As Eli stepped into his car after his visit with Shelby, he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. The name "Clare" was displayed on the screen. He flipped it open.

"Hey"

"Done with your family business?"

"Yeah, and I think we need to talk."

CLARE'S POV

"Yeah, and I think we need to talk."

Clare's stomach flipped, and she clutched the side of her bed to keep from falling over. The last time she heard those words, KC had broken up with her. Remembering the heartache she had endured made her heart wrench with the ultimate fear that she could lose Eli.

"Sure," she choked, and cleared her throat. "The Dot in ten?

"I'm kinda far away… Let's say a half hour?

"Sounds good."

It didn't sound good. It sounded like slow, agonizing torture. She had to push through. She managed to pull herself into a pair of skinny jeans and a V-neck with black flats. She pinned one side of her hair back and begin to walk to The Dot.

ELI'S POV

He clutched the steering wheel till his knuckles were white. Shelby was beautiful. Green eyes and dark auburn hair like Julia's. Clare was going to kill him. No, she couldn't kill him. She would cry, which would be worse. She wasn't going to let him go through this without suffering. She was going to do to him what she did to KC.

He slammed his fist on the steering wheel and his breathing picked up. He was making Clare seem like the bad guy here. He hated himself. The whole Shelby thing had started before he even knew Clare existed. But that didn't suppress his guilt.

He walked into The Dot just as Clare was ordering a decaf tea. God, even what she drank was sweet and innocent. What would she think when she found out what he had done.

"Clare!" she turned around. Her eyes were slightly red and they watered, making them shine. She was too beautiful for him to hurt her, but he didn't have a choice.

"Eli, hi." She flashed him a watery, half-hearted smile. She gestured to the chair across from her and he sat. He grabbed her hand and squeezed it before she could pull away.

"Please don't cry. Not yet."

CLARE'S POV

What did he mean "not yet"?

"What did you need to talk about?"
"Ok, remember my girlfriend?"
"The one who passed?"

She was always sensitive around the word "die". Even after what he was putting her through, no one deserved to feel the pain of loss.

"Well when she was alive, she had a lot of issues with her stepmom. So she stayed with us a lot. And one night, she was in my room and we…"
"Oh. Um… Ok well you know I'm waiting till marriage, right?"
"Yes, and I respect that. But Julia and I we… We had a bit of an issue."

"What happened?"

ELI'S POV

This was harder than I thought it was gonna be.

"She got pregnant. And she kept it." Clare's mouth opened and her blue eyes widened. My heart sank thinking of the pain that must be behind those beautiful eyes. "Please, Clare, don't judge us."

God, I was so stupid! Clare is the nicest person you've ever met and still, STILL you look down at her.

"I won't," she reached across the table and grabbed my hand again and gave it a comforting squeeze. "So where's Baby Goldsworthy now?"
"With her adopted parents."
"Is that what you were doing today?"
"Yeah." How was she so calm? She sat here, looking at me like I was the one going through hell. Well maybe I was…

"What's her name?"
"Shelby."

Clare smiled. "Pretty."

For some reason, anger stirred in my veins. "Dammit, Clare!"

"What?"

"How can sit there, complementing me on the name of the child I had with another girl?"
"Eli, I know you must be going through hell and I'm not gonna make it worse."
"Why are you so nice to me?"
She squeezed my hand once again. "Because I love you."

"I love you too." I was taken aback, but there wasn't a hint of hesitation in my voice.

I love Clare Diane Edwards.

Ugh sorry. This chapter should've been like twenty times better. Oh well. Let me know what you think.