~A Once and Again Series~
The Way We Are
Chapter Three//Under Pressure
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"Eli?"
"Right, yeah..." Eli grabbed his backpack off the couch, "I'm coming."
Karen nodded, and waited until he and Jessie had filed past her and out the door. She closed their house door behind them with a soft click.
"Can I drive?" Eli asked as they walked to Karen's car.
"No, I think I should..." Karen said, pulling the car keys out of her purse. "I just need to drop you off at Lily's and then head back over to the office."
"Can I drive?" Jessie mocked. Karen patted her affectionately on the head.
Eli hid a grimace from his mother as he crawled into the backseat. He never got to drive.
[[Eli - If I had my own car... man, that'd be cool. *smiles* I'd take Grace and we'd drive down empty back roads, and have the music going and just be... alone... together. *shakes head slightly* But of course, my parents don't agree with the idea of me getting a car. But, I'm almost 18... almost an adult.]]
"Are you sure you two are okay with you Dad taking you tonight? I've just got an extra heavy load of work at the office, and then I have that meeting in Madison in the morning... I wouldn't be there with you tonight, and I wouldn't be able to fit in driving you two to school in the morning," Karen explained, looking intently at her kids.
Eli shrugged, biting back the urge to say what he really wanted. Which was if Eli had his own car, none of that would matter.
Jessie shrugged too, "It's okay... even if it means I have to spend another night with... Zoe."
Karen's face broke into sympathy. "Oh, honey. It can't be that bad, can it?"
Eli wrestled his headphones and disc-man out of his backpack. He slipped the headphones over his ears, and eagerly turned up the volume. He slunk back into the seat and closed his eyes. He didn't really feel like listening to Jessie moan about living with Zoe right now.
* * *
"Hey, E?"
Eli turned, "Yeah?"
Rick gestured towards the direction of the garage. "I was thinking we could start working on fixing up the garage today."
Eli shook his head, "I can't."
Rick's expression turned cloudy. "Do want to elaborate on why not?"
Grace appeared in the kitchen doorway, apparently waiting for Eli. She paused as she noticed the tension.
"I have band practice," Eli informed his father.
"Can't it wait?" Rick said. "I was thinking if we started on moving some of the boxes and..."
"I promised the guys," Eli interrupted him.
Grace turned her face away from the tense conversation. She faked interest in reorganizing the magnets on the fridge.
[[Grace - *looks at camera, and then away... nervously fidgets*]]
"Eli, Lily and I were thinking that the garage room should be yours," Rick said pointedly.
"And I'd help, but I promised the guys," Eli said again. He looked up guiltily, realizing he had never asked if he could use his father's car. "Can I take the car?"
Rick nodded sharply. "Fine," He grunted.
"Grace, ready?" Eli asked.
Grace looked up, and pasted on a smile, "Yup."
"Does your mom know you're going?" Rick asked, a bit of a left-over edge to his voice.
"Yes she does," Grace said, a bit of a chill to her tone.
Eli took Grace's hand and led her out of the house.
* * *
"Our kids..." Rick said later that night, his voice rigid.
Lily looked over at him, "Whatever do you mean?" She smiled, and sidled up to him on the bed, "Why, our kids are perfect little angels."
Rick smiled a bit, and shook his head, losing the smile. "Eli's not doing anything but play music... he hasn't even thought about the decisions he needs to be making about colleges... Jessie's always complaining about Zoe..."
"Zoe's always complaining about Jessie," Lily added, "And Grace is so focused on Eli right now..."
Rick nodded, "And they're so young... to be so attached. Grace, especially."
"Eli's almost an adult," Lily reminded him.
Rick shook his head, "Maybe in years, but not in wisdom... he's still a grumpy, selfish kid. He won't even think about his future."
Lily leaned her head against his shoulder. They were silent a few moments, and then Lily sighed. As long as they were talking about depressing subjects... "I got turned down today," She told Rick.
"Turned down?" Rick echoed, totally lost.
"There was this job I applied for... as an editor for a local magazine," Lily explained. "And apparently, I'm not qualified enough."
"Oh," Rick said, unsure of how to comfort her, when this job was obliviously something she had been hiding from him.
"I think the truth is... that I'm just too old. All the people there were so young, and... happy!" Lily said in a mocking cheerful voice.
"We used to be happy," Rick said with a hint of a smile.
"Oh, really?" Lily asked, nuzzling her face against his neck. "I don't remember that."
Rick pulled her closer, and they both broke into smiles.
[[Lily - I love that...]]
[[Rick - ...that she can still...]]
[[Lily - ...make me smile, even when...]]
[[Rick - ...I've got a lot of things on my mind...]]
* * *
"Where's your mom?" Grace asked after practice had finished and the other guys: Markie, John, and Turk had gone home.
"At the office still, probably," Eli said, taking a carton of orange juice out of the fridge. "She just got a major case... something to do with a landlord illegally raising the rent due to race, or something."
Grace nodded, and watched as Eli poured two glasses full of the orange juice.
"Cheers," Eli said with no trace of cheerfulness and they drank the juice.
"So... your dad," Grace began.
"I don't want to talk about it," Eli insisted.
"Okay," Grace said quietly. She looked at Eli while he was busy putting the glasses in the sink. She could tell that whatever pressure Rick, and Karen most likely too, was putting on him was getting to him. She didn't know what she could say to make it better...
[[Grace - I don't understand why they are making it so tough on him. It's only the beginning of his senior year... it's not like he has to have all these plans already. Why can't they just back off?]]
Eli turned back, and he actually had a ghost of a smile on his face, "So... we've got the place to ourselves."
Grace smiled, "No Zoe teasing us... no Jessie bugging us... no parents watching us."
Eli walked over to where she sat on the kitchen stool, and leaned his head down, meeting her in a kiss. Eli's tenseness gradually drifted from his body as he devoured the taste of Grace's lips. She kissed him back, just as eagerly, linking her fingers in his hair. They didn't get to do this enough... not with a house full of interruptions.
A key turned in the lock, and they broke... of course, yet another interruption. It had seemed too good to be true.
Grace quickly wiped the remains of her strawberry lip gloss off Eli's lips and chin.
"That tasted good," Eli teased her as they heard the door open and Karen enter.
Grace shushed him with a look, and they turned to greet the new arrival.
"Hi mom," Eli said, with a smile. Somehow Grace had managed to cheer him up.
[[Eli - I love that she can make me... happy, even when I'm having a really crappy day.]]
"Hi," Grace said, purposely not calling Karen by a name. What was she supposed to call her? Karen? Ms. Sammler? Eli's mom?
"Oh, I didn't realize you'd..." Karen trailed off, setting down her heavy briefcase.
"Yeah, the band had another practice tonight," Eli said. "We were just about to head back to the house."
Grace nodded.
"I see," Karen looked down at her briefcase briefly, and then back up at the two of them. Her eyes darted back and forth between the two of them, as if she was unsure whether to bring this up in front of Grace. "Your father called me."
"He did," Eli's slightly good mood deflated just like that.
"Have you even gone to see your counselor yet, Eli?" Karen asked.
"No... not yet," Eli said, pinpricks in his voice.
Grace looked down at her hands.
"I didn't think so..." Karen nodded, "So I've set up an appointment for you on Friday."
"Okay," Eli said, slightly mockingly, "Then on Friday, I'll go see my counselor."
"Eli, this is a very serious issue..." Karen said, her voice raising a level, "This is your future at stake."
"Don't you think I know that?" Eli cried. He shook his head angrily, "Maybe if you just let me make my own decisions..."
Karen paused, on the verge of responding, but looked at Grace, who was studying the floor tile with much interest. Karen lowered her voice, "Eli... you can make your own decisions, but you have to be making SOME kind of decisions... you can't just back away from it all."
"I'm not doing that," Eli insisted. He picked up his guitar case and looked at Grace, "We should go."
Grace got up, "Yeah." She managed a smile in Karen's general direction, "Bye."
"Bye," Karen replied. She listened as they walked behind her, and out the apartment door. And then they were gone. Karen let her shoulders fall and she sank her face into her hands.
[[Karen - I don't know where he's headed... I don't know what path he's on. How can I watch out for him if he's not where I expected him to be? How can I get him headed for the right paths?]]
* * *
"So, my mom's a bitch," Eli said as they drove back towards the house.
"Eli!" Grace exclaimed.
Eli shook his head, "It's true. She's always on me about EVERYTHING. She never lets anything be. She just never stops..." Eli angrily shook his head. "...And now my dad's being the same way. All I ever hear from them anymore is criticism."
"That must suck," Grace said, earnestly.
Eli nodded, letting out a long breath, "It completely utterly sucks."
Grace looked out the window, drawing a heart on the slightly fogged up surface.
"But at least I've got you," Eli said after a few moments of silence.
Grace smiled, turning to him, and found him looking back at her. They shared a lasting comforting look. Then Eli turned his attention back to driving and Grace turned back to the window, and added this inside the heart:
G + E
* * *
The Way We Are
Chapter Three//Under Pressure
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"Eli?"
"Right, yeah..." Eli grabbed his backpack off the couch, "I'm coming."
Karen nodded, and waited until he and Jessie had filed past her and out the door. She closed their house door behind them with a soft click.
"Can I drive?" Eli asked as they walked to Karen's car.
"No, I think I should..." Karen said, pulling the car keys out of her purse. "I just need to drop you off at Lily's and then head back over to the office."
"Can I drive?" Jessie mocked. Karen patted her affectionately on the head.
Eli hid a grimace from his mother as he crawled into the backseat. He never got to drive.
[[Eli - If I had my own car... man, that'd be cool. *smiles* I'd take Grace and we'd drive down empty back roads, and have the music going and just be... alone... together. *shakes head slightly* But of course, my parents don't agree with the idea of me getting a car. But, I'm almost 18... almost an adult.]]
"Are you sure you two are okay with you Dad taking you tonight? I've just got an extra heavy load of work at the office, and then I have that meeting in Madison in the morning... I wouldn't be there with you tonight, and I wouldn't be able to fit in driving you two to school in the morning," Karen explained, looking intently at her kids.
Eli shrugged, biting back the urge to say what he really wanted. Which was if Eli had his own car, none of that would matter.
Jessie shrugged too, "It's okay... even if it means I have to spend another night with... Zoe."
Karen's face broke into sympathy. "Oh, honey. It can't be that bad, can it?"
Eli wrestled his headphones and disc-man out of his backpack. He slipped the headphones over his ears, and eagerly turned up the volume. He slunk back into the seat and closed his eyes. He didn't really feel like listening to Jessie moan about living with Zoe right now.
* * *
"Hey, E?"
Eli turned, "Yeah?"
Rick gestured towards the direction of the garage. "I was thinking we could start working on fixing up the garage today."
Eli shook his head, "I can't."
Rick's expression turned cloudy. "Do want to elaborate on why not?"
Grace appeared in the kitchen doorway, apparently waiting for Eli. She paused as she noticed the tension.
"I have band practice," Eli informed his father.
"Can't it wait?" Rick said. "I was thinking if we started on moving some of the boxes and..."
"I promised the guys," Eli interrupted him.
Grace turned her face away from the tense conversation. She faked interest in reorganizing the magnets on the fridge.
[[Grace - *looks at camera, and then away... nervously fidgets*]]
"Eli, Lily and I were thinking that the garage room should be yours," Rick said pointedly.
"And I'd help, but I promised the guys," Eli said again. He looked up guiltily, realizing he had never asked if he could use his father's car. "Can I take the car?"
Rick nodded sharply. "Fine," He grunted.
"Grace, ready?" Eli asked.
Grace looked up, and pasted on a smile, "Yup."
"Does your mom know you're going?" Rick asked, a bit of a left-over edge to his voice.
"Yes she does," Grace said, a bit of a chill to her tone.
Eli took Grace's hand and led her out of the house.
* * *
"Our kids..." Rick said later that night, his voice rigid.
Lily looked over at him, "Whatever do you mean?" She smiled, and sidled up to him on the bed, "Why, our kids are perfect little angels."
Rick smiled a bit, and shook his head, losing the smile. "Eli's not doing anything but play music... he hasn't even thought about the decisions he needs to be making about colleges... Jessie's always complaining about Zoe..."
"Zoe's always complaining about Jessie," Lily added, "And Grace is so focused on Eli right now..."
Rick nodded, "And they're so young... to be so attached. Grace, especially."
"Eli's almost an adult," Lily reminded him.
Rick shook his head, "Maybe in years, but not in wisdom... he's still a grumpy, selfish kid. He won't even think about his future."
Lily leaned her head against his shoulder. They were silent a few moments, and then Lily sighed. As long as they were talking about depressing subjects... "I got turned down today," She told Rick.
"Turned down?" Rick echoed, totally lost.
"There was this job I applied for... as an editor for a local magazine," Lily explained. "And apparently, I'm not qualified enough."
"Oh," Rick said, unsure of how to comfort her, when this job was obliviously something she had been hiding from him.
"I think the truth is... that I'm just too old. All the people there were so young, and... happy!" Lily said in a mocking cheerful voice.
"We used to be happy," Rick said with a hint of a smile.
"Oh, really?" Lily asked, nuzzling her face against his neck. "I don't remember that."
Rick pulled her closer, and they both broke into smiles.
[[Lily - I love that...]]
[[Rick - ...that she can still...]]
[[Lily - ...make me smile, even when...]]
[[Rick - ...I've got a lot of things on my mind...]]
* * *
"Where's your mom?" Grace asked after practice had finished and the other guys: Markie, John, and Turk had gone home.
"At the office still, probably," Eli said, taking a carton of orange juice out of the fridge. "She just got a major case... something to do with a landlord illegally raising the rent due to race, or something."
Grace nodded, and watched as Eli poured two glasses full of the orange juice.
"Cheers," Eli said with no trace of cheerfulness and they drank the juice.
"So... your dad," Grace began.
"I don't want to talk about it," Eli insisted.
"Okay," Grace said quietly. She looked at Eli while he was busy putting the glasses in the sink. She could tell that whatever pressure Rick, and Karen most likely too, was putting on him was getting to him. She didn't know what she could say to make it better...
[[Grace - I don't understand why they are making it so tough on him. It's only the beginning of his senior year... it's not like he has to have all these plans already. Why can't they just back off?]]
Eli turned back, and he actually had a ghost of a smile on his face, "So... we've got the place to ourselves."
Grace smiled, "No Zoe teasing us... no Jessie bugging us... no parents watching us."
Eli walked over to where she sat on the kitchen stool, and leaned his head down, meeting her in a kiss. Eli's tenseness gradually drifted from his body as he devoured the taste of Grace's lips. She kissed him back, just as eagerly, linking her fingers in his hair. They didn't get to do this enough... not with a house full of interruptions.
A key turned in the lock, and they broke... of course, yet another interruption. It had seemed too good to be true.
Grace quickly wiped the remains of her strawberry lip gloss off Eli's lips and chin.
"That tasted good," Eli teased her as they heard the door open and Karen enter.
Grace shushed him with a look, and they turned to greet the new arrival.
"Hi mom," Eli said, with a smile. Somehow Grace had managed to cheer him up.
[[Eli - I love that she can make me... happy, even when I'm having a really crappy day.]]
"Hi," Grace said, purposely not calling Karen by a name. What was she supposed to call her? Karen? Ms. Sammler? Eli's mom?
"Oh, I didn't realize you'd..." Karen trailed off, setting down her heavy briefcase.
"Yeah, the band had another practice tonight," Eli said. "We were just about to head back to the house."
Grace nodded.
"I see," Karen looked down at her briefcase briefly, and then back up at the two of them. Her eyes darted back and forth between the two of them, as if she was unsure whether to bring this up in front of Grace. "Your father called me."
"He did," Eli's slightly good mood deflated just like that.
"Have you even gone to see your counselor yet, Eli?" Karen asked.
"No... not yet," Eli said, pinpricks in his voice.
Grace looked down at her hands.
"I didn't think so..." Karen nodded, "So I've set up an appointment for you on Friday."
"Okay," Eli said, slightly mockingly, "Then on Friday, I'll go see my counselor."
"Eli, this is a very serious issue..." Karen said, her voice raising a level, "This is your future at stake."
"Don't you think I know that?" Eli cried. He shook his head angrily, "Maybe if you just let me make my own decisions..."
Karen paused, on the verge of responding, but looked at Grace, who was studying the floor tile with much interest. Karen lowered her voice, "Eli... you can make your own decisions, but you have to be making SOME kind of decisions... you can't just back away from it all."
"I'm not doing that," Eli insisted. He picked up his guitar case and looked at Grace, "We should go."
Grace got up, "Yeah." She managed a smile in Karen's general direction, "Bye."
"Bye," Karen replied. She listened as they walked behind her, and out the apartment door. And then they were gone. Karen let her shoulders fall and she sank her face into her hands.
[[Karen - I don't know where he's headed... I don't know what path he's on. How can I watch out for him if he's not where I expected him to be? How can I get him headed for the right paths?]]
* * *
"So, my mom's a bitch," Eli said as they drove back towards the house.
"Eli!" Grace exclaimed.
Eli shook his head, "It's true. She's always on me about EVERYTHING. She never lets anything be. She just never stops..." Eli angrily shook his head. "...And now my dad's being the same way. All I ever hear from them anymore is criticism."
"That must suck," Grace said, earnestly.
Eli nodded, letting out a long breath, "It completely utterly sucks."
Grace looked out the window, drawing a heart on the slightly fogged up surface.
"But at least I've got you," Eli said after a few moments of silence.
Grace smiled, turning to him, and found him looking back at her. They shared a lasting comforting look. Then Eli turned his attention back to driving and Grace turned back to the window, and added this inside the heart:
G + E
* * *
