If I ask, will you stay? - 𝙀𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙚 𝙒𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙖𝙢𝙨

short detour

ELLIE WILLIAMS
CHAPTER TWO!

FLASHBACK

"I love you--" 

"Prove it. Stay." Dina begs me and I look down at the floor and stay quiet for a long moment. 
"I can't" I finally say 
"So, what? I'm just supposed to sit here and wait for you, for god knows how long, just thinking you're fucking dead the entire time?" She argues with me. 
"I don't plan on dying" I say. "Yeah, well, neither did Jesse"

"Or Joel" Hearing Joel's name hit me and I immediately turned and grabbed my bag.
"Hey, stop. Hey. Hey, come on" She says grabbing my face.
"We've got a family. She doesn't get to be more important than that" She says to me and I sigh gently grabbing her hand that was over mine.

"No" She says as I slowly remove her hands from my face as she moves away from me. She turns around crying and I look down at the floor.

"I'm not gonna do this again" She says softly.
"That's up to you" I say staring at the back of her head. I finally turn around and walk out of the house the last thing I hear is her soft crying before I walk further and further away.

I violently stir in my sleep throwing myself around the couch. I dream about coming back here to the house for the first time after Abby. Having the house empty. Dina no please I'm sorry. I was wrong-

A knock at the door immediately wakes me up and I jump up grab my gun and run towards the door before throwing it open and pointing my gun at the person. Wait is Dina standing at my door?
"Dina?!" I shout confused.
"What no Dani!" I point the gun at her face and she immediately backs up with her hands up.
"Where is Dina?!" I shout and she frowns at me.
"Dina? What Dina? Blonde-haired Dina?" She asks and I shake my head.
"No!"

"What's her surname?" She asks me.
"I don't know her surname!" I shout at her.
"I don't know who you're talking about!" She says confused. I shake my head finally starting to wake up a bit.
"Dani?" I ask.
"Yeah?" She says confused.
"Ellie, why are you pointing a gun at me?" She asks as I finally put down my gun and put my hand on my face.
"You okay?" She asks me.

"Yeah yeah I'm sorry I think I was sleepwalking a bit" I say and she gives me a small smile.
"It's alright" She says as I put my pistol at the back of my jeans.
"I just wanted to let you know that I'm leaving soon" she says and I nod my head.
"So what's next for you?" She asks me and I sigh finally thinking that it's enough hiding in a corner.
"I'm going to go to Jackson" I say.
"Jackson?" She asks.
"Yeah, it's a town you know it?" I ask.
"I do, it's quite a big town hard not to hear about" She says smiling.

"So I presume you're going to Jackson to look for this Dina girl?" She asks me and I look away from her.
"Yeah, I need to talk to her" I say.
"Well, how about this Jackson is only a short detour from where I'm heading maybe a couple of hours. I'll give you a ride to Jackson" She says and I frown looking back at her.
"Why would you do that?" I ask her and she smiles.
"I suppose it's a way to say thanks for letting me stay on your property and for you not trying to shoot me three times" She says and I look down at my feet.
"I'm sorry about that" I say looking back at her.
"It's alright Ellie, I understand" She says and I sigh. How is she so calm and understanding?

"So what's your answer? I leave in a couple of hours" She asks me.
"I'll take that ride but we leave now" I say surprising myself a bit.
"Alright sure, met you here in a bit" She says turning around and walking down the broken porch stairs and walking off. I turn around and walk back into the house immediately packing my bag. What are you doing Ellie? You don't know their woman? I tell myself but I don't stop packing. I grab everything I could and head back outside where I see Dani petting her horse on the neck as her horse snuggles into her.

"All ready?" She asks me and I nod my head slightly. I'm not sure if I am ready for this.
"Okay, so this is Delta. She is a mare and she does kick and bite. Respect her and she will respect you. She is an amazing horse and she will get us there in one piece" She says hoping onto her in one swift movement. Delta was quite tall. She sticks her hand out to me and I take it as she helps me up into the back of Delta. I accidentally knock Delta's butt a bit and she neighs and moves around putting her ears back.

"Careful of the butt" She says and I nod my head.
"Sorry girl" I say as she nudges Delta forward and she begins to walk.
"You know the way?" I ask her.
"I should know the way but if I get lost just let me know where to go" She says.
"Sure" I say. She nudges Delta some more going into a canter as we canter further and further away from the house. We rode in silence for a long time most likely an hour into the ride.
"May I ask a question?" She asks as Delta walks calmly.

"Yeah, why not" I say.
"How did you lose your two fingers?" She asks me and I sigh.
"Got them bitten off" I say.
"Fuck! Must of been painful as hell" she says and I nod my head.
"I was a bit occupied and didn't really notice the pain to start with" I say.
"What were you doing not to notice your fingers been bitten off?" She asks me.
"Trying to kill someone" I say and she nods her head.

"Oh, and did you kill them? I would have killed them just for bitting my fingers off" She asks and laughs.
"No, I didn't" I say quietly thinking about Abby.
"Bad memories?" She asks.
"Yeah that's one way to put it" I say and she nods her head.
"Sorry" she says.
"No, it's okay. I need to come to terms with it" I say.
"It isn't exactly easy, I'm still trying to get past some things I've done" She says which makes me wonder what she had done but to be fair we have all done something bad in this world.

"How old are you Ellie?" She asks me.
"21" I say.
"The big 21 huh?" She asks me and I chuckle.
"I suppose so" I say and she laughs.
"People use to have a huge party when people turned 21" She tells me.
"Haven't been to a party in a very long time" I say and she nods her head.
"Neither have I" She says.
"How about you, how old are you?" I ask her.
"23" She says and I nod my head.

"A bit older than you" She says and I smile.
"Yeah, just a bit" I say before looking at the back of her head. She looks amazing even from the back and she smells good too if that's even possible. What is it about this woman?
"It's getting late. We should probably find somewhere to camp out" She says and I nod my head. We end up spotting a little house and head towards it.
"Let's make sure there isn't any infected" She says and we hop off of Delta. She ties Delta up by a tree and takes out her bow and arrow.

"Go around back" I say and she nods her head and sneaks off around the back of the house. I peel through the windows but it seemed all quiet inside. I slowly head towards the door and open it. I look around carefully but don't spot anything. It seemed all clear and I spot Dani at the back. She nods her head at me and I nod back. We both put down our weapons and walked toward each other.
"All good?" She asks and I nod my head. She heads back out and grabs all the supplies from Delta before settling her in the back of the house hidden away.

"I'll take the first watch, you can get some sleep" She says but I shake my head.
"No no I'm not tired you can go get some rest" I say but she just laughs and shows her head.
"No come on Ellie I said I'll take the first watch go get some rest" She says.
"You sure I don't mind taking the first watch?" I ask her. She smiles at me.
"Get some rest" I nod my head not feeling tired at all. I lay down on the floor grabbing the pillow and blanket. That's when I suddenly close my eyes drifting into deep sleep quicker than I thought.