A/N : READ : Okay, I know I haven't updated some of my other stories... I have been writing them, but I have writers block for them.. I will try and update them soon, but I dont know... and please read 'Rachie1277' fanfiction... Its really good! I've read later chapters and its really amazing! Just give it a chance!

Chapter 3 - Summer Nights

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Clare, I went out to get some things for work... Your dad and I will be back later night, we are going to go to dinner. The babysitters number is on the counter call her when you leave for work.
Marine

I sighed as I shut my phone, deleting the text message that Marine sent me. It was 4:00 in the afternoon. I didn't get any sleep last night because of the baby so that's probably why I'm up this late. I had to go to work at 6:00 so I better just do something to get rid of time.

I pulled on my bathing suit with a pair of shorts and a tank top to go over it. I went inside Jordyn's room and picked her up as carefully as I could and took her downstairs. Jordyn was asleep in my arms, she looked like an angel. Jordyn was soft blonde strands of hair on her head and light green eyes. She was beautiful. I smiled at the sleeping baby and picked up the note that Marine put the babysitter's number down on and called her.

"Yes... um, is this Alli?" I asked.
"Yeah... This is her." She replied with her perky tone.
"Well, can you come in and babysit little Jordyn? Marine is out with my dad and I have to go to work." I asked.
"Sure! I'm leaving right now." I could hear the smile in her voice.
"Okay... great. See you soon." I hung up the phone and sat down on the couch with Jordyn still sound asleep in my arms.

Alli came sooner than I thought; she was here 10 minutes after I called. She knocked on the door, making me snap back from my sleep. I sat Jordyn on the couch and ran to the door.
"Hey Alli, Jordyn is in the other room..." I smiled moving out of the way to let her in.
"Okay... thank you..." She whispered telling me to give her my name
"Clare... my name is Clare." I faked a smile and went to pick up Jordyn, giving her to Alli.
"Look at the little Jordy! You are so cute." Alli said in a baby voice making my baby smile and giggle.
"Thanks for coming, but I have to go to work... I will call in a little bit."
"Can I have your number?" Alli asked looking down at her phone.
"Oh, sure."

We switched phones to swap numbers. When I looked down on the screen saver, I tilted my head in confusion. It was her and the group of people I saw at the beach last night. I looked at the familiar faces, and stopped at the dark haired boy with green eyes. He looked annoyed. Every other guy had a girl with him and he was all alone. Alli was with this guy with long curly blonde hair.

"Who are these people?" I asked butting into her business
"Oh, those are my friends." She smiled.
"C-can I ask you something?" I stuttered.
She nodded her head while rocking the baby.

"Who is the one that doesn't have any girlfriend? Dark hair and beaut- I mean green eyes?" I shook my head at my minor mistake.
"Oh," She laughed. "that's Eli... why do you ask?" She asked with a small smile.
"Just asking, we've bumped into each other since I've been here. I broke up a fight with him and this other guy."
"Ah, Fitz... they have some sort of rival thing going on. They've never really like each other." She shrugged her shoulders.
"Do you know why?"

There was a long silence.

"Have you seen the girl with the long back silky hair, and light pale skin?"
I nodded.

"Well, that's Julia, and she cheated on Eli with Fitz. Eli broke up with her and she went to Fitz, so know Eli doesn't really trust anyone anymore because of that... So he just gave up." She smiled sadly. "I miss him though, and ever since the Julia thing he hasn't not been himself, but just recently... like about a week ago, he started to become all happy and everything and I heard him talk to Adam, one of my closest friends, saying he saw this 'drop dead beautiful girl with deep sea blue eyes' and all that." She smiled up at me.

Whoa, what? Drop dead beautiful girl... deep sea blue eyes?

"I only wonder who that would be." She raised her eyebrows and winked, making me laugh.
"I don't know Alli... I don't even know him."
"Oh, come on girrrll. You are attracted to him! You know it!" She raised her voice while sitting Jordyn in her crib. "I'm going to call him."

"Alli! NO!" I laughed while my cheeks turned a darker shade of pink than before.
She placed her phone against her ear and turned it on speaker phone. The phone rang 3 times before someone answered it.
"Hello?" He asked.
"Yes, Eli... I'm babysitting right now, and well... I met someone interesting, she said she broke up a fight between you and Fitz yesterday at the beach?" Her bitchy smile never left her perfect face.
"O-oh... has she said anything about me?"

OH MY GOD! I shoved the face into the pillow with my cheeks turning a blood red.

"Ooh I don't know." she said into the phone. "Just a second." She looked over at me. "Clare, have you talked to me about Eli? Because I'm pretty sure you have." She grinned at me.
"Why, Alli, WHY?" I yelled. I heard Eli laugh on the other end of the phone.

"Take me off speaker phone, Alli." Eli said annoyingly.
"Okay." She stated, placing the phone up to her ear. She smiled and looked over at me.
"OH, ELI! So you want to go on a date with her?"
My eyes grew wide.
"Oh… you want to tonight? I'll ask her." She took the phone from her ear and turned to me with her eyebrows wiggling.
I sighed. "I guess"
"ELI! She wants to! Pick her up at 7. I'll tell her boss that she's sick. Bye."

She shut her phone and turned around to face me. She put on a apologetic smile and sat down next to me.

"I don't even know him, Alli." I said.
"Oh, but you will… come on… I'll text Marine that we're going out, I'm taking the baby with me." She said placing Jordyn in the stroller.
"If that a good idea, though?"
"Yeah. Since you're coming, and besides… she just said it was okay."

I shrugged my shoulders "Where are we going?" I asked.
"Shopping."

OOO

Alli and I shopped throughout the whole mall, and finally came to a store. Alli told me that Eli was talking me to an expensive restaurant, so I had to dress nice. She knew exactly which one, but refused to tell me.

After a few hours, Alli and I finally arrived home. She bought me a black ruffled skirt and a low top white shirt that goes off the shoulder. She applied my makeup and curled my hair. For once in my life, I actually looked pretty.

When she was finished give me the final touches, her phone rang and it was Eli. Personally, I was very excited to actually meet him, but I was really nervous.
"Clare!" Alli squeaked. "Eli is at the restaurant, we need to go now!" She smiled and grabbed me by the wrists pulling me out the door and to the car.
"Alli, what if… he tries to kiss me?" My breathing hitched as I thought about it.
"Um, you kiss him back, duh." She joked making me laugh nervously.

Finally, we got to the restaurant. 'Del Frisco'? This is the most popular and expensive place here! How could he afford this? "Wow… Alli this amazing-" She was already half way down the road. I was about to call her when someone cleared their throat behind me. I jumped a little and turned around, so see a great looking guy… Eli.

His hair was combed to the side and a little messy, but it looked good. He had on a white v-neck and dark skinny jeans. He looked amazing.

"H-hi… Eli." I stammered. I mentally kicked myself for acting so nervous around a guy I didn't even know.
"Hey, um… do you want to go eat?" He asked shyly stepping a little closer to me. I looked down at my feet as a light shade of pink covered my cheeks.
"Sure…" I whispered looking up at him through my eyelashes.
He stepped out of the way and opened the door for me, I smiled and stepped inside.

The great smell of steak and food reached me, I felt as if I was in heaven. The place was beautiful. There was soft music in the background with lots of chattering and talking around us. Eli touched my back, which sent shivers down my spine.

"We're in the back… booth 49." He smirked as he stood beside me, leading the way.

When we got there, which seemed like forever, I was amazed. This place went on and on. Eli smiled and pulled my chair out for me to sit as he sat down across from me.

"So, Clare… Just to let you know, that I didn't want to come – no, I mean… I did its like… I just met you and all – … but – yeah… I'm sorry." He looked down at the table.

"Eli, its fine… I'm nervous too." I laughed as I pulled a strand of from my face. "I just don't usually get asked out by cute guys that much."

What the hell was THAT Clare?

"Well… I don't go on dates with beautiful girls with gorgeous eyes." I could hear the honesty in his voice. I looked up at him and smiled as my cheeks got red once again.

He's sensitive and honest… great. Check mark

"T-thanks," I whispered. "I don't get called that a lot." I looked down, still feeling his gaze on me. I started to think of things to say. "So how do you know Alli?" I blurted out.

"Oh, we've been friends since kindergarten. She's a really cool girl. But for the heads up, she's REALLY emotional. Just, don't do anything to make her upset. I've been there before, and it really wasn't pretty."

Okay, so he has humor… another mark.

I laughed and took a sip from my drink.

"What about you, how do you know her?"

"Oh, well… I just met her; she's my stepsister's babysitter." I nodded my head"

He nodded his head "So, what made you come here, to Florida?"

"W-Well… my parents got divorced a few years ago… and my mom forced me to come here for the summer to spend time with him. I really didn't want to because my dad and I aren't really close same with his new wife… so…"

"I'm sorry about that Clare… do you don't like her?" He asked tilting his head to the side.

"Marine? No, Marine's great. She actually understands me better than anyone. It's just my dad, he's always working." I frowned a little, just wishing that I could spend more time with my daddy. I miss him.

He mouthed an 'o' and set down his fork. "Well, I'm full… Do you need to be home at a certain time, or can you still hang out?" He did that cocky smirk again; it was annoying but also really… cute.

"We can hang out – well, only if you want too."

The date has been perfect so far. Eli is nice, funny, cute… I didn't want to leave, at least not yet/

"Sure, we can go to the beach, and just… talk or what not." He pulled out his wallet and set about $100 onto the table and stood up, grabbing my hands to exit out the door.

OOO

For the past 3 hours I've known Eli, I feel like I've known him my whole life. He brought up Julia, like the same exact things that Alli told me, but I know that there is more to the story. He told me about his life and why he moved here, he lives with his friend, Adam.

Eli and I took a long walk on the beach, watching the sunset sparkling on the water. We stopped by a stand playing slow music. Eli stopped dead in his tracks, making me tilt my head.

"I-I know we just met… but do you want to… dance?" He looked at me innocently and placed his hand out.
"I guess. Sure." I faintly smiled and stepped closer, just so our torsos were centimeters away from each others.

Eli placed his hand securely around my waist, trying his best not to push the limit. I hesitantly pulled my hands around his neck, feeling his soft hair beneath my palms. I slowly looked down at my feet and inched closer to him, so our bodies were slightly touching.

We moved in small circles around the sandy area, listening to the slow music as the world slowly faded away, like it was only us on the Earth.

During the middle of the song, I felt Eli's breath come onto my ear, like he was about to whisper something.

"Clare… I – can I kis—"He was interrupted by the music now going from soft, to full blast rock music. Eli and I jumped back from the small fantasy and looked over at the music booth.

"Fitz, what the hell is your problem?" Eli snapped removing his hands off my waist.
"Oh, just wanted to crash the little party here."He remarked. Eli stepped closer to him, but only glared. I could see the hatefulness now entering his eyes. I knew that Eli wanted to beat the hell out of him, but I can't blame him. I didn't even know Fitz, and he already seemed to be an asshole.

Eli slowly moved away from Fitz, wrapping his arm around my waist pulling me towards the sidewalk.

"I'm sorry about him…" He said in a apologetic voice.
"It's cool really… but I don't really want to ruin the moment, but it's almost midnight." My heart felt like it could explode any minute. He was about to kiss me, and we all know what would've happened if Fitz hadn't of shown up and ruined the moment.
"Oh… right." I could hear the slight disappointment in his voice.

Eli and I walked out of the beach area and were now entering onto my street. He walked me up to my doorstep as an awkward silence came upon us.

"Well, I was going to ask you a question earlier." His cheeks turned a light shade as his piercing green eyes started down at me.
"Well…?" I smiled.
"Um, yeah… I was wondering if I could kiss you." He let out a nervous laugh.
I didn't respond to him, just yet. I just looked down to my feet which were now rocking back and forth.
"Okay… fine I get it—" I cut him off by putting my hand onto his cheek, cradling it. I gently stood on my tippy toes and placed a small kiss onto the corner of his mouth.
"I had an amazing time with you Eli… and I hope to do it again soon." I removed my hand from his cheek and gave him a small smile as the butterflies in my stomach exploded.

I entered the house leaving Eli behind, still speechless from the 'kiss' I had just given him. A small smirk approached onto his face as I shut the door saying my last goodbye for now.

OOO

II know you all think that 'they're going too fast.' But I am going to be putting some drama, fluffiness, and all that stuff in later in the chapters. That's why it's rated M. Well… bye and don't forget to REVIEW!