Ellie and I pick up Scout and Scar before we head back to our place. We live just over the hill from Jesse and Dina. We were originally going to look for a cottage or lodge, but Ellie had a panic attack when we stepped into one so we decided for now it was best to live in a place closer to Ellie and Dina. Plus with all the farmland around it's perfect for Scout and Scar to run around. Ellie found the perfect farmhouse closer to the water than Jesse and Dina's is. And the outside wood is brown so it has a sort of cottage feel. The inside is filled with Ellie's art. She spends so much time working on it we give a lot to our friends as well. We get ready for bed and when I walk into our bedroom after going to the bathroom I'm surprised when Ellie isn't there. I furrow my eyebrows and looks around for her, but soon arms snake themselves around my waist. Ellie kisses my neck softly and I breath out a small laugh.
"What are you doing?" I ask Ellie as she starts to sway my hips with hers.
"I missed my dancing partner earlier."
"Well there isn't any music now."
"So?" Ellie questions and she spins me around so I now face her. Her right hand snakes around my waist and pulls me closer while her other hand clasps into mine. I throw my left arm around her shoulder and we dance in silence.
I lean my face closer to Ellie's ear, "I love you." I whisper.
"I love you too." Ellie replies softly. After a few minutes I pull away and release my one hand from Ellie's and wrap it around her shoulders. Ellie takes her free hand and rests it on my waist. She leans in and kisses me and I happily reciprocate. We walk backwards to the bed and drop on it without breaking the kiss. Ellie's hand slides up my shirt and it goes over the area where the bullet wound was. I gasp at the touch and pull away slightly. Ellie's about to ask me if I'm okay, but I kiss her again before she can. I start to unbutton her shirt and she removes mine. I shimmy out of my pants and we keep going. We break apart when we hear the sound of dogs barking.
"Are you kidding me?" Ellie exclaims as she looks over at Scar and Scout sitting at the door wagging their tails with a toy hanging sitting in front of them.
"That's why we got to close the door when the kids are home." I joke with Ellie and she rolls her eyes.
"You're such an idiot."
"You love it."
"Yeah, I do." Ellie gets up and picks up the dogs toys before she throws them and then quickly shuts the door, "Now where were we?" Ellie comes over and jumps on me and I giggle as I'm attacked with kisses.
I'm woken up in the middle of the night to the dogs barking and urgent knocking on the front door. Ellie's already up and armed before I fully register what is going on. I quickly throw on my clothes and grab my knife off of the table before following Ellie downstairs to the front door. When we get there we see a panicked Kate.
"Kate what are you doing here? Is Cassie alright?" I ask.
"Cassie's fine... It's Marley. Leo needs you." I nod quickly before following Kate outside. Ellie helps me onto the horse and then jumps on it herself before we follow Kate into Jackson. Kate hasn't told us what happened so I don't know what to expect. When we get to Jackson Ellie helps me off the horse and we run the the medical cabin. When we get there I see Leo sitting on the ground with his head in his legs.
"Leo?" I hesitantly talk to him. He looks up at me and his eyes are bloodshot.
"She's gone. She shot herself." He tells me and his voice breaks. I don't hesitate to go down to the ground next to him and pull him into my arms. Leo breaks and cries in my arms. I look over at Ellie and she nods her head before she backs away leaving just me and Leo.
After an hour I help Leo up and walk him back to his place. Cassie is there to watch over Adeline and I ask Kate if Adeline can stay with them until we are ready to go and take Leo with us. At least for a little bit he needs us around, "Go pack your stuff, okay. I'm going to go find Ellie." I tell Leo and he nods. When I leave I walk around Jackson and decide to go to Tommy's since that's the best bet on finding her. When I get there Ellie is sitting at the table overlooking a map with Tommy staring at her intensely. Ellie has a conflicted look on her face, "What's going on?" I ask them.
"We found a lead on Abby- she's in Santa Barbara." Tommy tells me.
"And so you're going after her?" I question.
"Well I can't..."
"But Ellie can?" I finish his thought and he nods. Both Tommy and I suffered from gunshot wounds in that theatre, but it hit Tommy harder. Mine still hurts and some of my mobility isn't as good with my fighting and climbing, but Tommy now walks with a limp and is unable to do a lot that he could before. His new condition caused a huge drift between him and Maria because of his continued anger with everything. When we were at the theatre he said we had to be fine with the fact that the others died but Abby lived. That never stopped the drive to want her dead.
"Just. Don't forget about him," Tommy says to Ellie, "Or what she did to her." Tommy whispers to Ellie and lightly points to me. Ellie has a conflicted look on her face as she looks at the map before she gets up and heads over to me.
"We good to go?" She asks.
"Uh yeah. Leo's just going to stay with us for a few weeks. He's just packing up his and Adeline's stuff. We got to drop by Kate's to go pick up Adeline." Ellie nods and follows me to Kate's house. We don't talk on the way and have an awkward tension between us. I keep glancing at her but she avoids eye contact and just keeps a concentrated look on her face. When we get to Kate's I put a warm smile on my face as I grabbed Adeline from her.
"Hey baby girl," I turn to Kate, "Thank you Kate, really."
"No problem. If you need any help just let me know."
"Thanks, I will." I head back to Leo's and Ellie stays quiet next to me. When we get there Leo is packed but he's just sitting on the couch with a distant look in his eyes, "Hey Leo. You ready to go?" He nods slowly and gets up grabbing his bag and handing Adeline's to Ellie. We go to the horses and head back to the house.
When we get back to the house I set Leo up in the guest bedroom. We don't have a crib or anything for Adeline so I told him she can sleep with Ellie and I tonight. I know he can't be with her right now and I get it- I just hope after some time he will be able to connect with his daughter. I carry Adeline's sleeping body back to Ellie and I's bedroom and I furrow my eyebrows when Ellie isn't in here. She went straight to our room after our ride back from Jackson. I slowly slip Adeline onto our bed and look around the house for Ellie. I look in her art workshop and notice some boxes were moved, but Ellie is no where in sight. I start to hear a guitar strumming in the distance but it stops. I head towards the noise and see Ellie standing outside with all of her gear. Her guitar sits at the front door.
"So you're going?" I say quietly as I open up the front door.
Ellie looks at me with that conflicted look still in her eyes, "I have to."
"I don't think I can go with you. I can't leave Leo."
"I know."
"So you were just going to leave in the middle of the night? No goodbye?"
"I can't let this go Lia, I can't."
"So I'm just supposed to just wait for you to come back? If you come back?"
"No just-"
"Just what Ellie?" I look away from her and stare at the guest bedroom that Leo is staying in, "You can't do this alone. It's a suicide mission."
"You can't come Lia. Leo needs you."
"But what if I need you?"
Ellie doesn't say anything. I'm waiting for her to say anything. Anything at all, but "I'm sorry." is the best Ellie says before walking away. I turn my head to her retreating figure. I try not to choke out a sob, but it comes anyways. I sit on the porch steps and bury my head into my knees. I hear the door open and a weight sits down next to me. Leo puts his arm over my shoulder and I cry into his shoulder.
The worst thing about this feeling is that I understand her need to go. I just wish it never hurt so much.