Wow it's been a while. I was more than distraught from the lack of reviews on the last chapter which really put me in a funk. I hope this chapter is a little better.
Disclaimer: You get the point…
"Eli?"
"Hmm?"
"We've been dating for a little while now…"
"Yeah, a few weeks. What are you getting at, Clare?"
Eli and I were lying on my bed, as we often did after school. My mother and father were arguing downstairs, some money issues, I don't know. They had met Eli a couple of weeks or so ago. When they let him pass right by, barely an investigation, I was more than a little shocked, but then again Eli always had some pretty powerful powers of persuasion.
I lied with my head on his chest, his heart beating softly beneath his chest, as his fingers stroked my arms lightly. We could've laid like that for hours. In fact, we often did.
"You met my parents a while ago…"
"And you want to meet mine. Well I can answer that fast. No."
I looked up at him, hurt, but his eyes kept looking straight at the wall in front of the bed, his eyelids half closed, a look of pure calmness.
The hurt seeped through my voice and immediately his eyes snapped back to mine, wide open. "Why, Eli? Don't you think they'd like me?"
He tried to chuckle, but it came out choked. "Oh, Bullfrog will love you, although you'll have to get used to a few, umm, off color comments, but you'd learn to like him."
"So what's wrong?"
Eli's eyes darkened a cloudless black that would've shocked anyone. Anyone but me. The first time I'd seen them was the first time we'd met, when he scared Drew, but I'd convinced myself that it was nothing. Once every couple of days or so I'd see those eyes, maybe at the mention of Fitz, maybe when another boy looked my way when we went out. I'd learned to stop convincing myself. There was something there that other boys, maybe normal boys, didn't have. But I wasn't scared. See, those eyes, those black eyes, I associated with anger, yes, but more than that. A pain that he couldn't control. He was angry that he'd let Fitz threaten Adam and hurt that he hadn't been there to protect him. He was angry that other boys were looking my way and had a painful feeling that I might leave him for one of them. Every time I saw those eyes all I wanted to do was see them gone, make the pain go away.
I brought a hand up to his cheek and stroked my thumb against it. He blinked his eyes a few times and eventually they opened again, half lids covering his cloudy greens.
"Clare. My mother and I…we don't get along all that well. It's like she's afraid to see me happy."
"Eli, she's your mother. I'm sure she wants to see you happy."
His eyes snapped back to mine. Not black, just green, just angry like anyone else's. His eyes weren't black when they faced me. He couldn't face me like a monster. He couldn't live with himself that way.
His voice was more menacing though then most others were capable of. I don't know if he knew how to control that half as well as the eyes. It sounded like a thousand shrieks as he muttered, "Please don't say things that you don't know the full story on. You know nothing."
I buried my head in his chest, not wanting to hear anymore, unable to help the trembling. I could deal with the eye because I never had to see the eyes head on. That voice was a whole different story that I couldn't handle.
A knock came at my door. "Clare, honey, is everything okay in there? I thought I heard something."
I lifted my head to answer but Eli had beat me to it. "Yes, Ms. Edwards, everything is fine. Nothing to worry about." We sat in silence for a beat before my mother's footsteps disappeared.
"I'm sorry," Eli and I both began to say, but I cut him off and continued. "I just wanted to meet them. I didn't mean to push you."
He shook his head and stared straight ahead again, not wanting to meet my eyes. "It's my fault. I shouldn't have gotten angry. I shouldn't have scared you. I'm sorry. You're right. You're my girlfriend and my parents should meet you."
This time I shook my head. "No, Eli, I didn't want to push you into this. We can wait."
"No," Eli was adamant as he got up and pulled me to my feet. "I'll call my parents. Tell them you and I will be home for dinner."
The ride to Eli's house was quiet. I don't think I'd ever seen Eli nervous before. Usually, no matter how much I protested, he'd have his music blasting from the speakers. This time, all was quiet, except for Eli clearing his throat and taking a deep breath every now and again.
We walked up the steps slowly, Eli looking like he was going to the noose. He stuck his head through the front door and called out if anyone was home.
He took my hand and led me into the foyer as a man came bounding down the steps like a child at Christmas. He took my other hand and shook it frantically. "Is this Clarabelle? Do my eyes deceive me? And here I thought Eli would never break and bring you home!" I couldn't help but smile back at Bullfrog. He was wildly unshaven, much different than the way his son kept up his appearance. His eyes were bright and inviting and his smile took up most of his face.
"Hi," I said with a laugh. "Just Clare, please. It's so nice to finally meet you."
Bullfrog's smile just grew even more.
"Clare," a soft voice called from the kitchen. Bullfrog and Eli both froze and turned. A woman stood in the door of the kitchen, a small smile on her face. She had Eli's dark green eyes but they looked world weary. They looked back at mine with gloom and pity. They had bags all around, as if she hadn't slept in years. Maybe she had never truly slept since Eli's birth. She had a small frame as well, fragile, and perhaps she hadn't eaten since Eli's birth either. Like her husband and unlike her son, she looked a little unkempt.
"Clare," she said again, her voice whisper soft. "It's so nice to finally meet you. We'd been wondering when Eli would bring you around." She shook my head, daintier than I think Bullfrog would have possibly been capable of. "So lovely," she muttered.
I turned to Eli, a little frightened of this woman in front of me. Eli noticed and his eyes turned icy. "Clare," he said, his eyes on the woman. "This is my mother, Cece. Cece, Clare."
"It's so nice to meet you, Ms. Goldsworthy."
"Cece, please. It's so nice to meet you, too."
The silence that followed was maddeningly awkward, when no one seemed capable to meet each other's eyes but all Cece could do was stare back at me, until Eli broke the silence and asked what was for dinner.
"Penne vodka, your favorite. Clare, I hope that's alright."
"Yes, that sounds delicious. Is there anything I can do to help?" I offered anyway because that was what my mother taught me to do. I hadn't really expected her to say yes but suddenly she'd taken my hand and whisked me away to the kitchen.
She dropped my hand suddenly as if it had burned her and she suddenly faced the stove. "Ms. Goldsworthy? Cece?"
"Clare," her voice had gotten softer, as if that were even possible. "Please sit dear. Dinner can wait for a bit. We need to talk."
