In case any of you are confused, this is nine years after Eli and Clare first met. Which means Clare's 25, and Eli's 26.

Don't forget to review :)

The next day, Clare threw out everything in her house that reminded her of Eli. The jade comforter, the pictures, the tee shirts...even the letter. And finally, finally, she opened the envelope from the Canadian Armed Forces. And, as she suspected, the letter confirmed her suspicions. He was MIA, it said. Which was dated back five months. No doubt he had died; and even though Clare hated him, her heart ached at the thought.

But she pushed away the now empty feeling in her chest, and continued on her cleaning rampage. She even called Alli to help her, who wanted to commemorator the moment with a night out. And Clare was more than happy to oblige. It had been six months since Eli had told her to forget, and tonight, she'd do just that. Forget him, forget everything that was him, and just be.

...₪...

"Alli, is this really necessary?" Clare questioned, lifting an eyebrow as her petite friend stared a bonfire.

"Yes. Adam did it to forget Gracie, right?" Alli commented.

"Well, yeah...but..." The curly-haired girl looked down at the box holding what was Eli.

"Let's get started." Alli said, after successfully starting the fire, much to the Clare's surprise. "And don't act so surprise. Just because I prefer stilettos over steel-toed boots doesn't mean I can't start a fire."

"Whatever. Let's get this over with." Clare stated and picked up a pile of photos with her and Eli in them.

Her hand extended towards the large fire, and she opened her hand. Or she tried. Very hard. But try as she might, her fingers wouldn't loosen. Quickly, she brought the pictures to her chest, clutching them as her head went back and her eyes closed. Now she knew how Eli felt, with his hoarding, like she was losing a part of herself. A part of Eli. No. She had to do this.

With that, she extended her arm and dropped the pile, the fire licking up the photos like a hungry beast. Clare moved her head forward and opened her eyes, watching photos of her and her once love dissolving into nothing. Suddenly a gust of window blew and the fire reached out towards the girls legs. Alli squealed and ran behind Clare, because she was wearing a skirt and Clare decided on plain jeans. But Clare yelped as the fire just touched her pants, causing a black stain to form on the shins of the pants.

"Shit." She cursed, brushing her hand across them.

As she bent down, her eyes caught a glimpse of white flapping under the toe of her ballet flats. Curious, she grabbed it, realizing it was a photo. The back read, 'Together Forever, 2015' and her stomach did a twist. She flipped the picture over and felt her eyes prick with tears. It had been Eli and her fifth anniversary; which they spent at the beach for the weekend.

They stopped a bystander to take a picture of them on a led, just as the sun was setting. Eli and Clare had a halo behind them, ranging from a light yellow, to deep orange, to a light pinkish purple. His green eyes shone, his hair being whipped by the small breeze from the water. And he wore her favorite Dead Hand shirt, which was in the box beside her. In the picture, she wore a simple white dress over her bikini - God only knew how Eli convinced her into it. But she looked stunning, nonetheless. It was the day Eli had proposed to her, and she couldn't have been more thrilled.

Now, one may ask? She was sad. She was torn, indefinitely, her body yearned to save the ashy remains of the captured moments of her and Eli's love. But her mind held her back, reminding herself of what he did to her. Of what he told her. The photo burned her hand for more than the fire before her could, but she didn't dare part with it. No matter how much Eli had hurt, she knew if this picture burned with the rest of his belongings, he'd be gone. Forever.

"Keep it." Alli said, snapping Clare out of her daze.

"What?" Was her brilliant reply.

Alli looked at the photo, then to Clare's eyes, and then to the fire that begged to be fed. Wood snapped and crackled in the flame, seemingly mesmerizing Clare's petite friend. "Keep it. He was so much a part of your life, you may regret not keeping something to remind you of him, because I know you're not truly ready to accept the fact that he's gone."

It was moments like these that proved that Alli was gifted, that her mind wasn't completely consumed by clothes and men and all the frivolous things she always fretted about. Alli had depths that Clare barely comprehended, mainly due to the fact that her friends disguised her unbelievably ability to put at ease all doubts her friend had. Though she wasn't so lucky with handling her chaos of a life.

"Thanks." Clare muttered, before pocketing the photo in her jeans.

"Now," Alli clapped her hands together, "let's start with those heinous emo clothes."

"Alli." Clare warned, weary eyes glancing the the suddenly shallow girl.

"What? His clothing style was so morbid, his lifestyle was morbid. I mean, a hearse? Which you still have yet to get rid of." Alli commented, earning a glare from her friend.

"I'm giving him to Eli's parents, I can't just drive it to the dump." Clare said, while bending down to pick up the shirts she had stolen from her love.

"You could, but I understand. They mustn't have much but old photos from him." Alli sympathetic voice was muffled by a poof of fire as her friend dropped one shirt after another into the fire.

"Just help me burn the rest of this stuff." Was all Clare said, afraid that if she spoke anymore, Alli would notice the sadness and heartache creeping into her as the shirts burned and shriveled.

Sorry for taking so long to update.

Wasted my time on a guy who wasn't worth it,

but I'm here with a lot more updates :)