Breadcrumbs

It had been months since Ellie had looked him in the eye when he looked through his kitchen window on the wrong side of dawn one morning to see her trampling around in the grass with some squirmy little thing twisting between her ankles before shooting off to circle the yard, a black and white blur, before coming back to her side. Joel hears her, muffled through the glass. “Dude, go piss.” She’s in an old tank top and shorts, barefoot in the grass, rubbing the sleep from her eyes as the puppy circles, lanky and loping across the yard. Every time he catches sight of her he can’t help but watch. He gets his second-hand reports from Tommy and Maria. From Jesse, on occasion. It’s not the same as seeing for himself that she’s alright. Ellie’s got a good bit of muscle on her, but she’s not too lean. She doesn’t look beat like he knows he must. The puppy drops into a play bow, tail wagging excitedly and she rolls her eyes. “Go piss or we’re going back to bed.”TLDR Ellie gets a dog and Joel will take what he can get