Disclaimer: I don't own Degrassi or anything else.

So I lied and there is another chapter, but this is the last one for this story. I've got two one shots floating around in my brain and hopefully I'll find a little more inspiration in this very long Degrassi hiatus.

Chapter 5

When my cell phone went off the next morning, I practically fell out of bed.

"Shut it off," Eli grumbled in his sleep. Then he bolted straight upright in bed. "Oh my God, is that your parents?"

I leaned over, trying to grab my purse without getting out from underneath the covers, realizing that I wasn't wearing very much, which was a little less intimidating when I was in the heat of the moment last night. I grabbed my phone, and noticed it was my alarm ringing.

"Sorry, it's just my alarm."

He groaned and lay back down, pulling me into his arms. "It's Saturday. There's no need for alarms."

"Actually, I need to go take my pill."

Eli opened his eyes and turned me so that I was looking at him. "What pill?"

"You know," I said. "My birth control pill."

"You're on…?" He rubbed his eyes. "Why'd you buy so many condoms then?"

"Because neither form is 100% effective, and I am not getting pregnant in high school."

"Take it later. Let's go back to sleep."

I laughed. "I need to take it at the same time every day, and the easiest time is before school. I usually take it on weekends and then go back so sleep."

"Well, hurry up, then." I was rapidly getting the impression that Eli wasn't much of a morning person.

I slipped out of bed, keeping my back toward Eli and grabbed my pajamas out of my bag and put them on. I realized I needed a glass of water, and I couldn't really go down to Eli's kitchen.

"Eli," I said. He was already fast asleep. I walked around the bed and shook him a little bit. "I need you to get me a glass of water."

"Bathroom. Green cup," he mumbled.

I didn't really want to leave his room by myself, but I needed to pee anyway, so I figured that would work. I grabbed my pills and my toiletry bag and opened his door slowly. No one was in the hallway, so I slipped out and quickly locked myself in the bathroom.

I saw Eli's green cup and poured out a cup of water. I wasn't very good at swallowing pills, especially since the water wasn't that cold, so it took me a couple of swallows to get it down.

I looked at myself in the mirror. Aside from the fact that my hair looked not just slept on but messed up from our activities last night, I didn't think I looked any different. "Good, then my mom won't be able to tell," I mumbled, running my fingers through my curls and trying to make myself look a little more presentable. I brushed my teeth and used the toilet.

I kind of wanted to take a shower, but decided that I'd rather get back to Eli. An image flashed in my mind of the two of us taking a shower together and my face turned red. Maybe the next time his parents leave us alone we could try it.

I was a little bit distracted by my dirty thoughts and I opened up the door without even thinking. Cece was standing in the hallway, right in front of me. Her arms were crossed but she had an amused smile on her face.

"Good morning," I said, and tried to sneak past her but she grabbed my arm and dragged me into her bedroom.

I don't know why but for some reason I always pictured Bullfrog and Cece's room as looking a lot like Eli's with rock posters covering the walls. But it was definitely the bedroom of two adults, super clean and organized with artwork on the walls instead of posters. The bed was even made, even though it was only 7:30 in the morning.

She gestured at the bed and I sat down. She closed the door behind us and sat down next to me. "Bullfrog's at the station," she explained. "He's covering the Saturday morning shift for a guy that's on vacation, so he had to get up at 3 a.m. And he was a little surprised that when he got up to get ready, he could hear two sets of voices coming from Eli's room, considering you have a 10 o'clock curfew."

I gave her an embarrassed look, although secretly I was glad that he heard us when we were snuggling and talking in the afterglow rather than earlier in the night. "I told my parents I was sleeping over Alli's house," I admitted.

"Did you and Eli have a nice anniversary dinner?"

I shot her a smile for starting off with an easy question even though I was sure I knew where she was going with this. "Yeah, we went to Spuntini. It was delicious."

"And afterward?"

I didn't really know what she wanted me to say.

"Did you two have sex?"

I looked down at my hands and nodded. My purity ring caught my eye and I absentmindedly twisted it around my finger. I needed to figure out what to do with that now. I felt a little angry at my parents for putting me in this situation before I even really understood what this meant. The ring was supposed to be a reminder for me, but instead it had turned into a symbol that other people could use to form opinions about me and that just didn't seem fair.

"And you're happy with that decision?"

I gave her a confused look. "Of course."

"Good."

She laughed at the look on my face. "Clare, I wasn't expecting you to give me a different answer. But I just needed to know for sure. Last I heard you were planning to wait until marriage for sex. And I know sometimes people change their mind about that, and I know my son is a good person and would never pressure you into doing something you didn't want to, but I also know that sometimes decisions made in the heat of passion don't always feel so right the next morning."

I thought about Alli and Johnny DeMarco and knew just what she was talking about. "You don't have to worry. I knew exactly what I was doing and I'm really happy that I did."

"So was it good?" I could see where Eli got his smirk from.

My face flushed. "I can't talk to you about this."

Cece laughed. "Well, you don't need to tell me all the details. But if you ever have any questions or just need someone to talk to, you can come to me. I know your mom is pretty…conservative about these things."

"She is…but she did come with me to the gynecologist and she was much more supportive than I ever expected. But I could never ask her advice on this stuff, so thanks." I wasn't sure I'd ever be able to ask Cece either, but considering I didn't really have any close girlfriends with lots of experience, it was touching to know I had someone, even if it was Eli's mom. I wished Darcy was around, although given her history I wasn't so sure she would be supportive.

Cece pulled me into a hug. "Thank you, Clare. For bringing my baby boy back to life." She looked at the clock on her nightstand. "I've got some errands to run, but I'll be back around 10 if you want to stay for some breakfast."

"That sounds nice," I said.

We walked out into the hallway and she gestured toward Eli's bedroom. "Go cuddle. I'll see you later."

I climbed back into bed next to Eli, but he didn't stir. I was too wired after my conversation with Cece to get back to sleep, so I sat up against the headboard and watched Eli for a little bit. When he was awake he was so handsome and smirky, but when he was asleep, Eli looked like an angel. His long eyelashes pressed against his cheek and his hands were folded underneath his chin. I ran my fingers through his hair absently as he snored lightly.

I thought about what had happened between us last night and smiled. I always thought of sex as a physical act, but I never realized how intensely emotional it was. I had always expected it to mean something, especially when I was planning to wait for my wedding night, but thinking about it and experiencing it were light years apart. I had definitely been worried, especially since the only person I could really talk to was Alli and her first and only experience was so terrible. But Eli was so caring and sweet and sexy and he really made it special for me.

I twirled my ring around on my finger again. I took it off and held it in my other hand. I had been wearing it for so long that my finger looked strange without it.

I hadn't realized that Eli was awake until he laced his fingers in mine. He took the ring from my hand. "No regrets, right Clare?" he asked softly.

"None at all," I said, leaning down to kiss him.

He sat up next to me and looked at the ring. "Are you going to take this off? Everyone's going to know if you do. I don't care what people think about that, but I know you do."

"I know, but…it just doesn't feel right anymore."

He examined the inscription. "True love waits." He smirked. "That's my favorite Radiohead song."

I laughed. "Oh really?"

"I'll have to play it for you sometime," he said. He slipped the ring back on my finger and held my hand out where I could see it. "You know, you waited for true love. So you didn't break your vow, at least not in spirit, and you should keep wearing the ring. It's nobody's business but ours."

"And your mom's," I said. "She may have caught me leaving the bathroom this morning."

Eli groaned. "Please tell me she didn't ask you all about it."

"She did, but I just told her I was really happy."

"Make sure you tell that to Alli." I shot him a look. "Hey, you know you're going to call her and tell her all the details the second you leave here, and I don't really want her to hate me."

He was right, so I couldn't be too mad. "Are you going to tell Adam?"

"Probably," he admitted. "But not all the details. I don't want to make him uncomfortable around us, especially considering…"

I wasn't really sure what he meant. "He and Fiona have been dating for a while."

"Yeah but they haven't…" Eli paused and I could tell he was struggling not to betray Adam's confidence. "Let's just say, they are a few steps behind us when it comes to physical stuff."

Ah. I hadn't realized that but now that I thought about it, it made sense. "Is that because of her or him?"

"Him, mostly."

I wished Adam would open up to me about this kind of stuff. He and Eli had developed such a tight bond, but although Adam and I were close, we mostly talked about school or family problems and not our relationships. I thought that going to a girl for advice made him feel too girly and that's why he didn't come to me, but it definitely hurt a little bit to be left out by someone I really cared about.

Eli slipped his arm around my waist and pulled me closer, his hand sliding under the hem of my tank top. "What's with all the clothes?" he asked, placing a kiss on my shoulder.

I blushed. "I had to pee and I couldn't walk around your house half naked."

He nodded. "You could have taken them off when you came back. But I guess I should probably take care of that, too," he said and climbed out of bed. He stretched his arms over his head and I stared at his body. "Try to control yourself while I'm gone, Edwards," he teased. He grabbed a t-shirt off the floor.

"Your mom went out to do some errands. She won't be back until 10," I said.

He dropped the t-shirt and moved over toward the door. "In that case, try not to control yourself."

I rolled my eyes as he left the room. I was feeling a little bit sore from last night and I wasn't sure I really wanted to start anything up this morning.

I saw the Julia box sitting on his dresser across the room and thought it was time for me to look through it. I grabbed the album that contained the photos of stuff that had meaning for Eli and climbed back into bed.

He hadn't organized it chronologically or thematically so it was a little haphazard but it definitely gave me a sense of the relationship they had shared and what Eli was like back when he was with her. There were tons of movie stubs; they must have gone to movies almost every weekend – lots of horror, but some that were a little more serious and independent. There were concert tickets as well. I knew Eli was often able to get comp tickets from his Dad's radio station, but we didn't really have the same taste so we hadn't gone to one together.

Eli came back into the room and saw me with the book. Without a word, he slipped the t-shirt he had discarded over his head and curled up next to me, so close I could smell his toothpaste. I smiled when I saw a photo of an ugly Halloween mask with the caption Julia thought this looked like Mr. Grayson, our geometry teacher. A lot of the memories were really sweet. There was a card from a flower shop with the caption This shop dyed a dozen roses black for our one month anniversary. I squeezed Eli's hand. "You're such a romantic," I teased.

Some of the memories weren't quite so innocent. One caption-less photo featured what I was pretty sure was a bong. I shot Eli a look. "She was kind of into pot," he admitted sheepishly.

"Were you?" I asked, trying to keep the judgment out of my voice.

"Sometimes, with her," he said. "It wasn't really my thing."

"What was your thing?" I asked, biting my lip.

"Back then? I drank a lot more than I do now. Sometimes that was fun."

"Why don't you now?"

He pulled me closer. "Well, it was easier then because I didn't have a license so I didn't really have to worry about driving. I haven't totally stopped drinking; sometimes I'll split a six pack with Adam on our guys' nights. But overall, I'd just rather spend my time with you."

Every time I thought I had learned all of Eli's secrets, he always managed to reveal a little more about himself. I flipped to the page I had seen yesterday and read the caption next to the photo of the red bra. First time 1/1/09 and many times after.

I closed the book, not really wanting to know anything more. Eli took it out of my hands and put it back in the box.

When he got back into bed, he leaned back against the headboard and pulled me into his arms. "I tried to warn you," he said.

"It's okay, Eli."

"Clare," he whispered. "What can I do to show you that there's no place I'd rather be right now than holding you in my arms?"

I looked into his eyes and I knew he was telling me the truth. He was my sexy, charming, smart, sweet, sarcastic boyfriend and I loved him. "I can think of some ways," I said, lowering my lips to his.

Everything happened really quickly. We were fueled by passion and a desire to prove how much we wanted each other and we peeled off each others' clothes in record time, and between his kisses and his hands I was ready for him almost instantly. Eli rolled on a condom with only a slight pout and he was inside me within minutes. We kissed, somewhat sloppy and open mouthed as he thrust into me, a lot less reserved than last night, and I grabbed his hip with a little bit of force. I didn't quite finish before it was over, but I didn't mind since it felt amazing.

He tried to touch me, but I moved his hand away since I was definitely feeling sore now, but I curled up against him and entwined his fingers in mine.

"We should get dressed. Mom's going to be home soon," Eli said.

"Do you think that your mom will make us some pancakes?"

"I hope not," he said, his eyes sparkling. "It'll be too hard not too imagine pouring the syrup onto you and licking it off."

"Eli!" I slapped him on his arm.

"Clare, you're lying in bed with me stark naked, after fucking me senseless, and you're shy about a little syrup."

I could feel my face heating up. "I think the correct term is making love."

Eli rolled his eyes. "That was what we did last night." He wiggled his eyebrows at me. "This morning was something else entirely."

He kissed me on the cheek and jumped out of bed, pulling some clothes out of his drawers. I followed suit, putting on the sundress I had brought with me. I heard his mother slam the front door with a lot of force to let us know she was home and I giggled.

He grabbed my hand and pulled me to the door. "I am starving," he said. He wrapped his arms around my waist from behind and nipped at my neck.

"Your mom is home," I scolded him gently. "We need to go downstairs and pretend we're not thinking about each other naked."

Eli smirked at me. "Do you think Alli wants to have another sleepover tonight? I don't want this day to end."

"Let's not push it." I kissed him and smiled. "I think next weekend Jenna is going to need a lot of help with her prenatal class."

"Sounds perfect."