Hello one and all :)

Sorry this kind of took a while. This was supposed to be a completely different chapter but then it ended being something I didn't like for that particular drabble, so I just renamed it and kept going from there.

I hope you guys like this one, I had a lot of fun writing it. Cute fluffy subtle moments from everyone.

Again I hope my OC's are doing well :)

As always tell me what you think. You guys are always so nice and positive and I really appreciate all your kind words. :)

Another thing, a special shoutout to the fabulous author Luciferine or inspiring a certain part of the story :D She knows which part :D

Enjoy!

Sophia went to the truck by herself this morning. She had gotten up earlier than everyone else and decided to go and take an early morning walk. It almost didn't surprise her that she would end up at the truck. She had been taking the same route for almost a week that it almost felt routine. Everything was the way Joel and she had left it; tools were still spread out all around one side of the truck with various parts in the back. It was coming along nicely; slower than she thought Joel had anticipated, but nicely still. But something was starting to eat at her. She didn't know what it was though. The closer and closer they got to fix the truck, the closer it would mean that Joel and Ellie would be gone. Things were going to be quiet again. Maybe that's why she started trying to distractions for Joel so they didn't finish so soon. Part of her felt bad about it, yet the other felt no shame. What's wrong with trying to keep your friends along longer? Her brother had started talking about asking if they could join them in finding the Fireflies, but Sophia always dodged the question. She told him that they would talk about it later, but they both knew that they never were. Not until it became more apparent that their time with Joel and Ellie was starting to run low. She heard dragging footsteps coming from behind her. She quietly pulled out her knife and turned her head slowly. When she saw the low auburn pony tail she withdrew it and turned around with a smile.

"Goodmorning Ellie!" she said in a chipper voice.

"When I didn't smell food, I got worried about you." Ellie yawned as she rubbed her right eye.

Thanks, Ellie, way to make me loved, Sophia thought as she shook her head, making her curls bounce.

"Is Joel up yet?" Sophia asked as she stepped away from the truck

"He's still asleep. I think he wanted to take the day off from fixing it and sleep in for once." Ellie shrugged as she pulled her ponytail tighter.

"Ohhh… is he now…?" Sophia put her hands together, smiling evilly.

Ellie didn't have time to respond as Sophia quickly linked arms with her started walking back to the house. Ellie didn't like where this was going especially since that smile on Sophia's face was starting to creep her out. Meanwhile, back in the quiet two story abode, Alex had been trying to wake Joel up ever since Ellie said she was going out to find his sister. He knew his sister well; too damn well and knew Joel was going to be in for it if he wasn't up by the time Sophia got back. He thought this was going to be easy but damn, this dude slept like a rock! Would he even hear a Clicker if it walked by right now? He had tried everything; shaking him, calling out his name, claiming that Ellie was set on fire. He even tried making Clicker noises and movements, but it was a complete fail and did nothing to Joel's sleeping. All it proved was that if Alex were to be turned into a Clicker, he would sound like a dying frog and just look like a dead boy with a horrible spazzing problem.

"Seriously?! How the hell did you survive all this time?!" he yelled as he raised his hands up in surrender.

He could hear loud giggling from the front overgrown lawn, which made him try and work harder, but it was no use. He was really going to hate this morning.

"Ooooohhh Jooooel! Waaakey Waaakey!" Sophia sang up to the broken window.

Joel stirred, but it wasn't enough to send him flying. He just tiredly waved his hand and went right back to sleep. Sophia put her hands on her hips and gave Ellie another villainous smile.

"He's underestimating me; a poor decision Joel, a poor decision indeed." She sighed and shook her head before looking up and picking her head up sharply.

She ran towards the front door, making her fifteen year old brother leap into action in protecting Joel by running downstairs in order to stop her. Sophia went into the torn living room and grabbed a dusty bullhorn before heading up the creaking steps. Ellie followed quickly behind her, curious and a little concerned as to what she was planning to do to Joel. When she got to the top, she was stopped by her brother who was guarding the second floor by having his body outstretched to the adjacent walls.

"Come on Sophia; don't you think you're going to take this too far? Just let the ol' man sleep!"

"There is no sleeping in here in the city of Alex and Sophia land!" Sophia yelled with confidence. "…Unless said Alex and Sophia are sleeping in themselves!" she declared after giving some thought and raised the bull horn in the air.

She then shoved Alex out of the way and into the left wall as she pranced into Joel and Ellie's room. Ellie stood in front of Alex and put out a hand to help him up. He took it and stood up with ease. The second she felt his skin touch hers, she felt her heart skip a beat and heat rush to her face. She pulled her hand back quickly and turned to the room quickly so he wouldn't see her face. He looked at her confused but smiled anyway. They opened the door to see Sophia overlooking the sleeping Joel as she batted her eyes and smiled as if she was looking at an infant.

"Awww… he's so cute when he sleeps… it would be a shame if something… woke him up." Her blue eyes shot over to Alex and Ellie.

Alex's eyes looked over to the utterly confused Ellie and quickly put his hands over her ears. She looked at him and was about to ask what the hell was going on, but he just shook his head and shut his eyes tight, as if waiting for some sort of impact. Ellie looked over to Sophia as she pulled the bullhorn up to her mouth and took in a deep breath before turning it on. For as long as Joel and Ellie were, she wanted to spend every minute with them, from the time she woke up, to the time she went to sleep. She still didn't know why the exact reason still, but she could always find out later.

"GOOOOOOODMORNIN' JOEL~! IT'S A BEEEA-U-TI-FUL DAY HERE IN THE CITY OF ALEX AND SOPHIA LAND! Temperatures are slowly dropping to the upcoming fall season but THAT'S OK!" she yelled into the bullhorn.

Joel woke with a jolt as he jumped from his bed and almost onto the floor. The loud squeaking from the bullhorn made Ellie instinctively put her hands over Alex's ears as they both squeezed tighter in order to try and drown out the noise. Joel looked up at Sophia with a hard and tired stare; if looks could kill… But Sophia kept on going, yelling random things into the bullhorn as if she was some kind of morning news reporter. She then turned to Alex and pointed.

"Annnnd now it's time for our morning anthem! Ready ONE TWO THREE GO!"

Alex looked around confused before taking his hands from the sides of Ellie's warm face and starting beating on his chest for a makeshift drum.

"And Ellie! ….Be Ellie!" Sophia then pointed to the fourteen year old.

Ellie didn't have any sort of cue, so she just put her hands on hips and smiled big, making Alex chuckle under his breath. Before Sophia could start singing God knows what, Joel yanked the bullhorn away from her and threw it behind him.

"The hell kinda drugs are you on girl?" he asked as he put a hand to his forehead.

"B12 motha fucka!" she yelled; she was loud even without the bullhorn.

"B12? Where did you get that from?" Alex suddenly chimed in when he realized he never heard of that one before.

"I don't know, I read it somewhere on one of those prescription bottles and—

"Is there any reason why you had to wake me up?" Joel asked, cutting Sophia off.

"Because it's morning. Duh?" she turned to him.

Joel didn't have the energy for this. Sophia saw that in the way he got up and the way his eyes looked. She felt a little bad and looked over to Alex who only shrugged and Ellie went over to Joel and began to ask how he was. Suddenly an idea popped into Sophia's head and she snapped her fingers. Alex already knew what she was thinking and retreated from the room. She turned to Joel with an apologetic smile on her.

"Y'know what? I'm sorry for waking you up, but I just like hanging out with you guys. We don't have company… like ever. But you do have the right to sleep in; so I'll make a deal with you Mr. Joel." Sophia winked.

Joel's brown eyes darted toward her as he waited to hear her proposal.

"If you can beat me at my hunting game, then you can sleep in all you want tomorrow."

Joel raised an eyebrow and thought about it. Hunting game? Well that should be an easy win. And it would be a way let out some steam from how much Sophia has had him running up the wall lately. He only gave one nod before stopping himself by the sound of Ellie's voice.

"What happens when you win?"

Sophia smiled a sly smile before putting a finger to her chin and thought for a moment. What would be something that would make Joel work so hard that he couldn't let himself lose. Her eyes looked around the room and noticed the old guitar sitting in the corner of the room. She then remembered one of the conversations Joel and Ellie had one morning during breakfast. How could she possibly forget?

"Joel has to sing for us."

Ellie's eyes lit up as Joel's face never changed. He just looked over to her with a stern "no" look on his face. Ellie looked over to what soon going to be her new best friend if she won this.

"What's the matter Joel? Stage fright?"

"You gotta be kiddin' me."

"If you're so confident in the way you shoot, like Ellie has told me in many stories, then should be easy. Deal?" Sophia stuck out her hand.

She was right; this should be something easy and simple for Joel. After everything he had been through over the twenty years and then some; this should be a walk in the park. He took Sophia's hand and shook it. This made her smile widely and run out of the room, yelling something to her brother. Joel and Ellie were alone in the room now. It was interesting for them since they hadn't really been by themselves ever since they've been here. It was quiet except for the sudden slamming of the door and the rushing footsteps of Sophia's feet. Ellie let out a loud sigh and sat down on her unmade bed.

"I think Sophia's gonna kick your ass." She finally says.

"You wish; well let's get a move on, and see where she ran off to." Joel motions for Ellie to follow.

As they stepped outside, it wasn't as hot as it used to be. Hot enough to make one sweat on the back on their neck, but had a cool breeze to cool it off. They walked along the broken road towards the storehouse, where Joel was almost sure they were waiting at. Ellie was whistling the whole time there. While normally this would annoy Joel when they were on the road, it was nice to hear her so calm and relaxed. There were even some nights where he had considered giving up this search and just stay here, but he knew Ellie wouldn't have it. She wanted to find the Fireflies more than anything . Maybe they could come back when this was all over. Maybe they could bring them along to Tommy's. It was a question that reoccurred whenever he and Sophia worked in silence on the truck. He thought about asking her, but it was something that was going to have to wait, until after this "hunting game". When they made it to the storehouse, Alex was painting numbers on planks of wood while Sophia was playing around with a bow and arrow. When she the footsteps, she turned her head and smirked.

"Finally you get here! Could you walk any slower?" Sophia mocked as she put the arrow in a quiver behind her back.

"Alright, we're here. Now explain what this game is." Joel replied ignoring her taunt.

Sophia sighed as she pulled up her curls into a low pony tail and handed Joel a spare bow and quiver. Alex handed Ellie the stack of planks he was working on. He smiled at her and she looked down at the stack as if were the most interesting thing she had ever seen before. Joel saw this and raised an eyebrow. That wasn't what it looked like…right? Sophia cleared her throat, getting all three of their attention.

"Alright, this is how it works; in order to win this game, you must get more points than the other person. Points are awarded from stealth, style, and accuracy. First person to get to twenty-one is the winner, yes?"

"Sounds simple 'nough." Joel nodded as he put the quiver on his back. "But… what are we shootin' at?"

Sophia motions Joel follow and leads them through many different alleyways and streets until they were a completely different part of town. It was there, that their targets were at. There weren't that many, but it was enough to make Joel and Ellie instinctively reach for something to defend themselves with. Sophia laughed as she motioned for them to lower their weapons.

"Now, now it's alright. They are simple Runners. The fact they are like this makes the game more suspenseful don't ya think?" Sophia's eyes sparkle.

This girl had some serious issues. And may be on some kind of drug that she hides form everyone, Ellie thought and laughed to herself. Joel just shrugged and walked up next to her. This should be fun. Alex brought out an old and dirty metal table and placed it quietly in front of him and Ellie. Once they were set up, Alex instructed them to get into a start position.

"Ready? One… Two… Go!" Alex yelled.

Sophia immediately took off while Joel went behind old cars to sneak up to on the Infected. It was long before he heard a thud to the ground and looked to see a fallen Infected with an arrow shot cleanly through it rotten skull. He looked around for Sophia only to find her hanging upside down with her hair flowing freely and her shirt going slightly up, revealing her tight stomach. She then let the bow fall to the ground as she flipped down to the ground. She looked over to the judges table where Ellie put up a ten and Alex an eight. She gave her brother a look when she saw this score.

"It's because you always do that trick." He commented.

Sophia stuck her middle finger to him as she picked up her bow and quiver and started looking for another trick to do. Joel looked up from a broken window that was shattered one the rusted blue car he was hiding behind. There was a Runner in plain sight. Joel took his chance and pulled on the bow until the arrow met his stubble cheek and shot. The runner went down instantly with the arrow right in between its eyes. Alex gave him a nine with Ellie matching his score. That already made them tied. This felt like it was going to be a close call. The game went on for two hours. Sophia getting some sweet tricks shots but losing in accuracy after awhile, while Joel kept it simple and got the bastards right between the eyes every time. It wasn't until the sun was setting and making the sky different shades of purple and pink, did Joel make the final shot and won the game. The ending score was twenty-one to twenty. Joel let out a sigh of relief. Looks there wasn't going to a concert tonight. Sophia walked back to the table with a slightly disappointed look on her face but she smiled all the same.

"Well aren't you one lucky duck Joel? Well, you win and get to sleep the day away while I am quiet as a mouse. Let's hurry up and go home. I'm starvin'." Sophia yawned as she stretched up to sky.

"Make that two of us." Ellie chimed in as she handed the planks over to Alex.

Sophia giggled and leads everyone back to the house; Alex and Sophia lead the way, while Joel and Ellie trailed behind.

"Who knew you were actually gonna beat her." Ellie whispered to Joel.

"You sound surprised."

"Only a little. But at least you don't have to sing now, right?" Ellie chuckled, but there was hint of disappointment in her voice.

He then looked over to Sophia who then realized that she only picked that prize for Ellie. Maybe some of it was for her own personal reason, but he knew she did it for Ellie. As they walked back into the house, Sophia pulled out some canned fruit; looks like she was going to keep things simple tonight. They ate in a circle with an oil lamp in the center along with other candles lighting up the rest of the house. Even though they had enough generators to power their house, Sophia claimed that she only wanted to use them in case of emergencies, like when it was winter. As Sophia ate in silence and Alex and Ellie were trying to see if they could catch food in their by the other tossing it, Joel went upstairs and grabbed the faded guitar. He walked downstairs and sat in front of the teenagers. Ellie was the first one to notice and completely forgot about the little game they were playing, making Alex accidently throw one of the blueberries at the side of her head. Sophia looked up from her fruit and couldn't help but smile. Joel played each string quietly, making sure it was still in tune. When it sounded right, Joel started playing. No one said anything, but just listened to the sound of the guitar and Joel's singing. Ellie's eyes lit up so much, you could probably see them a mile away. Sophia leaned on her brother's shoulder. They listened to every word and every note as if it was the most beautiful thing in the world. When he was finished they all clapped, but Ellie clapped the most. She looked so happy that Joel couldn't help but smile. His eyes darted over to Sophia who just smiled and winked at him. As they were going off to sleep, Ellie stopped Sophia in the middle of the second floor hallway.

"Hey Sophia?"

Before she had a chance to respond, Ellie hugged her tight.

"Thanks for helping Joel and me. And for making him sing for me."

Sophia hugged her back and messed with her ponytail before breaking apart and smiling.

"That was all on him Ellie. He just needed a little help I think." She smiled before waving goodnight and closing the door.

That next day, Joel slept until the sun was high in the bright blue sky, while the others were outside playing the hunting game.