Author's Note: Yay! Guess what? I have new neighbors! Well…sorta. The man who lives next door to me let his girlfriend and her two boys move in with him and one of them is my age. Haven't talked to him yet…I'm too scared. He goes to my school, but we haven't met. My big sister's friend says he's cute, but my sister herself disagrees. Why am I telling you this? I honestly don't know. Anyway, here is the next chapter. Back to Clare's point of view! :D

Caught Up In the Moment (Part Four)

As soon as I hung up the phone, I picked it up again and dialed Adam's number.

"Hey, Clare. What's up?" he greeted.

"I need to talk to you. It's important. Can you come over if you're not busy?" I asked.

"Sure. I kind of wanted to talk to you, too."

"Then this works for both of us."

"I'll be there in ten."

"Thanks, Adam. You're the best."

"Obviously." He agreed smugly.

"Sure you are. See you then."

"Bye!" We both hung up the phone and I leaned on my desk in my room. Questions about Eli and Adam swarmed my head in a frenzy. Was it wrong to tell Eli about the kiss so soon? I hadn't done it on purpose and I should have been more careful talking to him, but was it better now than later? Did Adam know about the car crash? The break-up? That Eli was mad at him? Would Adam be mad when he found out that I told Eli? And most importantly, what will happen to us next? Who will still be friends if not all of us? Eli said that he might forgive me, but that will be a long time from now. And what about him and Adam? Will they make up? I hope they will. I just couldn't stand it if I was the one who ended their friendship for good. The sound of the doorbell jolted me from my thoughts. I ran downstairs and opened the door. Adam walked in, and all of the sudden, I became very nervous. I didn't want to tell him that I told Eli, but it had to be done. I gestured for him to sit on the couch and I sat next to him.

"So what was so important that I had to come over?"

"Eli."

"You, too?"

"What do you mean? Did you need to talk to me about him as well?"

"Yeah. And it's kinda serious and I wanna get it off my chest, so can I speak first?" I nodded, "Okay, so Bullfrog called me and told me about the accident this morning. So I rushed to see Eli and he told me why he crashed Morty. And then I sorta told him about that conversation we had a few days ago…"

"So you told him about the kiss, too?"

"No…I just told him that I helped you make your decision about taking a break and he flipped out…but what do you mean by 'too'?"

"Nothing…" I really have to learn how to keep my mouth shut.

"Clare…" He dragged out my name and raised his eyebrows expectantly.

"Fine…I called Eli this afternoon to check up on him and we got into a fight and…I may have let it slip that…we kissed." I tapped my fingers on the coffee table nervously, waiting for his response.

"Oh god." He got up and started pacing, "Oh god. We're in trouble. He's gonna kill us both. Why would you tell him that without me?"

"Because he said that you betrayed him, and I thought that it meant that you had already told him. In fact, I was pretty mad at you for a few seconds when I thought that."

"I'm not mad. He was gonna find out someday anyway. If anything, I'm disappointed in myself for not telling him before his life was ruined."

"Ruined? What do you mean?" I asked, genuinely concerned.

"He told me that nothing was working out for him with the break-up, the car crash, and my betrayal. He almost sounded suicidal." My eyes widened.

"Oh no. Really? You don't think he would…" I trailed off.

"No. Never. Well…it depends. How mad was he?" He cringed a little, anticipating my answer.

"Actually…not as mad as I thought he would be."

"Really?"

"Yeah. He even said that he might forgive me."

"Oh. Then he won't do that. At least, I doubt it. And he'll definitely forgive me."

"How can you be so sure?" I asked curiously.

"Because he knows that girlfriends come and go, but best friends last for a long time."

"Thanks for making me feel better, Adam!" I replied sarcastically.

"But don't worry, Clare. He'll totally forgive you, too. He loved you. I bet he still does. He thinks you're perfect, so this is one little mistake compared to his seven billion."

"I'm sure he hasn't made that many mistakes."

"I know, but it seems that way to him." I looked down for a second, thinking.

"We really hurt him, didn't we?"

"I think we did."

"I broke up with him, ripping his heart out, and then kissed his best friend." I was suddenly beginning to realize the magnitude of my actions.

"Actually, I think that's the wrong order."

"But either way, we still hurt him." Tears began to form in my eyes.

"Clare, it's okay. It was one mistake. One kiss. He'll get over it. Look at everything else he's gotten over in his life. He'll forgive you." But I wasn't listening to him.

"I don't want Eli's forgiveness. I don't deserve it because I'm a terrible person. What I want most is for him to be happy again. I want him to get over me instead. I can't stand to have him this sad. It breaks my heart." Teardrops were now running down my cheeks.

"See, Clare? Only a good person would be that selfless.

"No. A good person wouldn't do what I did."

"Good people make mistakes. Accidents happen to them."

"It wasn't an accident, Adam. I did it on purpose. I don't deserve to be called a good person. I'm a soulless monster!" I was now sobbing uncontrollably.

"Fine. Say what you will. But no matter what, I, Eli, and everyone else on the planet will still consider you a saint."

"Well, everyone else is wrong." I looked up at his solemn countenance, "I think I need to be alone. I need to think about all of this. Could you please leave?" He began to walk towards the door, talking over his shoulder.

"Sure. It won't be the first time today that I've been kicked out of a place." I knit my eyebrows together in confusion, "Eli sorta…told me to get out of his life."

"He'll forgive you. You deserve it. You're a good person."

"And you are, too." And before I could tell him for the tenth time that he was wrong, he disappeared out the door. And I was alone, just like I wanted to be. Alone with my nonexistent soul. And I never felt emptier.

Author's Note: Gah! Another serious chapter! Well, this is probably the most serious story I've ever written. And the only one with changing points of view. I hope this story doesn't depress you. It's not all sunshine and rainbows. But if you are feeling sad now, think of those things. And "Drink some whiskey! It'll make you feel better." You know who says that? If you do, I will love you forever. But seriously, don't drink. Even if someone starts drinking in this story *possiblehinthint* Anyway, review if you don't want this story to end in Eli committing suicide (I seriously thought about that in the middle of writing this chapter). :D Wait…how can I put a smiley face after talking about death? Oh well! And also, do you know what "on tenterhooks" means? It's a synonym for expectantly (I looked for one because I use that word too often). You learn something new every day. But has anyone else ever heard that expression? Tenterhooks is one of my new favorite words. :D There. Now I can end with a smiley face.