#season 2 snuggles pleathe 🫶🏻🫶🏻🫶🏻🫶🏻

[skoulsons]

You have no idea what I’m capable of

Her screams rang in her ears as she shot awake, hastily sitting up in her bed as the white moonlight still trickled in through the uncovered windows. 3:24am.

“Fuck,” she groaned, rubbing the pads of her palms over her eyes with enough pressure to form splotchy colors and wavy patterns in her vision.

Her heavy comforter, a welcome home gift from Tommy and Maria, was wrapped around her small frame, her socked feet showing through where the comfort wasn’t bunched up. She balled it up in her fists as she held it close to her chin. “He’s gone.” She inhaled, held the breath, and exhaled, a small exercise Joel taught her. Not one hundred percent effective, but it helped. Sometimes. “He’s gone.”

A few minutes of breathing, memories with Joel, and tossing and turning in bed did nothing to wipe the images out of her head. Frustrated, she wrapped the comforter around her, waddling out of her room and down the hall to Joel’s.

As always, his door was open. It was always more for her than him; an effort to say you are welcome to come in. She took it most nights. But tonight…she felt guilty, almost. She bothered him a lot. He was sick of her by now. He must’ve been.

She brought herself to the wall beside his door and backed up against it, slowly sliding her comforter-wrapped self to the floor with a small “oof” as she hit the hardwood.

“Ellie?” Shit.

She closed her eyes, trying to keep quiet, hoping he’d fall back asleep if she didn’t make any noise.

He called again, his accent very strong. “Kiddo? Everythin’ alright?”

She exhaled as she stood, not getting any closer to his door. Her voice was quiet, shy. “Sorry, didn’t mean to wake you”

His fingers reached out from his bed, gently opening the door open a smidge more. “You’re awake for a reason. What’s goin’ on?”

“Nothing, just…I’ll go back to bed.”

“Hey.” His voice was so soft. Never demanding, always inviting. “C’mere,” he asked, nudging his door open a little more with his fingers.

She smiled slightly, pushing his door open the remainder of the way with her foot, her arms still around herself to keep the comforter held in place.

Without a word, she walked to the other side of the bed, pulling the sheets down far enough to fit her the comforter in his bed. She laid down on her right side, facing Joel, and bent her knees, tucking herself into a mini cocoon beside him.

Joel cleared his throat slightly, his hands resting on his stomach. “You know…I have blankets on this bed already.”

“Nothing wrong with an extra one,” she mumbled, face tucked into the slack of her comforter.

He turned his head towards hers, unable to find her eyes. His voice was quiet and gentle, his Texan drawl still making itself known. “What was it tonight?”

Ellie sighed. “The same.”

She wiggled herself closer to him and rested her head on his bicep, his hands still on his stomach. Her knees followed suite, pushing up against the side of his thigh as she tucked herself away against him.

“Ya okay?”

“Mmhm…just needed…” she trailed off, sighing into his arm.

He wiggled said arm out from under her and brought it around her, pulling her closer to him as her head rested over his heart.

“Go to sleep,” he whispered, lips finding her auburn as she dozed off, Joel holding her close to his side.