Baby Girl's Got A Face Like ***

Eli avoided Oli for weeks after that party. She hated to admit it, but he hurt her. She went about her business as usual, going to parties and hooking up with random guys, but she never wanted them the way she wanted Oliver.

And Oli noticed, too. He saw the way she would look at him with her perfectly arched eyebrows crunching together and her lips pursed. He knew that she was avoiding him and could only assume that it was because of that one night at the party.

Truth was, he didn't know how he felt about Eli. Sure, she was beautiful and she had an incredible body, but so did all the other girls he met night after night.

Still he saw something different with Eli. She was a force of nature, that girl. And part of Oliver wanted her so badly he didn't know what to do, but the other more reasonable part said that he would get over her or vice versa and they would both end up hurt.

The others noticed too. They watched from the sidelines as Eli steered clear of Oliver, only talking to him when necessary, and even then her sentences were clipped.

Eli felt like she'd been badly bruised; she was so used to getting what she wanted, and there was nothing that she wanted more than Oliver Sykes. To have him reject her so completely was painful.

And so she did what anyone would do. She pushed him away even more, telling herself that she didn't care about him and that she would be fine without him. She hated to think that he was the key to her happiness, but the evidence was hard to deny.

Whenever Eli would catch Oli staring, her heart would break into a sprint, and her mind would shoot back to that night he had his hands all over her, before she would get to the part where he shot her down, and glare at him until one of them looked away.

It continued like this through two weeks of shows until the first of six days that they had off.

Eli was in her hotel room, which she would be sharing with Jaden, Jess and Rocko. There was a knock on the door that connected their room with the one that Matt, Mattie, Curtis, Lee and Oliver would all be crammed into. Sighing, she stood from where she sat on the bed, and walked to the door, expecting Curtis or Lee.

She opened the door and instantly her heart dropped; there was Oliver standing there in just a pair of black basketball shorts, looking at her expectantly.

She waited for him to speak, and finally when he did, she released a breath that she didn't even realize she was holding.

"We need to talk," he said, and she thought for a moment, before starting to shut the door in his face.

His hand shot up and pushed the door open, allowing him to walk into her room. She wished that her roommates hadn't decided to go down to the pool. It make her nervous to be in a room alone with Oli, and she avoided it whenever she could.

"Don't know what you think was supposed to happen that night, but you've got to move on," he said, sitting down where Eli had been just moments before.

She said nothing. He stared at her, waiting, but she remained silent until finally he sighed.

"You would have been angry, Eli. I know you better than you think, and you would have been even more pissed if we would have..." he let the sentence trail off as he took in Eli's furious expression.

"Contrary to what you might think, you don't know everything Sykes. You think that I'm unable to make decisions for myself, but you're completely wrong," she snapped, and he stared at her for a moment.

"You're sayin' that you fancy me or somethin'?" he asked carefully, receiving a bitter laugh in response.

"What I'm sayin' is that if I've ever felt anything for you that wasn't disgust, it's old history. Besides, it's clear that you didn't have the same feelin's then, and nothing has changed in the last two weeks," she clarified, and watched as Oli's face fell.

"I din't know, Eli. I'm sorry," he said quietly, and Eli's expression softened very slightly.

"Maybe it's better that there's nothing between us. If anything ever went bad, it wouldn't have only effected us. I should be thinkin' more 'bout the band than my stupid feelin's," she sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose.

Oli didn't say anything for a long time, and it worried Eli. She didn't want him thinking too much about what she'd said, in case he was in a joking mood. He would have made fun of her, and then she would have had to hit him. But the look on his face was far from joking.

"I'm off to grab some breakfast," Eli broke the long silence, slipping her feet into some black flats and picking up her Hello Kitty backpack.

"Mind if I come?" she heard Oli speak finally.

"Guess not. You'll come anyway, even if I don't want you to," she said with a very faint hint of laughter in her voice.

"Damn right I will," he said and disappeared into the other room for a few moments.

When he came back, he was wearing a pair of tight black jeans, a white Stay Positive v-neck that showed off his impressive tattoos, and his favorite pair of black Vans. His keys and card pass hung from a clip around his side belt loop; he rarely ever left without them, even if they weren't playing a show.

"Where to, pet?" he asked, and Eli cringed at the endearing way he addressed her, but spoke anyway.

"Don't know. Figured I'd walk until I found some place with a good vegan menu," she shrugged, snagging a pack of Virginia Slims from the counter, along with a lighter and the spare key to her hotel room.

Oli didn't say anything as they left the room and proceeded down the stairs. They walked past the pool area where everyone was wreaking havoc on the nice guests. Jaden spotted Oli and Eli walking, and pointed them out to everyone. A loud cheer started, and Oli acknowledged them, but Eli kept on her way.

Half an hour of small conversation and wandering aimlessly, they found a small diner and decided to stop in. It was quaint, with little white tables and flowers in vases in the center of each, and a few booths along the side. There was a soda bar and a short old woman drying dishes behind the counter.

"Hallo, habe ich mit dir Recht," the woman spoke in German, and when Eli and Oli glanced at each other, she smiled and repeated herself in English.

"I'll be right with you," she grinned, and Oli smiled, leading Eli to a booth.

The woman's English was bad, but it was understandable. She had tight curls of white hair on her head, and clear blue eyes. Her smile was warm; it was very apparent in her expression that she loved this cafe' more than anything.

She came over and set two menus in front of Eli and Oli, before smiling again and leaving them to decide.

The menu had two different languages; German and English. Again, the English was poor, but the message was conveyed.

After ordering their food, Eli and Oli ate and spoke in low voices. Now that Oli had an idea how Eli felt, he found himself watching her more closely than before, studying her reactions to things he said and how she responded. It was sorely obvious to him now, and he felt stupid for not noticing before.

He would say something, and she would cover her mouth and laugh, looking down at her plate for a moment, before bringing her eyes back to his.

Oliver could see himself growing more affectionate toward Eli; he thought that they might give a relationship a try once the tour was over, if she still felt the way she did.

"Y'know, Eli, I really do know more about you than you think," he said, and she raised her eyebrows.

"Really? Enlighten me then," she waved her hand for him to continue, and he cleared his throat before speaking.

"Well, you cover your mouth when you laugh because you don't like your teeth. The only person that you love more than yourself besides Jaden is James Dean. You don't go anywhere without the ugly doll that I gave you for your birthday in eleventh grade. You hate it when people call you on your mistakes. You used to fancy Tom," he grinned, proud of himself.

"You're wrong about one thing. There are a lot of people that I love more than myself. You and everyone in your band are a few examples," she smiled, and it was a real smile that Oli could fall in love with.

"But James Dean is near the top of the list, is he not?"

"He is indeed," she nodded, and took a sip of her water.

"Also, you hate to admit it, but you're a very caring, sincere person," he added, and her smile faded completely while she set down her cup and looked at him.

"Don't forget the way I'm horribly mean to almost everyone I meet, and I'm incapable of having a decent relationship," she smiled a little sarcastic smile, and Oli laughed.

"You just haven't met your match yet," Oli assured her, and he would have been naive to say that he didn't see the look in her eyes when he said this. She stared at him for a moment too long, and that told Oli that she was thinking maybe he was the only one who could put up with her.

And it was quite possible, too. They were both arrogant, they both knew each other better than most, and they both thought that they'd finally met their match when looking at each other.

"You know, Oli, you're not as stupid as you look," Eli smirked, and Oli pouted at her.

They continued to laugh and joke and talk until they reached the hotel again, where they both decided they would sit in the hot tub and continue their conversation.

Eli went to her room and changed, and Oli went to his. She put on a metallic gold string bikini (it was hers and Oli's favorite) and he wore a pair of black, nondescript swim trunks. They met outside the room, and she had to hold back a smile as Oli's eyes traveled slowly over her body.

"I know more about you than you think too, Oli," Eli stated once they were settled in the bubbling water of the hot tub.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. For one thing, you're more afraid of fallin' in love than anythin' else. And you love black lace. You also have an incredible knack for choosin' the most slutty girls at a party to get with. Which upset me a little, seein' as you came after me twice," she frowned, and he laughed.

"Maybe I wanted a change, hm?" he raised his eyebrows, and Eli sighed.

She felt like, after spending the day with Oliver, that there was no way he would touch her again. He regarded her warily, and she noticed, mistaking the reason. She thought it was because he regretted what they did do, not that he was worried about her.

And he was worried. He worried that by pushing her away that night, he bruised her and she would no longer trust him. And now that he really thought about, maybe he did finally meet his match. Their similarities were hard to ignore.

They grew silent, Oli thinking about Eli, and Eli thinking about Oli. They wanted each other on some level that neither would admit.

These two were the most stubborn of people, and it was apparent that neither Elizabeth nor Oliver was going to budge.

It would take more than their curiosity to bring them together.

Because when it came down to it, tragedy was the only way they would abandon themselves and seek out each other.