Crisis of Faith

Part Three

"So," Darcy said as she and her sister stepped into The Dot "this is the new Dot, eh?"

"This is it." Clare agreed.

"It's nice." The brunette suddenly turned to smirk at her sister "Where's your man? And when on God's green earth did Holly J start sucking face with Sav?"

The younger Edwards sister grimaced as she spotted the two teens in question. Holly J was sitting sideways across Sav's lap, her right arm hooked behind his neck while her left hand toyed with his hair. "They used to be a bit more subtle, but they finally told Anya they were together and voila."

"Huh. And your man?"

Clare blushed as she pointed to the table where Eli sat with Adam, Drew, and Alli. "He's-"

"The one in black?" Darcy asked sarcastically.

"How did you-"

"He drives a hearse, Clare."

"Right."

Darcy regarded the black clad junior carefully. "I never pictured you with a guy who wears eyeliner." Clare didn't say anything as her sister looked from her boyfriend to her and back again. "He's cute."

The red head smiled slightly "You have no idea."

"How did you meet?"

"He ran over my glasses."

Darcy looked at her sister in surprise "That's it?"

Clare chuckled "No." Her face took on a kind of dreamy quality as she relived her first meeting with her boyfriend. "I had just got my surgery and Alli and I were fighting over my glasses. They flew into the parking lot and this hearse drives over them."

"And then?"

"And then it stopped and Eli got out. He picked them up and handed them to me and said 'I think they're dead'."

"Wow," Darcy deadpanned "A goth kid driving a hearse crushes your glasses and tells you they're dead. How romantic… I didn't know you were into that kind of thing."

Clare glared at her sister "I'm not done yet."

"Sorry." Darcy smirked "Continue."

"Anyway, I tell him I don't need them anymore and he says 'You have pretty eyes'."

"Aww."

"I know, right?"


Eli was talking to Adam, trying hard to ignore Drew and Alli –who were being disgustingly 'in love'- when he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. Trying to be inconspicuous he glanced around the coffee shop. "Okay, who is Clare standing with and why is she staring at me?"

Adam stopped mid-comic book rant as he, his brother and Alli looked towards The Dot's entrance. "Wow."

Alli let out a little squeal and jumped up from the table, and then she ran towards the two girls as fast as her high heeled feet could take her. "Oh my gosh!"

The three guys tuned out the girls' high pitched squeals and tried to make their own conjectures as to who the brunette was. "I don't know who she is," Drew commented "but she's hot."

"Dude," Adam shook his head "you're such a skeeze."

"A skeeze?" Drew questioned. Eli quirked an eyebrow at his best friend, intrigued.

"If you like Alli, like Alli, stop trying to hook up with other girls."

"Checking out is not trying to hook up." Drew defended.

Eli nodded "Look but don't touch, it's a rule or something." Then he saw Drew staring again and kicked him under the table "Don't look too hard though."

"Ow." The quarterback leaned down to rub his shin.

"Alli's a nice girl." Adam said.

Eli nodded "And she's Clare's best friend."

"And it's a bitch to listen to her when you do stupid shit like stare at other girls." Adam continued.

"Fine." Drew said, holding up his hands, "I'm just trying to figure out who the other chick is, okay? Does Clare have a sister or something?"

"Darcy." Eli said, turning in his seat to take a closer look at the brunette "She's supposed to be in Africa though…"

"I guess she's back."

"Who's back?" Holly J asked from the next table over. She and Sav had finally disconnected from each other when Sav had heard his younger sister's squeal. Adam pointed towards the door. "Darcy!"

Sav groped his pocket for his cell phone as soon as the red head jumped off his lap and rushed to the other girls "I gotta call Peter." He muttered, holding the phone to his ear.

"I guess that answers that question." Adam said quietly as the four girls started towards them.

"Hi guys." Clare greeted.

"Hey Blue Eyes." Eli smiled, standing up to give her a brief kiss.

Clare blushed and tucked a stray curl behind her ear as Eli sat back down and pushed a chair out for her. "Guys this is-"

"Darcy." Eli supplied.

Clare nodded, not even questioning how he knew that –he always seemed to just know things "Darce, this is Drew, Adam and Eli."

"Hi." Darcy focused solely on Eli as she sat down.

"I'm just gonna go sit with Sav." Holly J said, sensing something going on.

Adam nodded "We need to go too."

"What-"

"Drew." Adam cut his brother off "We need to go."

"Fine." The older Torres said, cluing in, "Let's go Al, I'll take you home."

"Okay," Alli agreed grudgingly, grabbing her coat and purse "call me later Clare. I want details."

"Sure, Alli."

"Later, dude." Adam said, bumping fists with Eli "See you later Clare. Darcy."

Eli nodded as his friends left. He smiled at Clare and grabbed her hand under the table before locking eyes with Darcy. "So that was pretty obvious."

The brunette snorted and grinned "Not exactly subtle." She agreed.

"So…"

"Dude, you're wearing more eyeliner than me."

Eli smirked, sensing the sarcasm in the older girl's tone "I think we're going to get along fine."

"Treat my sister right and we won't have a problem."

Eli tightened his grip on Clare's hand "We won't have a problem."

"Good."

Clare let out the breath she'd been holding and squeezed Eli's hand in return when Darcy swore under her breath. "Darcy?"

"It's Peter. Oh God, Clare, it's Peter."

"I think that's our hint to leave." Eli announced. Clare nodded.

"No!" Darcy grabbed at her younger sister's hand as she stood up. "Clare! I know I said I was ready, but I'm not. I can't do this. Don't go."

"Darcy." Clare said as Eli slung his arm around her shoulders. "You can do this. Have a little faith."

The brunette watched as her sister walked away, wrapped in her boyfriend's arms, smiling, and breathed in deeply. "I can do this." She told herself "Have a little faith."