her way down the stairs. Hearing the doorbell ring once again as she was about to open it, she rolled her eyes at the lack of patience the visitor had. She then opened the door to see Drew standing there, holding white carnations, and looking at her worriedly with his gorgeous eyes.

He must have noticed how frustrated she looked opening the door. But now all she could do was smile at him, with tired eyes of course.
"Hey, I'm sorry. Did i wake you? I thought maybe your mom or dad would've been here to open the door because i did figure you might be sleeping."
He was babbling.
This made her smile even more.

He saw her smiling and realized it must have been at his rant. So, he decided to stop, breathe, and hand her the flowers.
"These are for you", he said shyly.
She took them and said thank you. She was so flattered. She knew he had a thing for her, but it was about time she found a guy who'd go out of his way for her like this.

"Maybe I should go, I know I probably woke you up"
She sighed, shaking her head in disbelief.
"Now how could I not let you in after this?", she said, gesturing toward the flowers he'd given her. She stepped aside and gestured for him to come in.
He smiled and stepped inside. She walked over to the couch, flowers in hand, and took a seat on the end cushion, patting the one next to her for him to sit down there. He followed her lead and then there was silence.
Which he broke of course, as always.

"So, how are you feeling?"

"Okay", she answered.

"Oh, that's good. Now tell me how you're really feeling"

"Miserable", she said hesitantly.

He frowned, "I'm sorry".

She nodded her head.

More silence.

He took a good look at her and noticed something with her was off. Not her physical sickness. Honestly she didn't look sick at all. She didn't seem weak when she walked. Her face wasn't flushed nor was it pale. She sat on the couch comfortably next to him.
But something was wrong.
Inside.
Her heart.
It was breaking.
He could tell.

However he had taken taken from many conversations they had had these past few weeks that she indeed had a problem with depression.
She didn't tell him that straight out. But he could put two and two together.
There were times when she wouldn't text him back or answer calls for hours. He didn't mind, but when he'd ask in a friendly way what took her so long she answer with a "Nothing, sorry" in a quiet hesitant way, while looking at her feet.

He could see that dried tears now stained her face.

So he decided he needed to make her happy.

He then started a conversation about stuff that had gone on in school today. Stuff his brother had said that made him laugh and knew would amuse her, too.
And it worked. He knew just what to say to make her laugh. And he was glad.

They then came to an odd silence. But it was more of a peaceful one.
She looked up at him. He felt her eyes on him so he looked back at her. He could see something in her eyes at that moment that he had never seen there before.
Longing.
She was looking longingly at him.
Was he really seeing this right now?
The moment then began getting to him also and he felt the same thing she did.

He took a chance and leaned in toward her, slowly, making sure she was okay with his next move.
She was.
They both leaned their faces in toward each other until their lips brushed each other.
He pressed his lips onto hers and her eyes fluttered closed, taking in the moment, expecting it to end any second.
But it didn't.
Clare reciprocated the kiss. It started out slow but passionate, then suddenly deepened, intensifying more and more. She cupped his face with her hand, eliminating any space between them while he snaked his arms around her firmly but gently. It was unlike anything Clare had felt before.

And that's when she came back to her senses. What was she doing?
In the shock of realization, she pulled away.

Drew felt her pull away and noticed the look on her face. He had no idea what it was in her expression, but it worried him.

"What's wrong?", he asked.

She looked at him and quietly stated, "I can't do this".

"Why not?..", Drew asked quietly also, wearing a confused expression.

"Because", she exclaimed, getting all worked up, tears streaming, "this is just me betraying her again!"

Drew understood who she meant by "she".

Clare stood there quietly, slightly embarrassed, looking around, anywhere but at his face.
Drew then placed his hands on her shoulders.

"Clare your not betraying her".

"Yes i am!", she exclaimed, rising from the sofa.

"No your not", he said more firmly willing for her to listen to him, rising to her level.

She finally looked up at him, more tears streaming down her face, and then looked down in shame.

"I'm sure all Alli wants is for you to be happy".

She was silent, not knowing what to say; her heart breaking at the direct mention of Alli's name.

"Clare, do u you like me?"

She sure wasn't expecting that.

She looked up at him, surprised by the question.
She then looked straight into his eyes, and let more tears escape her own, realizing how much she truly did care about him.

Finally, she nodded her head and answered, "yes".
She looked down, slightly embarrassed and afraid of his reaction, a even though she was pretty sure he liked her, too.
She just wasn't used to telling people her feelings anymore.

He looked fondly down at her as she stared down at her feet. He pulled her close to him by her shoulders and said,

"Then I'm sure Alli would understand".

"Oh sure, like i understood when she and Jake kissed", she said guiltily with sarcasm.

"Clare, u believe in God and Heaven, right?"

She answers hesitantly, "yeah...".

"Well, honestly, I haven't gone to church many times in my life, but... when my grandpa died when i was 8, my grandma used to tell me that my grandfather was looking down at us all the time. And that all the bad things we might have done to make him mad when he was alive; he's not even thinking about them anymore. Because when you're in heaven, everything is perfect and you're so happy that there's no more room in your heart for all the bad things".

She looked up at him, a small smile on her face and a couple of tears streaming down, but no longer bad ones. She began wiping them away, but he gently pushed away her hand and wiped them for her.
There was a comfortable silence as they stood there. She then looked up at him shyly and asked, "do u think we could try that again, then?".

Drew was just about to reply with an immediate "yes", realizing she was talking about kissing. But he decided against it.
"I think...maybe right now you should focus on getting your emotions back in order before doing something you might regret. Even if it's just kissing me."
He then smiled at her, letting her know he was saying this only because he cared about her.
She looked up at him and smiled graciously, and said "thank you", before pulling him into a hug. He held her close while she rested her head on his comforting shoulder. She was so glad to have...whatever this was that she had with him.

Worked hard on this, so hope you liked!
Reviews please :)

Next chapter should be epic, btw! ;D