SUNDAY - WEDNESDAY - THURSDAY

 
 Sunday morning. Eli woke up with an excruciating headache, and the realization that he was not alone in his head. It began to feel more familiar, each time it happened, because at least he knew what he was dealing with. The more it happened, the more he could deal with it and move on, being able to concentrate more on other issues at hand besides the crippling pain in his head. Sunday morning came around and found Eli meeting up with his cousin, Pete, in a park in Boston. There was no particular reason for doing so, other than to gather their thoughts and commiserate about the things that had happened previously. Just like old times, Eli and his cousin climbed the nearest tree--it wasn't his tree, but it was close enough--and once they got to a reasonable height, the two of them found a branch that could withstand the weight of two grown adult men.

Though they could have been talking about official business, as they'd originally discussed, Pete had leaned a bit to his side and let out an audible fart. "God, dude, gross," Eli said with a laugh, leaning away from the laughing Pete. A moment passed, and it wasn't long before Eli leaned away yet again, only to retaliate. The two of them cackled like children, waving their own gas at each other. Pete was nearly in tears when he exclaimed, "I am Poot!" in a very gravelly Eli-sounding voice. And Eli, stomach hurting as he laughed, had to hold on to the tree to keep himself from falling. "Says Fart-Lord," Eli replied, barely able to make it through the short sentence without bursting into hysterical giggles, his eyes watering up.

Eli knew that, if anyone else saw or heard them, they'd get an eyeroll of death. He could only imagine the things that Eli's mother would say--his father, of course, would chuckle and shake his head--and he couldn't decide if Hailey would have scolded them or joined in. He liked to think it would have been the latter. Eventually the two of them settled down and talked, going over as much as they could possibly remember. Unfortunately, Eli's notes from the previous month had disappeared, and while he could remember a lot of what happened, his notes had been organized. They'd been written in such a way that he would possibly have a plan of action by the time it happened the next time. After talking with Peter, Eli decided he would be taking notes yet again, trying to find another way in which he would keep them. He hoped they'd stay where they were this time...he hoped he might even have them for when he was no longer Groot.

Wednesday afternoon. The plan for storing notes was being set into motion. By that point, Eli had written plenty of information down again, although it wasn't as organized as it was the first time. An act of desperation had found him at the bank, using a safe-deposit box that he'd long forgotten he even had. It was mostly used to store the things that had been passed down to him from his grandfather, as well as an extra set of keys to the cabin. That day, those items would be joined by a notebook of hastily scribbled notes. He'd be back to add to them, but he felt comfortable with the amount of information he'd already put into it. One trip to the bank taken care of, Eli found himself waiting at the curb for a cab. It was then that he looked up and saw a familiar face.

Beth--Betsy, he supposed--was covering part of her face, tears streaming down her cheeks. Eli stood and watched carefully, wondering if she was in danger. She didn't seem to be running necessarily...but hastily walking out of the building across the street. He checked for a break in traffic, then ran across the busy street to a crowded sidewalk, her short dark hair about 100 feet away. He called her name out into the crowd, trying to make his way through the people between them. It seemed she might have even heard him, her head turning a little to the side, but she didn't stop...in fact, she seemed to move a little faster. He tried again to get her attention, but in a blink she was out of sight. He shuffled between people, trying to spot her again, and saw a woman wearing the same jacket she'd been wearing. Actually, nearly the same outfit...but the woman turned, almost as if she was making sure no one was behind her, and Eli saw that it wasn't Beth. He stopped, people moving around him, and he sighed. He'd have to find her soon.

He pulled his phone out of his pocket, calling his cousin. "Have you talked to your wife today?" "Not this afternoon, why?" "Because, I'm at--" Eli hestitated, not catching the building he saw her coming out of, his eyes looking upward. Wainwright Industries. He frowned deeply; he didn't know for sure what it all meant, but he had a deep feeling in his gut that maybe he should wait to tell him until he got to talk to Beth first. "I'm uh, I'm at the bank and just put my notes there, didn't know if, uh, she had a plan in place." "...I don't know, man. Ask her yourself. I gotta go, Waffle is trying to chase a doberman." His cousin hung up, and Eli let out a long sigh. He would have to ask her himself.

Thursday night. After confronting Beth about where she'd been on Wednesday and getting no good reaction from her, Eli had no choice but to talk to Pete about it. The fact had bothered Eli because she looked upset, but the location from which she'd appeared had concerned his cousin even more. Eli knew that he'd likely set a fire in the Bradford-Lord household, but what choice did he have? She clearly hadn't talked to Pete about it, and though Eli didn't give any details, asking her if things were alright and if anything was wrong was doing no good. Once he'd broken the news to his cousin, he turned to Hailey, his ex-wife.

That term bothered him...ex-wife. It made it seem as though they were estranged, disconnected, even mutually hated. That couldn't have been further from the truth--after reconnecting, they'd spent several nights together. He found himself flirting with her, and she reciprocated. All the smiles he used to get from her as a teenager were still happening in their 30's, which always pleased him. She deserved to be happy, after everything that had happened between them previously...the way things had just ended abruptly, he was surprised she was even willing to talk to him at all. It's always been you, she'd said before, but he still found it hard to wrap his head around. He didn't second-guess it, however, as he found himself asking advice from her about his cousin. The conversation soon turned toward themselves, and he found himself flirting with her as he usually did. But, being Groot and Heather along with Eli and Hailey, it provided better vocabulary. More straight-forward conversations. Not to say they weren't honest with each other before, but he found it extremely easy to suggest they try a second time at romance. She didn't hesitate for a second to agree, and soon he was on his way to her place yet again.

The way they reconnected felt as if they'd never been disconnected, and as they spent a good part of their time laughing--he thought his rendition of a Boyz II Men song was quite serious, in fact--it felt just like old times. She still laughed the same way, her nose scrunching when she was about to snort, and he still liked it when she swept her hair up away from her neck. He really just liked the way her neck looked...long, smooth, soft. It felt that way on his hands, his lips. Time had done the both of them a favor, giving them time to grow up and be adults apart, so they could return to each other better than ever.