Safe and Sound// Ellie Williams

Dina's

I was right when I told Jesse that Aster and Alaia would drag me to Dina's tonight. It's not that I don't like them, it's just that sometimes being around them is a lot. They just all grew up so differently than I did. Alaia knocks on Dina's door while I stand next to Aster. Alaia is definitely the more outgoing one out of the two sisters, which is a perfect match with Dina's outgoing personality, but Aster is more quiet and reserved which fits well with me. Dina opens the door with a wide grin, and I'm surprised when she pulls me into a hug along with Aster and Alaia. I stand there slightly frozen as she gives me the hug. I don't really move until she pulls away. She then grabs my arm and drags me inside. Aster and Alaia follow with small smirks.

"Hey! We're so glad you could come!" Dina says as she pulls me to the rest of the group. I give her a slight smile as a reply. Cat lets go of Ellie's hand before she comes over to me and pulls me into a hug and away from Dina. Out of the corner of my eye I see Dina rolls her eyes slightly and go over to Jesse.

"Of course she came. Tate never misses a hanging." Cat emphasizes hanging. I give Jesse a look and he smirks at me. Aster already sat down on the couch near Ellie so I go over and sit next to her. Ellie offers me a beer, but I shake my head. Ellie just smiles before handing it to Aster, "I still can't believe you live in this shithole of a world and don't drink." Cat tells me as she sits down next Ellie and lays her head on her shoulder. I just shrug at her. Cat smiles, "You know I had my first drink when I was 15." Well I was fighting in a war when I was 15.

"Yeah like you're such a great example." Ellie teases her. Cat just shrugs and gives Ellie a kiss. Ellie gets flustered- I know from all my interactions with her that she's not into PDA.

"I remember my first drink. I drank way too much and puked all over my living room. My parents were not happy with me." Jesse chuckles. I know his parents so I can already imagine.

"God your mom must have freaked!" Dina laughs. 

"Oh she did," Cat chimes in, "She came over to my house cursing at Jesse's "unacceptable behaviour.""

"Dad was okay when I got drunk for the first time. He was laughing his ass off at the fact that I tripped on the stairs." Alaia tells us. That must have been before I got here.

"Yeah Ian would be chill. I bet Joel was too." Dina says turning to Ellie. I quickly whisper to Aster, "Why would he be cold about it?"

Aster stifles a laugh, "Not the temperature. Chill means relaxed." I nod my head and turn to Ellie to hear her answer.

"Yeah he hasn't really seen me like that which is going to stay that way." I've talked to Joel a few times and you can see he's protective when it comes to Ellie, but I really think she does overthink things when it comes to Joel's opinion. At least from what I could tell.

"You know I would love to be able to see Tate drunk. I feel like you'd be the one to spill all your secrets." Cat tells me in a teasing tone. Cat's a good friend, but she is very open and honest.

"Maybe that's why I don't."

"Ah always the mystery." She leans back into Ellie and I make eye contact with her. Ellie's watching me with a curious look in her eye. I break away eye contact. I don't know what it is about Ellie, but every time I'm around her I get this feeling in the pit of my stomach that I don't understand, "My mom didn't like drinking. No one around me really did so I was never around it before I came to Jackson." I tell them. I always be sure to give them enough information to be satisfied, but my past before Jackson is something I like to keep to myself.

"Really? There was no alcohol in Seattle?" Ellie asks.

"Not from the part of Seattle where I'm from." Everyone accepts that answer. I see Cat try to get closer to Ellie, but Ellie pulls away and turns red. Cat rolls her eyes and pushes away. Cat's talked about this a lot- how she gets frustrated that Ellie isn't as open as she is. Ellie hasn't even told Joel about them yet. Cat is someone who I've always been fascinated with. That sounds mean, but it's not. I just never met anyone like her who is so open about liking the same sex, so blunt and honest, covered in tattoos... just so different than everything I was taught to believe is right and wrong. She scared me a bit when I first met her, but she was also one of the first people to not judge me off the bat when I came here.

"I've never been to Seattle, what's it like?" Dina asks me.

I shrug, "Cold. It rains a lot and the streets by the water are all flooded."

"How do you get around then?" Jesse asks.

"Depends on who you ask." I'm saved from being asked another question when Ellie gets off the couch and starts to walk to the kitchen. I follow her with my eyes like the rest of us as she walks to the front door.

"I'm gonna go smoke." When Ellie leaves Cat follows not too far behind. No one really speaks about what happened since no one really knows. They all just continue talking and I just listen to them. About 30 minutes pass and I start to get tired from being here.

"Hey Aster I'm gonna head back now. You guys good if I go?" Aster turns to me and smiles with a nod.

"Yeah we're just gonna stay for a bit, but we'll meet you back home." I nod and wave bye to them. Dina gets up and gives me another hug and I again just return a small smile.

"Seriously Tate, come by anytime." I nod and head out the door. When I get there I see Cat and Ellie still there. Cat looks annoyed.

"I'm gonna head back inside. See ya later Tate." I don't even have time to give a reply to Cat as she moves past me back inside the house. I feel really awkward so I give Ellie a small smile to say bye and she returns it slightly. Before I can go Ellie calls me back.

"Hey, uh Tate, can I ask something?"

"Sure." I nod at her and Ellie flicks away a joint in her hands.

"You know Cat pretty well. She's just, she's just so open about everything. How do you handle it?"

"You're asking how I handle your girlfriend." I ask slowly.

"Fuck that sounds bad. It's just you're pretty reserved and I don't know she asks you questions but you always seem to manage to answer it, yet not answer it at all. How do you even do that?"

"I don't know. I just do, I guess." Ellie furrows her eyebrows at this. I sigh, "My mom is super religious, so I couldn't always tell her the truth. I guess I just got good at only partially telling the truth." 

"Is?" Ellie questions.

"Yeah well she isn't dead. At least, I don't think she is." Ellie doesn't reply as she keeps a curious look on her face, "Good luck with Cat. I'm sure you'll figure it out." I turn away from Ellie before she can ask anymore questions. I don't even know why I mentioned my mom. When I get back home I grab my journal. I don't know why I do it, but I draw Ellie's face as she blows smoke out of her lips.