Author's notes : I'm currently playing The Last Of Us again. And I love Ellie/Joel relationship so much that I wanted to write some short stuff. For the moment, I wrote two of them, happening 5 years after the end of the first game. I hope you'll like it and I'm sorry for any English mistakes as I'm French.

Ellie awoke brutally. A bad dream again. She remained still for a few moments, just the time for her brain to register that she was safe, out of David's hands. That fucker had been dead for almost five years but sometimes, she still dreamt of him. Most of the time, in her dreams, he manages to strangle her. Joel arrives too late, kills him fiercely with his bare hands and cries her death. Just like he cried Sarah's.

She sat in her bed, wiped away the sweat on her forehead and her neck and sighed heavily. She figured out she needed fresh water on her face and forearms. That will calm the shaking down. Hopefully.

Ellie got up, opened the door of her room as quietly as possible so she wouldn't wake Joel up and tiptoed to the bathroom, right in front of her partner's room. The old, damaged, wood door squeaked a little, though the sound was loud in the silence of the night. She put both her hands on the sink, gripping it as the memory of her nightmare creeped inside her mind. She hardly swallowed her saliva and looked at her reflection in the mirror, scared that somehow David had found a way through the afterlife and he would appear in her reflection and grabbed her neck to take her life away. She closed her eyes and kicked the base of the sink, hurting her foot.

She heard Joel's bed. He was certainly getting up to check on her. He appeared as he opened the door and walked slowly to her side.

"Everything okay?"

"I… Just had a bad dream, a very bad dream. Again.", she replied, almost whispering.

"Same as usual?"

She looked up at him and nodded. And noticed he didn't look half asleep, he probably hadn't been sleeping at all. He moved his arm towards his room.

"Then, come lie with me. You can't fall asleep if you don't feel safe."

He was right, like anytime she had nightmares. Only his presence and his proximity could calm her and make her sleep again. She nodded, but freshened her face before following him. Joel got into the bed and made sure she was warm under the blankets, considering she was only wearing a thin tank top and her underwear. At first, she laid on her right side, away from him though she could feel the heat of his body close to hers, but as she closed her eyes, images of David kept flashing in her mind. She put her hands to her face, rubbed her eyes, trying to suppress the horror behind her lids.

"Hey, what is it?"

"I'm sorry, I can't seem to get rid of this right now", Ellie confessed as she turned to face him.

Joel stroke her hair softly, trying to reassure her.

"It's okay, I'm here, we're in Jackson, and most importantly, he's gone. And he's not coming back. I would never let that happen again."

His voice was already soothing her. She opened her eyes and looked at his familiar face. And she felt safe, immediately. Her breathing was less erratic and her heart beat almost normally. She was okay. Joel let her snuggle up against him and put his arms around her, making sure she knew he was definitely here. He liked these private moments they usually had together. For five years, they've been side by side and a deep affection connected them. Sometimes, she was like his daughter, sometimes it felt like she was more. Right now, she was more. After a few minutes, he knew she was asleep.