The Last Of Us: Part I - Darker Days (Male Reader)

Chapter 8 - Death Before Life

A/N: Mentions/acts of depression and suicide are present. You have been warned!

"A blueberry hurt you?" Sam laughed at Ellie as the girl had dropped one of her face by accident. Prompting her to whine out an Ow, before chuckling.

Ellie almost felt like she forgot the troubles of the world, and the fireflies in general, as she ate Blueberry after blueberry. Well, that was, until she looked over to find that Y/N hadn't joined them.

Frowning, she looked over to find Joel and Henry discussing to themselves, and then to the window to see a lone figure his legs curled up to his chest as he looked outside as rain began to pour, and the sun began to set as darkness was approaching, slowly, but surely.

Making her mind up, she turned to Sam and grabbed some more blueberries. "Hey, I'm gonna go check on, grumster, over there." She chuckled to herself, causing Sam to do the same and turn back to his own stockpile of food.

Though she could've sworn she saw lingering disappointment in his eyes.

Shrugging it off, she picked herself up off the couch of the room and made her way over to Y/N, and noticed a frown donning his features. And a leather book clasped in his hand, and a pencil in the other.

"You know." Ellie startled him as she dropped her bag to the floor besides his. "If you keep frowning like that, you'll be stuck with it."

Y/N immediately shut his book, and turned to her. His eyes narrowed, but then they calmed and relaxed. The boy nodded and turned back to the window, to watch the rain fall.

She wanted to ask about the book, but felt that wasn't a great conversation opener, so she started with what she had in her hand.

"You want some blueberries?" She asked, showing up the small poach that contained them, weighing them suggestively in his face
as he looked them over.

"...Sure."

Y/N grudgingly agreed, and Ellie beamed as she passed him some blueberries from the pouch. He ate away at them, and Ellie found herself smiling as the boy looked back over at her, and then to the pouch, before looking back up at her with a raised eyebrow.

The two began indulging into more of them, the silence between them comfortable, for once. She remembered how uptight he had been at the start when he had... saved her, though she doubted she'd never live that down.

"Thanks." Y/N gave her a nod, and Ellie smiled in return, taking the pouch back before looking back at him.

Only to notice his gaze had returned to the outside, staring out the bridge. Their exit out of this death-trap of a city, and their break away.

They were both thinking the same thing.

Y/N would be gone, and back to doing whatever he did before he found them, but, that begged the question.

"What will you do when you're gone." Ellie asked him, despite the churning that burned away at her stomach that fought to keep him. She knew he was set in his ways, he was
quite stubborn, like herself.

The boy in question lowered his head to stare at windowsill in deep thought, before then answering in a low voice.

"What I always do."

Dodging the question, that much she knew Y/N was doing.

"Like...?"

Y/N sighed, and shook his head. "Moving, mostly. Just moving, running, anything I can do."

"And you're in such a big hurry to leave?" Ellie noticed as she curled her legs up against her chest as she pulled herself closer. "Sounds lonely." She began to stare at her hands as a distraction before looking up to him, waiting for an answer.