He listens to the angriest music he can find.

He is angry, broken, and bitter. He wants to scream until his throat is raw and wants to cry until his eyes can produce no more tears.

Instead he sits silently, seething. On some level, he wants to feel this anger, wants to feel this pain.

Because as long as Eli is feeling angry, he knows he's alive. Because if he doesn't feel anything, he'll go numb and it'll be the end.

So when he suddenly stops feeling angry, he goes manic. He's extremely happy, goes wild, gets drunk. And the next day the anger fills him again. It's a never ending cycle.

Until she comes into his life. Until everything he knows is turned upside down and slips from his grasp. When she speaks, his smiles are real, and he feels warmth in his very soul.

She somehow helps him, not fixes him. You can never really fix a person. But Clare comes awful damn close.

Eli feels as if he's finally in control. The anger still pulses through his veins, but when it does, he kisses her. And with every kiss the anger fades.

But Clare isn't perfect, like everyone believes. Clare is real, someone with flaws like everyone else.

And Eli loves her.

So now he listens to the cheesy romance music.

He is in love, happy, and finally whole. He wants to scream from the rooftops, and cry with joy as she kisses him in surprise.

He wraps his arms around her, and he's home.