ᴛʜᴇ ʟᴀꜱᴛ ᴏꜰ ᴜꜱ | ᴇʟʟɪᴇ ᴡɪʟʟɪᴀᴍꜱ

ɢᴇᴛᴛɪɴɢ ᴀʟᴏɴɢ

⋆｡°✩

"You two just sit tight for now, I'm gonna get us some food" Maria said, we nodded.

ᴇʟʟɪᴇ'ꜱ ᴘᴏᴠ

I couldn't stop thinking about her, wondering why she wouldn't talk.

Curiosity got the best of me, so I asked, "What do you think she might give us?"

She formed a soft smile and replied, "I hope it's not peaches," with a playful groan.

Trying to change the subject, she said, "Uh, so what's your deal, you know, with your dad-"

I quickly cut her off, whispering, "Joel's...not my dad." She immediately said, "oh, you two seem so close."

To lighten the mood, she pointed at my backpack and said, "I think your backpacks pretty badass. I'd choose that over this," gesturing to her own.

ꜱʜᴇ ᴍᴜꜱᴛ'ᴠᴇ ɴᴏᴛɪᴄᴇᴅ ᴛʜᴇ ᴘɪɴꜱ

"Thank you," I smiled.

Curious about her hat, I pointed to it and asked, "What does the 'd' stand for?" She took it off and replied, "I don't know. My dad let me borrow it before this whole mess happened."

Playfully, she suggested, "You could try it on."

I smiled and put the hat on.

Just as I did, she pulled out a polaroid camera from her bag and exclaimed, "Wait, hold on!" She snapped a photo and cheered, "Smile!"

As the photo started to develop, we leaned in together. "This looks amazing," I said.

She looked at me and added, "That's definitely a look," and we laughed in sync.

I took her hat off my head and placed it back on hers. In that moment, we locked eyes for a second.

Maria's voice interrupted the moment, "Nice to see that you two are getting along,".

She placed three bowls in front of us. We thanked her for the food.

ʙᴇᴀɴ ꜱᴏᴜᴘ

Clem put her camera back in her bag and pick up the photo again. She asked, "Do you mind if I keep this?"

I replied, "Go ahead, I feel honored."

We laughed together, cherishing the core memory we had just captured.

✮⋆˙

ᴄʟᴇᴍᴇɴᴛɪɴᴇ ᴘᴏᴠ

"Excuse me, I just need the restroom" I stated standing up with my backpack, we've been sitting there for a few minutes talking as we ate.

"It's just down the hall" Maria said, I looked at Ellie before walking out and heading for the restroom.

As I entered the room, my senses were on high alert. I cautiously made my way towards what I assumed was the restroom, I entered a room and walked around checking if it was empty.

I stopped by the bathroom and entered, I didn't think I would need to close the door behind me.

Placing my backpack on the toilet, I reached inside for my water bottle and poured some water on my face. The cool water against my skin helped to calm my nerves, if only for a moment.

Staring at my reflection in the mirror, I could see the determination in my eyes. But little did I know, danger was lurking just around the corner.