Epilogue;

-two months prior

It was midday and the girls were alone in the small grungy apartment relaxing on the sun-lit couch. Riley was sitting upright on the side nearest the window while Ellie was lying sideways with her head on Riley's lap and her legs hanging off the arm rest. Riley was absentmindedly brushing her fingers through Ellie's hair while she watched the TV, Ellie herself staring at the ceiling with her eyes closed content with the feeling against the top of her head.

"You ever think about us?" Ellie spoke to the air with her eyes still closed.

Riley was pulled out of her trance only briefly and made her realize the show she was watching was on commercial. She raised the remote and started flipping through channels. "I think about you."

Ellie opened her eyes and looked at the other girl who was still focused on the other side of the room. "Not really what I meant."

"Then?"

"Like us together… as a couple."

Riley's brow scrunched together as she turned down the volume. She dropped the remote onto the sofa table and tilted her head forward to meet Ellie's gaze. "I guess not really. Why?"

"Just thinking really. I mean, we live day in and day out here, doing the same things just trying to keep from drowning."

"Not like we have much of a choice."

"I know. I just- my point is that we've never given much thought toward anything beyond the current day. Let alone the future."

"True." Riley let out a scoff then returned her focus downwards. "I assume you would like to."

Ellie nodded her head with a serious demeanor prompting Riley to forego the teasing she was about to enact.

"Shoot."

"Okay." Ellie let her smile fade before closing her eyes again. "I have a couple of kind of… big things to talk about afterwards, but for now I just want to know what you think we're gonna do with our lives after this."

"Oh wow. That wasn't one of the big things, huh?" Riley let silence overtake them for a moment while the question ran through her mind. "Well, I just kinda figured once we've saved up enough money we'd get our own place together. Get some jobs so that we can actually afford to. Stuff like that I guess."

"Where would we live?"

"Umm… in a little apartment in a different city. A lot nicer than this one."

"I don't think that'd work with Bella."

"Bella?"

"Our terrier. Did I not mention her?"

Riley let out a chuckle that jostled Ellie in her lap. "I think I would've remembered that."

"Well she's non-negotiable."

A car horn from the street suddenly crept its way in through the gaps along the outer edges of the room's looming window. It travelled from one side of the building to the next, clearly its owner letting another know of their frustration. The noise dissipated and was soon again taken over by slight breathing and the low static of the TV.

Riley started running her fingers through Ellie's hair again. "Guess that means no apartment."

"I'd love to live in a townhome. I think they're so cool looking. Plus it'd have a yard for Bella."

"You mean those houses that are all cramped up against each other?"

"Mm-hmm."

Riley stopped momentarily to poke Ellie in the forehead. "You brought this up. What's your plan?"

"Pretty much the same. Except we'd get married."

Riley's eyes widened from her nonchalance and she unintentionally stopped moving her hand. "Married?"

"Yeah." A smirk found its way to Ellie's face as she kept her eyes closed. "You're not planning on running away from me are ya?"

"Well no, but I just never thought about… that before."

"I get it. It's a big deal."

Riley reached off to her side and grabbed the remote yet again, the channel she had stopped on was hissing out an infomercial. She muted it completely and let the sounds between them and the road noise take control of the air again.

"Yeah, it kinda is. But I'm gonna go ahead and bet you already have it all planned out, don't you?"

Ellie grinned and dug her head into a more comfortable position against Riley's stomach. "Absolutely. Want to hear?"

"Why not? This should be interesting."

"Okay, here's how it would go. I'd take you out for a nice dinner at some fancy French restaurant whose name is impossible to pronounce. Then we'd go to the movies to see some sappy romantic flick, or possibly an action one, depends on how the night feels. Regardless, we'd sit in the back and just snuggle together. After the movie was over we'd finish the night off by going back to our place where I would've secretly had a friend set up flowers and candles, maybe some music."

"This is amazing."

"Hush, not done yet. We'd walk in and then you'd be all surprised and be like, 'Oh, Ellie, this is so beautiful.' Then you'd get all teary because by this point I'd already be down on one knee holding out a ring. You'd say yes, then bam, before you know it we're on a cliff next to the ocean getting married with doves flying overhead."

Riley's mouth was hanging wide open by the time Ellie had finished her rapid delivery of their future, the right corner of which was pulled upwards into a half-smile. "Oh… my god. Well, if there's one thing I can't say about you is that you're not a romantic. Perhaps a little much though."

"Was it the doves? The doves were too much weren't they?"

"Among other things." Riley laughed and leaned downward to kiss the girl smiling childishly back at her. "I love you. You're so fucking awesome. Though I am kind of upset you ruined the surprise."

"I'll think of something else. Perhaps a little less over the top. We'll see."

"Perhaps." Riley slid her feet outwards and then rested them on top of the middle table. "So, what were the big things you wanted to talk about?"

"Well, the marriage thing was one of them." She looked back up Riley with an honestly concerned expression. "You do want to get married... right?"

"Of course I do."

"You sure?"

"Of course. There's no one else I'd rather spend my life with."

Ellie's expression quickly shifted into contentment. They grinned at each other until Ellie managed her words through her lips. "The second is... and don't be weird."

Riley arched her brow as if being accused. "I'm never weird."

"You kinda were with the marriage thing."

"I wasn't weird… just surprised. Come on, try me."

Ellie sighed and raised her eyebrows. "Alright. Kids."

Riley let out a surprised chuckle. "Kids? As in children?"

"You're doing it again."

"No I'm not. Besides, you're hitting me with some heavy stuff. Give me some slack."

"Alright, alright. Sorry."

Riley mulled it over, as she did before, though this time with Ellie waiting anxiously for her response. "I don't think having kids would quite work with us to be honest."

"…what?" A knot quickly developed in Ellie's stomach with the unexpected admission. "Why not?"

Riley's neutral appearance gave way to an obvious smirk. "Physically?"

Ellie huffed and punched her in the arm after the joke sank in. "Don't be a smartass. You know what I mean."

"Couldn't resist, sorry." She started messing with the hair in her lap again. "I don't know. I haven't thought about it much."

"Would you ever want to?"

"Well yeah, sure. Some day." She sighed and let the idea have some freedom. "Suppose it'd have to be an orphan wouldn't it?"

"Given our background, probably. Though adopting from elsewhere wouldn't be out of the question." Ellie turned her head when she heard Riley scoff. "What?"

"Mother Nature's kind of an asshole, isn't she?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, for starters, she makes us gay. So immediately we have to deal with society shitting on us. Then, when we do want them, we're screwed for kids. Totally not fair. We didn't even get a say in the matter."

"We really did get the short end of the stick, didn't we? Quite a few sticks actually." Ellie sighed before rolling her head back and closing her eyes. "Amy."

"What?"

"If it's a girl, we'll name her Amy."

"Amy, huh? I've always liked Hannah personally."

"That's pretty too. What about for a boy?"

Riley let her head fall back against the couch with a yawn and let her focus settle in on nothing. "No idea. Not really fond of the idea of having a boy."

"No? You'd rather deal with a mini version of us in the future?"

"At least we would have the experience."

"That's true. Well in that case little Amy or Hannah will be in good hands. Well... my hands at least."

"Your hands? Please. You'd end up getting her taken away when the police find out you've been feeding her only potato chips and candy."

"What? No way. I grew up with that stuff and I turned out fine." Riley burst out in a laugh which quickly resulted in a punch to her arm. "You're an ass."

"I know. I know." She took a deep breath as her laughter subsided. "Anyway, any more 'big questions'?"

"Not right now."

"Good, 'cause I don't know if I can take anymore of those."

"You did fine. And thanks for… indulging me with all that."

"Pretty sure I did more than just that. I actually think I agreed to marry you somewhere in there."

"Like you had a choice."

"Yeah I guess not."

Ellie laughed and rolled her head back to look up at the girl looking down at her with the same stupid smile already plastered on her own face. "I know I say it a lot but I love you."

"I love you too. And don't worry about this stuff too much. We've got our entire lives to figure it all out."

Riley leaned over to press her lips against the freckled girl's once more before she grabbed the remote from the table and switched back on the volume for the television. Ellie cuddled up against Riley as much as she could and watched contently as she started switching through the channels.