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Holy shit!

[Her eyes get wide as she takes the pictures. There they are making stupid faces at each other. It's amazing!]

Wait...seriously? I can have this?

[She stares at her before looking back at their dumb faces. Fuck this is the best.]

Yeah, keep it.

[Ellie nudges her side gently, beaming until her cheeks hurt. She's never seen Riley look so awestruck over something before, and it's kind of precious, in a weird way she's not used to seeing.]

Sweet!

[Flopping on her back again, she holds the pictures over her to admire there really fucking stupid faces. This is when things were still awesome. Right before things went to shit.

It's the best.]

We should take loads more photos here together.

I'll bet I could find us a camera.

[Ellie flops down too, army-crawling up next to her on her stomach, watching Riley's face rather than the pictures, and for a second she feels that tug again, deep in her chest.

It's not so much that Riley is pretty. She's gorgeous. But it's the way her eyes light up when she smiles like this, the way she gets excited about things, the way she laughs until she hurts. Even that glint that means mischief, no matter how much Ellie might make token protest to whatever stupidity she's thought up.

The past few days have all been a constant string of moments reminding Ellie why she cared so much about Riley in the first place, and why it hurt so much to lose her.

It's lucky that Riley's focused on the picture, because Ellie's got a hell of an expression on her face right now.]

That's what I'm talking about! And not just dumb pictures too. They have to be ones like that one you have on the wall.

[This one is going right by her bed in her room. True, she's been sneaking in here to sleep but that doesn't mean she can't spice up her room all nice. Well, nice-ish. She doesn't care enough about things to really do too much with it.

Turning her head to say something, she spots the look on Ellie's face. Shit, it's a pretty look too. It's the kind of thing that makes her feel all bashful when she's anything but. Ellie's always been able to do that to her though, fluster her when she thought she couldn't be.

She smiles a little at her and nudges her with her shoulder.]

Hey. What's that look for?

[Ellie looks a touch flustered when she's caught, but in the way she had in the mall, when Riley tried to take her hands to pull her closer. The look falters and she bites her lip, but the smile's still there.

I wanna kiss you right now.

She wants to say it, but can't make her voice work. Cool is beyond her.

Instead, before she realizes she's doing it, she leans down. The last kiss was such a desperate, hurried, spur-of-the-moment, can't-hold-it-back bit of contact that she hadn't even planned on. They'd both been surprised.

This time, the contact between their lips is warm and soft, and Ellie doesn't pull away.

It's time they got this right.]

[She knows that look. That's the look Ellie gave her right before she kissed her in the mall. Like the pictures, it's a reminder of how good they had it.

In that moment she wants Ellie to kiss her again. So damn badly. At the same time though, she's scolding herself. Where the fuck are her metaphorical balls to be the one to kiss Ellie instead of the other way around? The girl deserves it, especially after...everything.

Riley can feel her heard beating faster and in that moment she feels their lips touch. Setting the picture to the side, she decides to go with this. Actions are easier than words for her so she kisses back, lifting her head a bit to meet Ellie's.

So she's not really got that much experience with the whole kissing thing, you really can't just go around kissing people where they're from, but this has got to be the best kiss ever.]

[It's soft. And warmer than Ellie would have expected. No little clack of teeth this time-

And this time, Riley very clearly reciprocates. It surprises Ellie, a warm thrill down her spine, and her fingers clutch the sheets of the bed. Before, there hadn't been time for that.

Fuck. Fuckfuckfuck, she's completely out of her depth here, but the last thing she wants to do is pull away. She tries to shift up, overbalances and nearly falls on her, forcing her break contact to keep herself from knocking the wind out of her best friend.

Or whatever she was. Ellie pulls back, grinning like a maniac, hair falling down around her face.]

... that. That was way better.

[Well, as awkward as this is, she can't really say she minds. Yeah, she doesn't doesn't mind at all. That was a kiss and Ellie just...

Ellie's just her Ellie.

She laughs a bit and flops her head back onto the pillow again. That hair is all in that pretty face though which sucks. Before she even realizes what she's doing, she's pushing Ellie's hair back from her face to tuck it behind her ear.

Wow. Just wow.]

Yeah. That was pretty great.

[Ellie starts to laugh too, and all that lovely tension melts into something warm and comfortable and familiar, as their friendship shifts to accept this, too, as something that they do.

Riley's fingers are warm, rough from her gun, and Ellie has to catch her breath at that simple touch. Riley has always touched her casually, little bumps, linked arms, a slap on the back- it's strange to think that something so basic could be as intimate as kissing.]

So.

[Talk, Tris had said. Fucking talk. But Ellie gets all tongue tied, and all the obvious shit seems complicated.]

We're doing this, huh?

[It comes out soft with excitement.]

[Okay so that touch is way more intimate than she realized. Still, she's not going to be some chicken shit and back down from it so she keeps tucking her hair back until she's all done. Only then does she lower her hand and laugh again.

This. What the hell is this thing they have going on? Does this mean they're a couple now? Girlfriends or something?

Fuck, she's bad at this. She's never had to think this shit through. There had never been time for them to figure things out before and even then she'd said they'd just figure things out. Riley doesn't do the whole talking thing because finding the words to express the right feelings is harder than offing one of the Infected.]

Yeah. I guess we are.

[That sounds good. That they're doing this. That they're some kind of thing. That they're...them.]

... yep.

[Definitely some kind of thing. A good thing. And even if it's hard to talk, to put the feelings into words, stuff just starts tumbling out, because she's had it all bottle up for much too long.]

I almost kissed you in that photobooth. After we broke it.

[And she'd been thinking of it long before that.]

Yeah. Me too. Almost...kissed you.

[That. Okay so now she feels kind of weird and dumb for admitting to that. She takes a deep breath then shifts a bit.]

So...

[Welcome awkward pause.]

... so.

[Ellie chews her lower lip, echoing her, and shifts up, settling down next to her.]

So you thought about it.

[It sounds a touch teasing, and terribly curious.]

And you did too.

[Yep. That's a thing. Them thinking about kissing the other. Definitely a thing.]

And we didn't.

[She nods.]

Until we did.

[Ellie finishes, shifting next to her, onto her side. Riley's been sneaking into her room at night since day one, they've figured out how to make a twin bed work.]

... I mean, it wasn't my smoothest move-

[Rolling onto her side too so she can face her. This has got to be the most awkward conversation. Ever.]

Yeah. I guess it matters that you did. Right?

[Alright, she's shit at this. Ellie is better at this emotion thing. They both suck but Ellie is definitely better.]

What do you think this means? For us?

[She's a leader and yet... And yet it's Ellie she will happily take advice from.]

[The corner of Ellie's mouth twists as she thinks. It's unfamiliar, having Riley look to her to figure something out -- or at least Ellie thinks so. Up until the end, she's never had a true idea of just how much Riley takes her into account.

Her shoulders lift, and she ducks her head, as if to say fuck it, she doesn't know. But she's clearly thinking.]

Well.

We're still... you and me. And I don't see why this new stuff has gotta change the old stuff.

The way I figure it, I just wanna be with you.

[Them but apparently with kissing and stuff. That...actually sounds really good to her. It's nothing like that sappy crap in books or comics but it works. For them at least.]

You got me, girl.

[She gives her shoulder a push.]

Shit, I told you that you could get me to stay.

[Grinning back, Ellie breathes a sigh of relief, moving easily at the push and putting her forehead against Riley's shoulder to laugh a little.]

... the only one could could.

[And. That trips something. So suddenly, that Ellie sits up, gaping at her.]

Oh, shit.

Oh, shit.

[Suddenly, everything's clicking into place. Everything about the mall. How far Riley went out of her way to repair things between them. Riley hadn't wanted an out, or to set things right before she left. She hadn't wanted her best friend to tell her to stay -- she'd been trying to say something.

It wasn't guilt that made me cross a city full of soldiers, Ellie.

It wasn't that Riley was looking for an excuse not to leave.

It was because Riley had loved her all along. And it had taken her well over a year after Riley's death to even figure it out.

Jesus Christ, she's such a fucking moron.]

Edited 2014-03-12 10:04 (UTC)

[Riley watches Ellie sit up and doesn't say a word. Instead she just waits and she sees the second it clicks for her.

Holy shit did it take her this long to get it? Seriously?

She waits more, brow lifting as she waits. Then, she slowly nods.

Yes, Ellie.

She's dropping hints at you for ages.

AGES, girl.]

Oh my god, I'm so dumb.

[Whispering it under her breath, she rubs her hand down her face, thinking back to everything that happened, how much sense it made. And here, Ellie had thought it was just her own damn bright idea that Riley happened to be into.

Fuck, she'd even apologized right after-

Ellie gives a loud groan and covers her face again, giving a weak little laugh between her fingers.]

I'm so dumb.

[She watches Ellie figure it all out, the pieces falling into place. Then she laughs and sits up to give her leg a shove. Seriously, she is taking this blindness way too hard.

Okay so it's kind of cute but they'll get nowhere this way.]

You are seriously so slow, Ellie.

[Another little groan, but she's smiling.]

Oh, man. Why didn't you just plant one on me? I probably would have gotten the hint.

[As soon as she says it, she remembers why not. The whole part about being really fucking mad at her.]

Girl, I am really not into getting punched for planting one. I'm clearly way more into biting your neck to get thrown on my ass.

[She's joking but it's clear that she's thrilled beyond measure. Ellie knows now. She really fucking knows how she feels.

Ah shit. This is the greatest feeling in the world.]

seriously

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