"K.C., no, noooooooo, K.C.!"

Clare laughed as she ran away from K.C. He was spraying her with water, using what he called a "water gun". It was fun, he had given her on of her own, but he wasn't giving her the chance to "shoot" him. She finally gave up, and collapsed on the couch, laughing loudly.

K.C. tackled her and they both stopped laughing, as Clare blushed. He held her waist, and leaned in close to her face. Clare's eyes widened as he closed his eyes and brought his face closer and closer to hers. Was he... about to kiss her? She's seen this in movies so much, where the guy pressed the girl into a ouch and kissed her.

She immediately turned her head away and pushed him away gently. K.C. opened his eyes, surprised. He looked down at her with slightly hurt brown eyes.

"Is there anything wrong?"

"I... I can't..."

She didn't want to kiss him, and she didn't want him to kiss her, because she knew that people only kiss each other when they love each other. And she didn't love K.C.

"I'm sorry..."

"Where is she?" Adam groaned. "We've been searching for her for hours already!"

"Patience, Prince Adam..." Imogen said as she glanced at Eli sympathetically, who looked he hadn't slept for days. Adam glared at Imogen. "Easy for you to say, Imo. You have limitless patience..." He still couldn't believe she and Eli were friends now, she had been his stalker for ages, and he had hated her so much.

Now they were acting like long-time buddies, searching for Clare. He sighed. If only Eli hadn't let his temper take control of him, Clare wouldn't have ran, into a city full of perverts, and they wouldn't have to be searching for her, which was, very exhausting.

They had been to forty houses already, and none of them had seen the pretty, bubbly petite girl with the gorgeous auburn curls and the sparkling blue eyes. "Will you guys stop arguing?" Eli said in a tired voice. He hadn't had a wink of sleep ever since Clare left. He was terribly worried about his angel.

What if she was kidnapped? What if she was being tortured right now? Or raped? Or worse, dead, with all of those things done to her?

"Hey, it'll be fine. This is the last house on Cherry Street." She said, patting Eli's shoulder as they approached a small light blue house with a white door and small, dead plants displayed on the porch. Imogen skipped up the stairs and knocked on the door.

After a few minutes of waiting, a tall young man with shaggy hair opened the door. He forced a smile. "May I help you?"

"Yeah, we're looking for a small young woman with short curly hair and beautiful blue eyes. She has fair skin and is very loud, innocent and bubbly."

"Yeah, we need her. Like, now. So if you're hiding her in your basement, give her to us please. Because we're starving. And we want to eat."

"Shut up, you idiot." Imogen hissed, glaring at Adam.

"No, you shut up, you freak." Adam said, a vein appearing on his forehead. He can't believe there was a time he found this annoying freak attractive.

"Dumbass."

"Ex-stalker."

"Yeah, ex-stalker."

"Will you two just shut up?" Eli said hoarsely, as he approached K.C. "Have you seen her? Her name is Clare."

"Wait..." K.C. narrowed his eyes. "You're the jerk that hurt her." He scoffed. "I found her on the street, bawling her eyes out. The poor thing was left on the street, any perve could've taken her. You're really careless to leave her like that."

"Yes, I know. But... I need her.. I've been searching for her for days..."

"She's inside..." K.C. studied him. "Are you her boyfriend, or her older brother? Because you look much older than her..."

"I'm twenty-three... Now, can I see her?" This guy was irritating him. Why did he care? The fucker should just hand over Clare so they can leave. Before he starts a fight and beats him up. "Yeah..." K.C. went inside, they came out a few moments later with Clare by his side. She looked surprised to see Eli.

She backed away, a frown appearing on her face. She whimpered and clutched onto K.C.'s arm. "Clare..." Eli said softly, his heart breaking a the sight of his frightened angel. She was scared of him. He felt a surge of jealousy too, the way she clutched K.C. annoyed him. "Clare, I'm sorry... Please... please come back home..."

Clare stared at him, her eyes watery. Should she go back home to him? He did say he was sorry, and sorry meant, as she learned from a show she watched with K.C., was that a person feels bad for whatever bad thing they done to the person, and wished they hadn't done it.

"I... Okay..."

K.C. looked at Clare, surprised. "You really want to?"

"Yes."

"Are you sure, Clare?" Eli clenched his fists, irritated. Who was this guy to ask questions like that to Clare. How dare he question Clare about her coming home to him. 'Fucker...' He barely knew Clare, and he was acting like they were best friends or something like that, like Clare was his.

'Newsflash, asshole. She's mine.'

"Yes..." Clare said, nodding.

K.C. shook his head, disappointed. He didn't trust the guy. Eli, was it? He didn't trust him. He hurt the girl once. What if he did it again? And he was old.. Way too old for a sweet young thing like her. "Alright... Alright. It was nice having you here, Clare."

She smiled, nodding. "Thank you for being so nice to me." She said softly, as she cautiously went over to Eli to stand by him. Eli looked at K.C. "Thank you for taking care of Clare..." He pulled out his wallet. K.C. shook his head. "It was not trouble." He said, waving away the money Eli held in his hand.

"Thanks..." Eli muttered, shoving the bills in his pocket. He looked at Clare, then kissed her forehead. "Will you forgive me, Clare?"

"Mmm-hmm..."

Eli smirked against her forehead when he heard a door slam. "Let's go, Clare."

"Finally!"

"Adam!"

"So... Eli and Imogen told me you are an angel... Is that true?"

Adam said quietly, he didn't want to be loud, as he was usually, since they were in a public place, in a restaurant called "The Plate." He didn't want people looking at them like they were crazy, with them talking about angels and then coming down to Earth. He needed confirmation from the angel herself.

"I sure am." Clare said, smiling. "i can show you my wings later." She whispered excitedly, happily.

"Good..." He sighed, relieved. He hadn't believed Eli and Imogen at first, then he began to realize. With the way Clare acted and all, he should've known she was different. A different kind of different. And Eli was his friend, he should've believed him the moment he said Clare was an angel, instead of doubting him and thinking he was drunk.

"I thought that Eli had caught some of Imogen's crazy." He added, smirking. Imogen rolled her eyes. "Well, I instantly believed that you were an angel when Eli told me, unlike Adam, who has trust issues." She said, giving a smug smirk of her own.

"Well, you're half-sane. Only fully sane people don't believe in this angel-demon business."

"W-what are you t-trying to say?" Clare's lower lip quivered, and her blue eyes grew big and began to fill with tears. She trembled. "Y-you don't believe that my kind is real? That I am I real?" Tears slid down her cheeks. "Angels are real... They are..." She sobbed.

"Adam!" Imogen and Eli hissed, glaring at him.

"U-ugh, until they see it, of course..." Adam said nervously, smiling. Eli sighed and gently pulled Clare onto his lap. She wrapped her arms around his neck, burying her face in his neck as she continued to sob. Eli rubbed his hand up and down her back. "Hey, hey. It's okay. He does believe you... Don't cry."

"See what you did, you moron!" Imogen said. Adam scratched his head. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make her cry..."

"Angels are really sensitive, as they're innocent and don't know much about the world. All they know is happiness, and people believing in them, being nice to them. You know, positive stuff. None of the negative stuff, like lying, cheating, sadness... So crying is new to her. And the only way she can cope and react with bad stuff."

Eli looked at Adam. "We have a lot to discuss, Adam. Like how you'll act around her and handle her. The things to say, and not to say."

Imogen nodded, glancing sympathetically at the still-crying Clare. Her sobs were reduced to whimpers. "Yeah, you know that sort of thing."

Adam nodded, sighing as he lay his back against his chair. All this trouble from a small, cute girl.