"Tomorrow is gonna be a son of a bitch." Phoebe dropped a bottle of rum on her little round dining room table. "Cheers." 

Eli had taken a week to think, though he knew in his heart that he couldn't leave his Mom like that. Even if she might not do the same for him, he had to do what was right and try to get her out of that house. 

"No way, underage drinker." Eli protested, pulling the rum away from her. Phoebe scoffed and took a seat as she placed the shot glasses on the table. "This is my rum and my apartment." She pushed her hair back over her shoulders. "I'm drinking."

"Ooh, I'll take some of that if you're offering." Audrey smiled, rubbing her hands together as she sat. She was prepared to celebrate surviving another week of college.

"Sorry, it's reserved for those facing the family from hell." Phoebe snorted as she poured the drinks. "Good. That's me." Audrey retorted, pulling the bottle to herself.

Eli's head snapped over to her. "Aud, you're not coming." He said, disbelief in his voice as he sat up straighter. Audrey blankly stared at him. "I am."

"Audrey."

"Eli." She mimed his tone and pointedly looked at him as she poured herself a drink. "Someone needs to be there that isn't used to the environment." Audrey shrugged, "And if Mitch is there he's less likely to go crazy if I'm around, right?"

Eli locked eyes with Phoebe, begging her to help him out. "True." Phoebe ignored him, lifting her glass. "Fine with me. A spectacular 'welcome to the family'." Phoebe dunked back her shot and Audrey followed suit as Eli watched helplessly. He wasn't going to be able to stop her from coming along.

Eli sighed in defeat and took a shot. There was no room in his mind to worry about Audrey coming to his house. And he had to admit, there was a small relief in knowing Audrey would be holding his hand through the process.

At two shots, Eli was out. He wasn't really one for alcohol. Or, at least the drunkenness aspect. Being out of control wasn't something he liked to facilitate more than his brain forced him to.

The girls kept going. Eli sat on the couch and let them enjoy themselves, the dining room light illuminating their progressively silly conversations as the sky darkened. He could barely concentrate on his book, as Audrey was giggling uncontrollably at anything Phoebe said, and eventually Phoebe started talking about Eli.

"-So I'm like, trying to put this band aid on his forehead, and he keeps swatting me away," Phoebe babbled, both elbows on the table, "And he goes, 'let me finish this chapter first', and his forehead is literally dripping all over the carpet." Phoebe waved her hand in front of her, wheezing, unable to finish the story. She laughed as if it was the funniest story she'd ever told.

Audrey was perplexed for a flashing moment, but her brain was much too fizzed to calibrate the tone of the story. Seeing Phoebe laugh made her dissolve into laughter, until she had forgotten what was even funny, and simply couldn't stop laughing at the general sound of laughter.

****

"Alright, Pheebs." Eli gingerly patted his sister's back. "Off to bed." Phoebe muttered something in annoyance, mostly asleep, head on the table. He pulled lightly on her arm, and she groggily stood, stomping herself to her bedroom. He waited until she made it there safely, and turned his attention to Audrey, whose compulsive giggles were slowly dying down.

"Lovely evening," She drawled wistfully, looking across the room, out the window. Eli's brow wrinkled as he noted the starless, pitch black night, and let out a small laugh. "There it is." She pointed at his laugh with a goofy grin. 

He helped her stand, though she was shaky and still chalk full of giggles. Holding tightly to her forearms, slowly, he managed to get her to the couch. Immediately, she took the initiative to lay down. He pulled the blanket he'd been using over her and sat down on the floor.

It was sort of funny, their reversed positions. Audrey laying on the couch, Eli sat on the floor. Audrey was such a natural caretaker. The night Eli was on the couch, she had been there when he had cried. Though, Audrey was not crying in this particular role reversal. No, she was smiling, letting out a little giggle every now and then as she watched Eli from a swirly, sideways perspective.

He pushed the hair out of her eyes and started to stroke a hand through it, like she often did for him. She stopped giggling, but still smiled. Snuggling into his pillow, she watched him carefully in the half light. Silently taking in his every feature, feeling all his hand movements through her hair peacefully.

He decided to wait for Audrey to fall asleep before he got into the armchair. There was nothing worse than someone leaving you before you were comfortable in an unfamiliar place. Even if he would only be a foot away. It was just as soothing, he found, running his fingers through Audrey's hair, as her doing it to him. Could comforting somebody else bring you comfort? He decided to put a pin in the question for later.

Audrey Kepler was in love with Eli Davis. This was old news, of course. But it still felt so good to just embrace it. Bask in the glory of it. She loved the way he looked at her, like he could see something in her no one else could. She loved the familiarity of him, the way they just fit together after all this time, like puzzle pieces.

She loved that he just knew. There was no apprehension, because they knew each other inside out. She loved how gently he held her, how tenderly he kissed her. As if he were savoring each moment. She loved his freckles and his smile and his airy laugh and his raspy, quiet voice and his feathery hair...

All that came out from these adoring reflections was a slurred, sleepy, "You... Eli... Good..." Eli couldn't hold back a confused smile as he watched her trying to get out a coherent sentence, her eyes drooping, breathing decelerating. 

Audrey's thoughts drifted away into the midnight air as her eyes dropped and she was pulled into a deep sleep. Her fingers were slightly curled onto the shoulder of his shirt. Needless to say, because of this, Eli didn't leave her side for the rest of the night. He sat on the floor, not wanting her hand to drop- to be left abandoned and empty without him to hold it up.

Even with the impeding doom of the next day drawing ever closer, it was one of the best sleeps he'd had in years.