「 let me let you go 」— open.

[truce.]

[align=center][div style="width: 400px; text-align: justify; font-family: verdana; font-size: 7pt; line-height: 1.5;"]･ﾟ✧ — Before Ellie could fully comprehend what was going on, her bloodshot eyes wandered over to Hayley who had just entered the kitchen. A sad smile plastered her lips, unable to falter as she froze like a statue. If she stayed this way, she could be fake happy and nobody would suspect a thing. But, alas, she was evidently fooling nobody. Fanning at her face, one to try miraculously dry out of tears staining her cheeks and two trying to cool her red face down as it burned with humiliation, Hayley's kindness was enough to cause Ellie to crack. Lips pulled down and wobbling distraught, it didn't take her long before the tears began to fall again and she wrapped her arms around Hayley's neck, feeling enveloped and comforted in her friend's hug.

"Oh, I'm so sorry." Ellie squeaked, finally pulling away from the hug before laughing, partly from guilt and partly from humor. "Don't you cry now, Hay; that's my job." She swallowed hard, thanking the brunette quietly as she took a napkin from her to dab at her eyes. Her gaze turned over to Jay, eyebrows knitting together as she pouted over at him. Their words were kind. Their words made Ellie think that she most likely wasn't the only person who'd felt this kind of pain before; she would never be alone in the hurt. "You are both so good to me." She admitted softly, pausing to blow her nose before repeating more firmly, "So, so good."

In that very moment, the blonde woman was quick to begin to realize that these people surrounding her were slowly but surely becoming her family. Hayley was most certainly right in saying that she would always have them - after all, family was forever. She reached out slowly, placing a thankful and affectionate hand on Jay's arm, cracking him a weak and wobbly smile before she peered over at Hayley. "I'll be okay, I think... Just need some time to get over... Him... Thank you both for everything." Despite the smiles, though, she couldn't continue to play pretend. She was hurting, and she had to accept the hurt in order to move on.