Welcome to the new Flare Slow Burn!
Legal: I am not associated Degrassi or Epitome.
Very Important Things to Know Before Reading:
*This takes place in the 2nd half of Clare's grade 10 year.
*For story purposes some characters are a little OOC.
*For story purposes Clare and her family are not religious and she is not as prudish as the show.
*For story purposes Fitz's family is not poor and he does not have a stepfather or stepbrother.
That pretty much does it, the rest is explained in the story.
Enjoy!
Ch. 1 Can't You At Least Smile When You Call Me That?
(CLARE)
"YOUR BOYFRIEND'S HERE," Jake yells up the stairs. I grab my backpack as I leave my room, sitting on the bottom step to slip on and lace my snow boots. Grabbing my winter coat and putting it on as I slip out the door.
"See you at school," I call to Jake as I leave. When I get into the car Owen turns to me, capturing my lips for a kiss.
"I wish it was still break," Owen groans as we begin driving.
"You may not be very fond of school, but you love hockey and all the attention it gives you," I comment.
"That's true," Owen grins.
Owen and I have been dating since July of last year, as it's now January 4th, we've been together over five months. In fact, we're coming close to our six-month anniversary. Our families were both vacationing at a resort in Muskoka. It was one of those all-inclusive resorts, and for my parents it was supposed to be a vacation of quality time together to fix their marriage. Only, they began fighting on the drive up and didn't stop.
Because my parents were constantly fighting or mad at each other I spent as much time away from them as possible. I happened to see Owen at the pool. I knew of him of course, knew that he was on the football and hockey teams at school. I'd seen him in the halls, I also knew he didn't have a great reputation. I did know that he'd been dating Anya since December when she and Sav broke up.
Still, Owen was someone familiar, it was better than being around my parents and his family welcomed me. A couple of days of us hanging out and I found out he and Anya broke up just before his family left for vacation. We were together all day, every day for nine days straight, and before we left, he asked me to be his girlfriend.
I hadn't dated anyone since K.C. broke my heart. It had really hurt when K.C. dumped me for Jenna. He was my first boyfriend, but when Jenna moved and joined the cheerleading squad, she and K.C. started spending a lot of time together. I should have seen it coming, but I didn't.
Owen had spent the whole vacation cheering me up and distracting me from my parents fighting. As soon as we returned from vacation, I found out my parents were getting a divorce. During the trip, amongst all the fighting I guess, Mom found out Dad was having an affair. We returned home in a very silent car, as soon as we were home Dad left. Mom told me he was cheating on her, and they were getting a divorce. I called Owen in tears, he was at the resort for two more days, but he cheered me up. When he did return, he spent a lot of time cheering me up, in fact I don't know if I would have made it through the divorce without Owen.
By September Dad had moved to Hamilton with his mistress, and I heard from him less than I did from Darcy. Meanwhile, Glen Martin had divorced his wife and he and Jake moved back to Toronto. We'd been neighbors when Darcy and I were little before my family moved into our current house. Mom and Glen ran into each other at the grocery store shortly after our return from the resort. They began officially dating in October and over winter break Jake and Glen moved into the house with me and Mom. Mom and Glen are getting married in August. Mom is very happy, Glen is a good guy, and Jake is a good brother.
"Morning," Fitz grins when Owen parks next to him in the school parking lot.
"Hi Fitz," I smile. He's leaning on his car on the driver's side, so when I get out of Owen's car, he's close to me. They have unofficially claimed these spots, so it's like this pretty much every morning.
Fitz and Owen have been best friends since they were five. Fitz doesn't have a great reputation either, but when I started dating Owen, I also spent a lot of time with Fitz. He was at Owen's house more than his own, even though Fitz has a nicer house. Fitz's mom is a nurse at Toronto Western, his dad is a pediatrician at Bayview Medical Center. He works normal hours but is on call at two different hospitals one week a month per hospital. Even when he's not on call he is almost never home and with Fitz's mom working either a twelve or twenty-four hour shift with little time off Fitz is left on his own a lot. It must get lonely because he's usually at Owen's. As much time as we've spent together since I started dating Owen I still think of Fitz as Owen's friend.
"I see Drew and Eli's cars; I'm going to go find Eli and Adam. See you at lunch," I say to Owen, giving him a soft kiss before I walk ahead of him and Fitz to the school. Drew and Adam Torres transferred in at the beginning of the year. Adam is transgender, so they moved and changed schools allowing Adam to start the year as Adam. His secret was still discovered just before Halloween by Reese. He and some of his friends pestered Adam, they all got expelled. Drew stood up for his brother, Owen defended him and so did Fitz.
"Hey Edwards," Eli smirks. He and Adam are in the foyer and must have been waiting for me. Eli also transferred in at the beginning of the year. Eli, Adam and I were all in Writer's Craft together and became fast friends.
"Hi," I smile sitting next to Adam.
"Adam says you two have all your classes together, but I am not in any of your classes this semester," Eli comments.
"Yeah, Owen and Fitz have life econ/parenting with us second period. I'll miss having a class with you, but I'm happy to have a class with my boyfriend," I smile.
"Ugh, I'm not going to have to watch you two make those dopey love-sick faces at each other all semester, am I?" Adam teases. He says it just as Fitz and Owen walk in the doors, they don't seem to hear him but do wave.
"I don't know what you're talking about Adam, I've never made a dopey love-sick face in my life," I reply.
"Yeah right," Adam and Eli say together in the same way, and I giggle.
When the bell rings Eli walks down the hall with us but waves when he turns to go to his class. Adam and I walk to homeroom, Mr. Perino is in class writing things on the board. Looks like most of our friends have this class for homeroom as well, only Jenna and Dave are missing. Adam and I take desks next to each other, in the same row as Alli and K.C., and behind Wes, Hannah, Connor and Liam.
Mr. Perino starts with handing out our books and puts our homework on the board before talking about Canada right after World War I. When the bell rings Adam and I wave to our friends and walk to life econ/parenting. Anya's in class and so is Jenna, the latter waves to me and Adam. Jenna is already sitting with another girl from the cheerleading squad. Instead of regular desks the room has small tables that seat two.
"I suppose you want to sit with your boyfriend?" Adam questions.
"He can sit with Fitz," I shrug, taking Adam's arm and pulling him to a table. Owen and Fitz are the next two in class. They smile and wave while sitting at the table next to ours, Owen and I are almost sitting together, there's just a two-foot space between us.
"Good morning class," Miss Sauvé says after the bell rings, "you'll be paired up for the semester as couples, most of you will be married but some are not."
Owen and I instantly look at each other, he mouths, "Will you marry me". I nod enthusiastically and mouth back "Yes, I love you". Adam and Fitz roll their eyes at our exchange, but Miss Sauvé is still talking.
"I have half of your names in this bowl. If I call your name, come up and grab a slip of paper, the person you get is your spouse, even if they are the same sex. Let's start with Billy, come draw a name and sit back down. Don't look at your paper until I ask you to," Miss Sauvé instructs.
One by one students go up and take names from the bowl. It's mostly guys, but a couple girls do get called up. There's more girls than guys in the class, so that makes sense. I wish it wasn't random, I'm really hoping to get paired with Owen, if not Owen then Adam.
"Alright, if you chose a name, please look at it now," Miss Sauvé says when every last strip of paper has been taken from the bowl. Owen grins when he looks, which I take to mean we got paired together. Fitz looks at his and whispers something to Owen, and Owen whispers something back. Adam shows me his paper which has Jenna's name, Adam seems happy about it. "Please go sit by your partner," Miss Sauvé instructs.
Adam gets up to sit by Jenna, although the girl she was sitting with is still there. Owen and Fitz both get up, so Adam and Jenna take over their table. I'm a little shocked and hurt when Owen goes to sit by Anya, especially because he smiled when he looked at the name. I'm so distracted watching Owen that I don't notice who takes over Adam's chair until I hear someone pull the chair back. I look over to see Fitz sitting in the chair. I guess Fitz isn't the worst person to be paired with, but it does seem like this will be a bit awkward.
"While you get acquainted with your partner, I am going to hand out packets," Miss Sauvé says, standing up and grabbing a pile of blue folders from her desk. "These packets contain your ages, how long you've been together, jobs and income. They are entirely random, no switching, no complaining. By the end of the week, I want a weekly and monthly budget for each couple based on combined income. Included in your packet is everything that needs to be considered and worked into your budget at this time. There's a questionnaire to fill out, things you will need to decide on based on your careers and your relationship."
"Ready to see what our jobs are?" Fitz questions when the packet is put on the table.
"Sure," I nod, looking back at Owen and Anya briefly.
"I'm thirty and a land surveyor with an annual income of $65,000 a year. I get paid twice a month on the first and fifteenth. You're twenty-seven, a fitness instructor with an annual income of $46,000 a year, and you're paid every other week," Fitz remarks looking at the paper.
"Fitness instructor seems like a terrible job for me," I comment looking at my chest.
"She did say it was random, but yeah, I can't picture it," Fitz chuckles, "we've been together ten years and married for seven.
"Let's look at what needs to be considered for the budget and then we can start researching our jobs," I comment. I take the paper with the budget parameters out; it includes a few questions at the bottom for us to consider as well.
"Tomorrow a loan officer from Toronto First National Bank will be visiting to discuss home ownership. That is something that will not be feasible for each couple, but I still want you all to speak to him. You have the rest of class to get familiar with your packets, and you can begin researching or working on your budget," Miss Sauvé says when she's finished handing out the packets.
We spend the rest of class researching our jobs and taking notes. We look up what an average paycheck would be after taxes and then start looking at when we get paid. I make notes on what to put into a budget worksheet. When class ends, I go back to Anya and Owen, they both look awfully happy to be paired together.
"Hey Clare, isn't it funny how Owen picked his ex-girlfriend, and his best friend picked his girlfriend?" Anya asks with a smile. A smile I honestly can't tell whether it's genuine or gloating.
"Yeah, funny," I reply, "you and Fitz should have switched. I'm sure Miss Sauvé wouldn't have noticed."
"We should have thought of that," Owen remarks looking at Fitz.
"Yeah, we shoulda," Fitz replies with an odd inflection to his voice. "So, what careers do you two have?" Fitz questions and their faces fall just slightly.
"I'm twenty-eight and work as a clerk at a grocery store making $25,000 a year and Owen's also twenty-eight, working as a waiter at a family restaurant making $20,000 a year plus tips," Anya tells us.
"Yeah, I'll have to figure out how much tips would be and how much it would add to my income. We've been together for five years and married for four. What about you two?" Owen inquires as we start walking out of class to go to lunch.
"I'm a land surveyor and thirty, and Clare's a fitness instructor at twenty-seven, we have a combined income of over $110,000 a year," Fitz answers.
"Fitness instructor, that's hot," Owen grins, putting his arm around me.
"Nice income, at least you'll be able to buy a house, I don't think we will. Well, I'm going to go meet Holly J for lunch. Do you want to come to my house to work on budgets when you're out of practice?" Anya asks Owen. I admit I feel a small pang in my chest.
"Yeah, I'll be there by five," Owen smiles. I feel a tinge of worry along with that pang in my chest. I'm trying not to worry, to tell myself Owen loves me, but watching him so happy to be working with his ex is not easy. "I didn't bring lunch, grab a table with Fitz," Owen says, kissing my temple when we enter the caf.
I follow Fitz to a table and pull out my lunch. I can't help looking for Owen, and find him in line right behind Anya, the two are talking and smiling. I don't realize I'm just staring until Fitz bumps me with his arm.
"You're not worried about Owen and Anya working together, are you? You know Owen loves you," Fitz remarks.
"I know," I nod, forcing a smile and opening my yogurt.
Drew, Bianca, Adam and Eli find us and sit down before Owen returns. When he does return to the table he's smiling, but the smile is not for me and that's what worries me. Adam is telling Drew and Bianca about us all being paired in class. Adam and Jenna were very happy to be paired together. Yet again, the coincidence of Owen getting his ex and his best friend getting his current girlfriend is brought up as funny. We stay in the caf together until just before the bell, Adam and I have third period together, but Owen walks me, and Fitz comes with him. Adam goes into the classroom when Owen stops to kiss me at the door.
"See you later Honey Bun," Fitz says when Owen takes his lips from mine. Owen straightens up, grimaces and smacks Fitz's arm.
"What? She's your girlfriend, but she's my wife now," Fitz shrugs as they walk off to class.
When I come into class Adam is chuckling, probably at the exchange of Fitz and Owen. Usually, when Owen has practice after school, he'll find me and give me a quick kiss before he goes. Today I don't see him at all, and I go to the school newspaper with a bad feeling in my stomach. I couldn't help thinking about Owen and Anya all throughout afternoon classes. I'm trying not to worry, but it's not working, it's going to be a long semester.
(FITZ)
I spent an hour doing homework after school at The Dot and making a phone call. Then I went back to school and the school newspaper room to find my wife for the semester. When I see her in the Degrassi Daily office she's chewing her lower lip and looking at her phone. She's worried about something, and I'd bet my car it's over Owen and Anya. She doesn't notice me sneaking up behind her and I grab her phone from her hand.
"Don't be so worried, Owen loves you," I tell her, still holding onto her phone.
"I know, and I trust Owen," she says, taking her phone back, "I'm just not so sure about Anya."
"Come on Sweetcakes, we need to work on our budget and be prepared for the loan officer tomorrow," I comment taking her hand.
"I'm impressed that you're taking this so seriously, but will you cut it with the corny pet names?" Clare questions.
"Not until I run out, and I'll never run out," I grin.
I hear her huff behind me, I'm pretty sure she rolls her eyes, but I don't look back. When we get to my car, I unlock it and open the passenger door for her. My SUV has a high step up, so I make sure she doesn't have a problem getting in. Both my parents were working on my 16th birthday, the car was a present they bought the weekend before. Owen and my friends remembered, threw a party at Owen's place for me. He was still dating Anya at the time, but she didn't come to the party.
"What are we doing here?" Clare asks when I pull up to Central Ontario Bank.
"I called ahead, we're meeting with the mortgage officer here, so we'll be prepared for tomorrow. He agreed to meet with us and give us a list of the questions that we'll most likely be asked tomorrow. Plus, he's going to give us a list of questions most people don't think about and some other things we should consider," I tell her.
"Wow, I'm really impressed Fitz. You put a lot of thought into this and you're really going above and beyond," Clare smiles.
"Well, I know how you'd hate to get a bad grade," I reply, and she smiles again.
We go into the bank, and I find the guy I spoke to. I have our packet with the information on our income and everything. He's really helpful and Clare takes down a lot of information. I let her do it because her handwriting is neater than mine. We leave with a lot of knowledge, a good head start and a complete list of questions to ask the other loan officer tomorrow.
"That was a fantastic idea Fitz, I'm sure we'll be the most prepared couple in the class tomorrow," Clare grins. Then her phone rings and she pulls it from her purse. I see Owen's picture flashing on it, so I know he's calling. She puts it on speaker, which is kind of surprising actually. "Hi Owen," Clare greets.
"Hey, sorry I didn't see your text until now," Owen apologizes.
"It's okay, are you on your way to Anya's?" Clare asks. She's still smiling, but I hear a faint crack in her voice.
"Yeah, we're gonna work on our budget a little bit," Owen replies.
"You want to grab dinner when you're done?" I question. There's a slight pause as Owen realizes we're together.
"What're you two doing together?" Owen inquires.
"Working on our budget and stuff," Clare responds.
"Oh, uh, good. Mom's making my favorite, so I'll go home and eat. I'll see you two tomorrow. I've got practice in the morning, so I won't pick you up Clare," Owen tells her.
"That's okay, I'll ride in with Jake. See you tomorrow," she says and hangs up.
"Well, you want to get dinner? We can organize all this information and get the monthly budget together, when we have a monthly budget a weekly one should be easy," I comment.
"That sounds like a lot to do at a restaurant," she comments.
"We'll pick it up and bring it to my place. Mom is working a 24-hour shift and Dad is on call, he'll be in his office," I tell her.
"Sure, that sounds good," she nods.
We get back in my car and she texts her mom. I ask what she wants to eat and she only shrugs. Figuring pizza is easiest I have her call in an order and we stop to pick it up. When we get back to my house, I set the food on the table and get a couple of plates. I grab my laptop from the bedroom and bring it downstairs. I get a couple of sodas from the fridge, and we begin taking food and looking at the budget. We get the questionnaire filled out and make a spreadsheet for the budget.
"We should have separate bank accounts," Clare says, taking another slice of pizza.
"What? Don't trust me with money?" I question twisting my face.
"No, but I do think it's better to have separate accounts. Everything should be in both of our names or split that up. My parents had a terrible time getting things out of my dad's name and into my mom's when he ran off with his whore," she says with venom in her tone. For as much venom is in her tone her eyes are sad, almost glistening with tears. It's been months but her dad's betrayal is still hitting her hard.
I put a hand on her shoulder, squeezing gently. I take it away when I hear Dad's office door open and his footsteps coming to the kitchen. Clare wipes her eyes and straightens up as Dad enters the kitchen.
"Hi Dad, you remember Clare Edwards, Owen's girlfriend," I comment.
"Hi Mr. Fitzgerald," Clare smiles.
"Please, call me Trevor, it's good to see you again Clare. Looks like you kids are working hard," Dad remarks. He goes to the fridge and pulls out some leftovers, heating them up.
"Yeah, we're partnered all semester for life econ/parenting class," I tell him.
"Sounds like it's going to be a long semester for you Clare," Dad replies, pulling his plate from the microwave. I twist my face and Clare giggles. "I'll be in my office, you know I'm on call tonight, your mom is working a 24-hour so you may be on your own tonight," Dad reminds me.
"Yeah, I know," I nod.
It happens a lot, and it's been happening more and more frequently. Dad used to be on call at one hospital, he was home a lot more. A couple years ago he decided to be on call for another, so he's got a week of being on call and a week off. Even when he's not on call, he is generally locked in his office, or just not here.
Dad takes his dinner and goes back to his office. Clare and I spend a couple of hours working on the budget and getting organized for the loan officer tomorrow. We even look at actual houses for sale, pick one that we like and believe fits into the budget.
"We'll definitely be the most prepared in the class tomorrow. There's no way anyone else got this far. Your idea to meet with another bank and talk to their mortgage officer was brilliant Fitz," Clare grins when we're packing up for the night.
"Come on, I'll take you home, no reason to bother Jake or your mom at this hour," I comment. I turn away from her, so she doesn't see the blush on my cheeks.
"Are you sure? I don't want to make you run out," she replies.
"Yeah, it's fine, I don't mind at all."
Clare smiles and we get back in my car. I run her home and say goodnight. When I return home Dad's car is gone, the house is quiet and dark. I go up to my room, turn on the TV and get on my computer. I'm up later than I probably should be with school tomorrow, but even when my parents are here, I haven't had a bedtime or lights out time since I was about six. I fall asleep to a movie, fully dressed and on top of my covers. When my alarm goes off to tell me I need to get ready for school I groan.
I get up, shower, brush my teeth, get dressed and leave. I don't get breakfast, and neither of my parents is home. I stop at The Dot for breakfast before heading to school. Owen's already here since he had hockey. When I go in I see Clare in the hallway with Eli and Adam. She smiles at me, and I wave to them before heading to my locker.
"You and Clare must have been working hard yesterday, she didn't get home until almost nine," Jake comments when I come into homeroom. Owen isn't in homeroom yet, but Jake's comment does make Drew cock an eyebrow.
"A lot to do," I shrug just as Owen comes in.
I have to wonder where Owen was because he wasn't at his locker, and he wasn't with Clare. After homeroom Owen and I walk to 2nd period together. Clare, Adam, and Jenna are already in class. Adam and Jenna are sitting together so I sit with Clare figuring that "couples" are sitting together.
"Class this is Mr. Andrews, he'll be meeting with each couple. You only have about twenty minutes with him so please be prepared," Miss Sauvé says when class begins. "Which couple would like to go first?"
"We will," I speak up raising my hand. Mr. Andrews sits down with us and because of all of our preparation it doesn't even take twenty minutes.
"I must say, I am very impressed, you did a better job of being prepared than most applicants I see. I would have no trouble approving you for the house you picked out," Mr. Andrews says when we're finished.
We spend the rest of class finalizing the budget, working in mortgage payments and insurance. Before Mr. Andrews leaves, he compliments our preparation and insightful questions in front of the entire class and Miss Sauvé is very impressed. When the bell rings for lunch Clare, Owen and I walk to the caf together.
"You want to come over after newspaper? I'm meeting Anya to work on our budget some more since I had practice this morning. Sounds like you two are way ahead of the rest of us, so I'm guessing you don't need to work on your budget," Owen comments as we eat.
"Yeah, I don't know what we're going to do for the rest of the week if she set aside the whole week for our budgets. I'd love to come over and spend some time with you though," Clare smiles.
"You must be a good influence Clare, if Fitz is ahead on schoolwork," Bianca remarks.
"Actually, it's because of him that we are ahead," Clare enlightens them, and I smile.
"Couldn't let my wife get a bad grade because I wasn't prepared," I remark. Drew smirks, Clare smiles, Bianca laughs and Owen grimaces.
Drew and Bianca leave the table first. There's still twenty minutes to lunch, but they'll probably sneak off to the boiler room to make out before the bell. They do it all the time, although every guy Bianca's ever been with, she couldn't keep her hands off of. Drew is definitely one of the better guys she's been with.
"I'm going to use the washroom before class. See you after school?" Clare asks Owen as we leave the caf.
"Yeah, I'll pick you up from newspaper when I'm done with Anya," Owen says. Clare smiles and they share a quick kiss.
"Bye Sweet Cheeks," I call as Clare starts to walk off. She shoots me a look but keeps walking. Owen hits my arm lightly.
"You know you don't have to keep calling her those pet names," Owen remarks as we start walking to class.
"Yes, I do, it bugs her and she's so cute with her face all scrunched up," I reply.
Owen shoves at me playfully and I laugh. Owen and I have art after lunch, a nice easy class after lunch. Environmental science is not so easy, but we get a movie today. When classes let out, I go home knowing that Clare is going home with Owen. We're much farther ahead than everyone else, so we don't really need to work on any of it today anyway. After getting a text from both my parents that neither will be home for dinner, I text Johnny and ask if he wants to grab dinner. He says sure, and we arrange to meet at one of our favorite spots.
"How's school this semester?" Johnny asks as we begin eating.
"Well, it's only been two days, but it's pretty good. I like the classes I have, except for math, don't think I'll ever like math. Even environmental science is pretty good. Owen, Clare, and I are all in life econ/parenting class together. We got paired up for the entire semester, it was random. Literally picking names out of a bowl and I picked Clare."
"Must be kind of awkward working with your best friend's girl for the next five months," Johnny comments.
"No more awkward than Owen working with his ex all semester," I reply.
"Owen got paired with Anya?" Johnny inquires and I nod. "Huh, sounds like it's going to be an interesting semester."
"Yeah," I nod, "very."
