The Gone {GirlxGirl} [BoyxBoy] // Persephone

~5~

Previously

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She and Chase each switch their outfits, and Ana goes into the bathing room to change, and Chase stays in the main room. They both said once they were ready, and Ana stepped back into the main room, a soft smile on her face.

"Wow," Is all Chase says when she saw Ana.

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Now:

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"You look amazing," Chase continues. This is the first time since Ana got here that she genuinely thinks Ana looks comfortable in her own skin.

¨This is definitely my style,¨ Ana says, doing a small spin. ¨Plus, since there are leggings under the skirt, I can still move around well, and it's a safe outfit to wear if we go out," Ana says. It hurts Chase's heart a little to think that Anas only been here a few days, and she's already thinking like a survivor. Its good that she knows how to act here, but it still makes Chase's chest feel tight knowing that a few days ago if she was buying clothes, she thought if it would look good with the shoes she was wearing, now she's thinking how well she could run from monsters and swing a blade in it. ¨Chase?¨ When Chase leaves her thoughts, she sees Ana looking at her, brow furrowed. ¨Are you okay? I called you like four times,¨ Ana asks her, looking genuinely concerned.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Just got distracted for a minute." Chase smiles. The girls switch places, and Chase goes into the back room and changes into the outfit Ana gave her. Moments later, she's walking out, and Ana is already squealing.

"Oh my god! you look amazing!" Ana says, manually spinning Chase around to see the entire outfit. Fully dressed in a pair of black military-style jeans with a decked out belt that had many types of holsters on it. Along with that, a burgundy tank top with a leather jacket over it. Chase moves her arms around, trying to get a feel for how well she can move in it. After deciding that her range of movement was pretty good, she sort of slides her hands around the belts holsters. "Whatcha doing?" Ana asks, confusion evident.

"I'm making sure that if I put weapons in these I can still get them out quick enough that I won't get attacked, but they won't go falling out either." Eventually, Chase decides that she really does like this outfit, and it's also convenient. The rest of the day was filled with smiles as Ana and Chase tried on clothes, and Ana forced Chase into helping decorate since she was a few inches taller than Ana. Chase agreed to some battery powered string lights since they had plenty of batteries. Along with those, they laid out more furs and fluffy skins, taped their essential papers and maps onto the stone walls, and laid out big hides from the creatures that first attacked Ana when she appeared in The Gone and used them as make-shift rugs.

"What are these things anyway?" Ana says, laying out and flattening another hide.

"We call them Aspers. They're basically like," Chase hesitates, flailing a hand, "they're the most common thing your gonna find around here. And if you run into one, you know theirs at least 3 more behind it. They travel in packs, like wolves. We say that that's what they're most closely related too. Or at least we think so. They have a pack mentality, which can be helpful sometimes, but a pain in the ass at others. If you hurt one of their pack, at least one will stay with it, even if it means giving up on chasing you, which gives us time to run. But, they're skilled hunters, and since they come in packs, they have an easy time surrounding you. They also hunt for food, not for sport. What they hunt, they eat, not wasting a single damn piece of flesh." Chase's voice slowly gets quieter as she talks, and soon her head is in her hands, palms flat against her eyes.

"Chase," Ana says, not planning on continuing. It was meant as more of a gesture to show she was listening, and that Chase could continue if she wanted to. Ana scoots a little closer to Chase, slowly placing a hand on her back. She feels Chase tense up, and she stills her hand but does not move away. As Chase relaxes under her touch, she slowly rubs her hand up and down chases back in a motion of comfort. It's a sad silence for a few minutes until Chase speaks up.

"they're vicious. We had a friend get killed by them once." She sighs. Ana runs her hand up the back of Chase's neck, wrapping her fingers over Chase's right shoulder loosely.

She can see the stress in Chase, the clenched jaw, her arms tensed. She tries to get her to say something, or at least look at her. A few minutes later she's at a loss, and gets up on her knees and swings her left leg over chases outstretched ones, having her left knee pressed against the side of Chase's right hip, and her right knee against Chases left hip, resting lightly on her thighs facing her. Ana reaches her hands up and grabs both of Chase's hands in hers, drawing them away from her face. Ana expected to see tears or some sign of sadness. But instead, she was just met with a look of stress. She just looked lost. Chase runs a hand down her face and looks up at Ana. She responds by grabbing Chase's hands and bringing them to her chest. A few minutes later, Ana slowly brings Chase's hands away from her chest, allowing her to let go. To Ana's surprise, she keeps holding on. A few minutes go by in silence before Chase speaks up.

"I've lost a lot of people to this place. Good, strong people. And it just-" Chase cuts herself off, pursing her lips, squeezing Ana's hands, "It just makes me so angry, to think I couldn't do anything to save them. That I wouldn't be able to save you." Chase finished. And as Ana looks into her eyes, she realizes that the emotion she thought she saw in Chase, was everything but. When she looked at Chase now, she saw that spark, that flame of anger engulfing her.

"You did save me," Ana says, with a small smile. Chase's gaze softens a bit, but a look of disdain and fury still highlighting her face. Ana pulls one hand from Chase's grasp and places it on her face. "Chase, you already saved me. If it weren't for you, those Aspers would have eaten me alive out there." Chase closes her eyes. Ana moves her thumb across Chase's cheek. "But they didn't. Because of you. You risked your life to save some random girl you found on the bottom of the forest floor, covered in blood. You grabbed my hand and pulled me up, forcing me to run like hell. You didn't leave me behind when you so simply could have." Chase slowly opens her eyes. One last time, Ana repeats it, "You saved me." Chase just smiles at her and leans her forehead against Ana's chest, wrapping her arms around her waist. Ana just rests her arms over Chase's shoulders, smoothing her hair back. "Everything's gonna be okay. We're gonna make this place our home, okay? We don't have a choice, so let's make the best of it." Ana whispers. "Do you trust me?" Ana asks, pulling back to look at Chase.

Chase looks into Ana's eyes; her eyes were hues of the forest, surrounded with dark moss. It was the kind of earthy green that revives the grass after a cruel, unforgiving winter. Interwoven shades hiding the chaotic nature behind. Never before have eyes held such danger and beauty all at once. A wildfire: reckless, untamed, yet undeniably captivating. The green that, even in the darkest times can be that light that shows you the way home. The beacon of hope in the dreariest of days. And there, at that moment. Chase knew the exact answer. She had already found her home.

"How could I not?"