Chapter 15: Better Than Normal?
Play the The Last of Us OST -Left Behind (Together)
Since the leader of the Fireflies had been shot and Carter making the noble sacrifice for them, Joel, Ellie, Tommy, Maria, and Rylan went on their way to double back to Jackson. When they arrived at the settlement, they were all surprised to find that the contingent of men who held the town hostage disbanded and departed. From what they collected among the remaining soldiers, they were told that Commander Devlin had died...
Wary of the news, Joel and Tommy stood guarded with the possibility of retaliation but as the days passed, none came... Their lives returned to a sense of normalcy and the work/school routine resumed within the sanctuary of Jackson...
3 more months later...
"I know you're awake." He quietly mumbled into the side of her neck. She brought her shoulder up to her ear, trying to get the chills from the vibration of his voice to go away. He snorted and shifted behind her, but didn't remove his arms or hands from where they were; instead, he embraced Ellie closer to him. "Ellie?" A powerful chill ran down her body and though her skin broke out into goose-bums, she felt feverish. Ellie bit her lip which did no good to prevent the involuntary throaty sigh that escaped her. She heard Rylan take in a deep, ragged breath from behind her, as if her reaction had taken him by surprise.
She knew that he's perfectly aware that she's awake now. Ellie opened an eye to see her bedroom had gotten a little brighter since she last checked. It was early and only a few rays of the new day's sunrise shined through the window.
"What do you want, Rylan? It's still too early." Ellie complained groggily, as she closed her eyes again.
"I know it's early, but Joel might wake up soon. A bit suspicious of me coming out of here with you, huh? Hey... let's skip school today." Rylan suggested which made the familiar blush rise from her neck to her cheeks.
Ellie never thought something like this was ever possible for her...
Now she was someone's... Girlfriend?
Speaking of which... Where on earth do they stand in this relationship? They couldn't go past second base, they get the most vehemently contempt glares from the townsfolk: the weirdo who was dating the Infected girl, of course word got out...
In the general public, they kept it casual but when they were alone...
Ellie knew she shouldn't listen to him about not getting up, but she still didn't make any effort to move or open her eyes. "I wish everyone would understand that you're just a normal girl, especially with our classmates." Rylan said against her neck, which caused a wave of ticklish electricity to trickle down her back.
"What the hell do you mean by 'normal'?"
Ellie could feel the curve of his smile on her skin as he continued, "You know what I mean... but you know, this isn't too bad either... I'd like to wake up this way every day for the rest of my life with you in my arms..."
The more he spoke, the more her body trembled from the resonance of his voice, and also from the sweet things he said. Ellie didn't know how to process them; she never came close to understanding why he would still want to be with her. Or even her still want to be with him. She wouldn't question it though. She knew it would be pointless, and she was afraid if she did, he'll realize he has made a mistake.
Of course Ellie would always have family like Joel, but she may never get another chance to feel normal like this again. This was the apocalypse after all. So she would just enjoy and savor these moments she had with him, for as long as she could. She was sure it would make the heartbreak that will inevitably happen seem worth it.
"Rylan?" Ellie asked, a hint of a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.
"Yeah?"
"Got any new material?"
"Give me sec, let me think..."
She slowly nodded and felt deprived as he unclasped his hand from hers, drew back his arm from her body, and leaned up, "You can tell that a tree is about to move when it packs up its trunk and leaves.
"Haha, I like that one." She started, tucking her arm under her head as a pillow.
But suddenly, Ellie felt his hand go to her waist under the blanket and she froze up. Her eyes shot open as he lifted her shirt, exposing her bare midriff.
"You ticklish?." Rylan responded with a hearty laugh. And Ellie flipped over and tried to remove his hand from her stomach through an instant and uncomfortable fit of giggles. She glanced up at him for the first time that morning to see that his face was completely red, and his brown eyes danced with mischief.
His fingers continued to dance along her belly, which made her sensitive skin crawl and the muscles beneath it spasm and jerk. Ellie couldn't catch her breath or stop her laughter, and he continued to chuckle at the tickling torture he has inflicting upon her. She tried to remove his hand, but he was too insistent.
"Rylan... STOP!" Ellie attempted to threaten through giggles, "I swear... if you don't... STOP... I'm... going to fucking KILL you!"
"Totally worth it." Rylan stated with a wide grin and a shrug, and he surely didn't relent.
Through unsubsiding laughter, she removed her hands from his arm and brought them to his torso. Ellie quickly started in on tickling him back, running her fingertips over his chest and belly. She knew she would blush at this if she wasn't already red faced from all the laughing.
Ellie guessed she seemed to be doing okay though, because soon he was laughing and trying to remove her hands as she quickly and determinedly tickled him everywhere and anywhere on his stomach, she was just as relentless as he was with her.
"Truce! TRUCE, Ellie!"
"You... started this!" She said between laughter and gasped for air. "You stop.. and... and then I will!"
"Fine... OKAY! Okay..."
His hand finally stilled just above her lower abdomen; his palm laid flat against the surface of her skin. Her hands stopped on his stomach too, and she could feel his breath coming in short spurts and his heartbeat pulsated in his chest and vibrated under her fingertips. Ellie's own breathing was having a hard time coming back to normal as well. And for a moment, he stared down at her, and she back up at him. Their questioning, curious eyes locked in place on one another. She watched as his eyes slowly drift from hers and down to her mouth; he licked his bottom lip, looking surprisingly shy, and glanced back up at her eyes as if in bewilderment.
And then, as if by some unstoppable force, they kissed each other. It was not initiated by one or the other, but it was simultaneous and magnetic. He leaned down and she moved up, and she found that the kiss has a sort of urgency to it, a passion that she didn't even know she had or was capable of.
The sound of footsteps outside the bedroom door sprang them back to reality. As if stuck by lightning, Rylan and Ellie quickly separated and sat up, they attempted to appear as normal and nonchalant as possible, but both failed miserably. Ellie looked over at him and gave a small, sexy smile. He grinned back widely.
"You better get out of here," She then grabbed something off the nightstand. "and don't forget your eye-patch."
"Thanks, thing can be a bit itchy." Rylan stated as he slung the simple black patch on his left eye. "See ya."
Rylan gave her one last chaste kiss as he hopped off the bed and onto the windowsill. He opened the latch and jumped off onto the nearby tree which stood next to the house. He climbed down out of sight as Joel opened the door to find Ellie by herself.
"Hey baby girl, you ready for school?" Joel inquired even though he knew he annoyed Ellie by not simply knocking before he entered. "...the hell you doing? Leavin' the window open like that, it's freezing outside." Joel moved to the window and immediately latched it shut just as he caught a glimpse of someone jumping over his fence. "That boy here again? Don't lie to me."
Ellie said downtrodden as she slumped off of her bed, she assumed he saw him so there was no point in hiding it. "Yeah he was here, but we didn't do anything! ...We can't do anything."
"Good." Joel appreciated her honesty even though he expected the redhead to cover for him. "...Thought the boy would have the stones and be brave enough to face me head on, but I reckon..."
"He reckons you're going to kick his ass, and frankly I don't blame him." Ellie quipped as she gathered her supplies and backpack together. "If you let me go out more often, maybe go outside the wall to hunt-!"
"You're not going anywhere without my permission girl!" Joel bellowed as his parental instinct started to kick in once more. "And you're gonna stop with this sneakin around, Jesus Ellie.."
"Come on Joel! I'm not a little kid anymore, you think I like going behind your back?" Ellie crossed her arms and confidently faced off against the old man. "...You're honestly the last person I want to piss off, you know why?"
"Why?" He challenged as he leered down at the girl, not budging an inch.
"B-because..." Ellie hesitated as her shoulders slumped and made her way to the door. "You know what I mean..."
Joel sighed at Ellie'e abstinence and relaxed his demeanor as well, diffusing any hostility and forming an excellent idea in his head. "Ellie?"
"Yeah?"
"...We're calling in sick today."
Ellie twirled her head around and had a shocked expression on her face. What did he say? "What do you mean Joel?"
The old man scratched his nose and placed his hands on his hips, he had to mend this whatever it was his baby girl. "We're going out today. Just you and me."
Ellie's raised eyebrows fell back to their disappointed levels of elevation and her voice resumed a monotone. "Oh... really?" Another boring tour of Jackson. They already knew almost every inch of the settlement like the back of their hands. She would rather just go to school then see the modern marvel of the hydro-whatsit dam or the local church building or the-!
"We're going outside the wall." Joel smirked a little at the cute face that lit up with happiness, like a bird about to be released from her cage. "Go on a bit of a hike, how's that sound?"
Now that is what she's talking about. "Sounds fuckin' awesome!" She paced back into her bedroom and threw her notebooks out of her pack and tossed them on the bed. "Some breakfast then we go right now?"
Joel could hardly contain the chuckle from her eagerness and the excitement written all over her face. "If that's what you want kiddo." Joel then turned her head outside and saw some clouds rolling through. It was definitely cold enough for some snow to come through. "Make sure you get somethin' thick on, wouldn't want to catch your death out there."
"Right!" She ran to her closet and rummaged around to look for her winter coat. "I'll meet you downstairs."
The girl motioned for him to leave and get breakfast already, and Joel smiled to himself for this little personal victory for him. It was about time they both did something, and it's been a while since they decided to do something like this together. "Take your time alright? Don't go puttin' anything on backwards."
And the front gates of Jackson closed behind them as Joel and Ellie began their day together. Joel had packed some food and left a note pinned on their house door of where they would be. They actually were able to borrow a horse to which Ellie was quick to name Callus II. A healthy hike would be the best medicine for them to clear their heads about everything, just like how Joel would take these kind of hikes with Sarah. So the old man took the reins in his hands and asked. "You ready kiddo?"
"Yup, ready." Ellie grinned as she breathed in the fresh air and the three of them began to trot down a secondary trail. "Where're we going exactly?"
"You'll see." Joel assured her as he led the obedient horse down the path. "After lunch we should find the spot, I've only been there once before."
"Come on Joel, just tell me!" She pouted as they continued to keep her arms around him from behind. The sky above them began sprinkling down flurries of snow and they were dancing in the gentle wind, almost instantaneously melting on contact with the ground or on their bodies. "Nowhere boring as shit right?"
Joel scoffed at her persistence, he remembered how anxious she could get about certain surprises. "Hold your horses girl, we'll get there when we get there." He heard a mumble of compliance when he looked back at her, and after another moment of silence Joel decided to get to talking again. "So... how's things with school?"
She shrugged her shoulders. "Still fucking sucks."
"I mean you doin' good with them grades and all?"
"Actually Rylan has been helping me out, making sure I don't fall asleep and stuff."
"Good... that's good." Joel sighed. "But y'know if I ever find that boy with ya whenever I come home... I'll shoot him."
"Haha! Yeah yeah Joel, he knows that." Ellie chuckled at the threat even though she knew he was slightly serious but she found it cute that Joel was still being overprotective. But this was nice, just the two of them and their banter, like old times again. "Hey Joel?"
"Yeah Ellie?"
She smirked at her own ingenuity. "I got an offer that'll really make you think... I'll let you shoot Rylan, if you sing for me. Whaddya say?"
Oh... Ellie had Joel right where she wanted him, you know why? Because Joel stopped the horse and actually thought about it. Joel rubbed his eyes and he gave a respectful smile right back at her. "Christ girl..." She laughed at his expense which was music to his ears. "...Don't tempt me."
"I think I finally got you!" Ellie tried her best to hold back a fit of the giggles. "I so fuckin' got you!"
"Good one." Joel offered her a lazy high-five which she wholeheartedly accepted. "Looks like your boyfriend's gonna live..."
"You know what you have to do to get rid of him though~" Ellie gave him another toothy grin as she wrapped her arms back around his torso.
"You wish..."
Still always on guard at all times, the three of them continued their hike and they even stopped to have lunch. With a cold picnic underway, Joel noticed Ellie grabbing a handful of green grass in her hand. He told her if she took a big enough blade of grass and placed it in between her thumbs up to her mouth she could play a grass-whistle.
"What?! You mean I never had to whistle on my own, I could just use grass?!" Ellie was astonished. "That's bullshit!"
"No no, it's the truth but it still takes a little skill..." Joel grabbed a thick piece of of grass and put it up to his mouth. He got a long squeaky sound out of it and he motioned for Ellie to try it too.
Ellie mirrored his actions and puffed out her rosy cheeks with air and she blew into the blade of grass in between her thumbs with all of her might. And she just spluttered some spit on her hands and made some other rather odd and embarrassing sounds...
"Takes a little practice just like everything else but-!"
"Think I'll just stick to my regular whistling, barely got the hang of that." She made her lips into an 'o' and demonstrated for him with her normal whistling. " *whistle* See?"
"I see ya." Joel brushed the crumbs off of his hands and offered to pull her back up. "Come on, we're almost there."
"Finally." Ellie clasped his hand and got on her own two feet. "You finally going to tell me where the hell we're going?"
"Calm down alright? You're acting like a nervous Nelly now. You think I'd take you somewhere you wouldn't like? ...Never mind don't answer that."
"I was just about to say-!"
"Just get on the damn horse..." Joel looked back at her as she raised an eyebrow at him. "I mean, please get on Callus II."
Ellie put her foot on the saddle and hopped on, flinging her leg on the other side of him while Joel followed suit and got in front of her. "I'm expecting a lot from you Joel."
"I know I know, and you'll get it. Yah!" Joel whipped the reins ordering the horse to trod up the hill of the path. "You can see it from the top here."
Ellie didn't want to give it away but she was excited with whatever Joel was hyping up for her. She hadn't been to this neck of the woods before and her heart was racing as the summit of the peak they were climbing was getting closer and closer...until the three of them made it, and Joel ordered them to stop to take in the view. Ellie's eyes lit up like the sun.
"WHOA!"
A/N- We're back to the core of The Last of Us, Joel and Ellie and their bonding. I put a lot of work into this chapter especially and would like some feedback pretty please with cordycep spores on top? :)
Where did Joel take Ellie to visit? Tell me what you think via reviews and see if you're right in the next chapter!