Gabi pulled him into a tight hug and his arms wrapped around her body loosely. He was trying to reciprocate as best he could, but I'm not sure he was fully aware of who he was even hugging. That was what the distant look in his eyes told me.
"I'm sorry," Gabriela said softly.
Her hand caressed his arm soothingly. Elias parted his lips to speak, but no words made it out. He then attempted a weak smile, but it never reached his eyes.
The rest of my family was on another business trip which left me and Gabriela with the house to ourselves for two days. That was only after many long hours of begging and convincing that we were mature enough to handle it. We succeeded.
Our parents would all be back later in the night and that was when I would explain to them everything that happened with Eli. They could figure out what to do next and how we needed to proceed because I was definitely at a loss.
In the meantime, I took him to the guest room because I knew that was where they would have him stay. Whenever he spent the night with me, he would sleep in my room. I was more than fine with that, but I knew that if he was going to stay in a more permanent situation with my family then having a space to himself was important. It did not matter if he never spent time in the room because it would always be waiting for him whenever he needed it.
I was pretty sure it was his first time ever seeing the guest bedroom. Well… I was honestly not sure that I could say he was truly seeing anything at that moment. Eli was just there, he was going through the motions necessary because doing anything more was too much.
When he knelt down in the middle of the room and opened his duffel bag of clothes, I stood over him. "Do you want help?"
He shook his head once. It was looking like he needed space, and I had to be willing to give it to him.
Before I got around to asking him, a text came through my phone. It was from Alan, and it read, 'Don't forget to pick up the order.’ I suppressed the urge to roll my eyes as I set my phone on the dresser. He told me days ago to go and pick up the clothes he ordered from the clothing store, but I hadn’t gotten around to it. I wasn’t even told who the clothes were for, just that I needed to pick them up and bring them home. Today was the last day I could before they closed for the weekend, and Alan would be pissed if he came home and realized I didn’t do what he asked.
I could tell him about the situation with Eli and then I would be excused from having to do the task. I would get lectured for not doing it when I was first told to, but at least I would get out of having to go.
However, the store was only twenty minutes away, so I would not be gone for long. It would be better for me to make the quick trip so that I could stop worrying about it. If it seemed like Eli was wanting company then I would not even consider leaving him for a second, but everything pointed to him wanting to be alone.
"I need to go pick up something from the store. It is not far at all and I will be back before you know it," I explained, my tone soft. "Or I can stay. I don't know if you want to be alone or not. What do you need, space or company?"
He looked at me, but he wasn't really lookingatme. Elias was staring as though I could determine what he wanted through the foggy look in his eyes. I could not.
I knelt down to be level with him while he continued to rummage through his clothes. "You've got to use words, baby."
His eyesfinallymet mine. "I’ll be okay while you’re gone."
Okay, space until I got back. I nodded once and then stood up. "I shouldn't be more than an hour. Text me if you need me, okay?"
His focus was already on the clothes again.
I only had an hour to get there and pick up the items. I made my way down the stairs, grabbed my keys, and was out of the door in no time. Once in the car, I tried to connect my phone to play music, but that was when I realized I did not have my phone.
I groaned when I remembered that I left it on the dresser upstairs. Damn, now I had to go all the way up the stairs and all the way back down all over again.
I had to fumble through my keys to find the one that opened the front door. I quickly hiked upstairs and did not think about knocking before I reentered the room. I opened the bedroom door assuming that I would find Eli putting his clothes in the drawers or maybe lying in the bed and keeping himself company.
So, imagine my shock when I found him sitting with his legs crossed, his back toward me, and what at first glance looked like a bottle on the floor beside him.
"What is that?" My tone came out anything but gentle.
Eli’s whole body jerked when he heard my voice. He jolted so hard that his hand hit the bottle and knocked it over, and the noise of the glass connecting with the floor was loud. His reaction to pick it up was swift, like he thought that if he picked it up quick enough it would disappear before my eyes. He gripped it tightly and did not move to turn around.
I already knew what it was, but I wanted to hear it from him, so I repeated the question calmly this time. "What is that?"
It was silent for a few seconds before he spoke in a hushed tone. "Don't be mad."
My hands clenched into fists by my sides. "I am watching you self-destruct, how do you expect me to not be mad about that?"
Eli was now facing me, but his head was hung low. It reminded me of a dog who knew he had done wrong and had the guilt written all over his face.
“Where did you even get that from?” I shook my head dismissively. “Never mind, it doesn’t matter. How much of that were you planning to drink?”
He glanced at the bottle. “Just a little.”
