The Last of Us: Can't Escape Your Past
It seems like no matter where we are or what we do, we always seem to fall into a routine. But this time, it's different. No worries about finding a suitable place to rest a while, finding food or water; the overall fight to see tomorrow.
Now it's different. Very different.
Every time I come home in the evening, she's sitting on our couch either watching DVDs of old television shows or movies, or up in her room reading books, comic books, or practicing on her guitar.
It's different…but familiar.
"So y'all need me there tomorrow?
"If you can. I normally would have assigned you to the morning trip but I know you just got off this shift. We're doing the trip in three parts. You can come around noon. Should still be good game around then."
I nod my head in understanding. "I'll be there."
I turn off my walkie talkie for the night and opened the door to our home. I came home a bit later today, closer to midnight. And there she was asleep on the couch, a DVD of Friends playing softly on the screen.
Even though we've been here for almost 5 months now, I still can't get used to the change. Getting used to letting our guard down for a while. She's no different. Upon hearing my footsteps, I see her ears perk up and she quickly begins to stir.
"Shit, what time is it?" She mutters, while rubbing her eyes.
At least she's better than I am. I would have pulled out a gun by now.
I had a slew of other responses, but I couldn't help but say, "It's way past your bedtime."
Her eyes immediately bulge out of her head.
"Wait, fuck, what time is it?" Her voice held a bit of more a distressed tone.
I resist the urge to look at my watch. It hasn't worked in years anyway. Not that I'm complaining. "About ten to midnight." I respond, looking at the clock on the wall.
She breathes out an audible sigh of relief. "Oh thank god, it's still today." She quickly stands up and runs to the stairs, taking two at a time.
"Wait there! Don't fucking move!" She yells from the top of the stairs.
I really don't have the energy for this. But I shrug and sit down on the couch, turning up the volume on the television a bit.
A few minutes have passed and I must have begun to doze off. I felt myself being shaken a bit.
I open my eyes to see her standing there, her bright green eyes filled with nothing but happiness and excitement.
And lingering doubt.
"Here." She hands me a small green bag.
"What's this?" I ask in confusion and gently take the bag out of her hand.
"Your birthday." She says softly.
My eyes widened a bit, before briefly meeting with hers. I look at the small bag in my hands and proceed to open it. Slowly. Once it's opened I reached inside and feel the object. It's is fairly small, feels smooth and I can distinctly make out a chain.
I pull out the object and for a moment, I was without words.
A pocket watch. Silver in color, slightly covered in dirt, scratches, and rust, but nonetheless beautiful.
"Where did you…" My sentence trailed off as I flipped the lid open.
"I lifted it off a hunter we encountered on my last hunting trip. I thought it looked cool. Tommy said it was vintage or something like that. So I thought…y'know." She said a bit shyly.
It just seems like I'm running on auto-pilot.
"Baby," I tap the watch and hold it up to my ear. "Baby, I think it's stuck. It's not…" I tap the watch again.
Dread immediately filled her face and went to grab the watch.
"What? No, no! It was working-"
There was nothing wrong with it. Working just fine.
For some reason, I just couldn't resist.
"Oh fuck you man!" She playfully shoves me with a smile and it makes me chuckle.
"Thank you." I say and tuck it safely into the front pocket of my jeans.
Ellie smiles and nods her head before yawning a bit.
"I think you should head on to bed now."
"Psh, I'm not even tired." She stretches and looks over at the television screen and sees that the DVD is no longer running.
"Oh this one's done. Let's get another one in."
Before I have a chance to argue she makes her way to the bin and begins sifting through the collection. One finally caught her interest and she pulls it out.
"How I Met Your Mother." She muses to herself, studying the cover of the DVD a bit.
Ah, an old favorite of mine. Even though it seemed like that show was never going to end, it was bound to come full circle at some point.
Shame we never got to see that one.
She pops the DVD in and presses play before making her way to lie back down on the couch, using my thigh as her pillow.
"Was this show any good?" She asked softly.
"One of the best of my time." I respond.
Her eyes light up and her legs bounce in excitement upon hearing that.
It added years to my life to see her enjoying the show. Even though I had to explain a few of the jokes to her, it didn't take away a thing. A good amount of time had passed before I realized that I hadn't heard a peep from her.
I looked down and found her sound asleep. I looked up at the clock and saw it was just past 2:30 in the morning.
Thank goodness I'm on the afternoon shift.
I slowly maneuver my leg to not wake her up. I manage to do so and keep a soft hold on her head as I slide a pillow under her head for the time being.
I make my way into the kitchen to find something to eat. She did a good job with dinner tonight; steak cooked well done, mashed potatoes, and corn. I placed them in the toaster to warm up. I make my way to the fridge to find something to drink, but I wouldn't be surprised if I found nothing other than water. She's become a bit of a juice addict.
I make quick work of my meal and glance at the clock. It's closing in on 3.
I make my way to Ellie and gently pick her up, holding her close to my chest. She subconsciously nuzzles against it.
I take her upstairs and to her bedroom. It was a bit cool in her room and it was bound to affect her sometime in the night. I bend down slightly and manage to pull back the blanket before placing her on her side on the bed. I pull the blanket over her and she sighs appreciatively at the added warmth. I watch her for a few moments when I noticed a stray hair out of place. I gently move the hair out of her face and tucked it behind her ear.
"Night, baby girl."
I walk out of her room, leaving the door opened a crack and I make my way to my room. I close the door behind me and lean against it, slowly getting lost in my thoughts.
21 years today, my life, all our lives changed forever. The world flipped upside down in the blink of an eye. The moment time stood still.
I walk over to a part of my room where two small photos were pinned on the wall. I looked at the first. It's a bit faded but the image is still as clear as day. It brings me right back.
Me and her. At one her soccer games. A gold trophy clutched on her hand. I remember being the proudest father on the field that day.
I felt a tear slip out of my eye and I wiped it away.
I glanced at the photo right below it.
Me and her. I was knelt next to her with a smile on my face. She was smiling brightly while holding a basketball. I remember that day well. Wasn't too long ago.
She surprised us all, hell maybe even surprised herself upon discovering her hidden talent of basketball.
Who knew?
I can't help but smile, even chuckle to myself a bit.
I guess no matter how hard you try, no matter how hard you fight…
You just can't escape your past.
I pull out the pocket watch and opened it up. It was still ticking. Then I look at the watch on my wrist. I tap it out of habit.
It stopped ticking a long time ago.
Even though it's not its intended place, I manage to slip the chain of the pocket watch over my head and wear it as a necklace.
I toe off my shoes, make my way to the bed and make myself comfortable, crossing my fingers over my stomach and staring up at the ceiling for a bit. After a while, my brain screamed at my eyes to shut and they finally complied.
The sound of ticking was like a lullaby.
And the faint sound of duel ticking brought good dreams.
I'm supposed to be working on my 7 page term paper and here I am writing fluffy, feely, TLOU while listening to Lindsey Stirling XD
(Well thanks to an outline I have like 4 pages covered lolololol)
Thank you for reading! =D I hope you enjoyed this fluffy thing and hope the feels aren't too strong. Leave a review if you'd like =)