It was about 5 in the afternoon, her fingers were trembling from the cold wind that blew inbetween the buildings they walked beside, a wind tunnel that only exacerbated the chilling effect of the cold autumn day. At some point she had shrugged a loose jacket that she had put on without any real consideration for how it looks with her overall outfit off and placed it upon the shoulders of her companion. She didn't flinch from the wind, didn't seem to notice it,looking up at the signs for the buildings they passed, walking to the mall.
At some point she had noticed the other's pinky finger wrapped neatly around her own, the light pressure snapping her out of her thoughts, looking down at the girl she walked beside. A soft smile was cast up at her, warm and familar, comforting. It made her stomach twist inti a tight knot, sickening her.
"Are you okay, Kira?" The softest voice asked as it slipped between the lips that were drawn into a smile, the face they were attached to drawn into a soft look of concern. It made her heart ache even more, a sharp breath drawn between barely parted lips.
"Yeah," she quietly answered, almost drowned out by the bustle of the city had they not been so close. "I'm fine." Her lips gently curved upwards, a sadness lingering in her eyes yet the woman who walked alongside her didn't press, finding it a battle not worth fighting in that moment.
She felt a weight fall into her side, a warmth traveling up the arm that originally only connected them by a pinky. She could feel the other's eyes on her, warm and gentle and weightless yet all consuming. She felt her heart catch in her throat, meeting her gaze. She couldn't help the words that feel from her lips next.
"Please don't look at me like that," she pleaded almost helplessly.
"Like what?"
A silence enveloped the two as the noise of the city seemed to become muted, the pair stopping where they stood, the wind no longer something Kira could feel.
"Like you could love me... It makes me think I deserve it."
The answer hit harder than it should have, it hurt to say more than Kira would have liked it to. Yet she couldn't feel anything until she felt a warm hand pressed against her cheek, gently cupping it.
"You do deserve it, Kira."
Those words were like a hand gently turning the tap on a sink, tears, large and warm and wet streaking down Kira's face in that moment. She couldn't help the sob that escaped her as her companion pulled her into a hug.
"Ellie," she could barely choke out, the tone a plead, as if begging to be released, or perhaps held closer, and yet she only melted into the woman she held close to her.
Ellie's response was quiet, yet it was all Kira needed. "Yes?"
Another soft sob escaped her. "I love you..."
"I love you, too."