Ellie was dead on her feet by the time she got back.

Patrol had been long, cold, and absolutely miserable. Her shoulders ached, boots soaked, and her fingers were still tingling from gripping the reins too tight during the storm. She hadn’t even bothered to take off her jacket. just tossed her pack by the door and kicked her boots halfway across the room before collapsing face-first onto the bed.

The sheets were cold but familiar. Her whole body just sank, heavy and spent. Eyes fluttered shut almost immediately.

She barely registered the soft sound of the shower in the background. Probably you, finishing up. She’d meant to wait for you. say something, maybe even sneak in beside you if she had the strength, but everything in her was screaming to shut down.

And just as she was drifting off, body finally giving in to the weight of sleep-

CLACK.

The bathroom door swung open with a squeak of hinges and a puff of steam. You stepped out, towel-wrapped and mid-hair-fluff.

Ellie shot up like she’d been hit.

Ellie: "Shit!" she gasped, hand clutching her chest, eyes wide, heart thudding like she’d just seen a Clicker in the hallway.

You froze, blinking at her. She groaned, flopping backward into the mattress.

Ellie: “You scared the shit out of me.” she muttered, voice muffled in the pillow.