UNITED IN BLOOD
CHAPTER THIRTY!

LIFE HAD SLOWLY BUT surely became easier for Danielle Linden and Ellie Williams. After a few months, the two girls had fallen back into a routine, Danielle continuing with her job at the medical centre and Ellie returning to her duties as a patroller of the surrounding areas of Jackson.

   Unfortunately due to the redheads injuries, she was no longer allowed to patrol on her own. Instead she was to be accompanied by some of the newer recruits. It wasn't the end of the world, of course but Ellie hated having to rely on someone else for her safety. She'd initially made a big deal about it, throwing a tantrum to Maria who had refused to allow Ellie to patrol alone, but when Danielle had pleaded with her to understand where they were coming from, the Williams girl finally relented.

   Ellie knew why they were so worried about her, she just wished that they weren't. If there was one thing Ellie hated more than anything, it was having to place her life in the hands of another. But after a couple weeks of being accompanied, the frustration she once felt had dissipated into a dull annoyance. The young guy she'd been placed with was okay. Talked more than she wanted but he wasn't the worse.

   She'd just returned home from patrol, barely in the door before she felt like taking a nap on the couch. The last few months had been hard as the redhead had begun to over exert herself, practically pushing herself and her body to its limit.

Despite Danielle's warnings for her to take it easy. God forbid she listen to someone with medical knowledge.

   Her aching feet carried her up the staircase and into her shared bedroom with Danielle. After removing her dirtied clothing and changing into clean pair of sweatpants and a grey sweatshirt, Ellie began to clean out her backpack.

The random few Knick-knacks she'd found on patrol were laid on the carpet which she planned to clean before placing them around the house. Just before she threw the bag into the corner of the room, she felt inclined to check the front pocket despite having not placed anything in there that day.

Freezing cold metal brushed against her fingertips. She gripped tightly of the item before pulling it free of the pocket, her gaze falling down to her hand. Laying flat against her palm was the dinosaur bracelet that she'd grabbed months prior as a gift for Danielle.

She'd completely forgotten about it.

   "Ellie? I'm home!" Ellie heard her girlfriends voice echoing through the home which caused her to jump to her feet in an instant. She almost sprinted down the stairs, aching feet be damned, heading straight for the brunette.

She stopped just before the Linden girl, a grin pulling at her lips as she stared at her. "Hey babe. Hold out your hand."

"That sounds a little weird. You're not gonna do anything weird, right?" The slightly menacing smile that graced Ellie's face had Danielle feeling a little on edge. She loved Ellie but in that moment she seemed like a child wishing to trick an adult into holding a bug.

"Why don't you just hold out your hand and find out." Ellie laughed at the worried expression upon the brunettes face.

As soon Danielle complied and reluctantly held out her hand with a sigh, Ellie gently placed the dinosaur charm bracelet in her palm. "I'd completely forgotten about this. Just found it in the pocket of my backpack."

   "Oh, Ellie. It's so pretty. Oh my god." The brunette exclaimed as an expression of surprise morphed upon her gestures. It felt as if her heart had grown in size from the sweet gesture. "When did you find this?"

   Ellie smiled at her girlfriend, grabbing hold of the bracelet and slowly latching it around Danielle's wrist. The cute little dinosaur charms dangling in the air. "A few months back. It was in this store in Santa Barbara. I saw it and thought of you."

   "That's so sweet. I love it." Danielle blushed at the idea of Ellie thinking of her, even as she sought out vengeance. With a smile, Danielle reached out and pulled the redhead into a hug, holding her tightly. "Come here."

The two stood in front of their closed front door for a few moments, both just simply enjoying holding the other close.

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   PLAYING THE GUITAR HAD been a struggle for the redhead. Something she once was able to do like a pro, was now something she found difficult. Of all the fingers she had to loose, that had to be bitten and torn from her hand, it just had to be the ones needed most when playing the guitar.

The ability to play guitar had been one of her only true connections to Joel and now that she found it extremely difficult to keep up the rhythm, Ellie felt utterly lost. How could she keep Joel in her mind and heart if everything she had to remember him was tainted?

The snow outside had begun to fall heavily, blanketing everything in sight. The windows had frosted up, allowing for very little ability to see outside. This was something that Danielle had learned as she moved through the upstairs of the house, clad in her pyjamas as she searched for Ellie.

With only one place left in mind, the brunette headed straight for the art room. Within seconds, she'd reached it, slowly pushing open the door as she listened to the gentle strumming of guitar strings which brought a smile to her face.

"Ooh, you're playing the guitar?" Danielle commented as her gaze fell upon Ellie holding her guitar close to her torso. As her smiled widened across her lips, Danielle ventured further into the room. "What brought this on?"

Ellie shrugged her shoulders, not really knowing why she'd begun playing. "Just felt like it."

   Danielle moved to sit down on the small desk chair in the furthest corner of the room, on the opposite side from where Ellie sat. As she pulled her legs under her body, she spoke candidly. "I'm glad that you're trying some of the things you once did. There's only so much of those comics you can read before you get bored of them."

   Ellie looked up from the guitar, a look of insult painted across her face. "Hey, Savage Starlight is an amazing series. Plus I thought you liked them."

"I do. I like them. I don't love them like you though. That's something only nerds truly enjoy." The brunette jokingly quipped at the Williams girl, hoping to gain a smile in return.

Her plan worked as she joyously watched a small, bashful grin appear upon Ellie's face, though she tried to hide it. "Whatever."

A hopeful expression overcame the features of the brunettes face. "So we're going to the dance tomorrow night, right?"

"If we have to." Ellie lowly muttered, her gaze falling to the patterned carpet as she lazily ran her fingers along the strings.

   Danielle desperately wanted to attend the winter dance. It had been all she thought about since Maria had mentioned it over a month prior. The idea of engaging in festivities alongside everyone else, —chatting, laughing, eating food, all of those things sounded like so much fun.

   Danielle began to sulk almost immediately. "Ellie come on. It'll be fun and Maria worked really hard on it. I don't want to let her down."

"Fine, I'll go." The redhead dramatically huffed and puffed as she set aside her guitar. With a teasing smirk, she quickly spoke again. "For Maria, not you."

The sound of laughter filled the home as Danielle grabbed hold of a small plush dinosaur that sat nearby and lobbed it in Ellie's direction, who quickly ducked out of the way. "Dick!"

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THE ATMOSPHERE OF THE Tipsy Bison was so amazing warm and comforting. The entirety of the Jackson community had gotten together for a winter dance. Danielle found the fact that it was taking place in February quite amusing, but it was still snowing heavily so she supposed it made sense.

Both she and Ellie sat in the back corner of the room, in a quaint little booth. Glasses of their alcohol of choice was grasped in their hands. Ellie had taken many a sip since they sat whereas Danielle had chosen to instead swirl the glass around the table.

Her attention was held with a vice grip by the people that danced so freely around the middle of the room. She watched as they twirled and dipped, shimmied and shaked. She drunk in every move with a gaze filled with envy.

Suddenly her gaze shifted over to the redhead across the table. Her hand reached out, taking hold of Ellie's free hand, the one not holding her glass of whiskey. that lay flat against the wooden table. Danielle shot Ellie a coy little smile. "You wanna dance?"

"In front of everyone? No thank you." Ellie scoffed at the idea of mingling on the dance floor amongst her fellow residents.

Danielle loudly sighed in frustration. All she wanted was to dance and yet Ellie was refusing. It was incredibly annoying. "Don't be a baby, Ellie. People aren't gonna make fun of your dancing."

The redhead shot her a look of mock disbelief. "That's not what I'm worried about. I just don't, you know, what to make people jealous of my sweet moves."

"As if." Danielle couldn't contain the laugh that passed her lips. She'd seen Ellie dance once before, in the comfort of their home. She certainly didn't have any sweet moves. With a smirk, Danielle leaned closer to Ellie. "Tommy could probably dance circles around you and he has a permanent limp."

"Rude."

"Well, you won't dance with me, so." Danielle simply replied, leaning back against the plush cushion backing of the booth, her sweater covered arms folding across her chest.

Ellie contemplated for a moment before she took a single sip of whiskey, set the glass back down and rose to her feet. "Fine. Let's go before I regret it."

Danielle immediately jumped into action, giddily grabbing hold of Ellie and all but dragging her across the room. Her nimble fingers joined together as her arms went over the redheads shoulders while Ellie's held her waist. The dulcet tones of Johnny Cash reverberated against the walls as the two began to sway on the spot.

"This is nice. I'm glad we decided to come after all." Danielle commented after a few minutes of gentle swaying, glancing up at the Williams girl with a sweet, appreciative smile.

"Yeah, Maria did a great job setting the place up. Almost makes me forget it's run by Seth." The auburn-haired girl commented, choosing to ignore the comforting feeling of Danielle's fingers running through the hair at the nape of her neck.

A slight laugh fell from Danielle's lips. "You never did tell me why you hate him so much."

"He's got some old world views. Let's just leave it at that." The Williams girl didn't really wish to discuss Seth and his horrible opinions on the world and certain groups of people that existed.

Danielle, who had grown quick stubborn, was unable to simply let it lie. An eyebrow rose in a suggestive manner. "Such as?"

"He doesn't particularly like people like us." Ellie gently stated, her voice falling in volume. She didn't want to attract any unwanted attention nor did she want to upset the girl before her.

   "Tough bitches?" Danielle joking suggested. She knew exactly what the redhead meant but instead of allowing it to upset her, she chose to brush it off. Seth and his stupid, offensive views could take a hike for all she cared. "Ooh, homeowners?"

Ellie's hold tightened around the girl in her arms as she laughed at her mocking suggestions. "Yeah. Definitely both of those."

"I knew it." Danielle muttered with a grin. Her hazel eyes twinkled with glee under the Christmas lights that decorated the room. "I love you. Like I really love you like so much."

Ellie's heart swelled with euphoria, the words of the girls she loved, the girl she held in her arms, reducing her to but a puddle of emotion. "I love you too."

"The way my life is right now is exactly how I've always wanted it to be." Danielle earnestly confessed. All she'd ever wanted from life was to be happy and no one made her happier or made her heart ache so delightfully as Ellie Williams.

With a heavy sigh of relief, she moved closer to Ellie until her head rested against the redheads torso and her arms wrapped tightly around her waist. "I think we're gonna be alright."

"Just alright?" Ellie dramatically quipped with a laugh, the rumble of her chest becoming a comfort to the brunette who pressed herself closer to Ellie, if that was even possible. "I can work with that."

The music continued to play in the background as the citizens of Jackson chattered around them. All of the noise was but white noise to the pair who embraced each other, neither willing to let go for anything in the world.

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jamielee's thoughts.
chapter thirty lads. not proofread. i know it isn't that long but i didn't want to embellish the last chapter and ruin it.

i genuinely can't believe that this is the last chapter but I'm honestly so proud of myself for having stuck with this fic. I've been on wattpad for over 8 years but never have I completely a fic. But I just love ellie so much.

anyway i hope you enjoyed and thank you all so much for following the fic and Danielle's story. all of your comments were what kept me going and I'm so appreciative <3