Not In The Same Way [1]

XVI.

Chapter Sixteen- New Person, Same Old Mistakes

"Holy shit! You're- you're back" Vereena said as she became face to face with him.
"I'd take that as a compliment" he said nodding his head.
"You shouldn't! What the hell are you doing back here, she's happy now leave!" Vereena said waving her hand.
"No" he shook her head.
"I'll spray you! I carry pepper spray now. I will spray you!" She said taking out her pray.

"She's happy now but- but I'm not. It took me a while but-"
"A while! You left when her dad died! You don't deserve to be happy! You deserve to stub your toe each time you walk by your bed! God dammit Carter!" Vereena yelled.

They heard a window open. Eliot Archibald popped his head out.
"Boyfriend?" He asked.
"No! God no! Where's Claire?" Vereena asked.
"She's taking a shower, should I leave?" He asked.

"Can you please come down here and not mention anything to Claire" Vereena told him. He rushed down there.

"Okay... so, who's this?" He asked.
"Hi, Carter D'Luca. Close friend of Claire" He took out his hand.
"Eliot Archibald. A good friend of Claire's" he shook it.

"No! Don't shake his hand!" She slapped it.
"Ow! Why can't shake it?" He asked her.

"Oh my god" they all turn to see Claire standing there.
"Hey, Claire" Carter smiled at her.
"What the hell are you doing here?" She asked her eyes stinging.
"I came back. For you" he said shoving his hands in his pockets.
"You're the the person. You are the people who made Claire afraid" Eliot Archibald turned to him.

"You have no right being here!"
"I do".

"Carter please, you need to leave" Claire spoke up.
"We can't talk? Please".
"No. No, we can't" she shook her head. "I'll see you all at school Monday".

"Why is he here? Oh my god!" Claire said pacing back and forth.
"You need to sit down" Eliot Archibald told Claire.
"He left! He left and about a month later he sent me a letter in the mail! He's such a Dick!" She yelled.
"Calm down, hey, hey. Look at me. Claire" Eliot Archibald grabbed her shoulders. "You need to calm down. Okay" he said rubbing her shoulders.

"He's back" she let out. Tears rolling down her face. He pulled her into a hug.
"No. No, i can't cry. You're staying the night?" She pushed out of the hug. He kept looking at her.
"Yeah, of course" he said nodding.
"Well, Vereena said it's true. He and his brother are back" she explained.
"Hey, hey, you have me. Okay? Come on. Try to get some sleep, okay?" Eliot Archibald told her.

"Can you stay with me in my room tonight please" Claire asked. He nodded and they climbed into bed.
"I love you, Claire Valentine" he said turning to her.
"Me too, Eliot Archibald" she said and scooted closer to him.
He wrapped his arm around her. He felt as if Claire was fully letting him. She was. Sooner or later, she fell asleep.

"Today is going to go great. You have me, and Eliot" Vereena said trying to convince her.
All she did was nod. They finally made it to school and see Carter in the office.
"The hell is that dick doing here" The twins pop up.
"Oh shit" Vereena blurted.
"What?"

"Scott is really protective of Claire. So, when he left, Carter basically wrote his name in Scott death notebook" Spencer explained.
"Was I never on there?" Eliot Archibald asked.
"I erased it don't worry" Scott said and the bell rang.
"See you in third period?" Scott asked and walked away.

"Before you guys start yelling can I say something please" The teacher said but most to the twins, Claire and Eliot Archibald. "Welcome back D'Luca" he walked in.

Eliot Archibald gave a cold stare at him. So did Scott. Spencer was holding onto Claire hand. All she did was stare at Eliot Archibald.
"Please stop" she mumbled, and they turned to her. "He's not gonna sit here. If anything, I'll just keep on shooting him down" she shrugged.

Carter walked over to their table and took a seat.
"Hey, Scott, Spencer" He nodded at him.

"You have no right coming back" Scott told him.
"Oh really? Should I not tell them you came to visit me after that letter?" He told him.
"I only did that to go kill you. But I didn't" he explained.
"What did you do over there?" Spencer asked.

"You bitch!" Scott throws a glass bowl at him. Carter dodged it making it hit the wall.
"You broke her! She's alone! Her mother is rarely home! Her brother left for college! Spencer and I can rarely go over because our parents- our parents don't want to be parents. Vereena's dad- she's lucky to even cross the street! You were all she had left!" He yelled at him.

"I know that! Scott, I know that! I didn't have a choice! It was my brother's idea to move!" Carter told him.

"You left without any explanation, you left her a note C. She doesn't want to open it. She told me to do it. I didn't want to, but I did. How could you just leave a small note like that to her" Scott told him.

"I didn't know what to say-"
"oh yeah you didn't know-"
"I loved her! Scott! I loved Claire! With everything I had. I didn't know what to say or how to put it in words" Carter told him.

"Don't go near her again. If you really love her than leave and never come back. Or if you see her in 20 years walk the other way. Just don't go near her" Scott said and walked out.

"So, you basically banished him" Spencer spoke.
"Yeah, to put it in words".

"It wasn't my choice to come back" Carter tried to defend himself.
"Yeah, like it wasn't your choice to leave without saying goodbye. Oh wait, it was" Scott said as he scowled at him. Eliot Archibald was silent.
He was just looking at Claire. "I love you, Claire Valentine".