Guitar Lessons

There's a music store in Jackson.

Joel finds it while patrolling the area with Tommy. He remembers what he told Ellie, and motions towards it with his gun. "Think they got anything good in there?"

Tommy shrugs. "That was always your thing, not mine." he says quietly. "If you wanna check it out, make it quick. We're expected back in a few hours." Joel merely nods and heads inside while Tommy guards the exit. It doesn't take long for him to find what he's after – two guitars, one small enough for Ellie to use, and some new(ish) strings. He puts the strings in his pocket and slings both guitars over his shoulder. Tommy just arches an eyebrow at his find.

"Gettin' bored already at the house?"

Joel flashes him a grin. "Promised Ellie I'd teach her how to play. She'll probably pester me into singing for her."

That earns him a chuckle from his little brother. "Yeah, you always were good at that. I'll bet that girl won't sit still long enough to learn how to play."

"Eh, even if she don't, it'll still be something."

/-/

Tommy is very, very wrong. Not only is Ellie more than thrilled with the idea of learning how to play, she's a natural at it. It doesn't take her long to pick up the basics, even with the guitar being out of tune (changing the strings didn't help, not that Joel thought it would). She loves it. She especially loves playing with Joel, so it becomes something of a habit for him to go out and find sheet music at the store while on patrol, or old records that they can learn to play by ear.

After the incident with Amos, the murmurings have stopped. The wall guards, however – the ones who know Amos best – think the whole thing is just damned funny. One of them, a man about ten years younger than Joel called Harry, summed it up best.

Bout damned time someone put him in his place. Good job, Kid.

Normally, Ellie doesn't like to be called kid, but all the wall guards do it. After watching her beat a grown man's ass, they've all taken a shine to her. When Joel has guard duty, they ask about her. After a few nights, he starts bringing her around. She brings her guitar and uses the time to practice.

At first, they worry the sound might draw out the Infected. But she keeps it quiet, barely making a sound – more just going through the motions than anything else – and after a while no one really thinks about it. Sometimes she hums along. Sometimes she forgets about the guitar entirely and just talks with the guys, listens in, or helps Joel tell them stories about their travels. They never mention David, but Henry and Sam come up. That spawns stories of others lost to the Infected, or just to their own fears.

Then, one night when the rain is coming down hard enough that the guards are simply a formality, Harry brings out his own guitar. They stay inside the station, three men keeping an eye out on the surrounding woods while Joel, Ellie, and Harry have an impromptu jam session, using the rain to mask the sounds.

It makes Ellie happy, and that makes Joel smile.

/-/

Harry becomes something of a fixture, and it's not uncommon to see him with Ellie when Joel simply can't be. This one time, Joel is hung up with Tommy, patching up a hole in the wall. He asked Harry to get Ellie from school, and Harry obliged.

The classes aren't much. Mostly just a way to keep the younger ones occupied, teach them to read and write and do basic math, and keep the older kids interested in learning. In exchange for being allowed to do guard duty with Joel, Ellie has to take classes three days a week. Mostly she just reads books she finds interesting. It surprises absolutely no one that most of those books are basic physics or chemistry, or improvised weapons. Mostly she focuses on the useful things – she's a better gunsmith than the gunsmith Jackson has, and Harry knows the wall guards prefer to let her clean and care for their weapons than old Nate – but she picks other things up along the way. She likes sharing her knowledge with Joel and even Harry now.

Today, he finds her sitting on the road just outside the school, several books beside her and guitar in hand. This time she's not alone. There's a young man standing in front of her, small smile on his face. Harry doesn't know his name – never bothered with the kids much himself, not until Ellie showed up – but he doesn't really care for that smile. There's two other boys standing a fair distance away, laughing to themselves and watching, and Harry grimaces.

This is a hazing ritual he's very familiar with, even from before. Let's see how well Ellie deals with it. She's sharp – there's a good chance she'll call his bullshit.

"So – Ellie, right?" She hums acknowledgement, not looking up from the guitar. The boy smiles. "I'm Matt. It's nice to see a new face around here."

Ellie barely glances up at him. "I'm not that new anymore."

"Yeah, but you're always hanging around with that old fart, or the wall guards."

Oh, now that's the wrong thing to say. Her hand pauses on the strings, and she glares up at him full force. "He has a name. It's Joel."

Matt just nods, clearly not fazed by her tone. "Okay, okay. So – you wanna come over to my place with me? I could teach you some new songs. I play guitar too."

Ellie just focuses on him for a long moment, and even Harry is struck by the impression that she's reading everything that's crossing his mind. Slowly, her lip curls in a sneer. "No."

"Aw, don't be like that. I know it's scary being the new girl – I can show you around first, introduce you to some people. We don't even gotta do the lessons today. C'mon, whaddya say?" He flashes her a charming smile. Ellie simply glares right back. With a small sigh, she sets aside her guitar and stands up. She barely comes up to Matt's chest, but there's a force behind her small frame. She stands like someone who knows he's full of shit, and knows she can take his ass out.

After Amos, Harry will believe anything.

"Why? So you can pressure me into having sex with you? Rape me if I don't agree?" Matt takes a step back, but Ellie matches him. Her lip curls in a sneer. "Boy, you ain't intimidating enough to scare me. I've killed meaner than you."

Matt glances over at his comrades, clearly at a loss now that his plan has gone to shit, and Harry decides now is a good time to step in. He takes a few steps forward, announcing his presence with heavy steps. Matt's gaze snaps over to him, and if possible, he goes even paler.

Good. Boy needs to be scared. "You ready to go, Ellie?" he asks.

"Yep." Ellie turns around, clearly dismissive, and gathers up her things, slinging the guitar over her back. She starts to follow Harry, but stops.

"Matt – I hear you pulling this shit on other girls, I'm gonna cut your dick off. Get me?" She doesn't wait for Matt to acknowledge her threat. She simply takes the lead.

When they've gotten a fair distance away, she turns to gaze to Harry, and he's looking at the Kid now, not a little soldier who just threatened someone's life. "So – I guess Joel got held up?"

Harry recognizes a dropped subject when he hears one. So he just smiles and lets it go.

/-/

Joel doesn't have guard duty that night, which he figures is a good thing. He sits on the couch in their living room, guitar in hand while he picks out an absentminded melody, and Ellie is curled up into his side, eyes closed but clearly not asleep. Her body is tense, small fists clenched in his flannel, and he suspects she's using the music to keep the monsters at bay.

Ellie likes to touch. It's not uncommon for her to sit with their arms pressing against each other, or her head or feet in his lap, or even leaning with her back against his. Cuddling, however – tucked underneath his arm and into his side like this – is usually reserved for after nightmares.

"You wanna talk about it?"

She shakes her head. "No."

There's a moment's pause as he plans his next questions, letting the gentle melody keep her reasonably calm. She's talking, just not about whatever is bothering her. She'll let him get away with asking a few generic questions, he knows – just enough to ascertain if she's in any kind of danger – and then she'll clam up altogether to fight her own demons. She won't come to him for help until she knows she can't win this fight alone.

He hates it, but he can't help but admire her for it.

"Did someone hurt you?"

That almost earns him a smirk. "No."

Not that he thought the answer was yes, but he likes being thorough. "Did they want to?"

"I think so."

Indirect threat, then. No way to tell how indirect until he gets details, and Ellie won't provide those details. "Did Harry see what happened?" A nod. "Mind if I ask him later?" He feels the shudder roll through her frame before she nods again. "Okay, then." He'll make sure to ask his questions when Ellie is out of hearing range. Whatever happened, she doesn't need to relive it again.

Still, he has one last question. "What kind of nightmares ya reckon we're having tonight?"

There's a very long pause there. They've helped each other through their nightmares so often now that they're no longer Ellie's or Joel's, but theirs. It doesn't matter who's actually doing the dreaming. Ellie has her nightmares about that winter, and Joel knows the what-ifs of the hospital are going to haunt him for a long time, but waking up and knowing the other is there, by their side, no matter what, always makes the monsters go away.

He's almost given up on her answering when she finally does. "The bad ones."

David. And now he has a much better idea of what happened. Damned teenagers. He'll get the details from Harry later, and then maybe the two of them will do something about it, but right now, he has a higher priority. "Okay, then. We'll stay here as long as you need. Okay?"

She nods against his shirt. "Thank you."

"Always, baby girl."