After so many years of potentially needing to be on the run at all hours of the day or night, dodging infected, soldiers, hunters, and whoever the fuck else, Joel had picked up the habit of sleeping in pretty short bursts. So it wasn't more than three or four hours before he woke again with a start.

It took him a moment to gain his bearings, but he was immediately aware of the warm weight against his shoulder, the hand on his chest. Right. Ellie. She was here, she was safe, with him, where she was supposed to be. Okay.

He shifted his arm around her - he would need to run another perimeter check soon, he knew, but for now - for now, he was going to take this. He dropped a kiss to the top of her head and settled in with a strange kind of content. They'd make this work.