Disclaimer: I don't own anything and if I was making any money off of this, I wouldn't be working in retail. Please don't sue.

A few days had passed and Holly J went back to work. It served as a nice distraction. She had customers to tend to, to put a smile on and to serve. Her bosses had been understanding and her co-workers supportive. Still, every time anyone asked how she was doing, she wanted to throw a plate of nachos at them. There was no word to describe how she was feeling and none of them had the two hours to spare for her to explain. A simple "I'm okay" had to suffice and it was tearing her up inside. She sighed as she gathered up her things, digging her hand in her purse for her bus ticket home. She felt a slip of paper and pulled it out, inspecting it.

A phone number. Eli's phone number. She had completely forgotten that he had given it to her at the funeral home, if she ever needed to talk. To be honest, she thought it was a little weird that he was so willing to help her. There was no way that his offer could have been serious, could it? That's just something you say at times like those, you offer an ear to listen. It's what any decent human does. She shook her head and put the paper back in her purse, taking out her bus pass.

It was bugging her, though. There wasn't a lot of talk about Eli at school, at least none that she had ever heard. She knew he had some issues with fighting and he was kind of seen as a loner, even within his group of friends, which included Adam. Eli mostly kept to himself. So, why was he reaching out to her? Holly J sighed as the bus stopped near her apartment. She knew why, he told her why. He lost his girlfriend, she lost her ex-boyfriend. He knew what she was going through. He probably was the only one who knew what she was going through. Her parents certainly didn't and Fiona could only listen to so much. Even Anya wasn't really around to talk to. Still, it wasn't like Holly J was going to just spill her brain out to some stranger.

xxxxxxx

Eli climbed into his vintage hearse, throwing his backpack into the passenger's side. He gripped the steering wheel and sighed. It was only 5:30. He didn't feel like going home just yet, knowing that all he would do would be to sit in his room, resisting the urge to call Clare. But, he had no place to go, and no one to be with. It wasn't like Eli really minded being alone, but after so many days of solitude, a face of someone around his age would be welcome. Eli's phone vibrated in his pocket and he fished it out, narrowing his eyes at the number on the screen. He didn't recognize it at all, but it had the right area code, so it had to be someone he knew, right?

"Hello?" he said, flicking the phone open. The person on the other end didn't respond right away. He could hear breathing though, so he knew that someone was there, "Hello?"

"…Eli?," came a female voice. It sounded familiar, like one he had heard every day, but he just couldn't place it, "This is Eli's phone, right?"

"Who wants to know?" and he pinched the bridge on his nose, leaning his forehead on the steering wheel. He really wasn't in the mood to play games.

"It's… it's Holly J… from the funeral home?" Eli lifted his head up and started out the window. She had called. She had actually taken him seriously. He didn't really want to be her shoulder to cry on, it just seemed appropriate to offer it at the time.

"Oh…yeah. How are you?"

"I'm…fine. I'm good. I'm okay."

"You're…good," he repeated slowly.

"Yes, well… no, but. Look, I just found your number in my purse and I thought that since you offered…" she started, her tone changing. She was starting to get annoyed. Eli swallowed and shook his head. He couldn't believe this thought was actually crossing his mind, but the girl was seriously hurting and he didn't want to go home just yet.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"Then meet me outside of school in 15 minutes, okay?"

"…Yeah, okay. I'll be there," she responded and said goodbye, ending the phone call. Eli just shook his head and smirked, starting the car. That was the goal, wasn't it? Help someone else with their problems to help him forget about his own. One talk, that's all it would be. Just one conversation to help sort out how she felt and then they could go back to being strangers.

xxxxxxxxx

The cab dropped her off at the front of the school, her faded grey skinny jeans, ballet flats, and black fitted shirt being a far cry from the cowgirl outfit that she had on less than an hour ago. Holly J walked over and sat on the steps on the school, scanning to see if the resident emo kid was anywhere to be found. He probably wasn't going to show. Something better came up or he just couldn't be seen with little miss Susie High School. She would understand, he had a reputation as a badass to uphold and someone like her could ruin it faster than anything. He had no reason to be kind to her. They weren't friends and certainly not involved. He had no ties to her, and therefore if that wasn't him pulling to the parking lot now, she would get it and just go back home. Her eyes followed the black monstrosity as it maneuvered around the fence and pulled up right in front of her. She stood from her spot, crossing her arms in front of her chest as the passenger window rolled down.

"Get in," Eli said as he leaned over and opened the door for her from the inside. She didn't move.

"What?"

"Come on, get in."

"And where are we going?" she said as she took a few tentative steps towards the hearse. There was way too much death surrounding this whole situation. They had met at a funeral home, at her ex's wake, because his old girlfriend died, and now she was getting into his car, a vintage hearse. She was even wearing black. This could only be good.

"Somewhere to talk. Isn't that what you wanted to do?" he asked as she closed the door and took a quick look around. The bench seat was worn but comfortable, the dashboard had been well taken care of, and, besides the slight stench of death, it wasn't that bad. She refused to turn to look in the back. In her mind, from what she could see, it was still just a normal car. She nodded and smiled weakly and he put it in drive, stepping lightly on the pedal to pull out of the parking lot. The radio softly played some band she had never heard before and neither of them made any attempt at conversation. Holly J looked out her window, kind of regretting calling him now. He didn't know anything about her and she wasn't sure how much she wanted to tell him or how much he cared to listen. If this ride to wherever they were going was any indication, this was going to be just plain awkward.

Eli pulled off of the main road and onto a side street with a dead end, parking the car towards the end. Holly J looked out the front window and then over to him. The street ended with a high chain link fence with a small gap in it, opening to a little path into some woods. Holly J was fully expecting them to go to the Dot or something, not on a hike.

"I hope you're not opposed to a little nature," he said as he got out of the car.

AN: Thanks, as always, for reading and please, please review! I turned on anonymous reviews so even if you don't have an account, you can let me know how I'm doing. I want to especially thank Toastmania for taking the time to review after every chapter and Steff and Lyssa for their encouragement. I love all my readers! Thanks again!