Now, I'm not sure if this idea has been done in this fandom or another, but this was just pouring outta my head, so I had to write it down. It's sad, but it's set right after "Drop the World, Part 2."

I'm still working on "Rock and Saving Grace," this is just a little oneshot, I promise.

I hope you like it, I was just feeling rather nostalgic, so I wrote a little Eclare tragedy. But please don't give up on them, I certainly haven't :)


He'd managed to save his phone from the wreckage - forget his relationship, or his fucking sanity...forget it all.

As he blurred in and out of consciousness, the paramedics had tried to swipe it from him. He knocked their hands away, holding onto it even harder, before the pain in his leg knocked him out once again.

"Eli, you can let go now," Bullfrog had said, gently trying to pry the phone from his cold fingers. He heard Cece sniffling outside the room, barely able to control her breathing.

Clare had just left - the room, the hospital, him. If felt like a dream really.

"No," he pleaded, desperate to make his dad understand. And when he saw Bullfrog's expression - a mix of indescribable sadness, guilt, and panic - Eli knew he didn't. Nobody could understand. The room was silent.

"Go with mom," he said numbly, desperate to escape all this shame. He couldn't bare to look at them for a second longer, he didn't deserve such wonderful parents.

Bullfrog nodded hesitantly, and Eli couldn't help but notice he scanned the room for any sharp objects, before shutting the door quietly.

Eli picked up the phone with shaking fingers, and placed it against his ear.

"Please enter your password" the female voice droned.

1994. Shitty password, but no one would want to get into his phone anyway.

"To review your messages, press one. To change your personal options, press two. For more options, press four."

4. His heart pulsed.

"To hear saved messages, press-"

1.

"Message one, received on-"

He pressed 1 again.

"So Eli, your muse was wondering, could we schedule another driving lesson at lunch? I couldn't drive to the Dot, but maybe you could drive there after...pretty please? I'm dying to have some of their brownies...call me back, we'll talk about your story soon! I love you."

He held back a shaky breath.

1.

"So Eli, your muse was wondering, could we schedule another driving lesson at lunch? I couldn't drive to the Dot, but maybe you could drive there after...pretty please? I'm dying to have some of their brownies-"

1.

"So Eli, your muse was wondering, could we schedule another driving lesson at lunch? I couldn't drive to the Dot-"

1.

"So Eli, your muse was wondering-"

1.

"...soon! I love you."

He threw the phone across the room, watching it break into a thousand tiny fucking pieces. Just like his heart.

He'd saved the message, one she'd sent almost a week ago, listening to the tender caress of her voice to remind him of how they used to be.

"...we need to break up..."

His fault. Always his fault.

Angry tears escaped his eyes, and a strangled scream burst from his lungs. He hadn't cried this hard since Julia died. And all he wanted was to pick up the phone and hold it to his ear just one more time...


I'm so sorry :(