The next few months after the incident were nightmarish, and terrible. Eli had tried to convince me to go to the police with my problem; to at least get a restraining order against my own father. I refused multiple times, part of me wanted to, but there was still the little girl inside me who loved her daddy. It seemed my life was spiraling downward. Eli, CeCe, and Bullfrog did all they could to try and get me better, but it was as if I had just shut down and gone into auto pilot.
I had to take time out of school, weeks in fact, because my body was bruised so badly I could hardly do anything; I just felt emotionally and physically drained. Every night I woke up from the too real nightmares that haunted me. Eli would always come into my room trying to soothe me, I always ended up crying myself back to sleep.
My relationship with Eli was strained. He couldn't even touch me anymore without me having some kind of scared reaction to him. I would always flinch, or cringe away. On bad days, I would just start crying. We didn't kiss, hug, or even hold hands. All the actions seemed to make me feel uncomfortable. I was starting to miss him, and I imagined he felt the same way too. All I felt was emptiness, and longing for my other, better half. I needed something, anything, to make me feel like myself again. Something to take the pain away.
One day after school, I decided to have a heart to heart with Eli. I walked over to his bedroom. "Eli, can I talk to you?" I asked playing with my hands.
"Yeah." Eli replied so I walked over and sat down on the bed beside him.
"I'm sorry." I said, not knowing what else to say. Eli sighed.
"Clare, it's not your fault."
"I know it isn't my fault, but I miss you." I said glancing up into his forest green eyes.
"I miss you too. Just take your time with things. I understand completely." Eli said reassuringly, gently taking my hand.
"Thank you." I said.
"Thanks for talking to me. I was starting to worry about my Blue Eyes." He said smirking. Oh, I missed his smirk. I smiled at him and gave him a tiny peck on the cheek. "Good to have you back."
"I'm glad to be back." I said smiling.
"I think we should have a date tonight, to celebrate." Eli suggested.
"What'd you have in mind?" I asked teasingly.
"Well, Adam has a pool. I could ask him if we could come over." Eli said.
"Great idea!" I said excitedly.
"I'll call him and ask him." Eli said picking up his phone and dialing our transgender friend's number. A few minutes later, after the call, Eli was smiling and hung up the phone. "He said it was alright. His family won't be home so he said we could go tonight, around eight." Eli said.
"Awesome." I said and smiled at Eli.
"Can't wait to see you in a bathing suit Blue Eyes." Eli commented and I blushed. I yawned slightly.
"Sorry. I didn't get much sleep last night. You know, 'cause of the nightmares." I said.
"Want to take a nap with me?" Eli asked.
"Yes please." I said and crawled to the top of the bed with him. Eli pulled me back against his chest so that we were spooning.
"Is this okay?" He asked hesitantly.
"Yeah just be careful, I'm still a little sore." I explained.
"Don't worry, I'll be gentle." He said and kissed my forehead lightly. He wrapped his arms around my abdomen and gingerly trailed his fingers up and down. The feeling was so relaxing and I started to drift off. "Clare?" He asked.
"Yeah, Eli?"
"I love you." He whispered.
"I love you too." I said then turned over and buried my face in Eli's chest. I kissed his neck, then fell into sleep. I awoke a couple hours later, groggy from my short nap. I looked over only to find a sleeping Eli beside me. He looked in a sleepy bliss slightly smiling in his slumber. He stirred gently, and his eyelids fluttered open like butterfly wings.
"Hey." Eli murmured.
"Hi." I said smiling.
"Did you sleep okay? No nightmares?" Eli asked sitting up and propping his head with his elbow.
"I slept great." I said as I stretched; trying to work the kinks out of my stiff muscles.
"I'm glad."
"So, should we get ready?" I asked referring to our date at Adam's house.
"Yeah, I'm going to shower." Eli said getting out of bed and heading to he bathroom. I then walked to my room and started to get ready. I debated briefly on whether I should wear a one piece or bikini. I decided to be bold and wear a bikini. It was blue and white striped, but wasn't too revealing. I then put a white sundress on over it with pink flip flops. I brushed out m hair and waited for Eli. Soon he walked out wearing all black swim trunks and a white shirt. "Ready?" He asked and I skipped over to him.
"Yup!" I said and he kissed me on the cheek. We walked outside and got in the hearse, then drove the short way to Adam's house. It was a starry night and the stars twinkled slightly, like diamonds floating in the sky. The moon was full as well, it hung luminous in the dark night air. The pool was lit barely, and the water seemed to have a glow to it. Eli took my hand and we walked over to the lawn chairs. He took off his shirt and shoes and I took off my flip flops and dress. I covered my arms over my chest because it was cold in the night. Eli smirked and shook his head. I smiled at him as goose bumps appeared on my pale skin. Eli then stepped into the pool first, he was waist deep in the glowing water, and motioned for me to join him. I stepped in with one foot and was taken by surprise from the warm water. I waded over gently, getting used to the liquid aroud my body. He pulled me into a loving embrace, I wrapped my arms around his neck and jumped around his waist. Eli snaked his arms around the small of my back. "This is so cliche." I said and giggled.
"It may be cliche, but at least you're having a good time."
"I love you." I said, and it felt so right. Just being with Eli, here and now, not worrying about my alcoholic, abusive father.
"I love you too." He breathed.
"I know." I said smiling.
"Damn. Am I that predictable?" Eli joked. I smacked his chest playfully.
"You know what I mean." I replied. Eli and I laughed, I kept on giggling as he placed tender, sweet, butterfly kisses on my neck. "Is Clare Edwards ticklish?" Eli teased.
"Nope." I said playfully.
"Yes you are Blue Eyes."
"I love when you call me that." I said changing the subject.
"Good, 'cause I gotta feeling the name is gonna stick around." Eli said as he stare into my baby blue orbs.
"This is the best date ever." I said.
"It is. You wanna know why?" He asked, his lips teasingly close to mine.
"Why?"
"Because, I get to see you in a bikini." Eli said then pressed his lips to mine chastely. I smiled into the kiss. His lips were so soft, they felt like magic against my own. We stayed in the pool for about two more hours and soon I was beginning to prune up. We drove home in Morty and Eli carried me to my room. I was exhausted.
"Can you change my clothes?" I asked Eli.
"Yeah." He said as he began to peel off my wet bathing suit. I wasn't even really that nervous around him in that way anymore. After all, Eli's seen me at my lowest point, after my rape. I was in pajamas and soon Eli crawled into bed with me.
"Night." Eli mumbled.
"Night." I said wrapping my arms around Eli and drifting to sleep.