The mid afternoon sun burned through the chilly air, and Eli could feel it warming his cheeks. He wondered if it wouldn't be such a frigid winter after all. They were positioned in Audrey's driveway, outside of her house. Audrey was uncharacteristically quiet, as she had been for the past two hours. 

Eli didn't go through the full story with her. After a while, her face went blank, and she seemed despondent. He knew she could only take it in small doses. The rest of the car journey, Eli watched her as she opened and closed her mouth several times, and blinked furiously, obviously trying not to cry. 

"You didn't think you were good enough?" A quiet, hoarse whisper came out of her mouth. 

"Audrey-" 

"You were." She interrupted, a hot tear rolling down her cheek. Eli didn't know what to say, so he stayed quiet. "Did I make you feel that way?" She asked, voice thick with tears that were starting to flow. Audrey thought back on all of the terrible things she'd said to him at the beach, how stupid she'd been to act so angrily. 

Her teeth gritted in her effort to stop crying, head bowed and hands bunching onto the hem of her dress. "Audrey, no." Eli tried to comfort, unbuckling his seat belt so he could face her. "It was me, it was what I thought, not you." He squeezed her shoulder with one hand and used the other to start wiping her tears away. 

"I'm sorry I didn't call, okay?" He said softly, "It felt impossible, and it seemed like it would be so hard to talk to you. Maybe it wouldn't have been. I'm so sorry." His chest constricted with overwhelming empathy as he cupped her cheeks. 

She nodded, tears slowing down. "I understand." She whispered, glancing up at his sun illuminated hair. Then down, to his freckled cheeks and nose, feeling the warmth of his hands still holding her face, thumbs brushing tears off of her cheeks. She squeezed her eyes shut to stop from looking too deeply into his eyes. 

Pulling away, Audrey took in a deep breath and flicked down her sun visor, looking in the little mirror and wiping under her eyes. She combed her fingers through her hair, and nodded at her reflection, satisfied. 

"Everything's gonna be just fine." She said, and Eli wasn't sure if she was talking to him or herself. 

****

"You're here!" Angie Kepler squealed and pulled her daughter into a tight hug. Audrey smiled, "Hey, Mom." Angie pulled away, hands still on Audrey's shoulders, and gave her a once over. "You look lovely."

"Thanks." Audrey said, and her Moms gaze flicked behind her, where she expected to see Lori, or maybe even Jack. Instead, a mystery man stood there, holding the bags.

Angie felt a flash of hurt that her daughter could have switched boyfriends without telling her. "Who's this with you?" She asked.

Audrey looked back at Eli, "Mom, this is Eli Davis." She announced. Her Mother's face went through a state of confusion, which faded into recognition, and then into shock.

"Eli Davis." She breathed out. "Uh, come in. Both of you, you must be freezing." She laughed nervously and pulled them inside.

****

It wasn't too awkward at first, sitting in Audrey's living room. As, much like Audrey, her Mother and Grandma were talkative. They spent at least an hour asking Audrey college questions.

Eli spent the silent time looking around himself. The house was warm, both in colors and in temperature. It smelled faintly of lavender, and the furniture was comfortable and nicely arranged. He noticed pictures of Audrey on the walls. Always smiling. He tried to remember if there were any pictures of him or Phoebe in his childhood home.

"So, Eli." Angie took in a breath, interrupting Eli's thoughts, "What brings you here?"

"I-"

"He's visiting." Audrey answered for him, and he could feel the nervousness emanating off of her from beside him.

"As a friend, or-"

"A friend, Mom." Audrey snipped, and her Mom nodded slowly, trying to put the pieces together, "Okay, so Jack is still your boyfriend, then?"

"It's complicated." Audrey shook her head, wanting to move on to any other subject. Eli's ears pricked up and he tried not to smile, to feel happy about those words, and looked down to avoid anyone seeing his sudden uplift in mood.

"What do you do, Eli?" Angie was unsure of what questions to ask him, this boy- or man- that she had heard so much about over the years.

"He wrote a book." Audrey answered for him, still jittery, and after her 'its complicated' comment, avoiding his eye contact. "How impressive." Audrey's Grandma said. She was a young Grandmother, as Angie was a young Mom. Her hair was a dyed chocolate brown, her eyes were wise and the same hazel as Audrey's. 

"It is, " Audrey continued to ramble, and Eli could barely repress a smile. He adored it, this protectiveness she had of him, feeling she had to talk him up, keep him safe. He'd missed that too, he decided, the way she rambled when she got nervous, or flustered. Or, sometimes for no reason at all. 

"It's just a rough draft." Eli managed to slip in, before Audrey continued, unable to let him be humble. No, he was amazing, poetic, and he was here. And she made absolutely no part of him -or their relationship- up. 

"There's this part in the book, where he says, 'There comes a moment, when you realize 'I love you' isn't enough. You feel so much, that it almost surpasses love somehow. And, it's scary, but I wouldn't trade that feeling for anything else in the world.'" Audrey recited, and Eli looked at her, mesmerized at how perfectly she quoted it, as if they were her own words. 

"That's beautiful." Audrey's Grandma placed a hand over her heart. 

"It's my favorite part." Audrey said, glancing sideways at Eli, "It's so romantic, and raw, his book. And I..." She trailed off, deciding to take a moment to catch her breath before she said too much. "Thanks." Eli said quietly, and Audrey cursed herself for blushing. 

"Well, I'm going to start making dinner." Angie stood abruptly, "Maybe you could take Eli on a little house tour." She motioned to Audrey, and Audrey smiled. "I hope you're okay to sleep on the sofa, Eli." 

"He can take my room." Audrey responded before he could. She could feel that she was overcompensating, but couldn't help it. She just wanted her Mom to acknowledge that Eli was important, and he was there, that she was wrong about him. 

"No," Eli shook his head with a breathy laugh, "The sofa would be great. Thank you." Angie smiled at his manners, and walked to the kitchen, Audrey's Grandma trailing behind her. Audrey could tell that her Mom was using making dinner as an excuse to gossip and discuss with her Grandma about the events that were transpiring. Audrey shrugged this off, though; it was better than them discussing it with her. 

Once they'd left the room, Audrey jumped up. "Come on," She said, suddenly excited to show Eli everything she'd once told him about, "Let's go see my room." 

Grabbing his hand, Audrey felt something like an electric shock, and it buzzed right into her heart. She elected to ignore it though, and excitedly pulled him up the stairs.