Eli looked at me with a straight face and said, "No Clare I promise, I won't." He kissed me on the cheek and said, "I will text you when I am home." I glanced at his green eyes as he pulled away with a smirk on his face.

I got out of the car and sat on my bed with my phone next to me. Two hours later Eli texted me, "Hey Clare bear, I got home an hour ago, but I took a shower sorry didn't text you my phone was dead." I put my phone down and fell asleep I had midterms tomorrow, I planned on not talking to Eli the whole day, I knew he lied to me…

I walked into school that morning and passed Eli in the hall like he was no one. He followed me saying, "Hey, Clare! What are you deaf! Answer me!" Eli was limping. I turned around and saw Eli. "You got into a fight, didn't you…" He said, "Clare, you have to understand! He was going to rape you!" The hallway was silent. I looked at him and shook my head and kept walking. I took my midterm that day and tried to avoid Eli whenever he came near me. Then, I saw Fitz in the hallway, he had a black eye. Fitz had a black eye, and Eli was limping. They had to fight with each other. When I passed Fitz he winked at me, I put my head down and kept walking until I got outside to walk home.

I started walking when Eli beeped the horn to his car. "Clare, get in the car we need to talk!" I said, "Why should I? You lied to me; you told me you weren't going to fight him!" Eli said, "Clare, get in the car, now." I walked around into the passenger seat, sat down in silence as he pulled away. Eli stopped the car near the park. He got out and limped to the sidewalk.

I walked with him to the bench at the park. He breathed in and said, "Clare, you need to know that I am sorry from the bottom of my heart. I didn't mean to do what I did last night. I was on my way home and Fitz keyed my car. I got out and confronted him. He jammed the key in my leg when I tried to defend you. So, I punched him in the face. It wasn't because of you, Clare if you are mad at me because some lowlife keyed my leg than I am sorry." I didn't know what to say.

I loved Eli. I wanted to be with him forever. "I forgive you Eli. Can we put this behind us?" Eli smirked my favorite smile of his and he put his arms around me. I smiled and sighed at him as we stared at the sun. "So, he jabbed you in the leg with a key?" I asked. He said, "Don't worry about it, just a couple of bruises, that's all." I put my hand on Eli's leg and he flinched, "Ouch, Clare don't do that." I said, "I barely touched you." He said, "I know I was just kidding, relax." Eli dropped me off at my house and kissed me on the cheek. I knew there was something wrong; Eli wasn't telling me everything that happened last night. But, I promised to let it go.

I was sitting at home going through my messages from last night. When, a text message came up from a private number. It read, "Hello Clare, I am sure you don't know who this is. But, Eli, Eli hasn't been one hundred percent truthful to you. He has a secret. You know that something more happened last night. He isn't telling you everything. It's up to you to find out. Unless, you don't want to know…Goodbye Claire." I needed to get the facts straight. I called Eli and asked him to go out to eat at the Dot. When I got in the car I noticed the car was unscathed. I sat in the passenger seat and went through my cell phone. I kept the message from the unknown text messenger.

"Eli, where's the scratch from the key on your car?" I asked him. He said, "Oh, I am good with cars, put a little paint over it, looks brand new. Well, not brand new but you know what I mean." I said, "Let me see your leg." He looked at me confused, "If you let me see your leg maybe we could put ice on it and wrap it. It will heal it." He said, "Clare I am fine with limping." He smirked. "Come inside, I'm not that hungry. We could just hangout." Eli said, "Wow, sounds good."

Eli and I sat in my living room and watched some movies. "How about we watch the Notebook?" I asked smiling at Eli. He sighed and said, "Whatever makes you happy." My parents went to a church retreat for the weekend so Eli could stay late. It was already ten. When, The Notebook finally ended. He said, "Wow, that wasn't so bad. Every guy rips that movie. Well, watching it with you helps me because you distract me." I said, "Oh, really…" Eli leaned in and kissed me. He put his arms around me as we "hooked up." If I could get him out of his pants, I could see if he has a scar or even a cut from the limping.

We were kissing when I started to unbuckle his belt. "Clare…you don't want to do this." I said, "You don't want me to?" He said, "No…it's not that it's just you are going to regret it." He looked at me with a serious face.

I said, "Please Eli, just stop being a party pooper and have fun." I leaned onto Eli. Then, he started to take off his pants as he took off my shirt. I glanced at his leg, there was a bruise. It was huge; he wasn't lying about the bruise, but the car… Then, he had his hands going up my back. "Eli, I can't do it…I thought I could. But, I can't. I'm not ready." He got up and pulled up his pants as I put my shirt back on. He sat back down next to me, put his arms around me and said, "Clare, I wasn't ready either. I was going to back out, because, if we did this it would ruin what we have right now. And, what we have, I love." I said, "Me too Eli." Eli looked at me and said, "Clare, I have never felt the way I do when I am around you. You fill me with life. Every time I see you smile, I know everything is going to be ok. Clare, I love you." I smiled but didn't know what to say. "Eli, I love you too." We fell asleep in each other's arms. Eli couldn't have lied to me, he told me he loved me and he is honest. I fell asleep knowing I was protected by Eli. Every breath he took that i felt on my neck was like a sigh of relief. Eli will do anything for me because he loves me…but what about that text message