The Two of Us Ch.21 - Home Again
~~~Ellie~~~
Ellie stood next to the truck, fingering the scar on her arm, thinking about what Joel had told her about the fireflies. She wanted to believe him, but deep down, she couldn't.
"Well, guess we're walking." Joel sighed, slamming the hood of the truck down. Ellie pulled down her sleeve as Cameron came around the other side of the truck.
"What's the matter?" He asked her, slipping his hand into hers.
"Nothing, I'm fine." Ellie told him.
"If you don't want to tell me, just say it, I can tell something's wrong Ellie." He responded, his cheery smile fading.
"I'm sorry, it's just... Never mind." Ellie said.
"Okay, just let me know if you do want to talk." He said as they followed Joel into the woods. Ellie stared up at the tall trees, she could see patches of blue sky above the tops of them. Joel rambled on about something, but Ellie wasn't listening. Ellie's mind wandered as the woods cleared to small stream and the top of a small plateau. Off where the stream tumbled down the hill, Ellie could see Jackson in the distance. Joel heaved himself on top of the raised earth and helped Ellie up. She stood, looking out over the town and the vast forest that stretched farther than she could see. She heard Joel grunt as he helped pull Cameron onto the plateau.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" Cameron asked, standing next to her. Ellie dropped her gaze and stared at the ground in front of her. She looked up to see Joel and Cameron starting down the hill.
"Hey wait." Ellie called out, causing them to both stop and turn towards her. Ellie let out a long sigh.
"Back in Boston, back when I got bit. I wasn't alone. My best friend was there and she got bit too." Ellie told them. She noticed Joel cross his arms over his chest.
"We didn't know what to do, so she said, 'Let's just wait it out, y'know be all poetic and just lose our minds together. I'm still waiting for my turn."
"Ellie..." They both started.
"Her name was Riley and she was the first to die, then Tess."
"Ellie, it wasn't your fault." Joel told her. "Look, I struggled for a long time with survivin' and... And no matter what, you keep finding something to fight for." He added. "Now I know that's..."
"Swear to me." Ellie cut him off. "Swear to me that everything you said about the fireflies was true." Joel looked over nervously at Cameron.
"I swear." Joel lied, and Ellie knew it.
"Okay." Ellie said, angrily stomping off down the hill towards Jackson. She could hear Joel and Cameron arguing behind her and she felt herself start to cry. She couldn't believe they could lie to her like that.
"Ellie wait!" Cameron called out, grabbing her shoulder and turning her around. She stared at him, tears in her eyes and anger burning inside her. "I'm sorry that Joel lied to you, but don't be mad at him, please? If you want to be mad at someone, be mad at me because I was the one who couldn't leave you. Joel tried to stop me, but- but I couldn't leave you for dead." Cameron explained. Ellie could feel warm tears slide down her face. She embraced Cameron, sobbing into his shoulder and catching him off guard.
"Thank you, all I wanted was the truth." Ellie cried as Cameron returned her embrace.
"I thought you'd be furious. I know that you wanted to save the world, but I couldn't live without you." Cameron admitted.
"I am angry. It was a very selfish thing to do Cameron." Ellie said, pulling away from him.
"I'm sorry. I couldn't leave you because I..."
"Don't." Ellie cut him off. "Don't you dare say that."
"I don't...? Why?" Cameron asked confused.
"I already know that you do, but this world is too fucked up for words to mean anything anymore. The only thing that means anything, is what you do, not what you say." Ellie told him.
"Uh, okay?" Cameron said, scratching his head.
"To be honest, I'm glad you came back to get me." Ellie admitted as Joel brushed past them down the hill.
"We should probably go." Cameron suggested, following Joel down the hill. Ellie followed after him on their way into Jackson.
~~~~Me~~~~
"Oh my god!" Maria exclaimed, running out to meet us, sweeping Ellie and me up into a hug.
"I'm so glad you guys are okay." Maria said releasing us.
"It's good to be back Maria." Ellie replied smiling. I looked over at Joel at Tommy who were quietly discussing something.
"Cameron? Did you hear me?" Maria asked.
"Sorry, what?" I apologized.
"I asked how it went." Maria said.
"Oh, well we should probably sit down for this, it might take a while." I told her. Maria and Tommy walked us back to their home and let us inside.
"You guys want to clean up first? It's just about dinner time so you can do your storytelling then." Tommy said, turning and walking further into the house. I glanced at Ellie who staring back at me.
"Ladies first." I chuckled, gesturing towards the bathroom.
"What lady? You must be confused." Ellie replied, stepping into the bathroom and shutting the door behind herself. I laughed at her remark and walked to the living, joining Joel in sitting on the couch.
"Good to be back, isn't it Joel?" I asked him. Joel grunted out an inaudible reply, while staring straight ahead at a blank wall.
"You okay?" I asked, somewhat worried by Joel's expression.
"What?" He asked confused. "Oh yeah, I'm fine. Just thinking."
"Are you sure Joel? You don't look too good." I told him.
"I said I'm fine." He shot back angrily, standing up and storming out of the room.
"Yeesh!" I scoffed, stretching my arms up over my head, popping my back and neck, releasing weeks of built up tension in a single movement. I could never tell what Joel was thinking or feeling, I could with Ellie, it was impossible not to tell what she felt. Joel on the other hand, trusted no one with his feelings, not even himself. Someday it is going destroy him. I thought to myself, slipping off my worn out shoes and backpack to lay out flat on the bed. I closed my eyes, reliving the events of the past year in my mind until I felt a weight drop onto my lap. My eyes shot open and I saw Ellie, her hair and face clean of any grime and dirt, she looked beautiful to me. She placed her hands on my chest, gently rubbing tension from my muscles.
"You need to relax." Ellie told me.
"I need a shower." I replied. "And a drink." I chuckled.
"Good luck talking your way into that." Ellie said.
"Shit. You mean they won't let me? I used to drink all the time with my Dad. It's really the only thing we enjoyed doing together until he got drunk off his ass and my Mom took our drinks away." I told her. I thought of all those times, it seemed like a different life.
"Sounds like fun." She responded sarcastically.
"Whatever. Now get off, I need to shower." I said, giving her ass a quick swat.
"Fine." Ellie replied, giving me a long kiss before getting off of me. "There's spare clothes in the basket underneath the sink for you." She added, striding into the kitchen. I watched her go, then stepped into the bathroom, locking the door behind myself. I looked in the mirror and was surprised by my appearance. First of all, I looked completely exhausted, secondly, I looked much older, the facial hair and layers of muck didn't help, I also needed a hair cut. I hadn't looked at myself for a long while, and I had almost forgotten what I had looked like. I looked away from the mirror and stripped out of my clothes, if you could call them that, and stepped into the shower. The hot water eased my aching muscles and slightly rejuvenated me, at least I wouldn't fall asleep at dinner now. I found a razor blade under the sink, as well as the extra clothes Ellie had mentioned. I carefully shave my face before getting dressed and leaving the steamy bathroom for the dining room.
"Finally, maybe you could've taken longer." Tommy joked. I just glared at him.
"Okay... Someone's grumpy." Ellie said.
"Sorry, I'm just exhausted." I apologized to Tommy.
"I understand. You hungry?" He asked, setting out a bowl of soup in front of Ellie and a bowl next to her.
"Starving. Thanks Tommy." I said, sitting down next to Ellie and devouring my soup. I didn't say a word until Maria sat down across from me.
"Can you tell me what happened now?" She asked.
"Yeah, so..." I started.
"I want to tell her!" Ellie interrupted. She then proceeded to retell the events of our journey from the time we left Jackson to now. Maria started crying when Ellie described her experience in Denver, and once again when Ellie retold the story of Salt Lake City. Once she had finished, Maria stood and hugged Ellie, comforting her and apologizing for everything that happened to her.
"I've got an idea." Tommy said suddenly.
"What Tommy?" Maria asked him.
"I say we throw a party for them, it's the least we could do and God knows they deserve to have a good time after the shit they went through." He suggested.
"That sounds fine to me, what do you guys think?" Maria asked.
"That would be great." Ellie answered.
"I agree." I added.
"Wait. Where's Joel?" Ellie asked.
"He's upstairs sleeping already, didn't want to talk." Tommy explained.
"Well I think you two need some rest too, so shoo, I'll clean up." Maria said, pushing us out of the kitchen.
"A party, I've never been to a party before." Ellie admitted, slipping her hand into mine as we walked to our room.
"Neither have I. I don't even have any nice clothes to wear." I added.
"I didn't think about that. I'm sure Maria will come up with something." Ellie said, laying down in the bed. I joined her and she snuggled up against my body, resting her head on my chest.
"I wish we could stay like this forever." Ellie said, mindlessly stroking my stomach.
"We can if you want to." I told her.
"I think Maria'd have something to say about it." Ellie chuckled.
"Yeah because we'll have to work around the town soon." I said, running my fingers through her hair. I heard Ellie sigh as she closed her eyes and we drifted off to sleep.