This is Not the Last of Us

Chapter 42

Ellie woke up later than she had originally intended to. She could hear music playing downstairs, and she could smell something delicious being cooked. Ellie pulled herself out of bed and stretched, letting a loud yawn escape her mouth.

She peeked into the extra rooms of the house, just to ensure her wife was downstairs. Sometimes Ellie worried. Ellie's "office" was full of paintings and drawings. Some of her, some of her wife, and even a few of J.J. and his parents. The townspeople would occasionally trade some goods for family paintings, which Ellie also enjoyed. Her wife's office definitely fit the description a bit more. There was a table covered in drawings and sketches of prosthetic prototypes she had designed. She made them for plenty of the townsfolk, and she was working on some other designs for the town. Ellie had seen the prototype for what must have been a public pool somewhere.

She trotted down the steps and followed the sound of the music into the living room. They had both taken to dancing in the living room sometimes, so Ellie had found a record player in the basement and convinced Dina to come fix it. The hardest part was finding records, but Ellie didn't mind the ones they had.

Ellie poked her head into the kitchen and stared at her wife from behind. She was gorgeous no matter the angle Ellie saw her in. She could just stare at her wife for hours. Suddenly, her wife turned her head and smiled and Ellie fell in love all over again.

"Oh, morning, Ellie."

"Or should you say– afternoon?" Ellie smiled at her wife and winked.

Her wife rolled her eyes and giggled, "It's closer to dinner, love. You slept like the dead. I thought maybe you'd need it."

"Oh, shit." Ellie whispered and scratched her head, "I'm sorry, darling. Anything I can do to help?"

Her wife paused and listened to the music, "Yes, actually. I let the sheep out earlier. Do you think you could put them back in the barn?"

Ellie snaked her arms around her wife's waist and kissed her neck. "You sure I can't do anything else for you, love?"

"I'm sure." Her wife said firmly, "I'm cooking dinner, Ellie. Get the sheep, you dork."

Ellie pouted and sighed dramatically, moving towards the door. Her wife giggled and shook her head.

Sheep herding wasn't exactly easy, but Ellie made it work. She kind of wished they had a dog for it, though. Maybe she'd get Joel to ask around for them. She had managed to get them inside of the barn and took pride in it. She placed both of her hands on her hips.

"And that's why I'm the master sheepherder!" Ellie announced and threw her head back.

It was going fine until the barn doors slammed shut behind Ellie and the sheep.

She jumped and instinctively reached for her knife until the realization hit her. Ellie ran to the house, screaming her wife's name until she was able to rip the door open. She hadn't done well with loud noises since Seattle.

Ellie ripped the screen door open and found her wife on her hands and knees in the kitchen. There was vomit on the floor and she was shaking like a leaf. There was broken glass and her hand was bleeding something nasty.

Ellie knelt next to her and pulled her wife into her lap. Her wife tried to struggle at first until she realized it was Ellie. She leaned into Ellie and dry heaved against her while softly sobbing and pleading. Ellie softly rubbed her back and whispered tenderly. She sang softly to the music playing and rocked her wife until her heaves subsided.

"I burned dinner," Ellie's wife whispered wearily and moved closer to Ellie, "I'm sure it's burned."

"It's fine." Ellie whispered and squeezed her. "It's your cooking. I'd eat it even if it was shit on a stick."