Two: The Flirtation

Eli shifted uncomfortably on the chair, not exactly sure how to approach the topic with her. He knew that this was going to be awkward.

So, Clare, the reason why I've been so eager to 'cop-a-feel' lately is because I've been fighting the painful reality that I'm gay. Yeah, that was going to go over so well.

"Eli."

He turned to see Clare approaching him, her face struck by the expression of worry. "Hey, Clare.

She sat opposite him and entwined her fingers. "What's going on, Eli?"

He sighed and looked her in the eyes. "Clare, I haven't been... well, entirely honest with you."

Her eyes widened. "Are you cheating on me?"

"No, no, nothing like that. But, I do need to come clean about something. I'm..."

She jutted her neck forward. "What? You're what?"

He took a shuddering breath. "I'm... I'm not exactly... straight."

She blinked and gulped. "I'm sorry, what?"

"Clare, I'm," he lowered his voice so as not attract attention to himself, "I'm gay, okay? I've tried dating girls, and you are the most amazing girl on the face of this earth. If you can't make me straight, then I must really be... gay."

She exhaled loudly and fell back in her chair, grabbing a chunk of hair and releasing it. "Eli, I.. I don't really have anything to say to that. Are-are you sure?"

He nodded slowly. "Yeah, I am."

She leaned in. "Have you, um, always known?"

He laughed once. "I guess I did, but I just didn't want to believe it. I wanted to be able to give my parents grandkids, and that's just... not gonna happen."

"Eli, it wouldn't make any difference pretending to be straight anyway. You would never find a girl that you would be entirely happy with. Have you thought about... coming out?"

He scoffed. "Whoa, Clare, let's not get ahead of ourselves here."

She rolled her eyes. "Eli... You know what, you're right. I'm not gonna push you. You should tell people when your ready."

He lifted his hands. "Thank you."

She smirked slightly.

Eli laughed. "What?"

"You only started acting weird when Fitz got out of jail. Are you crushing on the bad boy?"

Eli went crimson. "Clare, you are being ridiculous. Why would I be... crushing on Fitz?"

She laughed loudly. "You are so full of shit, Eli! You are blushing!"

"Shut up, Clare!" he said, breaking off from laughter.

After she stopped giggling hard enough to breathe, she said, "You should go talk to him, flirt a little."

"Clare, he's not even gay!"

She pursed her lips and raised an eyebrow. "And you know that how, exactly? Because he was hitting on me at Vegas night? Eli, that was just to piss you off and you know it. For all you know, he could be gay..."

"Clare, I don't know..."

She gave him that you-know-you-want-to expression, and he sighed, getting up to go sit at the bar. Clare giggled as she watched the exchange from the sidelines.

Eli's POV

I can't believe that Clare is making me do this. But she really isn't making me do this, since I kind of want to really bad.

"You lost?" Fitz said to me, looking me right in the eyes.

"I'm pretty sure I came to The Dot, right?" I responded, equally sarcastic.

He raised his eyebrows. "Good eye. So what do you want?"

"Can't I just have a conversation?"

He stopped what he was doing, looking intently at me. "Okay, I'll bite. I've already apologized to you and Clare for everything, so you must want something."

I widened my eyes, attempting to look innocent. "How about a truce? A vow of... let's call it friendship." I held out my hand for a handshake.

He took it and shook once, then retracted, leaving a small piece of paper in my hand. A tucked it into my wristband without giving it away.

"Friends." he said to me, giving a crooked smile. Okay, that was hot.

I walked back over to sit with Clare.

"I do believe that Mr. Fitzgerald was flirting back. At least that's what it looked like from this angle," she said coyly.

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

She smiled. "Listen I've gotta get going. Thank you for being honest with me, Eli. Don't worry about me, because I'm fine."

"Thank you, Clare." We hugged briefly and she left. I followed behind her and walked back to the school parking lot to retrieve Morty. As soon as I sat down, I took out the paper that Fitz had given me. It read:

You wanna be a flirt? Fine. At least do it properly through texting. Here's my number. Meet me after my shift is over behind The Dot. We need to talk.

"Oh, shit," I said to the air. Thoughts flood my mind at this. Should I go? If I do, what if something happens? But that's crazy. Nothing's going to happen because I'm not gonna let anything happen.

"Eli, breathe," I said to myself. Without a second thought, I put Morty into gear and drove right back to The Dot. I got out and walked around to the back. I looked around, attempting to find him, but I didn't see him anywhere.

"Hey. You came."

I turned around to see Fitz walking down from the front door. I keep a rhythm of slow, steady breaths, trying to keep calm. "Yeah."

"Look, I need to tell you something."

I gulped. "What is it?"

He came so close that I could feel his breath on me. Oh, God.

"About Vegas night, I was flirting with Clare to... to make you jealous."

I felt my stomach drop. "You're, um, gay?"

He laughed. "Surprised? So was I. I didn't even realize it until... until I met you."

I looked up at him. God, he was hot.

Suddenly, before I even knew what was happening, I was kissing Fitz, and he was kissing me. It had never felt this way with a girl, and I knew now that it never would. We were pressed against the back wall, kissing madly. Our tongues collided, and he pushed my blazer off and it hit the ground. We pushed closer together until we couldn't move any closer without melding together. From that point on, we eased into a bliss-filled make out session that felt so right compared to anything that I'd ever felt before.

What do you think of my Eli/Fitz pairing? Should I stop? Do I need fluff? Please R&R!