Sorry for the wait! Finally got this chapter up though! Kind of a filler, but you'll see some emotions!
Chapter Eleven
"Say Anything"
"Your.. dating again?" Eli had asked after a long silence.
I shook my head, unsure of what else to do or say.
"I-I know it's sudden." I managed.
Eli removed his hand from my knee.
He looked away from me.
"Eli?" I said. "I don't know what to do."
He still didn't say anything.
It wasn't often Eli didn't have an opinion.
I stood up and went towards Eli.
He turned to me, finally.
His white face strained of blood.
"I understand," I began, barely a whisper.
Eli stared at me.
His eyebrows creased.
"You do?" He asked.
I nodded.
Of course Eli would be upset.
"Logan was your best friend... it figures you'd be upset about-"
"You think I'm upset because of Logan?"
It was my turn to stare at him.
"I-Is-isn't?" I asked.
Eli chuckled softly then shook his head.
I stared back at him, confused out of my mind.
Why was he laughing?
"Clare," He said softly.
His voice was still strained and softer than usual.
He opened his mouth to continue but stopped.
I waited and waited for him to continue.
He never did.
We stood face-to-face.
Not one of us was breaking the silence.
Eli's face was no longer furious or confused.
He seemed sad.
I was curious and about to ask why when he broke the silence.
"What's so wrong, Clare?" He sighed.
I blinked and opened my mouth which was suddenly dry.
Eli waited.
I cleared my throat and gulped.
"I met someone." I said.
Eli sat down and motioned for me to sit next to him.
I sat down and he moved his chair closer.
His breath was on mine.
It was warm and smelled of mint toothpaste.
He stared deep into my eyes, something he had done since high school.
His long lashes caught my attention as he blinked.
"You met a guy… " Eli said, waiting for me to continue.
I shook my head and looked away from his face.
"Yeah." I managed to say.
I watched Eli nod from the corner of my eye.
He was looking at the ground.
"Does he have a name?" He asked.
"He does." I whispered.
Eli raised his eyebrow.
"Cole."
I looked back at Eli.
His expression was unreadable.
Eli usually had something to say about everything.
Whether it was about my taste of music, the weather, his dinner from the night before.
Today though, he had nothing to say.
He just stared at me and waited patiently for me to do all the talking.
I sighed and started from the beginning.
I told Eli about when Cole and I met, when he'd forgotten his wallet.
Everything leading up to right now and how confused I was.
He sat in silence and nodded at the right times.
He didn't reach out for my hand or pat my knee.
Just sitting there, doing nothing was not like Eli.
It almost bothered me.
Why was he so quiet and composed?
Usually he didn't hide his emotions or feelings.
Why was he doing it now?
Why wasn't he saying anything?
Eli didn't break eye contact with me.
Instead he stared at me with large eyes.
I didn't know what to think of this Eli.
I sighed, tired of the silence and hoping he would break it.
Eli sat back in his chair and crossed his arms.
"Go." He said.
It didn't sound harsh or rude.
It sounded more like it was hard for him to say.
For one instant I saw an emotion crossing his face.
He recovered quickly and smiled.
His eyes not meeting mine.
"Have fun." He said.
He stood up and looked at the clock.
"You should get going. I still have lots of paper work to get through."
He never looked at me once.
Instead, he rummaged through the papers on the desk.
I watched him.
I felt anger pushing through me.
In a way I was hoping Eli would tell me I'm doing the wrong thing.
To tell me I should be worrying about Grace and not some guy.
Of course, I would never let a guy get in the way of my baby.
I had figured Eli would tell me this though.
Tell me not to go through with it.
I picked up my purse from the ground.
I walked to the door and turned back to Eli.
His back was faced to me.
"I'll see you later?"
"Sure." Eli said.
"Bye."
He raised his hand, waving, still not facing me.
I pushed the door open and went back to my car.
Whatever was wrong with Eli, he defiantly didn't want to talk to me about it.
XXX
Later that I night I had called Cole to take him up on his offer.
Logan's mother had agreed to watch Grace for the night.
At about ten I texted Eli.
He never replied.
I tried calling him, three times, only to get his voicemail.
Whatever was wrong with him today, he wasn't interested in sharing.
So, it's more just Eli's reaction to Clare's date. Sorry it's not very long! My laptop is still broken and with work and school, I'm juggling! However, I'll try posting within a week-two weeks. Hope everyone enjoyed and thanks for sticking around! Lemme know what you think and stay tuned! :)