"Last night, I was taking a walk along the river, and I saw her together with a young girl. And the look that she gave her made me shiver! 'Cause she always used to- look at me, that way!"
Dina hates herself the moment she says those words, but she can't take them back.
"I- I just broke up with Jesse-"
Ellie smiles, but her eyes reflect a pain Dina shadowed.
"It's okay, I get it."
"It's not you, honestly, I just-"
"Don't worry, Dina. We'll… we'll never talk about it again."
Ellie steps back, hands dropped from her waist. Dina missed her touch, but couldn't take back what her dumb intoxicated mind had said.
The taller woman had given her a smile, another damn heartbreaking smile, and walked away from her porch.
"Fuck, I'm gonna regret that."
The boy half awake on the rocking chair snorted, half empty bottle loose in his grip.
"Yup, we broke up 'cuz you love her! And I do, too! Be happy, stupid, fuckin'... Fucks."
Dina laughed, picking up her ex under the arms to try and drag him inside.
"Nooo, let me stay with the butterflies!"
"Jesse, it's January, they're still asleep."
He gasps, and her heart beats fondly at his childlike drunk persona.
"I wanna be asleep!"
"Same, bud. C'mon."
Not knowing how, she gets him on the sofa with the throw over him, glass of water waiting for him in the morning.
She lays on her bed, head throbbing.
Gotta figure out a way to fix this… tomorrow. I'll do that tomorrow.
She falls asleep, regretting not having her own water waiting when she wakes up, but deciding to talk to Ellie about these supposed returned feelings.
"Then I thought maybe I should walk right up to her and say… 'Ah-ha-ha, it's a game she likes to play!'"
Dina doesn't get the chance to talk to Ellie, the other woman is shipped off for a weekend in the far off outpost with Joel, and when she returns, is seemingly capable of completely avoiding Dina.
Where ever she went, it was always 'oh, you just missed her' or 'she left with so and so'
Dina finat felt like she'd caught her, cornering her at her home of all places.
Genius, I know.
She is about to knock the door, when an entirely sheepish Cat opens it. She's tugging her shirt down, bent slightly at the waist in an attempt to be silent.
"Heyyyy, Dina!"
Her voice is a loud whisper, front the state of her Dina doesn't have to guess why.
"Hi, Catrina."
The woman winces.
"Is Ellie here?"
Cat steps closer, shutting the door a little more.
"Actually, she's just got to sleep. We've been… working, for hours, actually."
Green fire in the shape of jealousy lit in Dina's stomach, her smile became threatening, and she took note of how disheveled Cat looked.
"Well, you best head on home, right? Get some… rest."
Cat smacked her lips, reminding Dina of the donkey from an animated film she'd watched with Ellie the other week.
"See, I would! But, I completely destroyed my pants yesterday. They're like, not even… one thing anymore. I'm gonna stay here, so…"
She goes to shut the door, Dina's foot finds its way between the door and the frame, wincing a little at the pain.
"Well, tell Ellie I stopped by, hm?"
Cat gave the fakest laugh this side of fake town.
"Of course! See you around…"
She's pushing the door, and Dina pulls her foot away just as she puts her weight behind it. She smirks to herself when she hears Ellie gasp in shock, walking away as Cat starts talking.
"Look into her angel eyes, one look and you're hypnotized! She'll take your heart, and you must- pay the price!"
Ellie was avoiding her, again.
Apparently only her, though. She'd heard rumours around town of women doing more than just flirting with Ellie now, finding confidence to approach and even proposition the girl.
Dina thought it was bullshit, and was going to find out the hard way how wrong she was.
"I mean, just cuz I said the wrong thing drunk, she's avoiding me?!"
Jesse sighed, head throbbing.
"She's embarrassed, you gotta give her time to… recover, or whatever."
Dina grumbled under her breath.
"Her way of 'recovering' means being over half the women in Jackson, which normally would be funny! But-"
"It's Ellie."
"Yeah, and she's not-"
"Over you."
She whimpers, face buried in her hands.
"What I wouldn't give to be under her, man."
He choked on his cob, choosing not to comment.
"Look into her angel eyes, You'll think you're in paradise! And one day you'll find out she wears a disguise… Don't look too deep into those angel eyes!"
Dina should've expected it, but seeing Ellie in the town pub sat opposite another woman hit her harder than she'd thought it would.
The woman was tall, black and had beautiful hair.
"Like seriously, how does she even braid it that good?!"
Jesse shrugged, sipping his beer.
"I don't know, why don't we go over… and ask? Instead of being creepy, watching from the crowd."
Dina smacked his chest, bubbles fizzed out his nose.
"She's gonna kiss her-"
"Dina-"
Low and behold, the woman leant across the small space to a wide eyed Ellie, cupping the back of her head and planting one right on her lips.
Dina almost shattered her glass.
"Dina, please, just tell her how you really feel! While you're sober, and not-"
She put her bottle down, turning away from the scene.
"I'm gonna get drunk."
"- drunk. For fucks sake."
"Two double whiskeys please," she leant against the wood, giving Jesse a look.
"What do you want?"
He felt like he was in for a long night.
"Ah-ha-ha, ah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! Ah-ha-ha, I keep thinking 'bout her angel eyes, I keep thinking… ah-ah!"
"Wanna sing, bub? Free shots if you do!"
Dina gasped, hand over her chin in a shocked manner.
"Oh my, Jesse?!"
The painfully sober boy next to her wanted to kill the nice old man who was trying to cheer his friend up.
"That's not really a good… idea. Oh, you're already-"
Dina snatched the mic, slurring her words after gushing the song to the band.
"This one goes out to a certain someone! Psst, Ellie!"
She pointed, waiting till the girl looked up to wave.
"It's for you!" She shouted through a whisper.
"For… me?"
"Hit it!"
"Sometimes when I'm lonely, I sit and think about her- And it hurts to remember, all the good times!
When I thought I could never live without- her!
And I wonder... does it have to be the same?!"
Ellie gasped in shock a moment too late, pushing the woman away from her with a creased brow.
"Trish- what the? I was telling you about how I feel for Dina?"
The woman shrugged, looking a little embarrassed.
"I thought you needed a distraction, like you did with Cat-"
Ellie's cheeks were red and she waved her hands.
"Okay, that was a mistake, I didn't intend to sleep with her-"
"I meant with me… when you guys broke up. You slept with Cat again?!"
Somehow Ellie managed to become an even darker colour, her tongue doing backflips and belly rolls in her mouth as she tried desperately to come up with some words to say, to get her out of this situation.
She failed.
"It was one time! Kinda, might've been twice, o-or more…"
The woman opposite her shut her eyes in annoyance.
"Well I feel sorry for Dina when you two get each other's heads outta their asses. Bye, Ellie."
"Wait, Din- I mean! Trish!"
She looked beyond offended, storming out of the pub. Ellie's arm fell weakly to her side.
"Damn, how much worse can this night get?"
"Every time when I see her, will it bring back all the pain? Ah-ha-ha, how can I forget that name?!"
That's when the universe decided to mess with her, again.
"Psst, Ellie! It's you!"
That's when Ellie turned, taking in the scene before her. Jesse stood by the stage, looking tired and way too sober. Dina was standing on the stage, mic in hand and pointing directly at her.
Oh… fuck.
"Ah-ha-ha, ah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! Ah-ha-ha, I keep thinking 'bout his angel…"
Dina attempts to mic drop, but it's caught by Jesse before it can be damaged. She pauses, snatching it off him as he tries to give it to the kind old man he wanted to kill.
He mentally berates himself on how a drunk person could best him, and watches with taught nerves as Dina brings the mic to her mouth.
"Yeah, that's right, I sang ABBA to you! What're you gonna do about it?! You… fuckin', beautiful nerd."
Ellie laughs, and the pub is silent.
"You sing ABBA at me and I'm the nerd? I don't think that works out-"
"You don't work out- ack!"
Ellie rushed the last few steps, catching a flailing Dina as she fell from the stage. The girl gasps, tapping her arm with a content drunk smile.
"Okay, so maybe you do work out."
She rested her head on Ellie's shoulder, as the woman made eye contact with her sober friend.
"How much has she had?"
"Enough to know I wanna tell you that I-"
Jesse's hand covers her mouth, she glares and aggressively licks his hand. He cringed, but answered.
"A lot, want me to take her home?"
"Nah, I got her. Get home, dude."
He smiles, gives her shoulder a squeeze, and releases Dina's mouth.
"- and your mother's, mother!"
"You love his mother."
"It was the first thing I could think of."
Ellie snorts, getting a better grip on the girl as she walks out the pub, her heart swelling with something akin to love as Dina keeps humming under her breath, becoming sleepier by the second.
Dina was certainly never going to live it down, but it made one hell of a getting together story for anyone who'd listen.