Wow, I'm so sorry it's been so long. I won't hold you any longer. Just disclaimer: Degrassi has never been, is not presently and will probably never be mine.

Story time!

"Cece? Are you alright?" The small woman's form was shaking slightly and when she looked up I could see lines of pain around her eyes.

She took a breath, straightening herself, more for my benefit then her own. She could see how scared she was making me. "Yes, dear," she said. "I'm alright. Please take a seat. The boys are enraptured in that X-box. They won't notice if dinner's a little late."

Placing a hand on the back of the chair, I watched her sit first and watched her still as I swiped the chair back to sit down. The entire time she too seemed to watch my movements.

"Ms. Goldsworthy, ah, Cece, what is it that you have to talk to me about?"

Cece shook her head and looked down at the table. Curling her hands, she placed them on the table in front of her intermittently squeezing them. "Now, Clare, Eli's told us what a smart girl you are. Says you're at the top of your class. Don't play dumb with me."

I placed my hands in my lap, trying to find something to do with them, and I ended up just playing with the hem of my skirt. I stared down at it.

"Clare. Eli never told you about Julia, did he?"

Taking a breath, I shook my head. I listened as she took a breath to begin the story, but I cut her off. "I think he'd rather tell me. When the time is right."

Her eyes snapped into focus with mine and I felt myself shrink a little, even in the presence of such a fragile looking woman. Her eyes tried in vain to hide their contempt for me. Again she said, "Don't play dumb with me."

I cleared my throat and tried again to muster up some courage. My voice faltered slightly as I asked the question I could never ask Eli. "Do you know what he is?"

All of my hope for clarification drained from me as she shook her head slowly. "But," she said. "I have seen more than you have."

My eyes narrowed on her and I suddenly heard Eli's voice reminding me that his mother doesn't like to see him happy. Was she just trying to get rid of me? "Meaning what?" I intoned.

She sighed and stared down at the hands that seemed to be squeezing and unsqueezing on their own. "You've seen the eyes." She didn't look up for my clarification. "And heard the voice." Again she just went on. "He can control people. I don't know if you've seen that yet. Heck, I don't know if he's used it on you."

I cut her off. "He would never."

She shot me a sideways glance. "Never say never," she warned, before continuing on with her list. "He can control objects to, make things move if he wants them to." I nodded again, remembering that he'd managed to break the light over Drew. But that was to protect me, not hurt me. The only other time I'd seen him use it was if he and I were in my room and I said I was cold. He'd move the blanket over me. Not exactly sinister.

"I know about all of that," I told her, almost smugly. Eli had let me in on everything. He wasn't hiding anything from me. This woman in front of me was just as Eli said. She just wanted to hurt us.

A small smirk crossed her face, not unlike her son's. "Did he tell you that he can't enter a church?"

My hands froze, gripping on to my pant leg and I just stared at her. "I'll take that as a no," she whispered. "He burns. From the inside out. He was just a child the first time it happened. One minute he was sitting in the pew, the next his body was covered in scars from a fire that was never there." Her mind seemed to drift a bit as she stared at the wall ahead of her. "My poor baby, I thought. He was so scared."

Staring down at my hands, I broke in suddenly in a hushed voice. "He's still scared."

Her focused snapped back to me. "No, you don't understand. I love my son. I love my baby. But the thing with those black eyes. That's not my son. And the older Eli gets, the further away he gets and the more the thing with the black eyes comes to the surface."

I thought about what she was saying. The thing with the black eyes. There seemed to simpler phrasing than that but I just couldn't bring myself to use the word. Demon. I thought that word over and over again but I couldn't say it out loud.

Cece interrupted my thoughts. "You know we move around a lot. Most of the time it's because some poor soul winds up injured or paralyzed or dead. Did he ever tell you who Julia was?"

I shook my head and this time I didn't dare interrupt. "She was his first love, first girlfriend he ever had. They started dating when he was a sophomore. At first I thought it would be good for him, to feel that sort of love. I even went so far as to think that she could save him. I think he thought she could save him to. One day though, they got into a fight while he was driving around in that hearse of his. They weren't all that far from our house. I could hear that terrible voice of his all the way into the living room. So I ran out into the rain and I tried to run after the car. It had slowed down and stopped not long way down. I kept chasing after them, shouting for Eli to stop. But I could see it. Even through the rain, I could see him. From the driver's seat he had manipulated Julia's body and lifted her up into the street. It wasn't all that busy a night on the road but he was just sitting there, waiting for a car to go by, relishing her screams. I was yelling for him to stop, but I don't know if he ever heard me or if the thing in side of him had just taken over to the point that he wouldn't have even recognized me. I heard a truck making its way through the puddles on moment and the next I saw Eli throw her down beneath the tires."

I'm not sure what my reaction must have looked like to Cece, but suddenly I could feel the room spinning around me and it felt as if the chair were to fall out from under me at any moment. A few seconds later I felt her hand on my shoulder as she encouraged me to take some deep breaths. She handed me a glass of water and I sipped it as she sat back down again. She waited for me to speak first.

"Thank you," I said, gesturing to the glass. She just nodded and waited for me to keep going. I looked down at the glass, watching the water condense and fall down the sides of it. "It's just…" I started. I didn't have to finish.

"Love makes smart people do stupid things. Julia was a smart girl too. She knew what Eli was like, or rather what was inside him. What that thing was capable of. But she loved him too."

I nodded, a bit relieved that she understood.

"But sometimes love is not enough. I was wrong when I thought that something could save Eli. Nothing could save Eli, even though he thinks you can save him."

I nodded again, getting tired of hearing that word, save.

"You have to let him go."

This time I shook my head. She looked at me with the deepest pity anyone could muster. "I can't…" I started fruitlessly. I tried to steel my resolve, convince myself that everything that Cece told me was right and that I should be out the door already. But I couldn't do it. I needed him. Eli never did use his powers to control my emotions towards him, but they were there, nonetheless, stronger and stronger with each passing second. All I could think about was the scared boy who ran out of church burning, not knowing what was wrong with him. He's still scared and the pain in his eyes hurts me to know end. If I alleviate that pain for even a moment, how could I leave him? How could I let him wallow alone in agony and fear? "I just can't."

Cece shook her head. "I've told you all that I can. I can't make you do anything. But I just wish you'd reconsider."

I shook my head in response and looked up at the clock over the microwave. "I think the boys are going to start to get suspicious as to where dinner is soon. It's getting a little late. What can I do to help?" I said, just as I'd said earlier in the evening. I was trying to convince myself that this was just like any other meet-the-parents situation, that we'd just have dinner and all get along.

Cece let me have my delusion for the night, trying to put on a smile. "You're quite right," she said, boiling the water. "Would you mind help me for a bit since I am a bit behind?" I suddenly realized I didn't mind at all. I wasn't sure if I wanted to face Eli at that moment.

"Sure, what can I do?"

"Start on the sauce. The recipe for it is right there. Just gather the ingredients." I nodded my acquiesce and started pulling down the salt when I heard a voice that chilled me to the bone.

"What are you doing?"

I turned around on my heel and met head on with Eli. His green eyes had disappeared for the moment and black ones were staring only inches away.

"I said what are you doing?"

My brow furrowed as I looked at Bullfrog, who had come into the kitchen behind Eli. Gone was his smile and in its place was blatant fear. He looked back at me and noticed my own fear and tried to console his son. "Eli, why don't we leave the women to their cooking? I want to play a little Halo anyway." Although he tried to chuckle, his levity fell short. The statement had barely left his lips in a whisper. Eli just ignore him and continued to face me waiting for a response.

I looked to Cece, who was just watching her son blankly. Behind her she was letting the pot boil over. I moved to point it out, but Bullfrog had already gotten it.

Eli had had his fill of waiting for my response and he grabbed my face and twisted it towards him so I had to look him in the eye once again. "I'm going to ask one more time because I'm a pretty patient man, Clare. What are you doing?"

"Cooking." As soon as I said it, I knew it was the wrong answer to his trick question.

"Then what have you been doing this entire time that you've been in the kitchen with my mother?" As he spoke about his mother he seemed to spit at the floor. I looked at Cece again, but Eli twisted my head back.

"We were just talking, Eli," Cece spoke up.

"Was I talking to you, mother?" And again Cece drifted back into corner of the kitchen, this time a bit behind Bullfrog. "Well, Clare, is that what you were doing?"

"Yes, Eli, we were just talking."

He broke out into a demonic smile. "Now, Clare you know better than to lie to me. What were you really doing?"

I knew he could control people. I was expecting to feel some sort of tug on my psyche, a compulsion to tell him the truth but there was nothing. He just trusted me to tell him the truth. Even in this state, he wouldn't hurt me, I was convinced.

"She was telling me about your abilities and about the church."

"And she told you about Julia." It wasn't a question.

"Yes," I said. "She told me about Julia."

He waited a moment. Then he motioned to the door. "Well then, go."

"What?"

"You're not a stupid girl, Clare. In the back of your mind you're thinking if that happened to her that could happen to you, too. So, go. Protect yourself." He turned his black-eyed glared away from me and focused it on Cece. "I'm curious, mother. Why is it that you hate to see me happy? Is it some sort of threat to your happiness? Do you think that you are protecting her? Because, you know, that every time you do these things, you just turn more of my hatred towards you." In that moment, I saw him lift a hand, just like he had done before the light exploded over Drew.

"No!" burst from my lips before I even realized what was happening.

Eli dropped his hand and turned back to me. "Oh, so now you protect her. You should go, Clare. Perhaps my mother is right about that."

"You don't want me to go," I said, trying to avoid his gaze and failing miserably. "And neither do it."

"You've heard the horror stories. Why stay if you know what's to come?"

Although the rational part of my brain did say to run, I found myself walking closer to him. I was completely ignoring the rational side and listening only to my impulsive nature. I stepped up to him until we were inches away again, his eyes lock on mine. Just like I'd always done when I saw those eyes, I reached up and cupped his cheek. He nuzzled closer to my hand as I stroked his cheek slightly. He reached a hand up to hold on to my hand and his eyes closed.

I lightly pressed my lips against his before leaning in to whisper in his ear. "There is nothing to be afraid of here, Eli. I promise you, I'm not going anywhere. Let me stay with you."

I leaned back again to look at his face. His eyes opened slowly, as if he was fighting some sort of battle to reopen them. When they were finally fully open, I could once again see those beautiful green eyes. And then his eyes shut again as he reached a hand behind my neck and pulled me in to press his lips against mine.

Again sorry it's been so long! I hope this super long chapter helped. I've been watching so much Degrassi lately it really got me in the mood to start writing again. Who knows, maybe I'll start another story? Don't worry though, for right now, this right here is my baby. I know how it all plays out so all I have to do is get it down on paper. Hopefully you will all read the finale by the end of the summer!

Review and follow! Thanks and have a great day!