A Breath of Fresh Air - e.w.

34

"Leah," Dina mumbled, "Or, uh, other Leah. She's at the TV station - we're heading there now."

"Who?" Lia whispered. She had a cloth in her hand, aggressively rubbing at the blood on her hands to get it off. Dina only came in after Ellie, crouching in front of the girl who was only focused on getting blood off her hands.

"This girl. Ellie found the photo off of Jordan - scar face." Lia looked over at the photo, raising an eyebrow at the blood that smeared over the boob the girl was showcasing, "Avoid whistling. I did and it was not good timing," Dina tried to joke with the girl, but she only got a small smirk in response, "you okay?"

"Yeah, just-" Lia's voice cut off before she shook her head and looked back at the photo, "Where's the tv station?"

"By those tall buildings over there," Dina pointed over to tall buildings. She frowned when Lia let out a small sigh, dropping the cloth and muttering a small fuck. Dina took off her jacket, handing it over to Lia, "Here. Use it to cover the blood for now. We'll find some water to get it all cleaned up."

Lia thanked the girl quietly. She was about to throw on the jacket when she stopped. Dina was once again holding her stomach and looking around. It was like she didn't even realize that she was holding it. Protecting it.

"I'm okay, actually," Lia handed Dina her jacket back, "I have a jacket... just covered in a bit of blood. It's rainy as shit here. I'm sure there's water nearby and it'll rain and clear me off. For now, I'm good." Lia went to the mirror in the bathroom, lifting up her shirt slightly to examine the bandage, "I'll have to clean this up anyways."

"Fuck, are you okay?"

"Yeah, just scratches. I'll just need to clean it up."

"Here, before we go," Dina hands Lia over some alcohol and a new cloth. Lia sent the girl a thankful smile, quickly cleaning the scratches on her stomach and wrapping it quickly.

"You could use the alcohol to clean off some the blood if you want," Dina suggets, "Just to get it off."

"No, it'll just waste the alcohol. We need it as disinfectant."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure. Let's just head to the TV station." Lia put on her jacket and followed Dina out of the room.

The two girls walked out of the room where Ellie was waiting for them. The auburn-haired girl stood up anxiously and tried to make eye contact with Lia, frowning deeper when Lia avoided eye contact. When Lia first started cleaning off the blood, Ellie went to help, but Lia pushed her away. It's been a while since Lia pushed the girl away.

Lia jumped down out of the building first, followed by Ellie and Dina. The girl turned to Ellie, who sped up a bit to walk next to Lia, "Thanks for the save back there. I thought I was fucked."

"Yeah, no problem," Lia replied quietly, "you're sorta important to me, I guess."

"You guess?" Ellie's lips turned up slightly.

"Mhm," Lia nodded. Her head turned to look over at Ellie who was staring at her with soft eyes. Lia forgot for a second that she was initially mad at Ellie since all she saw with that stare was all the good moments of just them.

But, Lia wasn't someone to let things pass. She's been through too much to just forgive someone. Even for the smallest things. Lia will always trust actions more than words.

So, when Ellie focused more on other Leah's photo than Lia. That hurt. She knows Ellie wants revenge. She knows the idea is consuming Ellie. Lia understands everything. Somehow understanding hurt just a little bit extra.