In Your Eyes [Ellie x Dina] || The Last Of Us

just let it happen.

Jesse has been avoiding Ellie lately, letting her think he actually saw Dina and her speaking dangerously close to each other. She shrugged the thought off from her mind before cleaning her face. 

She'd expect Tony to visit her later, a good friend of Joel. They haven't seen each other in a while and maybe he has some news on Joel's condition. Well, hopefully.

Ellie must have fallen asleep when she woke up to a loud knocking, actually banging, on the door. "Coming!" she shouted. The one that stood behind the door seemed to have understood that since the knocking stopped. Ellie stretched before grumpily walking to the door, ready to face Tony - but was taken by surprise when Dina stood there. And was taken even more by surprise when the slightly taller girl hugged her tightly. Ellie hugged her back, though. This wasn't a hug that came from love but from pain. Ellie felt it.

After a few moments, Dina breathed slowly, trying to calm herself a bit. 
"Do you want something to drink? I only have water, though," Ellie said quietly. "That's fine, yeah, I could use something to drink. Thank you," Dina smiled at her with a forced smile. It wasn't transferring the warmth of her usual smile.

The brown-haired girl came back after a short amount of time, carrying Dina's glass in the hand. "So... do you want to talk about it? I can tell that something happened, that's for sure," Ellie quoted. Dina seemed to be a bit unsure. "Hey, since you were so nice to let me in, I think I owe you an explanation. Yeah, I actually wanna talk about it. If I burst into crying, please don't try to comfort me or anything, just listen." Ellie nodded and you could see the concern in her face.

 "You know, my dad had to clean up in the canalizations because of a pipe and..." Dina started to cry but tried to be strong and wiped the tears that were streaming down her face away. "and I just got the information that he hasn't come out. And he won't. The police officer said that you could hear a scream a-and that's it. It's been a day now, so chances are pretty low." Dina then couldn't hold it anymore as she stormed into Ellie's shoulder, Ellie holding her close.
"I'm sorry if I'm bothering you but I had no idea to who I could talk. J-Jesse is a person I'd rather avoid as he'd just take it as an opportunity to try a move on me again and that's s-something I don't want," Dina sobbed into Ellie's shoulder.

Ellie gently stroke her back to comfort her. "It's okay. I was just taken by surprise as I was expecting someone different." - "Oh, you're expecting someone? I guess I should go then. Sorry for the both-" Dina stood up within her sentence but Ellie was fast enough to hold her back and cut her off. "You can stay here. I know that you don't have someone to go to except Jesse maybe. Or you go home but that would mean that you'd be there alone. And being alone in such a situation is something that is very dangerous. I know what I'm talking about. So, no. You stay. I bet my visitor won't be bothered. And if he is, he can shove his ass right out that door again." Dina gave her a sad but warm smile again. "Thank you, Ellie."

They both sat there in silence until a light knock disturbed the silence. "Should I go so-" - "No, you stay right here." Dina took up her hands in defense. Ellie went to the door and this time it was indeed the expected person. Ellie right went into the bear hug Tony offered her.

"Hello there, young lady. It's been a while but I hope you'll let me in!" Ellie smiled at him. "Sure thing. Well, grab a seat. I hope you brought some stories with you." - "Sure thing!"
Tony sat down, noticing Dina. "Hey there. It's very unusual that Ellie has visitors but I'm Tony." Tony offered Dina a handshake and she accepted it. "I'm Dina. Nice to meet you."

After a few conversations about how Dina and Ellie met and how Tony's family is doing, Ellie decided it was time to ask the thing that she's been thinking about a lot lately. She knew it could end in disappointment and she also knew that she wouldn't be okay after it for a while.

"So... Tony, do you have any news on Joel?" You could already see the sad face on Tony and it made Ellie's heart sink. "I'm sorry," he said while shaking his head. "I guess I better go now then. The mood isn't going to go better and I know that." - "Thank you for coming, though. I appreciate it." Tony shook his head and gave Ellie another bear hug, this time for saying goodbye. He shook hands with Dina again for the same reason. The two girls saw him leaving the door and remained silent. You could actually feel the depressive mood in the room.

"Ellie, I think it's better for both of us if I go. We both aren't in the best mood," Dina explained very calmly. "What if that's exactly why I don't want you to go?" Ellie mentally facepalmed herself and her cheeks got into a light shade of crimson. It's not the sentence she said but how she said it. Needing, actually. "I know that's maybe not the right time to speak about that but for how long do you have a crush on me already? I'm just curious." The shade of crimson on Ellie's face got worse. "H-How do you know?" - "I've been thinking about that a lot, actually. And the tone in your voice kind of revealed you," Dina chuckled slightly.

"To be honest? I think the first time I actually thought about you as a crush was when Jesse has mentioned that you two been fighting a lot. And when you spoke to me at the bar that night, that's when I became really... interested in you. I'm pretty shitty at flirting, sorry." Ellie scratched her head in embarrassment. 

Dina just let her head sink onto Ellie's shoulder. "At least you're honest." When she looked up at Ellie, there still was the sadness in her eyes but also something different. They looked on each other's lips. And the eyes kept looking. Until Dina slightly leaned in. Very slowly, very carefully, not knowing if Ellie would meet her. But Dina was taken by surprise when she felt the sparks of electricity on her lips. 

It wasn't a longing kiss, it was a real one.