WHO: Dustin, Ellie, Freddie, and Garrett WHAT: Dustin and Ellie finally get caught. WHERE: A corridor in the upper levels of Camelot, usually not frequented often. WHEN: After the gossip rag is released. WARNINGS: Uh. Cuteness, and then fucking sadness okay don't judge me I'm not crying fuck you.
Dustin and Ellie had been sneaking around for months. He knew it was stupid, he knew he should have just come clean to everybody and tell Freddie the truth instead of continuing to see Ellie in secret, but he'd been so scared that he'd lose his best friend, and then days turned to months, and now it was just awkward. The longer it went, the harder it was to tell Freddie, and now he and Ellie had a hard time hanging out even remotely innocently if they didn't have supervision because it usually spiraled into a lot of making out.
Which was how this day was turning out. They'd met in an upstairs corridor to talk, the two of them sitting on the floor with their backs against the stone wall. Dustin had his head tilted to look at her, his hand encompassing hers gently as he frowned. The gossip rag really liked to focus on the Morgans/Evans family, and each time it came out they all braced themselves for whatever it was going to say next. This one was a particularly nasty one, and as the subjects were his best friend and his girlfriend, it'd made Dustin even angrier. He was going to find Freddie later to make sure he was okay, but for now Ellie had wanted to talk to him.
"Don't let it get to you," Dustin sighed, resting his cheek against the top of her head. "The gossip person is stupid. And dumb. And every other synonym for somebody not smart." Okay, so he wasn't the best at comforting words, or words in general, the intent was there. He meant well by the words he said. "Besides, we both know it's not true. I mean, you make out with me, not Freddie. They're just grasping at straws because you guys aren't super scandalous right now."