Hey guys! The reviews and the support on this story are once again amazing, hence the reason I keep updating so often! I haven't read a story like this either so give it a chance! Please Enjoy The Third Chapter of "You Found Me"...

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You Found Me

Moonlight Shine

CLARE

"You can take a shower, or a bath if you like. I have some of my wife's-I mean..." his sentence trailed off, gripping one of his kitchen table chairs tightly as I smiled weakly, "I-I should probably go, your wife probably doesn't want to come home to a pity case."

He scoffed, "She won't be home for a long time."

Maybe they had gotten into a fight...

Eli nervously gathered some clothes, handed them to me, avoiding all eye contact as he changed the subject by saying, "I-I'm going to go for a car ride in Morty to the grocery store. I've been living on fast food lately, actually for the past five years, so uh...any special things you like to eat?"

I nervously glanced around, clutching my blanket and Eli's fresh clothes to my chest as I whispered, stuttering truthfully, "I-I really d-don't r-remember or know, I'm sorry."

"What do you mean?" He asked, as my chest tightened, air getting caught in my throat as I spoke in the lowest tone I could come up with at the moment, "I haven't really eaten anything in relation to food besides scraps from garbage cans..."

"Oh Clare," he whispered, his eyes forming pitied tears as I said, "I'm going to get cleaned off."

As I closed his bathroom door, locking it in the process, I breathed out in relief, letting the heavy blanket fall from my body. I gasped, my eyes locking at my reflection in his bathroom mirror.

My eyes glared at my body, and once I was done staring, I flinched slightly, knowing that their was no way I'd make it out of here alive...

ELI

I sighed in frustration, glancing at all of the choices in this store.

Usually Imogen would do the shopping, and now that she's gone and I had Clare over, I wasn't going to just bring home McDonald's, although that's what I felt like doing because I can't take the excessive amount of choices.

"Excuse me sir, do you need any help?" A man, about the same age as me asked me, as I eyed his name tag, and smirked, "Actually...Drew, that would be great."

"Well, what are you looking for?" He asked me, as I sighed, digging my hands in my pockets.

Honestly, I didn't know what she wanted so I really didn't know what to buy. Being the situation I was in, only made the visit to this store harder. I flinched slightly, hearing a cart's wheels screech from the floor.

I remember when I bought Bella here to pick up some groceries when Imogen wasn't feeling well. I'd place her in the front of the cart, and I'd run through the isles with her. She'd throw her head back, giggling the word 'daddy' and then her tiny hands would grip onto my dead hand shirt.

My eyes glanced at Drew, who looked like he was waiting for an answer to something as I quickly apologized, "I-I'm so sorry, I didn't hear anything you just said. I must've blanked out or something."

He grinned, "I suggested that if you're making a dinner for someone special, then you should make pasta and meatballs. You really can't go wrong with Italian to try and please a lady."

"I'm not trying to please her, although it would be nice to get her to talk to me," I mumbled as Drew placed his hand uncomfortably on my shoulder and said, "I know what you're feeling man, I get rejected all the time. In my opinion, you should just let her go."

"I let her go before, created a new life, and now she's back," I stated as his eyebrows pinned together, "So you're making a dinner for this woman when you already have a wife of your own?"

"No," I cleared my throat, "My daughter and wife died in the nine eleven terrorist attack."

"Oh," he dragged out the "O" and I grabbed two boxes of pasta quickly, while saying, "I really don't know why I'm telling you my life story...but, thank you for helping me pick out my dinner. I'm sure she'll love it, have a good one."

"Hey wait," Drew called out to me as I turned my head, "What?"

"What's her name?" He asked me, as I smirked, "Her name is Clare...Clare Edwards."

After I came back from shopping, spending nearly eighty dollars on every kind of food I could get my hands on, I began to cook some spaghetti and meatballs for the both of us...

*45 MINUTES LATER*

When I sat down at the table alone, my palms sweating, I grew extremely nervous, realizing Clare had spent nearly two hours in the bathroom. I knew that women were known to spend a long time in the bathroom, but not this long.

The chair screeched as I stood up, hesitantly walking over to the bathroom door.

"Clare," I spoke her name, and before I could ask her if she was okay or if she was injured, the door swung open. A low growl escaped my lips as I saw that once again, she was wearing that same blanket wrapped around her body.

"Were my clothes not good enough for you?" I spat, then as she walked by me, tears forming in her eyes, I immediately apologized.

Clare stood by the window, the moonlight shinning on her face as she whispered, "Promise."

"Promise what?" I asked cluelessly, as she whimpered, "Just promise."

"I promise."

I gulped, as I watched Clare's normally clutched fingers loosen and the blanket dropped. At first, all I saw was the dead hand shirt and the pajama shorts I gave her, until, my eyes followed the moonlight and that's when I realized...

The bruises, the cuts, the gashes, the scars, and even, a small puncture wound on her right thigh.

"Promise," I heard Clare whisper as she dropped to her shaking knees, silent but frantic cries escaping her parted lips. I listened to her rant, whisper, and argue violently with herself until she finally broke, the tears falling.

"Y-you did this to me," she whimpered, and I stood there, frozen, too afraid to move as she glanced up at me, "M-me and y-you, us, we were supposed to be forever! You p-promised me you'd never hurt me! I screamed and b-begged you to stop! Y-you'd hit me, you t-touched me, you didn't stop! I-I told you to stop!"

Her voice was hoarse, cracked, and soar.

Clare continued to scream, and I sighed, tears falling down my face as I hesitantly made my way to her shaking frame.

"You took me in, and I trusted you! You hurt me and left me on the s-street! I had to fight and fight for a piece of bread! I HATE YOU I HATE YOU!" The more she screamed, the more I cried.

I couldn't take it anymore, so I moved my hands on either side of her face, and for the first time, she glanced at me without fear in her eyes.

Her body continued to shake as I whispered, "You're safe here Clare...with me, in my house, you're safe. No one is going to hurt you anymore, it's over."

Even though I had no idea what I was saying, I knew that telling her she was the safe was what she needed.

"N-n-o, he'll fine me, he's going-, he'll-," she was lost in her own world, caught up in words as I placed my hands on either side of her face once again, only tighter to get her full attention.

She sobbed uncontrollably as I tried my best to decipher her frantic words, "I-I have no one, he'll come back to look for me. He's going to look for it, but I don't have it Eli! I swear, I don't!"

I stroked my fingers through her wet curls, "What don't you have Clare?"

Her lips quivered, and an awkward silence filled the room as she then took in a deep breath, whispering, "The baby...I don't have it."

END OF CHAPTER 3

Reviews? :)

So Eli didn't know what he was getting himself into when he took Clare in eh? ;)

Love you guys,

Cliffhanger Girl

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