Here's another humorous one-shot about the perfection that is eclare, and I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it!
Review if you'd like to see more one-shots like this!
Lightly trotting up the porch steps with a large container of chocolate éclairs tucked under her arms, Clare presses the doorbell button with a slightly flustered look to her face. She anxiously bounces up and down on the balls of her feet, trying to assure herself that her approach was innocent- friendly and respectable, nothing positively suggestive. She's merely delivering a box of sweets to a boy in her English class, whom she coincidently finds charming and remarkably witty. It's just that he's been looking quite gloomy lately, and like any practicing Christian, she's reaching out to someone in need. The flutter flies dancing restlessly in her stomach are irrelevant.
"Hi, I'm Clare," she says kindly, outstretching her nervous hand to the confused-looking, rocker-chick attired, blond-haired woman whom she assumes to be his mother. "I'm in Eli's English class."
"Edwards?" the lady says excitedly, confused expression disappearing in an instant. Her face is glowing with hopefulness and animation.
"Umm, yes. How did you know?" Clare inquires politely, cocking her head to the side.
"I'll explain in a minute-I'm Cece by the way!" the lady grins so broadly, Clare fears her face would split open. White teeth revealed and completely dazzling, she suddenly twists her neck towards the stairs. "BULLFROG, HURRY HURRY HURRY! COME QUICK!" she screams, eliciting a surprised eye-bulge from Clare. She hops up and down with enough energy to light up an entire city, flailing her arms about like a drugged-up jellyfish.
"B-Bullfrog?" Clare squeaks, taken aback by the burst of excitement that had attacked Cece. Clare glances around nervously, feeling both awkward and out of place as she stands perfectly composed at the doorway.
"Oh my God oh my God oh my God," Cece starts to hyperventilate, alarming Clare even more. She puts a shaky hand on her chest, supporting herself by resting her other hand on Clare's shoulder.
"Cece- what should I- should I call someone?" Clare asks in a bit of a panic.
This is definitely not how she planned things to come about.
"What's all the hubba-bubba about?" a booming voice demands, emanating from somewhere above. Clare jumps, taking in the rather large man lumbering down the stairs. To her immense relief, his face appears as good-natured as Cece's, with crinkling smile lines and bright big eyes.
"Bullfrog!" Cece gasps, fingernails digging into Clare's shoulders. "This is the girl!"
As the man's face freezes, eyes slowly making their way towards her, Clare gulps. Her neat dress is wrinkled from Cece's frantic movements, and her container of treats feel heavier than it had been when she walked over here. She's beginning to regret coming here in the first place, regrets squandering the entire morning plucking up the courage and planning for the worst-possible scenario. Clearly, she hadn't planned enough, and clearly she had no business showing up here unexpectedly.
"I'm sorry, I don't understand," Clare says apologetically, with a hint of desperation seeping through her thin voice. "Did I do something-"
But Bullfrog's reaction would never be something she'd expect in her wildest dreams, because like Cece, he begins to bounce up and down with extreme excitement. His arms, too, thrash about in the oddest directions.
He's fangirling.
"You're that Edwards girl!" he squeals in delight.
Yes, yes, she's that Edwards girl. But no one was explaining to her why they were so excited, and how they knew her name. Clare stands stunned or the longest moment, still supporting Cece, when someone comes up behind her.
Clad in his usually dark leather jacket, and hair slightly tousled by the wind, Eli walks in with the most mystified expression on his face. His eyes then land upon Clare, causing her to almost seize-up on the spot- her heart beats erratically, and knees buckle under the weight of two. His eyes widen, and he looks back and forth between her and his parents.
Then he curses loudly.
"Bullfrog-mom- what are you doing?" he demands exasperatedly, placing his hand on the small of Clare's back and gently pushing in her. She lets out a soft oh at his touch, and realizes that his intent was to close the door.
They both start garbling at the same time, and chaos ensures.
"Is this the girl who's name we always find written on our fogged-up bathroom mirrors?" Cece presses eagerly.
"The name spelt out hundreds of times on your homework papers when you think we're not looking?" Bullfrog asks with equal interest and keenness.
"Our son's in love," Cece says dreamily, cupping her face.
"Okay, never mind," Eli says hastily, looking like he was…blushing? Clare peers closely at him, and sure enough, a slight red tinge is visible on his cheeks.
"I'm sorry for showing up so unexpectedly, but I wanted to give you these," she says timidly, holding up her container. His eyes fixate upon the contents, tongue licking his lips subconsciously. "They're éclairs."
"Mom, dad, could you give us some space?" he asks slowly, gaze flickering between Clare's face and the treats.
"Noo, we want to see you and Clare being cute together," Cece pouts, pleading him with her eyes.
"My camera's collecting dust, because you won't let me take any pictures of you otherwise," Bullfrog adds gruffly. He turns to Clare, frowning in disapproval. "You should probably leave while you're ahead, Ms. Edwards. This guy's as fun as a box of pins."
Eli glares at them both.
"Oh, fine, we're leaving," Cece throws her arms up in defence, tugging Bullfrog to come along.
"Kill-joy," he mutters under his breath, letting himself get dragged away into the kitchen. The door shut behind them, and at last the pair is alone.
"Sorry about that," Eli apologizes, jamming his hands in his pockets. He looks down at his feet embarrassedly. "My parents can be a little…I don't really think there's a word to describe them."
"They're quite lively," Clare offers, staring heatedly at her feet as well. She shuffles from side to side, still thinking about what they had said- Eli writing her name on foggy mirrors and such. As creepy as it is, there's a small part of her that hopes they hadn't been making that up.
"Yeah, and that's like calling a pack of lions housecats," he snorts, eliciting a giggle from her. "So um, did you come all the way here to give me those?" He jerks his nose towards the container.
"I thought you needed a bit of cheering up," she smiles benevolently, handing it to him. He takes it and opens the lid, taking a sniff. "You seem sad these days."
"You're observant," he says vaguely, grinning crookedly.
That grin will be the death of me Clare thinks, just as God, her smile is breathtaking goes through Eli's.
They smile sheepishly at one another before returning their gazes to their feet again.
"So what's been bumming you out?" Clare asks, sounding truly concerned.
"It's nothing- nothing important," Eli dismissed with a flick of his wrist. "Don't worry about it."
"You know perfectly well I'm going to worry about it anyway, Eli," Clare says disapprovingly, eyes blue with fret.
The door suddenly creaks open, and two heads pop out.
"The sexual tension between these two, I swear," Bullfrog grumbles.
"Why won't they make babies already," Cece adds sullenly.
"Out," Eli snaps, starting to advance towards them.
"Shit, we've been spotted," Bullfrog mumbles, and scrambles to close the door again. "As you were."
"Do you want to go upstairs?" Eli rolls his eyes, gesturing towards the stairs. Clare's eyes widen, and he soon realizes what he was implying. "No, wait, that's not what I meant- it's just that they're probably going to be bothering us and such," he adds hurriedly, mentally smacking his forehead.
"You're awfully jumpy today," Clare teases, causing him to blush once again. She smiles again before starting towards the stairs, Eli at her tail. The steps are steeper than she's used to, so she takes extra caution while climbing- it doesn't bother him, though, that's she's particularly slow. It'd be prolonging her company time, and he'd be more than happy to do that.
As she walks, he suddenly becomes cognizant of the fact that she's wearing a dress, and gulps nervously. He tries to direct his eyes somewhere more respectful- really, he tries. But it doesn't help that he has nowhere else to look, and so he finds himself looking forward more times than appropriate.
Soft, creamy legs. He gulps again.
"So are you going to tell me what's eating you?" Clare says, once they finally settle in. They sit cross-legged on Eli's bed while facing each other, which doesn't really help with the leg situation.
"No," Eli says bluntly.
"Please?"
"It's a secret!"
"Pretty please?"
"It's a stupid secret," Eli insists.
"Please?" Clare says again, propping herself up on her knees. She clasps her hands together, playfully begging him with hopeful eyes.
"No, Eli shakes his head, unable to keep from smirking at what power she had over her. Only in his dreams he would have Clare on her knees, begging him for something…
"Okay," she says, unabashed. She jumps off his bed at once, dusting herself off. Eli's smirk freezes on his face, uncomprehending first. "I guess I've done enough here. Bye, Eli."
"Wait, don't go!" he says loudly, reaching out for her. He stands up so suddenly, his bed creaks nosily, causing Clare to move further back. Why is she leaving? They had only just gotten up here and- "Please don't- why are you smiling..?"
Clare grins impishly. "Got you."
Eli stands, dumbstruck.
"You seem rather disappointed about me leaving," she muses, tapping her chin.
Realization strikes him hard, followed by a wave of slight humiliation- Clare had simply succeeded in making him look like a fool. Not only that, but she also managed to making his disappointment in seeing her leave obvious, something that he had been so careful to conceal. She seems quite pleased with herself, too.
"You little devil," he says, playfully scowling at her. She giggles at his awestruck face, indeed quite pleased about making Eli look like a fool.
"Why won't you tell me?" she pesters, standing up on the balls of her feet. Her pressing, unlike his own mother's isn't irritating in any way. On the contrary, it's extremely amusing. "I don't believe such a secret can be so much of a bother."
"You expect me to tell you after being so mean to me?" he gasps, feigning hurt. A hint of a smirk plays on his lips.
"Only because you're being unreasonably stubborn about it!" she fires back. "If it's so stupid, why are you fighting so hard to hide it?"
"Because I can," he says smugly.
She narrows her eyes at him. "Is that your answer for everything now? Because I distinctively remember your excuse the last time Ms. Dawes was asking why you chose the topic of sex for your essay- because I can," she mocks, lowering her voice to imitate him.
"It's a free country," he shrugs, grinning at her amusing impression of him.
And just like that, the awkward tension that drifted between them earlier melts away, gradually but quickly enough. The sweetness morphing into sexiness, the politeness turning into a sense of comfort with each other that allowed them to banter without feeling completely uncomfortable about it. Perhaps Cece and Bullfrog were right- though maybe not in the most overt sense, but they were right: why aren't they together? What's holding them back?"
"Clare," he begins bravely, out of nowhere. She looks up at him expectantly. "There's something I need to tell you."
"Does it have to do with what's been bothering you so much?" she arches her brows.
"No, but it's still important," he says, wringing his hands. "I um, I feel very comfortable with you, Clare, and with all the times in English class, I've grown to…like you." He pauses to draw a breath, not daring to look her straight in the eye. "And I mean, like you, like you. Would you by any chance...want to go out with me…?"
"Oh Eli," she says quietly, stepping towards a little.
Something beneath her feet squeaks, causing them both to glance down at the floor simultaneously. Clare lifts her foot, and below it is-"
"Mr. Snuffles!" Eli gasps, zooming forward. He wastes no time collect the furry brown plushie off the dusty ground, all but prancing with glee as he hold it close to his chest. "I was so worried that I lost you," he murmurs possessively in the teddy's ear.
"That- nooo," Clare says in disbelief, glancing down at the bear. She had no troubles putting the two and two together- it was just a matter of whether she could believe it. "Don't tell me…that's what's gotten you so depressed for the past few days?"
He looks up sheepishly.