𝐇𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐥 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐚𝐜 ☀︎︎ 𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒂𝒎𝒔 𝒙 𝒐𝒄

Just The Two of Us

{tw: homophobic slur!}

When Ellie woke up, Renae was gone. She was nowhere to be seen in the shed. So after changing hastily into work clothes she quickly ran into Joel's house to see if she was there. She wasn't. But Joel was.

"Hey kiddo." He said quietly, sipping his coffee. Ellie sighed a little, and ran up the stairs and checked her room. Her work shoes were gone. So she walked back down stairs and glanced at Joel.

"Any plans today?" Joel asked as he put his empty cup in the sink. She didn't respond, she just walked out of the front door towards the infirmary. Renae had to be there. As she walked, she thought about Joel. Before, she had a guttural reaction whenever she heard his voice. It just hurt too much to think about what he took away from her. But recently, she couldn't help but crack a small smile whenever he would tell Renae something funny that had happened. She also sat in on one of their many movie nights, and it felt like it used to. Before Ellie found out. That made the girls mood even more sour than it was before. Today was not Ellie's day.

Renae woke up before Ellie to banging on the door. She jolted up to shut up the consistent banging, and maybe get a few more hours of sleep. But when she got out of bed in nothing but a tank top and short shorts that were honestly giving the girl a wedgie, she wanted to crawl back in to bed. So she did. For thirty seconds. Then she was brutally yanked up and out of bed by a very angry Jesse. He looked over at the sleeping lump still in the bed, and whispered. "Get dressed and meet me at Dina's." He said before bolting out. She rolled her eyes before looking at the sleeping girl. She would be back before Ellie woke up right? So the girl quickly picked the wedgie and ran inside to actually get dressed. Joel was still asleep (his door was shut and the coffee wasn't started), so she tip-toed to her room to get dressed. She got dressed as quickly as she could and walked downstairs. Joel had gotten up and started the coffee, and was sitting on the couch listening to country music quietly. Renae waved before walking out the door towards Dina and Jessie's home.

When she knocked, there was a pause in communication inside before Dina opened the door smiling. But something was off. Under her eyes was a little red... like she had been crying. Renae was starting to become angry at Jesse. Figuring it was all his fault. She hugged Dina a little tighter, before following Dina to their couch. Jesse was sitting on the other chair adjacent to the couch. Renae sat, giving Jesse a small stink eye. Dina say beside the girl, and held her hand. "So is something happening here? I feel like you're about to tell me someone died." Dina snorted before turning her face to look at the coffee table. In front of Renae laid a stick. With two lines. It took a minute, but eventually, "Holy shit." She looked between the two and Dina's stomach. "Holy shit!" She stood up and jumped a bit. Then she snarkily looked at Jesse. "Well is it mine or yours?" Renae said.

Jesse sarcastically said "Ha ha ha. You're so funny." While Dina actually laughed while nodding. "Definitely yours Renae." Renae did a fist bump with Dina while sitting back on the couch. "You can't tell Ellie. Not yet." Renae stopped laughing and looked at Dina confused.

"Why?" Dina sighed and picked up the stick before taking it to their bathroom when Renae asked.

Jesse responded, "We want to tell her separately when the time is right. We think she may have a harder time accepting it right now." Renae nodded, understanding where they were coming from. But it still kind of felt weird. Renae shrugged it off though and celebrated for a few minutes with her newfound friends.

Eventually though there was a knock at the door. Dina walked over and was shocked to see Ellie there. She smiled half-heartedly until she saw Renae. She immediately walked over and hugged her. "I thought something had happened to you." Ellie whispered to her.