Once again, I am on vacation, so I may take longer to upload new chapters. I get this sudden urge to write though, and then I have to (haha).

I also would love to hear what you think of the story; criticism included.

Disclaimer: I do not own Degrassi

Eli wished that he had run away from Degrassi during a Night in Vegas, so then he could sprint away from the evocative girls that had been bothering him all day. Erstwhile he wouldn't mind it, but for now he only had one girl that he intended on finding and had no other person in mind. It did not help that girls were attracted to Eli, flirting with him as he mentally cursed at himself. The sun was now setting and Eli hadn't found Adam or Clare on the beach. Maybe they have found each other, he thought as he neared the other end of the beach, preparing himself to go back to Morty.

The only panacea that Eli could think of was to go back to Morty. If Adam had persuaded Clare to come back with him, surely enough they would go to the hearse in search of him. He had been reckless and stupid to leave the parking lot for his own humanity. His chest was now worse than ever and he couldn't walk one foot without wincing.

"Hello." A small voice said, and for a second Eli thought that he was now hallucinating. But there before him was a redolent teenage girl who was almost the same height as him, her light brown eyes boring a hole into his now inure emerald eyes. Eli did not recognize the girl, and shrugged it off as he nodded his greeting. "You look hurt." She stated, receiving a snort from Eli. Was that not obvious? Eli thought as he tried to get away from the girl. "I think you need to go the hospital." Eli now was getting upset with the girl and desired to disappear from sight.

"I don't need help thanks." He hastily spat, walking faster. If God could help him now, then he would go to church once before he died. Of course, the girl followed him in an annoying manner.

"I'm Jess." She stated, putting out her hand. Eli shook his head, seeing that Jess' smile faltered. "I go to Degrassi. And you're Eli Goldsworthy." Eli gaped for a minute before he turned to Jess.

"I don't care about you, Jess." He warily concluded before walking again. He hoped that once he reached Morty, it would become his talisman and Jess would become afraid of him. Morty had that impression on many people, including ones like Jess. "Would you please leave me alone?" He almost pleaded, reaching the parking lot. He didn't see Adam or Clare in sight of the car, and sighed deeply, feeling the wound once more. He grunted, his knees hitting the gravel, and clamped his eyes shut.

"You need help!" Jess shouted, kneeling down next to the injured teenager. Eli shook his head, his eyes still shut. Jess put a hand on his right shoulder, which he shrugged off rather quickly, and put her hands up in defeat. "Fine; if you want to die on the ground, go ahead and die. I was just trying to help." Eli noticed that Jess finally sounded aggravated, and hoped that maybe it would be enough for her to leave him alone. He also hoped that she wasn't a junior.

Clare brought out the money she had been saving and reserved a hotel room for Adam and her. She sighed once they got the hotel keys, and smiled up at Adam reassuringly. Adam had been troubled that Eli hadn't listened to his demands, but could not leave Clare alone. He knew that although Eli was injured, Clare would be more vulnerable to the people around the beach.

Clare pressed the 5 button which lit up, the elevator hastily reaching the level within twenty seconds.

"It's going to be OK, Adam; we'll look for Eli tomorrow." Clare said, seeing that Adam's eyes were full of emotion. She felt sympathy for her transgendered friend as they walked to their room in the dully lit hallway. Clare slid the key in, feeling the door unlock. She opened it to see a cream colored room that had a view of the ocean. She smiled contentedly as she walked towards the window, setting down her duffel bag next to the bed.

Meanwhile, Adam brought out his phone and attempted calling Eli once again. He prayed that God would hear him out this one time and have Eli pick up the phone, but it didn't work. Adam's face fell even farther than it had been, but then he looked at Clare as she smiled out the window. "How are we going to find him?" he quietly murmured, and Clare slowly turned around. Clare shrugged, her expression guarded from him, and walked over to where he stood.

"We'll find him Adam; I promise." She said, but somewhere deep down she regretted promising. She wasn't a person who backed down from her promises, but she didn't know whether or not she could keep this one.

Eli unlocked the door slowly, wishing he could cry. He missed the foudroyant eyes of Clare Edwards, the ones that he hadn't seen for days. He wanted to tell her how he felt about her; how sorry he was that he hadn't run when she instructed to do so; sorry that he had been such a pest at times. He wanted to apologize to her about everything, but he couldn't. Everything was done for a reason that he couldn't decipher. He also missed her ebullient personality which made him change ever so slightly.

"Clare," he said to no one. "I'm going to find you." His voice wavered as he said her name, but then he became brave. Clare. Clare Edwards. She was the girl who would take a knife for him if she could. She would die for him. Clare edwards was one of the most valuable things in his life; he couldn't stop looking for her. If she died, he had no reason to live. Even Julia hadn't been enough for him to die. Eli grabbed his phone out of his pocket, acknowledging that there were calls from a probably worried Adam Torres, but none from Clare. Was she still missing? Were they together, searching for him? He noticed that Adam had called just two minutes ago-they must've been to Morty.

He sighed as he closed his cell phone, drifting off into a deep sleep.

By midnight Adam was still wide awake, staring at the window that was placed in front of Clare's body. The beach was now caliginous, something that reminded Adam of his Goon comic book. He forgot to bring them with him while he searched for Clare. The now loquacious Clare Edwards was now sound asleep, her breathing the only sound that surrounded him. He was happy that he had found Clare, but didn't expect to lose Eli in the process. Adam snorted to himself. It was him who didn't listen, he thought, turning away from the window. He shut his eyes tightly, praying for the night to be over with. He wearily opened his eyes to see that nothing had changed; a minute had gone by. Adam mentally cursed at almost everyone for the position he was now in.

He kept telling himself that Clare was right; they would find Eli no matter what. His eyes shut once again, and for once he sighed contentedly, finally falling asleep.