Haunted

The Morning After - UNEDITED

Disclaimer: This chapter has not been edited from the original as posted on JBFF. There will be mistakes, typos, continuity problems and other issues.

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"Wow," Maddox knew he should be a little more sensitive but seeing Eli's house full of boxes was more intense than he'd expected. His stomach twisted a little more when he saw Eli's face.

"I know," Eli took a deep breath and looked around. "It took years to build this life and just a few days to pack it all away."

"Eli," Maddox bit his tongue and gave his best friend a hug. It had been two weeks since the night Cole told everyone about his disease and Eli had confessed that he and Hunter were getting a divorce. Every day since then had been a struggle but it was getting a little easier as time passed. All Maddox could do was just keep pushing forward. Eli and Hunter were selling their house so Eli had asked him to come help with the packing.

"Thanks for coming," Eli said. "I know you have a lot going on."

"I'm never too busy for you," Maddox rubbed his back before he let go. "What can I do?"

"We need to pack up Clay's room," Eli said. "While he's distracted and can't follow me unpacking everything."

"Where is Clay?" Maddox realized the house was awfully quiet.

"Out back, with Adam," Eli looked over his shoulder at the big window. Maddox could see Adam pushing Clay on the swingset.

"Right," Maddox said. Adam waved at them and Maddox had to force himself to raise his hand in response.

"Clay really likes him," Eli said, his voice a little softer.

"You uh," Maddox swallowed hard. "You seem to really like him too."

"Yeah, I do," Eli smiled but it looked like he caught himself and stopped. "I don't know, this whole thing is crazy. I'm probably making a huge mistake and putting Clay in a bad situation and 5 years from now I'll be wondering why I ever thought I knew what I was doing."

"Hey, slow down," Maddox shook his head. "No one knows what happens next, right?" he asked. It was something his therapist had said and Maddox found himself saying it over and over.

"Right," Eli took a deep breath. "Okay, let's get to work."

Maddox helped Eli put all of Clay's things into boxes and suitcases. They talked about work almost the whole time - about the song Maddox was going to record with Justin and how Maddox wanted his next album cover to look. It wasn't until they started taking Clay's toddler bed apart that Eli paused.

"What?" Maddox asked when he saw Eli staring at the empty bed.

"Sorry," Eli shook his head. "I just remember the day Hunter put this together. We were having one of those stupid fights because I thought Clay was too little for a bed and Hunter was worried he'd get hurt climbing out of his crib and really we both just wanted him to be safe."

"Yeah," Maddox smiled.

"Hunter got up at 5:30 that morning to do it before he left for DC," Eli said. "It seemed so cute at the time, like he wanted to make sure Clay was taken care of before he left so I wouldn't have to worry about it but now I know," Eli closed his eyes.

"Aw, Eli, that's really was what he was doing," Maddox squeezed his shoulder. "I know it feels different now but he always took care of you and Clay."

"Yeah, so now I can't hate him," Eli opened his eyes. "He was always good to us so no matter how fucked up the truth is, he still looks like a fucking hero."