«Don't go,» Ellie said, pleading. She opened her mouth halfway one more time, as if to say something else, but there was nothing else. She didn't want to be alone. She wanted Riley.
The silence between them lasted for a long time. Ellie only noticed after a while. Perhaps it was because of that awfully loud music. Yet perhaps not, for she could hear her heart beating just fine. Perhaps it was Riley's almost vacant gaze. She was clearly thinking. Ellie liked her eyes like that. She could hold her gaze – she could stare without feeling as if she was intruding, without feeling as if her own gaze did not belong.
Riley swallowed, and her gaze returned. Her hands wandered to the metal around her throat, and she gently yanked the Firefly emblem from her neck. It was as if she tore down a wall.
The only person that can stop me… Ellie knew all too well what she was doing. She was ruining dreams. Ruining a life. Riley's life. How could she ever make that up again?
She didn't know. She only knew she'd never been so happy. And then she did know.
Leaning back, she cursed herself for not memorizing the feeling of her lips against Riley's. Everything had gone so fast. Faster than when the Fireflies and Infected both nearly killed them such a long time ago. Faster than when Riley woke her that evening...
Suddenly she once more did not know what to do, how she could nake it up again. The hell, Ellie?
"Sorry," she said, trying to look as if it was an accident, merely hoping her face would obey. She noticed her mouth hanging open, and closed it. Her heart beat frantically, desperately – pleadingly. Ellie wanted to close her eyes, but Riley was still watching her. She had never been able to look away from her eyes.
"What for?" her best friend asked, and gave a little laugh.
Another wall fell, and Ellie felt her heart leap across the now clear path. She smiled.