It's not an easy thing to have asked, and Ellie half expects Abby to leave after this. Hell, she kind of wants to leave, and it's her own room. Her skin aches, but she breathes through it, lets it pass.

Yeah. They're not done.

Ellie's forgotten how she wanted to approach this, though, and it feels so fucking weird and awkward, but it also has to be done.

"Clarisse," she says, pressing her lips together. Don't blush. Don't fucking blush.

"I- haven't told her anything. At all. She says she doesn't care about whatever history's between us. But... it's gonna come up, you know?"

It's inevitable, given this world, given how many things have been dragged uncomfortably to the surface, through magic, through nightmares, through shared dreams.

"And it's not just mine."