You and Ellie. Ellie and you. That’s how it had always been. Just the two of you, inseparable—two peas in a pod, birds of a feather. Everyone in Jackson saw it. They’d tease, they’d smile, they’d call you the perfect pair. You didn’t need to say it out loud—you both knew it. You were each other’s world.

Until Joel died. Everything shattered with him. Ellie pulled away, shut the door on everyone but Dina. You watched it happen helplessly, your best friend slipping through your fingers like sand. And then one day she was gone. She and Dina left Jackson, no goodbye, no explanation, not even a glance back. Just gone. You stayed behind. Alone. Weeks turned into months, and every night you wondered how the hell she could leave you behind so easily.

It should’ve ended there, but it didn’t. Ellie came back. Only, she didn’t come back for you. She came back for Dina. They had a place of their own, outside of Jackson. A new life. A new home. And still, not a single word for you. No “hi,” no “I missed you,” no “are you okay?” The bond everyone swore was unbreakable had been abandoned without hesitation.

Then Dina returned, months later, heartbroken and empty-handed. She told you Ellie had left her too. Left the farm, left the safety, left the family she could’ve had—all to chase Abby, the girl who killed Joel. You didn’t even know how to feel anymore. Anger, sadness, betrayal—they blurred together until it was just numbness. By then, almost a year had passed since the last time you saw Ellie’s face. You’d taught yourself not to wait at the gates, not to look over your shoulder when patrols came back. You told yourself you were done hoping.

And then—she came back. Ellie motherfucking Williams. Just like that. Not sliding back into Jackson quietly, not slipping into her old house unnoticed. She showed up at your doorstep. A knock, cautious and uneven, and when you opened the door—there she was. Standing there like a ghost you weren’t sure you wanted to see. Holding flowers. Looking older, worn down, like something had chewed her up and spit her back out. Her eyes were tired, haunted, and for the first time in forever, they weren’t darting anywhere else. They were fixed on you.

But why? Why now? After the silence, after the abandonment, after carving you out of her life like you never mattered—why was she standing here at your door, clutching flowers like they could erase everything? Why was she back for you now?