Chapter Text
“Are you really still single?” Sara’s teasing voice annoys the hell out of Ellie. So much she almost hangs up right then and there, “you know Riley is invited too, and Cat. And they are both engaged already. My mom’s got a date and yours does too. Like what are you even doing?”
“Sarah, shut the fuck up,” Ellie hangs up now. Not the first time she does it to Sarah. The gall of her to say such things. Sarah herself detests dating but that never stopped her from mercilessly bothering her little sister. Ellie’s phone vibrates and she dreads watching but she does anyway.
'I’m telling you uncle Tommy will end up declaring you the family’s spinster.'
“Ugh,” Ellie rolls her eyes and doesn’t dignify that message with an answer. Who cares if her exes are already engaged. Who cares that Sarah’s mom got another boyfriend or that Anna decided to take her girlfriend to Maria’s and Tommy’s anniversary party? Ellie definitely doesn’t care. Not a single bit.
Except maybe she does.
A little bit. Almost none at all. Ok, maybe she cares a lot. Ellie grabs her diary and writes some ideas. She considers just not going. Yet despite how badly she hung up on her she misses Sarah and even Joel and Tess. Joel would be sad if she doesn’t go but going alone and then facing all the stupid pressure from her family and Maria’s employees - among which there’s two of her exes - sounds like a lot. If only there was a way for her to find a date or something.
Her phone vibrates again but Ellie doesn’t want to reply to Sarah so she ignores it. She keeps sketching and writing different things. Maybe an idea for her next painting will come to her like this, out of frustration. Then she gets an email. She knows because her ringtone is different for those alarms so she checks on it. After reading and replying she hears her doorbell ringing and she goes to check. To her surprise it’s her friend Dina, who leaves nearby.
“Hi,” Ellie smiles but Dina seems pissed.
“Why are you ignoring me?” Dina crosses her arms over her chest. Even when angry she’s so gorgeous it hurts.
Focus, you useless lesbian, Ellie berates herself.
Ellie blinks and notices she has her phone on her hand. “Oh this… I was checking some email, work stuff,” only then she checks her messages and sees it wasn’t Sarah but Dina the last one who wrote to her. “I’m sorry, I wasn’t trying to ignore you on purpose.”
Dina sighs and looks her up and down, her eyelashes are to die for. She's an absolute goddess and Ellie knows she shouldn't be thinking about her friend in these terms but can’t help herself, “ok, what’s going on?” Dina enters and sits on a chair near the table. It’s not that Dina doesn’t respect her personal space, it's that she knows Ellie enough to read in her face when she needs to be heard and when she needs to be alone. And Ellie loves that about her. She loves many things about her. Ellie closes the door and follows her. “You look like something is bothering you.”
“Uhm…” Ellie isn’t sure how to tell her. In fact she’s confused because in her message Dina was telling her she wanted to talk to Ellie about something major that happened to her. But now she’s asking Ellie about herself instead, “what did you want to talk about?”
“Not that important,” Dina moves her hand dismissively, “tell me about you.” Dina insists, puts her elbows on the table, clasps her hands and places her head on top, “shoot.”
Ellie sighs, she can’t resist it when Dina is insistent so she surrenders instead. “It’s just that… There’s Maria’s and Tommy’s big party coming soon and I don’t have a girlfriend and everyone is going to be bothering me like hell about it.”
“Oh…” Dina sits straighter and looks away. She lowers her palms to the table and bites her lower lip. Then she looks at Ellie and smiles, “why don’t you take a fake girlfriend?”
Ellie blinks, “sounds like too much drama.”
“On the contrary,” Dina holds up a finger, “it’s absolutely zero drama because it’s fake, you just take her and pretend you are together for the party. No strings attached.”
Ellie arches an eyebrow, “but then later if they ask me about her, then what?”
“You can invent something… or say you broke up, in any case you would be here already and the party would have passed so… no drama,” Dina smirks at her own brilliance.
“But where would I find a fake girlfriend?” Ellie shrugs, this idea doesn’t sound entirely bad but she’s not convinced yet.
Dina looks to the side again, almost as if she was shy. “Well, since it was my idea, I could be your fake girlfriend.” Dina suggests, making Ellie blush.
Ellie looks down and clears her throat, “are you sure?” She observes her again. Dina doesn’t seem annoyed by this idea at all and this makes Ellie suspect two opposite ideas. Either Dina doesn’t give a damn about women and she’s helping because she’s a good friend; or she has some interest in her after all.
Don’t fuck up your friendship, don’t fuck up your friendship, she’s flirty with anyone. Dina never even mentioned she could like girls. She's probably just trying to be a good friend.
“So… what do you say?” Dina opens her arms and tilts her head, “do you agree?”
“What about Jesse?” he’s still her bro, she can’t just go with Jesse’s girl like that.
“Don’t worry, we’re done,” Dina assures her.
“Like so many times before…” Ellie states.
“This is final, I swear, he won’t mind and the important thing is that I want to help you, ok?” Dina insists with such a sweet tone and face, it’s really impossible to say no.
“Ok, yeah, why not?” Ellie scratches her neck and nods. Unsure of how to close the deal she offers her hand to shake and Dina initially scoffs but then she takes it.
“Deal,” Dina smiles while looking her in the eyes.
The idea works perfectly. Dina looks radiant at the party and everyone likes her immediately. Ellie tries not to ogle but it’s hard. Dina is wearing a red dress with her back open and has her hair up, with some curls coming down, she’s just breathtaking. They ask her all sorts of questions and it’s amazing how good she is at inventing things on the spot. Some of the things she says are real, like how they met and all that, but some are pure fabrication. Ellie just stays next to her and nods. Anna tries to take Ellie apart to inquire some more but Ellie escapes her soon enough. Anna hasn’t been in Ellie’s life for long so Ellie still feels awkward around her. Joel and Tess are more family than she is. Sarah is surprised but somehow Dina’s confidence wins her over. Even Tess seems to be ok with Dina, something completely weird that never happens. Joel gives her the thumbs up and doesn’t comment much about it, classic dad style. For the first time in some years, Ellie actually has fun during this kind of party. She even dances with Dina after a short resistance on Ellie’s part. Dina’s arms around her feel nice. Maybe too nice.
It’s all fake, not real, not real, she said no strings attached, Ellie tells herself more than once during the night. However she’s only human and the way Dina smiles at her while they dance and how she’s been looking at her, taking care that she doesn’t feel out of place and playing her part so perfectly is affecting Ellie in spite of all her efforts. She was never immune to Dina’s charm.
The highest point of the dance though - and the one that confuses her more than anything else - is when Dina kisses her. Either she’s really into convincing her family or she definitely likes girls because that kiss feels pretty real to Ellie. Time seems to stop and Ellie kisses her back. If a lightning struck her right there and she died she would still consider herself lucky. Dina is kissing her! Even if this is fake Dina is kissing her! She doesn't remember a moment in her life where she felt happier. It's unreal, better than winning the lottery or than flying to the moon. Her lips are soft and her hand is on the back of Ellie’s head while the other is on her shoulder. Ellie’s hands hold onto her like if her life depended on it. She feels Dina’s lips curling upward, her smile only makes Ellie more disconcerted and flustered. It’s very likely that she’s wet already. Is she just dreaming all of this? Is she dead or what is happening? If she could stop time and just enjoy this moment forever she would.
The rest of whatever happens is a blur on Ellie’s mind. She can only remember Dina’s mouth on hers and her mind repeats it once and again. If anyone is talking to her she has no idea what she replies. They leave the party smiling and laughing. They go to their hotel and laugh at their stupid jokes all the way there but collapse in bed afterwards. When she wakes up she tells Dina not to worry, that she won’t take this in any strange way. Dina slaps her arm and laughs but Ellie is serious. She truly thinks Dina was just being nice. Dina looks confused but she’s receiving work calls all the time and gets pretty distracted with them. Dina has to travel the afternoon after they arrive back home but makes Ellie promise they will talk once she’s back. Ellie assures her that’s fine but has no idea what the deal is.