Favorite chapter so far right here. I just love it. I hope you guys do as well. I especially hope I got their voices differentiated correctly. I thought Clare would be a little more analytical and dry, whereas Eli plays with his sentence structure a bit more. Anyway, here it is. Eli's point of view.

Eli Goldsworthy burrowed his ear buds further into his ears, wincing at the pressure, but craving an escape. His iPod was on full volume, blaring the Dead Hand loud enough to gain him dark looks from the occupants of surrounding tables even though he was huddled in the farthest corner of the Dot.

He pressed his forehead to the cool glass of the window to his right, enjoying the chill that calmed the dull ache in his temple and the view of Queen Street before him.

He squeezed his eyes shut, longing for nothingness, for the thoughts to stop racing about his head, but could find no solace. He wanted a mind-numbing period where he could just stop. Stop everything from spinning and racing. Stop everything from hurting. Stop the guilt. The remorse.

Just stop.

He was pleading now; to whom, he didn't know, he just knew it needed to end.

He needed to stop thinking about Clare Edwards.

Just her name made his body buzz and his lips quiver with the memory of her mouth against his; how her scent has invaded his nostrils, intoxicating him, making his vision swim, and now, how she looked wounded and forlorn every time she saw him nowadays. Her crystal clear baby blues seemed to darken to a dejected indigo, her forehead lined with misery when she passed by he and Adam at lunch or outside. She looked lonely, and it broke Eli's heart.

But all that—that pain, the sympathy, empathy—only fueled his desire to stay away from her. He needed to keep away, he had to, it was the only was to protect her.

Eli shoulders slumped and he slid further down in his chair, the hard wood pressing against his tailbone painfully. He refocused on the scene outside, trying to obtain the lack of thought he wanted. He turned up 'Paisley Jacket', though the attempt was proven fruitless, as the little blue bar was already as far as it could go.

'I see your pattern, and I can match it… Trace the lines on your paisley—'

A flash of faded paisley whizzed by.

'Paisley.'

Paisley.

'Your paisley—'

She was wearing a paisley—

Jacket.

Eli's breath hitched as Clare Edwards pedaled languidly down the road, her curls blown back, an adorable flush branching across her cheeks, her supple, pink lips curled in a radiant smile. For a moment, the air went out of his lungs and he could see with painful clarity him standing up abruptly, chair legs squealing as they slid across the floor, before he made his way through the restaurant's front doors. He took long strides toward where she had stopped at a light, before she turned to him, eyes lighting up with surprise as her lips parted in silent question. But before she could speak—before she could make reality come crashing back around him—he kissed her, feeling soft lips, gentle as flower petals, against his.

And then he traced the lines on her paisley jacket, and touched, and touched, and…

His eyes snapped open and he dug his nails ferociously into shaking palms, Eli knew he should stop his fantasies. It would only make it harder. In the end.

But seeing her now… an over-sized beige blazer over a baggy vintage T-shirt that that just barely showed the beautiful slant of her collar bone, tucked into the high waist of her skirt, and her face emanating a glow Eli hadn't seen in so long… He wanted her. So, so much. More than he could say.

But he shook his head and grit his teeth, collapsing onto the table in front of him. He leaned his head on the edge of the table, biting his lip until it bled. He wouldn't be selfish. He would do the right thing.

He would not be the one to break Clare Edwards.

Oooohhh.. Eli. Two questions about this chapter: 1) Is the past tense of grit, grit or gritted? 2) Did you notice the song I used? I couldn't find it online, so I just used what was in the episode. Also. Did you notice all the innuendo in this chapter? 1) "the HARD WOOD pressing against his tailbone painfully." 2) "Eli knew he had to stop his fantasies. It would only make it HARDER." Really? Did I HONESTLY do that? Totally swear it was unintentional, though!