Chapter Eleven: Being Rescued

Thursday morning Angie apparently had a lot of explaining to do. Kimmy had heard about her ditching the table from the guys who told Kevin Hill. Kevin would have been there himself if he and Kimmy hadn't decided to be stuck on each other everyday since his birthday party. Angie was forced to explain that the whole thing was not as devastating as it sounded. As a secondary topic, Kimmy had to find out why she body -checked Lauren Abel.

"I didn't body-check her. She just got under me at the wrong time," Angie defended. Lauren had taken this information with a great deal more humour than Kimmy did. Kimmy was mostly concerned about being guilty by association. Kevin was trying to convince her to throw a huge party for her birthday at the start of October, and if Kimmy was going to do it, she want anyone mad at her – they could trash the place or worse, not show up. Angie tried not to take the slight personally. Kimmy was just one of those people. Angie thought about submitting her complaints to the wilful ear of her physics partner, but then she realized that if Lauren was the only sensible person at this school who Angie could talk to uncensored, who did Lauren have to vent to? She certainly hadn't been venting at Angie at all. That gave Angie a new focus. Why would she spend all of her efforts trying to keep up with Kimmy, Wyatt, and the table? If she was going to do something with her time, it should be with people she actually enjoyed spending time with. She figured that she didn't make the basketball team anyway, so she'd have a lot more free evenings than she planned on. So during the break, she found Lauren sitting quietly, reading a book in an empty classroom, and asked if she'd want to exchange phone numbers and the like. She didn't seem eager about it, but Lauren was willing. They exchanged numbers and e-mail addresses – Angie gladly announced that she'd have internet up soon.

After school Angie asked Eli if it was weird to just try to befriend someone like that. He was supportive. He had never met Lauren – at least not this Lauren – but he reassured Angie that the next fun thing that came up would have more than enough room for her friend to participate in.

"It might not be that exciting," Eli added, "but my mom's invited you over again. I think I might have worried her on the weekend. She'll want to see for herself that you're okay."

"Why wouldn't I be?" Then she remembered the phone call that led to Eli rushing to her bedroom window. "Oh, right. Awkward."

"Yeah, how do you think I feel?" he said jokingly. He felt pretty good about it now. Having infiltrated Angie's weekdays meant that he was first in line for the weekend. It was Wyatt's turn to take a number and wait in line.

Angie met him at the resort, and even though there was no exciting plan, they seemed content enough to just hangout at home. Angie was of course bombarded by Gabby the moment she stepped through the door. She had to go through the motions of looking at the pictures of her dance class, being showed her new school clothes, and having her hair played with as she checked her e-mail on Eli's computer. Meanwhile, Eli tried and failed to get Matthew off of his tummy, laying three feet from the TV screen playing a video game. It resulted in a small wrestling match on the living room floor which ended as soon as Angie had come out from his sister's room – at least it ended for Eli; Matthew gave him one last jab before sliding back into his gaming position on the floor.

Maggie Perdit spent the entire evening calling Angie by her full name. She fell in love with it the moment that Eli let it slip and now wouldn't call her by anything else. Angie found herself having a hard time responding to it. Often she would look around, trying to see if there was someone else around that she had missed being introduced to. Eli tried to talk his mother out of it, but Maggie wouldn't hear of it.

'But it's such a lovely name. If I had another daughter I would definitely consider using it," she said at the dinner table, to which Nelson Perdit just raised an eyebrow at the thought of adding to the family. It made Matthew laugh, and Eli would have laughed too if his mother wasn't disrupting his main point.

"I was going to call you Jacqueline if you were a girl," his mother continued to tell him.

Matthew pointed his finger and laughed at his brother.

"You would have been Jacqueline or Geraldine," she said to her youngest son.

Matthew stopped laughing, frowned, and began to eat his dinner again quietly.

Eli began laughing when he noticed his father shaking his head the whole time. It seemed like Maggie Perdit had not shared her name list with her husband – probably why the girl that was born was given the name Gabrielle.

Angie just sat there enjoying the family dinner. She only ever got real family dinners when she was with friends, but usually families treated her more like a guest and spent more time boasting than just carrying on as normal. The Perdits weren't like that. It was as if they had adopted her into the family. She loved them. Even Nelson Perdit had his quirks that she admired. Angie was almost able to pick up on the subtleties that Eli often watched for in his father. The half smiles that meant he was laughing, the serious straight face that meant he was purposely making you feel awkward because of something silly. She never saw him make a serious face that actually meant that he was upset – though she used to think that she did, Eli explained otherwise.

Eli was nothing short of ecstatic to be back in the heart of things again. Sure it was costing him a lot of time and gas money, but he was at least keeping a steady pace with his competition. Even though it was his senior year, it was this on-going competition that occupied all of his attention. He didn't abandon school – he found a feasible balance to get everything done and well done at that, but his end goal was always to get through to the weekend to see just where he and Wyatt stood.

Despite her pessimistic attitude towards it, Angie had made the basketball team. Wyatt had been really happy for her and was congratulating her for the whole first week. It was almost suffocating. Angie tried to be grateful, but she knew too well that it wasn't her sport and she wasn't fully open to adopting it. She figured that Wyatt must have thought that this gave the two of them more common ground. He'd be at volleyball practice on one day and she'd be at basketball on another. Wyatt was her number one fan and showed up as often as he could, but he wasn't the only one. Although Eli's enthusiasm wasn't as profound as Wyatt's when it came to the sport in question, Eli followed the practice schedule just as attentively as Angie did herself. He also had the advantage of having the same outlook on the sport as she did, and therefore was able to find sinister humour in it, the kind that Angie often produced herself. He could laugh with her in a way that was playful – a way that Wyatt couldn't. And with Eli's constant presence, Angie simply wasn't able to give Wyatt the same amount of attentiveness as he gave her. When Eli thought about it, he couldn't figure out if he was staring as the good guy or the bad guy in this scene anymore. He had never thought of himself as getting any type of pleasure from another person's misfortune. But every time he and Wyatt were in the same room, that glare answered his questioning for him. Wyatt held himself over Angie like an ogre would hoard over treasure – treasure that was never his to start with – treasure that was stolen from the good guys. Angie would endure it, obviously faking it as she went because she wouldn't admit defeat or weakness. Eli felt less sorry for his actions. It was a mean and selfish thing to do – to anyone other than this guy, anyway. He was certain that Wyatt would only be able to endure this fight for so long. He'd have to break at some point.

He was right. Wyatt could feel Eli's tug on Angie. She even noticed it. As much as she preferred not to play the girlfriend role, she knew that she had accepted the position and had to act accordingly – at least some of the time. She could start by taking notes from Kimmy, who was still very much attached to Kevin as if they were somehow trying to share a single body. But making out with Wyatt just didn't feel like Angie assumed it was supposed to.

Angie was the one who started it all in the first place. Wyatt was finally losing steam on pursuing her. He stopped making plans with her for weekends. They'd still sit together in class and at lunch hour, but he seemed to have exhausted himself trying to keep this whole relationship going. Angie knew that it wasn't fair to him, so she tried to make up for it.

She stayed after school on one of his volleyball nights, and watched the game. She still didn't think much of the sport but she took her cues from the other table people. She cheered on Wyatt and his team – he noticed right away. His team even won, so when Wyatt came towards the bleachers, he was doubly excited, though he still approached Angie cautiously. She had no choice but to smile back at him, and she did. She really tried to mean it too. All she could think of was how a normal girlfriend was supposed to act – and so she did that first thing that came to mind. Wyatt obviously wasn't expecting a sudden show of affection, but since Angie basically threw herself at him, he wouldn't object. It was awkward, but he must not have noticed because he took to it way too easily. Angie had singlehandedly restarted this whole twisted relationship cycle, and thus, Wyatt was getting all touchy-feely again. Now his arm was always possessively around her again, he was kissing her freely any time that he felt like it and however he felt like it. Angie of course just kept going along with it. She had to. She and Wyatt were now being classified as one of the classic couples, which made Kimmy a little jealous since she desperately wanted more recognition for being attached to Kevin by the hip. Unfortunately for her, Kevin went through girls too frequently to be a part of a set so soon. Kimmy estimated that three months should be enough to earn the title. Lauren Vargas estimated that it would end in two.

Lauren was becoming more and more of a lifesaver for Angie as things began to speed up. She had more homework, basketball practice, a needy boyfriend with needy friends, and an Eli who seemed to want an equal if not greater amount of attention. It got worse when Angie found herself with a bad head cold. She missed one day of school, including a basketball game. She curled up on the living room couch, leaving the TV on but not really watching it. It was a Thursday. Carl Fallen would be on tonight. She had already messaged Eli telling him that they couldn't watch it together tonight because she was sick. Lauren stopped by Pochoda house after school with extra homework for her. Angie couldn't have appreciated it more. Lauren even stayed over, going over the notes with her and keeping her up to date on everything that happened at school. The next thing Angie knew, a second person had arrived into her living room. Eli had showed up anyway.

"Ange, you're the only person who understands Carl the way I do. Besides, you have cable now, we're going to use it!" he said as he made himself quite at home on the couch. He didn't mind sitting right next to the sick one. He was even very dotting, grabbing an extra pillow from her room, bringing her water, and anything else that he felt was necessary to do. Angie got up to order pizza before the show was going to start, giving Lauren and Eli plenty of time to talk to one another. Eli didn't mind this Lauren girl at all. She said things how it was.

"So why don't you just tell her that you like her, already?" Lauren told him quite bluntly.

He was taken aback at first. "You met this Wyatt guy?" he asked her.

Lauren nodded. "He's okay. But you know that she only ever talks about you."

"She does?"

Lauren nodded again. "Look, I don't know you. But I know that she acts differently around you. I can see it. I know that you're friends, and it might be weird, but Angie would probably retain a lot more sanity if she just chose you."

"Try telling her that," he said.

When Angie came back, she curled up next to him, her head on his stomach. She stayed that way until the pizza came, and after only a single slice she curled back down again. She couldn't even stay awake for the whole episode, so Eli carried her into her room after the show and drove Lauren home so that Amanda Pochoda wouldn't have to.

He couldn't sleep that night when he got home. Lauren's words just kept replaying in his head. The more he thought about it, the more it justified everything that he was doing. It was different hearing it from someone that wasn't his friend. What was Eli to this Lauren girl? Nothing. And where was Wyatt this whole night? He wouldn't even come to see if she was okay? Angie probably told him not to bother and the idiot listened. Eli knew better. He knew that he was doing everything right. Even after seeing her sick – coughing and sneezing, aching and fading – he knew that it was worth it. If Wyatt didn't see it like that, he didn't deserve her.

Angie seemed to be questioning it a lot more now too. She was feeling a little better on Monday and so she went back to school to see that nothing had really changed while she was gone. Wyatt didn't kiss her as much since she was sick, but that was about the only difference. At this point, neither Lauren nor Eli were being very helpful in the advice department; they were both saying the same thing: "dump him already."Angie's only response was a weak "maybe."

But her decision making was interrupted by a change in events. A date. It turned out that Amanda Pochoda had begun to see someone, and she too needed some time to assess it, though in a different way.

"You've got plan this weekend, don't you?" she asked her daughter.

The question took Angie by surprise. "Well, Kimmy's throwing an early Halloween party on Saturday. I think she's invited just about the whole school."

"Oh, that sounds like fun. Did you want to see if you could have a sleep over?"

Angie was sceptical about the direction this conversation was taking. It must have been written all over her face, because Amanda continued to explain as though she felt compelled to do so.

"I just thought it might be a fun girls' thing for you. You don't seem to do many girl things."

"You want me out of the house, don't you?" Angie accused.

Her mother stumbled with her words a bit, confirming Angie's suspicions.

"So your mystery guy is coming over then?" Angie guessed. "Why can't you go weekend at his place?"

"It's not that simple."

"He's married, isn't he?"

"He is not," Amanda defended, then she went quiet for a moment as if rethink her answer.

"Have I at least met this guy before?" Angie asked.

Amanda nodded her head from side to side, as if that was the middle ground between yes and no.

Angie just stared at her point blank.

"His name is Ryan," she finally said.

Angie kept staring.

"He came by the house once. The day we got the cable."

Angie stared some more, and then she blurted out, "The cable guy?"

Amanda flushed.

"What is he? Like three years older than me?" she accused.

"He is not. I'm not that much of a cougar."

"...yet."

"He seems really nice. He's taken me out a few times during our lunch breaks. He lives in Angeles."

Angie just broke out laughing. She couldn't contain herself with the absurdity of it all. Somehow this seemed like Doug all over again. Nonetheless, Angie agreed to vacate the premises while whatever her mom was doing was going on. She really didn't want to think about it. Convincing Kimmy of hosting a sleepover was only too easy. She jumped at the idea and the next thing Angie knew, four other girls were going to be spending the weekend there too. All Angie had to do know was let Eli know why she was going to be MIA for a while. Of course, he responded with a typical Eli answer: "Just let me know when you need to be rescued." He made it sound so inevitable.

Eli figured that he knew Angie well enough that it would be inevitable. She hated parties – at least real ones. But Friday came and went, and there was no word from her. That wasn't surprising. Angie could probably fake a girls' night without too much suffering. It was Saturday that Eli was anticipating. He didn't hold back on making plans with the guys, but he kept his phone on the whole day. The October weather wasn't a warm one, but the snow hadn't fallen yet so it was worth biking the trails. He wouldn't hold this one over Angie for missing out. The trails were steep, and as active a girl as Angie was, Eli wasn't prepared to risk her fragile bones on the forest floor quite yet. It wasn't uncommon for people to get severely hurt just by hitting a rock or a root on the trail. It did, however, give Eli an idea for future spring activities with her. He could take her down some of the easy trails, test her out, and maybe even by the summer she'd be ready for the real thing with him and the guys.

Eli and his friends spent hours in the woods. They didn't even come back into town until the sun began to set. They all went straight to Spence's house were they enjoyed the barbeque in the rain, and complaining about which parts of their bodies ached after the day of hard biking. As tired as they were, they wouldn't quit just yet. They pushed themselves into a game of Frisbee in the dark on the muddy field by the park. They played until they began falling down from exhaustion, but they would have kept playing if they could. Luckily Eli was able to get a ride home and didn't have to worry about more biking – although he was no more than a block away from his own house. When he got in, Eli collapsed on his bed, not even under the blankets. He closed his eyes for only a few minutes and then forced himself to get up and at least have a shower – he was even grossing himself out. The warm water felt good on his sore muscles, giving him a little more strength to put on his sweat pants and crawl properly into bed. There was no falling asleep – he was out the moment his head hit the pillow. He wasn't even aware of dreaming. But his sleep was disturbed. That familiar sound of buzzing against his dresser caused his eyes to slowly creep open. He rubbed his face and then looked over at the time on his clock. It blurrily read either 11:14 or 1:09. He instinctively reached over to the source of the buzzing and accepted the call. His eyes didn't focus enough to read the caller name.

"Yeah?" he said impatiently.

"Eli?"

It was Angie. Even half asleep he knew her voice instantly. His eyes seemed to also instantly go into focus, as if someone had just turned on the lights. He checked the clock again. It was 1:09am. If the time hadn't been enough to tell him, her voice certainly did, something wasn't right.

"Ange? What's wrong?"

"Were you sleeping? I'm sorry. It's stupid of me to call. I just needed to – you were the first person I thought of."

She was speaking quickly, skipping over breaths. Eli was sitting fully upright now. He tried to calm her down and figure out what was going on.

"Where are you?" He could hear the party still going on in the background and figured that she was still at Kimmy's, but that wasn't what he was really asking. He was asking who was around. And when she told him that she currently shut herself up in a bathroom, he didn't need another second to act.

But even now she felt guilty. "I'm sorry. I don't even know why I called you. Go back to bed. I'll just get a cab or something."

Eli was already singlehandedly putting his pants on and throwing on a sweatshirt. "I'm coming," he promised her.

Eli had always been waiting for his moment to shine, but that wasn't what was going through his mind now. Angie had reached her limit. Once the coolers were being passed around and the party started taking on new directions, Angie did what she did best, became reclusive. Whether it was the amount of alcohol in his system, or his friends egging him on, it didn't matter, Wyatt wasn't feeling anywhere near as cautious as he once did. He wasn't being overly physical, not the way that movies often portrayed guys at parties, and he wasn't even suggesting that they take anything further. There was just something uncomfortable about the way he was interacting with her. She had kissed him before. She had made out with him before. But as he was draped over her, kissing her neck in a tucked away corner, Angie felt unbearably nauseous. She excused herself and locked herself in the bathroom to throw up, which she did, and then found herself soaking wet with tears, unable to stand from the shivers that had grown into full on shakes, and feeling terribly claustrophobic even though she was in an empty room, and not a particularly small one at that. That was it. She needed out. She needed somewhere safe. But home wouldn't be safe right now. Home would be something else; an intrusion that would most likely taint any hope of feeling comfortable there again. Instinctively she dialled the number of her rescuer.

The Perdit house was dead quiet. Everyone else was sound asleep. There was no point asking for permission. Eli grabbed the truck keys and tried to back it out of the driveway as discreetly as possible. Once he was on the road, if focus was fixed. He felt like he couldn't get there fast enough, yet once he arrived, he had no real recollection of the actual drive there. He marched right up to the house, not knowing who exactly he was going to meet at the door, but knowing full well that it didn't matter. He was here for one reason and one reason only.

He banged on the door, but who could tell if anybody inside could actually hear it over the loud speakers. He banged again and then just reached for the knob. He had just touched it when the door pulled open. Kimmy was standing there in her Tinkerbelle dress, a huge toothy smile on her face, at least until she saw who was at the door. A few other people inside stopped their conversations to see who was at the door as well.

"Oh," was all that Kimmy said at first.

Eli didn't even have time to form his words before one of the guys dressed as a mad scientist called out into the other room, "Yo, Wyatt! Looks like the squaw's stopping in."

Kimmy snapped her head back, "Guys, shut up! That's for the girls anyway."

"I know," Kevin added, "that's what makes it funny."

"Actually, that's what makes it stupid," Eli said edgily, and then he tried to make his way inside. But it was too late. Wyatt charged towards the door, practically pushing Kimmy out of the way and blocking the whole frame with his body.

"No one invited you," Wyatt seethed.

Eli scowled. "Don't worry, I wouldn't stay even if you had." He tried to push himself through the door, but Wyatt blocked him.

"Why don't you just get the hell out?" Wyatt said, shoving Eli back.

Eli didn't even look at him. His eyes when past the blond boy and sought out Kimmy.

"Where is she?" Eli demanded.

"Upstairs," she said hesitantly, keeping an eye on Wyatt's reaction.

Wyatt stepped out of the doorway, closer to the one who didn't belong. "Get it through your head! She's with me! Why don't you just stick with your own damn kind?"

Eli could see him tightening his fists. Kevin and a few others were crowding the doorway, eager to watch a fight.

"Guys! Seriously!" Kimmy shouted at all of them.

Eli didn't want to fight, but he would if he had to.

Kevin was now outside too. Eli was starting to get nervous, but he wasn't going to show it. He didn't think he could take both of them.

"Come on, man," Kevin said a little more soberly. "It'll just get Kimmy in trouble." She must have told him to reel Wyatt back, and he did so, but there was a look in his eyes as if he didn't really mean what he said. Eli was certain that Kevin felt just as ready to pounce on him as Wyatt did.

Kevin led Wyatt back inside as Kimmy tried to shove everyone else in too. She was just about to close the door when it opened again. Angie squeezed out, wearing a hippie dress and clutching onto her backpack. As she was leaving, she was apologising to her friend for leaving and causing a scene.

"Hey, no worries," Tinkerbelle said. Then she turned her attention to Eli, "you'll take care of her, won't you?"

Eli took Angie's backpack from her. "For sure," he said, still sour from his encounter with his rival. He put a comforting arm around Angie as he walked her back to the truck. He opened her door and gave her a hand up to the seat. She wouldn't look at him in the eye. Her head was bowed the whole time.

"Hey," he said softly, placing the bag at her feet, "you okay?"

She didn't respond. Not even a nod. He put his hand on her leg and rubbed it a bit. "I'll take you home, don't worry," he said.

He shut her door and climbed into the driver's side. Angie still didn't say much. She leaned her head against the cold window and watched the dark road zip by. Eli watched her about as much as he was watching the road. When he said that he was taking her home, he meant his home. Angie wasn't surprised by that. Leaving Forks almost seemed to release some of the tension. The only thing that was said between them was when they were coming up close to the house.

"We'll just have to be quiet," Eli said to her softly. "I kind of snuck out while everyone was sleeping."

Angie bowed her head even lower. "I'm so sorry," she squeaked.

"For what?"

"For everything. For dragging you into this. For being messed up."

They were in the drive way. The ignition was off. "Hey," he said putting an arm around her, "I wouldn't be in it if I didn't want to be."

She leaned her head along his arm and whimpered. He let her sit there for a few minutes, until she felt better. Then she sat up, wiped her face with her jacket sleeve, and looked at him for direction. He opened the door, and she did the same. Quietly they closed them and made their way into the house. Eli led the way, walking carefully, trying not to make any noise, while holding onto Angie's hand and bringing her close behind him. When they were safely shut up in his room, he put her backpack down on the bed and looked at her, now at a loss as of what to do. It was obvious that they were both dead tired. He would gladly give up his bed for her, but he had to figure out what to do with himself. He knew what he would like to do ideally, but being realistic, he figured that sleeping on the floor would be even too much to ask, so sleeping out on the couch would probably be his only option. The problem would be explaining that one to his parents in the morning. Apparently Angie was wondering many of the same things.

"So how do you want to do this? I can just curl up on the floor if you want," she whispered to him.

"Hey, the bed's here, you might as well use it," he offered. "Just tell me where you want me. I don't want to weird you out."

She just looked at him as she thought about it. Finally she said, "I trust you," and left it at that.

The comment made Eli swallow hard. He watched her reaction to make sure that she was saying what he thought she was saying.

"Can you at least turn around?" she asked him, taking hold of her back pack.

Eli obliged. He too wanted to change back into his sleepwear. He tried really hard to keep facing forward as he removed his jeans and pulled an old t-shirt over his head. He could hear the backpack zipper and the rustle of clothing behind him, and then the slight squeak of his bed.

"Okay," she whispered.

Eli turned around. She was already in the corner of his bed, a blanket over her legs. Slowly, he crawled in beside her.

"My bed's not as big as yours," he said, trying to get in, "you have to share." They awkwardly tried to manoeuvre until at last Eli put his arm behind her neck and she nestled in beside him, her head cupped between his shoulder and his chest. Eli breathed deeply a few times. It was hard to believe that this was happening. He just wished that he wasn't so tired. Neither of them knew who the first to fall asleep was; they both succumbed to it so quickly.

At eight-thirty in the morning, there was a loud knock on Eli's door, startling the occupants of his bed. There was hardly enough time for Eli and Angie to realize what was going on before Nelson Perdit casually opened the bedroom door, "Eli –"

Angie dove under the covers as Eli sat up. Nelson stopped in his tracks, even in mid breath, and backed out of the room, slamming the door shut.

Eli started to chuckle and then lifted the blanket to find Angie bunched down.

"This is bad, isn't it?" she said worriedly to him

Eli just smiled and continued chuckling. He wasn't embarrassed by anything. Why should he be?

Angie had the look of utmost guilt all over her face. It made Eli smile so wide that the sides of his mouth hurt.

"They won't care," he said, trying to reassure her.

It didn't look like she believed him.

Eli got up, leaving her to change in her own time, while he went and smoothed things over with his parents. His younger brother and sister were already firmly planted in on the couch watching morning cartoons. Meanwhile, his parents were sitting seriously at the kitchen table. Eli strolled in casually, saying good morning to them both as he took out a glass from the cupboard and filled it with juice. His parents just stared at him. When they did finally speak, they did so with as little English as they could manage.

"What exactly were you up to last night?" Nelson asked his son.

Eli guzzled down his juice, completely unashamed, and then proceeded to explain the whole story of how Angie had called him while at Kimmy's party, mostly embellishing the threat that Wyatt posed upon her, and adding that Angie had essentially been kicked out of her own house for the weekend due to Amanda Pochoda's alternative activities. He also reassured them that nothing had happened between her and himself. They were both dead tired and sleeping was the only thing going on at night.

Although Mr. and Mrs. Perdit had no reason to doubt their son's honesty, they were still facing a situation that they were unsure of how to handle. Firstly, there was Angie herself and her mother; though it seemed unlikely that her mother would be highly critical of her daughter spending the night, there was still the factor of it having been done without permission. Then there was the matter of their own son. Eli was a good kid and he had a bright future ahead of him, but his obvious obsession could only cause him more trouble than it was worth - not that Angie wasn't a nice girl herself, but there were mostly likely a few things that a girl like her wouldn't be prepared for in taking on a Quileute boy.

Matters didn't improve much over breakfast when Angie joined them at the table; especially with Gabby trying to openly figure out when exactly Angie had arrived. Mrs. Perdit tried to hush her daughter and change the subject, but Gabby always seemed to return to the same questions that just weren't being answered. Eli just kept smiling to himself, finding all of the fuss that everyone was making to be nothing less than humorous. Even Angie was sinking in her chair, trying not to look anyone in the eye. Eli's smug expression wasn't helping. Thankfully he didn't keep her trapped at the table for long. The two of them went out for a walk just to put some distance between them and the kitchen table. Eli walked with an arm around her shoulders, keeping her close, warm and secure.

"You okay?" he asked her.

"Yeah," she lied.

"Look, seriously, they don't care. I told them the whole thing. They know that nothing happened. And let's say that it even did, it wouldn't matter. My parents are cool that way."

"No, I know. It's just been weird...everything."

"Wyatt," Eli guessed with a sigh.

"Yeah."

"You're done now, right? I mean, you can't think about going back."

"I think I've hit my breaking point."

Eli was relieved for the moment, but he needed to know for sure that she was going to follow through with this and not just change her mind upon confrontation as she so often did. Angie did promise him that Monday she was officially disassociating herself with him, and after school that day, Eli stopped by her house to see that it was done.

He was surprised yet very much glad to find her in such high spirits. Apparently Wyatt had pretty much figured what was coming and didn't make a big deal about it, at least not publically. It was only Kimmy who was frantically trying to find a way to save the relationship, more for her own sake than anything else. Eli laughed when he heard this.

"But it's over for sure?" he asked her.

"I'd say pretty definitely."

"Thank God for that." They were both sitting on the edge of her bed. He leaned over and caught her off guard as he tried to kiss her.

Angie jumped up to her feet.

"Eli, please don't do this!"

Eli was deflated. "Yeah, I know the timing's not probably not great, but give me a break here, I've been trying."

"I know," she said, which surprised him. "I just can't do this with you. It wouldn't be right."

No blow could have hit him harder. He always did worry in the back of his mind that the racial difference might play a part between them, but he never fully expected her to play that card on him, not after everything. How could she toy with him like that? His smile had melted and he was completely speechless.

But Angie wasn't finished her thought. "I trust you too much," she concluded.

Eli's head perked up. He got to his feet. "What do you mean, you trust me too much?"

"Come on, you know that you're like the only guy I trust – that I've ever trusted. You know more about me than anyone, and I don't know why, I don't know why you, but it is, and I don't want anything to ruin that. You know what happens when things like this start up; it gets weird and then there's not even any point in being friends again. I don't want things to get weird; I've got enough weird in my life. And I don't want all of this to go away."

"Ange," he didn't know if he wanted to shake some sense into her or just kiss her on the spot right now, "I would never want this to go away either. I don't think we could ruin it, not like this anyway. I can just picture you settling for one loser after another, proving to yourself that all guys are jerks, the whole while the guy who's actually there for you sits on the sidelines. What's the point of waiting around for someone you don't trust? "

"Eli," she began.

"No," he interrupted, "Ange, I don't know if you've realized, but I've been crazy about you, I am crazy about you. Somewhere you must have figured that out. On some level, I even think that you must like me too, otherwise you wouldn't keep coming back to me. If you're going to turn me down, at least give me a good reason for it, because from where I'm standing I don't any reason not to do this."

He was standing with only inches between them. Angie wouldn't look at him.

"Eli, you don't want me. At least you shouldn't. If you know me well enough then you know that I'm not made for this whole thing. I'd drive you crazy."

"You already drive me crazy. I know you well enough to know that you're kidding yourself. What would being with me change? Honestly? We hang out all the time. We can at least tolerate each other's friends...to a point. We like the same things," he listed.

"And then there's expectations, and obligations, and..."

"And we don't ever have to do what we don't want to do. I don't know what kind of crazy white-girl system you've got going on on the other side, but those rules don't apply here. We make up our own rules as we go. Even if nothing changed at least I'd have the satisfaction of knowing that some other jerk-face white guy isn't going to make you feel like crap all of the time." He took a few breaths from his rant. "Could we at least give it a shot? If it's weird, then we forget that it ever happened and just be friends. I mean, I still need someone to watch Carl with me; he has very few loyal followers around here."

That was able to settle the mood a little and get her to at least breakout half a smile. She was still staring at the floor thinking. Eli waited, hovering over her, for her to answer. He wished that she would at least say something. Not knowing what she was thinking was driving him insane. He had laid everything out on the table. There was nothing more he could do but wait for her to make the first move. She was standing so still. Was she even still breathing? Then she looked up, but Eli didn't even have time to process the look on her face because within the same second she had met his lips and it was the warmest, deepest, and sweetest thing he'd ever experienced in his life. He was afraid to breathe for ruining it. Finally she opened her eyes and they separated. She was now looking at him, all of her breath catching up to her.

"I don't know about you," Eli said, a smile creeping onto his face, "but I thought that was pretty good."

She bowed her head against his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed the back of her head. She always found his warmth to be so comforting. She latched onto his t-shirt and just clutched the fabric in her hands. He rubbed her back, not letting go of her until she was ready to face the world again.

"Okay," she finally said.

"Okay?"

"Okay."

"Okay."

Eli could breathe again.

END OF PHASE ONE