Chapter 80: Chapter 80: Give and Take

River

Walking into that room and telling Ellie that he wanted to talk to her after she’d been so dismissive of him not that much earlier was one of the most difficult things River had ever done. But after speaking to his mom and her dad, he knew it was something he had to do.

“About us?” Ellie repeated. “Didn’t we do that already?”

He could tell by her expression that she had softened slightly, that she wasn’t quite as angry as she had been before.

“No, not really,” River said. “There are other things I think we need to talk about, Ellie. After all, what we decide to do doesn’t just affect us. There are other people that are involved, people who care about both of us.”

Her eyes stayed glued to his face for a moment before she finally blinked and nodded. “All right. What do you want to talk about then, River?”