They made their way in silence up the rise and through entrance of the settlement; Ellie heard the screech of the gate being shut behind them and locked for the night. Matt stopped, and stood still in the middle of the compound.

"Ellie –" he began in a pained voice, and she met his eyes.

"I'm not going anywhere."

Relief spread through him. "Come with me."

Ellie found herself nodding. "Of course."

Matt lived in a building which had been divided into smaller units to hold the men without families. There was one area which served as a kitchen of sorts, and several smaller chambers surrounded it. The building was originally a collection of offices for those servicing the dam, but now it was a suitable place for the workmen to live. Ellie pulled her hoodie tighter about her as Matt pushed open the door and directed her through the main area into a smaller cubicle. There were two cots there, the second unmade and covered with a pile of wrinkled clothing. A partially consumed piece of bread-and-some-makeshift-type-butter languished in an aluminum pan. Matt swallowed thickly.

"Not a very tidy fellow, huh," Ellie said in a low tone as Matt turned on the yellow light hanging from above them.

"Used to drive me nuts," Matt managed, forcing a strangled laugh. The quiet buzz of the electricity pervaded the room as Ellie pushed aside the stuff, and sat on the cot. Matt slowly fished a coat from the pile of clothing behind her, and removed his own, pushing his arms through the sleeves of his father's garment, and sitting down on the other cot with his head in his hands. Ellie watched him with sympathy rising in her chest.

Grasping the edge of the cot, she hitched it forward, away from the wall, and pulled with her feet until she settled it into place opposite him, their knees touching. Then lightly, very lightly, she began to finger Matt's hair. His head lowered still further until it was nearly upon her lap, and Ellie continued to fidget, sorting out the tangled waves and pushing pack a few pieces behind his ears, parting it at the crown and touching the tiny whorl of exposed scalp there. She felt his hot tears drip on her jeans before she noticed the shaking of his shoulders.

"Hey, hey..." she murmured, sitting beside him and smoothing a small hand over his back. "It's okay. It's gonna be okay."

"I know," he gasped. "But now I just want to forget."

"Okay." Ellie brushed her hair back from her face. "Let's talk about something."

Matt shook his head, lifting his face, which was pale and tear tracked. "Kiss me," he croaked.

Ellie swallowed and looked at her lap. "Matt..."

"Ellie, just – pretend, for a little while." His eyes were pale, dead. "Make me forget. If you love me, do it. As a friend."

She took a deep breath. "As a friend," she echoed, her voice strange.

Her heartbeat thudding in her ears, Ellie sat next to him, and pulled her feet up beneath her on the uneven cot, holding his face between her hands and pressing a kiss to his lips. Matt inhaled a shaking breath, and his arms went around her, holding her close, as slowly, ever so slowly, he parted his lips and responded. Ellie tried to quell the trembling she felt deep within her, the overwhelming urge to pull away, to run, but she was captured in the danger of her own deceit, and continued to kiss him, feeling ashamed that she was deriving pleasure from Matt's weakness. Before, the control had been completely and totally his. Now it was undeniably hers.

Drunk with a perilous combination of grief and pleasure, Matt's hands crushed themselves to Ellie's body, pressing her close to him, fumbling with her clothing. She continued to kiss him, on his lips, over the swollen places beneath his eyes, down his cheek and jaw, and his hands captured hers, wringing them with a tremendous pressure that almost made her yelp in pain.

"I can't – I feel numb –" he gasped. "Do something."

"I don't want to," she mumbled. "It's not right."

"Talk to me about the baby," Matt begged, his hands finding her belly and pressing into the soft flesh there.

"I don't know a thing about it except it's a freakin' baby," Ellie whispered, holding Matt's face between her hands. "You're acting weird."

"Not helping," Matt gasped, shutting his eyes. "Distract me. Hurt me."

"No." Ellie lowered her brows. "I'm not hurting you."

"Kiss me again."

Ellie lowered her face, and as she pressed her lips to his, she felt a sharp pain and the taste of blood. She jerked back, and put a hand to her lip.

"What the – You bit me!"

"Come on," Matt begged, his eyes wild, his hands tearing at her ponytail. "Make me feel your pain."

Without thinking, Ellie fell upon him and crushed their mouths together, sinking her teeth into the soft flesh of his bottom lip, tasting blood. Matt did not flinch, merely inhaled, and clawed her closer, his hands bruising her ribcage. He nosed his way up to her neck and nipped there, then harder, and Ellie retaliated by planting a deep bite in the flesh of his shoulder, through his t-shirt. There Matt gasped, and gripped Ellie's arms.

"That hurt," he breathed.

"Yeah, I know, that's why I did it," she wheezed back. "You hurt me first."

"I'm sorry." His clouded eyes met hers and he caressed the spot of blood that was hardening on her lip. His own still wept blood, streaking his chin and giving him a wild, manic look, and Ellie pulled the sleeve of her hoodie over her hand, wiping it clean. Matt winced, and Ellie's eyebrows drew together.

"Gol-lee. Let me see your shoulder."

"It's fine. It's good. The pain will keep me rational throughout the night."

"Do you want me to go?"

"No." He swiped at his lip again, smearing his hand with an uneven line of blood. "I love you, Ellie. I never want you to leave."

"Fine." She flopped down next to him, scowling and settling her shirt. Her expression softened. "I'm really sorry about your dad, Matt," she said, looking up at him.

Meeting those large, childlike eyes, Matt heaved a deep breath. "Thank you. Life will go on."

She closed her eyes, willing her pulse to slow, and gradually, it did so, as she drifted off to sleep, Matt's arm around her.

When she awakened, it was late in the morning. The sun was bright around them, and Ellie squinted, wondering how late it actually could be. There was no telling. Her first thought was, "Jeez, Joel is going to kill me. I never even told him where I was." Her next thought was of Matt. "Poor guy. Let him sleep so he can forget for a little longer."

Carefully, she eased herself into an upright position, her hand idly patting to a place on her belly, as she stood, stretching, and beginning to quietly push the other cot back into its former position. Matt stirred and made a strange half-wakeful noise, and Ellie looked at his face, seeing that his eyes were open, and staring at her.

"Hey." She pushed her hair out of her eyes. "I've gotta go."

Matt made no reply, but his hand twitched errantly, and she thought she detected a flicker of sadness stab through his bleary vision.

"You gonna be okay?"

He still made no reply except to let out a low moan, and turn his back to her. Ellie's brow furrowed, and she sighed, zipping up her hoodie and making her way toward the door.

"Fine. I'll check up on you -"

A terrifyingly feral sound arrested her steps as Ellie turned, seeing Matt stagger up from the bed, a vacant light in his eyes.

"Matt –?"

He lurched toward her, the dried blood from the night before staining the area around his mouth, which was slack and gaping. His skin was blotchy, his eyes unfocused, glowing with a slight unseeing luminescence... Like a runner's.