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AUTHORS NOTE: UNEDITED.NOT EVEN PROOF READ. ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK.

"Rebecca what are you doing in there its been an hour."

"I'm coming out okay! Just wait." She yells in response.

"Ariel and Nemo are dead because of your never ending shower." Samantha shouts out and I snicker.

"She better be making babies in there." I mutter and Samantha laughs.

"More like a civilisation. " She says and we both laugh together.

Even though it had barely been a day since our small spat it felt like it had been almost a month since we had talked. I never knew that in a span of one day so much could happen and so much could change. Seeing the both of them gave me a strange sort of comfort that told me that no matter how much things changed I still had quirky crazy Rebecca and realistic pessimist Samantha.

Samantha and I had always had our fights and differences although I felt bad when they happened Samantha and I always made up.

So when I had knocked on their hotel room door at one in the night Samantha had opened it. At first I thought she would slam the door on my face but instead she just raised one eyebrow and said,"What died and made you fashionable?"

And just like that I knew we were okay.Rebecca didn't wake up that time and Samantha no questions asked threw me a pillow and a blanket and helped me make the couch where I was asleep before my head hit the pillow.

I only woke up at about eight thirty in the morning because of Rebecca. Her morning schedule was enough to wake up anyone sleeping as it included a lot of shrieking and using the bathroom forever so no one can use it.

Rebecca like Samantha did not question my presence for which I was grateful. Rebecca seemed to preoccupied to carry out her usual interrogation and Samantha wasn't the type to pry unless it was really important.

I was still curious as to why she kept on pushing me towards Alec but with the suspicion I had involved more drama than I wanted and frankly I had seen enough drama in one day to last me a lifetime.

Or maybe two.

I was dreading my confrontation with my mother which I had happily forgotten about. I was only reminded in the morning with a curt message she had sent to my almost dying phone saying

Come home now.

I was so screwed.

"I'm done." Rebecca announces throwing the door open and stepping out in a hot link bathrobe.

I roll my eyes until my eye catches something very shiny around her neck.

"What is that?" I ask her raising an eyebrow.

"Jeremy's christmas present," she says as she fiddles with the necklace.

"Don't even ask about the price tag." Samantha states and I raise an eyebrow,"One would think it was made of panda."

Rebecca scrunches her nose and I let out a small bark of laughter.

"You guys are really immature." Rebecca states drily.

"Says the girl who sticks her tongue out when we tell her that prince charming doesn't exist."I say.

"But wasn't I right?" She says skipping to the dresser,"You found Jake and I found Jeremy. Samantha will probably start dating a really hot actor when she goes to LA and becomes a famous actress."

Jake and prince charming. The thought was almost hilarious.

"I'm sorry but that's where you are wrong." Samantha states,"I don't want a hot actor I want hot actors."

I roll my eyes along with Rebecca.

"Well, whatever said and done did Jake finally give you the gift?" It was Samantha who says it and I raise an eyebrow.

"What gift?" I ask her.

"Well, yesterday morning he came to ask me wether I knew where you were."Rebecca says,"It was cute really he looked all flustered and embarrassed and then he asked if I knew what you wanted."

"Well, he didn't give me anything if that's what you are asking." I reply.

She raises an eyebrow,"Maybe. Maybe not."

____ ____ ____

"Come in."

My moms tone is cordial enough but I know that it's only the calm before the storm.

I step in the apartment. I want to call it home but I can't because there is nothing even remotely friendly or inviting about the place.

Michella looks like a mess as she sits on the dining table with her head buried in her hands.

She glances up to look at me for a fraction of a second before quickly fixating her eyes on the ground.

I'm stunned as well as a bit smug. After all that used to be me a while back.

"Sit."

I can make out by the tone of my mothers voice that she is no mood for an argument. I take my seat in the dining table as far away from Michella as possible. She looks up at me with a blank expression and for a moment I feel guilty but then I quickly shrug it off.

It silent for some time as my mother sits at the head of the table looking at the both of us.

"I have not involved your father in this as he has a lot on his plate and frankly so do I but yesterday I found out that my daughters are absolutely ill mannered, wild and frankly disgustingly out of control."

"The both of you are an insult to everything this family stands for-"

"What does this family stand for?"

For a moment I thought it was me who had let it slip but it was Michella who had spoken out loud.

My mothers eyes narrowed.

"Certainly not this."

"How can you possibly call this a family?" Michella persists,"The entire day after she let her mouth loose all I could think about is how you would react. How you would say that you were disappointed in me but you know what I don't even care."

"Clearly." My mother says,"And that's what's got you both here."

"You know what's got us both here?" Michella shouts,"You. Dad and you and the fact that the both of you refuse to accept the fact that you have two children."

This is the first time in a very long time that Michella had actually said something back to our mother. Michella had always been her favourite and she used to love that fact that she got the attention.

But this time I could make out that Michella was mad. Really really mad.

"We have no choice but to accept the fact that you two are our children," my mom replies coldly,"After all who will clean up your dirty messes."

Michella laughs bitterly at that.

"Dirty messes?" Michella retorts,"Name one thing you have actually got us out of? I am the model daughter. I am The one who was class valedictorian, I was the one who got into a Harvard and I was the one who got a 2300 in my SATs. What more can you want from me?"

"Living in your high school glory days is of no use because you may have got yourself into Harvard but you have got yourself kicked out of it too, very disgracefully too not to mention the fact that you carelessly got knocked up."

Michella shuts up at that and looks stonily at the table.

"Clara."

I turn to look at my mother who is currently fuming.

"Yes." I reply coolly in a tone almost mockingly similar to hers.

"Your sister has clearly presented a case even if it's a flimsy one at that. Do you have anything to justify what you did?"

I raise an eyebrow looking at her almost amused at the fact that after almost eighteen years of my life I'm finally getting a fraction of a second to justify what I did.

"No."

My mother is clearly startled at the answer and I smile.

"Although I do regret that I didn't do worse. After all there isn't much Michella and I agree on but we do agree on the fact that you are a terrible mother."

Michella smirks at that and my moms eyes widen with rage.

Whoops.

"And before you start blaming this on Jake." I say cutting her of any chance of reply,"Remember that he is the one who saved our families precious ass."

My mom was livid.

"You are going to be grounded when you go home." My mom spits out.

Michella laughs at that,"She doesn't go out anyways so what's the point."

"Excuse me if I don't go to parties drink my ass of and get kicked out of parties or better yet get knocked up."

Michella turns red at that,"Don't be too sure about that sis. You do know that's not the only copy of the video I made right?"

My mouth opens in shock.

"What?"

For the first time my mother and I are actually united together as we say it together.

Michella grins getting up.

"You know what I just realised?" she says looking at me and then turning towards my mother,"Just how done I'm with this family and just how I'm done with you lil sis because I'm going to ruin any chances of having a good future for you."

My moms widen,"Michella don't you dare ruin this family."

Michella smiles as fakely as possible,"That's where you are wrong mother we are not family."

With that she turns around and walks towards the door.

"Michella?" I call out smiling.

She turns around and her eyes stop at my amused face. She raises an eyebrow at my expression and I slowly get off my chair.

"When did you get so so stupid?"

Michella's jaw dropped open in surprise and I get a feeling of déjà vu.

I make my way towards her smiling.

"Sis." I say smirking enjoying every second of my walk towards her,"Remember what I told you yesterday?"

She stands there her eyes clouded with anger.

"Well, let me remind you." I say slowly,"I told you not to underestimate me and I told you to stop trying to manipulate me because I am not scared of you anymore."

"So bottom line is that you let anyone even come close to that video I will make sure that every single person on this godamn Earth knows who knocked you up."

It was almost comical as to how the entire color from her face drained leaving her chalky white. All her anger had drained and dread was written all over her face.

"There is no way in hell you could know that."

Its true I didn't and frankly I didn't care. But one thing I did know was that every time I had brought it up before she completely deflected the topic. Plus it did help that the new me could bullshit just about anything.

"Clara enough."

My mothers voice isn't firm or demanding but quite the opposite. Its amused and borderlines on impressed.

"It will be enough." I say,"Once she understands just where she stands. So do we have a deal?"

She nods noiselessly her fists clenched on either side and for the first time in a very long time I realised that I had played my cards correctly. Whoever the father was enough for her to wordlessly agree with me.

Maybe I should find out who it was.

"Anything else?" I ask looking back at my mother.

"Will it make a difference?" She asks.

"Honestly, no." I reply.

For the first time I see regret flash across her eyes and she nods,"Well then there is no point is there?"

For a moment I feel guilty. My mother was trying to hold our family together whatever said and done. But then again there was nothing to hold on to because lets face it the Wilson family was lying in pieces and it was my mother who had thrown it on the ground and the rest of us had just made it worse.

I turn to head towards the door. I know I was going to have to come back eventually for my minimal stuff but for now I needed to get out. Michella pushes past me and beats me to the door without giving me a second glance.

I'm about to leave too but my mothers voice stops me.

"Clara?" I look back at her and she is still standing next to the dining table looking at me with a mixed expression.

"I'm sorry."

And with that she goes deeper into the house leaving me to wonder which mistake was she really apologising for.

___________ ___________ ___________

"Rebecca is really rubbing off you." Samantha states as she looks at What I had been doing for the past two hours.

I was stalking Jake Henderson on Facebook.

"I swear to god there is literally no trace of him." I say,"I mean either he has forgotten the fact that he has an account or he is even more socially inept than I am which is frankly not possible."

"It is a proven fact that no hot guy is socially inept." Samantha says grabbing a seat next to me,"If they were then everyone's life would be like action packed yours."

"As in dramatically tragic and the fact that the only action I get is when I trip and fall face first?"

"Well, that was your life before, but I'm talking about the AJ era."

"AJ era?" I ask her raising an eyebrow.

"After Jake."

"That sounds like something Rebecca came up with." I say turning my attention back to the computer.

"It is." Samantha states,"She has your life chalked out into a BJ and AJ phase."

"Of course she does." I say rolling my eyes.

"She was going to do an AA and BA era but lets face it there is not a Before Alec."

"True."

"That's all you have to say?" Samantha asks looking truly confused.

"Yup. As much as we try to deny it Rebecca is usually right about these things."

Samantha nods,"But her methods are completely stalkerish."

"No arguments there."

There is a loud thud from the door and I raise an eyebrow at Samantha who gets up to open the door.

I turn my attention back to the computer screen which currently displays his name and a few TV shows and movies that he watches.

There is a loud yelp and I turn around to see Rebecca and Jeremy on top of each other on the ground.

"Please refrain from doing your nefarious activities on the door of our room." Samantha says smirking as they both get up looking absolutely red,"I touch it you know."

I roll my eyes and Rebecca looks kinda embarrassed but Jeremy recovers quickly.

"Won't do so from now on." He says regarding Samantha who gives him a mocking salute,"Bye Rebecca, Bye Clara."

With that he more or less runs away.

Poor guy.

"You are really embarrassing." Rebecca states drily looking at Samantha.

"Seriously you really want to compare?" Samantha asks.

Rebecca rolls her eyes and then looks over at the computer."Stalking Jake online are we? Been there done that. Done it months ago when he came to town."

"See case in point." Samantha says,"I don't even have to prove anything."

"Let me see if I remember." Rebecca says completely ignoring Samantha, "He like supernatural, big fan of the batman series and he was born in New York and his birthday is on the 27th of December."

"Check, check , check and ch-wait. What? "

My eyes glue onto the date that had been in front of me for about two hours.

"Yeah 27th December. " Rebecca says,"Oh that's tomorrow "

Samantha on the other hand starts laughing.

"Judging from Clara's expression she didn't know that."

Rebecca's eyes widen and she also joins Samantha.

"It's not funny okay." I grumble.

"Nope it's freaking hilarious how you had to find out the fact that your boyfriends birthday is tomorrow."

"Fake Boyfriend." Rebecca chimes in almost taunting me about my confession to her.

"You guys are really helpful." I state drily.

"Well, you better give him a gift." Rebecca says.

Shit.

_____________________

"Hi." Jake says looking at me sleepily.

"Hi." I say brightly pushing past him going into his messy room. So maybe I could have had more tact but I was really excited.

"Get dressed." I say scanning the room which looks much better than the last time.

"In front of you?" He asks raising an eyebrow. I roll my eyes. It had taken almost all of my will power to tell him to get dressed. If it was up to me I would have told him to stay just as he was in sweatpants and no T-shirt.

"I'll close my eyes, promise." I say as innocently as possible.

"Will I get an answer as to why you are in my room at dawn?"

"Its ten 'o' clock you moron and no I'm not telling you." I say,"That's a mystery."

He rolls his eyes but it can't hide his clear confusion. I should have seen it coming really after all our parting the day before had been abrupt leaving no room for him to analyse my reaction.

"Fine." He grumbles,"I'm changing. Close your eyes."

"Shy are we?" I say tauntingly and he rolls his eyes.

"If you want to see me changing you could have just asked."

I put my hands on my eyes obediently but lets just say that they didn't do much to stop me from taking a peak.

After all I'm not the good girl anymore, so there is no point even trying.

________________________

"Clara, if this is a creative way for you to push me in front of a bus and make it look like an accident I swear I will come back and haunt you."

"And you tell me to trust you."

Even through his blindfold I know that he is rolling his eyes.

"We are almost there." I say guiding him into the room,"But it just a heads up it may not be that great."

"Open the damn blindfold Wilson." Jake mutter impatiently trying to pry of his blindfold.

"Okay." I say and stand on my tip toes trying to pry open the makeshift blindfold I had tied on his eyes.It finally comes loose and the blindfold drops to the ground.

I hear a sharp intake of breath and I bite my lip hoping that it's a good sign. He stands in silence for some time surveying the room. Considering the time I had, I was pretty happy with my efforts but then again Jake must have been used to gifts that were extravagant in nature while mine wasn't.

It was a small dining room in the hotel that wasn't used anymore. With the use of a few names and a few eyelash bats I had persuaded the concierge to let me borrow a projector and clean up the dining room so I could use it.

There were crumpled bits of thermocol everywhere making it look like it had recently snowed inside. The heater was switched off making the room cold. Right in the center of the room was one of those typical red and white checkered picnic blanket along with a picnic basket and a wrapped present neatly arranged on top of it. But the most striking feature was the starry sky that had been projected on the side of the wall and spread across to the top of the room.

He stared at the scene gape mouthed. It had snowed yesterday morning for the briefest of moments but according to the weather report it wouldn't be snowing anytime today or tomorrow. So thats where I came up with the idea of thermocol. Samantha's pent up rage really helped crushing all the thermocol and we were done within the hour.

"See I know its not actual snow but then its be temperature regulated." I say turning the heater on,"Because knowing us one of us would probably leave their coat at home and the other one would probably fall sick."

His face still remains blank and I start to panic.

He totally hates it.

"Uh I've got Titanic." I say panicking,"I mean I know its like really stupid-Oh Im so stupid, I forgot to wish you-"

"Clara."

His voice is quiet but has a certain finality that makes me shut up.

He turns towards me his green eyes light and sparkling as he grins.

"Its perfect."

I break into a grin and let out a breath that I didn't realise I was holding.

"Wait I have on more trick up my sleeve." I rush towards the wall mounted fan and switch it on and the entire all the thermocol on the ground swirls up making it look like the snow.

"Its like snow, except that it's thermocol and it's not snow." I state putting my hands on my hair trying to keep it from flying. He laughs and grabs my hand and pulls me towards him with one of the biggest and most genuine smiles he has ever given me. I can feel his minty breath on the bridge of my nose as he slowly wraps his hands around my waist.

"Happy birthday Jake" My voice is soft and gentle.

He pulls me closer to himself and he rests his head on my forehead and I breathe in his familiar honeydew smell and that's when I realise that Jake Henderson is actually positively hugging me.

And it feels so incredibly right that I can't shake the feeling off that if I were given a choice I would just stay there.

"Thank you." He whispers.

-----------------------

"So how did you find out that today was my birthday?" Jake asks me.

"Well, I would have known if you had ever mentioned it to me." I say staring at the stars on the wall,"But if I was totally honest I found yesterday when I was stalking your Facebook page."

He laughs and I cringe in embarrassment.

"Don't get to cocky." I warn him.

"Well, if it makes you feel any better I stalked you on Facebook the night I came."

I blush a deep red.

"How did you know about the peanut butter and jelly sandwich?" He asks.

"Well, it was what you were making the morning I met Ashley." I say,"Plus it was the very same sandwich that you snatched from my hand and threw on the floor which resulted me slipping on it."

"Yup. Good times."

"Asshole." I mutter jokingly and nudge him.

"So why do you like the Titanic so much?" I ask him as I turn to face towards him.

We had just watched Titanic using the projector and I had seen the movie only once before and it left me smiling like crazy at the last scene and humming the song.

He looks at me with his green eyes and for the first time ever his green eyes have no walls around them. They look deep genuine and hide nothing from me.

"When I was eight, my mother and I were alone at home and my dad was out on a business trip."He says,"There was a huge storm that night and all the lines were cut and there was no news on my father. Whenever my mom needed a distraction she used to watch titanic and that night the both of us saw Titanic three times until we finally fell asleep."

"She used to cover my eyes every single time any bad scene came up and I used to always sneak a peak through her fingers."

He laughs and I smile. The Jake I was with now was the real Jake. The boy who looked heartbreakingly good looking but also genuine, with all his flaws and quirks.

"You must have been an adorable right year old." I say,"Don't know what happened to you."

"Oh please I'm adorable." He pouts like a little kid and I laugh.

"See?"

I roll my eyes.

"I discovered PBJ sandwiches when I was six. It was before his company had taken off he had one of those rare days off. I had always been fascinated with stars so we had spent the entire day making a telescope and he taught me to make a PBJ sandwich. That night we stated at the stars through the telescope and are those sandwiches. He even pretended to like my sloppy sandwich which had been attacked with jelly and had two drops of peanut butter."

I look at him unmoving. His eyes are fixed on the stars shown above. We both stare at the stars in silence for some time. His hand grabs mine and we just lie there. His hand is warm against mine and for the millionth time I can't help smile.

"This reminds me of the dock you know." He says and I can't help nod in agreement.

"Although there is no lake to push you in this time." I say teasingly.

"No, there is no lake to kiss you in this time."

I blush the deepest shade of red known to man.

"You almost make it sound like you want to kiss me again." I say teasingly with new found courage.

"Oh I want to kiss you again."

My eyes widen and for a moment I actually want to ask him, then why don't you but instead I just roll my eyes and elbow him and he chuckles.

"Please you have cooties." I say and we both laugh.

"Okay now it's my turn to ask you a question." He says.

I give him a nod.

"When did you and Alec actually get so close to the point where you started liking him?"

"When Alec moved in next door I guess we became friends. I was always close to his mom and she was like a mom to me too. Then Natalie came and the three of is became really good friends. I don't know when exactly I started liking him but it just happened and when his mom dies I felt like it was my job to help him through it and I've just felt responsible for him and I guess its vice versa."

"Do you still like him?"

His questions takes me back by surprise even if it's a predictable one. I'm not shocked at why he is asking it but because for the first time in forever I don't have proper answer for it. A few months before it would have been a yes in fact I'm in love with him but now things had changed and I had changed and with that so had my answer.

"I don't know." I say truthfully. He nods satisfied with my answer.

We sit quietly for a few minutes before he takes a small box out and hands it to me.

"It was supposed to be your Christmas gift" He says,"But then so much happened yesterday that it completely slipped out of my mind."

"But I didn't get you anything." 

He scans the room with an amused expression and says,"I think its enough."

"Did you go to Rebecca or Samantha for advice?" I ask fiddling with the box.

"Yup. Samantha told me to rent you a spine while Rebecca told me to give you something sentimental," he says shaking his head,"I'm telling you, your friends are a piece of work." 

I laugh at that and I open the box.I gasp instantly looking at the delicate charm bracelet thats set inside the box with eight charms hanging neatly from it.

"Wow." I say looking at it," It must have cost a panda to buy this."

He rolls his eyes and I slowly pick up the delicate bracelet and rest it on the palm of my hand.

"Don't worry, it's tougher than it looks." He says,"I know you fall down every other second."

I ignore him and pay attention to the charms. 

"The first one is a car." He pipes,"It's to signify our time during camp."

Thats when I realise that each and every charm on that bracelet has some meaning to it. The second charm was a single stiletto undoubtedly signifying the number of times I had stamped on his foot with my stilettos when he came up with the whole fake dating ruse. The third one was an addition sign clearly representing my unusual habit of doing math every time something happened to upset me and the fourth one was a single small star that represented our night on the dock by the lake. 

The fifth one was a small book which probably represented our history with my diary and the sixth one was a charm depicting mistletoe and his kiss. The seventh one was a mini Empire State Building and the last one was a tiny house.

"It's beautiful." I say softly as I put it on. I meant I what I said. The bracelet represented so much it was unbelievable and the delicate bracelet around my wrist symbolised everything that our relationship stood for, something so delicate yet tightly bound that no matter how hard I tried I couldn't shake it off.

"I have something for you too." I say and I hand him the wrapped present had been debating to give him but now I knew there was no going back.

"You know no one has done so much for me." He says.

"Well, you better get used to it." I say and he smiles carefully tearing the wrapping paper to reveal a book. He raises an eyebrow and I'm sure he recognises what it was. He had seen it briefly on the night he had returned.

"This is the diary." I say softly,"That you didn't find." 

He opens the first page and I can already see the smile tugging at his lips as he reads the first few lines.

"If you think you are going to find anything particularly spicy or juicy then you are wrong." 

He grins as he says,"I think I'm going to be satisfied with the fact that my name is on every single page of this book."

"Not every page."I snort out,"I do use pronouns, okay?"

He grins and takes out a yellow tinged tissue paper which has a mobile number scribbled on top of it. 

"Why is my number written on this?" He asks.

"Umm." I say looking at the crowd,"Well when you announced your number during introduction in camp. To prove the fact that I wasn't one of the airheads I didn't write your number. I just memorised and wrote it later on."

Jake simply smirks.

"Not a word." I warn,"You better be grateful for this gift because this is probably going to be an embarrassment for me for the rest of my life."

"I am." He says simply.

"I mean. Thank you for everything." He says not looking at me,"I thought after yesterday-"

"Yesterday changed nothing." I say honestly,"You're still Jake and Im still Clara and whatever is going on with Eric I know you'll sort it out because I trust you."

He cracks a smile,"You know one day I'm going to figure you out."

I return his smile,"It may take you a while."

"I intend to stay."

"Good." 

He looks up at the stars again with a sad smile.

"Sometimes I wonder if her family knows about father." He says,"I mean if her kid knows about the fact that his father..."

He trails off sighing. I don't say anything because I know he needs the quiet to vent out what he has been meaning to say.

"I mean I wonder if things would have been different if she was alive or if I had made an attempt to find her." He says,"All I needed to do was search for an Arabella Winters."

For some reason I think of Alec hearing the name. 

"Her -"

I don't hear the rest of his sentence because I instantly make the connection.

Arabella.

Aunt Arabella.

Arabella.W. Evans.

Alec's mom.

That has to be a coincidence right?

AUTHORS NOTE:

AUTHOR: I am so sleepy I can barely keep my eyes open so I haven't even proof read it yet.

SAMANTHA: Clearly. The Grammar mistakes are abysmal.

AUTHOR: But it was a cute chapter. Even though both Jake and Clara annoy the crap out of me they are cute together

JAKE: Hey I am the reason this book has got over 191K reads and over 5.3K votes

CLARA: It's my personal life on display. I am the one who should be getting credit for all of this. *turns towards author* I will ruin-

AUTHOR: I am not Michella, plus you don't want me showing Jake or Alec the video of you singing Fridayin your spongebob squarepants pajamas

REBECCA: My namesake is an aweome singer. I love that song!

SAMANTHA: See you know the song is bad when Rebecca likes it and its also sung by a Rebecca.

CLARA: *grumbles* never mind just write the next chapter

JAKE: Wait dont chang the topic, *turns to Clara* Spongebob Squarepants really?

AUTHOR: *sighs as they start arguing* Kids these days I tell you. Anyway so the next chapter is going to be a really good one. Clara is going to be visiting someone she shouldn't.

*nudge nudge wink wink*

But anyway I hope you liked this chapter and thank you for all of your encouraging support in the last chapter I was literally stunned as to your responses.Special mentions to @upallnight17  @1Dyolo22 @punar123 and this dedicated to @IssyTorrie whose comment made me laugh. Thanks a lot you guys.

*turns to Jake* Will you do the honours

JAKE: So guys don't forget to comment and tell us what you think about the story and what you think Clara is going to do. Also dont forget to vote and give any suggestions because random commentor gets a dedication in the next chapter.

AUTHOR: Next Update hopefuly Monday?

 

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