Hey! Um... so there was really no good excuse for me to wait so long to update except writer's block and I got really into my other story. So I'm going with that. Sorry nonetheless everyone. LOVE YOU ALL, here's chapter 7.

Battle of Love

Chapter 7

ELI

I pulled Clare back into our hiding spot so Fitz couldn't hear what our plan was. After a minor argument with Tori, I also convinced her and Zig to wait out in the tunnel for a while.

"Okay, Eli. If I tell you this, you have to promise not to freak out. I mean, like solemnly swear to stay open-minded and listen to everything I have to tell you." Clare whispered.

"I promise I'll try to control my emotions," I said, getting a little nervous. I can't really help when I freak out. My medication can only take me so far.

Shit, how long has it been since I took it?

"Well, that sounds legit enough. Hm... where to start? Oh! Okay, so you remember what Fitz said yesterday, right?

"About what, exactly?" I asked for clarification.

"Me being...difficult earlier yesterday. About how I screwed up, and now we are paying the consequence."

"Clare, if you're trying to blame yourself-" I began, but was cut off by Clare's rushed words.

"No, Eli, listen. Fitz came onto- no; forced himself onto me when I got to the arcade last night. He pinned me against the wall, and asked me to...have fun with him. Obviously my stupid step-brother told him something ridiculous about me. I rejected him and ran directly to the arcade. So you can't really tell me this whole thing isn't my fault. Anyways," she paused for breath, shaking her head at my harsh look, "I thought that if I just give him what he wants, he'll let us all go,"

On the outside, my face may have looked a tad angry and disapproving. On the inside, however, I was seething. I felt like I was living my junior year all over again. Who the fuck does Fitz think he is?

"Absolutely not. I am not going to let him manipulate you like that again. Can't you see? He probably created the game so you would come up with this exact plan. No, not happening. You really thought that you would go to him and-" I shuttered, refusing to have the idea planted in my head.

"Eli, chill. You promised you'd stay open-minded. It was just an idea. I don't see you with any glorious plans, now do I?"

"Alright, you got me there. I'm sorry. We shouldn't fight, we need to stick together in this," I said, feeling guilty for rejecting Clare's plan so quickly. Not only did she feel responsible for our current situation, but she was also ready to sacrifice herself for us all. She is truly amazing.

"I agree, but we are going to need a plan to get out of here. I would have thought Mr. Schemer would have something up his sleeve..."

"Not of this moment, but I promise to get us out of here alive somehow," I replied.

..

After we went back into the hall, Clare, Tori, Zig, and I walked the tunnels for hours, throwing ideas around in whispered conversations. Zig and Tori came up with absolutely nothing, and I was a little upset that they didn't seem to care what happened to us all. I wished I could just be alone with Clare.

"Zig, what time is it? We've been walking around forever," Tori complained yet again.

"Babe, it's been like two minutes since you last asked that. Why don't we sit?" Zig suggested. Wow, this kid is so whipped.

"I'm going to keep walking for a little. Clare, do you want to join me?" I asked hopefully.

"Sure,"

Tori looked reluctant to let us go on further, but Zig whispered something in her ear and she smiled and shooed us playfully. When we got a good distance away from the couple, Clare gave me a side-hug.

"Thank you!" she whispered in my ear.

"For?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Saving me! Tori has been pestering me with all of her relationship questions. 'Who are you dating?' 'Why not?' 'Don't you want a relationship?' I was about ready to tell her I'm a nun!" she exclaimed.

"Glad to be of service, ma'am," I said, secretly wishing I knew the answer to Tori's last question. I'll have to get it out of her eventually.

"Zig and her are a cute couple, but the pair aren't the sharpest tacks in the box," she said.

"Believe me, I know. Zig's vocabulary consists of two words; skateboard and Tori," I joked, earning a giggle from Clare. Music to my ears.

"Oh, be nice. Not all of us can be highly intelligent writers."

"Well, somehow we both ended up with that trait, Plath" I said, nudging her side.

"I'm not that great, Hughes." she teased.

"I'm serious! My grade in English sucks now that I don't have my wonderful editor," I said, hoping she didn't hear the pain in my voice. I really missed her, in so many ways.

Clare probably picked up on the double meaning to my words, because when I looked at her she was frowning. "For me, as well," she replied.

"Hmm well maybe when we get out of here, I'll get Mrs. Dawes to make us partners again. I can be very persuasive, you know,"

"Oh, can you?" she grinned challengingy.

"Yup," I said, "truth or dare?"

"Really Eli? Truth or dare?" she asked. I just shrugged.

"Hmm well now that I know you are going to persuade me to do something absolutely crazy...truth," she said.

"When you put it like that, I just persuaded you to pick truth, but suit yourself. My question is; do you think we can ever pick up where we left off?"

Clare was silent for a few seconds, and it was killing me. "Before my issues," I added, knowing that was the source of her hesitation.

After a few more agonizing seconds of silence, Clare finally said, "Eli... I think that that question would be more appropriate for when we get out of here. But," she said, stopping in her tracks, "I'll give you a hint,"

I stopped as well and turned around to face her. By now, we were very far from Tori and Zig. It felt as though we were the only two people on earth. I could barely see Clare's face in the dim light, but her I saw her white teeth gleaming. She stepped towards me, and rested her hands on my shoulders. My heart was pounding in my ears. I put my arms around her waist and finally just pulled her in, unable to wait any longer. My lips met hers feverishly, and my tongue traced her lower lip. She let me in immediately. Our tongues battled while our lips moved in sync. My body felt like it was on fire, but I didn't really care enough to check. Soon, all too soon, we pulled away for air. This was unlike any kiss we'd shared when we dated. It was overwhelming.

"Wow," I laughed breathlessly.

"I know." she agreed.

"You've been holding out on me, Edwards," I accused playfully.

"Soooorry," she sang back, just as lightly.

I wanted to say something, to ask her what this meant, but I didn't want to ruin the moment. I settled for another double meaning.

"It's okay, I'll get you back sooner or later."

After Clare and I's little rendezvous, we decided to go back to Tori and Zig. We retraced our steps, filling the musty air with witty remarks and playful jabs. Clare's company is just so... refreshing. Things weren't even awkward after what just happened, and for that I was grateful. Maybe Clare was just as interested as I was? I don't know, but I only needed to get us out of here to find out.

As we walked down the hall, I heard something strangely familar.

"Clare, do you hear that?" I whispered.

"Hear what?" I put my fingers to her lips for a second and inclined my head.

"Is that...do you hear another person talking?"

She nodded. I pulled her into another crevice in the wall when I heard footsteps approaching us. What was heard next changed everything.

"Tori, Fitz is just pissed that he ran out of weed. We need to let him cool off."

"Maybe that's true, but I really hate being in this gross cave! We should end this for him, you know? Just get it over with. Maybe if we shoot the Clare girl, that will be good enough for Fitz. Poor Eli would be so sad. He did say that this prank was supposed to be on Eli, right?."

Oh hell no.

Clare tapped my shoulder and I looked back at her. Her expression was a mixture of fear and anger. I nodded in agreement, and gave her my best reassuring smirk.

"Right. That sounds like a plan. I say we give it a few hours, let them trust us, and then BAM! Pull out the guns on the chick," Zig said and Tori laughed. She laughed at the suggestion to kill Clare.

"I feel bad for doing this to Clare, though. I hope she won't hate me too much afterward," Tori said.

The two passed right in front of us and I held my breath. We waited until they were out of earshot to start talking.

"How would I even get the chance to hate her? I'd be dead!" Clare whispered.

"I know, that's what is really unsettling. They act as if they don't care if you die. Hell, they want it to happen. And to top it off, they were talking to Fitz back there!" I said.

"I know. Did you catch the part where they said it was a prank on you? That means Fitz has had this planned for some time. He is so sick." she ranted.

"Agreed. I also wonder how he got the dream team out there to assist him in this."

"Ugh those stupid, lying niners. What are we going to do with them?" she asked, looking deep in thought.

"Fret not, Plath. I've got the perfect plan now."

She grinned. "Never thought I'd be glad to hear you say that, Hughes."

..

As Clare and I sat in our positions on opposing sides of the cavern, I shook with nerves. We were waiting for Tori and Zig to arrive to initiate our plan. This was going to work; it had to. I glanced over at Clare and smiled. She looked so pretty, even after spending the day in a cave. She smiled back at me for a moment until her head whipped to the side. She looked back at me and nodded. That was the signal.

I shakily got up from my hiding spot and went to stand by the crate.

"Tori! Zig!" I yelled.

"Eli?" I heard Zig's voice echo down a tunnel entrance.

"In here!" I shouted and then let my anxiety get the best of me for a second. I hopped from foot to foot and shook my shoulders. I looked back at Clare in her hiding spot and she smiled encouragingly. That was all I needed; my heart rate slowed and I felt suddenly confidant. Tori and Zig came running into the cavern. Showtime.

"Oh, finally! We thought we'd lost you. Where's Clare?" Tori asked.

Wouldn't you like to know.

I sighed deeply, laying it on thick. "I'm not sure, I think she went down that hall. Or no! Maybe it was that one!" I exclaimed, pointing at two different tunnels that led from the cavern. "Ugh I don't know! I'm sorry! I just-"

"You don't know?" Zig asked.

"Exactly. Yes! We were hanging out in here and then she said she was going to go find you two. I... I just wasn't looking I guess. And then oh God! SHE'S GONE! FIND HER!" I screamed at the end.

"Dude, chill out. We'll find her," Zig said, putting his hand on one of my flailing arms.I shoved him off.

"NOW! FIND HER NOW! CLARE! CLARE!" I yelled, inwardly dying of laughter at Tori's freaked out face.

"Okay, I'm going! Calm the fuck down!" Zig shouted at me and sprinted headlong down one of the tunnels I'd pointed to.

"Zig, you're seriously leaving me here with this psycho?" Tori called, but Zig was already far out of earshot. I felt giddy but also sad at the same time. Damn, anything to get away from the bipolar kid. But at least my plan is working.

Tori and I stared at eachother She smiled sheepishly as she backed slowly away from me and I grinned as I stalked towards her.

"You know, its not very nice to call people 'psycho'," I stated calmly, making her expression change from fear to confusion. She held up her gun.

"But- w-why aren't you-" she stuttered.

"Hey, Clare, can you give me a hand here?" I called out.

Clare emerged from her hiding spot. She was in my view, but behind Tori as she grabbed her by the arms and held her, causing Tori to drop her gun. Clare kicked it to the side. Tori screamed and called for Zig.

"Oh, Tori, he can't hear you right now. So shut the hell up." Clare said. I laughed; I didn't know she had it in her. Maybe being threatened with death really does bring out the best in people.

I went to the center of the room and grabbed the large crate, which was empty (Clare and I had made sure of this earlier). I hauled it over to Tori and Clare. Clare let her go as soon as I dropped the large weight, enclosing Tori like a cage. I took a step back and praised my work.

"Thank you, thank you. I know my plans are the best." I said.

Clare laughed and shook her head. "This is so wrong," she said.

"What they were planning to do was worse." I reminded her.

"Eli! Clare!" Tori yelled, snapping us out of our conversation.

"What do you want now? To kill me? Or Clare? Yeah, never going to happen Princess."

"Ugh, whatever, I don't even care anymore. You totally owe me Cuz!" she yelled at the air.

And she calls me insane.

I was about to respond to her random outburst when someone else beat me to it.

"I don't owe you shit, Tori. This is just too entertaining. Props to you, Emo Boy, for the sick plan that led to my cousin's capture. I think I'll just sit back and watch this thing while it gets good."

Clare and I stood there wide-eyed as Tori started to cry.

"Why are you being so mean Mark! I just want to get out of here now! This isn't fun for me anymore."

Clare snorted. "Join the club."

I finally gained enough control of my voice to say. "This is the stupidest prank I have ever witnessed, Fitz. I guess I shouldn't act so surprised, though; it is one of yours."

"Sure joke around, Emo Boy. Just know this; nothing will end well for you or your friends." The speaker cut off, leaving the threat residing heavily in the air.