Disclaimer: I do not own the epicness that is Degrassi. I only have my stories.

I drummed the car keys against the kitchen table, sighing heavily. "Dad?" I called out again for the third time.

After a few more minutes, I heard stomping footsteps approaching down the stairs and the sounds of bickering. I rolled my eyes. It was becoming an immediate reaction every time I heard my parents' voices lately.

Entering the kitchen, my dad scraped at the hook where he usually kept his keys. "Helen, where are my keys?"

"I didn't take your keys," Mom snapped back.

"I have them right here," I held them up.

Right then, there were three short knocks on the door.

"Now who's that?" Dad wondered, walking past me and answering the door. "Oh, Eli."

My head whipped around and I turned to see Eli standing on the doorstep, clad in his usual black Dead Hand t-shirt and black jeans, smiling at my father. "Er, hi Mr. Edwards. Is Clare home?"

"Right here," I said, stepping around my dad and smiling at Eli. "What are you doing here?"

"I just got done picking up some parts for Morty and stopped by to see if you wanted to hang out," Eli replied. I could tell he felt a bit uncomfortable with both of my parents looming in the background, their bad moods surrounding the air. I was used to it by now.

"I'd love to. But my dad's taking me out for driving lessons right now. Um, I should be home in half an hour though?"

"Driving lessons?" my dad's forehead crinkled.

I stared at him in disbelief. "Dad! This is the fourth time you promised me you would teach me to drive!"

Realization crossed his features, and he gave me a somewhat sympathetic smile. "Clare, I'm sorry. I forgot I promised you. I don't think I can take you today."

"Are you kidding me?"

"Clare Bear, your mother and I have to go fill out some more paperwork to finalize things. It's going to be a busy day. I can take you tomorrow though?"

"Forget it," I muttered angrily.

My mom approached the three of us at the door, putting on her jacket. "Let's go Randall, we're late already. Oh and Clare, if you're going to see Eli, I'd prefer you two went somewhere and not stay in the house when we're not home." She passed Eli, giving him a short smile.

Eli smiled back uncomfortably.

"Right here, Clare," Dad held up his hands for the car keys and I rolled my eyes, tossing them lightly in his hands.

"We'll be home soon," he said softly, leaning down and giving me a quick kiss on the head. "See you, Eli."

"Bye," Eli responded as my dad walked past him.

Both of us watched as my parents got into the car, bickering the whole time and waited until they drove off around the corner.

Eli turned back to me, an eyebrow raised. I slammed the front door loudly behind me and plopped down on the front steps.

He sat down next to me. We sat in silence for a few minutes, until Eli broke it.

"Come on, let's go," he got up and held his hand out to me.

"Where are we going?" I looked up at him.

"I'm going to teach you how to drive," he said back, his crooked smirk crossing his features.

"Eli, it's not your job…"

"I want to. Plus, your mom said to go out. I don't need another reason for her to hate me."

"She doesn't hate you," I murmured, picking at a tear in my jeans.

"The hearse awaits, Clare," he said teasingly, dangling Morty's keys in front of my face.

I rolled my eyes. "Are you sure it's a good idea?"

"Don't be ridiculous, I'll be sitting next to you every step of the way. Besides, you can't be that bad of a driver."

I raised my eyebrows. "I bet I'll be a better driver than you soon enough."

"Hey, don't talk back to your driving instructor," he taunted. He wiggled his fingers of the hand he was still holding out to me. "Come on."

With a sigh, I grabbed his hand and let him pull me up from the steps. He let go and slipped an arm around my shoulders as we walked to the hearse. "We can make this a weekly thing. Three lessons a week. What do you say?"

"And how much do I need to pay you?" I asked cheekily, turning my head to look at him.

"Hmm. How about with a heated make-out session in the back of Morty after every lesson?"

I giggled. "I accept." I leaned up on my toes and kissed his cheek, watching as his smirk turned into a genuine smile.

A/N: Short, I know. But this idea just sprang into my mind earlier this morning. I was thinking about when Clare tells Eli she never asked him to protect her and he yells back, "Well, if not me, who?" I thought it basically implied that her parents weren't around anymore and he was the only constant thing her in life right now, which is why Clare got offended. But then it got me thinking about how Eli was the one to give her driving lessons, and I wanted to write something about how that came about. I know Clare's first time behind the wheel was when we saw it in Jesus, but this was just an alternate way for it. Hope I did the characters justice here. Reviews really do help and are much appreciated. Thanks!