Note: It's been a while, but here's a new short story for the Cover Me Up series! This is set during the fall of 2035, so it takes place before the events of the main story, and Ellie and Joel are not a couple yet.
Something was wrong, he could sense it. The street, cracked and baking under the heat of the Indian summer, was too quiet. Joel picked up his amble to a brisk walk. What if bandits or infected had broken into Jackson? What if — an icy hand clutched at his chest, making him shiver despite the oppressive afternoon heat — what if Ellie was gone?
Even after a year here in relative peace and safety, even after they'd had it out over Salt Lake City, there was still a part of him that was convinced she'd pick up and go, trying to find some way to sacrifice herself for a cure. He knew how much Sam, Tess, and Riley still weighed on her, he could see it in the heaviness of her eyes when she thought he wasn't looking at her.
Joel paused on his front porch and listened, his hand poised an inch above the doorknob. There was no clatter of feet, no sound of movement at all. With a growing sense of panic and despair, he turned the knob and slowly opened the door, inching himself into the hall and easing the door closed behind him. He stood there for a minute in a bright swirl of dust motes dancing in the late afternoon light and listened again. The only sound was the pounding of his own heart, and the house felt wrong, oppressively still, like it was holding its breath and waiting for him to make some terrible discovery.
Three silent steps took him past the unused front bedroom and into the living room, where he saw with growing dread that all of Ellie's constant clutter of books, shoes, and half-made arrows were gone, as if they'd never been there at all. The room was clean, for maybe the first time since they'd moved in and Ellie and her stuff had exploded all over it.
"Ellie?" His call came out as nothing but a harsh whisper as Joel fought to swallow the lump in his throat.
He sensed, more than saw, the movement behind him, a silent shape that slipped out from the shadows of the front bedroom. It may have been a year since he'd been out on the road, but his reflexes were as quick as ever, and he was halfway through his tackle before he registered the wide, surprised, green eyes and the flyaway red ponytail. Ellie shrieked as he twisted in midair and absorbed the shock of the fall with his own hip, and she landed in a tangle of arms, elbows, and legs on his stomach, knocking the wind out of him.
"What the hell, Joel?" She rolled onto all fours and scrambled to her feet, glaring down at him.
"I…what…" he wheezed. He winced as he rolled off his bruised hip and sat up.
A familiar snigger that grew into a guffaw sounded across the room. Joel swiveled his head just in time to see his brother, Tommy, collapse in laughter on the floor from behind the couch, where he'd apparently been crouched. Sheepishly, Maria stood up next to him.
"Tommy!" Ellie turned her disapproving frown on Tommy, which only made him laugh harder.
Maria kicked her husband and said, "Shut UP, Tommy!"
Joel was utterly bewildered. "What is goin' on?" He stood and dusted himself off.
"Told her…it…was…a…bad…idea…" Tommy gulped, tears streaming down his face.
Joel fixed his eyes on Ellie, who looked equal parts alarmed, angry, and mortified. "What's this all about?"
Her answer was only a mumble, but he made out the words "birthday" and "surprise."
Joel felt like he'd been hit with a hammer. He staggered to a chair and dropped bonelessly into it. Was it his birthday? The heat wave they'd been having made it feel a lot like summer, but yes, he supposed it was nearing the end of September. For the first time in twenty-one years he hadn't spent the last half of this month being eaten from the inside by gnawing despair as the day approached. He'd forgotten his birthday, forgotten the anniversary of Sarah's death. He rubbed his thumb over the cracked old watch face in wonder. Then the rest of what Ellie had said hit him.
"You were throwin' a surprise party? For…for me?"
Tommy's laughter, which had died down significantly, was renewed with a loud howl.
"I just…" Ellie shifted from one foot to the other. "I've never thrown a surprise party before. I thought you would like it."
He could feel it building up inside him, as much a product of his relief that Ellie was standing here in front of him as the ridiculousness of the situation, but it was still a surprise when the laugh boiled up from his stomach and rang out in the close air of the living room.
It was a real laugh, and for a second it made him feel almost human again.
"Yeah." She smiled wryly. "Guess I should have thought that through a little better."
He shook his head, still laughing, unable to tell her how delighted he was that she'd thought, even for a moment, that he would enjoy something as normal as a surprise party, or what a gift it was to just come home and find her here every day.
He took her hand instead. Squeezed it, hard. "Thanks, baby girl."
Author's Note: This was written as a birthday present for my friend, Luciferine, and was originally posted on my Tumblr blog.