[ 🏹 ] ✾•❅──────✧❅✦❅✧──────❅•✾ [ 🏹 ]

☼ bonus chapter
( cause I miss this book sm ) ☼

[ 🏹 ] ✾•❅──────✧❅✦❅✧──────❅•✾ [ 🏹 ]

「 twenty-seven. Don't you know
she's been here all along in a dream?
She belongs in a dream . 」

SPRING SHIFTED THROUGH THE AIR OF THE FOREST, coating the environment in a fresh scent as pine and spruce emitted off of the trees. Paired with the crisp scent, the chirping of energetic birds rung through the air like a melodic song.

paired with the sweet birdsongs, the strumming of an out of tune guitar slowly faded as the brunette breathed out a disappointed sigh. She rested over a thick log that remained strewn across the forest floor, pursing her lips as she looked at the indents in the tips of her fingers.

A soft breeze passed by, brushing the strays of brown hair away from her face as she looked up to the feminine voice of her best friend. "Woah. You could be a little country singer."

The blonde teenager had adapted to her own adventurous behaviour, bringing her immune best friend along with her as they explored every detail in sight. The girl found herself sitting on a thick branch of a oak tree, not too far above the ground and one that she'd easily be able to climb off if she wanted to.

"She's right." A new male voice interjected, the sound of footsteps approaching along the stone-covered trail. "That's starting to sound like something."

"Ugh, I suck." Ellie Williams whined as she leaned backwards, watching the golden-coated dog bound towards the tree where Lizzie slipped off, kneeling to coddle the dog fondly.

Joel shook his head at the brunette girl, "Nah... just need to build up your calluses, that's all." He motioned to the tips of his fingers as he walked closer. When Ellie nodded weakly, the man gestured to the forest behind him, "C'mon."

"This it?"

"Yeah." Joel nodded, turning to the young blonde who placed a hand over her blue eyes to shield them from the light of the sun. "You doin' alright, bug?"

Lizzie nodded as she pushed herself into a standing position, brushing down the dust from her bootcut jeans. "Better than ever. thanks for asking, cowboy." She grinned playfully, taking a hold of Ellie's arm and pushing the girl forward along the trail. "Come on, let's go!"

Just over a year had past since the trio's adventure across America, from the cage that was Boston City all the way to the liberated mountains of Wyoming. During that time, Joel and Lizzie continued to keep up their unfaithful lie about what exactly had happened in the St. Mary's hospital, albeit they never planned on telling Ellie the truth.

Whilst Ellie remained to herself and their new friendship group, Lizzie seemed to thrive as she grew to be what Joel described as, 'a social butterfly'. She helped out regularly at local stalls whenever she had nothing to do, and had dragged Ellie on multiple occasions to guilt-trip Maria into giving them a lifetime supply of Coca-cola.

The two girls had also bonded with multiple of the teenagers that lingered around their age, the girl that had supposedly spied on them at their first arrival, Dina, and the boy Lizzie had met during the movie night Maria had hosted, Jesse. They were both a little bit older than her and Ellie, but they got along well nonetheless.

Lizzie and Ellie hadn't changed drastically, other than the blonde's appearance. Having been approached by the girl next door, Ami-Lea, who'd asked her one day when she were bored if she'd ever thought about dying her hair, she returned home with her honey-blonde hair harbouring new streaks of pink. Though Maria had claimed to like it after calling it unique, Joel had murmured something along the lines of, 'Lord, she's becoming a hippie.'

Nevertheless, a blooming sensation of happiness lingered in the air as the three trekked along the path, allowing the crowns of their heads to be kissed by sunlight. Beside them, Bellamy sprinted forward up the small hill whilst chasing a camouflaged butterfly that raced its way up.

"I'm gonna start guessing." Ellie declared, referring to the present Joel had planned for her sixteenth birthday. She didn't know wether or not Lizzie had anything to do with the present, but considering that she hadn't received a gift from the blonde yet, she thought so.

Lizzie raised her eyebrows as she twirled on the balls of her feet, giving a mischievous smirk to the girl. "And spoil your surprise that we spent so long planning?"

"We?" Joel repeated with a scoff, "I think you meant I." He corrected whilst the girl rolled her eyes in amusement.

Ellie breathed out a large breath through her lips as she guessed, "is it... a dinosaur?" She asked as they came to a watery clearing that harboured a narrow pathway on the edge of it.

"Stop trying to guess. I ain't telling you."

The brunette sighed dramatically as she kicked a large stone out of the way, "is it... an elephant?" She turned at the sound of the blonde's theatrical gasp, "wow, sherlock holmes, you never fail to amaze me."

"Really?"

"No." The blue-eyed girl deadpanned as Ellie turned to look at her, raising her middle finger sarcastically as she walked before her. Once again, Ellie pursed her lips into a tight-lipped smile before asking, "is it a convertible?" She inquired, shrugging her hands outwardly and checking the two's reactions to see if she had been correct.

"You're not gonna guess." Joel hummed as he walked in front of the two girl's, whistling every couple of moments to make sure Bellamy never strayed and ended up accidentally getting lost.

"Is it a puppy?" The brunette continued to ask, a tone of excitement bleeding through her light voice.

Lizzie let out a chuckle as she winced, "what, Bellamy not enough for you?" She quipped up, holding out her hand to help the girl over a fallen tree branch.

"He knows I love him." Ellie chimed as she moved over the branch, giving the blonde a dismissive shake of her free hand, "is it a lot of a kittens?" She continued to inquire.

"You mean a litter?" Joel interjected, looking at the two girls over his shoulder. He watched as Ellie's expression scrunched in confusion, "what's a litter?"

"A ton of kittens." Lizzie acknowledged, "Even I knew that, El." She huffed, pushing a longer strand of blonde hair behind her ears. Over the past year, Lizzie had allowed for her mid-length blonde hair to grow long and thick unlike it had been a year ago.

As they narrowed a sharp turn, Joel moved to hold a large branch out of the way so the two could pass without getting injured or trapped by the green illusion of overwhelming trees. "Mind your step."

"I got it." Ellie reassured as she moved first, leaning away from the channel of water to avoid falling. However, Joel nudged his shoulder forward absentmindedly, causing for the brunette to yelp as she fell into the large body of slightly murky water.

Placing a hand over her stomach, Lizzie cackled in amusement. Salty tears began to form in her eyes as she leaned an arm onto Joel's shoulder as Ellie resurfaced with a surprised look on her face. Her locks of brown hair that normally framed her face now clung to the sides of her skin as droplets of water drenched her hair. "Happy birthday, birthday girl!"

Whilst the blonde continued to howl in laughter, a boot lightly kicked the bend of her knees, sending her falling into the very water that Ellie had also been sent flying into.

The cold ripple of the water attatched to her skin uncomfortably, knocking the air from her surprised lungs for a moment as she lingered under the surface of the lake. After a moment, she pushed herself upwards towards the sky, gasping a large breath of fresh oxygen when her head rose past the water's surface tension.

"Joel!" The blonde whined as the man leaned forward on his knees, laughing in amusement at the two girls who remained drenched by the cloudy water. "What the fuck!"

"You should see your faces right now." The man laughed, watching as the the blonde moved forward to cling onto the side of the rocks.

Ellie continued to stare at the man in shock, "what if i drowned?!" She inquired dramatically as she floated in the water. The brunette watched as Lizzie attempted to haul herself up onto the rocks above, only for Joel to grab her arms and pull her out of the water so she could sit on the side of the rocks, draining the water from her hair and clothes.

"You're not gonna drown!" Joel rolled his eyes in exasperation at the girl's dramatics. "You gotta work on that confidence, Kiddo."

"Yeah, keep laughing, old man." Ellie called out sarcastically, "See what happens." She mumbled the last part to herself faintly as she moved to climb out of the water.

"This way." Joel pointed forwards, turning back to the blonde who continued to shake her head back and forth rapidly as though she were Bellamy. "Come on, Bug. They're just clothes, they'll dry."

The blonde moved to stand up, shaking her head at the taller man whilst faking annoyance, "you are the worst cowboy out there."

"I'll be sure to tell the other cowboys." Joel nodded sarcastically, carrying a fond grin as he messed up her already messy blonde hair and brought her forward to keep her walking.

The blonde let out a scoff as she turned to look up at him, "what other cowboys? It's just you and Tommy. The Texas twats." She chuckled faintly as she moved to jog ahead to where Ellie was climbing out of the water before Joel could scold her use of language.

Joel used his arm to gesture for the two girls to join him at his side as he moved to walk in front of them, Bellamy at his side as the dog looked over the rocks and down at the water below. The man trained his eyes forward on the majestic movements of a deer that lurked in the forest before them. "C'mere, take a look at this. You see that deer there?"

Lizzie grinned as an idea came to mind, causing her to move closer to the man whilst muttering under breath, "oh, I see what you mean yeah—"

The man yelled as his body fell sideways into the stream of rippling water, his body disappearing under the surface for a moment as she and Ellie began laughing loudly whilst clinging to the other's shoulder's for security.

Just as Joel's head surfaced again, his closed his eyes as a loud splash echoed through the forest. Bellamy, who'd seemed to grow an attachment to Joel, hadn't wasted a second in following the man by jumping in after him. He splashed as he floated through the water, trying his best to get to Joel.

"How's that feel?" Ellie called out to the man as she placed her hands on her hips, droplets still falling from her wet hair.

Lizzie laughed as she leaned into the brunette, a mischievous gleam outshining in her blue eyes as she looked down at the man. "Not nice getting pushed in, is it, cowboy?"

Joel floated backwards in the water, one of his hands scratching the top of Bellamy's head fondly. "Well, we need to swim through this part anyway."

"We got you back, you're angry and upset." Ellie called out to the man, leaning forwards towards the stream of water again whilst Joel continued to float in the murky water.

"I am very angry and upset. Now come on." Joel complied, stretching his arms into the water as the lethargic current pushed him backwards. At the sound of two loud splashes infiltrating the water, followed by the sound of youthful laughing, Joel was able to tell that the two had followed in after him.

The two girls continued to mess around as they floated in the stream, dunking each other under the water playfully before splashing the other. The more time they spent in the water, the more they adjusted to the cold temperatures that began to slowly warm up until it embraced them in a lukewarm embrace.

After a series of moments, the three resurfaced again on the edge of the forest, where the grassy domain turned Sandy as it met the touch of the sea.

They climbed back onto the land, shivering slightly due to the cold air that embraced them after being freed from the watery environment. Unfortunately, Ellie became victim to being used as a human shield when Bellamy shook his fur rapidly, drenching the brunette once again whilst Lizzie hid behind her back.

Nevertheless, the three continued onwards. "Is it my sixth grade history teacher wanting to apologise for being a massive dick?" Ellie began guessing again, draining her ponytail of the murky water.

"I beg your pardon?" Joel raised his eyebrows.

Ellie shrugged, "my friend and I would argue whenever he called the fireflies terrorists." She confessed, "we got a lot of detention."

Beside her, Lizzie gave her a playful smile as she interlocked their hands together, tugging the brown-eyed girl towards her as she awed, "defending me even before we met, how cute."

"Shut up." Ellie pushed her away, her freckles glowing like constellations amongst the night sky as they dusted over in a crimson glow. Though, she never turned away when a lovesick smile graced over her lips.

"As adorable as that is," Joel began, "-you need to stop letting people rile you up. That goes for both of you actually. Don't think Maria didn't tell me about how you threatened and then poured a bottle of coke over the boy down the street, Bug."

Lizzie shrugged as she swung her and Ellie's hands between them absentmindedly, "Yeah, but he had that coming."

"I'm sure he did, but point still stands." Joel hummed, leading them towards another watery clearing which they, unfortunately, had to travel through again.

When they reached the other side, Ellie spoke up once again, "is it a new pair of sneakers?"

"How many of those do you have?" At Joel's question, Lizzie ducked her head with a wince. The reason Ellie had so many sneakers may have been the result of Lizzie taking them from shelves whenever she saw a pair that she knew Ellie would like.

Joel pushed himself to climb up onto the grassy forest after placing Bellamy on the ground securely. The man turned, holding his hand out for the blonde and then for the brunette who both shivered once again at the touch of coldness that enveloped over them.

Ellie breathed out deeply as she moved to stand up straight. "Okay, fuck it. I'm done guessing." She stated breathily, "but is it a massive comic book collection... no wait... a new dvd collection?"

"...yes."

"which one?"

"just yes."

"How about laserdiscs? I heard that's a thing." Ellie pipped up, nodding her head as though she knew what it meant, which she didn't. The sixteen year old followed after the blonde as she continued through the woods, batting away branches and overgrown leaves until she came to a gap in the trees.

The two girls paused at the sight of the statue before them. It was tall and covered in moss though the figure of what it had once been was still clear to the eye, the statue of a dinosaur. A flock of birds flew past the sculpture, travelling west over the endless horizon of trees, passing by the trio.

"Holy fuck." Lizzie breathed out in surprise at the large sculpture, sharing the same jaw-dropped expression as Ellie as they stared. The tall figure blocked the light of the spring sun, creating an almost eclipse-like shadow that surrounded the forest in an eye-catching radiance.

Beside Lizzie, the brunette sixteen-year-old stared in awe at the dinosaur. "Oh my god, it is a dinosaur!" She announced, grabbing the blonde's arm and pulling her forward towards the small caption that sat before the dinosaur. On the plaque the large words, 'tryannosaurus rex' were written. "Come on, Beth!" Ellie encouraged impatiently. She turned back to look at the man with a look of pure surprise, "Joel!"

"Surprise." The man hummed as he followed behind the two whilst the dog walked beside him. He looked fondly over to the two girls—their lives had improved since the events that had occurred before they moved to Jackson, but every moment of happiness was like a raindrop of gold pouring over them.

Ellie chuckled under her breath, looking to Lizzie to see if the fifteen year old was seeing what she was seeing. "It's a motherfucking dinosaur!" She marvelled, pulling her backpack off of her shoulders and pulling out her notebook, "King of the tyrant lizards."

The sound of movement echoed as Lizzie walked through the large puddles, grasping the side of the dinosaur to avoid falling. She turned back to Ellie, nodding her head to the statue with a cocky smirk as the girl walked closer to her, tilting her head as she tried to understand the mystery that was Lizzie's brain.

laughing, Lizzie began to climb the tail of the statue, crawling up further. From the ground beside her, Joel shook his head vigorously whilst shaking his hands, "Woah, woah, woah, bug, what are you doing?" The girl didn't respond as she carried on giggling, "might have to start calling you curious George at this point."

Behind the blonde, Ellie began to crawl up the dinosaur despite Joel's poor attempts at convincing them to get down safely. The man couldn't help the breathy chuckle that fell from his lips as he looked up at them fondly, "Please, get down! And be careful!"

"We're climbing a dinosaur!" Ellie gleamed as she balanced herself on the textured back of the dinosaur.

"Yeah, cowboy!" Lizzie cackled as she reached the head of the dinosaur. It was slightly daunting as she looked down at the ground below—an extremely large drop that would definitely end in an injury had she not landed in the water that lingered in front of the structure. "Live a little!"

"That's what I want you to do, Live! Please don't die falling off a dinosaur!" Joel continued to yell from below as the girls moved to stand on the crown of the dinosaur's head together, grappling each other's arms as though they were lifelines.

With a grin, Ellie rejoiced, "Look at me! I'm on a motherfucking dinosaur!" She looked below as Joel moved to stand in front of the small lake below the dinosaur, waving his hands rapidly as Bellamy barked next to him whilst chasing his own tail.

"Woah, woah, woah, don't jump!" Joel ordered as the girl's whispered to themselves with troublesome beams across their soft features. "Just... climb down."

His words fell deaf amongst ears as the girl's interlocked their hands tightly, moving backwards before springing forward and off of the dinosaur's open jaw. Two jovial screams echoed through the woods as the girls crashed into the deep section of water below, clutching the other's hand tightly as their bodies were swallowed in the liquid.

After a moment, the two resurfaced with laughs, moving to wrap their arms around the other's neck as they pushed themselves over to were Joel stood staring down at them in disapproval for the reckless way they'd disobeyed him.

"D'you see that?" The blonde asked as she ran a hand through her soaking hair that now ran straight with droplets.

Joel nodded, rubbing a hand on the bridge of his nose as though he were an exhausted father, which he'd technically become. "Yeah, I saw it."

"Wasn't it awesome?" Ellie laughed, moving to stand out of the cool water and following the two as they climbed up the stairs to a moss-covered building.

"Awesome that you didn't break anything." The man said, opening the door to what looked to be a museum. Like the blonde assumed, a sign stood on the left of the building reading, 'Wyoming museum' at the top. She leaned against it as Ellie moved forward to grab the pamphlet that was stored inside. "What's this?"

Lizzie shrugged, drawing her lips into a tight lipped smile as she crossed her arms over her white cami top. "Well, I might be wrong but if I didn't know any better, I'd think it were a book."

Ellie scoffed, holding the front cover out for the girl to see, "it's not just a book, it's a dinosaur book." She corrected, looking behind the girl and approaching the golden skeleton of thin dinosaur. It's arms were outstretched as though it were to attack, though it's fleshless body remained situated perfectly still. "Woah, look at those talons."

"That is a velociraptor." Joel stated, nodding his head knowingly as though he were proud that he were able to label the name of the deceased dinosaur.

Ellie hummed in disagreement, looking down at the book in her hands, "actually, it's a dee... Dee-oh-nin-Liz, how do I say this?" She paused, looking up from the book and holding it towards the blonde who looked down at it with scrunched eyebrows. She narrowed her eyes as she brought the book closer, disliking the small writing.

"Die-non-y-cus." She read out unsurely, shrugging before handing the book back to the birthday girl. "Close enough."

Joel shook his head with a contradicting hum, "pretty sure these are velociraptors. Yeah." He nodded, sure of himself, "I mean, at least that's what they called them in this movie I saw."

The three chatted lightly as they moved over to the gift shop, Lizzie's eyes catching onto the ripped teddy-bear shaped tyrannosaurus. It's soft fabric harboured multiple holes and stains of dampness, though Lizzie didn't care as she picked it up.

Ellie hummed in amusement before her eyes caught sight of the abandoned cattleman hat that lingered on a gift shop rack. "Oh man!" She turned to the man, "you wanna try it on?"

"I do not."

Lizzie chuckled, her eyes lighting up as she pointed to the cowboy hat. "This was literally made for you, cowboy!" She chuckled, grabbing the hat and placing it over Joel's head despite his light protests. He let it sit on his head for a moment before taking it and gesturing for the blonde to lower her head. The girl laugh lightly, lowering her head so that Joel could place the old hat on her golden-coloured hair. "Look at me, Joel," she twirled, "just like you, huh?"

Joel nodded, twisting on the balls of his feet as they began walking. "Just like me."

The trio began walking through the museum, stopping so that ellie could label one of the dinosaurs whilst Joel told them about the sequel to the film he'd watched about the previous dinosaur. Soon enough, the three entered a large room carrying multiple Dinosaurs of all different shapes and sizes, causing the brunette to grin, awe-struck.

"This one's brain was the size of a walnut!" Ellie marvelled as she looked at skeleton of a stegosaurus. It appeared to be the first in the large room, with large flake-like structures on its back and a miniature skull on its body.

Joel raised his eyebrows, folding his arms as he spoke, "oh, no way. Looks like you two have something in common." He smiled lightly when he heard the blonde let out a series of chuckles, holding a hand out for a high five as she praised him, "okay, that was a good one then. Sorry, El."

"Funny as ever." Ellie sneered lightly, taking the hat off of Lizzie's head and moving to place it on the skull of the creature's skeleton whilst adding, "tiny head."

"Joel, look." The sixteen year old pointed to the Dinosaur, causing the man to nod his head faintly, "that is a hat on a dinosaur."

"It's called a hat-osaur!"

The three carried on throughout the room, stopping to talk—make fun off—each of the statues and their oddly given names. During their journey, the three had also planned on a dinosaur movie night when they returned back to Jackson, an extra birthday gift for the brunette.

They travelled inside a new room filled with claw prints and skulls that lingered on stands also having been carved onto the wall. The first dinosaur skull carried the words, 'velociraptor' in bold letters, catching their attention as it had been the one Joel had made a reference to previously.

"Joel, this is the one you were talking about. The velociraptor." Lizzie pointed out as she gestured towards the small skull. "Head's almost as small as yours." She grinned cheekily.

The man deflated as though unimpressed with the size of the skeleton's head. "It's so small. Don't trust the movies, I guess."

"Look how thick this one's skull is." Ellie pointed out as she leaned on the barrier to look at the textured skull of a Pachycephalosaurs, nodding her head towards it as a sign for her companions to see it closer.

Joel nodded, tilting his head as he looked at it before joking, "it kinda looks like Tommy."

"I'm telling him you said that."

"Please don't."

A cool breeze washed through the museum as they ventured onwards, stopping at the next room where Ellie breathed out in awe at the next dinosaur skeleton. "Woah. This one looks like a bird."

Joel turned his dark gaze to the skeleton before them, crossing his arms as he nodded. "Well actually, palaeontologists believed that birds were descended from dinosaurs."

"What's a palaeontologist?" The blonde asked, moving her head backwards to keep the cattleman hat from covering her eyes as she held the dinosaur teddy in her hand.

Joel licked his lips, pausing for a second before responding, "scientists who love dinosaurs." He answered, sure of himself though both girls knew he wasn't actually sure of what the label meant.

"Well, excuse me, mr. Professor." Ellie deepened her voice as she turned to carry on walking through the isolated establishment.

"I happen to know a thing or two." Joel shrugged proudly, "come on, let's keep going."

A spiral staircase with a glass railing came into view as the trio slowly strolled through, watching as Bellamy sprinted up in less than half the time it had taken them to get just halfway up. "Did you go to museums a lot?"

Joel nodded in confirmation as he followed the two girls up the stairs. "Yeah. Yeah, Sarah loved them." The man admitted as he walked swiftly up the staircase. It left a comforting feeling between the trio to know that Joel no longer had any trouble bringing up his first daughter—that it actually brought him joy to discuss her likes and dislikes and link them to theirs. "I swear that girl dragged me to every damned museum in Texas."

"I can image." Lizzie grinned over her shoulder, speaking with a nonchalant tone in her soft voice. And she could—the image of Joel rolling his eyes dramatically as a bright Sarah pointed over the railing to multiple figures and sculptures crossed over her mind.

The two girls came to the top of the staircase, strolling over to where the head of one of the dinosaurs below, a brachiosaurus, peaked over the edge of the railing nearby. Ellie grinned as she leaned forward on her palms to look at the skeleton, "looks like a giraffe."

"Yeah, it does, doesn't it?" Said Joel as he came to stand beside the girls. He reached his hand froward before taking the hat off of the blonde's half damp hair, ignoring her protests as he lifted it to sit on the head of the dinosaur. "I see the appeal."

Looking behind the man, the blonde's eyes focused on the image of a painted picture of earth with a depiction of an approaching asteroid beside it, the words 'EXTINCTION' written in bold yellow letters on the right side of the diagram.

A metal turnstile, stiff from not being used in at least a decade resided beside the portrait on the wall, to which Ellie passed through first with a grunt. She turned her hand back to help Lizzie as the blonde climbed over it instead of passing through like she had. Behind them, Joel passed through before beckoning Bellamy to crawl under the turnstile.

The two girls continued forward before the man with fascinated looks as the walls were painted a pitch black tone with a dozen gem-stones on the walls representing the endless valley of stars and constellations amongst the dazzling sky.

"Did you know this was here?" Ellie turned her head towards Joel with a shocked chuckle, staring at the endless row of planets before her and the blonde as they walked further inside.

Joel paused, frowning slightly as he scratched the back of his neck insecurely, "you don't like it... it's okay, we can head back." When he turned back towards the girls, expecting to see their bored faces looking back at him, they instead carried joyful expressions on their faces as they twirled around the series of planets with nothing more than bliss.

"Hate to be a heartbreaker, cowboy, but I think I might have to live here now." Lizzie marvelled as she grinned, spinning the planet Mercury as it hung beside Venus and the sun.

The man laughed at the younger girl, nodding his head in pleasure, "well, I'm glad you like it, Bug."

The mentioned girl walked beside the moon, looking towards Ellie as she gestured towards it. "If it isn't my favourite natural satellite." Lizzie mocked, a reference to the night where the two girls lay watching the northern lights, speaking about the sun and the moon.

Ellie huffed with a smirk as she gestured to the sun, "what a coincidence. This is my favourite star!" She teased, moving to spin the leaver that spun the solar system around. She turned to look at the man in the room with a curious look, "Hey, Joel? Can you name all the planets?"

"My very educated mother just served us nice pizzas." Joel quoted as he watched the centre of the solar system, the sun, light up in a marigold glow.

The two girls shared a confound look as the blonde called out to him, "losing our minds, are we now, cowboy?"

Joel rolled his eyes as he began pointing at the planets arrangement, "my: Mercury, very: Venus, mother: Mars, just: Jupiter, served: Saturn—"

"We get it." Ellie retorted, "that's pretty cool." She said as she walked over to multiple rocket figurines which carried dates along with the names of animals that had ventured up into the never-ending night sky. "Guess what the first animal was to go to space."

"I don't have to guess, it was a monkey."

Ellie made a noise of protest, "No, it was fruitflies. Yeah, in nineteen-forty-seven! It was to see radiation exposure at high altitudes. They lived through it." She explained, nodding her head proudly as she spoke.

Lizzie frowned as she turned back to her companions, "Did you know they sent a dog to space?" She asked distastefully. How somebody could willingly send defenceless animals up into space left her with an uneasy feeling as she continued to read what the sign said, "launched into orbit by the Soviet Union on November third, nineteen-fifty-seven. Nicknamed Laika, half Siberian husky, she lived as a stray before being enlisted into the soviet union's space program." She read out, "-hungry, cramped, and frightened, Laika died on the Sputnik two spacecraft."

"Oh, Jesus."

It sent a sickened feeling throughout the blonde as she kneeled to the honey-coloured dog who approached her joyfully. She hugged the animal for a long moment, cuddling him fondly after reading the story of the Laika. She could tell both Ellie and Joel disliked the story also, as both of them frowned before turning away in hopes of turning the subject into something less grim.

Instead, Ellie turned her attention to something in the middle of the room—a large space craft that almost camouflaged in with the overgrowing of plants and greenery. The sixteen year old moved to try and open the door, to which it struggled for a moment until the man and fifteen year old came to pull it open alongside her.

The amber glow of the sunlight shined down over the space craft, swallowing it in a warm ambience, comforting against the coolness which lingered from the damp waters they'd travelled through.

The brunette attempted to push herself inside before Joel pushed her back down. "Hey now, hold on just a minute." He chuckled, "you goin' into space, you're gonna need a helmet."

Ellie grinned, turning back to the various hung up space suits and moving to grab one of the shiny helmets that lingered above the orange and white suits. As she did so, Lizzie and Joel watched with small smiles on their faces as they watched her pick the one she wanted.

A new material fell over the blonde's head, light and feathery though it caught her attention as Joel grinned down at her. "Though you'd want a hat, too." He shrugged.

She smiled lightly as she pulled off the paper crown—the crown obviously having been forgotten or dropped at somebody's birthday party that had been hosted in the museum, forever forgotten until it were found by the man. The colour of the paper crown was a bubblegum pink, matching the streaks of her long hair. She grinned up at the man, "Thanks, Cowboy."

Finally, Ellie returned with a space helmet much too big for her head swallowing her brunette ponytail and gentle features. She smiled excitedly as she shrugged her backpack off, leaving her in her striped tank top as she leaned her head back and crawled inside the spaceship. After the brunette climbed through, Lizzie followed behind her whilst Joel allowed for Bellamy's leash to tie to part of the spaceship whilst he followed the two girls inside.

"Woah." Lizzie coughed out, the feeling of being sat upwards leaving her slightly uneasy as she laughed beside the birthday girl.

"Would you look at all these buttons?" Joel fascinated, motioning his hand to all the random controls that sat before the trio as they stared in wonder.

Ellie chuckled under breath, her voice faint as it travelled through the glass of the helmet. "It's so badass." She breathed out, "man... could you imagine just..." her voice faded as she laughed.

Joel smiled as he pulled something from his pocket, a small tape. "Bravo." He smiled as he handed the tape out to the girl. "Happy birthday, kiddo."

"Yeah, happy birthday, you little astronaut." The blonde chuckled faintly as Ellie turned to them with a beaming grin on her freckled face. She smiled when she noticed the pink crown that rested over the  top of her best friends head—it complimented her well. "What's this?" Ellie asked, motioning towards the tape.

"This is a thing that took a mighty effort to find."

Ellie took the tape before pulling out her Walkman and placing the tape inside. After a moment, she pulled the helmet over her head and placed the earphones inside her ears before placing the helmet back over her head. She closed her eyes as she pressed the Walkman on, a new sense of liberty and comfort casting over her.

The brunette turned to the man with a shocked look as the tape began counting down in the formal voice of a well-trained scientist. She laughed lightly, the breath fogging up the mask in a small mist.

The three sat in silence as Ellie entered her own personal reverie, smiling with refreshed bliss as her mind entered a calm daydream-like state. For a minute or two, she dazed past endless constellations and vast tunnels of blazing stars, finally reaching the soft glow of the moonlight that kissed the skin of her face gently.

Finally, her head turned towards her two companions, a small, gratefully smile on her lips. Quietly, the man asked, "I do okay?"

"You fucking kidding me?" The brunette whispered, setting off a chain of understanding chuckles through the space shuttle. The three sat quietly for a moment until Joel reached to open the door again, "what'd ya say we keep looking around some more?"

The two girl's nodded, allowing the man to climb out first whilst the blonde lingered inside, waiting for Ellie who took off her helmet slowly. Before she could climb her way out, the blonde put out her hand to stop her. "Hey, wait..." she stopped the brunette who looked at her with a nervous smile as she reached into her pocket. "Got you something." She teased, "close your eyes and put your arm out."

Ellie complied, shivering at the soft touch of Lizzie's fingers trailing over her wrist, securing what appeared to be a bracelet around her skin. "Okay, open your eyes."

The brunette opened her eyes, looking down at the bracelet on her wrist. It was beautiful and noticeably handmade which made it all the more special to the birthday girl. soft white beads linked the bracelet together as a charm connected the chain to the beads—the charm being the small carving of an eclipse.

The blonde exchanged her gaze from the girl's eyes to her bracelet, a sudden pit forming when no words fell from the girls lips. "If you don't like it, I can make so—buy something else. It doesn't matter-"

"Beth..." Ellie whispered faintly, smiling bashfully, "I love it." a blossoming of lovesick butterflies erupted in her stomach as she watched the blonde turn a bright shade of pink, biting back her own lovestruck smile.

"Ok-good. Okay. We should go." Lizzie stumbled over her words, pointing a hand out towards the lid of the spaceship that Joel had disappeared out of only a moment before.

ੈ✩‧₊˚ •❅──────✧❅✦❅✧──────❅• ੈ✩‧₊˚

A LOUD CREAK OF METAL RESOUNDED FROM THE DOUBLE DOORS as Joel pushed them open, allowing the girls to set their sights on a flowing waterfall that carried the gushing current towards the edge of the river.

"Look, there's more museum stuff over there." Ellie pointed in the near distance to where a new 'WYOMING MUSEUM' sign began to fade from the wall.

Joel gave a weary glance to the building ahead of them, "yeah, I never checked out that building."

"I'm sure it's fine." Lizzie dismissed the man as she began to walk down what she assumed to be stairs however as she looked at the man, not noticing that it was actually a drop into the river below, she fell into the still water.

A loud shriek echoed throughout the air followed by a loud splash as the blonde flailed her arms in surprise. From above, both Joel and Ellie moved forward to call out the girl's name as she fell, though it didn't seem to help as she resurfaced with a loud, "What the fuck?!"

From above, Ellie spared Joel a look before shrugging and jumping off of the ledge, landing in the water beside the blonde with a loud splash—followed by another loud splash as Bellamy's head popped up from the water with his familiar bright brown eyes shining back at them as he paddled towards them.

"You ever give anyone else this much grief?" Joel called down as he stood at the ledge, a disapproving look on his face as he looked down at the two girls who swam towards the foreign building's short line of steps.

Lizzie rolled her eyes, turning to float on her back as she looked up to Joel, who stood with his hands resting over his hips and fatherly look on his stern face. "Just get down here, cowboy!"

"No!"

"Hey!" Ellie interjected as she reached the steps, "-Who's birthday is it?" She called out, knowing Joel wasn't allowed to dismiss her when she used the birthday card.

Joel grumbled loudly, "you can't keep doing that!"

Ellie ignored him as she helped the blonde up the steps, letting their eyes trial over the image of multiple wolves, stags, foxes, and other animals that shadowed the walls. "We want a good splash! We've got more exploring to do!"

The two laughed loudly as Joel leaped off the ledge with the loud words, "Geronimo!" Leaving his raspy throat as he submerged under the water before reappearing after a moment. Within the next moment, the man had made his way over to them and now lingered over the steps.

The doors creaked loudly as they refused to open, stopping the trio from entering the foreign exhibition. Fortunately, an open window lingered next to the door, causing for Lizzie to gesture for Joel to help her up. Soon enough, the girl was falling through the open window and landing on the other side.

She crouched as she landed, an ache burning in her claves and thighs for a moment as she winced before moving to stand up straight. She turned her gaze to where the door should've been, her eyebrows furrowing as she took notice to how the doors were bordered shut with large wooden pillars and overgrowing nature.

"Okay, really bad news now, there's a bunch of leafy shit blocking the door!" She yelled, turning as she heard a yelp from behind her. A flash of brunette appeared next to her as Ellie fell through the window, brushing off the dust from her black jeans. She shared a look with her companion when they realised they most likely wouldn't be able to help Joel through.

"well, see if you two can find me another way in. I'll walk around the outside!" He ordered from the other side of the door as he and Bellamy began to walk around the outside of the structure.

Lizzie nodded, before gesturing for Ellie to start moving as she yelled out, "Whatever you say, Cowboy! Be safe!"

"You be safe!"

"There are dinosaurs around!" Ellie added as she and Lizzie came to a new room with a disturbingly knowing diagram before them.

A beautiful moose, tall and powerful stood on a podium as the light blessed over its chestnut coat. The moose's gaze remained upwards towards the roof of the building as it expressed its effortless radiance of bravery and passion, the embodiment of balance.

Swallowed in the shadows of darkness and brutality, a pack of wolves snarled viciously at the majestic moose. Their sly bodies twisted as though they were waiting to attack, the cold bitterness of their eyes harbouring just how demented and cruel the smaller creatures were in comparison to the beauty they slaughtered.

The girls carried on through the new museum—the blonde tensing when she noticed the familiar spray-paint that littered the walls with the dark words, "I killed for them!"

"This guy needed a hug." Ellie commented sarcastically as she looked at the black spray-painted words with a grimace, moving forward when Lizzie never replied.

The duo entered a dark room, covered in looming shadows that threatened to creep up on them, swallowing them whole in the ambience of mystery. Two small clicks echoed throughout the room as they shined the singular lights of their torches over the darkness, scanning the artificial tree where an equally artificial owl haunted the branches.

"The four soldiers at the gate, the last one cried." Lizzie read out slowly, her eyes narrowed as they scanned over the words that forever stained the walls. She moved forward through the building, never straying too far from the sixteen year old as they investigated their surroundings.

Suddenly, the flashlights flickered uncontrollably before shutting off completely a moment before a sickening creak swallowed the atmosphere, alerting the two girls that they weren't alone. They snuck through the exhibition as quickly as possible without attracting too much attention with their footsteps, a slight problem due to the fractured glass that littered the checkered floor.

Multiple more messages lingered on the walls, specifically holding grave meanings as they spoke of runaway children, lost stragglers, and dying men and women. For a moment, Lizzie almost thought she had been false to think it was unrelated to the fireflies until she came across the words, there is no light!

The duo continued to sneak through, coming across the rotting corpse of a decaying man, emitting the foul stench of death and destruction as their clothes now fell limp over their mould-covered skeleton. Nevertheless, the two couldn't stop as they ventured forward towards where they hopped an exit was.

"Ah!" Ellie's accidental cry caused Lizzie to jump as she turned back to her, knife tight in her grip as she prepared to attack whoever had feared the brunette girl. When they turned, they came face to face with the stuffed figures of the vicious wolves—a creature that was starting to annoy them. "Stupid animals."

Suddenly, as the two jumped through a cracked window barrier, an animalistic shriek resounded as a wild boar charged towards them, knocking them off their feet as they shuffled backwards in surprise. Lizzie hissed loudly as her hands caught the prickling sting of glass, leading for specks of blood to leak from her palms.

"Shit." She cursed, "what the fuck is an actual pig doing here?" She asked rhetorically as she sat up with a wince before pushing herself up to stand, brushing down the touches of dust that stained her blue jeans. "Ellie, you alright?"

She froze when Ellie never responded, watching as the girl stood before her dropped torch. The light had finally turned back on, but it illuminated the liquified words, "LIARS!"

The blonde swallowed thickly, tugging on Ellie's shoulder in an attempt to get her attention. "Ellie? Ellie, don't look. Let's go—"

"Liz?! Ellie!?" Joel's familiar voice called out as the man approached them after having finally found an entrance to the interior structure. Ellie never responded to the man's concerned call, though Lizzie replied a second after, "We're in here!"

The girl jumped as the door's clattered open, the man having forced himself through in an attempt to make sure his girl's were safe. He breathed out a relieved sigh as he noticed that the worst either of the girl's carried was simply scratches and spots of blood on their palms. "The hell was that?" He asked as he entered, Bellamy at his side as the dog bounded forward towards his other two owners.

Lizzie pushed back a strand of blonde and pink hair, shrugging as she breathed cooly, "just some fuckin' wild pig or something." She said as she looked to the man, watching as he grew to stand beside them.

To both Lizzie and Joel's horror, a human-sized spray-painted firefly stained the walls of the museum, haunting them with the memory of what they had done only a year prior. From wherever her cold grave was stored, Lizzie could feel Marlene's dark eyes narrowing down on her in disgust and shame, horrified at the actions she'd taken at only fourteen years old.

"Well," Joel began, breaking the layer of tension, "-let's get a move on. I want to get a fire going before it gets too dark." When neither of the girl's moved, he pulled slightly on their lower arms, "c'mon."

Noticing Ellie's stoic stare, Lizzie frowned before wrapping her hand around the birthday girl's. "Come on. Let's go home."

☼

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I wrote a bonus chapter cause I've been missing this book too much lmao. But I have to do this chapter again for evermore but I think I'll just copy and paste it to be honest.
also idk if half you even read evermore or not but I needed this chapter for some emotional healing before I have to write seattle day two and three.
anyway happy Easter and hope you enjoy the last bit of happy Joel Lizzie and Ellie we're gonna get for the next two years.