A/N= we're nearing the end and you guys know it! There's just the photo booth, water guns, dance kiss, bite and my take on the aftermath. So that's anything from 6-3 chapters.

Disclaimer= I don't claim to own any of the beauty of the last of us, or the super interesting fun to write characters.

She Was All I Had:

Chapter eight:

After reading some funny, and some awful puns from 'No Pun Intended,' we walked over to what looked like a fully functioning photo booth.

"How does this work?" I asked, wondering if we could actually do this now that the power was on.

"You just follow the instructions… I think…" she said slowly, unsure.
We sat down next to each other, and I pressed start. Three images flashed across the screen, the 'themes'. Love, friends or cool were my options. Wanting to see how she would react, I pressed 'love', and Riley simply took the opportunity to tease me, "You trying to woo me girl?" she said, a mischievous tone to her voice.

"You wish," I said, hoping she wouldn't notice the fact that I had just told and unadulterated lie. I pressed ok, and a countdown from three seconds came up, with the message 'get ready' plastered across the screen.

First we gave the standard pose, flashing the camera normal smiles. Stealing a quick glance at Riley, I saw her giving the camera a simple, yet stunning smile.

For the second photo, we decided on creepy stuff, like monsters or something. This time I didn't look at Riley, knowing I would run the photo by failing to suppress a laugh.

For the third, we did the 'oh look, a dinosaur'. This was definitely my favorite; she had her arms round my neck, face pressed near mine. It would be so easy to turn my head; her lips were right there-

For number four we made ugly faces. It wasn't hard for me to succeed in this, Riley outright failed in my opinion. Fuck I'm sappy.

Then Riley suggested, "Right be all sexy." yeah… fuck you Riley. Just because you are all the time, without trying, doesn't mean I can do that too!

Then, with a final flash of light, the photos were done.

I pressed done on the screen, and it came up with a question, "Share to Facebook?"

Bewildered, I turned to Riley, "What's a Facebook?"

"Maybe it prints our pictures in a book…" she said hesitantly.

Screw it, I thought, and pressed 'no'.

Then it came up with the option to print. I pressed yes, giddy and out of breath with excitement. "Oh my god I can't believe this is actually going to work!" I said.

'Printer out of order' the screen displayed.

"Hit retry," Riley commanded. I did as she asked, but five seconds later the screen displayed the same spirit crushing message.

"Oh come on… Fuck you!" I cried in exasperation, thumping the retry button again.

"Maybe if I hit it up here…" Riley muttered, thumping the screen in multiple places.

And with that, the booth went dark. "Oh," we said in unison.

"What just happened?" I asked the older girl.

"I think we broke it!" Riley laughed.

With that, I began to laugh as well, "I think we did too!"

We leaned back on the chair, and that's where it got awkward.

"So…" we both said. Unbeknownst to Riley, I was having the biggest battle of my life.

Kiss her!

No! It'll freak her out, and then I'll lose her… Again!

She won't freak out… she may well feel something for you too, she might be having the exact same argument with herself right now.

No. I won't risk it!

Kiss her! I mean look at those lips…

I snapped myself out of my thoughts before I gave in.

"You wanna keep exploring?" Riley asked.

"Hell yeah!" I said, eager to get out of kissing distance.

-ElliexxxRileyxxxEllie-

"Ha!" Marlene had been laughing ever since I mentioned that 'Facebook' thing, and I'd had enough of talking over her.

"What the fuck is so funny! You told me to tell you all this in detail with feelings and thoughts and all, you said I'd feel better, but it's just pissing me off and making me miss Riley more!" i screamed, clutching my knife harder.

"I was laughing at your interpretation of Facebook. Look, it will help, you just need to finish you're story. Carry on," she said softly.

"I'll skip the arcade game and us taking the piss out of that dumb ass intercom lady," I said, "I just skip to the argument."

-RileyxxxElliexxxRiley-

"You win," Riley concluded.

"Fuck yeah I win!" I said excitedly.

"Not bad for your first game," Riley commented, "So, how was it?"

"It was all right…" I said. Honestly it was awesome-Riley was so close when she described the game that I could feel her hot breath on my neck, sending tremors down my spine.

"You loved it!" she laughed.

"Yeah I kinda did," I confirmed, grinning at her.

"You hear that?" she asked, and-provided I strained my ears-I did. It was music, coming from down a side corridor.

"Hey," I said, sad at the realization of the time, and the fact that I had to leave, "Y'know what? We should head back."

"No we shouldn't you've got plenty of time!" came her reply.

"Riley," I began, shooting her my best 'don't make this hard for me' look, "I don't have any more strikes at this place. Tomorrow we'll just pick up where we left off." I reasoned.

"I can't," she said, her voice sounding oddly strained.

"Well…" I said, feeling like I was missing something important, "we'll just do it another day then."

She simply shook her head, looking sad, almost guilty.

"Ok then Firefly Girl when?" I said, getting worried now, desperate for an answer.

"They've asked me to leave," she stuttered.

"Leave what?" I questioned.

"Boston," she responded, "I'm supposed to join a group in another city."

"I argued with them to stay here!" she attempted to explain, "but you know how Marlene is, she wouldn't listen! So… they're picking me up tomorrow."

I was at a loss for words, so I simply replied, "Ok."

"That's it?" she replied.

"Well what do you want me to say?!" I shouted, angry.

"Well I don't know, how about some… friendly advice?"

"Ha," I laughed bitterly.

"I'm serious!" she said, looking upset.

"Why did you bring me here?" I asked.

"I wanted to see you," she stated, shrugging.

"No- why did you bring me here," I asked, emphasizing the true question more this time.

"I don't know." She said. Real fucking helpful Riley! I thought to myself.

"I don't know," I repeated quietly in disbelief.

"You want my advice? Go. Come on let's just say our good-byes." I attempted to hide the fact that my heart was snapping in two by being cold and sarcastic.

She studied me for a moment before saying, "I'm gonna go check out this music."

"Riley… Riley!" I shouted, but she just ran through the door, and down the creepy corridor.

"Shit… Well, time to face the music." I laughed mirthlessly before taking off after her.