"Eli, stop!" Clare shrieked, "My binder has to be in order!"

Eli looked at Clare, confused. The two were at her house, home alone, working on their homework together. They had gotten distracted and started fooling around, teasing each other with witty remarks. When Clare had stated that she was stronger than she looked, Eli snorted and smirked, and then challenged her to an arm wrestling match.

"Afraid you can't beat me?" He had asked.

"No way!" Clare replied, raising her eyebrow in confidence.

Eli smirked and moved Clare's binder off of the table, unaware that the metal rings were open. Her schoolwork spilled out of it, falling into a messy pile on the floor. "Whoops," he muttered before leaning down to pick all of the papers up. He tried his best to put them all back the way they were, but Clare knew that they weren't.

"Eli, this handout went before that one," she said, trying to put one of her assignments in the right spot.

"Oh, Clare, they are both from the same day! Does it seriously matter?" Eli asked, a little aggravated with the way that everything had to be in perfect condition.

"Yes, it does!" Clare argued.

"What's been going on with you, lately?" Eli asked, frustrated. He looked at Clare for a moment before he continued. "This whole semester, you've been freaking out about the smallest things! Seriously, you'd be able to find this assignment just as easily as you would if it was behind one other paper!"

"It doesn't matter what you think about it! It has to be perfect! It has to be in balance! It can't be unorganized!" Clare yelled.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Eli exclaimed, "'In balance?' It's fine if you can find what you're looking for!"

"It can't be fine, Eli! It has to be perfect! Don't you get it?" Clare was on the verge of tears at this point.

"What is this about, Clare?" Eli asked, his voice a little softer than before. Clare looked down and he sighed. "Why are you acting like this? Are you stressed out? Is it your parents?" He asked, watching her face in hopes of finding a clue to the problem. "What is it?" He asked, raising his voice again.

"It's you!" Clare shouted back at him, letting her tears fall down her face. "Ever since Vegas Night, ever since you were almost killed, I need to control things! Don't you get it?" She screamed, "I stood there, while Fitz pointed a knife at you! I couldn't stop him! If... if you were actually killed, if you actually died, I would have stood there and watched you die!" Clare stood up, anger running through her blood. "I had no control over it! None at all! But I can control the order in my freaking binder, so excuse me for needing the papers to be in place!"

Eli gaped at Clare, shocked. Clare stood there, frozen, also shocked. She didn't even consciously know why she had recently became a control freak until she was yelling about it to Eli.

"Clare," Eli said softly, breaking the silence that came upon them.

Clare shook her head. "G-get out," she muttered, avoiding looking at Eli.

Eli sighed. "Cl-"

Clare cut Eli off. "Get out!" She yelled, tears falling more heavily down her cheeks. When Eli stood up, her face scrunched up as she held back a sob. Her hands gripped the table in a death grip and she closed her eyes.

Eli walked towards his shaking girlfriend, feeling her tense up as he wrapped his arms around her.

"Go away," she muttered through her sobs. She tried to pull away from him, but Eli just tightened his grip on her. "Go!" She cried out, struggling against him.

Eli wouldn't let go of Clare. He waited for her to stop pushing him away and, eventually, she did. She fell limp and starting sobbing into Eli's chest, gripping his shirt. Eli, pained to see his girlfriend like this, and all because of his stupid rivalry with Fitz, kept Clare pressed tightly against his body. He rubbed circles on her back, trying to soothe her.

Clare was conflicted. She was glad that she finally realized what exactly was going on with her mind lately, glad that she got it out and then told Eli, but she was also upset that she did. Not only would Eli realize that she isn't as perfect as he thought she was, but she would also have to face it herself. However, the comforting motion of Eli's hand, moving in patterns all over her back, and his arms holding her fragile state up, helped her find solace, and she started to calm down.

As Clare's body stopped shaking as hard and her sobs started to quiet down, Eli ran his fingers through Clare's hair. He felt a lump in his throat; watching his girlfriend get upset like this just ripped his heart up into a billion pieces.

He pulled away from Clare and began to wipe some of her tears away, which were unfortunately replaced by new ones. Eli sighed and embraced Clare again, stroking her hair. "Shh," he cooed.

Clare swallowed hard and tried to stop crying, but it resulted in a strangled sob. "I'm sorry," she finally said once her breathing regained its normal pace again.

"For what?" Eli asked, pulling away to look at Clare.

"Crying," Clare sheepishly laughed. Eli smirked and wiped away her tears, succeeding at the job this time.

"So," Eli started nervously, "Is it... like, OCD that you've developed?"

Clare shrugged. "I don't really know. I didn't... tell my parents or anyone," she admitted, "I knew that something was wrong, but... I mean, it isn't serious, so I'll be fine!"

Eli frowned. "Clare, my hoarding problem started out like it was no big deal. It got worse. Chances are, this will get worse, too."

Clare looked down. She knew that he was right. "Yeah," she muttered.

"We need to get you help," Eli said softly, putting his hand on Clare's shoulder and rubbing it with his thumb.

"I know."

"Do... you want me to explain it to your parents? Maybe it'll be a little easier for you..."

Clare bitterly laughed. "It's more like my mom or my dad, not parents."

Eli smiled sadly. "Sorry," he said, "But..."

"I don't know which one," Clare sighed, "They'd both be supportive and understanding. But if I told one of them, the other would be hurt that I didn't tell them. If I told both, they'd butt heads on how to continue with the whole thing," she explained.

"Well, we can tell both of them so no one's feelings will get hurt, and we'll deal with their fighting when it comes up, if it does. Your dad's coming home in about an hour, right?" Eli asked.

Clare nodded. "More or less."

"So why don't we tell him then? Unless you want to do it yourself," Eli suggested.

"No. I... I want you to be there with me. Please."

Eli smirked. "Okay. Well, we should get back to our homework until he arrives, just so it's out of the way."

"Eli Goldsworthy, suggesting to do homework?" Clare giggled.

Eli feigned hurt. "I'm not that bad of a kid, Clare-bear!" He smirked when Clare's smile wiped off of her face, irritated by the nickname.

Eli handed Clare her binder, watching her reaction to the lack of organization in it. She took a shaky, deep breath and closed her eyes, trying to calm herself. When she opened her eyes, she smiled slightly at Eli. "It's hard," she explained quietly.

Eli nodded in understanding. "Look at us," he said, "I'm the hoarder; the one who can't throw things away, even if it means that my room will be a pig sty, and you? You're the one who needs things to be clean!" He smirked before becoming serious. "This could actually be really good for both of us, Clare."

Clare smiled a little and nodded.

I was thinking about doing this storyline for quite a while, actually, but I never got to it. I was planning on this being a oneshot, but tell me if you want me to continue. It's up to you guys.