The following morning, Eli stood staring at his locker. He had decided it was probably time to clear it out as well. As he started sorting through what was garbage and what wasn't he felt a pair of hands on his waist, squeezing him gently.
"Hey!" Clare said, kissing him on the cheek
Eli turned around, confused at Clare's pleasant mood. He had assumed after last night that she would be irritated and that it would result in him begging for forgiveness.
"Hey…" Eli replied carefully.
"You're sorting your locker? I could have helped you know!" she said sweetly
"Its probably better if I do it alone really…so, you're in a good mood?"
"I am!" Clare said brightly; "I was wondering if you could meet me at the picnic tables during our free period?"
"Um, sure" Eli replied, still slightly perplexed.
"Great" Clare grinned "See you in a bit!"
Clare turned to leave; Eli watched her as she walked away. There was a certain was that Clare moved her hip when she walked that drove him crazy. It was probably completely unbeknownst to her.
He continued at his locker until he heard the first bell.
"What could she want to meet me for?" Eli thought to himself. He hoped it had nothing to do with what had happened last night. But he really wasn't sure.
After first period, Eli went straight to the picnic tables outside the school entrance. He waited for a few minutes, until he finally saw Clare coming towards him, a slight spring in her step.
There was no one around, which made Eli all the more nervous for what Clare was planning to discuss with him.
"Hey you" Clare said, sitting next to him
"Hi" Eli smiled "So what exactly did you need to get me alone for exactly, Edwards?"
"Well…" Clare began; "I was wondering if it would be possible for me to take you up on your offer for a stay at the Hotel Eli?" she grinned a little at the last part.
"When? You mean the weekend? I can't see why not!" Eli was relived that this was all she wanted to talk about "That works well; we'll have the whole house to ourselves! We could probably rent a few movies and…"
Clare cut him off; "I was thinking of something a little more…intimate"
"Intimate?" Eli replied, slightly confused and clearly not fully understanding where Clare was going "so…you want to rent a chick flick…? Not that im opposed to the Notebook and crap like that, its just kind of mushy for my…"
Clare laughed; "No…I was thinking maybe you and I could, well you know be the ones getting intimate..." she caressed his leg a little
Eli looked down at her hand on his leg and then back up to her…was she serious?
Clare laughed to herself a little "Wow, did I really just say "getting intimate"? thats almost as lame as the saying "making love" or "deflowering"
Eli wasn't listening to Clare, his mind was racing.
"Look Clare, I know I said all that stuff about when my room was ready…"
"Yes, and it is now…" Clare interrupted
"What I really meant was when you're ready and…"
Clare cut him off once again and said "Listen Eli, you seem to be under the impression that I don't know my own self. Don't make this about me or my faith. I've thought about it…believe me."
"Clare…" Eli said quietly.
"Is it me? Do you not want to?" Clare asked, a little nervously.
Eli sighed, running his hand through his hair, "You know that's not the case…"
Clare took his hand, "and it's not the case for me either anymore. I've been mulling it over and over in my mind for weeks." Clare looked down; "After we talked about it in you're room that night I even decided to go on the pill so I could be ready…" she blushed a little
Eli was surprised at this revelation. He didn't expect her to be thinking about it so seriously.
"Are you sure?" Eli asked sincerely "The last thing I want is for you to regret it. I don't want that to happen"
"Eli!" Clare said happily, pressing her forehead to his and smiling "I won't…a month and a half ago I probably would have. But now that we've talked about it and we've sorted through everything, I just feel ready, you know? I want to be with you, and I mean it this time. Its not just my head telling me im ready, its my heart and well, my body…"
Eli felt her hands shake a little on his face at the latter part of her response. He took them in his and gave them a squeeze.
"Okay" he said, caressing her cheek before giving her a kiss and smiling "But if we're going to do this…there is probably something you should know…" Eli said cryptically, getting up from the picnic table and taking a few steps.
Clare's heart sunk…what now? She got up and moved towards him.
"What is it…?" Clare asked tentatively.
Eli turned to face her; his face was serious.
"You should probably know that…that I love you…" Eli said, smirking.
Clare looked at him before giving him a playful shove.
"You almost gave me a heart attack!" she laughed a little; "I love you too."
Eli looked around quickly to see if any teachers were around, before pulling Clare into a passionate kiss. The kiss was on fire, there confession's sending them into a frenzy. Both secretly thought to themselves how badly they wanted the other at this very moment.
"So tomorrow night?" Eli said, breaking the kiss.
"Tomorrow night." Clare grinned.
They both walked hand in hand to the school, parting ways when they entered.
Eli spotted Adam at his locker.
"Hey man" Adam said
"Hey, so I need to talk to you. Guy stuff, you know?" Eli said abruptly.
"Sure...?" Adam said, confused at Eli's urgenecy.
"So, Clare is staying over the weekend and she wants to..."
"To...? Adam repated
"Come on, dude" Eli said annoyed
"Oh! oh...wow" Adam smirked "I mean I figured it wouldn't take her long, considering how often I catch her giving you bedroom eyes" he laughed a little "Sop what exactly are you talking to me for? Im not exactly a sex god if you haven't noticed"
"I just...I want to do things right you know? I mean with Julia, out first time was in the back on my hearse and it was rushed and uncomfortable. This is different..."
"I'll say!" Adam said "You're going to deflower "saint" Clare. She is giving you her virginity! I'd be terrfied if I were you, man. I mean, this is her first time, its huge and..."
Eli just glared at Adam, he always had such an amazing way of putting things into the most awful perspective possible.
"Im just saying it's special..." Adam said, covering his tracks "Especially for a girl like Clare. I mean she's talked about how she pictures it to be like, she's all about those old school romances."
"So what should I do?" Eli was at a loss, he honestly had never tried to be romantic before.
"Clare deserves the very best" Adam said "Make it happen in any way you can think of!" and with that Adam gave him a friendly slap on the shoulder and walked on to class.
Eli leaned against the lockers for a brief moment.
"The very best" Eli thought, "I can do that! if Clare is going to trust me with something like this then im going to blow her mind!"
He smirked a little at the last part.
Authors Note: Sorry for the lack of smut in this one! Lol but I'm thinking ill be adding more chapters then what I had previously said, the good stuff is coming though : ) a little fluff never hurts either!