Very dramatic last chapter. This one's a little lighter so to speak but fun!

I'm not sure when chapter 11 will be up, but it should be within the next week.

Anyway, hope you love it!

Love Always,

~Pho:)

Chapter 10

Clare's POV

As soon as I said it I knew it was a lie. I didn't think I was falling for Eli. I knew I already had. As soon as I said the words, I knew it was true. Adam was right about me. What about Eli?

"CLARE ARE YOU SERIOUS THAT'S GREAT CLARE I KNEW IT!"

"Aliah, will you shut up!" I said covering her mouth with my hand. "Could you be any louder? I don't want the whole world to know!"

I uncovered her mouth and she began to speak in a normal person tone. "Clare, you have to tell him!"

"No! Okay, I'll admit, he probably likes me, but I am a girl. It's probably nothing more than that!" I said. I hope I was wrong.

"I bet you five dollars he's talking to Adam about it right now." Ali said positively.

"Deal, when Eli's not around I'll ask Adam. But I'm not going to make a move on him just incase you are wrong. I don't want to jeopardize anything before hand." I said.

"That I can deal with. Now let's get you downstairs; you look like you're having a seizure!" She laughed and I did too. I looked in the mirror and my eyes were blood shot and puffy. How long had I been crying before I woke up?

"When did you realize I was having a nightmare?" I asked randomly.

"Uh, about an hour or so after you fell asleep. You started becoming restless and uneasy. You started murmuring Darcy, your parents' names, mine, Adam's, and finally Eli's. You started crying and muttering 'No, come back,' and other things and me and Eli tried to wake you up. Then you just, freaked."

"Wait, Ali what time is it?"

"Uh, five thirty. Why?"

"Has my mom called!" I asked bursting up urgently.

"Yeah, I answered the phone and said you were sleeping because the storm kept you up last night. She said to call her back when you got the message."

With that I ran down the stairs to my phone to call my Mom.

"Whoa, where's the fire Edwards?" Eli asked and I ignored him looking for my phone. I heard it ring and followed the sound. Sure enough when I found it I had one missed call: Mom. I re-dialed the number hoping I wouldn't be in trouble.

Oh, thank goodness you finally called Clare!

"Gee, Mom. Don't have a heart attack. I barely got any sleep last night because of the storm, I'm fine." I laughed at her urgent tone.

Yeah, Ali said that. Is it okay if you can stay there again, I can't get out?

"Yeah Mom, just hold on a second." I hit the mute button and looked at Eli.

"Okay, what's the deal? My mom is asking if I'm going to be able to stay at Ali's another night."

"Well, I still can't drive and I'm certainly not letting you walk." He said rolling his eyes. I stuck out my tongue and turned back around to talk to my mom again.

"Yes Mom, of course."

Okay honey, don't forget to call!

"Yeah, I'll call Mom, don't worry. I have to go, love you."

Love you too, Honey. I'll talk to you later.

And with that she hung up. I sighed and held the phone to my face completely forgetting where I was. My mind was racing, I thought back to the dream and shuttered. I thought about Eli coming out into the rain to comfort me, and I thought about my internal discovery. I sighed again and heard someone clear there throat.

"Uh, Clare? You're not going to have another meltdown, are you?" Adam asked looking worried. He was obviously uncomfortable about the scene from earlier, which is probably why he stayed out of it.

"Oh, no! That was probably from the uh…storm…" I lied.

"Uh-huh…" Ali muttered.

"I'm fine now, I promise." And I plopped back down on the couch. I was freezing. I pulled the blanket up over me again and shivered.

Just then the lights flickered back on.

"Oh thank God!" Adam yelled making us all laugh.

"Ali, call your house and see if they have power again!" I yelled, if her parents tried calling mine, our covers would be blown and we'd be dead.

"No, it went straight to the dead tone." She answered.

"Okay, we're in the clear for now. So, now that the power's back on what do we do?"

"Let's just, listen to music." Adam said. Eli snorted,

"And how will that work? You and I are Alternative Rockers, and Clare and Ali are…I don't want to think about it…" He said with a mocked scared look on his face.

"Oh, please. I know some Dead Hand." I interjected.

"Really? And what's your favorite song?"

"Paisley Jacket." I answered positively. He looked at me with utter shock.

"Okay…what are the first few lines of the chorus?" He said confidently and my face fell.

"I know the lyrics…I just don't want to sing…" I muttered.

"Oh, come on Blue Eyes, what's the worst that could happen?"

"Oh, you don't want me to answer that…"

"Please…?" Eli begged.

"Fine. But I'll throw a shoe at you if you laugh." I threatened. He put his hands up in innocence as he snickered silently to himself. I took a large gulp of air before I sang the chorus.

"I've seen your pattern, and I can match it. Just trace the lines on, your Paisley Jacket!"

"Damn." Eli said and I looked up my face flustered.

"That bad?" I asked really not wanting to know his answer.

"No, amazing, actually. Who knew?"

"I didn't even know…" Ali said and it made me laugh.

"I don't sing in front of everybody. I always thought I was horrible."
I admitted and got wide eyed, mouth hung open in disbelief stares from my three best friends.

"Are you high?" Adam asked.

"ADAM!"

"What! You're an amazing singer!" I, Ali, and Eli started laughing at his question and he tried to figure out why.

"Wha—" Adam began.

"Dude—Never, mind." Eli said through his laughs.

"Whatever. So. I'm hungry. Do you think Domino's will still deliver?" Adam put in.

"I don't know. Ali, call." Eli ordered tossing her her phone.

"You know, there are words like "Please" and "Thank You" that would apply appropriately in this situation." Ali sneered at Eli making me laugh.

"As soon as you start, I will." Eli interjected and I fell I was laughing so hard.

"Ali, just call." I said. Ali dialed the number.

"Hello? Yes, are you still delivering?" Ali asked into the phone. "Oh great! Could you just hold on a second? Thank you." She put her hand over the mouth piece, "What kind of pizza?" She asked in a hushed tone.

"How about this, a large pie, half pepperoni, half cheese?" Eli suggested and we all nodded our heads. "And a two liter bottle of Pepsi?"

"Yeah, that works." We all agreed. Ali placed the order to the worker over the phone and was told to wait fifteen minutes. I guess people stopped ordering because of the floods.

"How much?" Eli asked.

"Uh…twenty-three dollars and fifty-two cents (1.)"

"Okay, be right back." Eli said running upstairs to get the money. I sighed and slumped into the couch.

"Well somebody looks like a love sick puppy…" Adam stated..

"What are you talking about?" I asked obviously playing dumb.

"Clare, you might as well just tell Adam." Ali said.

"Tell Adam what?" Eli asked as him came down the stairs.

"That I totally forgot to start our Geometry project, sorry Adam." I lied.

"Uh, okay. The teacher will probably give you extensions because of the flood anyway so don't worry about it. Though why do I feel left out of something?" Eli asked and I panicked.

"U-uh what do you mean?" I asked hoping I could keep my poker face.

"Well, for one; you can't lie to me. You're very easy to read—" He was about to continue when ding dong, the doorbell went off. Oh thank God I thought sighing to myself. Ali and Adam just laughed at me.

"Shut Up!" I mouthed when Eli went to pay for the food.

"That was close…" Ali muttered under her laughed. I glared at her until Eli called out,

"Clare! Could you come grab the soda?" I got up walked out of the living room and over to the front door. "Thanks Blue Eyes," He said smirking at me when he handed me the Pepsi.

I looked up and saw the delivery guy who was maybe eighteen or nineteen staring at me. He kept looking at me up in down and I felt instantly uncomfortable and more than a little embarrassed. Eli looked back towards me and noticed me sudden distress. He then looked up at the delivery boy who was still staring at me. Eli's face immediately turned from smug and amused to full out pissed.

His normal cocky smirk was gone, and set in its place was a hard, mean grimace. I'd seen that look before; the look he used whenever Fitz was around. His eyes were angry and hateful as he glared at the obnoxious delivery boy. He slammed the money into his hand and before slamming the door, he said,

"Okay, thanks, time to go now, bye-bye!" SLAM! He put his hand on the small of my back and towed me back towards the living room. I heard him mutter something like Damn perv looking at my Clare…But I couldn't be sure.

Was Eli…Jealous?

"Thanks." I said as we walked back into the living room.

"For what?" He asked confused.

"Getting rid of that creep of a delivery boy." I answered and shuddered thinking about the way he was looking at me.

"Well you looked uncomfortable. I don't let anyone let my friends feel uncomfortable in any way." He said trying to keep up his façade.

"Mhmm…sure…"

"What's that suppose to mean?" He scoffed dropping the pizza onto the coffee table.

"Oh, nothing. For a second it seemed like you were jealous…" I said sweetly as I plopped down on the couch. Adam and Eli both stopped what they were doing to look over between me and Eli. Meanwhile, Eli had stopped dead in his tracks.

"Jealous? Why would I be jealous" He asked.

"Well, I never said you were, but why don't you tell me?" I asked playfully.

"I was not jealous." He said overly defensive.

"Okay! You don't have to get worked up about it!" I said grabbing a piece of pepperoni pizza. Just as I was about to take a bite, Eli swooped his hand down, grabbed it, and took a bite smiling widely at me. "HEY!" I said standing up and smacking his arm. "That was my piece!"

"Don't have to get worked up about it!" He said mocking my same words from moments ago, taking another bite out of my pizza.

"You know what Goldsworthy—"

"Aw, back to a last name basis Clare Bear? And what is it I should know, huh Edwards?" He said in a sickly sweet tone.

"You, you, you…" I was at a loss of words I was just so annoyed.

"Aw, still speechless around me Clare? How sweet." He said with his smug little smirk. That is it!

"You're infuriating!" I yelled at him.

"Funny, that's what he said about you…" Ali muttered.

"Shut it Ali!" We said in unison.

"C'mon Clare, enlighten me on how I'm so infuriating." He teased.

"You're arrogant and cocky and conniving and egotistical and smug and, and, and…" with each characteristic I had taken a step forward. I realized how close we were, practically pressed against each other's body. With this realization I had stopped dead in the middle of my rant with Eli looking down curiously down at me. "Saint Clare run out of steam?" He asked cockily. My face turned red and I groaned falling back into the arm chair.

"DAMMIT!" Ali and Adam yelled in unison. I grabbed another piece of pizza and went to go sit back on the couch.

"I win." Eli said smugly plopping down next to me.

"You're just lucky I ran out of words to say." I seethed around a bite of my pizza.

"I must not be as bad as you think if you ran out of characteristics."

"Oh no. You're worse."

"Ouch Clare!" He said placing his hand over his heart feigning hurt. "That one really, truly hurt Clare. And to think I thought we were friends! I brought you into my home, let you borrow my clothes, and this is how you repay me? By stomping on my ego? I am just so hurt Clare."

"Eli, your ego couldn't get any smaller if I back over it with Morty."

"And again disrespecting my beloved hearse!" He said in mock shock. By this time we were all laughing and eating our pizza.

"Wait. So what were you talking about when you cam in?" Ali asked curiously.

"Oh! Well when I went out to help Elijah with the food, the delivery boy was staring at me so Eli kicked him out. It seemed to me he was jealous but he said he just didn't want me to be uncomfortable." I said shrugging my shoulders as I took another bite of my pizza.

"I was not jealous." He said but for a second after that it sounded like he said, "better stay away from my Clare." under his breath causing Adam to laugh.

"What's so funny?" I asked.

"Tell you later."

For the next few hours of the night we just…hung out. Like any best friends would on a Friday night. We had a movie marathon (to my surprise, Eli has a rather large variety of movies from The Labyrinth, to every Halloween movie ever made!), pigged out on every piece of junk food he had stocked up before the storm hit, and just had a good time. Ali and Adam seemed like they were really hitting it off. I would have to talk about it with Ali later…Eli and I were on the couch and Ali and Adam had picked comfortable (If that were possible) spots on the floor, but managed to stay rather close to each other. I was laughing and joking with them, and I guess I was just tired and fell asleep. Next thing I knew, I was lying with my head on Eli's lap and legs sprawled out across the couch.

"Edwards, wake up I want to show you something!" He said lightly shaking my shoulder lightly.

"Huh, what time is it?" I asked incoherent with sleep.

"Like twelve thirty. I want to show you something." He said lifting me up off the couch.

"What Eli?" I said annoyed he had woken me up.

"Just come on." He said pulling me towards the back door, practically pulling my arms out of my socket.

"Eliiii…." I groaned still groggy with sleep.

I he pulled me out to the back yard to the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.

The rain had stopped finally, and the sky was completely clear; only a few white, lacy clouds floating about. I could see millions of large, bright stars shining and the largest, clearest full moon I had ever seen. If I had my phone, I probably would have taken a picture of it.

"Eli…" I couldn't say anything. Nothing could describe the beauty of the sight in front of me.

"I know. It's amazing."

"Thanks for waking me up." I laughed.

"I could've always woken up Adam but he wouldn't have been as…appreciative…"

I laughed, "He would've thrown a comic book at your head."

"You're probably right…I'll be right back." He said suddenly.

Half way through the yard I called to him "Umm…Okay…?" more than a little confused. I went back to looking at the beautiful setting in front of me. It was literally a scene right out of my Fortnight book, but better. I sighed in content as I closed my eyes just appreciating the moment.

Just then Eli came out of the house with a blanket.

"Want to sleep on the yard swing?" He asked with that cocky grin of his. I shook my head at his smugness, grabbed the blanket from his hands and sat on the swing. It's a good think it had a roofy thingy otherwise it would have been soaking wet.

The swing had a really good view of the moon, which is probably why he suggested it. We really didn't talk, there was no need. We just sat there looking at the moon until we both fell asleep.

(1.) Random price, figured I'd need to put something.

What'd you think about jealous Eli? Potential future in that direction involving a certain Ape-like bully...?

That and more in chapters to come, keep reading to find out whats up in store for these two friends(for now;)

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Good Bye For Now Loving People!

~Pho:)