Beast Beloved

Chapter Twenty-Five

 Eli fluctuated between being mad, confused and unsettled, so he wasn't prepared in the slightest to go the boarding house and – as Laura put it – 'meet the family'. It was too much, way too soon.

"Cameron's not going to let anyone do anything to you" Oliver stopped him as he was making his way to Jenny in the parking lot. "You don't need to worry so much."

"That's not what I was worried about." Eli stopped short. "I am now though."

"Ah" Oliver looked embarrassed. "Really, there's nothing to worry about."

Eli gave him a look that was close to 'are you kidding me?'

"What were you stressing about then?" Oliver quickly changed the subject.

"Meeting his parents." Eli answered, "What do you mean by Cameron's not going to let anyone do anything to me? What do they want to do to me?"

"Cameron, hey" Oliver completely ignored his question, waving across the parking lot to Cameron in a manner that was extremely unnatural. They waited in awkward silence as Cameron came over.

His narrowed eyes appraised Oliver, and then took in Eli quickly. Cameron turned to Oliver with an irritated air, "What did you say to him?"

"Nothing" Oliver answered defensively. The hard look he got from Cameron, and the lack of back-up from Eli made him cave instantly. "Just a little something about you protecting him from everyone."

"I swear to god everyone's going out of their way to piss me off today" Cameron muttered. He put his arm over Eli's shoulder and stood closely to him, "Ignore him. There isn't any reason that I'll need to protect you."

"Great." Eli said in a deadpan voice, "I still have to ask if I can go, so I'll just run over and do that."

Jenny, to Eli's surprise, was reluctant to agree. When she brought up Shane more than twice in the excuse, Eli got the feeling that her interest in him yesterday and this morning wasn't stemming from something positive. Eli looked over to where Oliver and Cameron were waiting by their car, gauging if they could hear them or not from here. There were a fair about of people buzzing about, so he doubted it.

"What's this about?" Eli lowered his voice, leaning into the window. "Did Shane say something to you?"

"No." Jenny tilted her head, also checking that there wasn't anyone within earshot. "Sweetie I just got the impression that he doesn't approve of you and Cameron, and I don't want you going over there and being stuck in a situation where you're uncomfortable."

"I know." Eli admitted, "But I don't think avoiding his family will do me much good. I'd rather meet them all, officially, and go from there. Besides, it was Shane that invited me over." The revelation about Shane didn't go down well. He could see that he wasn't persuading her at all. "If it's horrible, I can just leave."

"Will you bring Noah with you?"

"Absolutely not."

Jenny sighed. "Fine. But I want you to text and keep me updated."

"I lost my phone."

"Eli" Jenny groaned, giving him an exasperated look. It was the first of the kind he'd gotten from her, and he couldn't help a meek shrug. Noah climbed into the car, looking over the two of them. Jenny held out her hand to him. "Phone."

Jenny delivered it into Eli's hands. "Every twenty minutes I want a text saying you're okay or I'm coming to get you. Understand?"

"Got it" He pocketed the phone, backing away from the car with a mock army salute.