Did I really spend ages on this chapter trying to fit in every detail so now it's long af because I want the reader to miss Ellie?!? yes
3 years earlier
Ellie sits on a log, Joel's guitar on her lap as she softly strums the strings.
"That's starting to sound like something." Joel praises, walking towards her and she looks up at him.
"Ugh, I suck." She admits.
"Nah... just need to build up your calluses, that's all." He tells her and she sighs, looking down at her hands.
(Y/N) comes up behind him, a smile on her face and a shimmer in her eyes as she takes his hand. "Come on." She tells Ellie, who's own eyes widen.
"Is this it?"
"Yeah."
The two adults turn and start walking off, Ellie quickly placing the guitar down to follow.
"I'm gonna start guessing." She says and Joel laughs. "You want to spoil your surprise now?"
"I dunno.... is it a dinosaur?"
"Stop trying to guess, we're not telling you." (Y/N) warns her.
"Is it an elephant?"
Joel sighs and (Y/N) chuckles, squeezing his hand as Ellie hums. "Is it a convertible?"
"You're not gonna guess." Joel states.
"Is it a puppy? Is it a lotta kittens?."
"You mean a litter?"
"What's a litter?"
"A bunch of kittens." Joel answers and the teenager frowns. "Why wouldn't you call it just a bunch of kittens?"
"I don't know why - it's called a litter!" Joel says, exasperated, he pushes back the leaves and (Y/N) stands beside him, letting Ellie go first.
"Mind your step."
"I got it -" And with that, Joel nudges Ellie, sending her tumbling into the water and she resurfaces, spluttering.
Joel was doubled over with laughter and (Y/N) was the same, finding Ellie's expression amusing.
"What is wrong with you?" She yells.
"Ah, you should see your face right now." (Y/N) chuckles, shaking her head.
"What if I drowned?"
"You're not gonna drown. You gotta work on that confidence, kiddo." Joel reassures and she nods. "Yeah, keep laughing, old man. See what happens."
(Y/N) points up ahead. "This way."
"Your swimming's getting better. Remember now, don't just flail about, you gotta -" Joel calls down, but she easily repeats what he has taught her: "push the water with your whole arm."
"Glad to know I'm getting through." He shrugs as Ellie joins them back on land.
"Ellie, c'mere, take a look at this." Joel mumbles to her and they all stop at the edge. "You see that deer over there? You see it, just through there, look."
"Yeah. I see it. Looks like..." she pushes Joel in, making (Y/N) burst out laughing.
"How's that feel?" Ellie shouts, high-fiving the Firefly.
"Refreshing." Joel admits.
"Yeah, it's not nice getting pushed in, is it?"
"Well, actually we need to swim through this part anyway." Joel informs her, a smug look on his face as she glares at him and (Y/N) dives in.
"I got you back, you're angry and upset."
"I am very angry and upset. Now come on."
After diving under a fallen tree and going back on the land, Ellie starts to guess her surprise again. "Is it my 6th grade history teacher wanting to apologise for being a massive dick?"
"I beg your pardon?" Joel asks, shocked.
"My friend and I would argue whenever he called the Fireflies terrorists. We got a lot of detention."
"Kid, you gotta stop letting people rile you up." (Y/N) says and Ellie frowns. "It's hard when they're dicks."
"Point still stands." Joel says.
They dive once more and emerging, Ellie swims after the pair, trying to keep up. "Is it a new pair of sneakers?"
"How many of those do you have?" Joel questions.
"Not enough."
He climbs out, turning to help his two girls when Ellie sighs, shaking the water off. "Fuck it. I'm done guessing." She helps (Y/N) up, who rolls her eyes. "Oh, good."
"But like, is it a massive comic book collection, no, wait, a new DVD collection?"
Joel lets out an elongated sigh, taking his lover's hand again as she smiles. "Yes."
"Wait, which one."
"Just yes."
"How about laserdiscs. I heard that's a thing."
Out in the opening, stood a moss covered statue of a dinosaur and Ellie can't help but contain her excitement. "Holy shit, guys. Oh my god, it is a dinosaur!"
She begins drawing in her journal, following the adults around to where they stand outside a sign. "Wyoming Museum of Science and History."
"How did you guys find this place?" Ellie asks, still in awe.
"Maria. She told (Y/N) about it and we figured it would be right up your alley." Joel answers.
"Figured right." Ellie picks up a book perched against one of the signs and her eyebrows crease. "What's this?"
(Y/N) looks, confused, to Joel. "Uh, it's a book."
"It's a dinosaur book!"
"Okay?"
"All right." Ellie sighs, taking it with her as she goes inside.
Joel looks to (Y/N), who shrugs and he chuckles. "All right then." He mutters, taking his girlfriend's hand once more.
The family make their way through the museum, making various gestures and comments to each other as they explore the different pieces of history left behind.
Ellie rushes over to a cowboy hat hung on a stand. "You wanna try it on?" She questions Joel.
"I do not."
She motions to (Y/N), who has her hands on her hips. "Fine." She sighs, bending down slightly and Ellie pushes the hat on her ponytail, grinning as the older woman straightens up with it.
Joel whistles. "Now who's the cowboy."
"Cowgirl, baby." (Y/N) does pretend finger guns and he laughs, shaking his head at her behaviour.
"Whoa, look at those talons." Ellie mutters, already interested in the next thing.
"That is a velociraptor." Joel states.
"Actually, it's a dee... dee-oh-nin-y-chus." Ellie pronounces.
"Pretty sure these are velociraptors. Yeah." Joel reassures himself, confident to what he was saying. "I mean at least that's what they called them in this movie I saw."
The teenager hums, walking off and Joel takes (Y/N) in his arms, pushing the hat up to see her eyes. He tilts her back ever so slightly, leaning in when they hear Ellie in another room.
"Oh, hello, sorry the dinosaurs are busy right now."
Joel pulls (Y/N) back up with a slight laugh, leading her to the room where they lean against the doorway. "What are you doing?" He asks, his arms crossed with an amused smile.
"Oh wait, one of the dinosaurs is here." She jokes. "Joel, it's for you."
"Very funny."
"It's pretty funny. Do you get it? It's cause you're old."
"Oh, I get it."
(Y/N) now stands in front of one of the exhibits. "Compsognathus." She reads and Ellie nods. "Such a big name for little guys." She adds and the Firefly smirks. "Yeah, they'd swarm you."
"Did you see that in some kind of movie too?"
"Actually yeah. But a different one to Joel's."
"Yeah, I had a sequel though that had these in. Wasn't as good." He criticises.
The older woman makes her way over to one of the dinosaurs and places the hat with a small smile. "Tiny head. Joel, look!"
"That is... a hat on a dinosaur."
"It's a hatasour." Ellie offers and the woman points. "Exactly."
(Y/N) removes it, placing it on the young girls head as she stands in front of the triceratops. Ellie climbs up, placing the hat and Joel sighs. "Is this gonna be a thing? Please don't let this be a thing."
Ellie smiles, taking it back. "Triceratops means 'three-horned-face'."
"You would not wanna be on the business end of that horn." Joel admires. "Triceratops, at least there's one I recognise."
The teenager flips open her journal, having already moved on. "The dimetrodon was an apex predator."
"What's an apex predator?" (Y/N) asks.
"The most badass predator."
"Hmph. Pretty short for that." Joel scoffs.
"Wait, were you talking about me?" Ellie responds, placing the hat on the dimetrodon.
"Gallimimus' name means 'chicken mimic'. Who names these?" She continues on and (Y/N) frowns. "Scientists."
"Well... they're dumb."
The teenager makes her way into a bathroom, wiping the grime off the mirror and starting to pull funny faces to herself. (Y/N) stands beside her, crouching slightly so her face was next to Ellie's and starts to copy her. Joel watches his girls from the doorway, an amused look plastered across his face.
"Brachiosaurus are six hundred pounds of plants each day. Imagine the poops!" Ellie exclaims.
"They has this one scene where uh... actually, one of the guys said: 'that's a big mound of shit'." Joel says, not being able to contain his laughter until Ellie joins in.
"What is this movie and when can we see it?"
"Tell ya what. When we get back to Jackson. Movie night." He suggests.
(Y/N) heads up the stairs, turning back to her boyfriend. "You went to museums a lot?" She asks, cautiously making her way backwards up the steps.
"Yeah. Yeah, Sarah loved them. I swear that girl dragged me to every dammed museum in Texas." He chuckles, grabbing her hand as she trips.
At the dinosaur hanging from the ceiling, Ellie leans on the railings to look closer. "Looks like a giraffe."
"Yeah, it does. Doesn't it." Joel agrees, taking her hat without warning and throwing it onto its head. He nods with approval. "I see the appeal."
Ellie walks past walls painted with stars and she gasps. "Did you two know this was here?" She shouts, clearly in awe of all the planets and various objects connected to space.
"You don't like it. We can head back." (Y/N) smirks and she glares at her. "Shut up!" She exclaims, rushing over to turn the handle that'll let the planets move around the sun.
"Hey, can either of you name all the planets?" The young girl asks and the adults look between each other.
"My very educated mother just served us nice pizzas." Joel says.
"Uhhh, did you just have a stroke?"
(Y/N) chokes on a laugh. "My: Mercury, very: Venus, mother: Mars..." she starts to explain but Ellie confirms she understands.
Her eyes lighting with excitement, Ellie sits in the rover and (Y/N) stands beside her, looking it over. "Where's the steering wheel?"
"Rovers don't use steering wheels. They use joysticks."
Joel leans forward and (Y/N) makes her way over to him, leaning her arms on his shoulder as he shakes his head. "Is this the real one?"
"Considering they left the real ones on the moon, I would say no."
Ellie clambers off, running to a spaceship and she struggles to open the door, earning a chuckle from Joel as he helps her. She goes to get in when (Y/N) stops her. "Hey, now you're going into space. You're going to need a helmet." She states, producing one that was hiding from behind her back.
"How's it smell in there?" Joel asks once she puts it on.
"Like space. And dust."
It was just big enough for the three of them to squeeze in. Ellie makes noises as she flicks the buttons. "It's so badass. Man... could you imagine just...." she trails off with a smile.
Digging around her pocket, (Y/N) brings out a tape between her fingers and Joel grins. "Happy birthday, kiddo."
"What is this?"
"This is a thing that took a mighty effort to find." Joel says and Ellie takes it off her, placing it in the recorder and putting her earphones in, pulling her helmet back down.
Placing her hand on top of the girl's, (Y/N) smiles, mouthing 'close your eyes'.
After a while, Ellie's eyes flutter back open and she turns to the two, who had never taken their eyes off her, their hands locked together.
"We do okay?"
"Are you fucking kidding me?"
"You're welcome, kiddo."
"Whaddya say we keep looking around, huh?" (Y/N) suggests.
Pulling herself out, Joel stops Ellie from walking off. "Hey. Welcome to earth." He mutters, opening his hand to reveal a spaceship badge.
(Y/N) lifts her leg up, kicking open the door with a huff and Joel raises an eyebrow, Ellie pushing past and pointing. "There's more museum stuff over there."
"We never checked out that building." Joel admits. "How do you plan on getting yourself over there?"
Without warning, the teenager jumps into the water below, giving the other two a near heart attack. "You ever give anyone else this much grief!" Joel yells.
The Firefly takes a running jump and Joel rolls his eyes. "Get down here!"
"No!"
"Hey, whose birthday is it?"
"Yeah, come on old man." (Y/N) adds.
"You can't keep doing that! And you, you're supposed to be on my side!" He calls and she chuckles.
"I want a good splash! We've got more exploring to do!"
With an annoyed sigh, he jumps in, joining the other two at the other side of the museum and Ellie grips the handles, shaking the doors to get them open. She points to the gap in the window and Joel boosts her in, but she still can't get the door open.
The two make their way around the outside and a growl like noise sounding from inside makes (Y/N) run to the doors, pushing her way in.
"Ellie!" She shouts, her pistol in her hand. Seeing she was alright, she motions in confusion. "The hell was that?"
"It's just some animal."
(Y/N) makes her way over, Joel right behind her and she looks to see what Ellie was so crestfallen about. On the wall was spray painted the Firefly logo and underneath the word 'liar'. Her hand drops, the grip around her gun loosening.
"Well, let's get a move on. I want to get a fire going before it gets too dark." Joel clears his throat and takes her arm, but she's hesitant.
"Cmon." He pleads and she nods, letting him guide her out. Ellie lingers behind, her eyes trained on the word 'liar'.