"Y'know, we coulda just went to bed early tonight," Joel whispered in her ear as Melanie rang the doorbell, "I have the day off tomorrow… so do you…"

Melanie wrinkled her nose at him, "We're having dinner with my sister," she said as the annoying doorbell chimed loudly inside the house "I've rang the doorbell. There's no going back now."

"I dunno… I could probably make it back to the truck before-"

The door opened and Melanie's sister Lucy stood and gave them both a grin, "So he is that sexy new boyfriend of yours," she said, leaning against the doorframe and eyeing Joel up and down appreciatively, "you were dead on with the description 'sis."

"May I remind you your husband is inside?" Melanie joked while Joel looked smug at the lavish attention Lucy was giving him.

Lucy waved her hand, "He's used to my window shopping, long as I don't buy anything, he's happy," she stepped aside, "come on, food'll be getting cold and the wine will get warm."

"Well, if it does, we can start on this one," Joel said holding out the wine they had brought as he passed, "little gift from me to you. Chilled it before we got here."

Lucy took it off of him and raised her eyebrows, "Wow, this is the good stuff," she winked at Joel, "my sister's trained you well."

"She has indeed ma'am."

Shaking her head, Melanie followed the other two into the house and grinned when her nephews pelted down the stairs in their pyjamas, "Aunt Mel!" Luke shouted happily and hugged her knees while Lucas tugged at her arm excitedly.

"Hey, there's my guys!" Melanie said, giving the twins a loving smile, "Shouldn't you be in bed?"

"But we wanted to see you!"

"ICE CREAM!"

Lucy rolled her eyes and peered through to the open kitchen at the man serving out some food onto plates, "Gary? Mind giving them their ice-cream?"

"No problem babe," Gary grinned at Melanie and Joel as he came through with two bowels, "how's it goin' Mel?"

Melanie rolled her eyes as the boys completely ignored them and ran upstairs with their ice cream, spoons already in their mouths. "Going good thanks," she slipped an arm through Joel's and smiled, "this is Joel, Joel this is my brother-in-law Gary."

The two men shook hands and Lucy clapped her hands, "Well that ice-cream isn't gonna distract them forever, let's get this wine opened!"

"Don't worry, I'll introduce you to the boys next week when we go to the zoo," Melanie whispered to Joel as they took their places at the dinner table.

Chuckling, he nodded "Can't wait."

"Why am I getting left behind?"

Melanie sighed as Ellie gave them both a defiant look "Because there is too many damn runners and clickers for me to take on myself," Joel said firmly, "I need Melanie to be my back-up. We can't risk you gettin' hurt. You're the damn cure, remember?"

"Look at it this way," Melanie added, seeing that the young girl still wasn't convinced "with two of us, we'll be back quicker, then we can go look for the Fireflies together."

Folding her arms, Ellie was silent for a moment before shrugging, "Fine… just… just hurry back, okay?" she looked to Joel in particular, "Take care."

"You too, remember you have your comics to read while you wait," Joel said comfortingly before glancing at Melanie, "c'mon, let's get this over with."

Melanie pushed a strand of hair out of Ellie's face and smiled reassuringly at her, "Don't worry, I'll look after him," she said softly.

"Make sure you do!"

Satisfied that nothing could get to Ellie and the horses, Melanie didn't feel as anxious as she and Joel entered the ruined staff building. As always, Joel looked around for anything useful and Melanie listened out for any trouble. Walking by an old desk, she seen a ragged map of the grounds and gave it a look over: this could be a help to them.

"Hey, look at what I found," she said holding it up to Joel, "should come in handy."

"Yeah, it might," Joel said, glancing over it, "pity it isn't too detailed."

Melanie made a face at him, "Never happy are you?" she joked and pocketed the map in her backpack.

"Let's head upstairs, see if we can find a detailed map of the campus… that would be an actual help."

"Oh har de har, you're so funny."

As they ascended up the stairs, Melanie couldn't help but glance at Joel and feel a little nervous: it had been a long time since it had just been the two of them alone. Feeling her gaze on him, Joel turned and raised an eyebrow, "Everything okay?" he asked, "You've got a funny look on your face."

"I'm fine," Melanie said a little quickly and took out her torch as they lost the daylight, "just want to hurry up and find the Fireflies already."

Joel was quiet as she searched her backpack, "Eager to get back to Tommy?" he asked a little too bitterly for Melanie's liking.

"I'm eager to get back to everyone… especially Maria," Melanie added firmly, "she's been like family to me for the last twenty years."

Shaking his head, Joel gave her a guilty look "I'm sorry… I shouldn't keep bringing… you and Tommy… it up, that you and him-" he stopped talking and sighed "-how about I don't mention it again?"

"Thank you that would be nice…" Melanie said quietly feeling pissed off with his jealousy "considering how I don't bring up Tess to you all the time."

Stiffening at her words, Joel averted his eyes, "Point taken," he muttered "how about we just do this and get back to Ellie."

They continued on in silence and Melanie felt a little ashamed for bringing up Tess to Joel, her death had obviously affected him badly and she wished she could take back her words especially as he hadn't spoken to her since.

"Joel, spores up ahead," Melanie said quietly pointing them out as she recognized the fungus from a mile off. Nodding, he paused and the two adults put on their masks, it still amazed Melanie how Ellie could have easily walked through those spores and not be affected like her or Joel would be. That little girl was certainly a marvel.

Walking along the corridor, Melanie shone her torch on the walls and looked curiously at all the adverts and posters. Support your local team, 10% off your next haircut if you're a student, free slice of pizza if you present your student card at the till… she couldn't help but feel saddened by the world they had lost. All those things she had taken for granted… and she would never experience again.

No more bar… no more Chuck… no more sneaking tequila shots with Charlene or Daisy... no more Lucy or-

Her eyes immediately watered at the thought of her sister and family and she blinked furiously under her mask. There was no point in going over these depressing thoughts again, she had tormented herself in the first five years of this plague and she wasn't going to start again. It hurt too much.

"Hey, looks like we gotta jump down here," Joel muttered, stopping her just before she walked into the giant hole in the ground.

Melanie glanced down and sighed "Great…"

"You okay?" Joel asked her, "You were a million miles away there, what you thinkin' about?"

Refusing to open old wounds with her ex, Melanie shook her head, "We've got no time for this, let's just keep going."

Jumping down the hole in the floor first, Melanie instantly stiffened when she heard clickers stumbling about in the darkness around her. Feeling Joel's hand on her back, she let him lead her over to a desk as they figured out their next move.

Thinking to himself, Joel slowly brought out his knife and nodded to Melanie, understanding his meaning, she brought out hers as well and slowly crept forward to a clicker while Joel did the same to the one in the other room.

As she got ready to grab the clicker, Melanie mentally steeled herself for something she hated to do. Jumping up, she quickly stabbed it in the head, hating how its skin felt against her bare hand and the horrible noises it made as it died. Pushing it off of her, she quickly retreated into the corner when another clicker, attracted by the noise, entered the room.

Here we go.

Four clickers later, she seen Joel emerge from the back and was about to speak when he shook his head vehemently and pointed to the door. Frowning, Melanie looked over to the door and froze when she seen a large bloater walk by. Feeling disheartened, she shook her head at their predicament and slowly headed towards Joel.

"Plan?" she barely whispered as he pulled her into a classroom.

Joel was quiet before he answered just as softly "Stay here."

"No…" she hissed and tried to follow him but he grabbed her hand and gave her a frown.

"Ellie."

Melanie was silent and knew what he was getting at. They both couldn't risk their lives: not when Ellie was depending on them.

Looking down at the hand still clasped around her arm, Melanie slowly placed her other hand on his and entwined her fingers with Joel's as she held his hand tightly in hers. She wished she could see his facial features that were hidden behind his mask and didn't know if she was relieved or annoyed that he couldn't see hers.

"Be careful."

Joel was still after she spoke, as if stunned by her actions, and squeezed her hand back softly as he nodded. "I will be."

Melanie just stood there after she let go of his hand and felt her heart thumping as she heard the smash of glass and a bloater roaring out in pain several times, seeing flames in the other room, she felt genuine worry as there was only silence as the flames slowly died out and wondered what had happened to Joel… if he had managed to kill the bloater or if this time…

The relief flooded through her, yet again, as Joel came through panting with some ash on his clothes, "How the hell did you kill it?" she asked him.

"Molotovs…" he said, she could practically hear the grin in his voice, "I can be quite creative with the stuff I find."

"Clearly. I am impressed."

"As well you should be."

The next corridor was in a horrible state and stunk of death, feeling sickened by the bodies, Melanie tried not to look at them but found it hard to erase the image from her memory. It was added to the already horrible memories she had and she sighed inwardly. It would be nice to just see a nice view, like a field of flowers and not wonder how many clickers or runners were inside it.

Stopping suddenly, Melanie shook as she seen another bloater come into view. It was even bigger than the last one and was bulging out in the most disgusting way. Joel looked just as sickened and put a finger to where his mouth would be as they started to sneak past it. The corridor was too small… they wouldn't have much room to fight it and would only put themselves into danger.

Holding her breath as they slowly walked by the growling bloater, Melanie looked at the monstrous thing and felt pity for what the person had become. This could have been anyone that had turned into this, Chuck, Charlene, Daisy or her sister Lucy…

Watching the bloater out of the corner of her eye, Melanie seen Joel straighten up and try to open the door – only it remained firmly shut and she felt her heart drop. They couldn't be stuck in here with this thing, it would be suicide.

"Shit…" Joel whispered and the bloater made an angry noise as it swayed on the spot. They had to be careful here.

Pushing his shoulder against the door, Joel opened it a little and held it open for Melanie who slipped through easily. The door made a loud groan and Melanie froze on the spot as the bloater's head turned their way, "Mel, come on. Move!" Joel hissed.

Sneaking through first, she held it open but it creaked loudly and caused the bloater to head towards them, "Shit!" she cursed as Joel forced himself through the doorway and together they quickly pushed the fridge against the door just in time. The bloater was immediately against the glass, trying to sense the prey that had escaped from it.

Waiting until they were on the next flight of stairs, Joel looked around before taking off his gas mask and Melanie followed suit. She hated how sweaty it would get wearing those things and gratefully breathed in some fresh air.

"Well, that wasn't too painful," Melanie said stretching out her body, feeling stiff from all the crouching and sneaking about they had just done and glanced out of the window to look at their surroundings, "we'll be able to go out those doors and head down to the gates," she said, pointing it out to Joel.

Not hearing him answer, Melanie turned to him but was stopped in her tracks when she seen the intense look in his eyes. It had been a long, long time since he had looked at her like that.

"What did that… what did that mean?" he asked slowly.

Knowing full well what he meant, Melanie blushed a little and chose to play the oblivious card "What are you talking about?" she asked uneasily, wishing he would stop looking at her like that.

"Back before I killed the bloater… you took my hand," Joel said quietly, "gripped it real right, like you didn't wanna let me go… and I wanna know what that meant."

Melanie felt her throat dry and she desperately tried to think of an answer: You stupid idiot, you're making this out to be a fucking romance during the end of the world. He's leaving after you find the Fireflies… don't get fucking attached!

Shrugging, Melanie folded her arms and tried to keep her face neutral "I was just trying to show how worried I was about the situation, I didn't want anything to happen to you," she said calmly, "I couldn't exactly say it… so I tried to convey it in other ways. No need to think it was… something."

"So it was nothing… just a friendly 'I'm worried about you' hand holding between friends?" Joel asked sarcastically.

"Exactly… just… just friendly," Melanie tried to sound assertive but with one look, she knew Joel thought she was talking bullshit.

As he stepped forward, she almost gasped when he put his hands on either side of her head and leaned in, his body pressed against hers slightly, "Just friendly?" he repeated, his eyes looking deep into hers.

"Yes…," she whispered and hated how her breathing had quickened, it had been twenty years damn it! Yet, still he had this effect on her, making her breathless and making her heartbeat quicken just by being near her.

His eyes flickered down to her lips and then back up, "You sure about that?"

The urge to just close the gap between them and kiss him was so tempting, that Melanie was scared she would actually do it. Closing her eyes, she forced a nod "Definitely."

Joel almost pressed his forehead against hers as he moved closer, memories of their bodies pressed together in a different way causing Melanie to open her eyes to stop reliving them. "If you say so," he whispered and then all of a sudden his warm body was off of hers and he was walking towards the door.

Feeling dazed by what just happened, Melanie watched him walk away and let out a shaky breath as her heart continued to race. Something had changed between them and she wasn't sure if that was a good thing…

Dinner was a great success and Melanie couldn't help but feel so incredibly happy that her sister and her brother-in-law loved Joel. He liked the same football team as Gary, they laughed at each other's jokes and Lucy was won over by him promising to look at the garbage disposal once he got some free time.

By the time they finished eating and moved onto the second bottle of wine, Melanie knew that her sister completely approved of Joel.

"God, I am so happy that you aren't an asshole," Lucy said, sipping her wine, "she's had far too many of them in her life. About time she found a good guy."

Melanie made a face, "Yeah, well, we don't need to talk about that right now," she muttered.

"How about we make a toast," Gary said smiling, "To Joel and Melanie – she's finally found the one."

Her eyes widened at his words and she felt a blush on her cheeks when Joel nodded, "Cheers," he whispered and clinked his glass against hers while squeezing her knee under the table.

"Aw look at her, she's blushing," Lucy teased her gently, "practising the role of 'blushing bride' a bit early are we not?"

Melanie laughed, "Come on 'Luce, way too soon to be thinking about that isn't it?" she asked raising an eyebrow, "we've gotta be together for more than a year before that happens."

"If it even happens at all," Joel said jokingly "went down the aisle once already and I'm not sure if I'll be doing it again."

Looking at him in surprise, Melanie felt a sudden jolt in her stomach when she realized that he didn't want to get married again… something that she had always wanted, she wanted the whole package: a husband, kids, the white picket fence and the dog. Melanie had just assumed that Joel would want those things too.

"Well, you've got plenty of time to decide on your future," Lucy said a little awkwardly, knowing what her sister wanted out of life, "not like you need to be married before you have kids… it is the twenty-first century."

Gary nodded, "And no fear in that department Joel," he said trying to diffuse the tension that had appeared when 'kids' were mentioned, "Melanie's gonna make an amazing mom, she's great with the boys."

"Well… that's gonna be another thing to decide on," Joel said a little embarrassedly as he drank his wine, "I never really seen myself having more kids."

Melanie frowned a little as she looked at him, "Really?" she asked.

"Well, I didn't see myself dating again but then I found you, so who knows," Joel said but she seen the guilt in his eyes and knew he had meant what he said.

Lucy seemed to regret the conversation she had initiated and stood up with a beaming smile, "I got some fancy chocolates for Thanksgiving, I'm sure they have a good amount of booze in them. Let's start on them!"

Gary brought up the last game that had been on and Joel seemed thankful for the change in topic but Melanie felt her heart sinking at what she had just learned.

She didn't know where they went from here...