𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄 𝐃𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇𝐓 | ellie williams

nineteen

ᖭི༏ᖫྀ

"WHY IS MARIA sending us patrolling so early in the morning, and why so far away from Jackson?" Ayesha asks, caressing her horse.

Joel turned to Ayesha with a smile on his face, finding the young woman quite funny. She'd been complaining for at least an hour, and Joel found it hard to believe that this was the same girl who'd been in a hurry to go on patrol again a week ago.

"I wanna go home." Ayesha sighs, looking around.

"Hey, I thought you were excited to patrol again." Joel chuckles.

"Yes, but not at six in the morning. I barely got sleep." Ayesha grumbles.

Ayesha didn't actually get a wink of sleep all night. She went home shortly after joining Jon, showered and couldn't sleep, thinking about what had happened in the bathroom with Ellie.

She didn't know what had possessed the young woman, but the person who touched her that evening wasn't Ellie, or maybe it was a side of her she didn't know yet. But that hadn't displeased Ayesha, who hadn't been touched by anyone else for at least a year.

"And my wound hurts." Ayesha slides her hand on her stomach.

Joel turns to the young woman with a frown; if he'd known Ayesha was in pain, he wouldn't have taken her out on patrol so as not to take any risks. He sighs before speaking up.

"I think I have painkillers, hold on." Joel digs his hand in his pocket before handing a pill to Ayesha.

"Thank you." Ayesha smiles at Joel before taking the pill.

Ayesha grabs her bottle of water before opening it and taking a sip, then swallowing the painkiller. Joel speaks again while Ayesha puts her bottle back in the outside pocket of her bag.

"If you were in pain you should've told me, I would've never let you come."

"I am alright." Ayesha reassures Joel with a smile, "Just don't tell Maria or she won't let me go out again."

Joel laughed, wondering whether Ayesha liked patrolling or hated it. She changed her mind depending on the circumstances.

"Ellie would be happy if you stayed in Jackson again." Joel unexpectedly says which made Ayesha frown in confusion.

"Why?"

"Because she could see you more often. I think she liked visiting you when you were hurt." Joel casually snitches on Ellie.

Ayesha widened her eyes before turning to Joel, who was too busy surveying the surroundings. Ayesha didn't know what Ellie was feeling, she thought what had happened last night said a lot about how she felt, but everything was even fuzzier.

"Yeah, whatever," Ayesha tries to seem nonchalant, though she felt extremely happy to hear that, "I don't understand why we are patrolling so early."

Joel shrugged, he knew roughly why but didn't know if he had the right to tell Ayesha, but after all, everyone knew that Maria and Tommy trusted the young woman extremely so why wouldn't Joel tell her?

"Maria told me they found more about this radio frequency they intercepted a few days ago, and it worries her because that means someone new is around." Joel says which confuses Ayesha.