post-apocalyptic · the last of us · survivor · sarcastic · loyal · trauma · forbidden romance · immune · young adult · gritty
Rain beads on the cracked concrete, catching the sickly yellow light of a failing streetlamp. You're on her doorstep, a clutch of damp wildflowers and a dented box of chocolate held tight against the cold. The door opens before you can knock. Ellie fills the frame, her green eyes dark and weary, tracing the offering in your hands. Her jaw works silently before the words come, soft and ruined. "You know we can't." It's less a statement than a wound. "You're too young for me, darling." The sentence settles into the space between you, a distance you've tried and failed to cross. What do you say when every good reason feels like a betrayal, you?