take on me, e.williams

fifteen

—all for love
all for us—

———odessa and ellie whispered amongst themselves as the actors on the screen spoke over them. hand in hand they let their eyes scan the room for joel. he was nowhere in sight. it worried odessa, she hasn't seen him since he dropped her off at the house to clean her up. she didn't think that after the previous conversation with tommy he would go back to talk again.

"where the fuck is he?" odessa asked lowly. her brown eyes landed on tommy and maria whispering heatedly. then tommy quickly left, his eyes momentarily locking with odessa's twin brown eyes.

                      joel had only mentioned how similar odessa and tommy were a few times. not as much as she got compared to joel himself. he often said things like, same eyes, same stubbornness, same cocky responses. but that was it. it wasn't enough for odessa to ever care too much, joel would always be her father. regardless of her forgiveness (at any point in time) to her father.

                         "let's go find him." ellie nudged odessa out of her thoughts, thumb running over her knuckles. odessa cast a subtle glance to maria, who was having a conversation with her back turner to them. swiftly, they snuck out of the theater and hurried outside. there was a small shop, a tool shop of some sorts.

                        "i just wake up and know i've lost somethin'." joel's shaky voice muffled through a partially open window. odessa pulled ellie to the sound of his voice as they listened in. "i'm failin' in my sleep, that's all i do. it's all i've ever done."

                      "you want me to take her?" tommy asked, his back turned to the window. ellie breathed out in ragged breaths, gripping odessa's hand.

                     "i'm gonna get her killed, i know it. and i don't want dessa to be anywhere near that when it happens." joel said. odessa swallowed her voice and crushed her eyes shut. " i cant see her heartbreak like that again, not after tess and ellen. i have to leave them." joel's voice quivered.

                       "joel." tommy sighed.

                        "it's why you took off on me, right? to make up for the things we did? well, here's your chance to bring your kid into a better world, and to get odessa back on your side." joel spoke as though his own words were stabbing himself. "you're younger than me, you're still strong. you said it yourself, you'll come back. you have to take her." joel was practically pleading now.

                      "where are you gonna go?" tommy shook his head at his older brother.

                         "somewhere far away by myself, where i can't hurt anyone. no one to worry about." joel replied. "listen, tommy. you're the only one i trust, you can't tell anyone. not even maria. if someone saw those bites on her, what's under her skin, they'll shoot ellie." ellie's eyes welled with tears. it hit her now, joel cared deeply about her as if she was his own kid. it was silent for a long time.

                     "i'll take her out at dawn." was all tommy said before he made to stand and leave. ellie sniffed back her tears and began to run, taking odessa with her. they ran all the way back to the house, leaving their coat and shoes in the middle of the foyer.

                        together they climbed into the small bed, arms wrapped around one another as they cried. feeling as though this would be the last night. their futures were unknown last this point, all they knew was being together the last few months and now it was certain that they might not see each other again for far too long.