Disclaimer: I wish I could come up with my own concepts so I could make some money, but I can't, so I do this instead. Don't sue.
"Is this why you needed me to come over so urgently, just so you could point out my flaws and rip into me? Well, no thank you, I already know what I did wrong," she spat. Eli didn't mean to make her want to leave or to feel bad about Declan. He couldn't understand why Clare would do this to him. He needed to a female perspective on the whole situation and to find out that Holly J had basically done the exact same thing to Declan hurt him slightly.
"Holly J, please don't leave," he whispered into the darkness, his voice slightly shaking from the fresh set of tears that threatened to give him away. Holly J placed a hand on the doorknob, looking down into space. She had thought Eli was different. He was supposed to understand. But, right now, he was no different than Anya or any of her other friends, questioning her every move, making her explain the past. It wasn't fair of him to make her relive those moments and to assume how Declan felt about it all. He didn't know Declan like she did. He didn't know Declan at all.
"Why shouldn't I?" she asked, quietly but firmly, keeping her eyes glued to the ground.
Silence. He wouldn't respond. Holly J just shook her head, opening the door to see herself out. She didn't need to waste her time. She would figure out some other way to deal with everything.
"Because I need you."
The admission terrified Eli. He had lost his entire world and she was the last remaining piece of humanity, the only person who he had been able to share himself with who hadn't left him yet. If she walked out that door, she would be taking a part of him with her. He didn't even know if she had that much compassion, to stay for someone who just insulted the love of her life, but he hoped.
She had one foot out that door. All she needed to do was to put her other in front of it and she could be gone. She wouldn't have to deal with the inevitable backlash that was sure to come after Anya told everyone within earshot that Holly J Sinclair was in Eli Goldsworthy's command. She wouldn't have to deal with all the black and death that came with him. She wouldn't have to deal with his mood swings and all the mystery. She could just go back to her silent suffering, taking it one day at a time.
Eli closed his eyes, covering his face with his hands and laid back on the bed, cursing at himself for taking his frustrations out on the one person who didn't deserve it. There was no way he could fix this. He couldn't take back what he said, he could only hope that later on tonight, a well timed phone call and an offer for coffee at the Dot would at least get her talking to him again. He couldn't lose her too.
The mattress shifted again and he dared to peek through his fingers, watching as she silently lay down next to him, arms at her sides, staring up at his ceiling. Relief spread throughout him, the room itself seeming just a bit brighter than it was. Eli didn't know what he did to deserve her as a friend, but he didn't question it.
"Thank you," he quietly whispered, swallowing back all his regret.
"Shut up," she said, the harshness in her voice indicating that she hadn't quite forgiven him. It didn't matter, this would do, "Tell me what happened. Tell me why I'm here, Eli."
Eli opened his mouth, prepared to confess the past 20 or so hours to the woman lying next to him, but the words just wouldn't come. Saying it out loud would make it real, and he wasn't sure if he could bare it. Eli closed his eyes, taking a deep breath, and gripped the blankets around him.
"Clare… and I had a, um… a misunderstanding," he said, his voice thick and raspy.
"A… misunderstanding?" Holly J repeated in hushed tones. She knew that it had to be something more, but she was going to let Eli reveal what he wanted to in due time.
"After the wake, we went to the Dot and she said that since she was going to be away at camp, that we should go on a… a break," he breathed out. It all made sense now, why Eli was giving her the third degree about the terms of her break up with Declan. "She thought we were…" He couldn't finish the thought. Clare had never said the words "break up." He wasn't naïve for thinking that they were still together.
"… and you thought it was only for the summer," Holly J finished for him, knowing full well what the misunderstanding was. Eli nodded into the darkness, thankful that Holly J could read his thoughts.
"I was at Sav's house, looking over his car, and I heard his sister on the phone with her, asking how good the kiss was… and that only Clare could pick up a guy at bible camp," Holly J closed her eyes for a moment, her heart dropping. Saint Clare had cheated on him, but she didn't think it was cheating. She didn't even have the guts to tell him herself, he had to overhear it in conversation. No wonder he had sequestered himself in his room all day. Clare had certainly changed since being the judgey Minor Niner who wrote weird fiction about Declan.
"I'm so sorry, Eli…" Holly J breathed out. She was so angry, having a hard time grasping how someone could just break another person and not care. She had half a mind to find out where this camp was and to bitch Clare out, but she knew that wouldn't solve anything. It flat out wasn't right. You don't do that to a person, especially not someone like Eli.
"Don't apologize for her, Holly J. You didn't do anything wrong," he said with an almost defeated tone in is voice. Clare was the first person he truly trusted after Julia passed away; she was the first person to make him feel like a human again. If it weren't for Clare, Eli wouldn't even be able to be here, talking to Holly J, and forming a friendship. And it was because of Clare that he almost ruined that too, "I'm sorry for what I said before. You're not Clare, and I'm not Declan. I shouldn't have questioned your relationship."
Holly J turned her head towards him, smiling a little at his apology. She felt a little guilty for being so mad at him, now that she knew the reasons why he was acting that way.
"Don't worry about it. It's fine, I'm over it."
"Thank you," he whispered, his eyes meeting hers, "Thank you for staying. I don't deserve you."
She turned over onto her side, facing him, never breaking their gaze. Eli was only 16, but he had an old soul. He had already experienced and seen so much in his life, taking everything to heart, never letting anything go. Holly J could tell how much it was starting to weigh on him, how much he needed someone to be with him. She gingerly reached a hand out and with the lightest of touches, brushed his bangs out from his eyes, letting him see her a little clearer. Eli closed his eyes softly at her touch, leaning his head into her hand a bit. Her fingertips on his cheek felt soothing. He wanted so badly to reach out and hold her, to take some of her comforting warmth, to show her how badly he needed her. All too soon though, Holly J moved her hand, placing it lightly back onto the strip of mattress between them.
"You're my friend. I'm here, any time, whenever you need to talk, you know that," she replied in equally hushed tones. It felt a little odd to her that this had all started because he was supposed to be helping her deal, and now she was paying him back in kind. She was happy to be there for him though. Eli could only smile appreciatively at her, laying his own hand down on top of his comforter, their fingertips barely grazing. Reflexively, Holly J curled her fingers towards his, trying to grasp at what had already passed.
A/N: Once again, thanks for reading! And reviews would be super sweet too. If you don't have an account and don't want to leave an anonymous review, you can throw it in my "ask" on my tumblr: Hysteria87 [dot] tumblr [dot] com. Thanks again especially to ToastMania, Steff, Lyssa, and RochelleLabian (who is seriously kickass and made my week). Love you all!