"So what exactly is this surprise that Tommy promised?" Ellie asked.
"Hell if I know. I just wanna get this over with." Joel replied.
Ellie's face fell. "Come on, Joel. You promised."
He shook his head. "No I promised I would go with you. I never said I would enjoy it."
Ellie elbowed him in the stomach. "Goddamnit Joel. When do we EVER have any time for fun anymore? This is the one night that things could be at least somewhat different." It was true. All they've done for the past 9 months was just be sad with each other and mope around due to the…events…that took place earlier. Neither one of them wanted to remember it. But, no matter how hard you try, you can't escape your past.
It'd be nice to see something new and exciting now. Besides, they're safe, right? Tommy's settlement is the most secure residence on the west side of the country for all they knew.
After a couple minutes of long thinking, Joel reluctantly sighed and said "Okay. We'll go."
Ellie beamed and grabbed Joel's hand. Damn, he loved seeing her happy. "Come on! I don't wanna miss it."
The two walked down the steps and onto the path that lined town. By now, the duo had gotten used to all of the odd stares and weird looks that the others had given them. The both of them knew that as long as they were with each other, nothing could break them apart. No one could touch them.
Ellie had Joel's enormous hand in hers as she slightly dragged him along, eager to see what awaited them.
"I heard she's not even his real daughter," she heard one person whisper. More and more residents started to quietly whisper amongst themselves, trying to decipher how the odd pair became to be. Ellie got a little irritated but she kept on walking with Joel.
I'm not going to have a couple of assholes ruin my night, Ellie thought to herself.
Ellie walked and walked until she found Tommy.
"Wow. You guys actually made it. Didn't think you two wanted to leave tonight," Tommy admitted.
Joel smiled slightly. "Well, this one over here thought it would be fun to go out tonight so I thought why not," he said motioning to the smaller girl. Tommy was absolutely amazed at how that girl could influence Joel so greatly. No matter what she said, Joel would comply. No matter what she did, Joel would follow. But, if any other person, hell, if Tommy wanted to get Joel to do anything that was out of his comfort zone, Joel wouldn't budge. But, he for some reason, agreed to do anything, ANYTHING for that little girl.
"What…exactly…is this surprise of yours, Tommy?" Joel asked.
Tommy returned his question with a smile. "Well, if I told you it wouldn't be a surprise now would it Joel?"
He smirked and looked down at Ellie. "Well, whatever it is, hurry it up. This one's getting a little impatient."
Ellie shot Joel a fake glare.
"Come on down this way. We need a big open space for it anyways."
Tommy led the two down a small hill. Then, as if it appeared out of nowhere, a huge open field came into their view. Was this here before? Neither Joel nor Ellie had seen it ever.
Joel looked down towards the middle of the large field, scanning the area. He spotted a group of people unboxing what looked like mini rockets from far away. Joel then raised an eyebrow and it all made sense. Tommy seemed to notice that Joel knew what the surprise and opened his mouth to speak, but Joel quickly shook his head no. Oh man, this was perfect. Ellie was gonna love this. Joel would finally get to see her smile for the first time in days and he didn't want to miss a second of it.
Joel suddenly became antsy and excited. "Come on, Ellie! Let's uh, go get a better seat." He started to pull her by her arm down the hill.
"Geez Joel! What's gotten into you?" she giggled.
"Nothin', nothin'. Just…I really think you're gonna like the surprise."
She looked at him with huge eyes and gasped. "You know what the surprise is!? And you didn't tell me!? I knew it!" she said and punched him as hard as she could in his arm. The hit didn't even faze the large man. And for the first time in one of those rare occurrences, Joel laughed. He fucking laughed. It was a loud and ecstatic laugh and Ellie was so full of giddiness and excitement and glee and joy and fuck she was so happy and eager. She hasn't felt like this in so long. In fact, she can't remember feeling anything like this. She couldn't remember being so on edge for something. Still, a burning question itched the back of her mind.
Should I ask him? Ask him the one question I promised I wouldn't but now the timing seems right but it doesn't and…fuck. It'll have to wait.
She wasn't messing up this one moment of bliss with the one person she cared for.
Joel found the perfect spot for a good view and promptly sat down. Ellie slowly followed.
He looked towards downhill. "Okay, okay. Ellie I want you to look straight up in the sky when I count to three, okay?" He pointed to the exact spot in the sky to where he wanted her to look.
She raised her eyebrow, confused as to why he was so fucking happy all of a sudden but also intrigued. "Uhh, okay…"
They heard a loud high-pitched noise emerge from the bottom of the hill and what seemed to be a small light fly into the sky.
"Okay, one, two, three."
And as if on command, a huge display of colors burst in every direction across the black canvas sky. Ellie's opened in pure awe as well as her mouth did. Beautiful. She's never seen anything like it. More and more colors surfaced and developed into the sky and Ellie's heartbeat picked up faster and faster. Joel looked at Ellie and smiled so fucking big. He couldn't believe his eyes. Someone who was broken and hurt so long ago was now having one of the best experiences of her life and he had the honor to be there to witness it. The colors illuminated the sky and lit up Ellie's face at the same time.
"What do you call these things again?" Ellie screamed over the loud booming sounds in the sky.
"Fireworks. We used to do them all the time when there was a special occasion." Joel then slowly grabbed Ellie and pulled her close to his chest and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. She rested her head on his neck and felt like she was flying she was so fucking happy. She noticed that all of the townspeople were below them near the fireworks and that she and Joel were the only ones on top of the hill. And that's how she wanted it. Just him and her. More and more fireworks lit up the sky over and over again. For a while, they just sat there. Sat at the top of the hill with just each other. The fireworks started to dissipate and then four huge fireworks lit up the sky all of together to finalize the performance.
Ellie noticed something below them and saw people moving around strangely. What were they doing? Then she heard…oh my God. Music.
Ellie abruptly got up and looked down. "Joel. Joel! Come on! Let's go see what they're doing down there!"
More and more people moved around rhythmically to the upbeat music.
"What are they doing down there?" Ellie remembered vaguely what it was, but she couldn't remember what it was called.
Joel smirked. "I'll show you. Come on, kiddo," he said while holding out his hand. The two quickly ran down the small hill and onto the large platform full of dancing people. A loud and upbeat song was playing.
Are they laughing at or with me?
Oh baby those are such great shoes
Joel takes Ellie by her hand and starts swinging and twirling her around with the beat of the music. She at first is confused but gave into his stupid but adorable moves.
And I think that I'm so happy now
And I think that this is a better you.
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Are they laughing at or with me?
Her face blushed a dark crimson but damn she was so happy moving to the upbeat and happy music. He twirls her and twirls her around and she doesn't even notice the people staring at their dumb dancing. More and more people started to dance around but it seemed like the music played for Joel and Ellie, at least for Ellie, it seemed like it did. She started clapping her hands and the music rose and rose and got louder and louder and felt like she was about to fall off the face of the earth because she had never felt so happy in her life.
People are just tryin' to fit in
But is there something telling you
You can't trust anyone in this town
Aw, baby those are such great shoes
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
When the song finished, Ellie did a huge fake bow that just about made Joel fall over from laughter. He grabbed her and pulled her into a huge hug that might've suffocated her. But she didn't care one bit. She was the happiest person on the entire fucking planet right now. When she was swinging and dancing like a huge idiot with Joel and she knew people looked at both of them but she didn't fucking care at all. It made her feel…human. Was this how it was before the entire world gone to shit? She didn't care. If every night in the settlement was going to be like this, then she didn't have one little problem with staying there. Not one.
AHH YES. THIS CHAPTER WAS SO MUCH FUN TO WRITE OMG. I WAS PLANNING ON GETTING THIS UP BY WEDNESDAY AT THE EARLIEST BUT I JUST THOUGHT, FUCK IT. Oh my goodness. Yes it is pretty fluffy, but hey, who doesn't love some fluff here and there. :) The song that was playing was At or With Me by Jack Johnson so it'll help if you look up the song while you're reading the chapter. :3 don't worry, that emotional trauma I promised will be up next time. But until then, enjoy the sweet moments. 3