#thread: eli1

Her night had been looking so promising when Annie had stood in front of her bedroom mirror, perfecting her makeup, slipping into what could only be described as the most gorgeous dress any woman had ever worn. Her father had the piece specifically commissioned for Annie’s birthday, and she’d been waiting for exactly the right time to wear it. Stupidly, she’d believed that tonight would be the special occasion to end all special occasions. 

For the past 3 weeks, Annie had been talking to Troy. He was a cute guy she’d met online, some model that Matty knew. Not that the Brit was aware the two had been exchanging DMs, but they’d hit it off almost instantly, Troy sweet-talking her and lamenting the fact that he’d still not met her in person. After a little persuasion, Annie had finally agreed to go on a date with him; her first date. Ever. The two had agreed on New Year’s Eve, Annabelle delighting in the idea that she might actually get to kiss somebody when the clock struck midnight, the stuff of fairytales, something she had only ever dreamed of. 

She knew she’d get into all kinds of trouble if she admitted to her father what she was really doing tonight. She’d enlisted the help of Jax for getting her out of the house for the evening, insisting to her overprotective father that the two wouldn’t leave each other’s side, promising that the man she’d grown so close to would have her home before 1am. He trusted Jax with her implicitly and had agreed, bestowing a warm kiss to her cheek before she’d gleefully launched herself into Jackson’s arms, her friend wincing under the full force of her affection. Annie’s frame was slight, practically made of air in comparison with Jax in all his chiseled, six-foot-nothing glory, but she’d gotten used to being gentler with him since his accident. Still, she was excited and not quite thinking straight. 

When the two of them had arrived at A Novel Idea, arm-in-arm and one of Jaxxy’s jackets draped over her shoulders, she’d been elated. The night was young and she was positive it could only get better from there-on. After shrugging off his jacket and returning it to him with a curtsy, Annabelle had pressed a kiss to the tip of his nose and made him swear he would tell nobody she was there. She didn’t need word of her lies getting back to Daddy, and Jackson was happy to skulk off and keep himself busy for the evening – she rather hoped he’d find a sexy guy to make out with to help him forget about prick of the century, Asher Boyd, but she wouldn’t get her hopes up. 

Fast forward to several hours later and absolutely no sign of Troy. Tucked into a quiet, dimly lit corner, Annie had anxiously checked, double-checked, and triple-checked her phone to see if the man had texted her. She’d foolishly hoped he might have some excuse for why he was running so late – hours late, in fact – but had no such luck. Her heart sunk in her chest, a lump forming in her throat, humiliation washing over her. She’d been so stupid, and now she was stuck in this stupid dress, hiding from everybody. 

She’d spotted Elias and Matty multiple times, had even embarrassed herself by slipping behind a bookcase so that the two of them wouldn’t spot her. She didn’t need to ruin everybody else’s night just because hers had sucked so much. When the coast had been clear, she’d slid back into her seat and decided to wait there for the rest of the night; Jackson would find her when it was time to go home, she was sure. She’d let him have his fun and say nothing of Troy. 

The bell tolled as midnight rang through, cheers erupted inside the cosy bookstore, and Annabelle sadly watched on as friends and couples embraced, joined together in celebration, sharing kisses both platonic and romantic alike. She sighed, jealousy searing through her chest as she watched from afar as Elias coaxed a hand through Matty’s hair, their lips meeting as the two tangled themselves together, a safe haven away from the watchful eye of Ferrari. 

She turned her gaze back to her phone once more, restless and miserable as she tried to pull up Troy’s profile once more. She frowned, lips parting in confusion as she pulled up his instagram profile. Instead of the endless array of charming, sexy photoshoots that had littered his profile hours before, it was now emblazoned with the words No posts yet. She couldn’t make sense of it – why would he take down his photos? Underneath the initial statement, the words user not found appeared, and Annie noticed that she was, seemingly, no longer following him. 

Shame washed over her as reality hit her square in the chest; he had blocked her. How could she possibly have been so stupid? 

Lost as she was in his profile, Annie barely noticed that she was no longer alone, a shadow filling her small corner of the room. 

“I know it’s earlier than we agreed, Jaxxy, but I wanna go home,” Annabelle sniffed, feeling herself on the verge of tears. 

She slammed her phone down on the small coffee table in front of her before finally looking up at him, eyes widening when she realised it wasn’t Jackson at all. 

“Oh. Hey, handsome.” Annabelle offered up, meek and mortified as her eyes met Eli’s instead. 

Matthew had missed him in the way that a fight might miss the water; Eli was a phantom limb, the only thing keeping Matty entirely whole when he was around. It seemed dramatic and codependent, he knew that. It wasn’t that he couldn’t be happy without Elias around – not by any stretch – but he simply enjoyed life more when he was there. Matty was by no means a lonely person, but with Amira gone, Killian ghosting him, and a crush that he’d incorrectly assumed to be harmless, he desperately needed his best guy back.  

The second Eli’s flight had landed, Matty had been there, standing at the arrival gate with a bouquet of flowers so extravagant they obscured his face from view. He’d peeked through the assortment of roses and peonies, grinning to himself as he spotted his best friend, releasing a peel of laughter as he saw the look of embarrassment on his face. Eli hadn’t needed to see Matty’s face to know just who was hiding behind the flowers, he’d simply known that nobody else on this earth would have shown up with the intent of both lovingly greeting him as well as flustering him. 

Now, tucked safely into the comfort of Matty’s penthouse apartment, the whole city as their backdrop, the two of them were smartening themselves up for a night on the town. Or, rather, a Gala Evening courtesy of the speed demons that Elias was employed by.  

“Well, you look as dashing as ever,” Matthew noted, wandering towards his best friend, a warm smile on his face. Eli was getting suited and booted for the night, while Matty was still shirtless, water droplets dripping down his chest from his still-wet hair. “I’m really loving the tousled look, I have to say.” 

His friend’s fingers moved deftly at the fabric in his hands, securing his black tie to his neck. While he was almost fully ready – bar his cringey Ferrari blazer, as Eli had put it himself – his hair remained perfectly unkempt, appearing to be the very last thing requiring his care. Strands stood to attention every which way, with tendrils dropping low over his brow, in front of his eyes. 

“You think Ferrero Rocher would let you wear it like this?” he asked, reaching forward to comb a delicate hand through the soft tufts of Eli’s hair. He smirked, anticipating the eyeroll his slip of the tongue would earn him.