#12

Sometimes, Eli wondered if Matthew only liked him so much because he loved to annoy the hell out of him, because he sure was good at it.

He'd been in Eli's hospital room for less than five minutes and already Eli wanted to kick him in the shins. Sadly, Matthew was keeping his distance. At least that proved he wasn't completely stupid.

"So let me get this straight," Eli said, gathering what little patience he had in preparation—granted, his mother had just visited, so that was already in low supply. "You just decided that it would be in my best interest to ship me back home with my mom. Without so much as mentioning this to me. And you thought I would agree. Are you stupid?"

Matthew looked exhausted, but that wasn't anything new. It also wasn't nearly enough to make Eli pity him so he just continued to glare.

"I'm not making you go. I'm just saying it would be better if you did. Just for a while."

"No."

"Look, it would just be until I deal with things here—"

"No."

"I promise it won't take long."

"I'm sorry, but what part of no did you not get? The part where I said no or the part where I said no?"

"Eli." Clearly, Matthew was also not feeling very patient that day. Which was really his own fault.

"Fuck off, I'm not going home with my mom." And there went Eli's patience. To be fair, he did try. Matthew was just very hard to deal with at times. Mostly when he wasn't listening to Eli.

With a sigh, Matthew approached the bed, taking a seat on the chair next to it. All the while, Eli maintained his glare fixed on him in the hopes that his very clear displeasure would make him give up. Sadly, that didn't work.

"I just want you to be safe," Matthew said, almost pleading with Eli to listen.

"Well, now you just sound like my mother." Matthew actually groaned and buried his head in his hands in sheer frustration.

"Why can't you be serious about this?" Matthew asked, voice muffled by his hands.

"I am. That's literally what my mom said yesterday."

"Well, she's right." Matthew finally dropped his hands, giving Eli a closeup of the dark circles that seemed even more pronounced since the last time he'd seen Matthew. Clearly, he'd been keeping busy at night. "I know you think I can protect you, but I can't be with you all the time. Not if I want to figure out who's behind all this."

Eli's glare dropped, if only because he could tell just how hard it was for Matthew to admit that he couldn't protect Eli. There was just enough desperation in Matthew's tone that Eli knew he was genuinely worried. Granted, Eli was in a hospital bed. That probably wasn't helping make Matthew feel any better. With a sigh, Eli leaned back in his bed.

"You know, I don't expect you to be there all the time. Even you can't be that much of a stalker." Matthew's lips gave a weak little twitch, almost like he wanted to laugh but couldn't manage it. "But, I already told you I'm not leaving. I told you when you came back that was my choice, and I'm sticking with it. I'm not leaving you, so just do your part and come back."

That finally got a smile out of Matthew, probably because he could tell how much Eli meant it. As annoying as Matthew was, Eli wasn't about to leave. Not after all they had been through. All he asked for in return was that Matthew come back to him. Preferably in one piece.

"I just don't want you to get hurt," Matthew said, his hand curling around Eli's own, as if needing to make sure he was really there.

"And I just don't want you to make dumb decisions without asking me, so I guess we both have stuff we need to work on."

"Rude," Matthew looked amused, so Eli figured things were alright. Or at least, as alright as things could be, given all the madness around them.

"Hey, you knew that was a main part of my personality when you met me, so that's on you."

"Well, at least you're cute," Matthew said with a sigh. He leaned over and planted a kiss on Eli's brow. "But we can't go back home if you're staying," he added, and Eli didn't like how quickly he was back to looking troubled.

"Well, that sucks." Eli wished he had anything else to say, but honestly he was just tired. He also had no idea about what they could do about that particular problem. Matthew's lips curved into a wry smile.

"It does, but I'll figure something out by the time you get out of here," he promised.

"It'll just be temporary, right?" Eli seriously hoped they wouldn't have to move just because some asshole was after Matthew. He happened to like their apartment.

"We'll see," Matthew said, his mouth twisting into a small frown for a second. It was gone quickly enough, but the smile that replaced it didn't seem as bright as his usual ones. "But don't worry about it."

Eli almost laughed at that, because how could he not? But also because it wasn't like he could do anything to help. It didn't particularly help his mood, especially when he could see just how stressed Matthew was. The whole thing just reminded Eli of how utterly useless he was at times.

"Anyway, I should probably get going. I need to take your mom to the bus station." He got up, looking very reluctant to leave. Eli wasn't sure if it was because he didn't want to leave Eli or because he didn't want to deal with Eli's mom. Probably both.

"Has she been that bad?" he asked, genuinely curious. As far as he knew, his mom still liked Matthew. She just wasn't too fond of his nightly outings. Eli could relate.

"She told me if anything happened to you again she'd bury me in her backyard and hide the grave with the ugliest flowers she could find."

Eli wasn't going to lie, he felt a little proud of his mom for that one. Enough so that he snickered at the thought of her threatening Matthew.

"Glad to know your mother threatening me with death is funny."

"I mean, it's not like she can manage it. Probably." He wouldn't put anything past his mother. She'd probably poison Matthew with a potato or something. Matthew just rolled his eyes, but he was fighting off a smile as he left, promising to return soon.

With nothing else to do, Eli turned his attention to the tv. Sure, he'd watched more daytime shows in the past few days than anyone really should but it wasn't like he had many other options. He settled on a gameshow, because watching people run around a prize filled cage while wearing stupid costumes and trying to complete insane tasks was always a solid entertainment choice.

Eventually, he must have dozed off, because when he woke up the game show was long over. He was only marginally upset to not know whether the contestants won the car. For a while, Eli flipped through the channels before giving up and turning off the television. Instead, he checked his phone for any messages, not surprised to find some from his friends.

Opening one from Vanessa made him roll his eyes at the picture she'd sent. His friends had gotten Eli a get well cake. And then had proceeded to eat it. They were officially the worst, but Eli wasn't really surprised.

Hope you all choke on the cake, he texted back. Vanessa just sent another picture, this one of a little red haired troll with a cast that was supposed to be the cake topper. Eli glared at his phone. It helped drown out the amusement he refused to show when his friends were being dicks.

He would have responded too, but was interrupted by the door opening. For a second, he thought it might be Matthew. After all, he had been gone for a while. But then, a very not Matthew like person walked in and Eli just took a moment to shove away the disappointment he liked to think he'd imagined.

"Uh, I think you have the wrong room," he said, certain he'd never seen the woman standing by the door. Even with all the hits his head had taken, he didn't think he'd forget meeting her.

She was tall, maybe as tall as Matthew—something he took a moment to lament because apparently everyone just had to be huge—that alone was enough for her to make an impression on Eli. But then, there was also the way she was looking at him, hazel eyes sharp and calculating.

"No, I don't think I do," she said, voice smooth and tinged with amusement. She walked in further, the door shutting behind her. Eli very much wished the door had stayed open. "You know, you're not what I expected."

Eli didn't particularly like the way she said that, almost like she wanted to laugh. At the very least, his annoyance drove away any wariness he might have felt. Enough so for him to sit up in bed with a frown.

"Listen lady, I don't know you and I don't know what you're talking about—"

"No, but I'm sure you know my father," she cut Eli off. "Or at least, you might have heard of him. My name's Adria Fisk."

For a second, Eli thought he'd misheard her. Then he paused, trying to process what he'd just heard. All the while, the tall, dark haired woman just stared at him with mirth filling her eyes. At least she looked like she was having fun.

"Yeah, doesn't ring a bell," he settled for saying. "Nice meeting you, door's that way." He pointed, hoping she'd buy it. Sadly, she didn't. At least Eli had tried.

"Funny, but I'm not usually wrong, so let's try this again. Where is your friend? You know, the one with the unusual pastime," she said, arms crossed over her chest and an expectant look on her face like she just knew Eli was going to tell her—a total stranger—what she wanted.

Heh, fuck that, Eli thought.

"You're gonna have to be more specific. What kinda hobby are you talking about? Stamp collecting, soap carving, competitive stone skipping?" Now she looked a lot less amused, probably because she could tell Eli was just messing with her. Which, honestly, was her own fault for trying to intimidate Eli when he was freshly out of fucks to give.

She glared for only a second, just barely enough time for Eli to even notice. And then, her lips curled into a smile that he just knew meant he wouldn't like what she said next.

"I was thinking more like the masked vigilantism type of thing. I'm sure you're familiar with someone like that."

Eli snorted, not because it was really funny, but because if he didn't fake amusement some of the panic he was feeling might actually show. Still, he'd mastered covering up his feelings with sarcasm long before.

"Oh, sure! Let me just call my friend Batman to tell him you're looking for him." Maybe he shouldn't have put so much blatant sarcasm into his tone, but he really couldn't help it. He picked his phone up from his lap and made a show of pretending to make a call while fervently hoping Matthew wouldn't show up now that someone so menacing was looking for him.

Apparently, that was enough for his unexpected visitor to finally snap, because she was next to him in a second. Eli's phone was snatched from his hand and tossed back to land with a clatter by the door.

"Hey, what the fuck!" A perfectly manicured hand grasped the front of his shirt and pulled him close enough to almost feel the fury radiating from the woman's glare.

"Listen here, you little shit—"

It was at that moment—just before Eli might have had his hospital stay extended—that the door opened. Eli was both very glad, and very panicked to see Matthew walk in only to stop at the sight before him.

The look in his eyes told Eli that Matthew was about a second away from throwing someone out a window.

"Let him go." Yeah, someone was definitely getting thrown out a window if Matthew sounded that mad.

Slowly, the grip on Eli's shirt slackened, but he noticed the small smile forming on the woman's face as she released him. She stood straight, eyes fixated on Matthew with a scrutinizing look. As she surveyed Matthew, her lips seemed to stretch into a razor-sharp smile. Eli doubted that was a good thing.

"Well, nice to meet you too," she said, not sounding particularly concerned. Which was impressive because Matthew had drawn himself up to his full height instead and was slowly advancing after shutting the door. His eyes never strayed from the woman as he walked to Eli's side. Wisely, she moved away from the bed.

"Who are you and what do you want?"

"I do appreciate it when people get straight to the point," she said. "My name's Adria Fisk. I'm sure you've run into my father a few times."

Immediately, Matthew tensed. It was for just a second, but if Eli noticed it, he was sure Fisk's daughter did as well.

"What do you want?" Matthew asked again. The woman smiled, her eyes bright with glee.

"I want to help you, Mr. Vigilante."

# # #

See? Wasn't that fun? I thought it was fun, but salty, bitter, snarky Eli is always fun.

Also, surprise! A new character appears. I like Adria, by the way, she's fun. Which I dunno what you guys think I mean by that. Either it means I'm evil and she's a horrible person, or I'm evil and I've traumatized you all enough to think fun means something horrible. Which, I mean, fair enough, lol.

Anyway, as always, thank you all for reading! I'm very happy to see so many people sticking with this story even though it took me forever and a half to post. So yeah, hope you all liked this chapter. You can all expect more salty Eli next time. Chapter 13 will be up on Friday, November 6th, so keep an eye out for that!

As always, stay safe everyone!