For a moment Ellie was very quiet again, thinking. It seemed that David had just said something entirely different -- something wonderful -- and it took a moment to appreciate for what it was. I don't want you to go. I feel the same way.
Maybe there was another part of her, something deep inside, that had already known. It was because of this that she managed to be calm at all, though the rest of her -- the feeling part -- grew so overloaded so quickly that she turned to him again in a rather sharp movement, as if he'd startled her. The only reaction that was easy to make -- words always seemed to fail Ellie when they were most needed -- was physical: in one quick moment her arms were around his neck, and she clambered earnestly into his lap, peppering his face and neck with happy, semi-tearful kisses.
"Of course I don't want to leave," she managed, pressing herself against him. "I want you."
This brought to mind the letter. It had been forgotten, what with everything that had happened the last couple of weeks -- O'Brien, Rae's problems with Silas, enjoying life without the threat of sudden evisceration via serial killer. Lily-Margaret had managed to get her hands on it, too, sometime during Ellie's library projects; after that she'd taken to carrying it everywhere just in case, hoping that no one else would accidentally come across it. In that way it had become easy to put out of her mind, even if it was very important.
"I have... I have something," Ellie whispered now, running fingers along the side of David's face. "I... I was trying to tell you, for... What felt like forever. I couldn't... I couldn't think of how, and in the end I wrote you a letter It's..."
She smiled at him with genuine -- somewhat exhilarated -- happiness, and slipped the worn piece of paper from a pocket at her breast. "You can... You can have it now."