Chapter Text
Joel whistled an old eighties tune to himself as he strolled through the streets. It was just starting to get dark, and the fairy lights guided his way to Ellie’s home.
It was late autumn, so he had his thick jacket on, as well as his fur lined boots. It wasn’t quite winter yet, but it was sure getting there.
In his rough hands, he carried an old, battered DVD case - The Notebook. Ellie had wanted to borrow it. Well, not Ellie, but Dina. The movie wasn’t Ellie’s style at all, and when she’d asked him about it he knew it would be for Dina.
He’d kept the movie in hopes of trading it for another at some point. He’d been searching endlessly for a copy of The Terminator, having told Ellie how amazing it had been back in the day, and was one of the only movies on the planet that had an even better sequel.
He chuckled to himself as he neared Ellie’s garage turned home. He remembered seeing the 4th Terminator at the movies with his buddy, Chuck. It was awful and he had been embarrassed to call himself a fan of the franchise. They’d gone out drinking afterwards and shamed the hell out of the movie; hell, even the third one was better than that pile of dogshit.
He was determined to watch those movies with Ellie before he died, it was a life mission. He knew Ellie would adore them.
He reached Ellie’s dimly lit house and stepped onto the porch, flicking an orange, shrivelled leaf off of his shoulder.
He opened the door and stepped inside, turning to close it behind him, “Hey, Ellie! I got that movie ya’ll were askin’ for!”
He turned around and looked to his left, towards her bed, where Ellie would usually be reading a comic or plucking at her guitar.
He froze in his tracks.
Ellie just stared at him, like a deer in headlights, or a little kid with their hand in the cookie jar. Except, her hand wasn’t in a cookie jar, it was somewhere much, much worse.
She was leaning over someone - presumably Dina - pinning them down by the wrists with one hand snaked under thin bed sheets, looking over her bare shoulder at him with wide eyes.
“Jesus fucking Christ, Joel!”
His brain finally having caught up with what his eyes were seeing, he slammed his eyes shut and raised his hand over them, just to make fucking sure he couldn’t see anything but blackness.
“I’m uhmmm, just gonna, put this, on the cabinet.” He stuttered as he stumbled backwards, arms searching for a hard surface to drop the DVD on, still covering his closed eyes.
He managed to find the cabinet next to the door and dropped the DVD on it. The damn thing just missed the surface and had fallen onto the floor.
Hand still covering his eyes, he opened them and peaked downwards at the floor in order to pick it up.
Only to find it lying next to somebody’s goddamn bra, and judging by its lacy, intricate detail, it wasn’t Ellie’s.
He slammed his eyes shut again and felt behind him for the doorknob, “I’m just gonna go now.” He said quickly, frantically searching for the doorknob.
As soon as his hand located the cold metal he whipped it open and practically threw himself outside.
He heard Dina’s giggles and a “Shut the fuck up!” from Ellie.
He felt embarrassed, oh so embarrassed. He hadn’t actually seen anything he shouldn’t have, thank the goddamn Lord, but catching them in the act was bad enough.
Why didn’t he just knock? All he had to do was fucking knock!
——————
Maria was tired. Maria was stressed. It wasn’t easy running a whole village, one that was growing more by the day.
Tommy was out on patrol and due back in a few hours. She supposed she could have an early night, but she didn’t want to mess up her sleeping schedule. She liked having a schedule to stick to.
She’d just finished overseeing the food stocks. Winter had arrived, and they were just a little short on food to help them survive the winter. It was nothing much to worry about, as more and more people had received patrol training, meaning they could go out and hunt for animals.
She supposed she would visit Joel, who would undoubtably be at his house drinking a coffee and watching some cheesy movie, or plucking at his guitar. She hadn’t seen her brother-in-law for a couple weeks and thought it would be nice to catch up with him.
She soon reached Joel’s home and was not surprised to find the lights on and light coming from the television screen. She knocked and waited.
When there was no answer, she opened the door and stepped inside, removing her jacket and placing it on the sofa. He was in, no doubt about it, the lights and television were on, the house was warm and the door was unlocked.
“Joel?” She asked. No reply, but she did hear a thump from upstairs.
Maria didn’t want to go upstairs, just in case she saw him getting out of the shower or changing - now that would be awkward, seeing her husbands brother in the nude.
She perched herself on the couch and picked up a half drunk cup of coffee that sat on a small table. It smelt good, she would have to ask him for some. She hadn’t had coffee in a long time. It was just a small thing she missed about the old world, but just the smell of it caused her body to crave it.
Her heart leapt when she heard the sound of something shattering upstairs.
She was off the couch and up the stairs in a matter of minutes, hearing another crash coming from the spare room, the one that used to belong to Ellie.
The door was ajar, and light shone through the crack. She flung the door open, expecting to see Joel slumped on the floor having tripped over or a raccoon running wild in the room. Or an intruder, despite living in the safe haven they did, it didn’t fail to cross her mind that someone might be breaking in to steal.
Catching Ellie and Dina in the act was the last thing she expected.
Ellie had Dina hoisted up onto an old pine dressing table with one hand under Dina’s shirt, groping her waist and the other cupping her face. Dina’s arms were coiled around Ellie’s neck, and her legs wrapped around Ellie’s waist. They were both shirtless, thankfully still wearing undergarments.
There was a shattered vase scattered on the floorboards.
“Don’t tell Joel.” Ellie blurted out frantically, eyes wild and hair ruffled.
Maria can’t help but laugh at what she’d just walked into.
“He ain’t gonna happy that you’ve smashed his vase.” Maria chuckled as she eyed the smashed object.
Ellie, completely red in the face, pulled away from Dina and grabbed both of their shirts from the bed so they could cover up a little better. Then she kicked some of the shattered pieces of the maroon vase, sending the shards scuttling under the bed, “I don’t know what vase you’re talking about.” She squeaked, her voice so choked by embarrassment that Maria almost felt bad for her; almost.
Maria looked away whilst Dina hoped off the dressing table, waiting for them to cover up properly, “Where is the old man anyway?”
“Uhh, he went to Esther’s for dinner.” Ellie squeaked again.
“It’s a damn lucky thing it was me walking in and not Joel, and I’m sure as hell happy I didn’t walk in any later.” She didn’t even need to look at Ellie’s face to know she was red as a tomato.
“We’re... sorry?” Ellie replied bashfully.
Maria chuckled, looking back at them again, “Don’t you have your own house for this kinda stuff?”
Dina piped up from behind Ellie’s shoulder, “The bed is broke.” She quipped, a sly smirk splitting her face.
“Dina what the fuck?!” Came Ellie’s desperate, angered reply, “Why the fuck would you tell her that?”
Maria tried to bite back the smile that crept onto her face, “The dressing table though, really?”
Ellie’s face bloomed impossibly more red.
Maria just laughed and walked back downstairs, and was soon out of the house, knowing she wasn’t welcome anymore.
Those damn kids.
—————-
They’d never spoken about the incident.
Of course, Joel knew Ellie and Dina had been together for a while. He remembered offering dating advice to a nervous Ellie, giving her everything he knew about woman and how they worked. Of course, his relationships always failed in one way or another, but he liked to think he knew a few things about making a lady happy.
So he guessed he should’ve expected they’d start taking their relationship forward at some point.
But to fucking see it? No, nope, no way. Damned kid, he thought to himself. Ellie was his daughter in all but blood and it was the most horrifying thing he’d ever witnessed. He’d rather take on a herd of infected, whilst blindfolded, than see his kid doing funny business with her girlfriend.
He always made sure to knock whenever going over to her place now. He didn’t need to see anything of that nature ever again.
He also started to shut his windows when he was out, since an animal had broken in and smashed a vase in the spare room.
He’d asked Maria if rabid squirrels and raccoons were common in the area, having never seen one that acted out of the ordinary. The only rational explanation to the shattered vase was an animal, since he knew for a fact that the vase had been in one piece when he last saw it.
Maria had just chucked and shrugged.
Ellie had been staying over at his place for the week; her water supply was coming out all murky and unclean, so he’d offered for her to retake her old bedroom whilst someone worked on the pipes to try and figure out the problem.
He’d recalled their previous conversation as she’d arrived at his place, backpack over her shoulder with the belongings she’d need to get through the week.
“You can have Dina over as much as you like, just please, for the love of god, keep the door open.” Joel commanded, switching the kettle on to prepare for a hot cup of coffee.
“We’re not talking about this.” Ellie swung her pack onto the floor next to the door and slumped down on the sofa that she had missed after moving into her own place.
“No, we’re not.” Joel half chuckled, but Ellie noticed some seriousness to his tone, “As long as you’re, uh, being safe an’ all, and there’s consent both ways-“
“I thought we weren’t talking about this!” Ellie cut him off with a groan of frustration laced with embarrassment, her head pushing so far into the back of the sofa it almost engulfed her head.
“Alright,” he sighed. “Just not in this house, please.”
“You don’t gotta tell me, old man.”
.....
It was hot.
Like, really warm.
Returning early from his patrol, Joel had popped into the market to stock on food for him and Ellie, getting a little more than he needed incase they were having Dina as their dinner guest for a few nights.
He wasn’t sporting his usual jackets, instead he wore a simple grey t shirt and his usual jeans. He was regretting his decision to wear jeans, however, as it was scorching outside and he was sweating like crazy, the grey T-shirt soaking into a darker colour from the amount of sweat his body was producing.
He was disappointed to find the house wasn’t that much cooler than outside. They did have aircon, but it was nothing like it was pre-outbreak.
Wiping sweat from his brow and dropping the worn bags onto the floor, Joel stood straight and stretched his back, groaning as it popped awkwardly. He was happy Ellie wasn’t around to make fun of him and his age.
He needed to shower, change his shirt and get some shorts before he was cooked alive. The shopping could wait.
He ascended the stairs, hand sliding up the banister as he did.
“Ellie? You in?” He asked, getting closer to the top of stairs.
“Joel?” Came a panicked reply, soon followed by the rustling of bed sheets, “Joel just wait! Don’t fucking come up here!”
He stopped dead; not this shit again. Please, not this again. “Ellie...” he said in a deep, warning tone, “What did I say to you just yesterday?”
“What?” Her reply came breathless, “I don’t know what you’re on about. I’m just getting changed, it’s hot and-“
“Ellie don’t bullshit me!” He threatened from his position the stairs, just 4 steps from the top, “I know you’re not alone up there!”
Dina popped her head around the wall, “Hi, Joel. You look like you need a shower. I bought some of that honey soap over that you like. I put in the bathroom for you.”
Joel tried to ignore her tussled hair and the dark bruise he could see poking out from her collar. But damn, was this kid good at manipulating a conversation. No wonder the whole of Jackson adored her. She was so sweet no one could hate her.
Except Seth, but that bigot hated everyone.
Ellie appeared behind Dina a moment later, face red and hair a mess. Her shirt was inside out and backwards.
Before Joel could even get a word out, Ellie had taken Dina by the hand and rushed past him on the stairs. They were out of the door in seconds.
He sighed and rubbed his beard, “Damn kids!”
————-
Cat and Ellie had been over a long time now. They’d agreed to part on mutual terms, and there was no bad blood and no awkwardness - apart from Ellie’s occasional stumble and embarrassing actions, but Cat knew that that was just Ellie being Ellie; nothing to do with their past relationship.
Whilst they had agreed to separate and stay on good terms, Cat knew that Ellie had always had a thing for Dina, and probably always would.
It was on the reasons that Cat wanted to end it, but she never told Ellie that, not wanting her to feel guilty. Cat knew Ellie well, and she’d concluded that Ellie didn’t even know she had feelings for Dina whilst they were together.
The auburn haired girl felt a lot, she had so many emotions that she kept bottled up inside; Cat was very aware of this, in fact it was another factor that contributed to their break up. Ellie felt so much that her feelings for Dina probably got mixed up within the vast sea of her head, which is why she didn’t realise she was practically pining over Dina whilst still dating Cat.
Cat couldn’t be mad at her for that. It wasn’t as if Ellie was knowingly crushing on Dina whilst they were dating. But Cat figured it out eventually.
She wanted Ellie to be happy, so separating gave Ellie the chance to figure out what she really wanted.
It was no surprise that Ellie and Dina started dating about 6 or 7 months after she’d split with Ellie.
Whilst rearranging her home to make room for a new desk she’d built, Cat had stumbled across one of Ellie’s old shirts. It was crumbled and creased, stuck between the headboard of the bed and the wall. It smelt of dust, Ellie’s distinct scent had long since disappeared from the fabric too. Cat concluded that it must have been there for over a year.
Thinking back, she vaguely remembered Ellie tearing the shirt off of herself and throwing it a random direction during one of the final months of their relationship. It must’ve settled behind the headboard.
Cat felt no need to keep it, so did the honourable thing and decided to return it. She knew Ellie would do the same if Cat left some of her belongings at the younger woman’s house.
When Cat arrived in front of Ellie’s garage, she was confused to see keys inside the lock on the outside of the door.
Clumsy idiot must’ve forgotten to take them in with her.
Cat retrieved the key from the lock and opened the door, clutching Ellie’s old crumpled shirt in one hand and the key in the other.
“Hey, Ellie I found one of your old shirts when I-“ She trailed off, realising she’d just walked in something she shouldn’t have.
Ellie had Dina’s arms pinned above her head with her left forearm as she leaned over the dark haired woman, her other hand somewhere under the sheets. Judging by Dina’s red face and the desperation on it, she’d walked in at the worst possible time. She dreaded to think how much worse it could’ve been if she’d arrived a minute later.
“Cat?” Both of the girls exclaimed in unison, a familiar redness cropping up on Ellie’s cheeks. It was the same shade as the deep red lines that had been scratched into her shoulders and upper back, no doubt from Dina’s nails.
“Well, this isn’t awkward at all.” Cat forced a smile, trying really, really hard not to burst into laughter. Judging by the fury on Ellie’s face she had failed terribly at keeping a straight face. Dina just looked fucking pissed, and Cat couldn’t decide if it was because Ellie’s ex had just walked in, or because she’d walked in just moments before she tipped over the edge.
“What’s so funny?” Ellie growled at her, wrapping the thin sheet around her in order to cover up, still with on hand at the side of Dina’s head for keep her propped up. Fortunately her other hand had been retrieved from underneath the sheets.
“Oh, nothing. You haven’t changed.” Cat replied with a small laugh. She didn’t really feel particularly awkward. She’d been intimate with Ellie many times, had seen her naked many times, so this wasn’t really anything new to her. In fact, she had been in Dina’s exact position many times.
Ellie scowled at her, shuffling the sheets a little more so a panting Dina could pull them up to her chin for extra security. “What’s that supposed to mean?” She grumbled loudly.
Cat failed to stifle a laugh and rolled her eyes, “Still very much the dominant top, I see.” The Asian woman couldn’t help the smirk that crept onto her face. Ellie was too easy to embarrass; she always had been.
Ellie groaned and ran a hand over her face, pinching the bridge of her nose, “Why are you even here? In fact, why are you still standing there knowing you’ve interrupted something?”
“You left your key on the outside of the door, dumbass. I came over cause I found this-” She held up the crinkled lump that was Ellie’s shirt, “-whilst I was rearranging my bedroom. Thought I’d return it. It’s been in there for over a year so you might wanna wash it.”
“Well, um, thanks but could you... leave?” The auburn haired girl mumbled, her face still red as a tomato.
Cat placed the crumpled shirt on the cabinet next to Ellie’s door and placed the key on top. “Might wanna try locking the door next time, guys. I imagine Dina isn’t too happy.”
She let out a laugh and opened the door, shutting it quietly behind her.
She heard footsteps padding to the door and the click of a lock.
————
“That was so fucking weird.” Dina huffed as she she loosened the light sheets that she’d used to shield herself, “She didn’t even cover her eyes.”
Ellie chuckled awkwardly as she climbed back into the bed, “She’s never had barriers, kind of like you.”
Dina huffed again, her heart still struggling to come down to a steady beat, “The nerve of her. Why couldn’t she have come over like, five minutes later? I would’ve been done and snoring into your pillow.”
Ellie grinned lopsidedly, smoothing her hand over Dina’s ruffled hair, “I don’t think she planned to come over to catch us in the act.” She laughed, turning her head to look at the crumpled shirt, “At least I got my shirt back, I’ve missed it.”
Dina grabbed her face suddenly and dragged Ellie back on top of her, crushing their faces in a deep kiss. “Forget the fucking shirt.” She mumbled into Ellie’s lips, her fingers smoothed over freckled cheeks.
——————
After being caught the fourth time, twice by Joel and once by Maria and Cat respectively, Ellie began taking the necessary precautions to stop them getting interrupted so much.
The doors were always locked, with a doorstop jammed underneath it just for good measure.
Curtains? Closed. Windows? Slammed shut and bolted, because just in case.
She never wanted to see Joel’s appalled face again. It was too embarrassing, too awkward.
Fuck clickers and runners, she’d take them on any day. But Joel seeing her having sex with Dina?
She couldn’t fucking do that again. It was beyond embarrassing, it was completely mortifying.
Door? Check. Windows? Check.
She turned to her girlfriend who was lying on the bed waiting for her, a sultry look in her murky eyes and an endearing smile gracing her plump lips.
“Get over here, Williams.”
Ellie did just that. It didn’t take long before their clothes were shed, leaving them naked and bare with no worries about being interrupted.
Ellie allowed the olive skinned woman to climb on top her and straddle her naked hips with those gorgeous, smooth thighs.
After a few teasing minutes of foreplay, Ellie’s fingers found the warmth between Dina’s legs.
Ellie, despite being the one currently doing all of the work, felt like she was heaven. Dina was rocking into her hand with each thrust of her fingers, her name was leaving those perfect lips with every swipe of her thumb, and she had the perfect view of Dina’s breasts.
Ellie stopped her movements when a loud thump sounded directly above her head. “What the fuck was that?” She exclaimed, tipping her head back further into the pillows to survey the ceiling.
“It’s probably nothing, just some dumb animal or a tree branch.” The dark haired woman panted, bucking her hips slightly to prompt Ellie to continue her movements.
After a few more seconds of silence and no disruptions from above them, Ellie brushed it off and continued the movement of her fingers, earning a delighted moan from Dina.
Suddenly, there was a loud cracking sound above them.
The two barely had time to comprehend what was happening. The roof caved in, cracking and groaning, and a large shape crashed to the floor, right beside the bed.
“Eugene?!” Dina exclaimed in terror.
The overweight, bearded man was sprawled out on the floor, covered in plaster and rubble.
Both girls didn’t move a muscle, frozen in shock.
When he started to sit up, moaning and groaning, the situation finally caught up with them. Dina scrambled for the sheets that were pooled around Ellie’s knees whilst the auburn haired woman withdrew her hand and threw herself against Dina’s chest, pulling her as closely as possible so Dina could wrap the sheets around them.
Eugene’s dazed eyes flickered over the two teens.
He must’ve hit his head, he swore he seeing Dina and Joel’s kid having-
“Eugene what the fuck?” Dina exclaimed angrily, her face flushed red with embarrassment and terror.
“Huh?” He rubbed his eyes with his dust coated hands, “Dina-what, Jesus Christ!” It finally hit him that this was real and he had just in fact dropped in on Dina and Ellie having sex.
“Why the fuck were you on my roof?!” Ellie snapped, furious at that had her roof now had a massive, gaping, Eugene shaped hole in it; even more furious that they’d been interrupted for the fifth fucking time.
“Maria told me the garage to the east of town had a hole in the roof that needed fixing!”
“This is the west of town, you fucking idiot!”