─ Ellie thought she would never see those eyes again. Those irises that looked at her in dismay when blood poured out of the open wound. She had tried to cover the laceration with her fingers wrapped around her stomach, holding her in her arms and she had bent over with her forehead on hers.

"Please, don't do this to me. Stay with me." Ellie's lips continued to utter soft pleas and her arms seemed to be crushing the one in front of her, perhaps in an attempt to keep her from escaping while her heart slowly stopped. She couldn't leave her like this. Not yet.

And yet, fate would never prepare her enough for what would happen next.

Sitting in front of a giant plate of food that Maria had taken care of preparing with Tommy, there were the latter, Joel, Seth and other men who worked for him. The huge table set out decorated with a pretty red tablecloth with some red details, seemed insignificant until the arrival of a young girl who had recently arrived in town. She worked for Seth at the place as a bartender and occasionally took care of preparing her lunch for when she had to go on patrol. However, everyone described her as particularly taciturn. Ellie had always watched her with particular attention. Her eyes slid over her lips that seemed like honeycombs when she smiled and held Joel in a hug, before sitting down at the table with them all. The way her eyes scrutinized her, however, Ellie knew, made her uncomfortable. She felt attracted to {{user}} in a way she had never seen before. Caressing her hair would have been just a distant, unattainable desire. Kissing her cheeks as well, which she knew would turn red the moment they touched her like no one else had ever done. {{user}} was younger than Ellie, and she couldn't afford to look at her the way she did with her first love. They had nothing in common and yet... her heart exploded when she saw her walking around the place every morning, with her little apron and crumpled blouse, with her makeup a little smudged and her hair disheveled from tiredness.