So sorry for taking so long! Haven't been able to find any inspiration to write this until yesterday! Enjoy!

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN DEGRASSI

Chapter 1

"Will. You. Stop. Running?" She laughed, trying in vain to catch up to him.

He laughed.

Drew Torres and Julia Dal Monte were spending some time together—strictly as friends—in the local park.

"You're so slow, Jules!" He ran farther ahead.

The wind whooshed past him. For a moment, he lost himself in a familiar rush. He could feel his heart hammering wildly in his chest; sweat began to collect on his body; as the wind carried on with its journey, a cool breeze swept by him, making his spirits lift immensely.

Drew and Julia had a tradition of running. They would run anywhere and everywhere, bringing with them a whirlwind of chaos. The two were quite a pair of troublemakers.

It had all started last year when they had first met in this very park. Somehow, they had begun to converse with each other despite their differences: both in appearance and personality. How more different could two people be: a jock talking to a Goth girl? Completely unbelievable. Within the span of a few minutes, the two were trying to outrun each other. It wasn't quite clear how the activity had suddenly been proposed, but it was and therefore marked the beginning of their tradition.

Though Julia was a fairly good runner, Drew would always be better since he participated in more athletic activities. However, Julia often had a few tricks up her sleeve and used them to her advantage on the occasion. Drew had figured out quite a few of these tricks and could easily dodge them when they arose.

He looked over his shoulder briefly to check on her current progress. However, she wasn't trailing behind him. He grew worried and began to fear the worst.

"Jules?" He called out, praying that she wasn't in any danger.

Suddenly, a mass slammed into his back. He lost his balance and fell into the grass face-down. A shrill, high-pitched laugh momentarily dazed him. Lifting his head ever so slightly, he found his target. While it was turned away, he straightened up and within a few seconds had pinned it down. Julia began to squirm beneath him.

"Damn it!" she shrieked indignantly.

"I know all your tricks, Dal Monte." He smirked down at her.

"Get off of me, Torres." She retorted, a pout firmly set on her mouth.

Smiling, he got up and offered her a hand. She took it and pulled him down next to her.

"So you know all my tricks, hm?" She smirked.

Groaning, he sat up and shot a playful glare at her.

"I'm getting you back for that." he stated. "And I think you made me pull a muscle." He rubbed his shoulder.

"Aw, is Drew Torres a wittle baby? Does he have a wittle boo-boo? Wanna go home to your mommy?" she teased.

He scoffed.

"Funny."

"Why, thank you!"

They laughed.

Absently, she glanced at her watch.

She gasped.

"Crap! I wad supposed to meet up with Eli half an hour ago. Would you hate me terribly if-"

"Jules. It's no big deal. Go. Tell Eli I said hi."

She smiled.

"Will do." She gathered her things and left.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Best Friends or Lovers~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He tasted the girl's soft lips, crashing into them again and again. They crashed against a soft material; as a result, they became more nestled in the tight, cramped space. Their breaths were rapid and gaining speed as their passion for each other increased. She was pulling him even closer, making him long to carry things a bit farther. As though sensing his dirty thoughts, she pulled away.

"Eli…Not until after marriage, remember?"

"I know, but-"

"Eli. We have to stop this. We're in your freaking hearse and it's a million degrees thanks to all the…black."

Eli sighed and looked at Clare.

"I really do want to break up with her…"

She sighed.

"Listen to me, Eli. I know you love me, but you love her too, don't you?"

"Clare…"

"Don't deny it, Eli."

He pecked her lips and started Morty.

"Where are we going?"

"The park. I want to spend some time with you."

As they drove off, the only sound that could be heard in the car was the hum of the engine.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Best Friends or Lovers~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She knew it was wrong to feel this way about her best friend; especially since she was dating someone.

But, God, her heart had never pounded that hard when she was with anyone, not even Eli.

She wasn't quite sure when this attraction towards Drew had started infiltrating her. Now, whenever she heard his name, her heart skipped a beat. The feel of his skin on hers shocked her with electricity.

If only she didn't love Eli…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Best Friends or Lovers~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"How long do we have?" Clare asked, peering up at Eli through her long eyelashes.

"About thirty minutes," he mumbled. "Will you stop worrying about it?"

He began planting light kisses on her bare neck.

She pushed him off and stood up from the park bench. Her eyes surveyed the park like a hawk's.

After a moment, she looked at him and said:

"We really need to stop this, Eli. Whatever this-"she gestured between the two of them, "is, it can't last. You have Julia-"

"Damn it, Clare, I don't love her!" He interrupted.

"But-"

"Clare, she loves me. It doesn't go both ways, though; I don't return the feelings, not anymore."

"Then why are you going out with her?" she inquired.

"Because I feel guilty." He buried his face in his hands.

She waited for him to continue.

He sighed.

"After the accident, I was so scared. I had lost her. The world had turned bleak, distant, cold. I didn't know what to do…" he trailed off, most likely losing himself in his memories.

"When I found out that she had been alive…Clare, what was I supposed to do? She came to find me and we started hanging out again. Before I knew it, we were going out again. I feel like I owe it to her to make her happy again."

He took a deep breath.

"There's something she's hiding. Whatever it is, she's clearly not aware about it. She's been distant for weeks. Clare, I'm worried about her."

Clare felt tears welling up in her eyes. Eli noticed this and his features morphed into those of concern.

"Clare? Crap, I shouldn't have said anything. I'm so sorry."

She looked up at smiled at him.

"Eli, I'm not upset. Why didn't you tell me this, any of this, before?"

"I didn't want you to get hurt or sad."

She smiled and walked back over to him. He smirked and pulled her closer. Then, he leaned in. As their lips met, Clare wondered how she ended up to be so lucky and have such an amazing guy in her life.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Best Friends or Lovers~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Drew sighed as she walked away and eventually disappeared from view.

He knew it was wrong to love her, but feelings couldn't be changed. But he would have to move on; it wasn't very likely that Eli and Julia would be breaking up any time soon, anyway.

He got up and began to walk back home. A flash of brown caught his eye. Drew looked for the source and found that it was a mop of hair. Peering closer, he realized it was Eli. Nothing seemed to be amiss, so he began walking again.

"Eli! Stop it!"

He froze. The voice belonged to a girl. He recognized the voice, as well as the laughing that followed.

And it wasn't Julia's.

Slowly, he turned around and sucked in a breath.

Eli was with Clare Edwards and they were kissing, right smack in the middle of the park.

Holy crap.

Again, I apologize for the long wait. To my one reviewer: thank you so very, very much for actually reading this FF. I appreciate it.