IT DID NOT GET ANY WARMER. In fact, it had actually gotten colder as they got deeper into winter. This season was not kind to the group of survivors. Carl had gotten sick and had spread it to Jax, making everyone eager to find medicine for the brothers. Ellie had found some in the cabinet of a home they stayed in for a couple days, before walkers found it, forcing them to search for another home.
Ellie and Jax were currently on a short trip downtown for some supplies. Food and medicine was mostly what they needed and the two were eager enough to volunteer to get it. Jax's feet stomp hard on the leaves, his gun low on his side. Ellie was right behind him, her knives out in front of her.
Her eyes scan her surroundings, stopping at the back of Jax's head. "Awfully quiet out here."
Jax stops, turning around sharply. "You just jinxed it." He says with a straight face.
Ellie scoffs, shaking her head. "That doesn't exist, Jax."
"Oh, yeah?" He stops talking and raises his eyebrows, eyes motioning to the left.
She inhales shakily as she watches a walker come towards them, Jax killing it with ease with the knife he had in its sheath on his thigh. He smirks slightly at the girls shocked expression.
"Whatever." Ellie says as she flickers her eyes up ahead, spotting a small cabin in the distance. "Jax, I think that's it."
Jax looks up, his smile becoming even wider. "Oh, fuck yeah." He runs up towards it and Ellie follows, them stopping right at the entrance.
"Okay..." Jax trails off, turning towards Ellie. "Ready?"
She nods, holding up her weapon before he swings the door open, silence following. The two look at each other with confused expressions, taking a couple steps into the house.
Jax whistles lowly, the two being on high alert with their weapons just in case something had lunged at them. They wait a couple more seconds before lowering their weapons, but still holding them at their side.
"Okay, guess it's already cleared out." Jax chuckles, walking into another room.
Ellie walks on the opposite side towards the kitchen, sighing deeply while opening the cabinets. She finds a couple of canned food, throwing them in her bag. Jax comes back into the room, zipping up his bag, the stuff in it barely fitting. "I got a couple clothes for Carl. Mom too."
"Hmm." Ellie grabs something off the shelve, inspecting it. It was a broken snow globe, the inside of it being a smaller version of downtown Atlanta, her smiling softly at the memories with her and her whole family going on trips before her parents had gotten divorced. "Have you talked to Rick?"
Jax clears his throat loudly at the mention of his father, moving closer towards the living room. "No." He pauses, shaking his head. "No, I have nothin' to say to him."
"Cause he lied?"
He shrugs, looking into her eyes. "I don't really know. I just..." Jax shrugs and exhales shakily, placing his knife back in it's sheath. "From the CDC, to what happened at the farm." He says lowly, leaning on the kitchen counter. He avoids eye contact with her and Ellie knows it's because he doesn't like to express his feelings ever.
Ellie sighs at the mention of the farm, pulling her hair behind her ear anxiously. "Jax, I have to tell you somethin'." She exhales shakily, now getting his full attention. "Rick didn't kill Shane." Her blue eyes dart to the ground, her swallowing nervously. "I did."
"What?" Jax breathes out in shock. "What-what are you talkin' about, El?" He chuckles uncomfortably, moving closer to her, the two now being a couple feet apart.
"H-he was coming at Rick in the woods, Jax. I-I had no choice. He would've killed him then came back and killed you." She says, his eyes widening at her confession. "Those bruises on your face? I know it was my dad, Jax." The boy looks down at the ground, clenching his jaw tightly before looking back up, tears pricking his eyes. "H-he was too dangerous. I didn't know what he would do if Rick wasn't there." Her breathing was heavy now, coming out in pants, hot tears falling down her face. "That's why I had to."
Jax crosses his arms, clearing his throat awkwardly. "Okay..." He trails off, sniffing loudly. He didn't know what to say, how to react. He was never good with stuff like this. "You have everything you need?"
Ellie wipes her tears from her face. "I wanted to look more in the other rooms." She says, walking to the other side of the house. "That's it?"
"If you felt you had to kill him, then you had to. I'm not gonna push you, El."
A couple tears fall down her face, her wiping them away almost instantly. "Okay." She nods.
His heart pounds loud and hard in his chest, he was sure she almost heard it when she looked back at him. He bit his lip nervously. He's never felt this way about someone, especially Ellie, but in these passed few couple years, he's been slowly falling for her without realizing it. That's what made him take a couple steps closer to the girl who wiped away her tears. "Hey." He whispers before taking a couple steps towards her, wrapping his hand around her arm. She turns with tear filled eyes and his eyes soften, him pulling her into his arms, squeezing her tight against his body.
She sighs into him, hot tears continuing to fall down her face and soak his shirt. He didn't care though, he just wanted to feel her in his arms at this moment. He pulls her even closer to him, resting his cheek against her temple, now noticing their height difference and how small she looked to him. She pulls away he sighs in a little bit of disappointment, but nonetheless, he rests his hands on her shoulders, moving them up to grip her face, wiping away her tears gently.
Ellie furrows her eyebrows at his actions, never expecting him to act to affectionate towards her. She backs away in surprise, clearing her throat while wiping the rest of her remaining tears. "Wanna go back?" She asks.
Jax nods, giving her a small smile. "Yeah."
They return back to the house with their bags full of supplies. Medicine, some canned food and three or four jackets for the group. Ellie is by the truck a good distance away, a knife in each hand as she takes watch. Daryl was also taking watch a couple feet away from her. A whistle was sounded from beside her and she turns her head, seeing about a dozen walkers coming up to the camp, meaning that they had to get up and leave.
Everyone quickly packed up their things, running towards the two cars they had.
Ellie and Jax got into a car with Glenn, Maggie, and Beth. They all squeezed into the back.
Jax tried his best to ignore the rapid heartbeat in his chest as Ellie sat next to him, her being closer than ever right now. He looked out the window, narrowing his eyes on the trees where the leaves started to turn a little yellow, a sign that spring was coming. He smiled at the thought, knowing that everyone would be happier now that it would be warmer.
Ellie adjusted herself, resting her hands in her lap, playing with her fingers mindlessly. From her peripheral vision, she could see Jax looking straight at her, his eyes squinted as if he was thinking about something. She glanced at him from the corner of her eye and then looked back to the road.
Glenn looks at the two of them in the rearview mirror, shaking his head at the stubborn teenagers.
The car ahead sputtered, slowing down to a stop. "Goddamit!" Rick curses, hitting the wheel in anger. He let out a long sigh and then got out, everyone following.
"Looks like we have to stay here for tonight." Beth sighed, getting out to stand next to Ellie.
Ellie gave her a small smile, trying to convince her it was okay. "It'll be okay. We've done this a billion times."
"I know I'm just..." Beth trailed off, glancing off to the side.
"Worried about Lori?" Ellie whispered, looking towards the pregnant woman. "Me too."
"I'm gonna set up over here. Keep watch during the night." Rick tells the group, everyone nodding their head in response.
He then walked to Jax, gripping his arm. Almost instantly, the boy ripped his arm away, giving his father a scowl. "What?"
"I want you to keep watch tonight." Rick tells him, hands on his hips.
"Yeah, okay. No problem." Jax clears his throat lowly, checking his pistol for bullets, not looking up at Rick.
They stand in silence for a moment, Jax continuing to glance up
at Rick from the floor. "She told me."
Rick furrowed his eyebrows and then sighed in realization and little bit of frustration. "Oh..."
"Yeah," Jax nods curtly before shoving his gun back in its holster, giving the man a faded smile. "She told me, dad. She should'a just done that to begin with."
"It wasn't her fault." Rick clears his throat, the memories of that night coming back. "I made her promise to not tell." He pauses, taking step. closer to his son. "H-he was a threat, Jax. You saw that. Ellie saw that, so she did what she thought was right..."
"Do you?" Jax asks after a long moment of silence.
"Do I what?"
"Do you think she did the right thing?"
Rick pondered on that for a couple seconds, his eyes going towards the ground. Did she really need to kill him? What would've happened if she wasn't there? Shaking his head, he dismisses his thoughts, looking back at Jax. "Get some rest. Make sure you eat somethin'." With that, Rick walked off, a million questions running through his mind.