"You look like crap." Eli glared at Collin, but it lacked the usual force he put behind it. Instead, it only served to prove Collin's point—Eli wasn't feeling like himself.

"I'd say the same, but why state the obvious," the redhead shot back at his friend. At least his snark was still there. Collin only rolled his eyes, but he seemed a bit relieved to hear his friend insult him. It was like a sign of Eli being fine.

"Seriously though, what happened? Did you get fired or something?" Collin asked as they made their way to his dorm room.

"No, everything's fine," Eli said. "I just didn't get much sleep last night. A stupid cat kept making noise right outside my window," the redhead lied. Of course, he was perfectly aware of why he really looked so bad, but he'd be damned if he ever admitted it. It was bad enough that denial wasn't working anymore.

It was a good thing Collin let the topic go after that. Eli didn't much feel like talking about his problems. Not that he could even if he wanted to. He could just imagine how that would go. Eli didn't think saying he was upset that his stalker—who happened to be the guy dressing up like a Batman-knockoff and beating up bad guys—hadn't been stalking him would go over too well.

At the very least, spending his evening with his friends helped him keep his mind off of his strange problems. By the time he left, he was feeling better, even though he was tired and wanted nothing more than to sleep.

In fact, he was so tired that it took him a while to realize someone was following him. He was just about to reach the bus stop when he took notice of the odd feeling that made a chill run down his spine. It was an uncomfortable sensation, something that Eli hadn't felt before—not even when Matthew was being what Eli referred to as 'creepy'. For a moment, he thought he saw a shadow shifting as his gaze swept over the empty street, but he told himself it was nothing. Or at least, that it wasn't anyone he wasn't used to following him.

Who else could it be? Eli thought. He turned as he stood at the bus stop and gazed around once more. The streets were calm, with just a couple of people walking by, most of them students. Eli could hear some guys laughing further up the street as they walked, probably heading home, and the streetlights chased away the dark, making the place seem less threatening. He was still glad when the bus arrived.

The next day marked the reappearance of Matthew. At least in the coffee shop.

He walked into the place at the usual time and ordered one of his preferred drinks before taking a seat at the same table he normally occupied. Eli did his best not to glare, at least not when he thought Michael was looking. It was still irritating to see Matthew act so damn casual when he was still creeping around Eli after saying he wouldn’t. Granted, Eli should have known better than to expect Matthew to actually stop.

As soon as Michael was busy enough not to notice, Eli wandered over to Matthew's table under the pretext of refilling his cup with coffee.

"You are the definition of creepy," he said with a glare. Matthew lowered his coffee and looked up at Eli with a curious expression. He was probably surprised to have the redhead willingly talk to him.

"Really? When did they change it?" he asked calmly, an eyebrow quirked upwards. Eli rolled his eyes at the man's comeback. It seemed like he'd found his match as far as snark was concerned.

"Just stop being a creep," he snapped. "Seriously, you're the only weirdo who'd break in through a window while I was sleeping. And the following me to the bus stop thing was beyond creepy. I thought you'd stoppe—"

"Someone followed you?" Matthew said, cutting Eli off. He looked a lot more interested in what the redhead had to say now—almost alarmed. Frankly, it made Eli uneasy.

"Yeah, you, so stop it" he said, taking a step back, intending to get back to work.

"Eli, hold on—"

"I have work to do," Eli cut him off. He walked away before Matthew could protest further.

He could feel Matthew staring at him, but didn't stop or turn around. After a moment, Matthew turned back to his coffee, as if nothing happened. There was a thoughtful expression on his face that went unnoticed by Eli. For a while longer, Matthew sat there, playing the part of a normal customer until he finished his third cup of coffee and finally looked like he was about to leave.

Eli paid him no mind, going on with his work of clearing a table that had just been unoccupied. He nearly jumped when he felt a hand land on his shoulder. Seeing that it was just Matthew, Eli frowned.

"Can we talk?" Matthew asked.

"I'm working," Eli responded, looking away from Matthew and stepping back to put some distance between them. He still didn’t walk away. Mostly because something told him that Matthew was serious. That whatever he wanted to talk about was important. Maybe it was the way his shoulders were set and his eyes were so sharp, alert.

In that moment, Eli couldn't help but be reminded of who Matthew became during the night. Even then he didn't seem as intimidating, not when he was with Eli. The redhead swallowed thickly, but didn't look away from those blue-grey eyes that stared right back at him, all signs of the normally tired man who sipped his coffee with a smile gone. Eli didn’t like the change.

Matthew must have noticed something was wrong. He sighed and looked away for a moment before turning his gaze back onto Eli. He looked back at Eli with a gaze that had softened enough for Eli to not see Vigilante when he looked at him.

"I'll stop by your place later, is that okay?" Eli hid his surprise at hearing Matthew actually ask. That was probably why he agreed, nodding numbly before he could really think about it. Matthew left moments later, and Eli went back to work.

It was difficult to focus on working when he was expecting Matthew to visit him later. Eli did his best though, and tried not to think too much about what the man could want. He didn't think that it would be good. Not when it made Matthew—who was always so laid back, with a smile on his lips—look so tense.

Maybe I shouldn't have said anything, he thought as he picked up his backpack and headed out of the coffee shop, waving at Michael, not really paying attention to the weird look his boss shot him. It was difficult to really focus on anything but the various thoughts now filling his head. Especially now that it seemed Matthew was back in his life. Eli didn't really know how he felt about that. 

On the one hand, he kind of missed just talking to Matthew. Ever since he’d said he’d keep his distance, his visits to the shop had been strange. The distance between them was all too obvious. Eli couldn’t say he liked it. 

On the other hand, he also couldn’t say he disliked not having to deal with Vigilante. If only he could get rid of the knowledge that the guy was out there every night, getting hurt or maybe even killed. Sometimes, Eli almost wished he’d never met the man. Then he’d think of Matthew, sitting there with his usual, stupid smile and looking at Eli with sparkling blue eyes and he’d regret thinking so.

Eli huffed in annoyance and continued on his way home, doing his best to not get distracted by his thoughts. Getting run over on his way home because of Matthew, of all people, seemed like a pretty shitty way to go.

He'd only been home for an hour or two when there was a knock on his door. Eli didn’t really know who it could be, considering his neighbors never had any reason to visit. Curious, he opened the door, and found himself staring at the person standing out in the hall. The last person Eli expected to see was Matthew, and yet, there he was.

"Did you just knock like a normal person?" was the first thing Eli said, not bothering to hide his shock. Matthew rolled his eyes as Eli let him in.

"I am a normal person," he said. Eli strongly disagreed.

"Right," said the redhead, choosing not to comment on that. "So, what do you want?"

"You said you were being followed," Matthew said, seeming eager to talk about whatever was bothering him.

"Yeah, yesterday night," he said. "Why? Wasn't that you stalking me again?"

"No, it wasn't," Matthew said, frowning. "I told you I'd leave you alone, and I did." Eli scoffed at that. "Where were you when it happened?" Matthew asked before Eli could point out how not alone he'd been just a couple of days earlier when he fell asleep on his couch.

"I was on my way to the bus stop," he said, as he sat on his couch. Matthew remained standing, looking too tense to even try to relax. "I went to my friends' dorm to study. On my way back it felt like someone was watching me or something, and I thought I saw someone... " Eli explained, trailing off thoughtfully. "It was probably nothing. You might have just made me too paranoid with all your weirdo habits," he accused.

"Eli, this is serious," Matthew said. "If someone is actually following you, you could be in danger."

"You always follow me. Well, used to," he corrected himself.

"Because you always get in trouble," Matthew pointed out, eyes narrowing in an accusing manner.

"Well I didn't ask for your help," Eli shot back, crossing his arms. "I didn't ask you to look after me, you know. I can actually take care of myself." He’d managed to not get killed for years without Matthew, after all.

"I know you can," Matthew said, sighing in frustration. "In case you hadn't noticed, I haven't been around you lately," he said.

"Oh really? Then I guess you weren't the one who broke in here two nights ago," Eli said, looking smug as Matthew failed to hide a guilty look.

"No! Well, I mean, I was in the neighborhood," he said, stumbling over his words. Eli snorted at the man's weak excuse. "I wasn't planning to! I just thought I'd stop by. Just for a minute," he added, and Eli didn't fail to notice his ears were red. "If you closed your damn window I wouldn't have to come over to check!" he finished with a huff. 

Eli thought he should get an award for managing to not laugh at Matthew. He watched as Matthew sighed, running a hand through his dark hair before turning back to look at him.

"Okay, look, I know you don't like me being around, but can you just put up with it for a while longer? Just for a little while," Matthew said, and something about the way he sounded—almost desperate—made Eli uneasy. Not that he showed it.

"Are you seriously asking if you can stalk me?" he said with a deadpan look. "And why exactly do you think I need you to?" Eli most certainly did not like how uneasy Matthew looked.

"You might not like this," Matthew said, and Eli might have imagined it but it looked like he took a step back.

"I already don't like this," Eli said.

"Yeah well, you really won't like this," Matthew muttered, though Eli still heard. "You know how I usually go after drug dealers?" he said, a bit louder.

"Kinda hard not to notice," Eli said with a roll of his eyes. Vigilante was in the news so often it was almost impossible to not know what he was up to. That and one of the reasons he was so popular with the general public was because he went after what many considered the source of much of the crime. It was probably why he got hurt so often.

"Well, they're pretty pissed off," Matthew said, with a weak attempt at a grin.

"You have that effect on people," Eli said. "So, what does this have to do with me?"

"It has to do with you because I'm around you so often. Well, Vigilante is around you ofetn," Matthew said, and Eli finally understood.

"Wait, are you saying that they're coming after me now?!" he asked, sitting up and doing his best not to panic at the idea. 

"No! Well, maybe," Matthew amended. To his credit, he was doing his best to look reassuring. Which wasn’t really working when it looked like he was on the verge of panicking. Besides, Eli was past the whole needing reassurance stage. "I'm not sure, but it's possible," Matthew went on.

"It's possible?! What the hell?! I didn't even do anything!"

"You kinda did help me that one time," Matthew started, but shut up at the glare he received. "Eli, calm down. I'm not sure that's what's going on. It could just be nothing."

"Oh yeah, and that's why you're freaking out, because it's nothing," Eli said, tone dripping with sarcasm.

"I'm not freaking out," Matthew said, frowning. "But just be careful for a while okay? I'll look into things, and—"

"Oh no you won't!" Eli said, standing up. "This whole thing is your fault and I am not going to let you mess things up even more! You're staying out of this and away from me."

"Eli, I have to do something," Matthew argued.

"You already did more than enough! You're the one who got me into this mess in the first place!" Eli snapped, cheeks red with anger.

"That's why I have to fix it!" Matthew said, finally giving up on trying to sound calm. He sighed tiredly. "I'm sorry I got you mixed up in this, but I can't leave you now. It’s not safe for you to be alone. Just put up with me for a bit longer, just until I know you'll be safe."

Eli glared at Matthew, wanting to tell him no. But he couldn't, because Matthew was looking at him in a way that was just pleading for Eli to let him help.

Because he's been so helpful so far, he thought bitterly.

He sighed, feeling exhausted. The anger he felt at Matthew already  turning into simmering resentment. Eli could already tell he’d end up with a headache by the time Matthew left.

"Once this is over, will you stay away for good?" Eli asked, even as some part of his mind told him to stop. 

Especially when he looked at the crushed expression on Matthew’s face. But really, what had the man ever done but get him in trouble. Of course, it was easier to tell himself Matthew deserved it when he didn’t have to look at the man trying to keep himself together. Somehow, Matthew managed it, and he even sounded sure of himself when he spoke.

"If that's what you want, then I will." 

"Good," Eli said, though he didn't feel any happier. He stood and walked to the door, holding it open for Matthew.

Slowly, Matthew made his way over to the door. He stopped before Eli, hesitating as he looked at him.

"The phone I gave you, do you still have it?" he asked. Reluctantly, Eli nodded.

"Yeah, why?" asked the redhead.

"Keep it with you," Matthew said, voice soft. He took a moment to look at Eli, to stare into his brown eyes, his gaze trailing over Eli’s face. It was enough for the redhead’s cheeks to grow warm. Especially when he realized how close Matthew was standing. "I really am sorry," Matthew said, and he very much sounded like that was the truth. Like there were so many things he wanted to say to Eli, and all he could manage was an apology. 

Maybe it was because Eli hadn’t wanted things to go this way. He hadn’t wanted for things to have to push Matthew away. Maybe it was because a part of him had always known it was the only way things could end. Either way, he found himself growing angry once again.

"Yeah, you said that already," Eli answered, his displeasure clear in his tone. Matthew nodded and walked out, the door closing behind him.