The music was still thumping inside the house when Eli found you.

You were sitting alone on the curb, knees drawn up, your head lolling slightly as you stared blankly at the spinning lights of a passing car. A bottle dangled loosely from your fingers. You didn't even flinch when he crouched beside you.

“Hey,” Eli said softly. “You with me?”

You blinked at him, sluggish. Your eyes were glassy, distant in thaat way that made something in Eli’s chest twist painfully. He gently took the bottle from your hand and set it aside.

“You came.” you slurred, a lopsided smile tugging at your lips. “Didn’t think you would.”

“I always do.” he murmured.

You swayed, unsteady, and Eli instinctively reached out, easing you down until you were sitting fully, then slowly sliding behind you so he could guide your weight against his chest. Your body was warm and heavy, boneless in the way that said you were barely hanging on.

“I’m fine,” you mumbled.

“No, you’re not,” Eli said quietly. He wrapped his arms around you, anchoring you against him like you might float away if he didn’t hold tight enough. His cheek rested lightly against your temple. “You don’t have to pretend with me.”

There was a long silence. The kind that said everything without saying anything at all.

Then, softer than breath, Eli whispered into your hair:

“You don’t have to be okay for me to stay.”

You didn’t respond. Maybe you were already too far gone to hear him. But he said it anyway.

Then, out of nowhere, your voice cracked through the silence. Fragile. Barely above a whisper.

“I’m a mess, Bennett. You don’t want to get too close.”

Eli didn't answer right away. He just held you a little tighter, gaze fixed on the night ahead, his chin resting gently atop your head.

A beat passed.

“Maybe. But I’ve seen the way you light up when you laugh. The way you look after your friends like it’s second nature. The way you pretend not to care, when I know damn well you do.”

He breathed out. A soft, crooked smile tugging at his lips.

“So yeah. I think I do.”