"Oh come on, Clare! Say yes! It could be fun!" Eli tried to convince. It was the summer after Adam and Clare had graduated from College. As a graduation gift for all of them, Eli's parents got three tickets to Las Vegas for the weekend. They would of gone as a family, but Elli decided to take Clare and Adam. They were at the park laying on the blanket, having a picnic together as a celebration of the start of summer. For Eli, he wants this summer to be one to remember. He had been waiting for this summer to start since Clare and Adam were in their last year of college and he went back home to his family in Canada. The three had went to the Columbia University in New York City. They promised to return home to Canada when they graduated, which they did.

"Ugh, Eli i don't have time for having fun." Clare lied. It was summer and she was finally free, so what could she possibly be busy with? Summer was all about having fun and letting loose. Eli looked Clare deep in the eyes, as Clare tried to look away before he sensed her lying. She hoped he wouldn't notice, but he did.

He shifted himself up to sit down and looked down at Clare. "Your lying." he smirked. Clare didnt know what to say. She wasn't completely lying either. It's not that she did not have time for fun, but she just didnt want to have fun. She was in a sad mood, as to her breakup with her boyfriend of 9 months.
Even though she saw it coming, she had alot of feelings for the guy. All she wanted to do was cry and stay at her house, which she shares with Alli, and just lock herself in her room. Alli's parents had decided to move back to India, but since Allie choose to go to the University of Toronta, she moved into Clares home. There was no problem with that, since Clare's parents had divorced back when she was in highschool and she lived alone, she needed Alli to watch her stuff.

"Please Clare. I hate seeing you like this, all sad over a jerk. He didn't deserve the love you showed to him. He is obviously stupid to walk away from someone like you." Eli said honestly. Eli hated the jerk, Jeremy, and wanted nothing more but to punch him in the face for breaking Clares heart. Clare knew that he had only went out with her for certain reasons, like because she wore a purity ring and was smart, and Jeremy's parents[who is the President and Vice President of Columbia University] wanted Jeremy to go out with Clare. He had cheated a few times, and when Clare found out he begged her to stay with him. But now that College is over, he is allowed to do whatever he likes.
He indeed did have some feelings for Clare, but he knew all too well that they would not last. Plus, he wanted to travel. Which was something Clare had not wanted to do.

Clare then realized asked herself, when was the last time i was happy? Truely happy. She shifted herself to sit and looked at Eli. "Maybe your right...I should be out having fun! Why should i waste my time crying over a jerk like him? You know what, Eli. Count me in!" she yelled excitedly.

"Good now all we need to do is convince Adam! Which is going to be a piece of cake." Eli said with confidence. Clare doubted this though. She knew Adam would not easily agree to tag along.

"Oh really? Remember last time, you spent 2 days convincing him to go with you to a club. What makes you think he will agree to go to Vegas so easily?" I said trying to prove a point.

"Well -it-all, i have my ways." he smirked. God that smirk, clare thought.

"Is my smirk annoying to you?- actually, don't answer that. I know you love it." he said smuggly, smirking once again.

"Oh hush up, concieted. Anyway how long will we be there for? Thats IF we go." she asked him. Se didn't want to be gone for too long. She needed to work and she didnt want to miss her chance at being promoted.

"Hey!- you said to count you in. No take backs!" He loved pushing her buttons. He thought Clare looked cute when she was annoyed. She would put a surprised face on and then come up with a comeback. Plus, her eyes would open wide and he loved her baby blue eyes.

"According to who? You? Psh, okay Eli.. i don't want to miss work, thats why. Just- just tell me for how long." she said, the beginning in sarcasm.

"Don't worry, we're only going for three days, two nights. Is that okay?" he asked her. He knows how much Clare's job is important to her, even though he knew very well that she wasn't happy about work. It was too much stress for her.

Clare sighed, "Good, thats perfect." She layed back down on the blanket, watching the clouds move slowely.

Eli laughed, "So now that mission 'get clare to agree to go to Vegas' is done - i can now move on to Adam." he sighed, laying down next to her to join in the cloud watch. "Which, is going to be a tough one." he murmmered. She turned her head to look at him and smirked.

"What happened to 'i have my ways'?" she laughed, clearly finding it amusing. Eli always knew how to make her smile.

"I ran out of them, so YOU, my dear friend, are going to help me." he said matter a factly.

She smirked and added, "I knew you needed me."

-
At ADAMS:

"So Adam, whats up? Its a beautiful day, don't you think? The weathers nice too.." Eli said, trying to put him in a good mood. Adam immediately knew something was up. Whenever Eli talked how wonderful the weather was, he always wanted something.

Adam sighed, "Ugh, what do you want Eli." he said, rubbing his eyes. Clare and Eli decided to walk to Adam's to convince him, but when they got their around one pm, Adam was still asleep and had just woken up.

"Well- I got three tickets to Las Vegas! One for each of us, so your coming. Good day!" Eli said, turning around to walk down the front steps before Adam can refuse. Adam got a hold of Eli's shirt and pulled him back, twirling him to face him.

"Whoa whoa whoa! I didn't even get a say in this." Adam said.

"Oh come on Adam. Say yes!" Eli begged. Adam looked unsure. Did he want to go to Vegas? He did miss hanging out with Eli and Clare, just the three of them.

"Hmmm... are you going, Clare?" he asked. Clare nodded her head, "Yupp. Decided I needed to live a little." she answered. He thought about what she had said.

"Okay then, I'm in." Adam agreed, yawning and watched as Eli was happy.

"I can't wait to party. Now that Edwards here is 21, she can have some fun with the drinks." Eli exclaimed. Eli didn't drink often, only on occasions or when sad and needing to ease him. Clare on the other hand, never drank. She had tried some different types, like baby sips, but never really drank.

"Well then, let's start packing boys." she cheered.

AT VEGAS:

Wow was the only word that came out of their mouth's as they were in a taxi in Vegas, looking out the window to explore a little while driving to the Hotel.

"Wow, I'm actually glad i agreed to come." Adam said enjoying the view. They finally got to the hotel and they got a really big suite. When you go into the suite, there are two beds, a television, a view of outside, a bathroom, and a door that lead to the master bedroom which had a big bed, a t.v, and a bathroom.

"I call the master bedroom!" Clare yelled running toward the room, but was lifted up by Eli as he grabbed her from behind the waist and carried her to the other side of the room, giving him time to run for it.

"It's mine!" he yelled.

"I'm the lady here!" she protested. Dammit, Eli thought. He sighed in defeat and said, "Fine,its yours."

They all got dressed to go down to the Bar's. As they arrived, they saw there was alot of people drinking. They all ordered a group order of drinks, and Clare could of swore their were more then 50 drinks for them. Eli spoke up, "Cheers to the best summer, and to Clare as this is basically her first time drinking!" he shouted. Clare would of gotten aggrivated with him, but she was laughing. She wanted to let loose, have fun, and maybe get drunk for the first time. She didn't have a care in the world.

After drinking a few cups, Clare started to feel something. She felt like a wild being inside her was finally released from its cage, and is set free. It was time to party like there was no tomorrow.

"Come on." ELi said standing up and grabbing her hand, "Let's go to the casino and gamble a bit."

"I don't know how to gamble." Clare protested, slurring her words slightly.

"It's easy; I'll show you how to do the slot machines." Eli told her, pulling her up to her feet.

"Eli," Clare said, stringing out his name, "Are you sure?"

"Of course I am!" He shouted, the alcohol speaking for him.

This was enough for Clare to feel assured that this was alright to do, "Let's go then!" She giggled, allowing Eli to lead her out of the bar and into the midst of the hotel to the casino.

The night turned into one that neither Clare nor Eli would remember the details of; yet it would be a night that they'd remember for the rest of their lives.

-
THE NEXT MORNING:

Clare Edwards never pictured herself waking up in bed with a man she wasn't dating. In fact she had never woken up in the same bed as a man before.

She was entangled up in the arms of a dark brown haired man, in a bed she could only assume was the master bedroom bed, that was her's.

She brought her hand up to her head and let out a groan, her head killed. She had never had a hangover before but knew instantly that this is what so many people were willing to withstand as a result of drinking.

It was then that she spotted something on her wrist; it took her brown eyes a moment to focus on what it was.

'ELI'

Clare mentally cursed. She could not and would not get a tattoo; she could not and would not have gotten that drunk!

She quickly licked her thumb and tried to smudge the name that belonged to the man next to her. Thankfully she was successful and breathed a sigh of relief.

It was then that the twenty-one year old tried to recall the events of the previous night, yet she could only recall the drinking and giggling.

"Shit, shit, shit." Clare cursed out loud. Cursing was something she rarely did; given the circumstances it seemed appropriate for her to do so.

Her cursing caused the man next to her to stir.

"Eli." Clare said out loud.

"Five more minutes, mum." Eli mumbled, letting go of Clare and rolling onto his other side.

It was then that Clare observed the writing that Eli had on his upper back.

'Just Married'