Summary: Eli and the reader are complete touchy feely dorks who finally confront each other.
3rd person, but focuses more on the reader, Word count: 1003
It was just past lunchtime, and everyone had eaten and begun their breaks. Eli was in his room, feeding and praising his owl for her performance in his matches; (y/n) was alone, reminiscing the feeling of Eli's touch. She thought of how he always comforted her, and how he was always kind and understanding even when she made a mountain out of a molehill. In this moment she realized how much he meant to her, and that she should apologize for making things awkward between them. Everytime she looked away from him, got too close without realizing it or said more than she should've must have made him so uncomfortable. Eli was kind-hearted, and would not say anything to criticize someone, so of course he wouldn't speak up when she caused him discomfort. (y/n) readied herself to apologize and let Eli know that he could tell her how he felt and when to back off. She knocked on his door and awaited a response, but it never came. Eli had left not too long ago, unintentionally ruining her plans. As she made her way back to her room, she was confronted by Aesop, who had a favor to ask of her. He was quiet, but as good friends connected through Eli, he was more open to talking to her than other people.
"Do you mind taking over a match for me?" He requests, not meeting her in the eye.
"Sure, Aesop. When is it?" Her head tilted slightly, and her voice perked up to show her friendliness, and to let him know she was glad to accept his offer.
"It's not till after dinner, it's the match at 7." He gets quieter after every word, shuffling to the side. She smiles and nods at him, a way to let him know she has the information, and let's him leave.
"Hey wait, Aesop." She calls, hoping he wouldn't be too quick to leave. "Sorry to keep you, but do you know where Eli is?"
"I don't, sorry." He left. She sighed, debating whether or not to search for him or go back to her room. In her mind, neither of those options were preferable, so she searched for someone to help, or just talk to as a way to busy herself until dinner time. Silently hoping she ran into Eli along the way, she started towards the garden, a common place for Emma to be working, to see if she wanted assistance. As she arrived, she was greeted by Emma, who was mesmerized by something in the middle of the garden.
"Do you need any help?" (y/n) offered, slowly approaching her and the thing she was completely entranced by. "What's this?" She added.
"Isn't it cool! It just showed up!" Emma enthusiastically replied, her hair bouncing with her. "And it's filled with tiny fish too!" (y/n) peered down at the new addition to the large garden. There sat a small pond filled with tiny goldfish sparkling like the sun. She giggled at Emma's behavior and brought herself down to get a closer look. After a long moment of captivation, a familiar bird perched on her shoulder, seeming to look with her.
"Hey Brooke!" She greeted, giving her a scratch. "Do you like fish, too?" She closed her eyes with the grin that followed. She directed her attention to the owl after observing the glittering fish, softly cooing and petting her. Emma joined in, giving Brooke Rose more attention than she knew what to do with, though it was clear she was enjoying every second of it. (y/n) suddenly remembered her mission.
"Hey, do you know where Eli is?" when Emma shook her head to say no, she added, "Well, I guess Brooke could tell me." So she asked the owl, who had moved from her shoulder to nestling in her arms, if she could show her where Eli is. As she took off, (y/n) closely followed, saying good-bye to Emma and making her way to complete her apology. Brooke Rose, however, was not taking her to Eli, but instead she was leading the girl to her room where she would fall asleep on her bed.
"Really?" She sarcastically addressed the bird, full of treats and attention. What she didn't realize was that Eli was on his way to her, partially to look for his owl and partially to finally confess to his love. She opened the door to leave, but ran face first into the chest of the man she's been looking for all day. Yelping, she tried to back up, but the hand around her wrist didn't let her get far.
"Eli?" She would take this moment to apologize, but she was too stunned to do anything. She took a moment in his arms to calm herself, and appreciate his touch, then realized she got too close again but was incapable of pushing herself out of his grasp.
"Is it bad that I was jealous of Brooke Rose?" The question didn't seem to be directed at her, but she answered anyways, despite her confusion.
"What do you mean?"
"When you treat her so softly, petting her and giving her attention," He trailed off before coming back to his point, "I want that attention from you." He looked like he wanted to say more, before (y/n) interjected with her thoughts.
"Eli? I thought I was making you uncomfortable because of how clingy I am." A nervous chuckle escaped her lips while she looked up at Eli frantically searching his face to understand how he was feeling. Her eyes caught his golden smile and striking blue eyes. In that moment, she understood. He felt the same way about her touches as she did about his. They felt safe, comfortable, and immensely happy holding each other; finally able to understand how to deal with their own feelings, and how they felt about each other.
(A/N) I'm so so sorry, I didn't publish the first part on accident and only realized it now,,,
<(＿ ＿)> forgive me,,, but here i am and I'm going to try not to let it happen again. As usual, thank you for reading, and thank you guys who have been voting ^^ I see you and I am extremely grateful <3