Guys...really, I can't even say in words how sorry I am for deserting you guys. You're my world, and I just...I've had a rough month. A really bad, rough month. I know that's no excuse but I'm sorry, I really am. You can hate me, I just...I'm sorry...I hope this one-shot makes up for it. I'll try to update as much as I can. Please enjoy this one-shot I'd like to call "Stay Stay Stay"..

Twitter: TheCliffyG

No Beta Reader, so ignore mistakes if any.

Stay Stay Stay

"I think we should take a break, Clare."

Sixteen year old Clare Edwards never expected that strong of a pang to the chest coming from eight simple words. They were just words, meant to prove the point of a troubled, green eyed boy.

Her boyfriend.

"W-What...what do you mean, a-a break?"

Her heart was shattering inside of her, tears spilling over her heavy eyelids.

She had spent countless nights staying up with Eli until four in the morning, making sure he fell asleep before her. He had suffered from insomnia, and as a girlfriend, she felt the responsibility to make sure he was asleep before she even though about resting.

Her eyes bloodshot, as she stared down the boy who was ready to drop her heart in front of their feet, and stomp on it.

"Marry me?" He teased, kissing her lips, feeling pure bliss course through his soul.

"Eli...don't be silly...we're still teenagers!" Clare's cheeks flushed, watching her boyfriends frail shoulders shrug up and down, his smirk altering from one side to the other. She watched in amusement as his tongue poked out of his lips teasingly, placing his hand on her waist, and guiding her down on the picnic blanket.

"I'm serious Clare...one day...I'll be putting a big ring on that finger of yours. I promise." He whispered convincingly, pressing his lips to hers, a warm feeling bubbling inside the two teens.

In the mist of the attacking of Eli's kisses, he felt a little poke at his side.

A small smile spread across his face, seeing Clare pull up her pinky from his side, and putting it near his face. He smirked down at her in confusion, wondering why she was waving her pinky near his face.

"Pinky promise Eli...pinky promise I'll be seeing you in a tux someday, while you watch me walk down the isle." She bit back her bottom lip innocently, her heart racing in excitement when he nodded his head eagerly in response, locking his lanky pinky with hers.

With a cheesy grin, he whispered into his girlfriends ear, "I promise, Clare Goldsworthy."

"We need a break...it's as simple as that." He was emotionless, a side of Eli she had never seen before.

In her mind, this was the end.

A "break" in Clare's mind, meant the permanent ending of her relationship with the cute, sarcastic, Elijah Goldsworthy. Before Eli, she had thought she should give up on love, that it simply wasn't meant for her.

But he gave her hope.

"Y-You promised me forever...y-you...Eli you promised you'd marry me."

Clare stuttered in shame, her heart beat beyond anyone's control. Eli's jacket draped over Clare's shaking shoulders, as her tears burned her chattering lips. Eli took a deep breath, before saying, "They'll be other guys Clare...lots of them...ones who are better for you."

"...What do you mean? You're the best out there, I just want you!"

"Oh Eli, you're here!"

Eli politely smiled, greeting Helen happily, before walking up the steps into his girlfriends room.

There she lay, head in her pillow, her back rising up and down elegantly, showing she was still breathing. Eli smiled, holding his girlfriends books tightly to his chest, before quietly getting down on one knee beside her bed.

Using his fingers, he brushed her damp curls from her forehead.

"...Hi baby. How're you feeling?" The burning warmth radiating from Clare's face spoke for itself, as Eli leaned in, giving her a small peck on the lips. His girlfriend being sick never bothered him enough not to kiss her, and whisper "I love you" close to her ear.

No matter how contaminated she was, he would never risk going an hour without telling her how much he loved her.

"I feel like poo..." She mumbled against his lips, before leaning her head back into her pillow.

"Well, how do you feel about these?" With pure admiration for the boy, Clare glanced over at her boyfriend, who was clutching onto a dozen roses. They looked freshly picked, and the smell nearly cleared her stuffy nose.

"...I love you Eli. KC never even texted me when I was sick, let alone bring me flowers. You're the best, you know that, right?" He smirked, nodding his head, "I'm a sex monster with a heart of gold."

"Let's not get too cocky now." Clare teased, before feeling her boyfriends head nuzzle into her neck, kissing her jaw softly.

She wouldn't trade this moment for the world...

"All I've been doing is weighing you down, Clare! Your friends can see it, your mom can see it. Hell, even I see it! You haven't slept in six months, since we've been together. Staying up with me isn't your job, or duty. You're not obligated to do that. You need a break from me, okay? I'm not saying permanently, just-."

With a jolt of anger shooting through Clare, she cut her boyfriend off for the first time in their relationship, raising her voice, "That's what they all say Eli! You can't promise me forever then throw some bullshit at me about a break! We don't need a break, what I need...what I need is a hug...a kiss...an 'I love you so much' everyday from you unless-unless my life is meaningless."

Ever since her parents' divorce, Clare had become depressed; her grades had gone down, her moods have been uncalled for, and her way with explaining how she feels wasn't...healthy. Eli had grown accustomed to her mood swings, to her uncontrollable crying outbreaks, and to their long phone calls where he would use the softest tone he could muster up to coddle her back to sleep without him being physically there.

Their relationship wasn't an easy teenage romance; it was life, beginning at an earlier stage.

"Hey..." With a soft tone, Eli brushed away a lone tear on his girlfriends cheek.

"What're you talking about Edwards? You have a good, long, happy life ahead of you. One with a husband, one with some kids, one with you growing old and sitting on the porch with a shotgun and a piece of hay in your pretty little mouth."

Even at a time like this, he could make her smile.

"I-I want you...no-no Eli I need you in my future. I need you to be that husband, the one I have kids with, the one I grow old with...I never want to lose you." With her emotions on a rampage, she slumped into her boyfriends arms, while he pulled her into a tight embrace.

He slipped his hands up his jacket sleeves, feeling her scars against his fingertips.

Clinging on for dear life, he whispered in her ear, "I'm not going anywhere."

END OF "STAY STAY STAY"

...So, *crickets* reviews please? (:

I know it may have seemed a bit rushed, I just wanted to give you guys a little something since my writer's block for all my stories has been pretty horrible.

Love you guys,

Cliffhanger Girl

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