InsaneJournal

"I know it itches." He looked at her and tried to be sympathetic, but it probably came off more like something a father would say than anything else. "But you have to resist the urge, alright?" He smiled at her again (Merlin, he was doing that too much around her) and sighed. "Yes. I should probably get some sleep. But I won't." He began to rub the tense muscles in his neck with his hand, "Maybe if I stay up with you tonight, I'll be able to sleep tomorrow."

Honestly, Eloise made him smile more in one night than Kyra did in a month. He didn't understand why he was so bitter or so angry. Perhaps it was because she made him look foolish. Especially when he came home one night to her sitting on the couch staring blankly at him. She told him she cheated on him and then walked out, saying the divorce was next. If he were thinking clearly, he would've been happy that she told him instead of him finding out, but he couldn't help but feel like he'd never be enough for her. People were always expecting so much of him and somehow he always let them down. He was never that interesting, or very fun and it seemed like everyone around him abandoned him sooner or later.

He was taken from his train of thought when Eloise spoke to him. She sounded so sure of herself, and really it was hard not to believe anything that Eloise said. She was just so positive, fun, silly, and interesting. He had never met someone so full of life and while usually he found peppy people to be exhausting, she just made him want to be better. She made him want to be happier. He smiled weakly at her again. "Thanks Lou." AJ didn't know what else to say, but somehow he knew Eloise would understand that he was thanking her for a whole lot more than that comment. She helped him, she was a great friend, and if he thought he was good enough for her, even for a second, he would've made her his years ago.