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On the very first day Ellie, Riley and Joel arrived in Jackson, Dina caught her eye… when Ellie saw her staring and yelled at her. So, it was hardly a good first impression, but when they returned to Jackson after their long stay at Salt Lake City, Ellie weakly slumped in Joel’s arms, and Riley and Joel freshly vaccinated (and carrying several doses in Joel’s bag, as payment for the Fireflies putting Ellie through so many tests), Dina smiled at Ellie, so there were obviously no hard feelings. It has been weeks since they came back to Jackson (planning to live there for good, because, holy shit, Jackson is the sort of community Ellie thought was just a fairytale, and she never wants to give up the free food and hot showers and huge gates shutting the Infected outside), and Dina rarely leaves Ellie’s mind.
But despite how much she likes daydreaming about Dina, Ellie feels a little bad whenever she thinks about another girl. Because she already has Riley, and Riley should be enough for her. After all, Riley kissed her back when Ellie made the first move back at the mall, Riley looked after her when Ellie got bitten, and Riley refused to leave Ellie’s side, traveling with her as Joel took them across the country in search of the Fireflies. Riley is her girlfriend, and Ellie fucking loves her, so why is she thinking about Dina too?
She would never cheat on Riley by kissing Dina, but Ellie sometimes wonders if Riley would like to date Dina too. She’s never heard of three people dating, but it must be a thing. And it sounds amazing. But there’s no fucking way she’s bringing this up to Riley just in case her girlfriend reacts badly. She doesn’t want to ruin what she already has.
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Thankfully, before Ellie can get too guilty and end up spiraling into self-loathing, Riley starts a conversation that solves Ellie’s internal dilemma.
“I think Dina has a crush on you,” Riley says as they walk home from school one afternoon.
Ellie’s cheeks flush and she stumbles in shock, almost falling flat on her face. “What the fuck? Where did that come from?”
“Hey, I’m just stating the obvious. I’ve seen the way she looks at you in the dining hall. I bet she stares at you in class too,” says Riley, who is in the class above Ellie and Dina, and thus doesn’t spend much time at school around her. But they always walk home together. Her tone teasing, she adds, “She likes you…”
Her face still burning, Ellie glances at Riley, unable to read her girlfriend’s expression. Has Riley noticed Ellie’s crush on Dina? Is this all a ploy to make Ellie admit her feelings for another girl? What if Riley gets jealous? Ellie doesn’t want to upset her.
“Dunno what the fuck you’re talking about,” Ellie mutters, looking away. “So what if Dina likes me?” she spits, her words spiky and acidic.
“Ellie…” Riley says, her voice losing that teasing tone and becoming soft and gentle (just like when they were back at FEDRA school and she comforted Ellie after getting out of the Hole, soothing Ellie as she cried into Riley’s shoulder). “Are you okay? I didn’t mean to upset you.”
“I’m not upset!” Ellie sighs.
“I really do think Dina likes you. And I only brought it up because… well, I think you like her back.”
Ellie doesn’t respond, waiting for Riley to get angry.
Instead, her girlfriend grins and says, “And I like her too.”
“Wait… what?” Ellie says, flinching like Riley slapped her. She never expected that response. Obviously, she knows that Riley likes girls (it would be fucking weird if she didn’t, given that she’s literally Ellie’s girlfriend), but she didn’t think Riley would be like her, getting a crush on someone else when she’s already dating the girl of her dreams. “You’re not fucking with me, right?”
“Of course, I’m not. I really like her,” Riley says, her expression becoming a little bashful (and she looks so cute like that; Ellie just wants to kiss her). “You’re not mad, right?”
Ellie stares at her, thinking of how much she has worried about Riley’s reaction to her crush on Dina, fearing telling her girlfriend in case Riley gets angry, and yet… here she is, with Riley openly admitting to also liking Dina, and now Riley is asking if Ellie is mad, and—
Out of sheer relief, an awkward laugh bursts out of her. Ellie stumbles to the side, bumping arms with Riley, laughing harder.
“Holy shit…” Ellie gasps between laughs. “How’d the fuck did this happen? I, I thought you’d be mad, but… Have we really been crushing on the same girl like dumbasses without telling each other?”
Giggling nervously, Riley smiles at her, the tension in her shoulders beginning to relax. “I guess so. I thought you’d be jealous. You’re not meant to wanna date two people at once.”
I know, Ellie thinks, remembering her own worries about the same thing. But now emboldened by her girlfriend also wanting to date two people at the same time, she instead says, “Says who?” Yeah, she’s never seen three people together, but when she was younger, she didn’t even know about gay couples, and she later learned that plenty of girls love other girls. So, who’s to say that somewhere in the world, there aren’t groups of three people who love each other like a couple? “I don’t give a fuck if people think I’m weird.”
Squeezing her hand tighter, Riley smiles, her laughter dying down. “Yeah. I know. So… i-if I suggested we… we ask Dina out on a date… what would you think?”
In truth, the thought of going on a date with someone kind of terrifies her, but Ellie refuses to admit that. So, instead, she nudges Riley with her elbow, beams at her wonderful girlfriend, and says, “Sounds fucking amazing.”
And they continue their walk home, already planning how the hell to approach Dina and ask her on a date with both of them.