Just Us

Part 5

"I asked you first, tell me yours and I might tell you mine" Ellie laughs "Do you realise how childish this sounds?".

I laugh, she's got a point, we've both got these childish 'crushes' and we're talking about them but scared to reveal them. Seems like something that would only happen in a kids movie, from what I've seen at least. 

"Nope, I guess you'll never know," I say, just imagine how embarrassing it would be if I told her I liked her and she liked someone else. 

"Then I guess you'll never know either".

"Well, ill get it out of you" I wink, intending for it to sound sexual. Ellie, caught off by this comment turns slightly pink and drops her head to look at her feet. "Oh my god, did I just make the Ellie Williams blush?" I laugh.

"shut the fuck up bitch," she mumbles.

"Sorry, what was that? I couldn't hear you over the bottom energy you're radiating," I joke, I heard Jessie mention what a bottom and top are, it seems very fitting to how Ellies reacting right now. 

"I'll let you know, I am not a bottom," She says as she lifts her head to look at me. "Yeah sure, that's what a bottom would say," I reply.

Ellie sighs and stands up, she remains still for a few seconds then turns around and reaches her arm to help me up.

"Aw Ellie Williams is so sweet" I laugh as I grab her hand to stand up. Without realising, she lets go and I fall straight back down onto the step. "What the fuck?!" I yell.

"I am not a bottom," she says, looking at me deep in the eyes. Her face was extremely intimidating, similar to the time I bumped into her.

 "Okay, okay, whatever you say," I reply, standing up on my own as Ellie begins to walk off, her arms in her hoodie pocket. She stops and looks back "We should probably get ready for our route,".

"ah shit yeah, I'll quickly run over to my place and get some stuff, wanna come or do I meet you at the gate?" I ask, walking up to her, ready to leave.

"Yeah I can come with you, why not, we're both going on the route so we may as well meet at the gate together,".

"Okay let's go,". We both walk, silently, to my small house, Ellie kicking small rocks and pebbles which rest on the road whilst walking, one accidentally hitting me in the leg and I turn around and punch her, she lets out a small grunt. 

Once we get to my place, I take my keys out of my pocket, much like the occurrence last night, however, this time I was accompanied by Ellie. The door opened with a creak and I made my way inside. I took off my hoodie, remaining in a dirty grey t-shirt and put on the jacket resting on the doorknob. I changed my shoes, getting into more comfortable boots for our route, they're normally more comfortable whilst riding. I grabbed the gloves and beanie off the table next to the door aswell as my knife and put them all into my pockets. 

"Okay, I'm done, ready to head off?" I asked.

"Yeah, lets go" Ellie says, walking towards the front gate. Its a little walk away as my house is situated closer to the west side of town. Ellie and I walk silently towards the gate, occasionally saying hello to people we see walking past us.

"Jesse should be finishing his route soon," I say "He was with Dina today, right?".

"Yeah I believe so, I mean i haven't seen dina today so I assume so," ellie speaks, she doesn't seem to realise what she said as she continues down the path.

"Didn't she stay with you last night?".

"Yeah, I think so. I don't know if it was a dream or not but I think she may have left early," she says. Her face changes from her general expression to more of an upset pouty face. 

"Shit, I'm sorry, do you wanna talk about it?" I ask, walking a bit closer to her side, in hopes of making her feel more comfortable.

"Nah, its okay," she sighs.

We get to the gate, our horses already waiting for us. 

"Now Brielle, if anything happens you both come straight back, okay? I cant afford either of you getting hurt or infected. Stick to the route and stay safe. Make sure you log in at each checkpoint then make your way back home, no dilly-dallying. Got it?" Maria says to both Ellie and I, its clear she doesn't believe I'm ready to go back out, I think I am. 

"Yes Ma'am" I say, putting my hand to my head to do a soldier salute. Ellie chuckles behind me as Maria gives me a dirty look. 

We both hop onto our horses, ellie clicking her tongue to signal them both to head out the large gates. We turn right into the large forest following our route. Ive completed this route once with Dina, I believe this is Ellie's regular route, she used to do this with Joel when she first got here. 

"Can I ask you something?" I speak up. Its been a pretty silent ride, besides the rhythmic sound of horse hooves on a mixture of surfaces and birds chirping in the background. Ellie hasn't said anything since we left and It was a bit unnerving.

"Shoot,".

"Do you, uhm, do you love Dina?" I ask, its a pretty personal question but her answer determines how i treat this whole situation. If she says she does love dina then i wont fuck with anything, i don't want to be the reason behind them breaking up. 

"Yeah, I did- do, I do," Ellie stumbles on her words, did she say she 'did'? What could that mean?.

"Did?" I ask.

"It was a mixup of words, I do love her, and I hope she still loves me. Fuck, why does love have to be so difficult, ya' know?" She says, the sound of galloping making it hard to understand her however I was able to make out a slight sigh at the end of her sentence. 

"Yeah, I know, is this because of the person you like?" I ask, I do not at all want to pressure her into talking about any of this, I just want to be there for her, as a friend. 

"Yeah," she sighs. 

"have you spoken to Dina about any of this?"

"No, she'd freak, it's best I just keep it all a secret until i can just get rid of all the feelings,"

"Ellie, you know that's not how it works,".

--

AN

HI. I HOPE YOU ENJOYED>