Quote:
Originally Posted by
Syd (: 
When Ellie spoke, Dallin could hardly hear her. He was preoccupied by the fact that she'd taken her hand away - not good. He should have kept his mouth shut. His words, he realized, could have sounded accusing. Or maybe they were accusing. Cheating was a harsh word. She had even said that she didn't do anything with Chandler, but... she had been with someone and liked someone else. That was as good as cheating, right?
... Ellie didn't think so. Yeah, Dallin did hear that. He didn't say anything though. Honestly, he didn't know what he could say. So he stayed completely silent as Ellie continued talking. Okay, they were being completely honest with each other. That was her reason for telling him all this. And some part of him appreciated and respected her for that. But most of him wished he didn't know. He wouldn't forget it, of course. No matter how much he tried. But he could look past it. And he would.
Setting his feet on the ground, Dallin shifted his eyes to Ellie's back. Not her face, though, because he couldn't stand to look at the tears in her eyes. He could hear them in her voice, and that was bad enough. He hated it when Ellie cried... it reminded him of her curse. "Thank you," he said finally. "For... telling me." It didn't exactly make sense for him to be saying thanks for that. But... he knew that it was hard for Ellie. That was clear from the way she was acting now.
He sighed, running his hands through his hair and leaning back. "I'm glad you're honest. Really, I am." He just wished she didn't need to be. About this. "And..." Another sigh. "I love you too. Of course. This is a lot, though, you know?" It's not like he thought she was going to cheat on him, too. Okay, maybe it crossed his mind, but he wasn't going to dwell on it. He couldn't even imagine it, and he didn't want to try. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath.
Chandler. "You don't like him anymore." It was partly a statement, and partly a question. Dallin just... needed to know. He couldn't let a small doubt get to him, and he needed Ellie to answer this question one hundred percent truthfully.
In the silence that hung, Ellie buried her face in her hands to try and hide the few tears that had managed to fall. Why did she have to cry so much? Why was this so difficult? Why,
why had she been such an idiot? So she sat there with her face in her hands and waited for Dallin to say something again. When he did speak, though, he didn't say what she expected.
Thank you? For telling him... Okay. And maybe she should be glad that he was thanking her, but she just couldn't be. Ellie didn't deserve a "thank you" for this, at least not in her mind. She deserved a slap in the face or something. Ellie just kept her face in her hands and didn't respond to that. She didn't know how.
Ellie rested her chin in her hands and stared at the fire again. She felt a little bit of relief when Dallin said that he loved her too. But she understood where his next words were coming from. It
was a lot to take in.
"I know." She whispered. Ellie closed her eyes.
"I don't want this to change the way you see me. I never meant to hurt anyone, you have to know that." Ellie kept whispering as another pathetic tear fell down her cheek.
His next question, though it was more of a statement, kind of surprised Ellie. Although she didn't really know why. It was kind of important. She sat up a little straighter and looked him in the eyes again, a small look of shock on her face.
"No. Not even a little. We're just friends and that's all I'll ever see him as." This reminded Ellie of the conversation her and Dallin had had about Chandler and her. That they probably wouldn't ever be best friends again for certain reasons. Maybe Dallin could figure out that
this was one of those reasons.
There was something that Ellie had to know though. And it really bothered her at the moment, because she had no idea.
"Do you..." She paused and swallowed hard,
"Do you consider that... cheating?" She asked nervously.