Clare's POV:
Clare's parents had been fighting, again. She was trapped in her house with nothing to do on this Saturday afternoon. Adam was spending some time with Fiona, Alli was with Drew, and sadly, Eli had said he hasn't been feeling well and was going to stay home and rest. She offered to come and take care of her but he told her not to worry about it. She tried to relax and sat down on her bed reading a book. Her parents yelling had gotten louder and louder and the minutes went on, she couldn't stand it, she needed to get out of the house. She closed her book and threw it on the bed behind her. She walked down to the bottom of the staircase a watched her parents bickering back and forth for a moment then walked to the door. She slipped on her shoes and threw on her jacket and walked out the door. Her parents had stopped arguing for a second then continued on fighting as she walked down the driveway. She was going to Eli's.
Eli's POV:
Eli felt depressed and useless all afternoon, he couldn't take it. He didn't want to call Clare; he just wasn't in the mood for anyone's company. He lay on his stomach, blasting his music, staring at the picture of Julia he kept on his desk. He sighed and buried his head in his arms. He missed her; he hated himself a little more each day as it got closer to the anniversary of her death. Eli couldn't take the pain he felt, he needed to get out of the house, away from his bedroom. He grabbed the keys to Morty and exited his room. He saw his mom sitting on the couch watching television, "Mom, I'm going to the park." She turned around to face him and nodded, "Okay Babyboy." He tossed on his jacket and slipped on his shoes. Before he went to Morty he headed towards the garage and picked up a six pack of beer. He walked to his car and slipped into the driver's seat and drove off to the park.
Clare's POV:
Luckily, Eli's house had not been too far from her own but by the time she reached his house she felt like she was completely frozen. She rang the doorbell and after a few moments Cece appeared at the door, "Hey Sweetie, how are you?" "I'm good, thanks." She smiled. "Is... uh, Eli home?" "No, he left for the park a few minutes ago." "Oh okay, well I'll go meet him there then, thank you." Clare waved goodbye and walked down the poor steps as Cece smiled and closed the door behind her.
By the time Clare got to the park, she felt like a piece of ice, she couldn't feel her fingers or toes. She hoped Eli was there or all of this would have been a waste of time, she looked around and eventually caught a glimpse of a person sitting on the top of a bench, that person was Eli. Clare felt relieved as she walked quickly towards him. She reach the bench and snuck up behind him without him noticing, she poked his sides and he jumped, "Oh, hey there!" He grinned, she giggled then asked, "What are you doing here, thought you were sick?" "Don't worry about it babe!" Eli laughed, slurring his words. "Eli what is..." she caught sight of beer cans opens."Eli!" She yelled, walking over to the beer cans, she lifted them up, four of them were completely empty and he was onto his fifth one. "What the... please tell me you didn't..." Eli nodded, grinning. She grabbed his wrists and pulled him towards her, smelling his breath, he definitely smelt like alcohol. He pulled himself away from Clare's hands, stumbling and tripping over the leg of the bench, falling to the ground. Clare walked over to him and kneeled down beside him, shaking her head in disappointment. She tried to help him up but he pushed her hands away, "Go away." Clare felt pained but probably knew it was best to leave him alone, she stood up and sat down on the bench beside him. Clare looked around, shivering and rubbed her arms with her hands for warmth. "Clare..." Eli whined. She looked over to him; "I-I don't... feel-" Eli leaved over, clutching his stomach and throwing up on the ground beside him. "Oh... Eli..." Clare rushed to his side. She rubbed his back lightly, trying to soothe him. When he finished he got up and plopped down on the bench, wiping his mouth, "Let's go home." "Well, how do you expect us to do that?" "Clare... Morty is right over there." He pointed towards his hearse, "Open your eyes." Clare glared at him, "Well, if you haven't noticed, your drunk and I can't drive." Clare rested her face on her hand and sighed. "Well, I guess we walk then, I'll get Morty later." "Are you alright to walk though?" Eli shrugged and grabbed her hand, picking her up off the bench.
It was dark and freezing outside as they got closer to Eli's house. As they turned the corner, Clare asked," So... why did you decided to get drunk, that's not like you... at all..." "Yeah, I know." Eli said, looking up at the sky. "So why did you do it, she asked again, unlacing their fingers and walking up the porch steps. She thought Eli was following behind her but when she looked back she saw him sit on the porch steps, he put his head in his hands. Clare looked at him with a confused expression, "Eli, we'll talk about this inside, it's freezing and starting to snow." "I just..." Clare walked down the steps and sat beside him, "Eli... what's wrong?" "I guess, I just have been feeling upset lately, just needed to... get away..." He hesitated then continued on, "It's... it's no big deal though, don't worry about it." Eli stood up from the steps but Clare stopped him, he sat back down. "Why is that?" He looked up at the sky, Clare saw a few tears run down the side of his face; he put his head in his hands to cover the tears that fell from his eyes. Clare tried to gently pull his hands away from his face to look at him, "Eli... come on, what's wrong?" Still no answer, she continued to try and get him to talk but he sat still, ignoring her. She pulled on his hands and he jumped up, pushing away her hands. "Clare! Just stop, stop! Leave me alone." Her heart dropped as she watched Eli walk down the sidewalk. She quickly followed after him and ran in front of him to stop him. She saw the pain his eyes and the tears streaming down his face. He instantly put his head down, looking away from her. "Eli..." Clare whispered. He looked up at her with tear filled eyes. Clare closed the space between them, hugging him tightly as he quietly sobbed in her arms.