I wake up the next morning, blissfully unaware for a few seconds of what occurred the night before. It doesn't take long for my memory to catch up though and a sharp pain rips through my heart.

I need to talk to him.

Shower first, though. And toothbrush.

I pull up to the garage in Tess's car. Bennett pitied me after I looked everywhere in the house, the garden and around the lake for Eli, and told me where to find him.

I wipe my clammy hands on my jean shorts and slowly make my way over to the open garage. I spot Eli bent under the hood of a dark blue car. The muscles in his arms strain while he works, sweat has dampened the forest green T-shirt he's wearing. There is no music coming from the radio like usual when the guys are working, but I suspect it's Ben who turns on the music.

Eli seems to be in his own zone because I am standing right behind him and he hasn't noticed me yet.

"Hey," I softly say and he startles, banging his head against the hood. My mouth falls open in shock and my hands catch the gasp leaving my lips.

"Shit," he curses harshly and rubs his head.

"I'm so sorry," I rush out, closing the distance between us and taking his face in my hands, expecting the damage.

"Romy," he breathes out.

"Are you okay?" I ask, still roaming his face with my eyes.

"Yeah, I'm fine. What are you doing here?" his tone is questioning but not rude.

I let go of his face and take a step back. "I was looking for you, Ben told me where you are. I think we should talk."

"About what?"

"Uh, you know. About you storming off yesterday without a word and not coming back." My voice is uncertain.

"I did come back," he argues.

Right. He did.

"Where did you go?" I place my hands in my back pockets because I feel the strong urge to touch him again and I'm not sure if he's okay with that.

"I'm quite busy here, Romy," he mumbles and scratches his neck.

I fight the urge to roll my eyes at his dumb excuse. Then, I think about mentioning something Bennett had said to me but I don't want to throw him under the bus, so I decide against it.

"To busy for me? For us?" I ask instead.

He heaves a sigh and I do roll my eyes this time.

"No, I am not too busy for you, I just want to finish this car."

"Fine, don't tell me, just answer my questions while you work, you'll manage to do that, right?" My voice turned bitter.

"I don't want to fight, darling." He looks at me with pained and tired eyes.

He called me darling. Hope simmers inside of me.

"Me neither but you can't keep shutting me out, Eli."

"You know more about me than most," he grunts and turns back to the car.

"Do I?"

"Yes," he snips, putting down the wrench he just picked up.

"Where did you go?" I ask him for a second time.

He doesn't answer.

"Your lawyer?"

He shakes his head.

"Janet?" My voice comes out all wobbly and I hate it but I don't care enough to try and hide it.

My eyes find his and he immediately averts his gaze to something behind me. I was right. He was with Janet.

"You're kidding, right? Tell me you didn't go to Janet," I plead.

"It was important, Romy," he starts.

"Okay, what was it, then?" I cross my arms in front of my chest, pushing the tears down.

"Why are you so insecure when it comes to Janet? You know how much I dislike her and you still seem to think I'd sleep with her the second I get the chance," he barks, his voice now angry.

"Did you?" I ask meekly.

"Jesus Christ," he mutters and rubs a hand down his face. "Go home, Romy. We'll talk when I get back."

"No," I protest. My hands are sweaty, tears are pooling in my eyes and I feel my heartbeat in my throat. Shit, this is not how I wanted this to go. But I am desperate and scared and insecure.

"Please, Romy. Don't make this harder than it has to be?"

"Make what harder? Are you breaking up with me?" The feeling from last night, when he came into my room, snuck back into my chest.

"No, Romy. I am not breaking up with you. Please, go home, do something fun with Tess, I'll be there later." He steps closer as he speaks. His voice sounds final, leaving no room for discussion. He reaches out and takes a hold of the back of my head. His hand massages itself into my hair and he leans down to kiss my forehead.

"Please, darling," he begs again and I nod against his lips. "I just need some time to myself."

"Okay," I say defeated and without looking at him again, I turn around and drive back to the house.

The thoughts are attacking my mind and I cannot stop them from coming. I know they are toxic and wrong but they get to me, nonetheless. Images of him with Janet or him breaking up with me or me breaking up with him, of us fighting in the ugliest way, flood my mind.

Get it together, Romy. It's gonna be alright, you are freaking out over nothing.

I try telling myself this throughout the drive but it doesn't really work.

At home, I tell Tess what happened and she, once again, sides with Eli. Okay, not really. She does take my side but she agrees with Eli's suggestion to do something fun with her. So, she declares a pizza-making contest. I'm sure she only chose that because she knows I will win and it will cheer me up.

We drive into town to get our ingredients and not long after, we are both covered in flour, laughing our asses off in the kitchen. They were right, this is good.

"What the hell happened in here?!" Ben pokes his head into the kitchen and assesses the damage with wide eyes.

"It's just flour, calm down," Tess rolls her eyes at him.

"We'll clean up after us, I promise," I tell Ben and he nods relieved.

As the pizzas are turning into crispy goodness inside the oven, Tess and I start cleaning up our mess.

"Hey, I wanted to talk to you about something," Tess starts.

"Sure, what's up?"

"Soo, Simon, his brother, and their friends are taking the boat on the lake for a week and he asked if I want to join and I told him I'd only come if I can bring you," she pokes a finger at my boob.

"You want me to third-weel? Yeah, no thank you," I snort a little, "but go ahead, I don't mind if you go."

"You wouldn't be third-wheeling, there aren't only couples coming."

"How big is that boat?" I ask, thinking it must be quite big if a group of people can stay on it for a week.

"It's quite big, I think it has 5 bedrooms. You can bunk with one of the girls, or with me, if you don't feel comfortable with a stranger," she shrugs.

"I'll think about it but tell Simon you'll go. We aren't here for that much longer and I wouldn't want to keep you from him, seriously Tess."

"Okay okay, boss lady," she smirks and I wave her off. "God, this smells good, I can't wait to dig into your pizza," she continues with a groan.

"My pizza? You have your own," I argue.

"Yeah, but how can we determine the winner if we don't taste each other's pizzas, dummy?"

"Taste them, yes, not devouring them."

"Semantics," she quips.

"That's a big word, Tess," I smirk.

"Fuck off," she grumbles and squats in front of the oven. "Oooh, I think they are done!"

I take the steaming pizzas out and set them on the counter. When I go to cut them into slices, Tess puts a hand on mine, stopping me.

"Do you hear that?" she asks.

"Hear what?"

"Shhh, listen!"

I clamp my mouth shut and listen. She is right, there is noise coming from somewhere outside.

"Let's check it out," Tess says and takes my arm, pulling me with her. I am still holding the pizza cutter and we're still partially covered in flour but she doesn't seem to care.

Once outside, we see Ben, Eli and Tommy standing at the far end of the driveway, near the street. And they are arguing.

"Can these men do anything besides fighting?" Tess groans, voicing my thoughts.

"I don't know."

"What do you think Tommy has done this time?"

"I don't know," I repeat.

"You can't have your cake and eat it, too!" Tommy yells over his shoulder as he makes his way up the driveway. Eli and Ben hot on his heels.

"That's rich coming from you, asshole!" Eli shouts back and Tommy turns around.

"I think in this scenario, I am not the asshole, am I? Or did you tell your little girlfriend already? I wouldn't think so judging by the way she still looks all worried over you."

"Leave her out of it or I-"

"You what?" Tommy interrupts him. "You're gonna punch me again? See where that'll get you! This time, I will press charges, I promise you that!"

I've observed the scene in front of me without catching very much of it because my mind is caught up with what Tommy said. What didn't Eli tell me?

"What didn't you tell me?" I blurt out, looking at Eli.

His head whips toward me and his shoulders sag a little before he regains his composure.

"Nothing, he's spewing bullshit. This doesn't concern you, Romy. Please, go inside."

Again, he is pushing me away. Treating me like I wouldn't understand if he told me whatever he didn't tell me and it hurts. I nod once and without taking my eyes off him I say, "You know what, Tess. That week on the lake sounds great."

Tommy scoffs as he shoulders past me and Tess. "I am grabbing my shit and then I'm out of here for a while. This shitshow gets depressing as fuck and I'd rather be somewhere fun if I can. Which I can, so, bye losers."

I don't pay any attention to him and grab Tess's hand who understands immediately and leads me into the house as well.

"Let's go packing, Simon will pick us up tomorrow morning."

"Good," I agree and I am a little shocked by how apathetic my voice sounds.

After we pack our things, grabbed a few slices of pizza and lounge on Tess's bed, we hear Tommy slam the door and drive off. Then we hear Eli and Ben trudge up the stairs and Eli goes to his room. Ben stops at Tess's room and comes inside.

"You guys are going where?"

"Simon and his brother are taking the boat out on the lake for a week and they invited us," Tess informs him.

"Okay, that sounds like fun. When are you going? Do I need to drive you?"

"Simon's picking us up tomorrow around 10."

"Alright," he nods and then turns to me. "If you want to say goodbye to Eli before you go, you should probably do it now. We're going to the garage in a bit and we'll be there for a while. Tomorrow we're going to a car meetup and we're leaving fairly early."

"When exactly?" I ask him quietly.

"Around 6am, it's quite a drive."

I nod, not sure what else to do or say. I am pretty pissed at Eli now.

"He is going through some difficult stuff right now and he is... confused. You don't have to make up with him or anything but I think just letting him know where you're going and saying goodbye is a good idea."

"Why doesn't he come to me to say goodbye?" I raise my eyebrows at him.

"I'm sure he would. I'll tell him to come here if you want?"

"Tell him to come to my room."

"Okay," he agrees and walks out into the hallway.

"I'll be right back," I tell Tess and put down my pizza slice to go into my room.

I sit on the bed, cross-legged, waiting for Eli to make an appearance. I nervously fiddle with a loose thread on the bedspread as a soft knock makes me lift my head.

"Come in," I call out.

Eli steps inside and even though he is tall and big and muscular, he seems smaller than usual.

"Hey," he grunts and sits on the armchair across from my bed.

"Hey," I greet back.

"Come here," he murmurs and pats his thigh.

I hesitate for a moment but he is my boyfriend after all and I don't want us to part on awful terms. They won't be good terms, that's for sure, but at least they won't be awful. I get up from the bed and walk over, settling in his lap.

His arms fold around me and I sigh in contentment. This. I missed this. Just us being us.

"I'm sorry for the way I spoke to you," he starts.

"You should be."

"Where are you going?" he asks.

"Ben didn't tell you?"

"No, but you said something about a lake?"

"Yeah, Tess and I are going on Simon's brother's boat for a week."

"That sounds like fun," he says but it sounds more like a question.

"Yeah, I think it will be."

"Good. Have fun, let loose, forget about all of the stuff here. And don't think about me too much." His voice rumbles through his chest.

"I'm not sure I can do that."

"Try, please. With how things are right now, I know you won't have fun when you think about me."

"I try but I can't promise anything."

"I know you can if you really want to. I'll be here when you get back, I promise." He kisses my hair and I squeeze my eyes shut.

"Okay. Have fun at the car thing," I tell him, lifting my head from his chest to look at him.

He smiles a little. "Thank you, I will." His eyes flit down to my lips and back up again. "Can I kiss you goodbye?"

Against my better judgment, I cave. "Please do," I whisper and his lips crash onto mine in an instant. One of his hands moves from my waist and cups my face, his fingers tangling in my hair. He tugs a little and a whimper spills from my mouth. He seizes the opportunity and pushes his tongue into my mouth, exploring.

My hand fists his T-shirt and I can't help but arch into him. He groans and his hand moves from my hair to my throat. I nibble his lower lip and bite into it a little harder than necessary. Eli breaks the kiss, pushing me back a little and squeezing my neck. He moves me around so that I am straddling his hips and stands up with me still in his arms.

"Are you gonna say goodbye now?" I ask, a little out of breath, my legs tightening around his midsection and my arms around his neck, holding onto him.

"No. I'll see you in a week, darling."

"Just so you know, I'm still mad at you," I snip.

"I know."

He pecks my lips again and sets me down before walking out of the room and closing the door behind him.