concordia

fifteen

word count: 825

date written: 26.5.19

verse: canon-divergence; fix-it

-

"elle!" she called after her, voice cracking, desperate to be heard. she didn't want her to leave. but if elle heard her, she wasn't interested, and connie fell to her knees as she watched elle continue walking until she was out of sight. she hadn't reacted. hadn't even looked back. hadn't-

connie jerked awake in a cold sweat, bolting upright as her heart hammered violently in a panic. she struggled to catch her breath, brushing hair hastily out of her eyes, and it took a moment for her to realize she was back in her bedroom. none of it had been real. she'd been dreaming. and yet... she looked over as elle stirred beside her, her own slumber interrupted by connie's rude awakening.

"connie?" she mumbled through a yawn, propping herself up with an elbow as most of her curls fell away to unveil her face. she groaned, resting her head in her hand. "what happened? you alright?" connie nodded, shoulders falling in relief as she watched elle struggle to keep her own eyes open.

"yeah," she breathed, chest still aching painfully. "yeah, i just..." she sighed, averting her gaze to the far corner of the room. she didn't want to bother elle with this. not again. "it was nothing. you can go back to sleep." elle frowned, suddenly wide awake as she sat up fully. she knew better than to take nothing as an answer from connie. with her, it always meant something. elle reached out to rest a hand on connie's thigh, making her jump slightly as she turned back.

"bad dream?" elle asked with a faint smile. connie returned it weakly before looking down at her lap, picking at the skin around her nails. of course elle knew. she'd read her like a book on the very day they'd met and been memorizing the pages ever since. "same as last time?"

"similar," connie admitted quietly, leaning into elle's touch when she reached out to brush connie's hair back behind her ear. "i thought... i just... it was..." she groaned in frustration, doubling over as she disappeared behind her hands. "it's stupid." elle rolled her eyes, shuffling closer to wrap her arms around connie's waist and rest her chin on her shoulder.

"well i dreamt that the hospital had been invaded by lizards disguising themselves as people," she revealed, and connie snorted in disbelief, lowering her hands as she turned to shoot her a playfully judgmental look. elle stuck her tongue out in response before giving her a gentle nudge. "come on. you know you can tell me anything."

connie's amusement immediately faded and she lowered her gaze again, threading her fingers tightly together. "you left..." she explained quietly after a brief silence, squeezing her eyes shut as she took a deep breath for courage. "and when i called after you, you just kept walking... like you didn't care. you left me and there was nothing i could do about it." she swallowed thickly, trying to keep her voice steady. "i was all alone again."

elle's heart sank. although she'd been expecting an answer along those lines, that didn't make hearing it hurt any less. even months later, that particular shift had come back to haunt connie in her dreams several times. she'd refused to talk about it at first, embarrassed that she was still being affected, and it had taken a lot of persistence on elle's behalf to finally convince her to open up. even now, there were still a lot of details she didn't know about, and she held connie tighter, pressing a gentle kiss to her neck.

"it's alright," she told her. "i'm not going anywhere." connie sighed, leaning back against her. she knew elle wouldn't just leave her but after decades of people doing exactly that, there was still a large part of her that struggled to believe it was true. everyone left her sooner or later, sometimes even in spite of promising otherwise, and while elle had proven herself to be different to those before her, connie couldn't help worrying that she was destined to follow in their footsteps.

"i told you it was stupid," she said, scowling at the wall opposite them, and elle rolled her eyes again before pulling her back down onto the bed without a word of warning. connie rolled over when her head hit the pillow, tangled in elle's embrace, and bit back a laugh when she found her trying to blow her curls out of her face. after watching her struggle for a moment, she reached out to brush them aside for her, uncovering her bright eyes and toothy grin.

"you're stuck with me, y'know," elle vowed, pulling her closer. connie immediately relaxed in her arms, nestling her head in the crook of elle's neck, and smiled tiredly when she pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "i'm going to be annoying you until we're old and gray. i promise."