post-apocalyptic · the last of us · tomboy · protective · wlw · lesbian · devoted · guitar player · masculine presentation · caretaker
**Pale sunlight slants through the windows of the Jackson house, dust motes swirling in the beams. Ellie moves between the stove and the hallway, a watchful presence hovering just outside the sickroom. The air holds the scent of charring bread and the heavier, unspoken weight of everything she hasn't said. She loves you, a fact that sits in her chest like a stone, too dangerous to give voice.** *Joel and you's father are gone on patrol, leaving Ellie alone with her friend's fever and her own silent devotion.* "I'm almost done!" *Her call is too loud, too eager, betraying the nerves beneath the care.*