Minor lemon.

Last Day in Colby

I was sitting on Eli's bed as he put away his groceries he had bought earlier in the night/early morning, trying to pretend that I was there. Maybe then he would forget that I had to go back to Heidi's soon. Maybe.

"You could help."

"I could."

He sighed a little. "Auden."

"What?"

After he finished what he was doing, he came to sit down on the bed next to me. "It's getting late."

"Early, actually."

"Yeah."

He moved back to lean against the wall and I moved to lean against him. We laid like that for awhile, but he broke the silence after a few minutes. I had honestly thought that he was sleeping.

"You go to school soon."

"Yeah. Few days now."

He ran a hand down my stomach. "We won't be spending as much time together."

"I realize."

"Yeah."

Glancing up at him, I started to connect what he wanted. I ignored it, turning my body a little to cuddle into his body. Eli laughed a little when he felt my smile against his skin.

"Have to admit, Auden, this has been a pretty good summer for me considering."

"Considering?"

He nodded. "Yeah."

"Considering what?"

"That I got stuck with you."

"Same here, Eli."

Smiling down at me, he began to stroke my arm. "You know that I'm going to college too."

"U."

"Yep."

"That makes us enemies, if I hear correctly."

"You do."

"How fun."

"Totally."

I laughed at his word choice. "Eli."

"What?"

When I didn't answer, he made me sit up. Wrapping his arms around me, he began to nuzzle my neck, which felt odd. We touch, especially in the passing weeks, but not like this. I shrugged him off, making Eli sigh.

"Auden."

"What?"

"You know what."

"No."

"Auden."

"What, Eli? God."

He moved away from me slightly. "I mean…Do you want…I don't know. I can't ask you, I mean…"

It occurred to me then that Eli was nervous. That was funny to me and I would have laughed, had he not been so mad at me. For no reason, really.

"Ask me, Eli. What?"

"You like…are you even into me anymore?"

"W-What?" That wasn't what I was expecting and took me a moment to comprehend. "Yes."

"Then what?"

"What do you mean?"

"Auden…You like hate when I touch you."

"We were just touching."

"When you were laying on me? I'm talking about when I tried to…cuddle with you."

"You mean rub against me?"

"You can…feel it? I didn't think I was that-"

"I meant your neck," I said, sitting up.

"...So did I."

Making a face, I said, "I just think that it's weird…nuzzling against my neck, I mean."

Eli started to say something, but then stopped. "Look, Auden…I'm not trying to make this about sex, because it's not, but…We have to at least touch."

"You keep saying that, but we touch all the time. So what if I don't like when you bear hug me like I'm one of your friends?"

For a second, we both just stared at each other in the lightless room. Then he lurched forward, pulling me into a gorilla like grip, holding me to his chest.

"Eli-"

"I need examples," he said, rolling a little so that we were both lying down. "So none of this?"

"No!"

He squeezed tighter. "But I like this."

"Eli, let me go!"

"No," he whispered in my ear, still holding me. He kissed the back of my head. "You're my captive."

I wanted to argue and fight him, but I also knew that on the other side of our wall was a little boy who was probably going to get up and ask for water in about five minutes.

Leaning back against him, I threw up my mental white flag and let him hold me willingly. Eli smiled against the back of my head.

"I win."

"Battle, not the war."

He rubbed his head against mine. And, for awhile, all was silent. Eli had loosened his grip slightly and was rubbing my stomach with his hands. I flattened my foot against his leg and rubbed it up and down.

"I get it, Auden."

"Get what?"

"It. Why you're so…distant."

"I am not."

"Maybe distant isn't the word, but you know what I mean."

He keeps saying that, but I'm no so sure that I do.

Eli sighed a little. "Has your mom ever told you that she loves you?"

Abruptly, I felt very weird, laying there with him. "No, I don't think so."

"Hmmm."

"What was that?"

"What was what?"

"What was with the hmmm?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Leaning back against him, I closed my eyes. "Did yours?"

"Did? She still does, Auden. That's what she's supposed to do."

"Not everyone has some wonderful mom, Eli."

"I know that."

"Well, I really would appreciate it if you stopped comparing my mother to yours. Yours can tell you all about how much she loves you all day, but so what? She still lives in nothing little Colby. My mother made something out of herself."

The second that Eli didn't respond, I knew that I had said something wrong. Really, though, I didn't care, because he had implied something about my mother first. As childish as that sounded, I was sticking to it.

"I think that we're done for tonight, Auden."

I didn't move. "Eli, I didn't…Don't get mad at me about the truth."

"Oh, now it's the truth?"

"I like your mother, Eli. I didn't mean anything against her."

"Sure."

I moved so that I was laying on my back, still in his arms. He was staring down at me so intensely, I wished I hadn't so that I wouldn't see his face.

"Eli…"

Moving, he laid head against mine. "My mom has done a lot."

"I know."

"No, apparently you don't. Just because she's no Dr. Victoria West doesn't mean that she's not intelligent too, Auden."

"I know, I'm sorry."

He took a deep breath. "My only point was, that you just aren't…emotionally where I am. Where normal people are. You have issues with getting closer."

"We're pretty close right now."

"I had to hold you down."

I smiled at the way that sounded. "I'm sorry, Eli."

"Move on. I'm over my mom. You're trying to change the subject. Stop it."

I looked at up him, grinning. "It's six."

"I see," he said, glancing at his clock. "Are you leaving?"

"Are you making me?"

"No."

"Then no."

He chuckled a little, his chest rumbling against my side. "Auden?"

"What?"

"…I think it sucks, your mom never saying that to you."

"Now who's changing the subject?"

"I'm bringing it back to the real subject."

"What's that?"

"Why you don't like laying like this."

"Why don't I?"

"Because you…you're…no one ever…loved you."

I scoffed at him. "Excuse me?"

"I mean, they do. Your family just doesn't…show it like normal people."

"Eli-"

"I'm not saying that they don't love you, Auden, I'm just…you guys are so cold towards each other. I still talk to my mother once a week. Sometimes more. You talk to yours only when you have to. Do you even care?"

I was hurt by what he said, true or not. "Yes. No. I…It's just the way that we are, Eli."

He nodded. "I know. That's what I'm saying."

"Then what?"

"I just feel bad for you. That's all."

Eli. Feeling bad for me.

"That's stupid."

He frowned at me. "How?"

"I mean, I turned out alright. I always got the best. They didn't abuse me."

"I know that-"

"My mom's just not…she doesn't say the things that she feels. She never has."

"I-"

"Except for Hollis, I guess. She always let everyone know how much she loved him."

"Oh."

"It was just me. And my dad. And everyone else." I made him shift around so that I could put my face in his side. How did he like this for closeness? "Hollis isn't even that great."

"I don't know, Auden. Him or you is a hard choice for me to make."

"Shut up, Eli."

He stroked my hair. "In all honesty, though, Auden, I'm sure that your mother does love you. How could she not?"

"What do you mean?"

Once again our position was changed so that Eli was next to my face, his lips aligned with mine.

"You're smart."

"I am."

He kissed me.

"You're kind."

"I am."

Another kiss.

"You're pretty."

"Thank you."

He kissed me again.

"And I'm all out of things."

"Eli."

He smiled. "Auden, come on. You are a lot of things. But I'm not focused on those right now."

We made out for awhile, something that we were tending to do more and more.

"Eli," I mumbled he pulled back.

"What?" He kissed me again, pushing my shirt up just a little. I shifted away slightly, but not enough. He kept his hand on my stomach.

"I'm so tired."

He gave me one last kiss before moving off me. "Alright."

Kicking down his covers, he then pulled them up around us. I didn't really feel bad for ending things there, mainly because I seriously was exhausted. Laying in bed this whole time had just increased that need for sleep.

"You comfortable?"

"Yeah," I mumbled to him. "You?"

"Fine." He closed his eyes. I watched him for a few moments before closing my own.

When I woke up, it was five and Eli was gone. I laid there for a few minutes, waiting for something, but I wasn't sure what. When I did leave, I immediately headed back to Heidi's. She was there, soothing Thisbe, who wasn't crying, but whimpering a little.

"You're home late," she observed, looking me over.

"Yeah." I went over to the coffee pot, glad when I found that it was on.

"Anything interesting happen?"

Besides Eli accusing me of not having a loving mother?

"No."

"Who were you with?"

I sighed. "Eli."

"Oh."

"We didn't…I've been with Eli. Hanging out. Most nights."

"I know." She seemed like she wanted to say something else, but then Thisbe started up for no reason, screaming her head off out of nowhere. I was actually glad for the distraction really.

The next time I saw Eli, it was the day before I was leaving. The other nights, he had been busy. His mother got sick and I didn't want to bother him. Tonight though, it was just us.

"Hungry?"

"No."

He shrugged as he made himself a bowl of cereal. I was sitting on his bed, criss-cross style like I was in elementary school again. Eli sat across from me in the chair, eating his dinner.

"We could go to Clyde's tonight. If you want."

"Maybe later."

"Maybe."

"You need to go to the store?"

Eli shook his head. "No. You?"

"No."

I thought that our last night like this would be…different. Not so awkward. But, for some reason, it was.

For awhile, the only noise to be heard in his room was the little boy next door asking for water and Eli chewing his Frosted Flakes. When he finished, he put the bowl in the sink before coming to sit down next to me.

"I can't believe that we wasted a whole summer."

I leaned against his arm. "Not wasted."

"No," he agreed. "Not wasted."

"So you're sure your mom's okay?"

He laughed a little. "Yeah, Auden. She's fine."

"Good."

"I don't want to talk about her, though," he said, looking down at me. "It's our last day here in Colby. Well, last do nothing day."

"Night, you mean."

"Right. We should…talk."

"About?"

He shrugged. I knew though. Moving away from him, I laid down on the bed and he laid next to me.

"Auden?"

"Yeah?"

Wrapping an arm around me, he pulled me tight to his side. "Even if you're going…and I'm going…"

"Eli-"

Turning his head, he captured my lips with his own. I shifted a little, trying to get comfortable. Eli took this to mean that I wanted him above me, which I didn't really resist. Last day in Colby…

"Auden?" He had his hands under my shirt again. They were cold against my stomach, which had that butterfly feeling.

Not wanting to hear whatever he was going to tell me, I pushed aside my desire to push him away and leaned up, pushing his face against mine once again. With my shirt still on, Eli reached under me and began playing with the hooks of my bra. It took a moment, but he unsnapped it.

Not wanting him to think I was inexperienced, however much so I was, I reached down and grabbed the hem of his shirt before pulling it up over his head. Eli looked at me and smiled, which I returned weakly. Eli kissed my forehead before reaching down to unbutton his own pants. Kicking them off, he went back to me.

"Eli-"

"Shhh," he murmured as he pulled my own shirt off. I was still in my bra, though it was now limb from being undone. Sitting up, I self-consciously pulled it off. With Jake, this had been quick and fumbling. Dark. With Eli, he was watching, waiting.

Pushing me back down on the bed without even looking, he kissed me again, using his tongue. When he pulled back, he did look at my breasts for a moment before working on my pants.

This, more or less, is what I thought my last day would be like. Not necessarily to this extent, but I knew that it was coming some time soon regardless. Besides, everyone thought we were already, as lame an excuse as that sounds.

"I-I don't have any, uh, condoms on me."

Jake had one. Now, thinking back, it should have struck me as odd that he was just that prepared. Really, though, I shouldn't be shocked.

"Do you not-"

"No," Eli said quickly before kissing me again, not giving me a chance to finish my sentence. As his tongue explored my mouth, his hands wandered my body. We were both still in our underwear, which clearly needed to be taken off if we were going to go through with this.

Eli sat up for some reason then and looked at me. I didn't want to look in his eyes, afraid of what might be there, so I distracted myself with his boxers. They were Pokemon with a pikachu in the middle. Pikachu was pushed out slightly do to the obvious bulge in Eli's boxers. When I looked back at his face, he was smiling a little at me and I had to return it.

Moving back over me once more, he began to kiss me as he pulled off his boxers. I didn't look down. When he pulled off my underwear, he returned the favor. Reaching down though, he lined himself up with me, closing his eyes.

When he pushed into me, I still had to stretch a little, but it was better than with Jake, if only because there was no pain. And the person might have had an influence on that too.

"Hey," he whispered, staying still for a moment. His face was right next to mine and he was staring in my eyes.

"Hey."

Eli laughed halfway before just groaning and beginning to move. It was quick, but longer than with Jake. I could be wrong about that though, because it felt like only a few seconds. Afterwards, he moved to lay on the side of the bed, allowing me to lay between him and the wall.

We both laid there for a moment before cuddling against each other, Eli unraveling the blankets that had become tangled around our bodies and laid them over us. For a little bit, it was silent. Like any other night I had spent with him…Just naked.

"My brother…Was he…"

"My first? Yeah."

"Great." Eli rolled onto his stomach. I hated that decision more at that moment than I ever had. I didn't know how to ask him my own question, but knew that it would bug me to no ends if I didn't.

"You…"

"Yeah."

"With?"

"Belissa."

"Like once?"

"No," he said, carefully. "Multiple times. And this one girl when I was a freshman. Just once with her."

Now his brother wasn't seeming so bad…Kind of…

Reaching over, he hugged me to him. "My brother will die when he finds out that we-"

"You're going to tell him?"

Eli frowned. "It's not like I'll be bragging about it, but if it comes up, yes. Don't act like you won't tell Maggie and them."

"Maybe I wasn't going to."

"Maybe." He kissed the side of my head. "Auden?"

"I'm listening."

"You know you're gone tomorrow."

I ran a hand down his arm that was draped around me. "I know."

"We're still together."

It wasn't a question.

"I know."

Sighing a little, he said, "We'll think of something, you know. Seeing each other and stuff. Maybe we'll meet halfway. Something."

"Something."

"You know, you can contribute to the conversation."

"Sorry."

It didn't matter, because the conversation died after that. Ten minutes later, I got up to go to the bathroom. When I got back out, Eli was pulling on his clothes.

"Get dressed," he said, not looking at me. "We're going out."

Part of me wanted to curl up on his bed and sleep the rest of my life away, but I left with him. Before we left, he made me put on is blue hoodie, claiming that it was cold outside.

"Where are we going?" I asked as he pulled away from his place.

"I don't know. I just…I wanted to drive. You got anywhere?"

I glanced at the dashboard. Four a.m. I should be at home, resting.

"No. I'm tired, actually," I told him as he pulled into Gas/Gro.

"Stay in the car then. And can you hand me my wallet? It's in the hoodie."

After handing it to him, I told him to get me a Snickers before letting him go. While he was in there though, I leaned against the window of the truck and couldn't stop myself from drifting off.

I smelt…food. I couldn't tell what, but I could tell that it was greasy. Slowly, I opened my eyes to see Eli sitting in the truck next to me still, eating a burger.

"What are you doing?"

He glanced at me and smiled. "Eating."

"In the truck?"

"I couldn't leave you out here and you needed to sleep."

Sitting up, I saw that we were in the parking lot of a fast food place. The clock told me that it was noon.

"I need to get home."

"I know. I just…" He stared at me. "I have to get ready to go back too, you know."

"I know. Next week, right?"

"Yeah." He nodded a little before handing me the rest of his burger. I took it even though I suddenly wasn't hungry anymore. "Got you some fries in the bag too, if you want them."

"Thanks."

After that, we didn't speak again as we drove through the town I spent my final summer with no responsibilities. When we got to Heidi's, I realized that I would miss Colby much more than I would my hometown.

"We're here," Eli told me as we sat in the driveway of my father's home. "Auden?"

I just sighed. "Bye, Eli."

He laughed. "Bye? I told you, Auden, there are no byes. I'll see you this weekend. Okay? We'll work something out, alright? Something…"

"Still, Eli, you could tell me goodbye."

Reaching over, he grasped my hand. "If you want. Goodbye, Auden."

I sat there for a second, realizing that when I got out of his truck, I had to go inside, get my stuff, say goodbye to my father and Heidi, and then leave for freshman orientation. Then this summer really would be dead.

"I…I'll see you next weekend," I told him quickly as I tried to get out of the car. He just held me there by my hand.

"Come here," he said, pulling me to him. After a long kiss, he let me go. "I'll call you tonight."

"You can't. By tonight, I'll be from Defriese. We'll be enemies, remember?"

"The worst enemies make the best lovers."

I made a face before getting out of the car. He waved at me once before pulling away. It wasn't until much later that I realized I still had his hoodie. I'd have to give it back later. Maybe.