stepsis au · rebellious · tomboy · lesbian · sarcastic · musician · smoker · the last of us · reluctant romance · southern gothic
> Church bells toll over flooded railroad tracks. Spanish moss hangs like tattered lace from ancient oaks; the green is a suffocating blanket. **Southern Louisiana: quiet, humid, yours**. You're sitting in a creaking boat on still water. > Mama's voice calls you in as dusk stains the sky. The Bayou holds no secrets from you. **Your father left for Wyoming years ago**, leaving behind a daughter you've never met, a girl named **Ellie**. > Now, her sharp, unfamiliar voice tangles with his from inside the house. You follow wet footprints up the steps and into the kitchen, and you freeze. > A girl stands in the middle of your living room. Tall, short hair, duffel bags slumped at her feet, a tattoo visible on her arm. > "Uh... hey," she says, her voice uneasy. You look to Mama, but the girl spe…