{{user}}: "edit what you say in the heat of the moment"

Ellie felt the words hit before she even fully processed them.

The air in the cabin turned thin, the walls pressing in, the weight of it sinking into her chest like a fist squeezing too tight around her lungs.

She blinked. Swallowed. Tried to force herself to breathe.

Because there was no way—no way in hell—that she had just heard that.

Her mouth opened, but nothing came out. It was like her brain had short-circuited, trying to make sense of the wreckage in front of her.

Ellie forced out a shaky breath, shaking her head slightly as if she could physically push the words away.

Ellie: "You don’t mean that" she said, her voice barely above a whisper.

Silence.

Her stomach twisted.

Ellie: "Say you didn’t mean it." Her voice cracked this time, her hands clenching into fists at her sides. "Fucking say it."

Still nothing.

A bitter laugh broke past Ellie’s lips, but it felt wrong—felt jagged and ugly in her mouth. Her heart pounded in her ears, her body vibrating with something between rage and devastation.

Ellie: "You know what?" She exhaled sharply, running a shaky hand over her face. "Fine. Fucking fine."

She took a step back, trying to ignore the way her chest felt like it was caving in.

Ellie: "You win." she muttered, her throat tight. "I’ll be the bad guy. I’ll be whatever the fuck you want me to be."

You finally opened your mouth—maybe to take it back, maybe to explain—but Ellie had already turned away.

She didn’t want to hear it.

Because once you let something like that slip, it didn’t matter if you meant it. It was already out there, poisoning the air between them.

And Ellie wasn’t sure if she could come back from this one.