So sorry for not updating in almost a month and also sorry this sucks.

Sorry.

Whatever. It. Takes.

~JuliaGoldsworthy


"Will you still love me
When I'm no longer young and beautiful?
Will you still love me
When I got nothing but my aching soul?
I know you will, I know you will
I know that you will"

-Lana Del Rey.

-Young and Beautiful.


"Hey Eli where do you want this?" Jake asked carrying an end table in one hand and a lamp in the other.

"Just put them by the window for right now." I said. I was trying to help my dad move one of their small couches in without dropping it. Even though it would've been nice to be able to stay with them, I think it was better that Clare and I were getting our own place. It was just fortunate that most of CeCe and Bullfrog's was too big to fit into their new place. Why they had four couches I still wasn't sure.

"Alright Eli, I better be going now but you can run the truck back and forth as long as you need to." he said, throwing me the keys to their storage building they'd bought.

"Thanks!" I said. He got into the car my mom was driving and they took off.

Adam started moving in some chairs with Drew. I thought it was nice of him to help out even though we weren't great friends. Although, I guess him and Clare would get sort of close this year with student council and all. He dragged Bianca along and she was pretending to unload boxes. Alli was taking in boxes with long spaces of time in between. Clare, even though I'd told her that I would take care of everything, was moving in light items like pillows and blankets.

Jake came back outside and I pulled him over.

"Hey Jake," I said semi-softly.

"Yeah?" he looked at me and I nodded him over.

I pulled the black and white pictures out of my wallet and showed them to him.

"Clare had a ultrasound today?" he asked, eyes wide.

"Yeah, her first." I told him.

"How did things go?" he asked. I was pretty sure he didn't really know what to say. He was squinting at the pictures.

"Good, the doctor said everything is normal so far."

He didn't say anything for a few minutes. He just stared at the picture before handing it back to me. "It's crazy to think it's all real."

I nodded. "I know." I said.

I looked up and saw Clare and Adam coming back out of the house to the truck. Jake handed the picture back to me and walked away.

"So I think things are going pretty smoothly." Clare said, coming to rest her head on my shoulder.

I leaned to kiss the top of her head. Her curls smelled faintly of sweat and perfume. "I'd say so." I murmured.

Just then, my phone rang from my pocket. I dug it out and answered it, not recognizing the number.

"Hello?" I asked.

"Hello Elijah Goldsworthy?"

"Yes?" I responded.

"We've received your application for the job as our new assistant mechanic and would like you to start as soon as possible."

I looked over at Clare and smiled. I tried to keep my voice calm. "Thank you, when's the soonest I can start?"

Clare realized what the other line was saying and beamed. "Wednesday of next week. Eight o'clock." the man said.

"Yes sir I'll be there." I said.

The other line hung up and I turned to Clare who had a huge grin on her face.

"You got the job?" she asked.

"I got the job!" I told her.

She squealed and I picked her up to spin her around. Not only did this mean we would have money but it also meant that we would be able to better plan for the future. This job would make everything so much easier.

"What's going on?" Adam said walking over to us with Alli beside him.

"I got the mechanic job." I said, realizing how ridiculous I probably had looked.

"That's awesome! I knew you would." he said with a smile.

Alli hugged Clare and Bianca and Drew walked over to us. "Hey is there anything else that needs moved? If not I think we're going to head out." He looked down at Bianca who ran her finger up and down his chest flirtatiously. I wondered if this was her way of getting out of working.

"I think everything is good." I said. "But thanks for helping out." They said goodbye before getting in the car and heading, most likely, back to Drew's house.

"I think I'm going to take off too, Jenna and Connor are having some drama and now I have to go to the Dot and get my ear talked off for three hours about it." Alli said before hugging Clare and getting in her car.

"I think I'm going home too, got a hot date with Becky tonight." he said winking.

"Really?" I asked. "That's awesome."

"Yeah I'll call you and let you know how it went." he said backing up to his car.

"Just don't talk my ear off for three hours okay?"

He laughed and left.

I kissed Clare's forehead and smiled before heading back into the building.


Later after Adam and Alli left it was just Eli, Jake and I. The boys were re-assembling the bed frame that had to be taken apart earlier to fit in the truck. I was in the kitchen unboxing the few dishes that CeCe and Bullfrong had been willing to give up.

Jake came into the kitchen and took one of the glasses from the cabinet and turned on the faucet, filling it before chugging it until it was empty.

"I just put that away." I said looking up at him.

"Well get used to it." he said refilling the glass. This time he sipped it slower. "You're having a kid, everytime you put something away she'll be right behind you undoing everything."

I shrugged and tried to smile. His words reminded me of my mom. When Darcy and I were younger, she was always saying that as soon as something was clean one of us had made a mess again before she could turn around.

Even though we hadn't left things off on the best note, I still missed her. We used to talk everyday ut now it had been over three weeks since I'd even seen her.

Jake seemed to notice my absent mind. "Are you okay?" he asked.

I sighed before I spoke. "Has mom mentioned me at all? About calling me or anything?" my voice was tentative.

Jake gave me apologetic eyes before shaking his head no. "At all?" I asked.

It seemed impossible she could forget about me so easily. "Sometimes my dad will suggest calling you or he'll ask me how you and Eli are doing. But Helen always pretends not to hear it." his voice was quiet as if that would help soften the blow.

I nodded and even though that hurt I tried to shake it off. "So," I said shutting the cabinets. "Are you two almost done?" I asked moving through the living room to the bedroom.

Eli was laying on the bare mattress with his hands behind his head. "We have a bed!" He said cheerfully when he noticed Jake and I in the doorway. He was still beyond the moon with happiness about the job. I was excited for him, not only did he get a job period but it was also something he was good at and enjoyed doing. I didn't think he couldn't found a better job on such short notice.

Eli sat up and motioned for me to come join him. Jake rolled his eyes and shut the door as I walked over to my boyfriend. "I'll see you guys later." he said before shutting the door.

Eli smiled and I crawled in his arms. I was strange to think that this bed was ours. It hadn't been his nor mine. It wasn't something either of us could claim belonged to only one of us. This bed frame, the box spring, and the bare mattress was something we each could take an equal part of. Something that we shared in every sense of the word.

His arms tightened around me and I curled into him. "Things will be good for us now Clare." he said, smiling as he did so.

I knew that he had tried to hide it from me the best he could but I had known that he was worried about how we would get by, especially after the baby arrived. I'd been nervous to but I knew that whatever happened with money, we could fix it. I was really nervous about being a parent.

Without anyone to guide me when things went wrong. Sure I had CeCe and she was amazing, but it wasn't my mom. It would be different and hard but somehow I figured that with Eli beside me, things really would be okay.

"Everything will be fine." he said. His fingers were running mindlessly through my curls and I looked up at him. He was still in his own head and I smiled.

I rested my head on his chest before sighing shakily. "I know."


There were a few things I learned quickly after living with Clare for that first week.

One was that her hair always clogged the drain after she showered, which seemed like it was almost too often. Another was that at night when bags would form under her eyes she would exchange her contacts for glasses, which she had never done in front of me before. Another was that in the morning when I would wake up to get breakfast started or run errands so she wouldn't have to, she would make little sighs as she slept. Lastly, after living with Clare so closely for such a short amount of time, I knew that I could never live without her.

Today was Wednesday, as in the first day of work. I didn't think I had ever been this nervous for anything before. Now that our futures were relying on this job to be a good one I didn't know what I would do if it didn't work out.

I went through the things Clare and I had talked about last night on my way to the garage. I had showered and shaved so I looked nice, I had eaten a bagel and taken my meds so I wouldn't crack on the first day, and I practiced my first impression smile before leaving.

I could hear Clare's voice in my head. 'Don't be sarcastic with the boss.' she had said. I smirked thinking of our conversation in the bedroom last night. 'Also, call him sir...a lot. Bosses like that.'

I took a deep breath and pulled into the parking lot.

The bell dinged as I walked into the mechanic's front lobby. It was a small place with white walls. The matching tile floors had seen years of scuff marks and smudges but it was homey in a strange way. The smell told me I had wasted my time with a shower.

A larger mad with thinning white hair walked towards me.

"You Eli?" he grunted. He had a styrofoam cup in his hand and a pack of cigarettes peeking up from his chest pocket.

I raised my eyebrows. "Me?"

The man gave me a disappointed look and I felt the need to straighten up. "Yes, I'm Eli."

"Great." he threw a navy blue collared shirt at me. "Change into this and follow me out in to the garage." he motioned for me to go behind the counter and I did. For a man his size he moved rather fast. I stripped off my shirt and changed into the new one as we walked.

As I buttoned up he kept talking. "You'll need to get a pair of steel toed boot of at least ankle of height. Now, I can understand that those can be sort of expensive so I'll give you until the end of the week to get those. Until then," he stopped and turned to look at me so fast I almost ran into him. His eyes rolled at my converse sneakers. "I guess those will do." he walked and talked on. "Also, you'll need a pair of black work pants but wear jeans for today. As for tools you're very fortunate to be working at this garage because we supply each of our mechanics with their own set of tools. You're welcome." he stopped in front of a red SUV and turned to me. "This is you station, from now on you'll report here after you clock in. This is your first car, give it a diagnosis, fill out the paper work and I'll talk to the owner." he threw a clipboard at me and I trapped it against my chest. "Now, there's the information, there are you tools and these are your co-workers. If you need anything you can find me in my office." he sipped his cup and walked away.

I stood baffled. "Yes sir." I said.

"Oh and Eli," he turned to me again. "

"Don't need anything." he winked at me and walked away, slamming a door as he did so to let everyone know it was time to get to work.


Wow yep, sorry guys that was awful but if you feel like leaving me a review about it please do so. Also tell me what you think the gender and name of Eclare baby should be.

I promise to update more often :)

Whatever. It. Takes.

~JuliaGoldsworthy.