Well hello people of earth. Haven't written in a while because of school, work, and life. However, I've been having weird dreams. This fanfic being one of them. I'll probably be writing a bit more lately to get my mind off someone. Anyway, enough with the blah blah blahs. Here's the story.

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Anger, Ire, and All The Stuff In Between

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Ire burned with within him. It flickered behind his normally calm demeanor. Eli didn't think it was possible to be this angry with the woman he loved. Clare was just as irate with Eli. The smallest issues they had had with each the last few months had now bubbled up and finally had come to a head.

And to think it all started with a phone call from her mother.

~2 months earlier~

"Clare, honey, you have to let Eli be the man in your relationship." Her mother scolded her through the electronic device.

Clare pinched the bridge of her nose. She had been hearing the same line in different variations since the moment she had started dating him. She wasn't sure what brought it on this time.

"Mom….our relationship is just fine. We're both equal partners within it."

"Just make sure he's stepping up. Oh and dear I've taken the liberty of giving your number to 's lovely son."

Clare's hands flew up in frustration, "What the hell mom! Eli and I have been together for almost three years. Why are you still giving my number out!"

"Clare! Do NOT talk to me like that! I am your mother. I want you to keep your options open."

Clare could feel a vein in her forehead pulsating. Her mother could be so aggravating. She heard the front door squeak open. Her head tilted out of the kitchen, where she stood, to see who was coming in. Eli let the door slam shut.

"Who's on the phone?" He whispered before pecking her on the cheek.

"Mother." She rolled her eyes.

He gave her a knowing face and walked into the bedroom to change.

Much of the drama they were facing had come from her mother giving her cell phone number to a number of random "nice" boys. One of those boys just happened to be Declan Coyne, who ironically, Clare worked with. He had actually turned out to be a good friend. It was nice to have someone to talk to besides Eli, Ali, and Adam.

Eli, however, was uneasy about this newfound friendship. He only knew two definite things about the guy. He was rich and hot, at least according to Ali. He tried not to let it bother him that Clare was friends with him. Adam tried to qualm his concerns when he broached the subject on Friday nights when they had their weekly beer toast to surviving the week.

Their weekly beer toast bothered Clare as much as she didn't want to admit it. True all three of them were of drinking age, Clare did not pick up the bottle herself. She barely tolerated alcohol in the house. She and Eli made the deal that he could store it in the house as long as he never drove drunk which he happily complied with. Eli was never one to drink to excess very often.

All of these issues brought them to the standoff they were facing at the present moment.

"He shouldn't be calling you at 4am!" Eli shouted.

"Oh my god Eli. Really? He needed a ride to his house from the airport since his sister flaked on him again. That's it!"

He shook his head and gave a malicious laugh, "You don't get it. He likes you! It was his way of spending more time with you!"

Clare gave a scream of frustration, "We're just friends!"

"Friends don't look at each other the way he does you."

She sighed, "Nothing's going on between us. It's just nice to be around someone who doesn't drink sometimes."

"You're really throwing that back in my face?" His eyes narrowed.

"You didn't come home last night!" She slapped her palm on the wooden dining room table.

Eli rubbed his face with his hands, "You are unbelievable! I wasn't able to drive so I stayed at Adams. WE made the agreement I wouldn't drink over here remember?"

"You shouldn't have to drink Eli."

"Oh jesus fucking Christ Clare! Go fucking hangout with your nondrinking boyfriend. He obviously can give you what want more than I can!"

If steam could pour from a person's ears, Clare's would've had clouded up the entire house.

"Where the hell do you think you're going?" Clare called after him as he walked to the front door.

"Anywhere, but here." The door crashed shut behind him.

"Well good! I don't fucking need you!" She shrieked to the empty house.

Clare stood there rooted in her spot, fist balled, and tears welling up in her eyes.

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Inspired by the following songs:

Happily Ever After by He Is We

Deadly Game by Theory Of A Deadman

For The First Time by The Script