Warning : Eli gets...Crazy here. You'll find out why in the next chapter, and we introduce a new character. Hehehe. Enjoy!
Eli stared at the fragile figure of the girl sleeping on the couch sadly. She had cried for hours when they got home. And no amount of pleading and comforting and romantic movies stopped her sobbing. She had finally stopped at one in the morning, and Eli felt extremely sad for making her sad and for not being able to stop her from sobbing.
Also, she had refused to sleep with him, and wanted to sleep on the couch instead, despite her fear of the dark and being alone. She wanted him to know how angry and disappointed she was in him. She also told him that he shouldn't kiss her on the lips if he didn't mean, if he didn't truly like or love her. She didn't believe when he said he liked her, nothing changed her mind.
She refused to talk to him until he would make their relationship public.
Eli sighed, she wasn't asking for much, but to him it was too much. He couldn't make their relationship public, no matter how much he wanted to. Yes, they were boyfriend and girlfriend now, he told her that after they kissed, but he also told her that they wouldn't make it public. And that was caused her to sob for several hours.
He glanced at Clare again, who was trembling. He sighed and stood up, and kneeled by her side. Tears were running down her cheeks, her eyes were red, her hair was messy. She hadn't changed out of her clothes, and now they were crumpled. "Clare..." He said softly, reaching out to wipe her tears away.
She recoiled, and sat up, backing away from him. "Clare..." He pleaded, reaching out once more. Again, she recoiled, anger clouding her eyes. She had never felt angry in her life, it was new to her, and she didn't like the feeling, it was negative, and she didn't like negative things or feelings.
There were a lot of new feelings she didn't like, like sadness, annoyance, anger, hurt. And all because of this one guy, all because of the strange little world she was in, so different from the place she was used to. She was used to happiness, joy, peace, perfection. But... Even though she was in a corrupted, mad world, she didn't regret it. She didn't regret being pushed into this world.
Because she met Eli. But right now, she was mad at him. What was so hard about making their relationship "public", known by other people? The Guardians never said anything about an older man and a young woman having a romantic relationship together to be wrong or bad.
Clare sighed and stared at Eli's tired face, his eye-bags, his tired, red eyes. Had he been crying too? It was strange when she cried. She had never cried before, never knew that eyes could produce water. There was also a strange feeling in her heart when Eli said that they couldn't be together. They were all knew to her, the pain in her heart, the tears, the hurt.
Was this what love was all about?
Eli was right, there was still a lot she didn't know about the world, there was a lot she needed to learn and understand. But that didn't change her mind. She still wanted them to go public.
"Clare..." He said again, his voice breathy. She shook her head, tears continuing to flow down her cheeks freely. She wiped them away, but more kept replacing them. "Leave me alone, Eli..." She whispered angrily. All the joy and happiness and peace in her was gone, all she felt was hurt and anger. "You're hurting me..." She said, fist clenching. "Here..." She placed her other hand on her heart.
"It hurts... And I know it's because of you... It's you..."
"Clare, I..."
"Leave me alone, Eli." She buried her face in her hands. Eli sighed sadly. What happened to the sweet, bubbly, talkative, cheerful Clare he knew? This wasn't her. Not this sad, sobbing, hurt, angry girl in front of him. "Clare, please. I'm sorry. Please." She shook her head. "Not until you accept our "age difference", not until you make other people accept our "age difference", and not until you make our relationship "public"."
"Clare, you're asking for too much..." He whispered. "Fine! I knew it! You don't love me! You're just using me! The Guardians said, and my other favorite characters on your magic talking box said that if you truly love someone, you'd do anything for them, and you wouldn't care what other people think of you. True loves has no boundaries!" She shouted angrily, looking up at him with blazing blue eyes.
Eli gritted his teeth. Why couldn't she understand? He knew she was an angel and all, but surely she couldn't be that innocent or stupid not to understand. "We can be together when you're old enough, when you're eighteen!" He hissed back. "If I make our relationship public now, I could get arrested! And then who'll take care of you, huh? Who will?" He hissed, slamming his fist down on the glass coffee table, cracking it.
Clare backed away, fresh tears filling her eyes. But Eli didn't stop. "Why do you have to be so dense, so fucking stupid? Why are you damn angels so dumb? Don't you understand anything? Why don't you listen?" He roared, and roughly yanked her arm, pulling her to him. Clare cried out in pain. Eli gazed into her eyes with flaming green ones. "I guess all pretty girls are stupid aren't they?"
That was it. Clare's lower lip trembled, and she burst into tears. Eli's glare suddenly softened and his face crumpled, realizing what's he done. "Clare, I'm so sorry, I-"
"NO!"
She yelled, yanking her arm back, not caring if it hurt. She couldn't believe what's he just done. He called her so many bad names, then he hurt her. He was so scary when he was angry. She ran to the door. "Clare, wait! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to hurt you!" He called.
Clare ignored him and ran downstairs, out of the building, into the street. It was a cold, dark night. But she didn't care. Eli had hurt. And according to his magic talking box, when people truly loved each other, they didn't hurt each other. Never. She ran as fast as she could, ignoring Eli's shouts of pain, ignoring the footsteps behind her. She kept running till the sound of footsteps were gone.
She finally collapsed near an ally, exhausted and sweaty. There was only one streetlight and she sat near it, wiping away her tears. She wasn't going back. She just wanted the Guardians to find her and take her back home. How could Eli do that to her? She loved him, he wasn't supposed to hurt her. People who love each other don't hurt each other.
But maybe she was wrong. Maybe Eli didn't love her. Maybe he was just using her like John Tucker did to many girls. She was wrong, so wrong. She buried her face in her arms, sobbing. She didn't like this world, she really didn't.
"Hey, are you okay?"
Clare looked up. A tall boy wearing a blue beanie took a step towards her. Clare backed away in fear. "Hey, I'm not gonna hurt you, beautiful." He took another step towards her. "I promise." He held out his hand. Clare took it, he looked friendly. The guy gently pulled her up. He smiled, showing off even white teeth.
"What's your name, beautiful? And what are you doing out here, all alone in the dark?"
Clare sniffed. She wouldn't tell him about Eli. "I..." She clutched his hand. "I ran away from home." The guy nodded. "Horrible parents, huh?" Clare nodded. She didn't feel good about "lying", but it was all she could do. "I'm K.C. Guthrie," He said, brushing his brown bangs from his face. "Your name is...?"
"Clare..." She whispered, wrapping her arms around herself, shivering from the cold.
"Clare that's it? Don't wanna use your last name, huh? You must really hate your parents." He smiled again. "I understand. Say... Wanna crash at my place?"
"Crash at your place...?" She said blankly. "Yeah." He grinned. "Sleep at my house?" Clare shook her head. "I don't want to cause you any - " He laughed. "No trouble for a beautiful girl like you. Come on, I don't bite." She smiled weakly. "Okay..." He smiled. "Nice! Here..." He took off his black hoodie and put it on her. "So you won't be cold." She smiled back "T-thank you."
"No problem, gorgeous. Now, let's go." Clare nodded and he firmly held her hand as they headed to his house.
I regret nothing... The next chapter will explain Eli's "crazy" moment. And what K.C. thinks of Clare. And others. Another character will also add drama soon. Lots of it. Await the next update! Thanks for reading, guys! :)
