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Ellie didn’t have a lot of experience with friends, she had only had Riley…and that hadn't ended well. When she got to Jackson, Ellie wasn't sure what to expect, but it surely wasn’t Jesse.
When Tommy had asked Ellie if she had wanted to start helping out around Jackson she damn near jumped at the opportunity, as much as she enjoyed her quiet life with Joel she was bored to tears and begging for a change of pace.
Tommy assigned her first official duty in Jackson to tend to the horses and clean the stables. He’d put her on duty with this Jesse kid, who was hyped up extensively by Tommy every time her scheduled stable duty was brought up. Tommy's excitement had left Ellie curious as to who Jesse was and why Tommy of all people thought he was so great.
Ellie left the house, clearing the porch steps and walking with a mostly normal pace to the stables. Joel had offered to go with her, but if she wanted to sneak her way into early patrol Ellie assumed she could start by not looking like she has the abandonment issues of a newborn puppy.
Ellie approached the stables, greeting everyone out front passively as she beelined for Shimmer. One of the perks of being the family of the owners of the town is Shimmer. In Jackson, not one horse belonged to anyone outside of regular rotation or personal preference. But, when Tommy had seen how much Ellie had loved Shimmer he promised she was hers and all hers. To which Maria had rolled her eyes and Joel had snorted, but all the same Shimmer was her horse.
A sudden shuffle behind her startled her enough to whip her head around.
The man gave her an apologetic gaze, looking a bit stunned himself but quickly recovered.
”Howdy, names Jesse.” He reached out to shake her hand God, she lived in cowboy land.
“Oh, hey.. Ellie” she replied, accepting the handshake, Looking Jesse up and down he really was a cowboy. The Levi jeans paired with a flannel and carhartt jacket with cowboy boots and a fucking mullet, it would be funny if it didn’t suit him so well.
“Joel's daughter right?” She hates explaining this its so fucking awkward.
“Yup.” Ellie hadn't even meant to say it, the sheer awkwardness of the encounter had forced it out of her.
“Oh cool, I see it.” Is he stupid?
“Right, well lemme show ya around” Ellie began to follow Jesse through the stables where he explained to her the function and purpose of everything.
It didn't go unappreciated, Jackson's rules could be so ass-backwards sometimes it got pretty frustrating. After all the boring stuff, Jesse began to introduce her to all the horses and tell her all about their breeds and small habits.
“You know so much about them all, who are you the horse-guy?”
Jesse laughed, “No, I'm no ‘horse-guy’ , this was just the only job my mom would let me do when I was younger without worrying herself sick. Glad Joel thought you could handle the big guns of horsing, I can tell he gets to be a bit protective.”
The thought of people having parents was another thing about Jackson that thoroughly confused her more than she’d like to admit.
“So, both your parents are alive..?” Ellie asked, she silently kicked herself for making the conversation so morbid.
“Yup. just me and them though, thought their chances were higher if they capped out at one.” Jesse said with a chuckle, like he’d been asked that question dozens of times.
Jesse hands her a brush for Shimmer and moves over to the other side of the stable to grab hay. “Just you and your dad though, right..?”
Ellie inhales, “Joels, not my dad..we only met a year ago, i never knew either of my parents.” Jesse is obviously embarrassed by his assumption, but quickly recovers. “Man, that's rough, I'm sorry.” Ellie assures him he’s fine and continues her duty of brushing and cleaning the horses.
After a while of comfortable silence, Jesse speaks up again. “Wait so, you and Joel left from Boston right? Why did you go with him if he was just some guy..”
A pit starts to form in Ellie's stomach, she hadn't bargained on Jesse being a conversationalist. “Long story.” She eventually replies.
“Well, we got two more hours in here…” Jesse shrugs, looking up from the floor he was raking. “Longer than that.” They lock eyes for a moment and Ellie hopes she doesn't look too nervous. “Well shit, guess you’ll have to tell me some other time.”
The two finished off their job in the stables holding a steady conversation the rest of the time. Ellie had discovered, besides his cowboy exterior, Jesse was actually pretty cool and shared some interests with her.
During their time on stable duty it had started to get dark and cloudy. Ellie wasn't exactly a fan of walking around in the dark, but she knew she was safe in Jackson and it was truly the least of her worries anymore.
Ellie must've been standing there for a second too long, “Hey, i'll walk ya home if you want? Right across Tommy's right? Only a street across from me.” Ellie considered declining, but realizing their journeys home were practically the same anyway her refusal would be awkward. “Yeah, okay.”
Not that Ellie didn't like Jesse, she just wasn't sure how she felt about him. He was friendly, funny, and sweet but something about him confused her in a way she had been really hoping to dwell on during the walk home.
Just as Ellie was silently hoping Jesse would let them walk in silence Jesse asked her yet another question. “Hey, what's with the bandaid on your arm? It's summertime, it must be hot.”
Ellie falters for a minute, she should've been prepared for someone to ask questions about the bandaid she constantly wears. “Oh, just an old scar, it's pretty gnarly so it's not good to be exposed to sunlight or anything for too long.” Jesse's eyes widened in excitement “Holy shit, what happened?”
Ellie racks her brain for a story to tell that's plausible enough to pass off as an excuse, but also not lame as shit. Ellie stops and gets really close to Jesse, "I was on the road with Joel …it had been a long night of walking through the woods..”
Jesse gets closer to Ellie, intrigued by her story with wide eyes. “It was crazy really, how fast it all happened. Some infected came out and jumped us, but just as we had thought we were done fighting, wolves that had been chasing them started barreling towards us.”
Jesse's eyes get wide as saucers and he audibly gasps “You got attacked by a wolf?” Ellie nods with the same mischievous grin on her face. “One of them jumped right on top of me and started gnawing at my arm. But before it could get any worse, I took my gun and I shot it in the face.”
Ellie tells the story purposefully to impress Jesse, Jackson kids weren't allowed to have guns, they were barely allowed outside of the walls as it is.
“No fucking way Ellie, thats so sick! Can I see it?” Jesse immediately turns his attention back to Ellie's arm in awe. “Sorry man, Tommy and Maria said I shouldn't be showing it off.” Ellie teeters on her feet, that part wasn't a complete lie.
Jesse continues walking, shoving his hands back into the pockets of his obnoxious carhartt coat “guess that makes sense, wouldn't want all the ladies drooling all over you.” Jesse looks at Ellie with a stupid knowing smile.
Ellie continues to follow Jesse but in quiet shock, was she that gay? Was it that noticeable? Ellie pulled at two of her fingers delving herself into a hole of endless questions when she realized Jesse was looking at her apologetically.
Ellie looks back up at Jesse, “How did you..” Jesse looks at Ellie and laughs “I got a hunch for these sorts of things.” Jesse notices Ellie still looks slightly panicked,
“Hey look, it aint a big deal, i like gay people i promise.” he offers her. Ellie can’t help but think he’s the weirdest person alive, at least the weirdest person she’s ever met.
Ellie snorts at the weird half baked attempt at comfort but then drops her smile and looks at Jesse again. “Look, please dont tell anyone i cant have..” Jesse cuts her off “Hey, i would never do that your secrets safe with me alright?”
Maybe Ellie shouldn't believe him, like how she never believes anyone she meets anymore. But it was something about the look in his eyes that made his words so trustworthy. “Yeah, okay.”
They continue their walk in silence, Ellie stills wracking her brain about what the hell is up with Jesse. After coming up with about 60 insane theories of his involvement with evil, FEDRA, secretly being a smuggler, or being hired to come kill her, she questions if maybe he's just a regular guy.
Jesse had given her nothing to be suspicious about, he’d done nothing to make her uncomfortable, so it wasn't fair to immediately assume he had a target on her back.
Maybe she could trust Jesse, maybe he was just a regular guy, or maybe she had just grown too accustomed to trusting a strong southern accent and a signature coat.