"There has to be another way," Clare says weakly, staggering backwards in defeat. She feels torn, to say the least, though it's not the money that leaves her indecisive- the money matters little to her, quite actually. Her mind is transfixed upon the image of her superior mother, grovelling on the dirty ground of an alley wearing only a filthy rag. Her father greedily wolfing down food he had found in the dumpster bin, as a swarm of flies hovering above their grimy state of being…she shivers involuntarily. She feels as if someone had dumped a bucket of ice-cold water down her night gown.
"Are you seriously considering this?"Adam says in outrage. "She ruined your life Clare!"
"You will be quiet now, little boy," Helen says coldly, glaring lethally at Adam. "Don't speak of things you don't understand."
"Clare, you know what you want," Eli says patiently, with nothing but tender love in his eyes. He reaches over and clasps her hand, pretending not to notice the way Helen writhes on the floor. "I trust you to follow your heart."
Again, Eli ignores Helen, and this time the gagging sounds she makes.
"How could you be so heartless?" Helen says rhetorically, bleakly. She shakes her head in disapproval, and Eli narrows his eyes at her from behind Clare. She certainly thrives in manipulator, as he knew, she was no beginner. "Leaving your own mother to rot." She clicks her tongue for effort, sending Clare into a higher state of panic.
"That's not- oh dear," she whimpers, caving under the pressure.
Damn you for using Clare's good heart, Eli thinks infuriately. He knows what she wants. She knows what she wants. Clare's just too kind for her own good, and Helen knew damn-well that it's her greatest weakness. He clears his throat, drawing her attention towards him again.
"Clare, you deserve to be happy," Eli urges gently, caressing her hands with his thumb. His dark green eyes try to penetrate through her blue, trying to reason with her. Trying to get her to stand her ground, and not be swayed and manipulated into doing something she doesn't want to do. The tension is turned on to the max.
Helen seems to realize what is going on, and accepts the challenge willingly.
"Clare, your mother always knows what's best for you, even when you cannot see it," she says in false sweetness. Eli winces. "Mommy knows it will be good for you in the long-run. It will be good for the entire family in the future. Do you want to lose your family, is that it?"
Clare's eyes flicker back and forth between the two of them, widening to the size of dinner plates. She wrings her clammy hands in the terror of making a terrible mistake, lips clamped together as if by the means of glue.
"Family doesn't always have to be biological- Adam and I are your family, too," he says softly, desperately hoping for Clare to channel the desires of her heart, rather than her head. He's starting to lose her, and he can see it. The coolness ceases, and he freezes over with the prospect of having the girl he dearly loves twisted away from his grasps. The pleading in his voice grows more prominent, accompanied by a slight hoarseness. Losing her is simply not an option.
And in the midst of all this, Eli can't deny that he feels deeply hurt by Clare's indecision. Her happiness, her desires easily topple everything else on his list of priorities- is it not the same for her? He has suspected all along that he loves her more than she loves him, and he was fine with it. But when her love for him is truly put to the test, it pains him horribly to see his false perception of their wonderful love melt into its true conditional state. It's like watching your dreams crumble under the weight of reality.
Sometimes love isn't enough.
"Listen to me," he says in a quiet, desperate tone. He takes both her trembling hand in his, holding them with as much care and devotion as he could. "You have to stop pleasing everyone, because in the end, you're going to be miserable. I don't want to turn your against her mother- I never wanted that for you. I wanted them to accept me on their own account, but I can see that it's not going to happen. But that's okay for me, because there's nothing else in the world that matters more to me than your happiness. I know you, Clare- you don't want to marry Jake."
"You seemed to have thought I should stay with him before," she whispers, though not in a bitter, resentful way. The girl is deeply troubled, anxious to erase every doubt lingering in her mind. Little things must be reassured, as they suddenly hold a greater deal than before.
"That was only because I saw how hard it was for you to be with me," he says emotionally. He gazes intently at her, as if he can see straight through her soul. And when she stares back with the same kind of ardency, it's as if she can see the whole scene playing through in his eyes- their tortuous kiss, their pained conversation ringing in her head- It's like she can read his mind.
"I thought it was because you thought we were too impossible to work out," Clare says in a small, frightened voice, and from here on she knows how the situation is truly messing with her head. It's resulting in her doubting his love, and right now, it doesn't seem so absurd.
"Of all the times I've told you I love you, you're still having doubts?" Eli says poignantly, looking wounded.
"Then tell me," Clare begs, gripping him until her knuckles turn white. "Would you still love me if I do what's best for my family?"
Her words have an earth-shattering, ground-breaking effect, heavier than if someone dropped a brick on his heart, more hurtful than if he was shredded apart whole.
Blood.
It rushes down to his feet, leaving him whiter than a sheet of paper.
Agony ripping through his body, numbing and throbbing.
"Yes," he whispers.
"Then it's all settled," Helen says in what was meant to be a lukewarm voice. But there's no mistaking the undeniably gleeful smugness seeping through each words, heartless and brutal in every way. "You there, boy- untie me."
Adam silently proceeds to do so, having not excepted things to turn out the way they had. He averts his gaze, focusing only on the ropes.
His eyes want to close. He feels as if all the energy has been sucked out of him, leaving him with nothing but a body and a limp grey heart. He wants to curl up in a ball and grieve where no one can see him, but he doesn't for one reason- he doesn't want to waste any time he has left with her.
So brokenly, and without any bit of fire left in him, he leans forward for one final kiss. This is it. It's been decided, it's been confirmed. At the carnival is nothing, because even then he had the slightest glimmer of hope that fate would work in their favour. He had an extra day with her, and he should be grateful. There's no denying it, this is the end.
It's cruel how bittersweet the kiss is, because she tastes sweeter than anything else in the world and feels softer than anything else in the world. His eyes are shut tighter than tight, and every bit of him is aching and hurting- it's worth it, though, that short moment of bliss at his lips. He savours it with his entire life, and all too soon it's over.
"Come now, Clare," Helen says briskly, finally standing upright. Dignity regained and hair fixed, she outstretches her hand, beckoning her to take it. "Your father and Jake will be waiting."
"I love you," Eli says through his constricted throat, for what might be the last time.
Clare looks at her mother's outstretched hand oddly, and makes no move to take it.
"Clare," Helen says a little more impatiently. "We have a lot of packing to do, let's go."
"I'm not going with you," she says, rather confused by her actions. "I want to be with Eli."
Cue Eli's heart dropping onto the ground with a thud and flying back up again at incredible speed.
Helen looks thunderstruck, and begins to splutter unintelligible things. "But-you-wha?"
Clare gives a peculiar, thoughtful kind of smile that's small, but there all the same. She laces her fingers through Eli's tarrying ones, sending a surge of immense hope through the veins that had just been dying a short while ago.
No…Eli's eyes are wide awake.
"I'm sorry," she says, "but I can't be used by you anymore. Just for once, I want to choose what I do."
"So leave before I call the police," Adam throws in, folding his arms together sternly. Beneath the harsh lines of his frown, he looks positively delighted to be telling Helen off, and Clare smiles shortly at him.
"Clare!" Helen gapes at her.
"Good-bye mother," she says peacefully.
For the next long while, the four of them stand in that dark basement in utter silence. Nobody breathes. Nobody even moves.
"Fine," Helen snaps angrily, sounding like a troublesome teen that has been told she couldn't have it her way. "Have it your way! When you two break up, don't come crying to me!"
She turns on her heels storms off, stomping up the stair with as much noise as she could make. Adam stares at the walls, shaking his head. The front doors then slam so hard, the whole house vibrates.
They're finally alone.
"Clare," Eli says bemusedly. His voice is dry, as if he hadn't spoken in years.
"You told me you would still love me, even if I married someone else. Eli, there's no competition," she laughs lightly. "I belong with you."
"Plus, you've taken enough shit from her," Adam adds wholeheartedly. He pats Clare's back. "You did the right thing, Clare."
"Do you regret it?" Eli asks softly. Of course his mind had to go to the worst, just of course.
"No," she says confidently. "I do wish it didn't end that way… but at least now…"
A glowing grin spreads across Eli's face as he realizes what Clare's getting at. He's sure he's about to burst from the wide range of emotions he's felt in such a short time span, and he doesn't care.
Because right now, they're free. They don't know how it had happened; all they're sure of is that it had been one hell of a ride.
"So…you're moving in?" Eli says hopefully, lighting up like a Christmas tree.
Clare smiles and chastely kisses him.
"As long as you want me to," she says gently, touching his lips. She traces the shape of his Cupid's bow, mesmerised by how soft and inviting they look. His breath is shallow and warm, all but begging her to kiss him again- this time, more deeply, and with more passion. What's stopping her, is that she's quite aware of their audience of one watching them intently, and while he's thrilled that their whirlwind of a problem seems to be resolved, his happiness would only be to a certain extent. Poor Adam has seen the two passionately involved more than once, and that was one time too many.
"I'll always want you," he promises fervently, returning the chaste kiss.
Only unintentionally, it morphs into something a little more zealous than he had planned.
Poor Adam.
Thank you for taking the time to read this! (: