"I Never Left"
An Elani FanFic
By Lou
2
"Why did no one tell my wife that I was alive? No, I don't want to hear that. Don't give me that bullshit. You knew for weeks that I was here and nobody thought to tell her? Nobody? Who decided that it was a good idea not to let me know that I had a child?
"Fuck, protocol, Rex! How the fuck do you call yourself my friend then let me walk into MY WIFE ABOUT TO BE MARRIED TO ANOTHER MAN?! No, no; don't come over here because I can guarantee that if you do, you won't be leaving breathing."
Eli snapped the phone in his hands in half then tossed the broken pieces as far as he could in the coming Salem night.
Goddamnit.
Lexie had given Lani a sedative and Valarie, his baby, hadn't made it through dinner before she had passed out, too. She'd asked him every question in the book and he'd answered them. He knew that there would be more.
He couldn't' wait.
Even if she hadn't known who he was, just one look at Valarie and Eli would have known that that was his baby. She had her mother's face. Lani's nose, her mouth, even her little hands; but those eyes, those ears. That was all from him. Her smile was all him.
"What do you want to name our daughter?"
"...You have something you want to tell me, Counselor?"
"No." She laughed. "But it will happen. We've been talking about it."
"And practicing."
"They say it makes perfect."
"Let's go be delicious then." She pressed her hand to his chest, keeping him in the recliner she allowed in the living room, then set her body atop his.
"The court directs you to answer, sir." A smirk canting her lips.
"What happened now?" He asked distractedly.
"What would you name our daughter..."
Valarie Tamara.
"Ree."
Lani had loved it.
His daughter had been born at a time where he had probably been hanging in a cage somewhere getting the skin thrashed off his back.
When she had been learning to walk...
When she had been learning how to walk...
When she had said her first word...
Holidays, birthdays, the first day of school.
Her great grandmother was gone; her grandmother, too. Julie she would never remember, but her grandmother Eli would make sure that she would.
His mother.
She had died, and he hadn't been there for her. Pain lanced through Eli so intense it stole his breath. That pain turned into anger when he saw the "For Sale" sign planted in his yard. He snatched it out of the ground then stormed around to the back of the house and slung it into the garbage can slamming the lid down shut.
He felt lightheaded then his ears started ringing. Eli took maybe three steps before the ground rose up to meet him.
Lani pulled into the driveway as the last the day's light melted away. She got out of the car slamming the door behind her; squeezing her keys in her hands.
Gone!
He'd left.
When she had been knocked out, Eli had just left.
No. Just...no.
She started across the lawn as the sprinklers came on then up the steps to the door. Lani jumped from the porch and ran around to the side of the house.
"Eli! Oh, God..."
He lay face down on the ground. The motion light clicked on when Lani neared him. She couldn't see any blood. She rolled her husband on to his back slowly and did see any wounds there either. Lani pressed her ear to his chest. Eli's heart thumped strongly beneath her. Her eyes slid closed with relief as she swallowed a sob, turning her face into his chest.
She sat up pulling in a deep breath looking down at him.
"Hey, Eli. Come on. Wake up. I can't carry you."
He was her husband, but not the man who had left her. He'd lost, easily, 20-30 pounds. There were marks an scars that hadn't been there before; like the one that stared at his lip and trailed down into the hair on his face. His beard had gray hairs threaded into it now; not enough that you could really see, but she was right up on him.
Lani ran a fingertip over his eyebrow. There was a thin space where the hair wouldn't grow anymore that hadn't been there before.
Grabbing the sides of his jacket, Lani strained at she pulled him up, the heavyweight of his body falling into hers. She moved her hands along his back and shoulders, over his head again. Her hands didn't come away with any blood, she couldn't feel any bumps. Eli was out cold, so he couldn't tell her what was wrong.
Lani couldn't help herself when she curled an arm around him and turned her face into his neck, breathing him in.
He didn't even smell the same.
What had they done to him?
His breathing changed and Eli pulled in a deep breath, exhaling a groan of pain that hurt Lani to hear as his arm tightened around her waist.
When he pulled back, she felt her grip tighten on his jacket. Their faces close, she could see the pain in his eyes; on his face. It was different from what she had seen at her wedding today. All the blood looked it had run from his face. Sweat beaded on his skin, sliding down the sides of his face.
She touched his cheek, her fingers trailing down his jaw to his beard again. It was nowhere near as soft she remembered it to be.
"Hey, Flyboy.
His smile was wan. "Madam Counselor."
"Can you stand?"
He did, but he probably would have fallen had Lani not been there. She wedged a shoulder under his arm and wrapped her arms around him again. Eli curled an arm around Lani, pulling her closer.
The house smelled like stale air like no one had been here in a while.
When he switched on the light at the entrance his eyes landed on a picture of Ree, Theo, and another little girl. They were at a game or something.
He sat down hard on the couch in the den, leaning his head back into its cushions. His head throbbed, but it was nowhere near as bad as it had been earlier.
The light came on directly above him and Eli hissed in pain. The light switched off and another came on further away; then he felt her in front of him, her hands running up and down his legs.
Eli kept his eyes closed when he sat forward slowly. The headache he'd hoped was going away began beating harder in his temples, but that didn't matter. His need was too huge. When his mouth found hers, he was determined, blatant, adamant. If she needed to pull away for air, Lani knew that he wasn't about to let her.
Hands slid into her hair. She touched them with hers. When she tried to slow them, Eli sped them right back up and Lani was lost in it, in them. She wanted it, craved it; she missed it.
Him.
Them.
She crawled up into her husband's lap, pleasure making its way through her at the feel of Eli's hands on her, his fingers gripping her hips.
Then, just that quick, she remembered why she was there. Lani slowed their kiss, reluctant to stop it, but pulled away all the same.
"How, Eli?" She whispered. "How?"