Summary: The calm before the storm. Title is I Can’t Help It by Michael Jackson.
Trigger warning for sexual harassment. It starts at “Hey little sweet treat” and ends at “Eli growled at the action as he felt his stomach grow queasy”.
“Vous savez, vous êtes un type génial. Vous êtes la personne la plus honnête, la plus gentille, la plus terre à terre que je connaisse. Tu es un peu petit, mais ça ajoute à la gentillesse...que je te trouverais si tu étais une fille, ou je n'étais pas un gars,” a teenage boy confessed to his friend on the tv screen. They were sitting on the top of the steps while a party was going on downstairs.
His friend was looking at him in wonder and admiration. It was obvious to the audience that he was in love with him.
“Tu me dis tout ce que je veux entendre. Je l'apprécie,” the friend responded in a husky tone with wide eyes, “Si vous voulez vraiment aider...Dis-moi que je suis un idiot.”
“Vous êtes un idiot?” The friend repeated in confusion.
The boy started sweating profusely, breathing heavily in anxiousness. Both of them could hear footsteps.
“Je ne peux pas retourner en bas...Je ne peux pas retourner en bas,” the boy said before he grabbed his friend’s face and passionately kissed him just as his boyfriend walked out the room and saw him. The other teen froze in shock. After a few seconds, he broke apart from his friend.
“Alors, en doute, tu embrasses Chase?” His friend demanded.
“This show is so good,” Marisol commented in wonder as she munched on her popcorn. Eli rolled his eyes. Along with Katie, they were sitting in Marisol’s bedroom and watching the stupid French soap opera for class. Marisol was perched on her bed and watching the screen attentively.
At first, he rejected Marisol’s offer to come over to her house after school to watch the show with her and Katie. There was a play to perfect and Katie made it known multiple times that she disliked him for whatever reason. There was also the fact that he felt that they were getting too intimate lately. They have been spending a lot of time together talking at school, and it was having a severe effect on his dreams at night.
Eli shivered at the thought of them. He had been having wet dreams about Marisol every night instead of Clare like he used to. They were often passionate, sensual, and left him with a bad case of morning wood when he woke up. The crazy part was that they weren’t even having sex in some of them. In some of the dreams, they were either cuddling together, washing each other’s hair, or Marisol was feeding him food that she prepared for him. Sometimes, she only wanted to give him a massage. However, she was always wearing that sexy black lingerie and those heels. That never changed.
It scared him.
He didn’t want to be attracted to Mare but it seems like his body was betraying him despite his mind still being set on getting Clare back. He had a million reasons as to why she wouldn’t be a good fit for him romantically but it was as if it wasn’t enough and he kept drawing himself to her as if she was honey and he was a bee. He blamed it on Marisol being annoying and troublesome. She had this pull over him that seemed to destroy any rational thought he had and made him submit to her. Maybe Marisol was some sort of witch and she cast an enchantment spell on him? One of his mother’s friends was a self-proclaimed Wicca, maybe he could ask for her help to free him from Marisol’s grip. That woman always seemed crazy to him but he could use her assistance right now.
Eli looked around Marisol’s room to add more reasons as to why she couldn’t be with him. The biggest reason should be that it was a pink monstrosity. He had never seen so much pink in his life, in multiple shades of it at that, and he wanted to hurl. There was pastel pink, hot pink, dark pink, peach pink, salmon pink, bubblegum pink, and rust pink all over her room. Pink was all over her rugs, tv, chairs, mirrors, dressers, vanity table, walls, curtains, and even her big canopy bed was drenched in pink. It made his eyes hurt. He didn’t even want to sit in this ultra-girly shitshow of a room.
Then there were the stuffed animals. There must have been thirty in the room total and they were spread all over the place. He saw stuffed plushies of unicorns, bunnies, giraffes, zebras, pandas, foxes, tigers, kittens, puppies, and even bears. There was a giant brown bear by Marisol’s bed that was straight up creepy. Even though there was no way it was sentient, Eli felt as if the bear was staring into his soul.
As the scent of vanilla candles infiltrated his nose against his will, Eli couldn’t help but think of how Julia would hate this room. It represented everything she stood against. Marisol was the Anti-Julia in every category.
“This show is certainly interesting,” Katie commented with an amused grin.
“It’s so over dramatic and nonsensical. None of this would happen at a normal high school,” Eli complained.
“That’s why it’s a drama, Eli. The drama makes it interesting,” Marisol replied with a sigh.
"It makes it unrealistic," he argued.
"What kind of shows do you watch then, Eli?" Katie asked him while giving him a critical look.
"I only watch Breaking Bad, The Walking Dead, and Game of Thrones," He answered with a shrug.
“Of course,” Katie replied with a thin smile. What was that supposed to mean?
"Ew, isn't Game of Thrones that the show where it's like medieval times and everyone is fucking their sibling or something?" Marisol asked with a frown.
He rolled his eyes in response. He hated how that was the only perception of the show right now.
"There's only some incest, Mare, and it doesn't detract from the quality of the show. It's only in its first season but it is going to be amazing because it's based on an excellent book series," he explained. Right now there was a lot of negativity surrounding the show but when a certain someone on the show died, he knew the praises were going to roll in. Viewers would fall in love with Game of Thrones and it would probably be seen as one of the greatest shows of all time. Even though the books weren’t finished yet, he knew the ending was going to be legendary.
"Count me out, Eli. I can't do incest at all. Just the thought squicks me out," she replied with a shudder.
“Your loss then, Princess. You’re missing out on good TV for soap operas and reality shows,” he said.
“Well then since you care so much, let’s watch Game of Thrones then,” she challenged.
“Right now?” He asked incredulously, but was now interested.
“Yes right now,” she insisted. “What channel is it on?”
“I would hate to stop this but I gotta get home soon, Mare,” Katie interrupted them while getting up, and Eli found himself pissed off for some reason. It seemed like Katie was deliberately trying to sabotage whatever budding friendship he had with Mare.
“Shit, you’re right,” Marisol swore as she got off her bed. “Come on, let’s go. Eli, you staying or going home?”
He thought it over for a bit.
“I’ll stay but I go with you to drop off Katie,” he replied as he rose out of his seat.
He needed a break from the pink hell anyway.
——————-
Marisol waved goodbye to Katie as her best friend entered her house.
Eli crawled to the front seat of her car and promptly buckled himself in. As she drove off again back towards her house, he asked her a question.
“Does Katie…hate me?” He questioned.
Marisol sighed deeply.
“No, she’s just very protective of me just like I am of her,” she answered. She actually wanted to cringe.
“So what is she, your keeper or something? Why does she stare at me like she wants to kill me?”
“Well she never liked any of the boyfriends I’ve had, and she despised Owen.”
‘That’s actually understandable. Owen is a tool.”
“An asshole definitely, but he has a good side,” she argued, though she wanted to slap herself for defending Owen when he was a tool. A cheating tool. She had no idea why she was looking for the good in that relationship.
Eli snorted at her answer. “Sure,” he replied.
“He was good for some things,” she added, thinking solely about the sex and the protection.
“Sure,” he repeated. She sighed again. Most people would never see the good in Owen and that was honestly his fault for being a smug asshole.
“I know we ate a bunch of popcorn earlier but I’m actually hungry for some real food, you wanna head over to Little Miss Steaks?” She asked as her stomach growled. Ugh, she was craving nachos and specifically loaded nachos.
“I guess, why not?” He responded.
———-
“No fucking way your birthday is on Halloween,” Marisol said in disbelief as she and Eli were talking at their booth in the restaurant.
Eli shrugged as he took a bite out of the loaded nachos they were sharing. “I was born at 6:06 pm at night. My parents throw a big Halloween party for me every couple of years and we do something special,” he explained. The script for Love Roulette was on the table as Eli brought it to discuss the play with her while she was on break. However, the conversation quickly took a detour from the play. He didn’t mind it for some reason, “My dream birthday is visiting Halloween Horror Nights at Universal.”
“Is there something about you that isn’t super edgy?” She asked, half amused and half annoyed.
“Nope. My whole life is dedicated to living on the edge,” he answered with a smirk as she rolled her eyes.
“Emo boy,” she teased him.
“Goth kid, edgelord, lover of Death, satanist, and bloodsucker. It’s all on my business card,” he added cheerfully, smirking.
“Come on, there has to be something about you that isn’t completely emo,” she argued, “Like I don’t know....you like puppies, watch Disney movies, or listen to Beyoncé?”
“Disney movies? Don’t insult me. And I can’t even name any of Beyoncé songs without Jay-Z,” he replied with a shudder. Whatever genre Beyoncé was in, pop or RnB, he wasn’t into it. Plus her acting in movies was awful.
“Ugh the lack of taste you have. Beyoncé is not only one of the greatest singers of all time, but an amazing performer,” she said while shaking her head.
“Whatever. Freddie Mercury is better than her in every category. Now *he* was a legend whose vocal abilities are unmatched,” he replied.
“Did he do Single Ladies? Or Crazy In Love? Doesn’t sound iconic enough for me,” Marisol replied with an air of haughtiness.
“Are you serious? Single Ladies is one of the most annoying-“
“Hey little sweet treat,” a biker guy greeted Marisol as he cut into their conversation. He was leering at her in a way that immediately put Eli on edge. He could smell the alcohol radiating from the guy’s breath.
“Hi,” she greeted back with a smile, but her body language screamed that she was uncomfortable.
“You weren’t our waitress tonight. It made us sad,” the man commented with a frown.
“I’m sorry. This is my off day,” Marisol apologized while still smiling at him. There’s no way the guy couldn’t sense how disgusted she felt. Eli felt his blood starting to boil. He hated the whole culture of men catcalling and harassing women and it being considered normal.
“It’s okay, honey. There’s always a next time, and seeing that beautiful smile of yours every night is worth it,” the man said as he leaned closer to her ear, “And seeing you strut in that sexy little outfit always makes me crave some chocolate.”
Marisol shifted uncomfortably in her seat and Eli finally had enough.
“She’s sixteen, and a high schooler. Back off of her,” he replied to the man with snarl.
The man glared at him.
“Are you her boyfriend, boy?” The man asked him.
“No,” he replied, glaring right back at him.
“Then I suggest you shut the fuck up and mind your own business then, shrimp,” the man warned him with a growl. Even though the man was taller, creepy, and looked physically stronger, Eli was not going to be intimidated by him. He wasn’t scared of Fitz and he wasn’t scared of this guy.
“When it involves one of my friends being sexually harassed, it becomes my business. When it involves people getting harassed by assholes in general it becomes my business. I hate bullies and I hate creeps. Shouldn’t you be worrying about getting kidney failure from all that alcohol I can smell off of you?” Eli sneered.
“Eli......,” Marisol warned him with fear in her eyes.
The man looked at them with a sinister gleam Eli would never forget. The older man then chuckled.
“You’re a bold little brat, aren’t you? You’re lucky I don’t have time today to beat your ass. See ya, sweetheart,” the man replied, tugging on Marisol’s pigtail as he walked away. Eli growled at the action as he felt his stomach get queasy.
“Why would you do that? That man could crush you like a bug!” Marisol scolded him in worry.
“So what? Am I supposed to sit there and watch as he made you uncomfortable?” He questioned.
“I’m used to it. All he and his friend do is flirt with me, nothing more than that,” she replied.
“He just touched your hair,” he argued.
“I just got this job and I don’t want to lose it by starting anything,” she said.
“At least report it to your manager and get them thrown out for harassing a minor!” He pressed her.
“And then what? Start shit with a whole motorcycle club? Eli, there’s like thirty of them! I heard really, bad and shady things about them and I don’t want to anger them,” she argued.
“It’s better than to let them continue to harass you until they do something worse!” He exclaimed, feeling himself get angry but not really at her. The idea that Marisol was too scared to report those men because she felt that they would harm her was making his blood boil. She shouldn’t have to feel that. It wasn’t right. He gripped his pants tightly in anger as he thought of beating that man’s face in bloody. It’s what he deserved.
“They’re harmless, Eli, please drop it,” she begged, with her eyes being wide in fear. He looked at them and softened immediately. They were big, soft, dark, and surprisingly soothing to stare into. He never thought that a girl’s eyes would interest him as much as Clare’s but he couldn’t help but feel entranced by Marisol’s.
It also made him feel defensive over her.
“I guess, I’m coming in here every night you work then,” he stated.
“But why? You don’t need to do that,” she argued.
“To give you company, and to ward off any losers,” he answered with a shrug.
“But-“
“No buts, Princess. You wanted me to hang out with you more? You got me now, and that includes protecting you from neighborhood scum,” he vowed strongly.
He could see how dumbfounded she was. Giving her a warm smile, he pushed the plate of nachos towards her.
“These are really good. Eat them,” he said as he popped some into his mouth. While The Dot’s nachos were really good, he found himself liking Little Miss Steaks’s nachos better. The cheese just had a thicker texture and the bacon bits was of course delicious. The smell was also amazing.
“I don’t know what to think of you sometimes, Eli,” Marisol said.
“Think of me as someone who’s going to have an impact on your life,” he boasted. “Now eat”.
—————-
Marisol laid on her bed as she thought about what happened earlier tonight.
She was disturbed by what happened with that biker, and to be honest it was why she scrubbed her hair and body vigorously in the shower tonight. However, those men flirting with her was a constant at this point and she was almost numb to it despite how much it sickened her.
She had received sexual comments from men and boys since she was eleven years old. They would either catcall her, hug or shake her hand too tightly, sniff her, or eye her like a steak. At school, boys used to grope her as they ran past her in the hallways or at school until Katie broke one of their noses one day. In high school, she didn’t get any of the groping or catcalling while she was dating Owen but the moments they weren’t....it was like the whole football team expected her to fuck them. It’s why she refused to get drunk at parties now.
Those grown men have been flirting heavily with her since she got the job and something told her that it was going to lead to something ugly. She didn’t know why they were so focused on her when there were SO many other waitresses working there. But no, they always hoot and hollered at her, their little “chocolate drop”. Bile rose in her stomach at the memory of the taller man touching her hair. She felt violated and it sickened her how she couldn’t really do anything about without causing trouble. She was scared of what they would to do to her and everyone else at the restaurant.
What worried her the most was Eli arguing with that man. That man was tall, beefy, and would easily whoop Eli’s ass. Eli was so skinny and short; He was only an inch taller than her. If he angered the biker gang hard enough, one of them could easily kill him with no struggle. The way the man glared at Eli sent shivers down her spine. She knew he was thinking about hurting Eli and she couldn’t bear the guilt if it happened.
Marisol noticed that Eli had such a savior’s complex when it came to people he cared about. She remembered seeing his war with Fitz from afar and gasped when he came to school one day with a bloody lip. She wanted to shake him for even trying to fight that thug. Back in the days when she was still dating Owen, she was forced to interact with Fitz whenever Owen hung out with him and Bianca, and she was uncomfortable with how creepy and aggressive Fitz behaved towards people; He would leer at her too. He was certainly a dangerous individual. She would never forgive him for almost stabbing Eli at Vegas Night. It was not only because of her feelings for Eli, but also she was still traumatized from some senior getting stabbed to death at a party during her freshman year. The idea of Eli becoming the next JT Yorke scared her inside.
Still, him vowing to protect her was giving her sense of comfort. He really was brave, wasn’t he? He truly didn’t care about how tall or strong someone was because he was happy to fight them no matter what. She wanted to call him stupid for that as her mind certainly was. But her heart....her heart found it admirable. He would defend anyone because it was the right to do, even if it would end in an ass beating for him.
Under all of that black getup he was wearing was a heart of gold.