a/n: hey guys! welcome to my fic. remember when cleo failed her biology exam and charlotte tutored her? and it was absolutely horrible? well, i decided to fix that. i decided that lewis tutoring cleo instead of charlotte would make the perfect clewis au, so here we are! there will also be some zikki in here too because they're zikki and i love them. i hope you guys enjoy!

chapter one.
a second chance.

"The good news is Mr. Hamm and I have come up with a solution," Her father, Don, said, much to her surprise. "He's agreed to let you sit a supplementary exam on Monday."

Relief rushed through Cleo, almost strong enough to knock her over. She could've given her dad a big bear hug right then and there–She knew in her heart that he'd advocated for her and gotten her this opportunity. After all, Supplementary Exam was just a fancy way of saying Second Chance.

"Really?" She asked, partially in gratitude and partially in disbelief.

Don nodded and said, "There's more. He suggested a study partner to help tutor you over the weekend."

A study partner. . . The relief Cleo felt evaporated as suddenly as it'd appeared. There was only one choice. Only one phone number that she could dial.

"Well, I guess I'll call Lewis then." She said.

Cleo briefly considered Emma, but as smart as Emma was, she wasn't Lewis. Lewis tested out of biology altogether the year before. He was taking chemistry now. With honors. If anyone was going to help her pass her supplementary exam, which wasn't only a second chance but her last chance, it was Lewis. As awkward as it would be studying with her ex-boyfriend, repeating biology and being held back a year would be worse.

"Get to it," Don said as he planted a kiss on her forehead. "I know you'll make me proud, sweetheart. You always do."

Cleo forced a smile and fished her phone out of her pocket. She took a deep breath and dialed Lewis' number. She still knew it by heart.

. . .

Cleo rubbed her temples, hoping to soothe the throbbing pain in her head. Her and Lewis hadn't been studying for more than forty five minutes and she was already on the verge of frustrated tears. She couldn't fathom how all of this came so naturally to him. He was on the cusp of graduating at the end of the year, a full year early, and she was on the cusp of failing out of biology and having to repeat a year.

A whole additional year of school. One without Emma, Rikki, or Lewis. She shuddered at the thought.

"You okay, Cleo?" Lewis asked, pulling her from her thoughts.

"No," She answered honestly. She's never been able to lie to Lewis. "My head is killing me. This is impossible. It's like you're speaking Greek. I'm never going to be able to understand any of this. I'm going to have to repeat this year!"

Lewis, sitting next to her on her bed, cross-legged with her science textbook in his lap, frowned. "You'll get it, Cleo. I'll make sure you do. I won't let you repeat a year."

Easy for you to say, Cleo wanted to say. You could've written the textbook.

Instead, she nodded and continued to rub her temples.

"Hey," Lewis said in that warm, gentle way of his. "Look at me."

Cleo glanced up to meet Lewis' gaze. Butterflies fluttered in her stomach. There was a time not that long ago when Cleo would've been free to look at Lewis as long as she wants, when she would've been free to reach out and touch his face or lean forward and kiss him. Now, there was an invisible chasm between them. A boundary that felt impenetrable.

Lewis smiled at her. "You're going to pass your exam. I promise."

"And what if I don't?" Cleo couldn't help but ask. "What if I fail?"

"What if you succeed?"

The tears Cleo had been holding back spilled over. Less because of her frustration with herself and more because of how badly she missed Lewis. Sitting on her bed together, talking and studying together. . . It felt like old times. It almost felt like they were back together again. Before Lewis was her boyfriend, he'd been her best friend. Her favorite person on the planet.

He still was.

"Hey, hey, what's wrong?" Lewis asked.

He reached out and touched her shoulder. The touch went straight to her heart.

"Everything," Cleo said. "Just … Everything."

"Everything?"

Cleo didn't know what to say. She couldn't tell him the complete truth, that she missed what they had so much she couldn't breathe sometimes, and that she felt more alone and anxious and displaced than ever before. They were just beginning to figure out how to be friends. She didn't want to ruin everything.

"It's just been a rough day," Cleo said. It's all she could think to say. "I'm just so sick of my science classes."

Lewis chuckled and said, "Yeah, well, I hate art class. I almost fail every damn time we have an assignment. I don't have a creative eye like you do."

Cleo sniffled and wiped the tears from her eyes.

"So you need a little extra help with biology? Who cares? I have to have help with art projects. Everyone needs help sometimes."

"Thank you," Cleo said, her voice barely a whisper. "I guess I just needed to cry about it a little."

Lewis closed the textbook in his lap. "No shame in that. Why don't we do this? You tell me what you're struggling the most with, and we can come up with a schedule for tomorrow, breaks included, and tackle the hardest things first. That way, Sunday will be easier and you'll be more rested for your exam on Monday."

To Cleo, it sounded like the perfect plan. For the first time in weeks a weight had lifted off her shoulders. She was still anxious for the exam, but she felt much better than she did this morning. And she was going to get an entire weekend with Lewis.

"Charlotte won't be upset?" Cleo asked.

She hated to bring Charlotte up, but she also knew the sooner that she accepted Charlotte in Lewis' life–whether that be as his friend or his girlfriend–the better off her and Lewis' friendship would be. He and Charlotte hadn't gone on an official date yet, but they'd been spending a lot of time together. . .

Lewis shrugged. "Why would she? We're just friends."

The two fell into a comfortable silence. Cleo wanted to tell Lewis so much, all of the things he'd missed since they broke up and all of her messy, wild, complicated feelings, but all of her words stuck in her mouth like a big spoonful of peanut butter. Things were almost good again. She couldn't risk ruining the tentative friendship they've rebuilt.

"Well," Lewis continued. "I should probably get home. It's after eight already. If I stay in your room any longer your dad will probably come up here and drag me out by the scruff of the neck. Again."

Cleo raised a brow. "Again?"

Lewis rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Yeah, you probably don't remember since you were moonstruck. It was the time the moon decided to give you a beautiful singing voice. Your dad walked in on us kissing on your bed and physically threw me out of the house."

Oh no. Her father caught them kissing? In her room? In her bed? Cleo burst out laughing.

"Oh no, I'm so sorry he did that!" She said between laughs. "That's hilarious."

Lewis sighed. "It was worth it."

He stood up then, and Cleo felt a surge of panic. He was leaving. But, she quickly reminded herself, she'd see him in the morning. First thing.

"See you in the morning," Cleo said, partially to be nice and partially to hear Lewis confirm that he'd be over.

Lewis smiled. "See you in the morning. Night, Cleo."

"Night, Lewis."

Cleo watched him leave with a smile. Maybe they'd be alright, after all.

next update at: 3 reviews.
i hate to do the whole next update at . . . thing to you guys but the lack of engagement i've noticed not only on my fics lately, but others' fics as well, is really disheartening. we, as authors, post these stories for free, and when we receive little to no feedback it just . . . completely drains our desire to update. who wants to put in the hard work to update for an empty audience? so, i respectfully ask for 3 reviews before i post the second chapter, which is already written and ready to be posted. i'm not asking for a huge, three paragraph review or anything along those lines (though i do love those!), all i ask for is a few words to let me know what you think. please and thank you in advance.