► Ryan is Eli’s hero. Faults and all, there’s no-one in the world that Eli looks up to more than him.
► As much as Eli loves having Becca stay over, or the nights that Sophie’s with them, some of Eli’s favourite nights are the ones where it’s just the two of them, hanging out at home with takeout, and crappy TV.
► Neither of them will ever admit to it, but they don’t just play the Wii when Sophie’s over. Mario Kart is often the source of “entertainment” for them on nights in, with both of them determined to establish themselves as the better play - and to prove as much to Sophie the next time that she’s with them.
► Eli wants to see Ryan happy. He knows he deserves it, he just wishes Ryan would see that too, and let himself be.
► Ryan is the first person that Eli comes to about anything - worries, problems, good news, questions, everything.
► Eli respects him, but Eli isn’t afraid to call Ryan out on his bullshit. He never means it maliciously, he just thinks that sometimes “Gramps needs a kick up the arse”.
► Eli has never seen a father with more love for his daughter than Ryan has for Sophie. And Eli knows, that if he were ever to become a father himself, that Ryan is who he’d aspire to be like. He knows that if he was even half the dad that Ryan is, that he’d be doing a “damn good job”. He’s told Ryan as much.
► With Christie’s help, Eli has taken to moving whatever bottles of alcohol he comes across, hiding them up the back of cupboards that Eli doesn’t think Ryan will ever look in. He figures that if he can’t find them, he can’t drink them.
► Eli has told Ryan his life story, start to finish. The good, the bad, and the ugly. The bits that hurt him, the parts he’s ashamed of, and the stuff he’d never told anyone.
► Although Eli calls Ryan’s place “home”, he knows it isn’t the physical place that is. Ryan is his family, his father figure, and his family is his home.
► Eli will only call Ryan by his first name around those who aren’t “the girls”, or Becca. “Gramps” started as one of Eli’s teasing, occasional nicknames, and although he continues to pass it off as such, it has become Eli’s only name at home for Ryan. It’s as close to “Dad” as he dares to get.
► Eli pretends to hate Becca’s bad jokes, but every time that he receives one in a text, he’s never later than half an hour in sending one right back to her.
► Eli will come up with every and any excuse to get Becca to sing for him. Sometimes, if he’s struggling with a set of lyrics, he’ll bug Becca until she agrees to sing it through for him. It does help, but it also provides him an excuse to listen to her, and as far as Eli’s concerned, that’s a win-win.
► Eli is slowly but surely learning a number of new phrases to use in conversation with Becca’s mum. He wants to make a good impression, because the last thing he wants is for things to be awkward and difficult for Becca. It’s important to him that she’s happy, and so he tries every time that he sees Esme to sneak himself into her good books.
► He never takes Becca on a date to the same place twice. Unless the food is really good, then he’ll mention that he probably needs to try the entire menu.
► Eli is a blanket hog, but Eli is also a snuggler. And so, although Eli has a tendency to wrap himself into a warm, blanket burrito throughout the night, he’ll do so with Becca in his arms (when they’re sharing a bed), and his nose buried in her hair.
► Every Friday night, Eli will invite Becca over for dinner. He makes the meal from scratch each time, with varying levels of success (sometimes they’re good but nothing special, and other times, his surprisingly good cooking skills help him to “nail them” - as Eli would say).
► Eli won’t let Becca pay for anything on their dates. For no reason other than that, for a long time, Eli couldn’t afford to do anything nice for anyone. And now that he can, he wants to treat her. He enjoys being able to do that for her, and it means more to him than he can explain that he can. He knows that money can’t buy happiness, or affection, but she means a lot to him, she’s more than worth it to him, and he wants her to know that.
► Eli worries that he isn’t doing enough as her boyfriend, but every time that he sees a smile on her face, he knows that she’s happy. And so he strives every day to make sure that that smile’s there, because that’s the most important thing to him. He knows that if he’s doing that much, then he’s taking a crucial step in the right direction.