Clare's POV

It was late at night. I woke up about 11ish and went down to the kitchen to get a glass of water but after that, I couldn't fall back asleep. I tossed and turned in my bed for an hour until I heard tiny clacking on my window. My first thought was "Oh my God what is that!" but then I figured it was probably just the wind. It continued so I got up and looked at my alarm clock. The time was 12:13. I went to the sliding door window and walked out to my balcony.

"PSSSSST! Clare, you're carriage awaits" Eli said standing on the grass below me. He made a gesture to his hearse that was parked on the side of the street. What in the world was he thinking? Sneaking out on a school night?

"I'm not sure my mom will be delighted to know that I'm sneaking out on a Tuesday night" I snickered. He had the famous Eli lopsided grin all over his face, "So? Your mom won't ever know". I knew what he was doing, he was challenging me. This was the moment of truth Edwards. You can either sneak out with your totally badass boyfriend or stay inside and be the good- girl forever. It's your choice.

"Let me go get dressed, okay? I'll be down in a couple minutes" I said giving him a wink. I ran back inside my room. You could say I was a little nervous I mean this was a big thing. I slipped my sleeping shorts off and pulled on my blue jeans. I debated if I should leave my white v-neck on. I decided I would but I would just pull my Degrassi sweatshirt over it. Part of my was excited but as for the other part, I was worried that maybe my mom would find out I have snuck out. I knew she was taking sleeping pills to help her sleep but how strong were they really? I tiptoed down the stairs and left the house as quietly as possible.

Eli was leaning against the passenger door, looking up at the sky.

"So this better be worth getting caught for sneaking out" I joked

"Believe me; it's going to be so worth it." He said as he kissed my lips gently. We both got into the car and we drove to the mystery location. I kept bugging him about telling me but he would budge. When we did get there I could tell this was it. The smile on Eli face was priceless. He couldn't contain his happiness I suppose.

I dragged myself out of the hearse and realized we were in an empty field. It wasn't beautiful or anything with all the weeds growing but the sky was what caught my eye. It was a clear night and so many stars shined in the sky. "Wow, Eli, this is-" He cut me off, "Beautiful? Yeah… uh this was one of the spots that Julia and I hung out at"

That made me feel a little bit awkward but ignored it.

"I would always give stars their own names" I laughed and Eli and I lay on his hood looking up at the stars. He pointed to twinkling light in the dark blue sky, "I think Eli is a good name for that one." His witty smile inspired me to reply; "Well that one is Clare" I smiled as I pointed to the star next to it. I reached for his hand and when I touched his wrist, he flinched and sat up. I was tiny bit shocked because I didn't know what I did.

"Uh, sorry did I do something wrong?"

"No." He smiled at me "You did nothing wrong."

Because Eli left the light inside the car on, I saw what scared him.

There were short little scratches on his wrist. I just kept thinking, "Oh my God what happened?"

I faced him, "Eli…..did you…"

His answer was quick and short, "No. It was my cat."

I was taken aback, "Oh. Well what's his name?"

He stuttered, "Uh. Diablo. His name is Diablo"

Figured. I should have known.

Eli's POV

She saw my cuts. Of course I panicked. If she found out what I did, she would know everything. I couldn't afford that. I didn't want to lose her. She was the only one I had. Lying about it and saying I had a cat was an idiotic idea. She would obviously find out that I didn't have a cat but until then I would just pretend. That was all I could do.

Clare's POV

The next day I was pretty tired. I managed to get home without being yelled at from my mom. When I was leaning back in my seat, trying to get a short nap before class started a tap on my shoulder startled me.

"I'm sorry, did I interrupt something?" Adam laughed.

"No. Sorry. I'm just really tired. I went out with Eli last night"

His eyes lit up, "Oh yeah? And how was that?".

"It was amazing. I feel so safe with him, ya know? It's like nothing else matters anymore with him"

He ignored me and pulled my bag close to him and he began digging through it. He pulled out a collar with tiny skulls on it.

"Who's this for?"

"Eli."

"CLARE EDWARD, YOU KINKY SLUT!" He yelled laughing. I noticed everyone in the classroom looked at me with confused expressions. I slumped down in my seat from all the glaring eyes.

"Adam," I said ad I took the collar back and stuffed it in my bag, "It's for his cat. I saw it as I passed the pet shop and I thought he would love it"

Adam looked more confuse than any of the other students in the classroom.

"Dude, Clare, Eli doesn't have a cat. Trust me, his dad is allergic. Once Eli brought in a cat that was following him home from school and his dad literally threw the cat outside the house"

Why would Eli lie to me? Covering up for his scratches…

He was obviously cutting himself. Why hadn't I noticed before? Something was very wrong. He was in trouble. I had to do something, talk to him maybe? But he would probably just get all flustered. But I had to. I loved him. There was no chance I would let anything happen to him. He needed help.