This is Not the Last of Us

Chapter 22

When Ellie finally woke up the next morning, it was to a series of knocks on her friend's... no girlfriend's? Partner's? Her girlfriend's door. She was curled up in the clothes she had worn the night before, and her girlfriend had her face nestled into Ellie's chest. The knocking was disturbing her sleep though, Ellie could tell that much.

Ellie tried her best to slip away without waking her, but her girlfriend's eyes opened and she shifted her weight.

"What's going on?" She whispered groggily.

"Don't worry about it," Ellie assured her and sat up.

Her girlfriend responded by immediately sitting up and looking at the clock.

"Oh my god," she whispered and shot up, "I have to go, oh my god I'm so late."

"Late?" Ellie asked as she watched her girlfriend race around her home.

She watched her girlfriend slide on a winter jacket and furiously start to put her shoes on.

"Yeah," she said, "Yeah, Joel and I were talking a while ago and I agreed to go on a trail with him and Tommy this week but they should have started heading there like twenty minutes ago, oh my god."

"Wait, what? Why didn't you tell me?" Ellie asked.

"It was going to be a surprise, but then I genuinely forgot because of last night." She looked up at Ellie in embarrassment and then rushed her.

She wrapped Ellie in a bear hug as the knocking got louder, and then they shared a quick kiss.

"I won't be out too long, I promise."

"I'm going out today too, so I'll see you later today?"

"Later today." Her girlfriend echoed and rushed to the door, ripping it open.

Ellie fell asleep again immediately after, snuggled under the comfy blankets and the comforting smell of her girlfriend's home. It didn't take too much longer for Jesse to come knocking at her house, however.

Jesse stared at Ellie who was just standing there behind the door, "So, you two have fun last night? I had a feeling you'd be here."

"We didn't have sex, Jesse. Get your head out of the gutter. We came here, had a talk, kissed a little, and then fell asleep. That's it. That being said– I overslept. Gimmie a sec and I'll find something to wear."

"You have clothes over here already?" Jesse remarked. "You sly dog, Ellie."

"Shut the fuck up," Ellie snorted and slammed the door shut.

Ellie couldn't help but search around her girlfriend's room as she dug through the drawers for some of her clothes. She had a few pictures of her and Ellie, and quite a few of her with her dads. She even had one of her and Joel, she was holding a huge fish in that picture.

In the bathroom it was pretty bare bones. The most she had in the room was a toothbrush and toothpaste. There were some flowers on a windowsill outside of the bathroom that Ellie had never noticed before. They looked like cacti, and they seemed to be growing well. There were no spikes however, so Ellie let her fingers roll along the smooth surface.

She finally dressed herself and opened the door again.

Jesse was standing there with the amount of patience that Ellie loved him for. It didn't matter how many times Ellie was this late, Jesse would always be sitting there just waiting.

"I heard there was a pretty eventful event after Dina and I left."

"Uh," Ellie paused, "What are you talking about?"