I.
"He's awake. You can see him now, if you want," CeCe said softly as she walked into the waiting room, watching Clare.
Clare nodded wearily and stood up, following CeCe to Eli's hospital room. Clare opened the door, and CeCe left to give them privacy.
Clare gasped, and brought her hands to her mouth to silence herself. A large gauze bandage was wrapped around Eli's head, and there were a few cuts near his left eye. His right arm had a cast on it, and he didn't turn to look at Clare when she came in.
"Eli…" Clare started out, but she stopped when Eli started mumbling.
"I hurt more people. I wanted to hurt myself, but I just hurt everyone around me," he whispered.
"Eli, everything's fine. You're okay now. I'm here," Clare said gently, sitting down on the edge of his bed.
"Everything's not okay!" Eli shouted, and Clare flinched, resisting the urge to jump off of the bed. "The people in the other car…they're not fine!"
Clare bit her bottom lip slightly. He didn't know who the passengers were…should she tell him? "Holly J's fine," Clare whispered.
Eli finally turned his eyes on her, and they were widened a bit. "Holly J? Was she the only one in the car?"
Clare hesitated. "No. She didn't tell me who else was there though."
Eli went back to looking blankly at the wall in front of him, his green eyes fogging over as he drifted back into a dazed state.
"Eli…I'm sorry. It's my fault that this happened. I knew what you were like…I shouldn't have fought with you…you wouldn't have run away. I should have convinced you to stay with me," Clare said in a rush, a single tear running down her cheek.
"I shouldn't have overreacted. It's my fault," Eli mumbled.
"It's nobody's fault," a quiet voice said from the doorway. The pair both looked at the doorway, staring at Holly J blankly.
Holly J looked down at her fingernails, picking at a cuticle and chuckling humorlessly to herself. "But he's dead. Blaming people for his death…it still doesn't make up for the fact that he's gone."
Clare's lower lip trembled. "…Who, Holly J?"
"Declan," Holly J said flatly. Her eyes weren't shining with tears; no, there's no way she'll let anybody ever see her that weak and vulnerable. Besides, she had cried herself out already while with Declan.
Eli's face contorted in anger. "For once, I really do have blood on my hands. Julia, now Declan…what the hell's wrong with me?"
"Eli, Holly J just said it wasn't anybody's fault. You didn't mean to hit them, or cause Declan's death," Clare tried to reassure him, though it was hard for her to reassure herself. Eli had been the one who had ran the red light. He was the one who had hit the other car, and in doing that, killed Declan. It was technically his fault.
Clare shook her head. She didn't want to see it like that. She didn't want to see Eli as a murderer. Her Eli wasn't a killer.
"On the up side, I don't think the Coynes will be pressing charges," Holly J said, then silently added to herself, "though I don't see why they wouldn't."
"They should press charges. I killed their son," Eli growled.
"There are other ways you can make it up to them besides being sent to jail," Clare protested.
"Like what?" Eli snapped. "Nothing can make up for what I did, as HJ said."
Clare didn't have a response for that. She gently placed a hand on top of Eli's uninjured one, rubbing it soothingly. Eli didn't protest, sighing, accepting the gesture as Clare's apology. A signal that their fight was over now.
Holly J watched the couple, trying to ignore the pain stabbing at her chest. All of the memories she had been suppressing since she and Declan broke up resurfaced, and they raced across her vision in a blur.
When he had locked her in the sound booth, telling her how scared he was that he was trying so hard to date her. The dinner they shared in the school auditorium. When he took her out for dessert in Manhattan. The heartfelt apology he gave her on live television. The way they spent the rest of that summer.
Sav couldn't give her any of the things Declan had. Probably no one could. And it killed her that she'd let go of the one person that truly made her feel like a princess. It really did.
II.
"He was the best brother in the world," Fiona finished, wiping her eyes as she attempted to hold in her tears. "I can't believe he was just taken away like this."
Clare clutched Eli's uninjured arm tighter. She knew how hard it was for him to be here at this funeral, knowing that it was his fault Declan was dead.
Eli didn't react. He hadn't said a word during the whole ceremony, and his eyes had stayed fixed on the ground. Clare and him hadn't been intimate in awhile; even though they had made up, there was still a lingering feeling of abandonment - at least for Eli.
Holly J watched as they lowered the coffin into the hole in the ground, and she folded her hands in an attempt to restrain herself from reaching out for him. She didn't want him to leave yet. He couldn't leave her like this. He couldn't leave without knowing that she loved him.
But he was, and Holly J didn't have a say in the way fate played out. Sav squeezed her shoulders comfortingly, and Holly J pushed his arm off from around her shoulders with one hand. She didn't want his sympathy - in fact, she was surprised that Sav wasn't glad Declan was gone. There was no competition for Holly J's affection anymore, so why wasn't he relieved?
Because he's Sav. And Sav doesn't think like that.
Holly J's heart wrenched in realization. Sav may not make her feel like a first class princess, but he was still the kindest, most understanding guy there was. Instead of being angry with Holly J for mourning over Declan's loss, he was here to help her get over it, and not just in an attempt to get Holly J all for himself.
Holly J turned her body into Sav now, wanting to be reconciled now. He wrapped his arms carefully around her as she cried.
"I'm a horrible person," Eli whispered, finally saying something.
"No, Eli," Clare protested, pulling him a bit closer to her, "you're not."
Eli watched as Declan's father threw dirt into Declan's grave with a shovel. "Declan's dead. Because I hit him with Morty."
"But it was an accident," Clare insisted. "You didn't mean to hurt anybody."
"But I did!" Eli yelled.
Nobody turned to look after Eli's outburst, and Clare was glad. The last thing Eli needed right now was attention from anybody at this funeral.
"I know you did, Eli. I know," Clare sighed. "Let's…let's just go home, okay?"
Eli turned to look down at Clare now, and he could tell how hard she was trying to get him to feel good about himself. He didn't want her to try so hard - nothing could change the way he felt about himself right now.
Except maybe Clare's beautiful, emotion-filled eyes. The ones that were staring at him, that were full of love and apologies and hope. And if he wasn't careful where he tread, the light in them might just go out.
Swiftly, Eli ducked down and kissed Clare gently, pulling back before she had time to react. They stood there for a moment, and then Clare took his uninjured hand in hers. She squeezed his hand once before leading him away, hopefully to a better place.
Hope you all liked my little story. Yes, it was based on the promo. It was kind of what I predict written out in a story. Review, please! :)