Rescue Me Chapter Four

My little cousin was born yesterday! I was at the hospital from 11am to 3:30am the next morning! Talk about crazy night. Though I did get to miss school yesterday because I was so tired. :D

Anyways, on to the story. Thank you for the reviews! I love them. You guys are amazing and I love you.

Regarding my other stories if you read them:

Immortal Night: I have the next chapter ready, I am just currently editing it, so keep a lookout for an update. I will be updating this weekend, I promise. :)

I Can't Stay Away: This one will take a bit longer since the next chapter needs to be perfect. I'm thinking maybe a week? I have all of next week off from school so I will have time to write then, so maybe I can update earlier. But right now I think it might take a week.

Warning: …Don't hate me?

Clare's POV

I groaned and stirred in my sleep, not being a fan of the light shining in my eyes. I lifted my hand and covered my eyes, trying my best to block out the light so I could go back to sleep. I turned and cuddled into... I don't even know what I cuddled into. I peeked and eye open and realized that I was on a couch. I shot up when I realized that I wasn't just on any couch… I was on Eli's couch. I looked around and my gaze shot to the kitchen when I heard noises. I slowly rose from the couch and cautiously walked towards the kitchen.

Once I turned the corner I let out a sigh of relief to see Adam looking through the fridge. He poked his head up and closed the fridge, only to reveal several amounts of food cluttered in his hands. Adam looked over at me and raised his eyebrows as he looked at my hair before chuckling.

"Long night last night?" He joked, wiggling his eyebrows.

I could feel my cheeks heat up at his comment as my hands shot to my hair, trying to flatten it down. I'm sure I looked like a complete mess. I'm pretty sure my makeup was smudged all over the place and I probably look like a racoon. "I guess you could say that."

He placed the food on the counter and turned to me. The look on his face made me realize that he had something on his mind. I knew he was about to have a talk with me, so I tried to brace myself for what was to come. Maybe he thought that me staying over was too much? Well, to be fair I didn't plan on staying over, I just fell asleep.

"Thank you… for bringing him home. For being there for him. I would have been, but I was at work, and he didn't call me so I had no idea." Adam said softly, looking quite sad. "I feel like shit."

"Hey, it's okay. He told me he didn't want to call you and I couldn't leave work, so I told him to come on over. I hope I'm not horrible for letting him get as drunk as he did, but to be honest he had a really good time. He seemed different… he seemed better. Which maybe isn't a good thing considering his situation? Maybe alcohol isn't the best thing for him…" I mumbled on, realizing that if he felt amazing while under the influence of alcohol, he might go to it for everything. I didn't want him to become an alcoholic trying to drown out his problems.

Adam chuckled, "Nah, it's alright. He's not much of a drinker. He'll wake up and regret ever taking a sip of it. Trust me; he won't go near it again." I smiled as Adam explained what should have been the most obvious thing to me. Eli had told me he wasn't much of a drinker and after he wakes up he may hate me for letting him drink that much.

"I guess you're right." I said.

Adam nodded before he opened a cupboard and pulled out a bottle of aspirin. He poured a glass of water before handing me it along with two pills. "Here, go wake him up and give these to him. He'll need it."

I took the water and aspirin before I turned and made my way upstairs. I slowly opened the door to Eli's room and walked inside, envying how dark it was in here. He had black curtains hung up, making sure no sunlight could enter unless he wanted it to. I walked over to the bed and set the glass of water and aspirin on his nightstand. I giggled as I looked at him; his mouth was wide open and his cheek was squished into the pillow as he lay on his stomach. I watched his eyes flutter, wondering if maybe he was awake. I placed my hand on his shoulder and shook him lightly, but he didn't budge. I didn't want to just shove him and give him a heart attack, so I tried the gentle approach, but that didn't seem to be working.

I sighed in frustration after my third try of trying to gently wake him up, knowing I wasn't getting anywhere with this. I placed both of my hands on his back and shook him while saying, "Eli, wake up!"

He jumped and his head shot up. He groaned and rubbed his eyes, obviously not ready to wake up yet. He rolled over and placed his hand on his forehead, groaning; it had hit him. He peeked one eye open to look at me.

"What are you doing here?" Eli asked, his voice hoarse.

"I fell asleep on your couch." I shrugged. "Move over." He moved over a bit before I lay down on his bed next to him. I grabbed the aspirin and water before handing them to him. He looked at them and suddenly his eyes lit up.

"You… are a goddess." He muttered.

I smiled as he took them from my hands before sitting up and taking the aspirin. He gulped down half of the glass of water before placing it on his bedside table. He curled back up under the covers and closed his eyes as he turned to face me. I watched him curiously, wondering if he was going to say anything. Was he just going to go back to sleep with me sitting here? Well, it wouldn't surprise me; he is hung over.

I turned my head to stare at his ceiling, wondering if I should go home now. I guess it would be reasonable if I went home now; I'm not even that close with these guys and here I am in their house. Maybe I should be more careful and more observant as to where I am and where I fall asleep. Maybe I should get a rubber band so I could snap myself when I feel like I'm falling asleep and I'm not home. Hmm, that could work.

"What is that?"

I turned my head to look at Eli, noticing his eyes were glued to my neck. I got up from the bed and looked in his mirror, my eyes widening when they landed on the hickey Eli had given me. I slowly turned to him, my face as red as a fire truck. I laughed shortly, not knowing how to approach this subject.

"Well," I began while looking at him with uneasiness, "You see… you uh… you kind of…" I paused, trying to find my words. "It's a hickey."

"No shit."

"Well, that's what it is."

He rolled onto his back, his hands rubbing his eyes as he asked, "Who gave it to you?"

I paused. How in the world am I supposed to tell him that he had come onto me last night and that he was the one who gave it to me? Bring on the awkwardness.

"You."

He shot up from the bed and looked at me with shock. His eyes were wide and his mouth was agape. "What?"

"You gave it to me. You um… you came onto me and well…" I motioned my hand to the hickey and he stared at me wide eyed.

He turned and shoved his face into a pillow before groaning into it. He started running his hands through his hair, his face still buried into the pillow.

"What happened?" I heard him ask, his voice muffled from the pillow.

"That's it. We came here and then you pulled me onto the couch, climbed on top of me, started kissing my neck before I pushed you away." I shrugged and Eli lifted his head to look at me curiously.

He raised his eyebrows as I sat down on his bed again. He opened and closed his mouth, trying to get the right words. I lay down on his bed again and he closed his eyes while pinching the bridge of his nose. He opened his eyes to look at me.

"You pushed me away?" he asked and I nodded, wanting him to know that it didn't go any further. "Did you… not like it? Was I that bad?" I could tell he felt awkward asking this so I kept my laughter on the inside.

"No, no, it wasn't like that." I told him, turning my gaze to the ceiling. "I enjoyed it quite much, actually." I turned my head to face him again, taking note of the smirk on his lips, but I continued. "But you were drunk and… I still don't know why you wanted to talk to me last night. What happened that made you feel like you couldn't be alone?"

His smirk dropped as he turned so he was lying on his back beside me, both of us staring at the ceiling.

"I just… I don't know. I just knew that if I didn't talk to somebody soon, I was going to think of another way to end my life."

"Okay, could you stop saying it like that? You just spit it out like it's nothing but it's not. So just… stop." I said, feeling a bit upset at how easily he says things like that. He's always so calm about it and it scares me. It's like the fact of killing himself doesn't even faze him.

"Sorry," he mumbled. "I didn't know it bothered you that much."

"Yeah, well, it does." I got off of his bed and walked to the door. I paused in the doorway and ran my hand through my hair before turning around to face him. His lips were formed into a frown. "I'm glad you're okay, Eli."

I gave him a small smile and he returned it. I turned to walk out of his room but stopped when he called my name. I turned to face him once again as he said, "Promise you won't ever let me drink that much again. My head feels like it's going to explode."

I laughed as he rubbed his head, knowing the pain he was feeling. I smiled at him.

"Promise."

"I want to meet him."

My gaze shot up to Alli who was currently sitting across from me. We were at The Dot, trying to catch up since I had been with Eli for the past week. I had told Alli everything, from how I met Eli and what had went down the night at the bar. She had given me this knowing smile, noticing the obvious blush I had on every time I mentioned Eli's name. She was a little iffy about the circumstances of how we met; she wasn't too keen on me being into someone who is suicidal, but I told her that if she got to know him, she would change her mind. I told her how he is just so broken and that he needs someone to be there for him, and that I was going to be that someone. So, when she spoke up and said that she wanted to meet him, I wasn't surprised… I was more along the lines of nervous.

What if things didn't go well? I had told Alli more than I should have. Alli does have a big mouth and if something slips out, he might hate me and never want to see me again. That would be the best way to go. The other possibility is that he might try to commit suicide again, and I didn't want to take that chance.

"Alli, you do know that when you meet him, you can't just pounce in and ask him questions. He is very emotional and if you say the wrong thing, I don't know what he will do. So please, just be careful. Think before you speak." I told her, watching her as she took in what I had said.

"Clare, are you sure he's… safe? If just a simple question can tick him off, don't you think that something's not right?" Alli asked slowly.

I pinned my eyebrows together. "Of course he's safe, Alli, he's just broken. He's not dangerous to anyone but himself. He has a lot going on and I'm trying to make sure he keeps breathing." I spat harshly.

She looked at me apologetically. "Okay, I'm sorry. I just want to make sure you know what you're getting yourself into. This isn't an every day thing, Clare, and it's weird to know that my best friend is putting herself in this kind of situation. I mean, I was amazed to hear that you saved his life, and I'm glad you did, but don't you think that if you stick around, he might get attached to you? You said that he doesn't have anyone, and by the sound of it, you guys are getting very close pretty fast."

"What are you saying, Alli?" I asked, my heart pounding in my chest. It scared me how much her words were making me nervous. I knew she was right in some sort of way, but I just didn't want to believe them. I knew that I had been around Eli a lot more than I should have been this week, but I just couldn't leave him alone knowing what he is capable of.

"I'm saying that maybe you should back off a bit. Try to limit your guys' time together."

I sat back in my seat, taking in her words. Maybe she was right. I had been spending a lot of time with Eli, but it's not like anything was happening. I would go over to his house to sit and talk with him, and most of the time it was about books or movies. We would go for coffee or just to get a bite to eat, nothing big. Sometimes Adam would join us and we would just hang out. I didn't really see the harm in that.

But I have noticed that Eli has been eager to hang out a lot of the time. He would call more then he needed too, and sometimes I would blow off my plans for him. I knew I shouldn't be doing that, but each time he calls me I get the image of him stepping closer to the edge of that roof and I'm always too scared that if I tell him I can't hang out, he'll do something drastic.

Maybe we were getting too attached.

"I'll talk to him, okay?" I told her and she nodded. "But in the meantime, how are you and Jake? I haven't seen him in a while."

Alli's eyes lit up like a Christmas tree and I knew the Eli subject was long gone. I smiled as she began to babble on about him. She told me that everything was great and that she really liked him. I already knew she had strong feelings for him, but I just let her tell me since I know she loves admitting it.

"…Oh, maybe Jake could come meet Eli too!" She said excitedly and my eyes widened.

"What?" I asked.

"Come on, Clare. You said Eli doesn't have friends besides you and his roommate, so why not? And I'm sure Jake wouldn't mind letting Eli talk to him if he wanted instead of him always going to you. This way you get a break." She smiled brightly and I narrowed my eyes at her.

"That's what this is about. You want Jake to meet Eli so then Eli won't be so attached to me. You think that Eli will just open up to anybody? Alli, do you not understand that this isn't something that can be fixed by the snap or your fingers?" I glared at her. "This is serious stuff and I'm not going to walk away from him when he needs me the most. I understand where you're coming from and I will make sure to limit my time with him, but I am not going to just shove Jake his way and make him uncomfortable. You don't understand how fragile he is and that at any moment, he could break and the worst part is… he would do anything to end his pain."

I huffed and sat back in my seat. Alli stared at me with a sad expression. I knew I had finally gotten to her.

"I'm sorry, Clare. I didn't know…"

I sighed, "It's okay. Just… let me do what I have to do, okay? I know what I'm doing."

She nodded, "Okay."

Just as she said this, my phone rang. I quickly fished it out and checked the caller ID, giving Alli a glance of hesitation. She sighed and nodded, telling me to pick it up.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Clare."

"Hi, Eli." I said slowly.

"Are you free? Adam and I are planning on going to go see a movie and we were wondering if you wanted to come along." He asked and I could hear the excitement in his tone, making me frown.

I looked into Alli's eyes and I felt my heart drop at what I was about to do.

"I would love to, Eli, but I'm kind of hanging out with my friend at the moment." I told him, watching Alli smile softly.

"Oh…" I heard him mumble.

"I'm sorry."

"No, no, that's fine." He said, and I almost believed him. "You go have fun with your friend."

"I'll talk to you later, okay?" I told him, hoping he wasn't mad at me. "And you can tell me all about the movie."

"Yeah, okay. Goodbye, Clare."

I frowned at the pain in his voice and I knew that what I was doing was a good thing, even if it hurt him. Adam was with him, so I knew Eli wouldn't try anything with him there. I think some guy time would do Eli some good. Adam has been working a lot lately. That's one of the reasons Eli calls me so often; he doesn't want to be alone.

"Goodbye, Eli."

Not as good as I hoped it would be, I'll admit that.

Please tell me your thoughts. xoxo