comfortably alone ○ ellie williams

○

it had been a few hours since ellie left. winter had closed the curtains and lit the fireplace, attempting to calm her anxious mind with cozy lighting and a warm blanket.

winter made sure to keep the hand radio close to her, keeping it on in hopes that she would hear ellie's voice ring through the silence. she sits crisscross in the recliner, rereading one of the poetry books ellie let her borrow. she finds herself glancing at the radio often inbetweenflipping the thin pages, checking if it was on and turned up.

she feels somewhat pathetic, sighs leaving her every few minutes as she shifts in place. her fingers nervously fiddle with the corner of the pages, careful not to dent them too much.

"is it working?" ellie's staticky voices echos making winter's heart skip a beat as she perks up, quickly leaning and reaching for the black box.

she holds it near her face, her finger hovering over the talking button as her mouth opens and closes, tucking her hair behind her left ear.

"yes, it is." winter says shortly, moving to sit up straight from her slouched position. ellie chuckles.

"am i interrupting your super eventful day?" the playful tone evident as she ends with another laugh.

"i was just reading, nothing too exciting." winter shyly smiles, closing the book in her lap and placing it on the side table.

"mm, well, i was just checking in to say i made it to jackson. i can't talk for too long, i have a few things i need to get done today. but i was hoping we could talk more tonight?"

"yeah, sure. i'm happy you made it home safe." winter nods, her eyes wandering around the room. there's another light laugh from ellie.

"ok, hun. i'll catch up with you later tonight, stay safe." ellie says. winter softly sighs, feeling time start to stretch, the anticipation of talking to her again setting in already.

"okay." winter mumbles to the box, slumping in the chair cushions.

"okay~." ellie drags out the end, some rustling on the other end before cutting out.

winter leans her head back, staring at the dusty ceiling above. her eyebrows pull together as her gaze floats around the room, taking note of how unkept things had started to look.

"well, what else is there to do?" she gives a weak laugh, forcing herself to get up and setting the radio on the side table. she looks back at it one more time before going into the small storage room to the right of the bathroom.

it's been months since she's actually looked in here, aside from quickly grabbing the broom. she huffs looking at the stack of boxes, some boxes labeled with her mom's name, others labeled with her dad's or blank.

winter grabs the broom and the mop with a bucket, deciding to dust the ceiling then clean the floors. she quickly gets the stepstool from her room before opening the curtains in the living room getting to work.

after sweeping and mopping the living room she dumps the water in the bucket, refilling it with new water then tackling the kitchen counters and floor, tidying up as she goes around the room. she shakes away the disappointment at how bad she let her parents cabin get, her frustration lingering.

she then picked up around her room, wiping the dust off of surfaces with a damp rag. after stripping her bed of the sheets, blankets, and pillow cases, she hesitantly glances at her dad's bed. it had been untouched, a small layer of dust covers the sheets.

winter stares at his side of the room, moving to slowly clean his things as well. when she strips his bed she quickly throws it in the laundry basket, taking it outside to use the rest of the daylight for washing and hanging.

she hums while putting the last sheet on the line, leaving the laundry basket by the back door. then turning to put the horses up, rushing to get back to the radio. she kicks off her shoes inside, then takes a shower to wash away the sweat and dirt.

winter lets out a long sigh when she sits in front of the warm fireplace, leaning back on her hands and hanging her head back. just when she gets warm, the radio static gets a bit louder. she looks over to it, sitting up. she perks up, listening to hear any resemblance of a voice, but soon the static died down some.

winter slouches, rubbing her face with her hands, the looming feeling of disappointment making her slightly frown. she didn't like feeling like this, she felt desperate. she shakes her head, getting up from the floor and getting a blanket from the rack. she plops into the recliner, wrapping the blanket around her and resting her head on her right hand as she stares at the radio.

just as her tiredness sets in and her eyes droop, ellie's voice flows through the room, causing winter quickly reach out for the box.

"you there, winter?" winter's breathing picked up, her stomach flipping.

"yes, how did your day turn out?" winter asks, her fingers fiddling with her blanket as she looks at her lap.

"mm, fine. i had to help joel move some of his shit around today, then jesse talked to me about patrol for tomorrow. i'm beat." ellie sighs. "how was yours, hun?"

"just cleaned, i did some laundry too. i didn't realize how long it's been since i've cleaned." winter mumbles, shrugging.

"it was livable, don't beat yourself up too much. but good job getting it done! i haven't picked up my room in weeks." winter nods back, wishing they could see each other so she wouldn't have to talk as much.

"thanks.. so, you have patrol tomorrow?" winter now picks at the blanket.

"yeah, first shift at the ass crack of dawn. the day after tomorrow i'm scheduled for the evening, though." ellie says, rustling in the background followed by a long and loud sigh. "i need to flip this mattress sometime soon, it's fucking up my back."

"sorry about your back."

"ah, it'll be fine, it's not your fault." there was a comfortable pause while winter racked her mind for anything to say.

"i was thinking about you today." ellie's husky voice echo in winter's head. her throat gets dry as she feels herself beginning to blush. "a lot."

"oh.. i've thought about you too." winter mutters, attempting to let the feeling of embarrassment roll off her.

"yeah?" ellie asks with a low tone, winter could almost hear ellie's smile through the radio.

"yeah." winter's voice was small, her body got warmer by the second.

"i bet."

"shut up, ellie." winter scoffs, rolling eyes eyes with a slight shake of her head. ellie laughs lightly.

"keep talking to me." ellie's responds breathily. winter swallows thickly before answering.

"i should really get to bed." winter shortly says, trying to control how out of breath she suddenly is. her heart was pounding at this point.

"yeah, ok. i'll talk to you soon, hun. sleep well." ellie's tone soft now.

"goodnight." winter says, quickly and tightly holding the box to her chest once ellie's static cuts out.

winter went to bed that night with an ache between her thighs that night, resisting to act on it. she couldn't, not when she knew she'd only be able to think of the other, a rumble of guilt builds in her chest until she finally sleeps.