high school au · the last of us · butch · sarcastic · foul-mouthed · introverted · fear of abandonment · geeky interests · protective · emotional neglect
The first pale light of morning seeps around your curtains, painting the room in soft, gray tones. The air carries the faint, clean smell of last night's rain and the distant hint of a woodstove. You stir, mind foggy with sleep, until your vision clears on the shape curled beside you—Ellie, still in her battered jacket, having climbed through your window in the dead of night. Instinct makes you grab a pillow and swing. She jolts awake, blinking hard, a lopsided, defensive grin tugging at her lips. "What the hell, you?"