Let me clarify; it's been about almost three weeks since what transpired with Clare, Fitz and Eli. I totally forgot to write it in one of my chapters, sorry for the misunderstanding! And, Clare's attitude changes as well. It stems from my personal experience from an assault. Anyways, onwards, faithful readers :D!

The three misfits stared at Fitz incredulously. Here he stood before them, a ghost of his menacing smirk etched on his face. He took a step towards the table, causing Clare to shrink back, and Adam and Eli to stand up. Curling his fists, Eli was more than ready to throw punches, but Clare held on to his arm to stop him. "Eli, no…" she was cut off by Eli shouting. "What the hell do you want, Fitz? Why aren't you in jail?"

Everyone else in the Dot turned to stare at the scene playing before them, and an older man ran out from the managers office to see what all the commotion was about. The man was rather portly, and had years of anger lining his face. "Fitzgerald! What is the meaning of all this ruckus?" The man all but bellowed, uncaring there were customers watching. Fitz turned to him, his face turning a light red, either from anger or embarrassment. "Uh… nothing, Mr. Weinburg. Just having a chat with some friends from school…" Mr. Weinburg merely raised a brow at him, and waved his hand dismissively.

"Well, take your little tea party outside. I won't have it disturbing my customers." With that, he huffed and walked away. Nobody even bothered to mention that he himself already had disturbed the peace with his loud, obnoxious voice. Adam and Eli glared at Fitz as he continued to speak to all of the, whilst staring at Clare. "So.. We should probably take this outside," Fitz remarked sarcastically. Clare narrowed her pretty blue eyes into slits, her anger fueling a newfound courage. She rose up from her seat, and walked from behind the table to the door. She stopped in front of it, turning around.

"Well," she demanded, "Are you coming or not?" The three boys followed her hesitantly out the door, a look of bewilderment on their faces. They were shocked at her behavior. It was vaguely similar to Eli's before he was treated for Bipolarism. Clare stood with her back turned to them, her arms crossed over her chest. At the sound of their footsteps approaching, she whipped around to face them.

There were tears in her eyes, and her lips were contorted in anger. Her eyes locked like a missile onto Fitz. A bitter, deep, very un-Clarelike laugh escaped her lips. "So, what do you want now, hmm? Come to find some other way to torture us?" Eli reached out to calm her down, but she shrugged away. Fitz looked completely crestfallen. Almost….human. "N-no, Clare. I came to ask for your forgiveness. I've…seen the errors of my ways. Please. Can you forgive me?" Her eyes turned cold, and her mouth twisted into a sneer. "Sure." Fitz perked up. "Really?" he was shocked. This was way too easy.

"I forgive what you did, but I'll never forgive you," Fitz's head snapped up, as if being pulled. "I will never, ever forgive you. You hurt me in more ways than you could imagine. You made me do this," She pulled back the sleeves of her jacket, and presented her cuts. Fitz cringed, and felt the bile rise in his throat. "I ask for your forgiveness…because I've found God." Again, Clare barked out a harsh laugh, as she pulled down her sleeves again. "Well, then. You better pray you don't go to hell for what you did." Fitz's eyes widened in shock, as did Adam and Eli's. They were not used to Clare being so harsh, but she was rightfully so. "Clare… please," Fitz began weakly, but was cut off by a pissed-off Clare.

"No. No! You do not get to play the victim! You went too far to get revenge against Eli. You destroyed the old Clare. She would've jumped with acceptance at an apology, just to keep peace. But I won't. I can't believe I ever tried to help you. You're not my friend, you're nothing but a monster." Her chest rose and fell as her breath came out ragged, unable to control the anger that had suddenly seeped out from her every pore. Fitz stood still, raking a hand through his hair nervously. Adam and Eli walked up next to Clare, and Eli wrapped an arm around her. Both he and Adam were at a loss as to what to do, because they've never seen Clare so…infuriated. They've seen her hysterical, elated, nervous, jealous, sick, sad, depressed, irritated, but never this angry. She had every right to be, and they both knew it. Fitz shifted his weight to one leg, and shoved his hands in his pockets, looking down. "So… we can never, you know, be friends?" Clare's glacial blue eyes bore into him, piercing his soul like a million daggers. She shook her head and scoffed, as if this was the funniest joke she had heard in years.

"No, Mark. We can never, ever be friends. That will only happen when Hell freezes over, which it very well won't because a monster like you will keep the fires in Hell raging for eternity," she spat the last few words at him, and attempted to walk away, before he grabbed her arm. "Don't fucking touch me!" she screamed, and yanked her arm out of his grasp. Without waiting for Adam and Eli to follow, Clare stormed down the street towards Morty. Eli took this as his cue to stride up to Fitz, and give him a warning, Eli-style. Adam chose to stay quiet, as he really didn't have much to say, since Clare had said it all.

"Fitz. I just want you to know, what Clare said? She meant every word. So, don't go trying to work your way back onto her good side. And, if you do try to approach her, Fitzy Boy, well, let's just say "God" will make sure you're back in prison, rotting." He glared at Fitz, his lip curling into a sneer. Eli wanted so badly to beat the living daylights out of this guy, but he knew that it would not bode well for him. He grabbed Adam, and they both stalked off after Clare. "Man, can you believe this guy?" Adam asked, rather indignantly. Eli shook his head, and pat Adam on the shoulder.

"I don't think I'll ever come to understand Mark Fitzgerald. Nor do I want to." They both laughed half heartedly, and finally reached the car. Clare was already slumped in the passenger seat, wiping her eyes furiously. She glanced up when she saw them outside the window, and sighed heavily. Both Eli and Adam proceeded to get in the car, and as he got in, Eli squeezed her hand gently. "It'll be okay, Blue-Eyes. That bastard is not worth your time. Don't you feel a little better now that you got all those bottled up feelings off your chest?" Clare sniffled, but nodded slightly. She reached up to wipe her nose on her sleeve, and shrugged. "Yeah, I guess so," she said, tiredly. Adam squeezed her shoulder from behind comfortingly. "Ugh," he whined, "It's going to take forever to get the stink of stupid out of my clothes." Eli snorted at this, and Clare merely smiled. Staring down at her arms, she pulled up a sleeve and traced the scars lining her left arm. Out of the corner of his eye, Eli saw her, and his mouth turned into a worried frown. "Clare… you won't do that anymore, right?" Clare looked up and out the window, avoiding his gaze. "No, I don't think so…" she said softly, and she pulled the sleeve back down. Eli reached over and held her hand tightly.

"I can't lose you, Blue Eyes. I love you more than life itself." Adam groaned from the backseat, and both Eli and Clare rolled their eyes at this. "Adam, I swear, just go for Fiona! That way we can groan at you when you're getting lovey-dovey with her!" Clare exclaimed, trying to lighten the mood. Eli laughed as Adam stuck his tongue out at her, and turned a corner. "So, where are we headed to, m'lady?" She smiled softly at him, and giggled slightly at his formal way of addressing her.

"Hmmm… Let's go home. I kind of want to watch Insidious Two…" She trailed off, letting that sink in. Adam and Eli bugged their eyes out at her and gawked. They both were so confused, Clare usually liked comedies and romances, not horror movies. Maybe this whole confrontation with Fitz had brought out a new side of her. Eli continued driving towards his, no their house, and drummed his fingers to beat of "Sin City", by Kopek. (A/N: I fell in love with that song after watching Drop The World Part 1)

As he neared the house, Eli saw a car in front of his house. He couldn't make out whose it was until he pulled up into the driveway. Clare saw it too. She turned to Eli with a bewildered look, and he returned it. "What's going on? What's happening?" Adam asked so fast that Eli almost didn't understand him. They walked into the house and almost immediately Cece met them. "Clare," She said hesitantly, "Your mom is here." Before Clare could ask why, Helen Edwards stepped out into the hallway.

"Hi, Clare." She said awkwardly, hands clasped together. Clare narrowed her eyes at her mother and crossed her arms. "Hello, mother." (A/N: Buster Bluth reference from "Arrested Development") Helen looked like she wanted to stride over to Clare and hug her, but she stood her ground. "Clare, honey, it's time for you to come home. I want you to come home." Clare laughed humorlessly, shaking her head. "Seriously? Now you come to act like my mother, when I've finally become happy?" Her mother gaped at her in surprise, but her face contorted into anger. "Clare Diana Edwards, you will NOT speak to me in such a manner! I am your mother, show me some respect!" She had gone slightly red in the face from yelling, but Clare was unfazed by her mother's anger.

"You stopped being my mother the day you let me leave with Eli, and blamed me for what happened." Helen gasped, and stared at Clare, then at Eli. "You… you did this! You contaminated her! You poisoned her mind!" Cece stepped out facing Helen, a very pissed-off look on her face. "No. now you listen to me, lady. Don't you dare come into my house and scream like a lunatic at my family. Yes, I said it. MY family. Clare became my daughter since you turned your back on her." "H-how d- dare you?" Cece glared at Helen as she stuttered.

"If you don't mind, I need to help my mother make dinner. Could you kindly leave, Helen?" Clare said slowly, her voice leaking venom. Helen and Clare glared at each other for what seemed like hours. Finally, Helen spoke in a tone that could rival the Arctic ocean. "Fine. I'll leave. Clare, seeing as you're choosing them over your own family, consider me no longer in your life. I tried." With a dramatic sigh, Helen Edwards turned around and walked out the door, and out of Clare's life. Clare felt tears prickle the corners of her eyes, but they disappeared when she felt warm, motherly arms wrap around her. "It'll be alright, Clarabelle," Cece murmured into her ear. Then she felt another pair of arms, long and skinny wrap around her. Adam. Last of all, she felt Eli's arms wrap around her. This is what a real family felt like, full of love. Clare sighed happily as the feeling of love finally wove its way into her life. Finally, she truly felt like there was hope after all. Finally. Clare felt like she wasn't lost inside herself. Clare felt free.

Alright, Guys, I feel like the story should end here! I can't really think of anything else to put in this story, and I feel like this is a nice ending! Please, don't hesitate to drop a review and leave any suggestions I could put into the story. I'm also working on a new story, also an Eclare Fic. And can you guys believe what happened on the season 13 C finale of Degrassi? I Can't believe Eli and her are over! I can't believe that they made her like Drew! Ughh, I lost quite a bit of respect for Degrassi.