when i look at you | TWD

chapter eleven. don't come any closer

ELEANOR'S EYES SCANNED OVER THE BODIES ON THE FLOOR, HER BREATHING INCREASING. The teenager felt as if her heart could stop at this very moment. Her father turned around, going to confront Hershel. Shane stopped once he saw his daughter, his eyes widening. Her eyes caught his gaze and she shook her head slightly. Shane walked a bit closer towards her, wanting nothing more than to explain to her why he had to do that.

Everyone glanced over at them, wanting to see what was going to happen between the two. Shane stopped in front of her and she held her hand out, afraid of what he would do.

"Don't. Don't come any closer." Ellie's voice trembled, swallowing nervously.

Shane's expression broke at her voice, she seemed genuinely scared and that made tears pool in his eyes. Ellie quickly turned on her heels and walked back towards the house, breathing heavily.

Jax had watched this play out and all he did was look to Shane, his face full of disbelief before scoffing at him and following her, trying to see if she would want his comfort.

She ran her hands through her hair as the tears leaked from her eyes. Jax watched with concerned eyes, not really sure what to do. "El-"

"No. Get out, Jax!" Ellie yelled at him and he sighed deeply, his head going to the floor before he walked out, the girl hunching over in pain.

She walked out the back door and momentarily calmed down, the cool breeze helping a bit. Ellie looked around cautiously, hoping her dad wouldn't see her.

The girl made her way to the barn slowly, seeing Dale. "Hey, Dale." She breathed out, looking away from the bodies.

"Ellie." He greeted, giving her a kind smile. "Are you alright?"

"N-no." She swallowed down the lump in her throat. "Why would my dad do that?"

Dale sighed, closing his eyes tightly before walking closer to the girl. "I think that he killed Otis."

Ellie gasped at his accusation, her eyes widening. "What?" She whispered, Dale giving her a look of sympathy.

"He tried to kill Rick, in the woods. I think he killed Otis, too." Dale shrugged as if it was not a surprise. It was.

"Why would you even say that?" Ellie couldn't believe that he'd think that her father was a killer. He couldn't be. Could he? No, he wasn't. She scoffed lightly and shook her head, fully backing away from him.

"You should stay away from him. He's dangerous."

The girl couldn't even believe what she was hearing come out from the man's mouth. How could someone hate her father so much that they'd spit out lies like that? She walked back towards him, anger coursing through her veins. "My father has kept me safe. He wouldn't kill anyone... He wouldn't."

She walked off, her hands shaking immensely. Ellie felt like she was trying to convince herself that her father wasn't a killer. As she was walking, she found herself crashing into Rick, whose face looked just as tired as hers.

"Ellie? Hey," Rick looked down to meet her gaze, but she seemed to avoid all eye contact with him. Her lip quivered as he furrowed his eyebrows in concern and gripped onto her shoulders in an attempt to comfort the girl.

Ellie whimpered, trying to hold in her cries, but she failed and crashed into the mans chest, him rubbing her back in a circle motion. He had his arms wrapped around her tightly as she sobbed into his shirt.

"It's okay." He whispered to her, sighing deeply. After a couple of moments, she pulled away and wiped her tears, Rick looking down at her with worried eyes. "You alright?"

Ellie was now looking at him, something flickering in her eyes. The same look that Shane has in his eyes and that scared Rick. "Did my dad kill Otis?"

Rick was taken back by her question, opening and closing his mouth, attempting to find an answer. The girl exhaled sharply and walked off, Rick letting her.

My father was a killer.

-

Shane hesitated on walking towards his daughter. What would he even say? What was she gonna say to him? He shook his head at his thoughts and walked up to her as she leaned up against the tree, watching the group from afar as they chatted around the fire.

"Ellie," Shane whispered to her, the girl dropping her eyes to the floor almost instantly. "El, look... you had to know that what I did, I did it to keep you safe. To keep everyone safe-"

"Cut the bullshit." She scoffed, shaking her head at him. "Did you kill Otis?"

Shane exhaled angrily, turning his head to the side. "Who told you? Was it Dale-"

"Doesn't matter who told me." Ellie scoffed, swallowing nervously as she sensed his anger radiating off from him. "Did you kill Otis?"

After a couple of moments of Shane not answering, Ellie proceeded to walk off, but he gripped her wrist. She gasped at his sudden action and he squeezed harder. "Let go."

Shane breathed heavily, the anger never leaving his body as she tried to yank her arm away. His ears rang, everything echoing around him as he just seemed to hold onto his daughter, surely leaving a bruise on her lower arm.

"Let go!" Ellie cried, trying her best to get it to stop hurting. What she didn't expect was for him to throw her harshly on the ground, rubbing his hands on his head as he paced back and forth slightly.

She watched as he did this. Did he not care she was on the floor? Did he not care that he hurt her? Did he care I was in pain?

He widened his eyes once he saw what he did. He had hurt her. Shane went to move closer to her and she flinched back, thinking he'd hit her. Tears pooled in his eyes, not expecting her to be so scared of him.

He walked off, mumbling incoherent things to himself as she lay on the floor with a throbbing wrist and tears falling down her face.

A/N

this was a hard chap to write :(
ellie is now realizing who her father really is... uh oh.
rick and el's father/daughter relationship >>>